Manolo Blahnik at work | Source: Manolo Blahnik

Well heeled: Manolo Blahnik and his left-hand woman (Independent)
“As his exclusive collection for Liberty arrives, Manolo Blahnik talks footwear, films and fabrics with his niece and ‘left-hand woman’ Kristina…Since he set up shop in the Seventies Manolo Blahnik has become the world’s most famous artisan shoemaker.”

The Evolution of the Fashion Film (WSJ)
“‘This is the new advertising… The consumer and the audience are one…. While the Internet has facilitated the blossoming of fashion films, fashion photographers have long experimented with motion pictures.”

Cavalli back to profit (Reuters)
“Italian fashion house Cavalli, best known for animal print designs, returned to profit in the first half, as a pick-up in sales helped offset lower licence fees. As a result of a strong reorganisation at the group, retail and wholesale revenue grew 4 percent.”

Lakme Fashion Week ties up with e-commerce portal (Relax News)
“Lakme Fashion Week has entered into a strategic collaboration with fashion trade portal Fashion And You as part of its push to further the business of fashion by using e-commerce.”

The Real Harajuku Girls (WWD)
“Young Japanese women are an eclectic bunch… WWD plucked a sample of these consumers from the bustling streets of Harajuku and asked them about their personal style and shopping habits. Here’s what they had to say.”

Fashion goes live on line (AP)
“The fall-winter 2010-2011 preview presentations, the first shows of the new decade, got under way over the weekend with a new fashion passion: live online showcasing. Gone are the days when house bouncers, trained to spot potential copycats, blocked any unauthorized person who dared snap a picture during a show.”

Defiant Armani rules out sale of empire (Financial Times)
“Giorgio Armani, the doyen of Italian fashion designers, has ruled out a sale of his global empire and has no plans to step back from day-to-day involvement. Mr Armani sought to quash speculation that he may sell the house to a bigger group, saying he had no need or desire to sell and would always have the final say in decisions.”

Thinker, tailor, technophile (Financial Times)
“The potential of customers interacting with a brand online goes way beyond looking at an ad page in Vogue or Vanity Fair,” says Robert Polet, CEO of Gucci Group. “The Gucci app had 340,000 downloads at the end of October, just a few weeks after it launched. That makes those people part of the Gucci world.”

Fashion house Cavalli to boost accessories, expand (Reuters)
“Fashion house Roberto Cavalli is looking to boost its accessories segment and expand in South America and Asia Pacific this year, its chief executive said, adding there were signs of improvement in the luxury market.”

Fashion Designers Respond To Haiti: Find Out Who Did What (Huffington Post)
“The fashion industry has joined forces to aid the victims of this natural disaster, in the form of monetary donations and contributing portions of sales.”

Céline Resort 2010 by Annie Leibovitz, Courtesy of American Vogue

Fast-Forward Phoebe (Vogue)
“Phoebe Philo always had an uncanny gift for defining exactly what cool women want to wear. Now she’s back, reinventing Céline for a new era.”

LVMH in a recession: The substance of style (The Economist)
“The world’s biggest luxury-goods group is benefiting from a flight to quality, but the recession is also prompting questions about the company’s breadth and balance.”

Cavalli Says ‘Pessimistic’ Stores Turn Off Consumers (Bloomberg)
“Roberto Cavalli, owner of the eponymous Italian fashion house, said department stores are being negative and pessimistic in the economic downturn and risk turning off customers.”

New Cyclist Styles Pedal Their Way Into Paris (WSJ)
“An upright bike beats a tinted-window sedan for showing off an outfit any day. A new generation of cyclists, influenced by icons such as supermodels Elle Macpherson and Agyness Deyn, have turned biking from a sport into a fashion statement. Cycle Chic, a popular blog whose motto is “style over speed,” snaps photos of urban riders in Paris and Copenhagen.”

Luxury goods seen to thrive in Asia despite crisis (Inquirer)
“According to a MasterCard-commissioned report conducted with the ESSEC Business School in Paris, “The Luxury Industry: Lessons Learnt from Past Crises,” luxury brands should take advantage of the economic slump to evolve and diversify their distribution channels.”

Rodarte’s Target (Vogue)
“Rodarte will join the ranks of Erin Fetherston, Jovovich-Hawk, Rogan and Jonathan Saunders (among others), as the latest designers to collaborate with American retailer Target as part of its Go International series.”

Clessidra Pulls Out Of Deal With Cavalli (WSJ)
“Italian private equity fund Clessidra SGR SpA has pulled out of a deal with fashion house Roberto Cavalli after disagreement over the value of the company, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday. The talks collapsed just two months after Cavalli and Clessidra signed a letter of intent for the fund to buy 30% of the fashion house.”

Mark Ronson designs trainers for Gucci’s Pop-Up Store (Elle UK)
“Gucci launches ‘Gucci Icon-Temporary’, a pop-up trainer store that will travel the world. The shop will stock 18 trainer designs in all, 16 for men and two for women. And for that extra limited edition-ness Gucci has collaborated with DJ and trainer addict Mark Ronson to design one exclusive, unisex trainer for each city.”

Adidas profits plunge 93% (Drapers)
“Adidas suffered a 93 percent plunge in profits in its second quarter as the downturn continues to take its toll on consumer spending.”

Naomi Sims, the First Black Supermodel (Time)
“A tall, striking, confident, chiseled, brown-skinned beauty, she has forever changed how America defines beautiful.”

Just Cavalli S/S 09 Advertising campaign

Just Cavalli Extends License With Ittierre SpA (WWD)
“Roberto Cavalli has signed a new five-year license with Ittierre.” (Subscription required)

Esprit Appoints Ronald Van der Vis To Replace Krogner As CEO (WSJ)
Esprit Holdings Ltd. will name Ronald Van der Vis as their new CEO, replacing Heinz Krogner as the brand’s top man.

Big Retailers Revamp for ’09 (WWD)
“After a tumultuous fall – defined by the promotional hurricane that swept through the retail landscape – department stores are going on the offensive this spring.”

When ‘S.V.U.’ Stands for ‘Shopping Victims United’ (NYT)
“They say that gamblers like to ‘play the percentages.’ As the recession drags on, shoppers are doing the same, seeking stores where the signs promise sale prices that are 50, 60, 70 percent or more off regular prices.”