Mugler's pre-show and backstage live stream | Source: WWD

Mugler’s Digital World (WWD)
“‘My job was to resurrect the brand, and to pump it up and bring it to the new decade… I had this amazing history and archive but there was nothing for me to work with to make it contemporary. For me, it was taking those amazing historical ideas and transforming them digitally. I design digitally, I communicate digitally, and I live digitally, and I wanted to incorporate that into the brand.’”

Julie Gilhart on Sustainability, Philanthropy, and Life after Barneys (Thread NY)
“Julie Gilhart has been flying fairly under the radar since her dismissal as Barneys’ fashion director in November (aside from touting favorite socially-conscious causes via Twitter), but Friday she appeared at Afingo’s Fashion Forum at FIT to discuss sustainability and philanthropy, and revealed a bit about her personal priorities and plans in the process.”

Spain’s Puig is front-runner for Jean Paul Gaultier (Reuters)
“Spanish perfume maker Puig is the front-runner to buy control of fashion brand Jean Paul Gaultier after China’s Li & Fung walked away but Interparfums is still in the race, fashion and banking sources said… Jean Paul Gaultier, which is still lossmaking, made revenues of 26 million euros in 2010.”

Carine Roitfeld, Chanel Stylist (WWD)
“Carine Roitfeld, a guest editor and stylist at Barneys New York this fall, has also been tapped by none other than Karl Lagerfeld. The designer just wrapped up shooting Chanel’s fall-winter campaign in Paris with… the former Vogue Paris editor in chief, as stylist.”

Ten minutes with Carven designer Guillaume Henry (Telegraph)
“If you have not heard of Guillaume Henry or Carven – it won’t be that way for long. The ex- Givenchy and Paule Ka designer moved to the storied French house two years ago to breathe new life into the brand, and has since been causing quite a stir.”

Malcolm McLaren, pictured in June 1994 | Source: Times

Causing Outrage: Remembering Malcolm McLaren (NY Times)
“Malcolm McLaren… was never really into fashion, though we fashion writers loved to pick his brain. Mr. McLaren saw the big cultural picture of which fashion was a part, and he sensed the small vibrations long, long before they reached the mainstream.”

LVMH signs luxury hotel deal with Egypt’s Orascom (FT)
“LVMH, the luxury goods company, is to enter the five-star hotel management business, initially through a partnership with Egypt’s Orascom Development Holdings, to build two resorts in the Middle East.”

American Apparel scramble (Retail Week)
“The “rummage” Sale of one-off samples, vintage pieces and old stock at the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane drew more people than expected and scuffles broke out. The police temporarily stopped the Sale. Ten police officers were injured and three people were arrested on disorder charges.”

H&M Q1 pretax beats forecast, March sales strong (Reuters)
“Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz beat expectations for first-quarter profit on Thursday, offsetting economic weakness while strong March sales suggested a return to higher spending in the second quarter.”

The Future Of Fashion, Part Five: Julie Gilhart (Style.com)
“Julie Gilhart is fashion’s free spirit… But as the fashion director of Barneys New York, she’s a free spirit who guides the buying decisions of a multimillion-dollar, multicity luxury retailer.”

Mark Fast and Osman Yousefzada | Source: Amira Fritz for Ever Manifesto

PARIS, France — Besides the requisite family members (Paul McCartney) and celebrities (Charlotte Rampling and Gwyneth Paltrow) in her audience and supermodels (Natalia Vodianova) and clothes (feminine tailoring and A-line skirts) on her catwalk, Monday’s Stella McCartney show also highlighted an enterprising new initiative focused on ethical luxury.

The brainchild of Monaco’s Princess Charlotte Casiraghi, Elizabeth von Guttman and Alexia Niedzielski, the EVER Manifesto is designed to showcase and celebrate how ethical principles can underpin luxury lifestyles. The project was launched during Milan Fashion Week with the support of Vogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani and then distributed to attendees of Stella McCartney’s show in Paris.

Today, BoF gives you an exclusive first peek at some of the compelling content offered up in EVER Manifesto 01 as Barneys New York Fashion Director and forward-thinking style maven Julie Gilhart talks to London-based fashion designer Duro Olowu about sustainability and consumption in the fashion industry.

Duro Olowu: What does sustainability mean in the fashion industry?

