Hussein Chalayan, Design Museum Exhibit | Source: Innovation Matters

Hussein Chalayan Buys Brand Back from Puma (Mediabistro)
“Chalayan has bought his brand back from Puma parent company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR). The French conglomerate acquired a majority stake in the designer’s London-based fashion business in March 2008.”

Designer Abboud Gains Limited Use of Name (WSJ)
“A federal district court in New York ruled that menswear designer Joseph Abboud, who sold his trademark and later left the company that owns it, can use his name to promote his new line of clothing with certain restrictions.”

Luxury Brands Embrace Social Media (Destination CRM)
“Coming out of the recession, these high-end retailers are embracing change…’The New Luxury Paradigm.’ Perhaps the most significant change is the increased adoption of social media, marked by an imperative to connect with consumers on a personal level.”

Luxury retailers find new ways to woo the well-heeled (Globe and Mail)
“The Hermès store on Toronto’s famed mink mile did something in December it had never done before: It brought in an engraver to personalize fragrance bottles with a customer’s initials, flowers or hearts.”

Jimmy Choo to collaborate with Ugg (Telegraph)
“The ‘Choo-Choo train’ is chugging on. Now, the shoemakers to the stars are collaborating with Ugg Australia on a limited edition collection of women’s sheepskin footwear.”

Gucci Facebook Page | Source: Facebook

Luxury Brands and the Case for $4,000 Sunglasses (IHT)
“Imran Amed, who runs a Web site called The Business of Fashion, said that two years ago, when he started urging big luxury brands to embrace social networking as a communications tool, executives of these companies told him the idea was ’stupid.’ He is getting a lot less of that these days.”

Zac Posen’s New Venture (WWD)
“Z Spoke is a new vocabulary for Posen, and the keyword is sportswear. ‘I think it’s going to surprise people,’ says Posen, who describes the 60-piece range, which is strong on separates such as knits, cotton shirting, blazers and pleated khaki shorts, as ‘minimalist and utilitarian.’”

Luxury Stores Trim Inventory and Discounts (NYT)
“All around Saks Fifth Avenue, merchandise is sold out. The $2,520 Marni shearling vest? Gone. The $5,295 Brioni leather bomber jacket? Only one left. The $1,995 over-the-knee Christian Louboutin boots? ‘All gone, except for this,’ said Nick Passerelli, a Saks employee, dangling a size 11 boot from his fingers.”

Will the high street scuff Jimmy Choo’s image? (Times)
“That does not solve the branding problem. If your business is selling trinkets (or shoes) to the truly rich and vulgar, does it make sense to market a range that tells the buyer that her wealth is, frankly, a bit juvenile. Or that her shoes are junior Choos?”

The Illusion of Brand Control (Harvard Business Review)
“You’ve probably heard by now that “your brand is no longer yours.” The assertion’s based on simple math. In the era of blogs, discussion boards, Facebook, Twitter, and other Web 2.0 tools, virtually everyone can get online and talk about your company and its offerings. As a result, the amount of information your marketing and PR departments can generate is only a small percentage of the total volume of content on the Internet about your firm.”

Nick Knight: Techno King (IHT)
“What makes this glossy magazine photo session different is not just that it takes place in a London museum… It’s that there are thousands, maybe millions, of other viewers out there in cyberspace following the live stream, watching the hairdresser flicking Natalia’s Mohawk or sending tweets about her luminous beauty.”

Mariella Burani mulls strategic investor (Reuters)
“Debt-laden Mariella Burani Fashion Group is weighing taking on a strategic investor after it failed to close a debt restucturing accord ahead of a Monday deadline, the luxury goods company said.”

H&M: October sales drop but Jimmy Choo range is a success (Drapers)
“Total sales across the group grew 7% in October compared to the same month the previous year. The results came as H&M opened its doors to its latest designer collaboration, this time with Jimmy Choo which drew crowds across the country this weekend.”

Asos enjoys overseas sales boost (BBC)
“A big push into new international markets has boosted sales at online fashion retailer Asos. International sales grew by 112% in the six months to 30 September. Asos added 56 countries to its reach and now trades in 114 places.”

Iman: The model entrepreneur (CNN)
“One of the most recognized models of the 1970s and ’80s, Iman has used her entrepreneurial skills to great effect in the fashion industry, with her own cosmetics business and in her charitable fund-raising work.”

Escada Autumn/Winter 09 | Source: Escada

A fashion coup (NY Post)
“There is a new player in the international bidding war for a European luxury brand. The owner of Faconnable has emerged as one of the buyers likely to scoop German fashion house Escada out of bankruptcy.”

Luxury malls languish in booming Brazil (UPI)
“Dozens of new luxury malls remain nearly empty all over Brazil. Luxury boutiques would not release sales figures but analysts and sales staff said that few high-end retailers in Brazil are turning profits.”

Valentino pins right balance with new line (Reuters)
“Italy’s Valentino has pinned down the right balance for the fashion brand whose founder retired last year with its latest womenswear collection receiving “great response” from press and buyers, its CEO said.”

