Zara Spring/Summer 2010 | Source: Zara

Inditex profit climbs 17 percent as sales jump at start of fiscal year (Market Watch)
“Inditex posted a 17% rise in fourth-quarter profit on a 13% rise in revenue as the Spanish retailer saw strong growth in international markets and opened its fiscal year with rapid sales growth.”

Guess Q4 Profit Jumps 81per cent (RTT News)
“International fashion house Guess? Inc. said Wednesday its profit for the fourth quarter jumped 80.7% over last year, driven by higher sales and improved margins. Quarterly adjusted earnings grew 45.5%, and topped the analysts’ expectations.”

Lagerfeld to Help Tod’s With Its Hogan Brand (NYT)
“Karl Lagerfeld has a new world at his feet: The Italian company Hogan, part of the Tod’s footwear empire, said Wednesday that it had signed the designer for a special collection.”

Lessons Learned From Two Retailers (WSJ)
“What’s the difference between Amancio Ortega and Stephen Marks? Superficially, the two have much in common. Both started out as clothing manufacturers…Yet the fortunes of the two have radically diverged.”

All You Need Is Luxe (T Magazine)
“Midway through ‘Imagine: John Lennon,’ the 1988 documentary, Lennon and his new bride, Yoko Ono, are seen prancing through a London airport clad in matching white pantsuits… He knew how to have a good time and how to work a look.”

Roger Vivier Miss Viv | Source: Holt Renfrew

What The Rich Are Buying Now (Forbes)
“While most consumers aren’t returning to their pre-recession shopping patterns, there has been a rebound in luxury spending lately. Ultra affluent shoppers … have started to come out of hiding”

Miuccia and Me (WSJ)
“Bertelli, is the mastermind behind a label most people associate with his wife, Miuccia Prada, the avant-garde designer who has created global sensations out of industrial nylon black backpacks, wallpaper-motif pleated skirts, tiedyed dresses and thick high-heeled wedge shoes, to name just a few.”

Italy’s Della Valle ups stake in Saks to 7.1 pct (CNN Money)
“Italian businessman Diego Della Valle increased his stake in Saks Inc with a series of stock purchases this week, strengthening his position as the second-largest investor in the U.S. upscale department store operator.”

Fashion to hit Tokyo’s runways (Independent)
“Japan has produced some of the world’s most famous designers – from Issey Miyake to Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto and Hanae Mori – and the Japan Fashion Week Organization is aiming to build on their reputations for a new generation of fashion geniuses at the same time as enhancing Tokyo’s reputation as the center of the fashion business in Asia.”

It bags are back as luxury brand sales soar by 60% (Daily Mail)
“Fashion insiders have long been predicting its death. But it seems there is still life in the old ‘It bag’ yet. Selfridges says that it has seen a 60 per cent increase in the past year in sales of ‘must-have’ luxury handbags.”

“Vol de Jour” by Karl Lagerfeld | Source: Chanel.com

NEW YORK, United States — In recent seasons, while a deep economic downturn has threatened the long-term survival of many magazines, a number of major fashion brands have been creating their own editorial content, and perhaps no brand has done more of this than Chanel. Back in November, Olivier Zahm posted an image of several layouts from 31 Rue Cambon, announcing “the first Chanel magazine which I have art directed and designed for Karl Lagerfeld, to be distributed worldwide in all the Chanel stores.”

But whereas 31 rue Cambon will be a print publication, Chanel’s real content focus has been in the digital space, harnessing Karl Lagerfeld himself to create increasing volumes of original content for digital distribution, especially around the brand’s showcase “Métiers d’Art” collections, which underscore Chanel’s unique commitment to the traditional Parisian ateliers the firm acquired in 2002 — costume jewellers Desrues, embroiderers Lesage, milliners Michel, feather-makers Lemarié, cobblers Massaro, floral designers Guillet, and silversmiths Goosens — a strategic point of differentiation.