Julie Gilhart: I feel it’s about being more conscious of how clothes and accessories are made. Trying to ensure that wherever possible they’re made using organic or sustainable fabrics and supporting crafts people. The main thing is that the production of sustainable products in fashion should have less of an adverse impact on the planet unlike most kinds of mass production.

DO: I remember early on in their careers people like Margiela, Xuly Bet and other underground labels used recycling techniques as a means of expressing their avant garde vision of fashion and how clothes could be worn. Is sustainability now what recycling was in the 1990s?

JG: Yes to some degree. Designers like that were concerned with showing how fashion items could be worked and reworked, used and reused. It was about defining individual personal style by designing collections using recycled fabrics and garments, and making a strong statement against mass production. Hardly ever did the words sustainable or organic show up in the descriptions of these designers and their work. And yet, because these labels grew slowly but surely, it showed buyers, retailers and the fashion press that this kind of production, though limited in quantity, avoided a lot of the waste going on elsewhere in the industry.

DO: Why has the fashion industry been so slow to catch up with others in embracing sustainable or organic products?

JG: The fastest awareness was with organic food and cosmetics. When I was growing up in Texas, buying organic meant shopping at a little market in town frequented by few. But by the mid 1990s, the food and cosmetics industry were way ahead of fashion in embracing organic products and sustainable production methods. The main reason being that theirs was a more specific story that invited people into eating organic foods and using organic cosmetics. People became more aware of their health and wellbeing, and as such more conscious about what they put into their bodies and how these products were made. All by simply reading labels and content descriptions. Taste and feel were also very important.

DO: How has this education and knowledge impacted on the current luxury goods industry?

JG: Luxury is changing and the whole 1990s “expensive thing” is no longer seen as luxurious. Consumption cannot be stopped. However, in the current economic climate, the limited number of real customers for this industry must feel good about their purchases, expensive or not. This “conscious consumption” is not a trend. It is a movement. One that has forced smart designers and brands alike to become much more transparent about where things are made, what they are made from and under what conditions they are produced. Issues of sustainability and fair trade are now part of the appeal of fashion even with luxury goods.

DO: And still important is design in this new consumer movement?

JG: Extremely so. It is still about having beautifully designed things that fit well and feel good. What is new is that people are now aware that these things can be made in a sustainable way without compromising the result. And high-end fashion in limited numbers adds to the cache of the brand. Like with your work, which has always incorporated mixing unused vintage and rare couture fabrics with your own prints and other contemporary fabrics that you produce locally.

DO: Absolutely. For me beautiful fabrics and limited production is the key to creating special pieces that are desirable to the client. Production conditions are also crucial.

JG: Absolutely. Approved factory strategy is a major thing now. US companies manufacturing in countries like China are now stipulating the manufacture of fewer goods in better working conditions.

DO: But doesn’t this conflict with the bottom line cost efficient needs of these big companies?

JG: Yes and no. As these companies become more aware of the disaster that the human race is creating on the planet they are seeking a new way of continuing to manufacture and sell more cost effectively without abusing the planet and its workforce. They realise that they can do this in a sustainable manner which requires pioneering programmes and legislation. The  concious consumers awareness of the efforts of these brands in this regard saves these companies huge amounts of money as cheaper advertising is required. Any thing that saves these companies large amounts of money in this dire economic climate is a big plus. For them, the new sustainability is about sustaining a business!

DO: Barneys New York has always supported  and sponsored organic and sustainable  projects and products in fashion.  For example the Future Fashion project in 2008 which invited major fashion brands to participate in a runway show using sustainable fabrics for the first time. How successful was this and what does the future hold?

JG: The event was a huge success covered by all the major fashion magazines and press. Over 30 important designers including Bottega Venetta, YSL, Isabel Toledo, Proenza Schouler, Margiela, Versace, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and you donated total looks and showed the power of the message of sustainability while maintaining fashion credibility. More recently we have collaborated on the “New Vintage” collection with YSL. A limited collection of pieces by them all made from organic cotton.  We are also embarking on a Loomsgate project featuring clothes in prints of animals considered endangered species. All proceeds go to the “Defenders of Wildlife” organisation.

DO: What’s a simple garment that the average consumer can start being more educated about?

JG: Start with being conscious of how you buy denim. Each pair of conventionally produced jeans contains, on average, enough pesticides to fill one zip lock bag. Read the label to see where and how it was made. It’s good for you and even better for the planet.

EVER Manifesto 01 was generously supported by Loro Piana and Vogue Italia.