Gucci Spring/Summer 2011 Campaign | Source: Fashion Fame

The reasons behind the major shake up at Gucci Group (CPP Luxury)
“International media as well as major luxury players have been taken by surprise this week by several major changes within PPR/Gucci Group and it seems this is just the beginning…. Francois Henri Pinault has radically changed management… responding fast to market conditions.”

Dropping Galliano lets Dior open new chapter (Reuters)
“Behind the scenes, Dior is telling industry watchers it is glad Galliano is gone, as it wanted to move away from his theatrical style and embrace a more subtle and refined elegance to better reflects post-economic crisis society. ‘This could be a driver for positive change, which is what Dior itself was looking for.’”

Balenciaga for Today (IHT)
“Mr. Ghesquière, who had gone punk and downtown last season, faced a difficult task. No longer the catwalk ingénue spicing up a house with a glorious past, he had to prove that he could move ahead within the spirit of the august founder. The designer’s process was via fabric, technique and cut.”

Hermès Annual Profit Jumps, Margins Exceed Forecast (Bloomberg)
“[Hermès] reported a surge in full-year earnings as improved confidence among wealthy customers boosted revenue. Operating profit jumped 44 percent to 668.2 million euros ($933 million)… Sales rose 25 percent to 2.4 billion euros and margins exceeded a forecast that Hermes raised last month.”

Thank goodness for Lady Gaga! (Telegraph)
Thank goodness for Lady Gaga! The bonkers blonde from New York has single-handedly rescued a week that on paper should be one of the high points of the entertainment calendar, but instead was fast becoming a car crash of disappointment… The party felt like a complete damp squib until the platinum blonde vision of Stefani Germanotta [arrived] making her catwalk debut at the Thierry Mugler show.”

Dying Cambodian silk using flowers, leaves, and bark | Source: Samatoa

Cambodia Slowly Reweaves Its Silk Industry (NY Times)
“Far from the glamour at fashion weeks in America and Europe, Cambodia’s silk industry is struggling to regain the foothold it lost during years of political and civil unrest.”

Armani Hitches Wagon to Gaga (WSJ)
“The 76-year-old designer’s multimillion-dollar partnership with the 24-year-old pop idol has put Mr. Armani ‘in a new creative spotlight… It is also an effort by one of fashion’s oldest figures to rejuvenate his €1.5 billion business.”

Luxury fashion retailers: functionality or flash? (Retail Bulletin)
“Eight out of 10 globally recognised luxury brands are now selling directly to customers online. Chanel and Versace are the only two retailers not currently offering customers any transactional options.”

Forbes Price Index Of Luxury Goods Keeps Pace With Inflation (Forbes)
“Over the 12 months ended in August–a period in which the aggregate net worth of the Forbes 400 Richest People in America rose 8%, from $1.27 trillion up to $1.37 trillion.”

Italy’s Top Designers Take Over Milan (WSJ)
“It’s a different Milan fashion editors and buyers are descending upon this season. More sophisticated. More serene. And that’s to say nothing of the clothes.”

Giles Deacon confirmed as Creative Director of Ungaro (Vogue.com)
“The new appointment is bound to bring a close to an unsettled atmosphere at the French house that has reigned since Emanuel Ungaro himself retired in 2004.” (RSS and email subscribers: watch exclusive BoF interview here)

Phillips-Van Heusen beats, but Tommy weighs in Q2 (Reuters)
“Analysts had been expecting a bigger boost from Tommy Hilfiger, the preppy apparel brand recently acquired by the clothing maker, but the company cited weaker seasonal business trends in that unit for the second quarter.”

Prada Q1 revenue up on strong retail sales (Reuters)
“Italian fashion house Prada posted a 26 percent rise in first-quarter consolidated revenue on Monday, boosted by strong sales in all main markets, including Europe.”

Reassessing the ’70s: A Brave New Wave (IHT)
“It has been dismissed by opinion makers as ‘the decade that taste forgot’ — the era of bell-bottom pants, glam rock glitter, clammy polyester, shrunken sweaters and a palette of orange, brown and avocado. Yet suddenly ’70s style is being re-assessed.”

The world’s gone Gaga (Times Online)
“As the Gaga juggernaut sweeps back into town this week for a second stab at her British tour, we thought it was time to take stock of the great lady’s fashion effect.”

Michael Jackson by Zaldy | Source: Zaldy Goco

Yesterday, we learned about the beginnings of Zaldy Goco’s work in the music and fashion industries. Today, in part two, we speak to him about his close collaboration with Michael Jackson for the This is It concert extravaganza.

