Gianfranco Ferré Spring 2009 | Source: Por Homme

Ferré Struggles to Find Its Feet (WSJ)
“After Mr. Ferré passed away in 2007, the brand’s parent company IT Holding SpA went into government-backed bankruptcy administration in 2009. The brand functioned under bankruptcy receivership until Dubai-based retailer Paris Group bought the Italian label in March. Now, just seven months later, the house’s future is in question again after allegations of mismanagement under the new owners.”

How Spanish Brand Loewe Woos China (Forbes)
“Less than a month after its spring 2012 runway show in Paris, the Spanish luxury brand Loewe (famous worldwide for their leather) mounted a recreation of the full show in Hong Kong today, October 19. The full line up from the Paris show was flown over for the event. When you really think about it, the Hong Kong Loewe show was a much bigger affair than the one held in Paris because it had three different sessions for regional press.”

One Month, Too Much Fashion (NY Times)
“For some retailers and editors, who have complained of the ever-expanding duration of the shows and the feeling of being harassed to attend them all, it would be a welcome development for one city or another to fall by the wayside. Condé Nast editors have already sided with the teams in New York and London. It may be useful to remember that fashion capitals come and go. Cities like Florence, Rome and Barcelona once held greater status in a calendar now crowded with upstarts in New Delhi, Berlin and Seoul.”

Christian Louboutin Heads Back to Court Over Red Sole Trademark (The Cut)
“In August, Judge Victor Marrera ruled against Christian Louboutin’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Yves Saint Laurent from selling red-soled shoes…Filed Monday, the plaintiff’s appeal brief restates its arguments and focuses on what it deems Judge Marrero’s ‘errors of law in determining that Louboutin’s red outsole mark was likely invalid.’”

An Intellectual Fashion | Rick Owens (Another)
“The Californian Paris-based designer Rick Owens is famed for his artistic take on dressing, his avant-garde eye and his daring designs. Iconic in the fashion field, he also creates furniture and works intensely in connecting clothes with a deeper metaphysical and creative experience.”

Peter Marino | Source: Peter Marino Architect

The fashion industry depends heavily on a wide variety of creatives apart from just fashion designers. In our new series, The Creative Class, BoF highlights success stories, insights and advice from the most talented creatives working in fashion today.

NEW YORK, United States — “Dude, it’s ninety-five percent hard work!” the black leather-clad Peter Marino told BoF on his rise to the position of luxury fashion’s most influential architect. And work hard he has. Since founding his own architecture firm in New York in 1978, Mr. Marino has designed many of the world’s most forward-thinking retail temples, redefined the luxury flagship experience and established a decades-long tenure as the “go-to guy” for powerhouse firms like Chanel and LVMH.

“My first commissions were from Andy Warhol, Yves Saint Laurent and the Agnelli family,” said Mr. Marino. “Then the fashion world took notice. I started doing retail in the 80’s when Fred Pressman hired me to revitalise Barneys, which was then a sleepy men’s store. We introduced a really novel concept — no one had ever seen anything like it before.”

It was while working for Barneys that Mr. Marino met many of the world’s leading fashion designers: Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Giorgio Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Miuccia Prada. “I worked with every single one of those designers to bring their boutiques into Barneys, which was tough, because we wanted a very cool and hip look for Barneys, yet I had to keep the designers happy,” he said. “Somehow, I was able to do that, so I got into it as a career.”

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Lisa Montague, Chief Executive Officer, Loewe

MADRID, Spain — Many of the world’s most legendary luxury brands strike a delicate balance between a strong heritage and a link to contemporary culture and society. In the lucrative market for leather goods, LVMH-owned Loewe, Spain’s answer to Hermès, has a long history of beautiful craftsmanship and a strong link to the Spanish royal family. But despite this rich heritage, Loewe has for many years remained a sleeping beauty, failing to find a contemporary articulation that would quicken the pulse of the young fashion mainstream.

In 2008, Loewe’s stewards at LVMH initiated a repositioning, appointing Stuart Vevers — whose background as the leather goods genius behind the repositioning of Mulberry made him a very good choice — as the brand’s creative director. Then, last year, Lisa Montague, who worked closely with Mr. Vevers as chief operating officer at Mulberry, took the reins as Loewe’s chief executive, reuniting the team that successfully put the British leather goods brand on the global fashion map.

While it remains to be seen whether Vevers and Montague will be able to replicate their success at Mulberry, there are signs that the Loewe’s profile is on the rise: flip through the pages of influential magazines like French Vogue and Loewe is featured in editorial spreads alongside better-known fashion darlings like Givenchy and Gucci. Meanwhile Angelina Jolie, Madonna and Sienna Miller have been photographed toting around the label’s best selling Amazona bag, a sure sign that less famous women will soon follow suit.

The numbers look promising as well. In 2009, as a result of global expansion, especially in China, the company’s earnings rose 7.5 percent to reach an estimated €115m, a good performance in what was otherwise a very tough year for luxury brands, especially those without mega-brand status like Loewe. (Loewe declined to confirm or comment on these figures.)

With a Loewe flagship store designed by Peter Marino, due to launch in London’s Mount Street this Spring, BoF spoke with Ms. Montague at the brand’s Madrid headquarters to discuss the on-going repositioning, her working relationship with Mr. Vevers, and the legendary Spanish brand’s plans for international expansion.

… Continue Reading

Detail, double breasted Luciano Barbera suit | Source: The Sartorialist

Is Italy Too Italian? (NY Times)
“The bolts of wool and cashmere produced at [Carlo Barbera] mill, can indeed be described as high performance, among the finest in the world… The financial performance of the mill that creates this fabric, on the other hand, is far from stellar.”

Spanish Brand Focuses on Functionality as It Re-Enters the U.S. (WSJ)
“From 2005 to 2007, Stuart Vevers was known for creating showy studded and tasseled “it” handbags… [Now] Mr.Vevers is trying to dust off Loewe, a Spanish leather-goods brand owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. To do that, he’s been leaning toward simplicity over bling, functionality over flash.”

Looking forward at Ralph Lauren future (Just Style)
“A better-than-expected set of first quarter results will have pleased the powers that be at Polo Ralph Lauren, but it’s what happens next which holds the most interest for the US company.”

Liz Claiborne revamp drives upbeat outlook (Reuters)
“Revamping efforts at Liz Claiborne Inc. seem to be working as the U.S. clothing maker posted a much smaller-than-expected loss and said it would turn profitable on an adjusted basis in the fourth quarter.”

A dream that led from dolls to the First Lady (Independent)
“The rise to prominence of a young fashion design graduate from West Africa via East London shows that, with talent, a stroke of luck and a contact as highly placed as Nelson Mandela or Michelle Obama, anything is possible.”

Empty retail space

Retail rents to drop 20% by end of next year (Drapers)
“Retail rents are expected to drop by almost a fifth by the end of next year, as struggling retailers demand cheaper leasing deals in the recession.”

Loewe appoints Lisa Montague as CEO (Drapers)
“Lisa Montague will be reunited with designer Stuart Vevers when she joins luxury brand Loewe as chief executive later this year.”

India tells foreign luxury brands to wait a decade (Mid Day)
“With local partners pulling out as franchisees of international luxury brands, and a non-luxe label being the only one to arrive in India this year, Shweta Shiware asks if the biggest names in luxury failed at mapping the Indian buyer’s mind.”

Mitzi: the handbag that’s recession-proof (Independent)
“Financial analysts and fashion experts alike have been predicting the death of the It-bag for months, but it seems that designer handbags have risen from the grave, despite the economic sickness threatening many high-end fashion brands.”