Giorgio Armani Fall 2012 | Source: IHT

Military, Front and Center (IHT)
“Is it the bitter, battling winter following the Arab spring that has created a march of the military in men’s fashion? A soldierly influence was an undercurrent in the winter 2012 Milan men’s show, which closed Tuesday. The idea of smartening up and shaping up may be a response to Europe’s gloomy economic situation”

LVMH fund looks to stitch a deal with Fabindia (Business Standard)
“The last word in luxury is wooing the most marquee ethnic wear chain in India. L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of the world’s biggest luxury conglomerate, LVMH Group, is in discussion with Fabindia, to acquire a minority stake in the retailer.”

French luxury firms seeking Italian menswear – Armani (Reuters)
“French luxury groups are on the prowl for promising Italian menswear brands after France’s PPR bought Italian tailor Brioni this month, fashion doyen Giorgio Armani said on Tuesday adding that his business was not for sale.”

Organizers Settle Dispute Over Fashion Week Dates (On the Runway)
“Just as the men’s runway collections came to a close in Milan on Tuesday, organizers of the shows in New York and London announced that they have settled, for now, a dispute over the dates of the women’s runway shows planned this September. The New York and London collections will not overlap with those of Milan, as had been risked by a standoff between the cities over when the season should begin.”

What it takes to be a teenage editor-in-chief on the web (BBC News)
“Tavi Gevinson started her first blog ‘Style Rookie’ when she was 11. She was shopping at thrift stores, taking pictures of her outfits and writing about music, images and movies that inspired her… Now Tavi is 15 and has started her own web magazine for teenage girls, RookieMag.com, that counts 4 editors and 40 writers, illustrators and photographers.”

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

You Can See Spring Coming (NY Times)
“Mr. Wang is a boy disguised as a designer — or maybe it’s the other way around — but whatever the case, he doesn’t want to grow up, and the clothes naturally follow that youthful spirit… Prabal Gurung’s show on Saturday had a pronounced erotic undercurrent that in its blunt use of violet, and the transparent hems of silk print dresses, owed something to the style last season of Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy.”

Fashion week: The ordinary people who stole the show (BBC News)
“Many people might not have heard of Tavi Gevinson, Scott Schuman, Susie Bubble and Bryanboy but they are household names to dedicated followers of fashion. All four are big players in the blogging revolution that has turned the fashion world on its head… But bloggers have been chipping away at the mainstream media as more and more people want to hear about fashion from people who apply it to everyday life.”

Where Fashion Gazes at Itself (NY Times)
“Tumblr, founded four years ago, has reached out to the fashion community in a way no other social networking site has. For the second time, it has brought users to New York Fashion Week as reporters, paying for their trips and giving them access to the shows. Their coverage is being posted on a dedicated channel, tumblr.com/NYFW, made up of posts from 20 bloggers picked by Tumblr’s staff, along with contributions from magazines that have their own Tumblrs.”

Versace sees revenue up in 2012 on H&M and Versus (Forbes)
“Italian top fashion house Versace is expecting higher revenues in 2012 after launching a collection for Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz this year and revamping its Versus second line…The company draws most of revenues from its top Versace line, but it launched a “Young Versace” line for kids and bought back its Versus licence this year to boost sales and profitability after starting a deep restructuring in 2009.”

Luxury: the next generation (FT)
“One of the more astonishing success stories of the past century has been the evolution of luxury retailing, from small-scale family firms to an international, multi-billion dollar industry… Yet, as the modern industry struggles to reconcile its artisanal heritage with today’s public offerings and quarterly reports, it is the personal, family connection that bridges the gap.”

Zegna virtual store iPad app | Source: NY Times

Next Step for Labels: Cyber-Boutiques (IHT)
“The ultimate challenge for all luxury brands is to go digital — without losing their key attributes of individuality and identity. Yet click onto almost every big name fashion Web site and while the product offering might be tempting, the experience is often bland and only two-dimensional. The success of Net-a-porter.com and of its witty masculine version, Mrporter.com, is the magazine-style content that makes the sites entertaining as well as efficient.”

Super-luxury brands sail high as slowdown fails to impact Indian consumers (The Economic Times)
“Indian consumers are continuing to show strong appetite for luxury products even as consumption in the rest of the economy slows down due to inflation and sliding growth prospects… Sales of fashion accessory labels Jimmy Choo and Canali are growing 30% year on year.”