NEW YORK, United States — When Zaldy Goco answered the phone last April and learned that Michael Jackson’s creative team wanted him to develop some costume ideas for the King of Pop’s long-awaited comeback concert series in London, he could scarcely believe his luck. A long time fan of the sometimes-maligned, but always-loved music legend, Zaldy set about developing an approach for creating costumes that at once hearkened back to iconic images from Jackson’s past, while also making him relevant for contemporary fashion of the day.

The results were amazing and once the decision was made to make Zaldy the chief costume designer for the upcoming concerts, the process to get there involved five up close-and-personal fittings between Zaldy and Michael Jackson over a period of a several weeks, including the last fitting, just days before the singer’s sudden death.

Zaldy kindly spoke to BoF about the experience of designing for Michael Jackson and shared some photos of Jackson from the fittings, published here for the very first time.

BoF: And now for the topic that I am sure everyone is most interested to hear about: your collaboration with Michael Jackson for the This Is It tour. How did that come about?

It was such a surprise that began with a really casual phone call from someone who was representing Michael’s choeographer, Travis Payne. It was already the end of April and the tour was starting in July, and he asked me if I was interested in making some outfits. Of course I said yes! But, I really didn’t take it all that seriously as I knew that Michael had only ever really worked with one designer in the past named Michael Bush. He had developed all of Michael’s iconic looks for Thriller and Bad. So, by no means was it definite. I thought maybe I’d get to make a couple of outfits — maybe.

This is the thing. When they first asked me to do this, they said “we need you to re-invent Michael.” And my first thought was that Michael does not need to be re-invented, especially not now. He is one of the only artists who created iconic looks and iconic images to go along with iconic songs. It’s not necessary for those looks to be reinvented — they just needed to be made more relevant for today. Nobody wants to see a Thriller jacket that it isn’t red and black. People were going to want to see those iconic images, made more relevant to the times.

Michael Jackson trying out Billie Jean Light-up outfit | Source: Zaldy Goco

They all kind have their own specialness for me. But, if you ask anyone who works with me, they will always say the We Are The World outfit, embroidered with all kinds of techniques from around the world — from African to American Indian to Japanese to Chinese. It was quite a mix, and very beautiful.

And then of course there was the light-up outfit for Billie Jean, which was a collaboration with Philips Technology, which really, really made him the happiest. The last time I saw him was about six days before we were leaving for London, and I tried these pants on him and he was silent; completely stunned. After about thirty seconds, he said “It’s everything I’ve always wanted.”

So, that was pretty special for me.

I experience anti-climax after every project, but I was in disbelief. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had been living and breathing Michael Jackson for weeks on end. When I design for a musician, I immerse myself completely in their music. It just has to play in my head the whole time.

I decided I needed to lock myself away in a hotel to get away, but even that didn’t work. Everywhere I went, people were listening to Michael Jackson. There was no escape.

BoF: Did you have any sense that he might be unwell?

Michael Jackson in costume fitting | Source: Zaldy Goco

Not at all. And that is the thing that I think the movie really shows. He was quite lively, energetic and strong. And, he was super in tune to all the details. Every time I met with him, he was always catching little details. When I’d do fittings with him, he was very solid and very strong.

BoF: Last year was quite a year for you. Doing Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson in one year is pretty big. What lies ahead for you 2010?

It’s funny because I kept seeing the two of them side-by-side in stories or hearing their names mentioned in the same story. And then, all of a sudden I was working with both of them. But right now, I’m pretty excited to get back into the Scissor Sisters, who are launching their third album. But also, last year was a big music year, and I’m thinking of leaning back towards fashion again.

There could be. Right now I am working on a gown for the Met Ball. So, let’s see. I’m working on a couple of things.

BoF: Thanks very much Zaldy for sharing your story with us.

Imran Amed is Founder and Editor of The Business of Fashion ]]> http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/01/bof-exclusive-zaldy-goco-talks-about-designing-for-michael-jackson-and-lady-gaga-part-ii.html/feed 17 http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/01/bof-exclusive-zaldy-goco-talks-about-designing-for-michael-jackson-and-lady-gaga-part-i.html http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/01/bof-exclusive-zaldy-goco-talks-about-designing-for-michael-jackson-and-lady-gaga-part-i.html#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:52:08 +0000 Imran Amed, Editor http://www.businessoffashion.com/?p=9533

Lady Gaga by Zaldy in the Monster Ball Tour | Source: Fan site

To further explore the powerful synergy between the fashion and music industries, BoF brings you an exclusive two-part interview with fashion designer Zaldy, known for his close connection to the music industry’s biggest stars.

