Valentino Autumn/Winter 2009 | Source: Valentino

Permira in talks to buy back Valentino debt-sources (Reuters)
“Private equity investor Permira is in talks to buy back some of the debt it amassed to purchase Italy’s Valentino Fashion Group two years ago, sources close to the matter said. Permira and other shareholders of Valentino Fashion Group plan to invest up to 300 million euros ($452 million) to reduce the Italian fashion house’s debt of about 2.2 billion euros by about a third.”

Roland Mouret to launch menswear (Drapers)
“Roland Mouret is to design a menswear collection that will launch in January. The luxury womenswear designer will introduce a 15-piece collection of men’s tailored clothing and separates.”

Saks faces dilemma as luxury shoppers stay away (Reuters)
“Swooning sales have forced Saks to expand its more affordable lines, given that the mindset of its traditional well-heeled shoppers has been changed by the financial crisis and as a result, they’re much more careful spenders now.”

Invest during a crisis to widen gap with competitors (Channel NewsAsia)
“LVMH believes that when a crisis hits, it is time to increase investments and not cut back. LVMH’s chairman and CEO, Bernard Arnault, said quality is even more paramount to customers during a downturn. He added that a crisis is a good time to push their brands even further ahead.”

A notch above (FT)
“After a rough ride during the height of the financial crisis, things could be starting to look up for the luxury industry. However, the shock to a sector accustomed until recently to double-digit growth has been severe. And this, say business schools, is why a management education programme focused on luxury is even more relevant to industry professionals than it was in the past.”

Prada A/W 09 ad campaign, courtesy of Prada

Prada bankers contact Richemont on stake-paper (Reuters)
“Bankers for Italy’s Prada fashion house have contacted Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA about the Swiss company taking a stake in it, la Repubblica newspaper said on Saturday. In an unsourced report, the Italian daily said the banks, including Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and UniCredit SpA, would like an industrial partner for Prada with a stake of up to 30.”

Telegraph online Fashion Shop introduces Net-a-porter.com (Telegraph)
“The Daily Telegraph’s exclusive new online Fashion Shop is delighted to announce a very stylish marriage with luxury designer store Net-a-porter.com.”

A new muse: the Middle East in haute couture (The National)
“Middle Eastern-inspired fashion is currently en vogue around the world from the streets to the catwalks. But rather than merely dabbling in aesthetic exoticism, the designers and brands who are exploring the region’s sartorial traditions are drawing inspiration from a commercial viability that’s given the style such sturdy legs.”

The Fall of Christian Lacroix (WSJ)
“In 1987 the former art student stormed Paris’s staid haute couture scene with his warm colors and Mediterranean flair. Now after more than two decades of losses the brand filed for bankruptcy protection in May. Two potential buyers are being lined up, but as things stand the 58-year old once hailed by critics as savior of haute couture can no longer design clothes under his own name.”

Sexy’s back (Guardian)
“Roland Mouret, creator of the world famous Galaxy dress, knows how to make women – all women – look amazing. He talks to Polly Vernon about Spanx, Spice Girls and the power of the perfect frock.”

Every week there are reports of new online fashion retailers, but some of the biggest names in the UK are noticeably absent from the space. Selfridges and Harvey Nichols have essentially no online fashion businesses to speak of, while the venerable Harrods is selling a heavily edited mix of its lower-priced collections, with an emphasis on accessories, knitwear and outerwear only.

All of this is even more surprising when you consider that many of the major American department stores, with similarly large profiles, have made heavy (and successful) pushes into the online space. Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Barney’s all have online sites with a large fashion assortment for sale. What’s more, many of the world’s best known luxury brands say that their rapidly growing online boutiques are their number one or two retail sales generators, even more than their flagship stores in the world’s fashion capitals.

Then of course there are online pioneers like Net-a-Porter, Yoox, e-Luxury and vivre.com. Just today, Net-a-Porter  shared the early results of its Roland Mouret virtual trunk show in WWD. In the first 4 days alone, more than $500,000 of pre-orders were placed and 250,000 videos were viewed in 22 countries around the world. (I’ve said it before, but this is a brilliant model for all involved. The customer gets to order in advance and participate in the action like a fashion insider, Mouret gets a global platform for his new collection, and Net-a-Porter knows exactly what quantities to order for its customers, but also gets a view on which items will be the best sellers, and can order more of these. And, think of all that working capital for Net-a-Porter to sit on for the next 6 months — they don’t even need to stump up their own money to fund the orders).

If you add to this the upstart retailers like brittique.com, fashionpublic.com, oli.co.uk, and letrainbleu.com (and toss in the online boutiques for Matches and Browns), you could say there is a virtual fashion fiesta going on.

SO, why have some of the coolest kids not joined the online party? The likely answer is probably some combination of conservatism, risk aversion, failure to grasp the size of the opportunity, and a legacy of snobbiness about selling luxury online.

Rumour has it that Selfridge’s has an online initiative in the works – so they won’t stay away for long. But, they will have certainly sacrificed a great deal of value in not having seen the opportunity earlier, even though they had such a huge head start in terms of skill and brand recognition.

Photoclip courtesy of Net-a-Porter

Roland Mouret, as part of his new partnership with Simon Fuller, is taking to the web to launch his new collection under the newly-founded RM label.  With high-profile behind-the-scenes coverage of the collection’s unveiling at Couture Week on Net-a-Porter, we may be seeing the first evidence of Mr. Fuller’s influence and experience in having marketed such pop phenoms as the Spice Girls. He may not have fashion experience, but Fuller is a man who knows how to work with creative talent and get front-page attention.

What’s more, this coverage is actually going to be linked to sales to end customers. In a first for the fashion industry, the small 21 piece collection for Spring Cruise 2008 will be available for pre-ordering on Net-a-Porter as of 5:30pm London time tomorrow. Natalie Massenet, the luxury e-tailer’s co-founder, declared the online RM initiative a 21st Century trunk show. It’s another coup for Net-a-Porter which has been continuously  innovating in the increasingly competitive online luxury retail fashion space.

The collection was shown only a few hours ago, but the early reviews are strong. Godfrey Deeny of FWD has declared it as "really rather fine", Lisa Armstrong of the Times uncharacteristically effused that it was "perfectly executed", and Hillary Alexander of the Daily Telegraph has called it "21 carefully-edited pieces in a chic, subdued  palette of black, grey, navy, cream and white." Still waiting to hear from heavyweights Cathy Horyn and Suzy Menkes, but I expect that they too will join the chorus of supporters for the popular designer who so many are happy to see back on the catwalk.

What an exciting development for Mouret, who famously lost the right to use his name after falling out with his previous financial backers. However, in an interesting (and questionable) piece of business synergy for Mr. Fuller, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham has apparently bought a large chunk of the new RM collection and will be wearing it during her interview with Jay Leno next week. (No doubt this is part of her conquering America tour.)

While celebrities are an unavoidable part of fashion marketing and PR in 2007, I wish Mr. Mouret had fought harder to get a brand ambassador with a better fit for his brand. His connection to Victoria Beckham is bound to raise some eyebrows and turn-off some people who, rightly or wrongly, wish she would just go away. I guess he owes her a favour since it was she who brokered the deal with Fuller that has put him firmly back on the fashion map.