Louis Vuitton Singapore | Source: Luxuo

Singapore to the fore (FT)
“‘Until two to three years ago, not much had happened in Singapore’s [fashion and retail] scene,’ says Jean-Baptiste Debains, Asia-Pacific president of Louis Vuitton… But now Singapore, once regarded as Asian fashion’s frumpy step-sister, a place where steamy weather and limited retail options bred a populace most comfortable in beachwear, has seen an unprecedented flurry of developments in the fashion industry.”

Twitter turns up heat on ambitions (FT)
“After overhauling the design and features of its homepage and mobile apps, Twitter is now gently turning up the heat on its ambitions as an advertising business. ‘Twitter is more of a journalistic than a marketing phenomenon,’ says Mark Read, chief executive of WPP Digital, the advertising group. ‘If you talk to newspaper editors and people in the media, they are obsessed.’ By contrast, Twitter is ‘still trying to figure out’ its advertising products, Mr Read says.”

Fashion disaster of its own making (The Standard)
“Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana is notorious. It’s making news headlines here and overseas for the wrong reasons this time – after its flagship shop in Tsim Sha Tsui found itself embroiled in a controversy over photo-taking. The ban reportedly applied to Hongkongers only, while mainland customers were welcome to click away.”

Women cut their way into the manly world of London tailoring (The National)
“If London’s historic bespoke tailoring has traditionally been an almost excessively male environment – all calculated deference, pinstripes and chesterfield sofas, with the puff of cigar smoke lingering in the air and a special, often intimate relationship between a gent and his cutter, much as between a man and his barber – then the pioneering Hall, if only for her sex, might seem out of place.”

A Children’s Story (On the Runway)
“Last year Ms. Parker-Barker and her husband decided to create a children’s line, with Cameron building the site. ‘I just had a hard time finding non-graphic T-shirts for our son and things that didn’t have trucks on them,’ she said. She also felt that boys’ clothes looked too boxy. ‘It’s that age-old feeling of ‘there’s nothing out there, let’s make something,’ she said.”

Hermès Store | Source: GQ

Hermès and the secret of luxe appeal (GQ)
“Hermès is a phenomenon: probably the most successful, perhaps the most creative, certainly the most respected and one of the most profitable luxury-goods companies of all time. After a brief blip from 2009-10, the tur­bulent economic times seem to have, if any­thing, accelerated its success.

Putting a Price on Michael Kors (NY Times)
“The fashion designer Michael Kors is seeking a luxury price tag on his stock. His company’s initial public offering, expected this week, would value it at up to $3.6 billion. The metrics are in line with Prada, which listed earlier this year. But Michael Kors Holdings may struggle to sustain the growth needed to stay in style with investors.”

“Tweeting Without Fear (WSJ)
“By now, even the stodgiest companies have found their way onto Twitter. They have discovered it isn’t just another marketing channel with a funny name, it’s more like a conversation they need to join or risk losing influence over how consumers view them or their brands… But there’s a flip side… Ill-considered tweets or hacked Twitter accounts have caused plenty of embarrassment.”

What the Internship Bust Means (Elle UK)
“Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs has warned London Fashion Week designers that failure to pay interns the national minimum wage could lead to prosecution… Interns are the engines that drive the fashion industry. The framework is so prevalent that most designers, public relations executives, editors and stylists in staff jobs today completed internships at the beginnings of their careers.”

Q&A With Rupert Sanderson (WWD)
“Rupert Sanderson never planned to be a footwear designer. It was only after an ill-fated career in advertising that he decided to pursue the career. But 10 years after launching his eponymous line, he is now firmly planted in the shoe industry. Not only has he established a high-end label, but Sanderson has built a vertical business as well.”

Raf Simons | Source: Hypebeast

PARIS, France — We usually leave ‘breaking news’ stories to the wire services and Twitter, and don’t like to propagate unsubstantiated rumours, but sometimes the news is so big, and the source of the rumour is so credible, that it warrants immediate comment and analysis from BoF.