NEW YORK, United States — Zaldy Goco is one of those rare creative talents who moves seamlessly between music and fashion. For almost two decades, the New York-based fashion designer has been working at close range with music stars to create looks that fit with their music and amplify their personal style, taste and aesthetic to millions of fans. From Rufus Wainwright to RuPaul, Mary J. Blige to Jennifer Lopez, and Mick Jagger to the Scissor Sisters, Zaldy’s fashion-meets-music resume is impressive and diverse indeed.

And, while his first big break may have come from working with Gwen Stefani on her L.A.M.B. label, it wasn’t until 2009 that Zaldy’s career reached its apogee. Last year, in quick succession, both the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, and the reigning queen of the online music industry, Lady Gaga, called on Zaldy to create the costumes for their concert tours. This is particularly noteworthy as both Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga have used costumes to project their unique, star qualities and create iconic images.

In the first part of an in-depth, two part interview, BoF spoke exclusively with Zaldy about how he got started working in the music/fashion space, collaborating with Gwen Stefani, and becoming part of the now legendary Haus of Gaga for her Monster Ball Tour.

BoF: Fashion and music have always been connected, but nobody else seems to have made the connection as closely as you. When did you start working so closely with musicians and why?

I’ve been friendly with the music community for a long time, going all the way back to the nineties band Deee-lite. I’d always wanted to be a part of both industries, and the idea of putting clothes on stage for performance was very new and interesting to me. I realised that it was possible to work in both music and fashion at the same time because they are so linked together. My real focus was fashion, but I entertained what was presented to me and if it was an exciting project I just went with it.

My real start was working with Rufus Wainwright. We worked on so many videos together — “Poses”, “California,” and “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” — and several album covers as well. In this way, he was very important to my beginnings in the music industry and we remain very close friends to this day. From there I started to work with Antony and the Johnsons, Melissa Auf Der Maur from Hole, and then it went mainstream with Gwen, Britney, Janet and the likes!

BoF: Your first big music collaboration was with Gwen Stefani on her L.A.M.B. Line, which eventually grew into a substantial business?

Yes. Around the time when L.A.M.B. was just starting, Gwen just asked me one day, then and there, if I’d be interested in working with her on it. And I said “Of course” without knowing really knowing what that meant.

You have to remember the idea of music and fashion was just beginning, and celebrity fashion lines were a completely new phenomenon and generally looked upon unfavourably. But I loved Gwen so much and I was a big fan, so I decided to keep my own line and design for Gwen as well.

BoF: And so, for example, when you design for someone like Gwen Stefani, did you have a different creative process?

When I work on my own collection, I pretty much have my muses in place. But when I work with any musician, especially someone like Gwen, she is the muse. Musicians want to work with you because they want to get a certain perspective from me, but it really is a collaboration. It is a sharing of ideas. There’s a different creative energy. It’s not just about you. In fact, inspirations may come from somewhere you never expected.

It’s sort of like a think tank. We just bring our ideas together and just work from there.

BoF: You recently completed the costumes for Lady Gaga’s ongoing Monster Ball tour. She has a whole creative team around her, including stylist Nicola Formichetti and the infamous Haus of Gaga. How do you work with this whole team of people to realise this whole concert vision?

For sure. Gaga has a whole team, a whole package, and whole creative energy around her. I couldn’t help but wonder how it was going to be to work together. I had never really worked with anyone else who had someone like Nicola or a creative director or that many advisers. But, the best thing about working with Gaga and meeting with her in the beginning was finding out how genuine those ideas were to her, whether or not it came from meetings with the Haus of Gaga.

Her instincts were always right on target.

BoF: Speaking of which, can you tell me exactly what the Haus of Gaga is?

I’m not even sure exactly what it is. As she explained it to me, it’s the collective of people who come together to work with her creatively. But, it’s not as if she’s going to launch a fashion line or anything — at least that’s what she told me then. But, I guess you never know. After all, she is a capable, multi-talented overachiever with a lot to give!

Tomorrow, in part two, we’ll talk to Zaldy about working up-close with Michael Jackson and share some exclusive photographs from fittings, taken by Zaldy himself.

