Hedi Slimane | Source: Hypebeast

A Fashion Designer’s Second Act (NY Times)
“When Hedi Slimane stepped down as artistic director at Dior Homme in 2007, Fashion Wire Daily summed up his tenure this way: ‘Slimane leaves Dior with the well-earned reputation as the single most influential men’s designer this century, the most copied of his peers and the only one to achieve the status of a rock star.’… But Mr. Slimane seems to have left fashion behind with nary a second thought, reinventing himself as a photographer in the past few years, one who has produced an array of strikingly intimate portraits, nearly all of them black and white.”

Ralph Lauren margins fall, shares hit (Reuters)
“Ralph Lauren Corp posted a sharp drop in quarterly margins on Wednesday, hurt by rising costs, and its shares fell in premarket dealings. Shares fell 5.7 percent as gross margin fell dropped to 56.6 percent from 58 percent a year earlier. The clothing maker, which makes brands including Polo, Club Monaco and Chaps, said net income rose to $233.5 million, or $2.46 a share, in the second quarter ended October 1 from $205.2 million, or $2.09 a share, a year earlier.”

Online fashion retailer Yoox sees Q4 growth (Reuters)
“Italian online fashion retailer Yoox is looking to further revenue growth for the end of the year after strong sales in the first nine months confirmed the vigor of the luxury industry despite wider economic woes in Europe. Yoox, which powers sites for top brands such as Valentino and Roberto Cavalli alongside its own multibrand online stores, said core earnings rose 20.2 percent to 11.8 million euros ($16 million) in the nine months ended in September.”

Retail Site Raids a Big Closet (NY Times)
“Since its debut in February, Moda Operandi, the online retailer that sells designer clothes right off the runway, has become a surprise competitor on the lucrative trunk-show circuit. Now the site is becoming a competitor to traditional department stores and magazines for personnel, as well. Roopal Patel, a longtime executive in the fashion offices of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, will join Moda Operandi this month as its fashion director. And Taylor Tomasi Hill, formerly the style and accessories director of Marie Claire, will become its artistic director.”

Yohji’s World (Vogue)
“Yohji Yamamoto has explained his love of the colour black – a signature that punctuates most of his collections… ‘Colour disturbs people. I am confident in black, not in light. This dark side of life is attractive to me forever and from the beginnings. I am a lazy designer when it comes to colour. The body is the important thing to me – it is the beginning of my work.’”

Hedi Slimane | Source: YMFY

Hedi Slimane: ‘Maybe I have to start designing again’ (Guardian)
“Hedi Slimane won’t talk about fashion. Specifically, he is not to be asked when he will make his return to fashion design. Slimane’s assistant has insisted as much via email, and she is telling me again as we walk down a Brussels backstreet to meet him. ‘He gets asked every day,’ she says. ‘Every day.’”

In Tokyo, Responses Vary in Tony Shops (WSJ)
“Japanese department stores and boutiques, such as Comme des Garçons and Issey Miyake, were open for business as usual. Not so many European shops. Consumers approached Louis Vuitton’s doors, only to see a darkened interior. Citing electrical outages and concern for its workers’ families, the luxury luggage chain had closed 23 of its 57 stores across Japan.”

Perfect fit: The rise of sportswear (FT)
“Athletic brands are realising the potential benefits of making sports wear that is stylish as well as functional. They are even tapping into catwalk trends… This time last year ready-to-wear designers such as Alexander Wang and Marc Jacobs were unveiling their take on sports, and now sports wear makers have reciprocated.”

American Apparel: red, black and blue (New York Post)
“The ugly numbers keep piling up for American Apparel — and so do the unfinished financial reports. The racy clothing retailer — whose CEO Dov Charney was accused this month of keeping an 18-year-old woman as a sex slave in his Manhattan apartment — now estimates that it lost money last year as sales and margins dropped, according to a regulatory filing by the company.”

Fashion goes pop (Guardian)
“Something odd is happening with celebrities and style. The stars are becoming more daring, more avant garde than the designers. Nowadays, the biggest female names in music don’t particularly set themselves apart from their predecessors through musical style… but the way they look is a whole new world.”

Burberry Mens A/W Show 2011 in Milan | Source: Oki-ni CultureShoq

Today, BoF exclusively brings you Savigny Partners’ blow-by-blow analysis of the rapidly shifting luxury fashion business model which is undergoing transformation due to underlying shifts in consumer values, technology and globalisation

LONDON, United Kingdom — Luxury fashion is a very exciting business which can generate substantial returns if you get the formula right. Not only is there the ability to charge up to ten times the cost of manufacturing a garment and the potential to build a global business; apparel can be the beginning of a page-turning blockbuster, accessories and leather goods are the next chapter, fragrances and eyewear licenses the well-oiled plot. The story can have a happy ending with the promise of many sequels to come.

Success stories in this field are mouth-watering: Burberry’s share price climbed from 175p in November 2008 to 1,116p at the beginning of this year as the brand went from strength to strength and reportedly attracted the attention of a number of acquirers. Lanvin has embarked on a stellar growth trajectory with plenty of potential yet to come. However, not all blockbusters have a happy ending. The latest crisis has claimed a number of victims: Christian Lacroix, Gianfranco Ferré, Yohji Yamamoto, Luella Bartley to name a few.

In this article we will examine how the traditional designer business model has come under threat and what key factors we believe are necessary to ensure the success of a luxury fashion label today. Finally we will take a look at what lies ahead for the luxury fashion sector.

… Continue Reading

Hedi Slimane | Source: Limite

The Future Of Fashion, Part Three: Hedi Slimane (Style.com)
“[Slimane] has been both an insider (as, among other things, the highly influential designer of Dior Homme from 2000 to 2007) and an outsider… Here, he discusses today’s ‘costly and overwhelming fashion avalanche’.”

House of Fraser eyes Middle East expansion (FT)
“House of Fraser is set to announce plans to expand into the Middle East, as the department store chain aims to expand its customer base by taking advantage of demand for designer brands in the region.”

Designers embrace power of fashion’s blogging crowd (Reuters)
“Designers are embracing a growing crowd of internet-savvy fashion followers taking catwalk glamour beyond the coveted front row, with many young creators welcoming a trend they say brings them closer to consumers.”

Carolina Herrera opens new store in London (Telegraph)
“‘This is our fourth CH boutique,’ explains Herrera of the brand’s first London shop, ‘and we have another 18 opening around the world this year. We’re going global.’”

Gucci to launch heritage ad campaign (Drapers)
“The advertisements play on the brand’s heritage with images of workers in Gucci’s Florentine factory in the 1950s. The pictures, taken from Gucci’s archive, emphasise the history of the brand.”