In her rapturous review of Raf Simons’ Spring/Summer 2012 collection for Jil Sander, the highly-respected fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune, Suzy Menkes, dropped the bombshell news that unnamed sources in Paris say that Raf Simons will replace Stefano Pilati as Creative Director of storied couture house, Yves Saint Laurent. When Menkes’ IHT colleague Jessica Michault announced the news on Twitter, the fashion Twittersphere was sent into overdrive.

Menkes seems supportive of the supposed move, saying that “if Raf Simons ultimately takes over the helm at Yves Saint Laurent — as those familiar with the situation in Paris suggest — the designer will have found a sweet spot for his meticulous modernism.”

But there was no mention of the timing of the supposed transition, and while Ms. Menkes’ sources are amongst the best in the industry and her reporting is of the highest integrity, the news is yet to be officially confirmed by any of the parties concerned, so this news must still be treated as conjecture.

… Continue Reading

Bernardo Huberman explains HP Labs research | Source: Youtube

Got Twitter? You’ve Been Scored (NY Times)
“Imagine a world in which we are assigned a number that indicates how influential we are… If your influence score is low, you don’t get the promotion, the suite or the complimentary cookies. This is not science fiction. It’s happening to millions of social network users.”

Skirting the Issue of Gender (IHT)
“Men in skirts or men in suits?… Out pop the same challenges every menswear season. But the gender play in the spring/summer 2012 Paris shows seems more intriguing. Designers are looking at a global market that includes cultures… where male/female garments are fluid.”

Emerging markets: luxury goes local (FT)
“Western consumers might be familiar with the first names in these pairs, but many will probably have never heard of the others. Yet wealthy consumers in emerging markets are increasingly facing a choice of whether to buy western brands as a status symbol or to opt for homegrown luxury.”

At Vuitton, Growth in Small Batches (WSJ)
“Nestled in the hills of central France, Louis Vuitton’s new factory—inaugurated Friday—expands the luxury label’s production capacity by 70 people… Vuitton’s growth over the years means it is constantly bumping up against its full production capacity.”

25 Influential Chinese In Global Fashion (Forbes)
“This year’s list of 25 influential Chinese in global fashion focuses on executives and entrepreneurs that are leading the charge. We include for the first time leaders at multinational fashion companies that are playing a crucial role in those foreign firms’ success in China.”

Christophe Decarnin | Source: Homme a la Mode

Balmain Exit (Vogue UK)
“Christophe Decarnin is leaving Balmain after spending five years as creative director. A successor has not yet been appointed…. Decarnin joined the French fashion house in 2005 as a designer before being made the creative director in November 2007. He is largely credited for introducing the rock and military-inspired look… that the label is currently known for.”

Reviving the Russian luxury market (Reuters)
“Russia’s luxury market may be worth only half of what it was pre-financial crisis, but its thirst for excess is making somewhat of a comeback, though uncertainty over its ability to grow lingers. ‘Slowly, slowly, people are starting to live again,’ said Alla Verber, Russian clothing mogul and head of fashion at plush designer store TSUM, Moscow’s answer to Saks Fifth Avenue.”

Boom time for boutiques in Australia (The Australian)
“Burberry’s flagship store in Sydney’s CBD has marked a trend…for bigger, more lavish and, of course, more expensive boutiques in the booming top end of the retail market. … ‘Our new Sydney store is the most ambitious and expensive boutique we have ever opened,’ TAG Heuer chief executive Jean-Christophe Babin said. ‘After just two months of operation, it was already our No 1 store in the world.’”

Twitter to offer brands Facebook-style pages (Marketing Magazine)
“Branded pages, through which advertisers could deliver tailored messages, are under consideration, along with other plans to increase the long-term revenue potential of the social network… The pages would work in a similar way to Facebook Pages, providing brands with their own space to deliver content and encourage Twitter users to follow them.”

Dazed Live: Ruth Hogben (Dazed Digital)
“The pioneering London filmmaker Ruth Hogben is Director of Fashion Film at SHOWstudio and will be speaking at Dazed Live about her collaborations with Gareth Pugh and the resulting, inimitable visual style of her unique films. She has created iconic fashion films with Matthew Stone and Dazed’s own Katie Shillingford, not to mention her work with Nick Knight and Alexander McQueen.”