Riccardo Tisci photographed by Steven Klein | Source: Interview Magazine

Riccardo Tisci By Donatella Versace (Interview)
“Like any competitive industry, fashion understands the market need for a constant infusion of fresh blood and untapped talent. But among the crop of sartorial prodigies to have emerged in recent years, none has ascended from young upstart to master of the universe as rapidly as 36-year-old Italian designer Riccardo Tisci.”

Social Media: The Second Generation (WWD)
“Forget those who ‘like’ you. Go after the ones who don’t. That’s the new strategy emerging in the ever-evolving world of social media…. Now the future of digital marketing isn’t about bulking up a firm’s own branded dot.com… it’s about getting their content onto someone else’s to reach more consumers.”

PPR’s grosse acquisition (FT Alphaville)
“There’s ripple of excitement in the luxury goods sector… following reports that Gucci and Puma-owner PPR is on the prowl. Having seen arch rival LVMH swoop for Bulgari, PPR is in talks to make une grosse acquisition in the luxury goods sector.”

How India’s Super-Rich Spend Their Money (WSJ India Realtime)
“Meanwhile, the inheritors prefer to do their shopping for clothes and luxury items abroad. ‘The same international brands in India don’t have the same range, so I pick them up when I travel overseas… Also, apparel, especially international, better to buy them abroad. The range, the cut, the finish, is better there, even the price.’”

Putting Fairy Tales and Fashion in Play (IHT)
“As a fund-raiser for her Naked Heart Foundation, which builds playgrounds in Russia, the supermodel Natalia Vodianova invited 40 designers to create dresses on a fairy-tale theme.”

Brooks Brothers: Made in America | Source: Brooks Brothers

Made in America: A hook for wealthy shoppers (Ottawa Citizen)
“The Made-in-America label has undergone a deluxe makeover. Everyone from Brooks Brothers to the Olsen twins is using it to hawk luxury goods… ‘There is a customer that appreciates that the product is made in the United States and is willing to pay for the difference.’”

My-wardrobe boosts foreign dress effort (FT)
“‘The past 12 months and first quarter of 2011 has been a pivotal time for my-wardrobe.com. Not only have we seen phenomenal growth in the UK market, but we have already seen a significant rise in sales across Europe as we lay the foundations for our international expansion.’”

Luxury brands and Social Media (North Jersey)
“Having 4 million Facebook fans or more doesn’t amount to much unless the online interactions also boost the bottom line. ‘Ultimately, this is about social commerce… Social networking is nice, but social commerce is much better, and that’s where we need to get to.’”

LVMH denies attempts to destabilize Hermès (Reuters)
“Puech dismissed efforts by LVMH Chief Executive Bernard Arnault to strike a conciliatory tone regarding the Hermès approach. ‘After six months, we are the target of incessant attacks of the kind we’ve never seen in 174 years, even though LVMH says its approach to us is friendly… With friends like these, who needs enemies?’”

The Mexican fans Ralph Lauren could do without (Guardian)
“Sometimes, the market gets away from the marketers… For the Mexican children who see narcos as role models, the Polo look becomes something to imitate, and knock-off versions are readily available and widely worn. This is the sort of success a label would happily do without.”

Patrick Robinson | Source: Grazia

Gap sacks Patrick Robinson as chief designer (Guardian)
“A source close to Robinson said that his departure was not a shock, but will be a blow as he is a popular figure within the company. “Patrick has been in an almost impossible position, in a company trying to please so many people.”

Promoting from within- A new trend for luxury fashion houses? (Jessica Michault)
“After years of designer merry go round behavior- where luxury fashion houses seemed to give artistic directions three seasons (and sometimes less) to re-launch a brand, create a buzz and bring in the bucks – it looks like the ride is over.”

Fashion industry urged to smarten up (The Australian)
“Fashion industry experts warn that designers need to lift their game if they want to remain in business for next year’s Australian Fashion Week.”

Zegna Net Profit Triples On Chinese Sales Surge (NASDAQ)
“Italian menswear maker Ermenegildo Zegna Group, said Thursday its full-year 2010 net profit more than tripled compared with a year earlier, returning to pre-crisis levels, as sales in China -its largest market -surged… net profit for 2010 reached EUR60 million against EUR17.3 million in 2009.”

The Great Sneaker Revival (WSJ)
“But the point of the revival, which has been bubbling under for the last two years, is not really the “wearing” of trainers, which most of us do all the time; it’s the wearing of trainers with intent, which is an entirely different matter.”

L-R Altuzarra, Alexander Wang, Prabal Gurung | Source: Style.com

Addicted to Love (IHT)
“New York Fashion Week seems to be ‘Addicted to Love,’ as the sound track puts it. But a new generation of twentysomething designers has a tougher, less hearts-and-flowers way of dealing with romance, and more fashion sense about practical needs for the autumn 2011 season after the current harsh winter.”

The ‘in’ crowd (FT)
“Forget dictating the trends, these days brands are throwing the ball into the consumer’s court. Crowdsourcing – allowing your audience to decide on your product via social media, forums, and high-tech web customising programs – has become the buzz phrase in fashion.”

Luxury retailers shine a spotlight on their artisans (Globe and Mail)
“In a post-recessionary retail landscape, this human touch – be it a stitch, a seal or a stamp – can go a long way toward suggesting and reinforcing value. And it’s a major attitudinal shift from the days when companies simply splashed bigger, bolder logos across a luxury good.”

Condé Nast Newsstand Tries Convergence of Technologies (NY Times)
“A newsstand set to open here next week will sell more than a dozen international editions of Vogue magazine, in languages including English, Russian and Chinese. Visitors will be able to browse through digital versions of these and other publications on iPads tethered to sleek plastic tables.”

The Future of Fashion, Part Seven: Carine Roitfeld (Style File)
“She has already exerted an unmistakable influence on fashion… first with the porno-chic aesthetic she co-authored in the nineties as a stylist for Mario Testino and Tom Ford, then… later, with her provocative, photo-driven, decade-long tenure at Vogue. Now everyone is speculating about her next act.”

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.”