Benetton Unhate campaign | Source: Foto Telegraf

Benetton to make decision on delisting (FT)
“The Benetton family will decide at a board meeting on Wednesday whether to delist the Italian knitwear group known for its brightly coloured jumpers after the company posted another plunge in profits as it struggles to compete with Inditex and H&M.”

Luxury Companies That Can Bring You Closer to the Good Life (Money Morning)
“A lot of consumers are hurting right now, but you wouldn’t know that looking at the earnings of major luxury companies. Many luxury companies like LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Hermès, and Coach Inc had a stronger-than-expected 2011 campaign.”

Bright Young Things (Vogue)
“The British Fashion Council has announced the launch of International Fashion Showcase – a platform for international emerging designers – which will take place during London Fashion Week. Nineteen embassies and cultural institutes across London will display work from over 80 rising designers, spanning the world from Belgium to Botswana.”

The Finnish Fashion Blogger Who Landed A Deal With Diesel (Business Insider)
“Sandra Hagelstam, 24, is the founder of the hot fashion blog 5inchdesandup.com. She started blogging to create a daily log of what she wears… ‘(The blog) has opened up doors for me I never would have imagined in terms of being able to design my own collection and collaborate with others.’”

Divided they stand: the new extremists (Telegraph)
“This may look like a classic case of Roundhead versus Cavalier. Or Minimalist meets Maximalist. But that’s too simplistic.Neither Mary Katrantzou or Osman Yousefzada can be that easily pigeonholed.”

Left: Mary Katrantzou’s ‘Jewel Tree’ dress, Right: A look from Christopher Raeburn S/S 2012 | Source: Style.com

LONDON, United Kingdom — Luxury casualwear and demi-couture don’t appear to have much in common. You can’t get much further from a hand-embellished crystal crinoline dress than a silk jersey t-shirt or a sporty windbreaker. But in recent seasons, many of fashion’s brightest young talents have been gravitating towards one extreme or the other. Labels like Alexander Wang, The Row and Christopher Raeburn have struck a chord with their easy, upscale styles, while the likes of Mary Katrantzou, David Koma, Rodarte and Jason Wu have attracted a healthy stream of high-end clientele with hand-worked looks that border on couture.

“This gravitating to extremes is a reflection on the way that today’s luxury-wearing women are dressing,” said Ruth Runberg, buying director at Browns, the influential London-based fashion boutique. “Very few are still living every hour of every day in a designer skirtsuit with matching heels and handbag — it is simply too formal and too stiff to be modern,” she continued. “While this client may still demand from designers the more special, high-design pieces for certain times, she also has a need for clothes to wear when she doesn’t need to be ‘dressed.’”

The rise of the dressed-down day-to-day look is also a clear response to the troubled economy. “When the recession hit, we saw demand grow exponentially for designers offering this cooler, more casual luxury look — The Row, Alexander Wang, ACNE,” said Runberg. “Generally, very formal dressing felt appropriate or tasteful at fewer and fewer occasions in the wake of the financial crisis.” But for those occasions when women do need a fancy frock, they are increasingly requesting only the most exquisite, intricate pieces, she explained. “In response to this shift in demand, young designers have gone the direction of offering their clients either very special demi-couture or luxury casualwear.”

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Shang Xia Cashmere | Source: Shang Xia

China’s homegrown luxury: Talking with Jiang Qiong Er (CIB)
“What does it mean to create a Chinese luxury brand from scratch? Jiang, artistic director and CEO of Shang Xia… does not bat an eye as she returns her answer: ‘I had a dream to bring about a renaissance of traditional Chinese craftsmanship.’”

New Luxury Frontier: A $5,600 Lotus Jacket (WSJ)
“Lotus jackets could further burnish the brand, which stresses textile innovation. As it competes with lower-cost production of wool and cashmere from China, Loro Piana has introduced other superluxury natural textiles, such as vicuña and so-called baby cashmere.”

Neiman Marcus Joins Borrowers Tapping Rally to Extend Loans (Bloomberg)
“Neiman Marcus Group Inc., the luxury retailer owned by private-equity firms, is offering to pay lenders more interest to extend maturities by three years on a term loan as it works to refinance $2.88 billion of debt.”

How luxury brands can move the needle with social marketing (Luxury Daily)
“No one-size-fits-all solution exists, but brand marketers need to sit down and think seriously about overall marketing strategies and which social media platforms would be the best complements.”

Katrantzou’s Crown (Vogue UK)
“[Mary Katrantzou was] named the winner of this year’s Swiss Textiles Award. The Greek-born designer… beat off stiff competition from fellow designers Jason Wu, Duro Olowu, Adam Kimmel, Juun J and Damir Doma.”

Peter Pilotto, Holly Fulton and Marios Schwab, A/W 09

LONDON, United Kingdom — Today marks the start of London Fashion Week, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the British Fashion Council and heralding the return of big brands like Burberry and Pringle and star talents who had left the city to show elsewhere, like Jonathan Saunders and Matthew Williamson.

But the strength of London has always been its emerging designers, whose creativity is born out of the unrivaled energy, top fashion schools and international fabric that make up London’s recipe for truly innovative fashion design. So, while it’s great to have the big brands back, we are also looking forward to seeing what’s in store from the newest crop of young designers.

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