Japan, Foucault, Warhol And The Luxury Economy (Agenda Inc.)
“Helge Fluch… is working on an emerging philosophy of luxury which draws from Pierre Bourdieu, Baudrillard, Foucault, and other post-modern social theorists, and more contemporary references such as Currid’s ‘The Warhol Economy’ and Kapferer and Bastien’s ‘The Luxury Strategy’.”

H&M latest: now we can sell anyone new Jimmy Choos (Times)
“The list of big names teaming up with the Swedish chain grows longer. We meet the woman who keeps collaborations coming.”

Reiss Autumn/Winter '09 | Source: Reiss

When a Bottom Line Isn’t Just About Profit (New York Times)
“As the fashion industry struggles with a global economic downturn and a rapidly changing consumer landscape, qualities that are at the heart of family and owner/founder businesses, like a consistent vision and a long-term approach, seem to be helping those companies ride out the storm.”

Fashion house Celine says 2009 year of transition (Reuters)
“French fashion house Celine, owned by luxury goods group LVMH, has been holding off opening new stores this year and hopes collections from creative director Phoebe Philo will underpin sales from 2010.”

Jimmy Choo and Inter Parfums Sign a Fragrance License Agreement (Yahoo)
“Inter Parfums, Inc. today announced that its subsidiary, Inter Parfums SA, and Jimmy Choo have signed a 12-year worldwide license agreement commencing on January 1, 2010 for the creation, development and distribution of fragrances under the Jimmy Choo brand.”

Paper Scrapes By In Style (Forbes)
“New York City’s Midtown skyscrapers host some of the biggest names in American media: Hearst, Condé Nast, Time Inc., The New York Times, CBS and News Corp. A dozen blocks south in the Koreatown neighborhood are the offices of Paper, a magazine that endures apart from the mainstream.”

Paris match: Giles Deacon’s tough glamour (Independent)
“British designer Giles Deacon’s brand of tough glamour made him a star of the London catwalks. This week he’s going to show the French capital what he’s made of, he tells Susannah Frankel.”

Jimmy Choo for H&M, courtesy of H&M

Jimmy Choo to Design for H&M (WSJ)
“Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB on Wednesday unveiled the name of its next designer collection team-up: British accessory brand Jimmy Choo.”

Burberry Chief Says Luxury Demand Is ‘Stabilizing’ (Bloomberg)
“Burberry Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Angela Ahrendts said luxury demand is leveling out as the market slowdown nears its first anniversary.”

Tod’s CEO sees some growth in 2009 (Reuters)
“Italian luxury shoe and bag maker Tod’s should see growth in 2009 despite the global economic downturn, its chairman and chief executive said on Tuesday.”

Pitti Uomo: Resilient mood on Day Two (Drapers)
“Exhibitors remained in a resilient mood at Pitti Uomo despite a quiet opening day and a general absence of UK buyers.”

Gucci Spring/Summer '09 ad campaign

Murjani to divest Gucci stores in India (Economic Times)
In an effort to recoup investments he’s made in the luxury sector, Mohan Murjani plans to divest the operations of Gucci in India.

Luxury goods succumb to the cycle (FT)
Despite some views to the contrary, the luxury industry is proving to be prone to cyclical ups and downs.

Malaysian shoe guru Jimmy Choo plans teaching academies (Yahoo)
“Malaysian-born luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo is planning a network of “Couture Shoe Academies” worldwide, with the first to open in his home country.”

A New Home for New York Fashion Week (New York Times)
After this month’s New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park, the event will move to the Lincoln Center for Spring/Summer 2010.

Macy’s to Centralize and Cut 7,000 Jobs (WWD)
As another sign that the retail landscape in New York is abysmal, Macy’s cuts 4% of their workforce or 7,000 jobs. (Subscription required)

LONDON, United Kingdom – Yesterday evening’s British Fashion Awards ceremony was a wonderful occasion to celebrate the best in British Fashion Talent. There was a very impressive list of awards categories and an even more impressive list of winners, but I couldn’t fight this nagging feeling that something was missing.

Then, I realised that there was not even one award to acknowledge the various talented business people who also make their own kind of fashion magic, and are an essential part of the British fashion eco-system.

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We love leaks.

The Business of Fashion has an exclusive first look at the new Jimmy Choo book to be published by Bloomsbury in the UK and the US in March 2009, entitled “The Towering World of Jimmy Choo: A Glamorous Story of Power, Profits and Pursuit of the Perfect Shoe.”

Lauren Goldstein Crowe, a fashion and business journalist, and Sagra Maceira de Rosen, head of the Luxury & Retail division of Reig Capital Group, have teamed up to write the first fashion book to cover both the design side and the business side with equal vigour and rigour.

The book tells the story of how one Tamara Yeardye (now known as Tamara Mellon), an accessories editor at British Vogue meets one Jimmy Choo, and turns him from couture shoe designer into £185m brand. Today, Jimmy Choo (the brand) kicks it heels with Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik in the triumvirate of high-potential luxury shoe businesses, but Jimmy Choo (the man) is no longer involved in the business that bears his own name.

… Continue Reading