Image courtesy of L'Oréal

In pursuit of beauty (The Economist)
Nestlé, the Swiss food giant, may take over L’Oreal.

From capitalism to communism (IHT)
“From rampant capitalism to sober communism in a single year – that is the trajectory of menswear for the 2009/10 Paris season.”

Proenza Schouler Stays The Course (WSJ)
“While fashion labels have been trying to figure out what needs to be changed in order to survive this recession, Proenza Schouler says its plan is simple: Stick to the same message.”

Couture Stays Viable in Down Economy (WWD)
Couture is holding up well amid the unstable economy. (Subscription required)

NEW YORK, United States – New York already has the reputation of being the most commercial of the fashion capitals, but this New York Fashion Week has taken that stereotype to new levels. With economic uncertainty swirling through the city (Lehman Brothers is the latest Wall Street Bank whose future is in question) and footfall at department stores dropping precipitously, the mantra of the week seems to have been ‘Play it Safe!”

Over and over again this week, young designers have told me that the big buyers are sticking to proven silhouettes in basic colours, veering away from the fashion items. While the basics and staples of designer collections will always be important part of the product assortment, it seems to me that precisely because times are so tough, buyers should be making an effort to give consumers a reason to buy. And, that is not accomplished with a series of little black dresses.

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News has been trickling in all week about confusion around the strategic direction being taken by Barneys and today, the New York Times is reporting that its highly respected CEO Howard Socol will resign next week. This is an abrupt change of tone in the buzz around Barneys, which is arguably the most influential and forward thinking luxury and fashion department store chain in America today.

Bergdorf Goodman, of course is a venerable store in its own right, but it only has one location in New York and  its sister company, Neiman Marcus, based in Dallas, is far removed from the New York fashion hub. Yes, Neimans serves an unequaled luxury customer, but it just does not have the fashion cred that Barneys has managed to build in recent years.  Barneys’ affable Fashion Director, Julie Gilhart, has been a champion of emerging talent and amongst others, is credited with recognising the talent of the Proenza Schouler boys, buying their graduate collection from Parsons.

But, is Barneys about to become a basket case?

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Amongst the most anticipated collections this season in Paris were the debuts by new designers at the helm of established brands — Stuart Vevers for Loewe, Estaban Cortazar for Ungaro, and Alessandra Facchinetti  for Valentino. Each brand has faced its own unique challenges in finding the right creative spark to sustain brand awareness and business performance.

While many fashion companies are practically clambouring to establish a presence and gain legitimacy in the lucrative leather goods category, Loewe has a long, rich history in beautifully-crafted leather goods, including a strong link to the  Spanish Royal family. But despite its enviable heritage and high quality, Loewe has had a hard time breaking into the younger fashion mainstream. Enter Stuart Vevers, who has a luxury heritage all his own, with stints at Louis Vuitton and most recently at Mulberry, where he helped put the British brand on the global fashion map.

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The day before Super Tuesday in the American primary elections might be called Mega Monday at New York Fashion Week, with established heavyweights like Oscar de la Renta showing alongside the city’s new establishment of Proenza Schouler and Peter Som. Young or old, a newfound fancy for fur (and its premium pricepoints) was a common thread, even in these recessionary times.

But, Oscar is no old-fogey. His collection came out to the sweet sounds of Regina Spektor, the young hip pianist. During the show, I had the good fortune to be seated next to the company’s CEO, Alex Bolen, who also happens to be Oscar’s son-in-law. It was a great opportunity to have a pre-show chat. Before I could even ask, Alex told me that Oscar de la Renta has not seen any impact of the economic slowdown on their business at all. Not a blip in sight.

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Following his blowout 3-day fashion fiesta in Rome earlier this summer, WWD is reporting today that Valentino and his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, will both step down from their positions at Valentino after this season. Finally, the fashion industry’s rampant speculation about Valentino’s future role in the post-Permira world will come to an end. But, this will only make more room for the other question on everyone’s lips: Who will replace Mr. Valentino?

Zac Posen and the designers behind Proenza Schouler (which was recently injected with $3.7m of funding from Valentino Fashion Group) are amongst the names being tossed around. Over at Fashion Inc the money is on Proenza Schouler. Others are saying that Alessandra Fachinetti, the former womenswear designer at Gucci, is at the front of the pack.

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Many column inches and much screenspace has been dedicated to Valentino over the past few weeks. The Business of Fashion has been no exception to this trend. What with the acquisition of Valentino by Permira, the celebration of Valentino’s 45th anniversary at the helm of his eponymous label in Rome last weekend, and the announcement of a 45% investment in Proenza Schouler by Valentino Fashion Group this past week, there has been much to write about — or, more specifically, to speculate on.

Will Valentino continue to design for his label or was this party the beginning of the end? How well will Permira be able to manage Valentino, their first investment in luxury fashion? What will Permira do with the tiny Proenza Schouler business which they snapped up for what seems to be a low valuation? Who will replace Valentino when he goes — will it be the Proenza Schouler boys or will it be Zac Posen, who was sitting in the front row in Rome along with other designers with careers longer and reputations much larger than his? Is there any meaning behind 45 years of Valentino and the 45% investment stake in Proenza Schouler? So many questions.

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For all of you budding young designers based in America, the CFDA has officially begun its annual search for America’s most promising young designers. Each year, the CFDA awards a $200,000 grant to the winner, along with mentoring from a recognised fashion business guru as part of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.  Past winners include the intelligent and talented Doo-Ri Chung (looking super glam in this ad) who is mentored by J.Crew’s legendary Mickey Drexler and the refined-beyond-their-years Proenza Schouler design duo, Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez, who were mentored by Burberry’s impressive former CEO, Rose Marie Bravo.

This is a really great initiative from the CFDA and other venerable fashion names like Barneys New York and Vogue. That said, I have one suggestion to make it even more powerful. I believe the CFDA should supplement the business mentoring and cash with a requirement and access to funding for the winning designers to find a suitable day-to-day business partner/advisor. While mentoring from an experienced fashion business executive is priceless, it does not make up for daily support and partnership.

I have made this point before, but so many young designers try to do everything on their own, and this means they deal with areas where they might not have any formal training or expertise. One look at the long list of established designers who have relied on business parters to act as thought partners on day-to-day decisions and to share the workload, shows that this is a real pattern of success in the industry.  Marc Jacobs (who has Robert Duffy), Miuccia Prada (has always worked with her husband Patrizio Bertelli), Tom Ford (who with Domenico De Sole turned Gucci around from a fuddy duddy backwater brand), Giorgio Armani (Sergio Galeotti worked with Armani for years before he passed away), Valentino (Giancarlo Gianetti is still his business partner, even if he is no longer his life partner), and Derek Lam  (Jan-Hendrik Schlottmann) have all shown that this tandem approach can help to get the business off the ground properly, allowing the designer to focus more on the creative aspects of the business.

This ad above, from today’s WWD, lays out all of the requirements and the application procedure. Good luck!