Canton Road, Hong Kong | Source: Asian Central

Hong Kong is firmly at the heart of China’s new cultural revolution (Guardian)
“The richer China has become, the more they visit Hong Kong to shop. ‘Luxury brands are forecasting year-on-year growth of 35%,’ says Helen Willerton, former managing director of Chloé Asia Pacific. ‘Mainlanders fly in for a few days, save money on accommodation by staying in three-star hotels, and spend on high-end retail – watches, jewellery and fashion.’”

Gap weaves fabric of L.A. into 1969 jeans campaign (LA Times)
“To bring its 1969 Premium Jeans line closer to the heart of the designer denim industry, the apparel giant last year opened a creative design office in a gritty section of downtown L.A. near the fashion district. Now Gap is putting its L.A. vibe at the core of a global marketing campaign.”

European vs American luxury: is there a difference? (FT)
“Proenza often seems more design-led than many of its NY fashion week peers… which are more rooted in the American sports wear tradition of combining super-luxurious materials with super-uncomplicated shapes. This is one of the reasons VFG bought them it the first place; its work does not, in fact, scream ‘American!’ It sort of whispers ‘cool chic.’”

Chloé’s Former Chairman Is Taking Over at St. John (The Cut)
“Ralph Toledano, who was the CEO and chairman of Chloé for eleven years before stepping down last August, is said to be the new chairman of St. John, reports WWD.”

Milk Meets Nicola Formichetti (Milk Blog)
“The digital approach is very important, it’s the future. But we should not forget about our reality, the physical world. We always need to embrace new things, but never be dependent on them.”

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.”

Thierry Mugler Autumn/Winter 2011 show | Source: Youtube

At Mugler, Genius and Its Limits (NY Times)
“Mr. Formichetti’s show was not a work of genius, but it was a show about genius in the present moment — its limits, its futility. If Paris couture is about history, craft and masters, the new Mugler is about nonspecialists, quick communication and downgrading the role of technique and craft, at least in the heavy, earnest sense.”

Carine’s Next Step (Vogue UK)
“Carine Roitfeld has finally confirmed her next move post-French Vogue – the former editor is teaming up with Barneys to become the store’s guest editor and stylist for autumn/winter 2011-12. Roitfeld will style and edit the American store’s advertising campaign (photographed by Mario Sorrenti), catalogue, newsletters, as well as the Madison Avenue windows.”

Dolce and Gabbana May Face a Criminal Trial (NY Times)
“Accused of defrauding the Italian revenue agency and failing to pay taxes on more than $1 billion in income, they are expected to be told… whether prosecutors have gathered enough evidence to warrant a criminal trial. So far, the case has generated remarkably little fanfare in Italy, a country where tax evasion is regarded by many people, including some in the fashion world, as a national sport.”

A Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor: Fashion Icon (The Cut)
“When it came to style, Elizabeth Taylor was fearless. The diamonds, the hair, the cleavage: She rocked it out everywhere she went. In her younger days, she favored plunging necklines with straps poised to slip off her shoulders, her hair like a dark cloud around her thickly made-up eyes.”

F(AA)shion Dialogues (Dazed Digital)
“In this search for fresh approaches some fashion designers developed collaborations with architects… Trying to explore the new possibilities offered by fashion and architecture, the Architectural Association School launched the ‘F(AA)shion’ workshop, an intensive design-based programme of lectures.”

Social Media Breeds Edvertorial (WWD)
“‘It’s a new way of communicating with consumers… an editorial approach to telling your brand story, and the social-media space just lends itself so beautifully to that combination.’”

Everyday Escada? Life After ’80s Power Dressing (WSJ)
“Over the past two years, in an effort to add new customers, Mr. Sälzer cut Escada’s prices by 20%… reduced the size of the collections by a third, while increasing the number of daywear pieces.”

Power of the Cyberimage (IHT)
“‘Nicola has an extremely prophetic future radar — a kinetic link to tomorrow’s trends today. His laser-guided vision makes his extreme point of view a take-it-or-leave-it proposition.’”

Value of being ‘Made in Italy’ (FT)
“The demise of ‘Made in Italy’ have proved to be greatly exaggerated. In 2010, the country’s exports are estimated to have grown 12.5 per cent, far outpacing the 4.4 per cent rise in global gross domestic product.”

Designers Anonymous (NY Times)
“Suddenly anonymity, the kind that lets you blend into a crowd, looks pretty desirable, too. It certainly did during a week of Milanese fashion shows that were so unostentatious as to be generic. Almost across the board, designers here chose a low-key approach.”

Azzedine Alaïa | Source: Lane Crawford

Azzedine Alaïa: The Master of the Female Form (NY Times)
“Maybe the notion of strong-looking fashion, based on concrete methods and examples rather than abstractions and ironic statements, is dying, and there is nobody around with the grit and stamina to map the geography of a woman’s body, as he has done for last 45 years.”

The Little Season That Could (WSJ)
“Resort has gone from mild-mannered and meekly helpful to a seasonal superpower… It’s a colorful irony that a season inspired by leisure time has become the hardest-working collection in the business.”

A Decade Of Change In The Chinese Luxury Market (Jing Daily)
“With major brands opening new, increasingly lavish, flagships on a regular basis, it’s easy to forget that China was a virtual blank slate 10 years ago, and that the market at that time was far more challenging than it is today.”

Neiman Q1 profit triples on higher luxury spending (Reuters)
“Neiman Marcus Group Inc’s quarterly profit nearly tripled as it benefited from continued gains in luxury spending. The operator… reported net income of $25.7 million for the August-October quarter, compared with $8.5 million a year earlier.”

Stylist with the key to Lady Gaga’s wardrobe (Independent)
“Among the roster of models, designers and famous faces… was one name that people beyond the industry may not have heard. The stylist Nicola Formichetti… received the Isabella Blow award for Fashion Creator.”