Having created runway videos, a silent film and short video teasers to accompany their Paris-Moscou Pre-Fall 2009 and Paris-Venice Resort 2009-2010 “Métiers d’Art” collections, Chanel recently launched a longer-format film and a full runway video for their Paris-Shanghai Pre-Fall 2010 collection. To accompany Paris-Shanghai, Mr. Lagerfeld has also been posting a series of behind the scenes video diaries documenting his design process, as well as fittings with models and the making of advertising campaigns, all released via YouTube and the Chanel News section of the brand’s website.

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Karl who?

PARIS, France – We don’t actively engage in the rumour mill here on BoF, but when the whispers involve Karl Lagerfeld, Olivier Theyskens and Alber Elbaz in a Lanvin and Chanel merry-go-round, it seems worthwhile to engage in a bit of Friday afternoon fashion speculation.

Today, Diane Pernet has published a bombshell post outlining this scenario:

“This is not a fact until you officially read it somewhere else but rumour has it that Karl Lagerfeld will not renew his contract at Chanel and that Alber Elbaz will take his place and Olivier Theyskens will take Alber’s place at Lanvin…Nothing is engraved in cement, these are still just rumours you will have to wait and see.”

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Michael Kors S/S 09 ad campaign, courtesy of Michael Kors

Michael Kors: an upbeat, uptown guy in a downturn (The Times)
“Michael Kors, one of fashion’s great survivors, is still selling in Manhattan and Palm Beach, despite the Madoff effect, and London is set to follow”

Delhi gets fashion pie, Mumbai the crumbs! (The Times of India)
Could India finally be getting it’s fashion act together or is it just another acronym to add to India’s fashion scene? “The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and Fashion Foundation of India (FFI) which organise Wills India Fashion Week and Delhi Fashion Week respectively – will come together under The Fashion and Design Promotion Council umbrella…”

Fashion stretches to fit plus-size teens (CNN)
“While companies across the country are downsizing, some in the fashion world have decided that it’s time for a bit of upsizing. This spring, the cheap chic emporiums, Target and Forever 21, will launch plus-size lines for teenagers.”

An interview with Karl Lagerfeld (Interview Magazine)
Karl Lagerfeld discusses life and work with supermodel Sigrid Agren, backstage before his Paris Fashion week show earlier this year.

A difficult balancing act

Karl Lagerfeld Discusses Luxury Internet Sales with European Commission (WSJ)
“The explosion of online retailing leaves fashion houses with a difficult balancing act between exclusive image and exposure.”

Fashion Sees The End Of The Runway (Forbes)
“The catwalk’s diminishing presence doesn’t come as a major surprise considering how much the role of the runway has changed over the years.”

Inside a Fashion Label’s Scramble to Survive (WSJ)
The Wall Street Journal profiles Five Four, a menswear label that is, “scrambling to survive.”

Nike’s ongoing restructuring (Just-Style)
Nike’s 1,400 job cuts are due to its restructuring plans rather than the economy.

What drives me crazy about most fashion industry coverage is that it is often limited to soundbites, tainted with marketing spin, and driven by editorial objectives. This perpetuates the notion of the superficial designer and undervalues the contributions made by truly innovative creative geniuses like Karl Lagerfeld.

It is rare to have an unedited, in-depth conversation with anyone influential in this business– let alone Karl Lagerfeld. But, not only did PBS interviewer Charlie Rose have this rare opportunity, he seized it with gusto in this clip I recently found on YouTube.

Together with Harriet-Mays-Powell, Fashion Editor of New York Magazine, he deftly takes Mr. Lagerfeld through a wide ranging one hour conversation (no easy task!) which goes from his design process to the role of celebrity in fashion to the relevance of haute couture to how fashion reflects the modern zeitgeist. Lagerfeld also declares that second lines are “condescending,” “bridge lines are for the dentists,” and that fashion today is about mixing.

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