LONDON, United Kingdom — Last night on X-Factor, one of the most popular shows in British television history, Lady Gaga laid down the digital pop star gauntlet again, dressed in Gareth Pugh’s fantastical creations from Spring/Summer 2007 while performing Bad Romance, the first release from her second album The Fame Monster. The song originally debuted at the seminal show of the Spring/Summer 2010 collections staged by Alexander McQueen. As was widely reported at the time, when Ms. Gaga announced the song’s debut to her more than 1 million Twitter followers, it promptly crashed the SHOWStudio site which was live-streaming the McQueen show.

Since then, Gaga has performed Bad Romance at the American Music Awards, the Ellen Degeneres Show, the Jay Leno Show, and now X-Factor, reaching millions of viewers around the world. But even more interestingly, she has gone beyond the typical old media promotion circuit, using the internet to create viral interest in her music and day-to-day antics.

The results are impressive to say the least. Since the Bad Romance video was launched on YouTube on November 10th, it has been viewed more than 30 million times. To put that into perspective, Madonna’s current single, Celebration, has only been viewed 1 million times since it debuted on YouTube on October 14th. In total, Lady Gaga’s videos have been viewed more than 500 million times on YouTube, the equivalent of almost 40 appearances on X-Factor, which attracted an estimated 13 million viewers yesterday evening.

It’s no wonder that Forbes Magazine recently declared that “Lady Gaga isn’t the music industry’s new Madonna. She’s its new business model.” However, what the Forbes article failed to note is that Lady Gaga may very well be revolutionising the fashion business as well.

On his blog, Lady Gaga’s stylist Nicola Formichetti, who is also the Creative Director of Dazed & Confused and Fashion Director of Vogue Hommes Japan, has credited the outfits worn by Ms. Gaga in every shot of the Bad Romance video, in the same way that one might see editorial credits in fashion magazines. Given the original Alexander McQueen connection, it’s not surprising that many of the fashion credits in this case go to Mr. McQueen, but Formichetti has also dressed Ms. Gaga in clothes by young designers from around the world, including London-based milliner Nasir Mazhar and American designer Benjamin Cho, providing these new talents with a powerful PR platform that brings fashion into the digital age. In this way, Ms. Gaga may now be the single most powerful editorial machine for fashion designers looking for mass exposure.

Of course, there has always been a connection between fashion, music and film, which feed off of each other for inspiration and amplify the collective interest of consumers. The first step in solidifying this was the launch of MTV in the 1980′s and the birth of the narrative music video, as pioneered by Michael Jackson and others. But back then, musicians relied on the networks to select and broadcast their videos to reach their audiences, whereas today, artists can communicate directly with their fans en masse, as Lady Gaga has shown, and videos are viewed on demand by consumers who choose the content they want to consume. And, while Michael Jackson’s red zippered jacket inspired his fans in a similar way as Gaga does with her fashions today, there was no easy way of really tracking down who made the jackets or where they could be found. Bolstered by the power of the Internet, the new fashion-music-film troika is an even stronger force to be reckoned with.

Incidentally, there’s one other brand that appears conspicuously in the fashion credits of Bad Romance. “The Haus of Gaga” is credited with several items from different scenes from the video. Could an eponymous Lady Gaga fashion label be the next phase in Ms. Gaga’s plans for global domination? Stay tuned.

Imran Amed is Editor of The Business of Fashion

Heir to Gucci Empire Reveals Plan to Double Bet on Fashion (Wall Street Journal)
“A 12-person team within PPR has drawn up two lists. The first enumerates a new set of 20 possible industry buyers for the three retail businesses up for grabs, Mr. Pinault said during the interview. The second list targets a dozen potential luxury and lifestyle brands PPR would be interested in buying.”

Tailoring the Image to Fit the Clothes (NY Times)
“It is Patrick Li’s peculiar job, as an art director and graphic designer for some of the hottest new clothing designers in the business, to articulate their vision in the single nanosecond it takes to look at the name on the label of a dress or a T-shirt.”

Luxury brands avoid price cuts at all costs (Toronto Sun)
“Tiffany, like all retailers, has struggled during the global economic downturn as consumers tightened their purse strings. As a result, North American big box, discount and grocery stores have resorted to drastic prices cuts to lure shoppers. Metro and Loblaws, Sears and Walmart Canada have all gone head-to-head in price wars. Luxury brands however, have done quite the opposite. Instead, exclusive shops have opted to shrink inventory levels to avoid offering steep discounts.”

Steve J & Yoni P Makes Waves in London (Korea Times)
“Rising designers Steve Jung and Yoni Pai are making a name for themselves on the British fashion scene with their chic, impeccable designs with quirky details.”