Sister act: Rodarte is New York’s hottest label (Independent)
“Buyers either see their work as exquisite sartorial investments, or shock-frocks destined to clutter sales racks. Reviews oscillate from hyperbole to hostility, some press applauding Rodarte as a blast of fresh creative fire, others condemning them as a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes… Both sisters fall into the pale and interesting camp – they look so alike they’re often mistaken for twins. In person, they’re less intense than their clothes initially suggest.”

And the BFA nominees are... (Elle UK)
“The BFAs honour the UK’s most influential designers, business leaders, models and celebrities… Two of the most important awards are the Emerging Talent Award for Ready to Wear and the Best Designer Brand honours… Up for consideration are J.W. Anderson, Mary Katrantzou and Peter Pilotto. In the more established category, the candidates are Burberry, Stella McCartney, Tom Ford and Victoria Beckham.”

Tavi Gevinson Explains Her New Website, Rookie (The Cut)
“15-year-old wunderkind blogger Tavi Gevinson launched her much-anticipated new website, Rookie (rookiemag.com). Originally conceived as a joint venture with Jane Pratt and Say Media, the site is now under Gevinson’s sole ownership (New York Media is helping with ad sales).

Rick Owens | Source: Vice Magazine

Rick Owens: The prince of dark design (Independent)
“In a fashion climate ruled by luxury-goods conglomerates and an excess of merchandise that is both overwhelming and, increasingly, banal, Owens’ less-than-conventional career trajectory – his business turned over more than $50m last year – is an inspiration. ”

The Golden Shears – the Oscars of the tailoring world (FT)
“Sometimes we can be so transfixed by new trends… that the quieter fashion revolutions pass us by. Take last Monday’s Golden Shears competition. It’s the Oscars of the tailoring world… this year not only was the top prize scooped by a woman, there were 18 female trainees among the 24 finalists.”

India’s models accuse fashion industry of racism (Telegraph)
“India’s fashion industry is currently enjoying a boom, with growing numbers of Indian designers such as Manish Arora and Rohit Bal enjoying success…  [but while white] models are cashing in, some of India’s top models have complained they are losing out on the best jobs in their own country.”

Jane Pratt Plots Her Comeback (WWD)
“In the next two months, she will launch JanePratt.com, a Web site aimed at the gulf between the Cosmopolitans and Jezebels of the world. Then, in the summer, she will team up with Gevinson to introduce a magazine and a Web site for teenaged girls.”

How a generation of creatives is changing the face of fashion (Independent)
“‘When I was at art school, anything ‘fashionable’ was frowned upon,’ says Jones, who studied her craft at London’s Central Saint Martins. ‘I jumped straight into this from a BA at Cambridge, so spent a lot of time playing catch-up and making up my own way of doing things. Maybe this is why my style is so slap-dash.’”

The BoF community looks on at Fashion Pioneers with Natalie Massenet | Photo: Lawrence Randall

LONDON, United Kingdom — It’s been quite the year for the BoF team. In January, we will celebrate our 4th birthday, having seen BoF grow from a passion project created from the sofa in my living room to a growing global community of like-minded fashion professionals that is BoF today.

We are grateful for all of the support our community has shown us over the past 12 months, from the success of our sold-out Fashion Pioneers series to the rapidly growing numbers of you who come to us every day for opinionated fashion business analysis and a highly-curated point of view on the day’s news. We now have over 150,000 followers on Twitter, 2,000 fans on Facebook and growing follower base on our new Tumblr page. We are honoured and grateful that so many of you take the time to engage and interact with us on a daily basis, in so many ways.

The international media has also been paying attention to the power and reach of our community, from the International Herald Tribune to Vogue Italia to The Evening Standard. Canada’s Macleans Magazine called BoF “The Economist of Fashion,” the Daily Telegraph included BoF in their round-up of “Britain’s Best Fashion Bloggers” and just this month British GQ gave us a little surprise for 2011 (check out number 92). What an honour and a great way to start the new year!

None of this would be possible without you, the global community of executives, designers, editors, students, academics, investors and supporters who have made BoF their daily must-read on the fashion business. We’re going to take a break over the holidays, but in the meantime here’s a look back to the articles and stories which fired up your interest and passions this past year. Thank you again for your continued support.

Happy holidays, happy new year, and see you in 2011!

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