Lanvin by But Sou Lai | Source: NY Times

The Inside Story of a Couture Dream in the Making (IHT)
“Few dare to focus on a blank page, even if it has a gilded trim, or to imagine that a cover could be made from gros grain, with the texture of a couture dress and no sign of a title — until you find the names embossed on the gilding: ‘Lanvin’ and ‘Alber Elbaz.’… ‘I didn’t want to make it a retrospective, the beginning of the end,’ says Mr. Elbaz, who is celebrating covertly his first decade at Lanvin.”

Lion Capital’s Lyndon Lea defends his performance (Telegraph)
“In recent months, however, Lion, a private equity firm famous for turning Jimmy Choo into an international luxury brand, has lost some of its glamour… Lea models Lion’s culture on the creative businesses it invests in, a different approach from most numbers-obsessed private equity firms, even if he does get some stick for the wild parties.”

Supergroup sales jump over Christmas (Reuters)
“SuperGroup, the company behind the Superdry fashion brand, posted a 22 percent rise in group sales over the key Christmas period as it overcame distribution issues which had dogged the firm in 2011.”

Valentino’s Creative Directors Prepare For Their Men’s Runway Debut (Style.com)
“Tomorrow in Florence, Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli debut their Fall ‘12 menswear collection as the invited guests of Pitti Uomo. The occasion marks the first runway show for the men’s collections, which the designers took over several season ago and have been quietly showing by appointment in their Place Vendome showroom—where it has been a quiet highlight of the Paris collections—ever since.”

Sole Man Blake Mycoskie (WSJ)
“Although he’s the founder of TOMS Shoes, the company that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold, his name isn’t Tom. Social entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie named his for-profit company after his original charitable inspiration, ‘Shoes for a Better Tomorrow,’ which eventually became ‘Tomorrow’s Shoes,’ and then ‘TOMS.’

NEW YORK, United States — At a news conference Monday morning, livestreamed on YouTube and emceed by the actress Anne Hathaway, Valentino Garavani and long-time business partner Giancarlo Giammetti unveiled the Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum, a downloadable desktop application that showcases almost five decades of the designer’s work, drawing on a database of over 180 videos and 5000 images, including Valentino’s original sketches. A fashion first, the digital museum invites users to navigate a series of immersive galleries, organised by theme and rendered in 3-D, that in the physical world would stretch over 10,000 square meters.

Funded entirely by Mr. Giammetti and Mr. Garavani at a reported cost of several million dollars, the virtual museum, which is free to access, serves no direct commercial purpose — the duo no longer have a financial stake in the Valentino business, which is owned by private equity firm Permira — and exists for the sole aim of securing the designer’s legacy.

But the Valentino museum launch comes at a significant moment for the industry. Public interest in fashion exhibitions is surging. This summer’s record-breaking Alexander McQueen exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art attracted over 650,000 visitors. Meanwhile, big luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and others are moving to control and communicate their heritage by staging large-scale exhibitions at major museums in emerging markets. Gucci has even opened a private museum of its own in the heart of Florence.

While lacking some of the inherent experiential value that comes with exploring a physical space, the Valentino virtual museum offers obvious advantages in terms of cost and reach — no small points in the context of today’s globalised and uncertain economy — and the initiative’s strengths and weaknesses are sure to be examined closely by other fashion brands in the weeks and months to come.

Having previewed the Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum in the days prior to launch, BoF sat down with Mr. Giammetti just before the press conference to discuss the vision behind the world’s first digital fashion museum.

… Continue Reading

Michael Kors by Mikael Jansson | Source: Interview

Michael Kors By Lauren Hutton (Interview)
“It’s hard to pinpoint when Michael Kors first became a fashion designer. It might have been the moment when Dawn Mello, then-fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, stopped by Lothar’s, the boutique on 57th Street where Kors was working as salesman/window dresser/in-house designer after dropping out of the FIT, and told him that if he ever went out on his own, she’d love to take a look at his collection.”

Valentino Boost (Vogue UK)
“Valentino has reported a revenue boost of 24 per cent in the past six months, helping it to return to the black. The Italian label posted first half net profits of €2.6 million euros (£2.28 million), compared with a loss of €7.4 million (£6.50 million) during the same period the year before.”

J.Crew settles investor lawsuits for $16 million (Reuters)
“Investors agreed to a $16 million settlement of lawsuits stemming from the buyout of clothing retailer J.Crew Group Inc by two private equity groups, according to an investor attorney. The settlement is based on an earlier $10 million agreement that collapsed in January, according to Stuart Grant of Grant & Eisenhofer PA, which represents shareholders.

Fashion’s Great Confusion (WSJ)
“If looking fashionable is your goal, you can’t go far wrong this season, even if you don’t give a fig for sartorialism. Why? Well, fashion—the designers, manufacturers, marketers and retailers of clothes, and the stylists, editors, commentators and photographers who bring it all to you—don’t seem to have a clue as to what’s going on. There’s a schizophrenic element to this season’s looks and collections.”

Helmut Lang to Put on Its First Fashion Show Since 2005 (The Cut)
“Nicole and Michael Colovos started as creative directors of Helmut Lang in 2006 after Theory bought the label from Prada, but they never put on a fashion show. This spring they’ll do their first one for the label at New York Fashion Week.”

Acne Paper Spring/Summer 2010 Photographed by Daniel Jackson | Source: Acne

Northern Discretion: Thomas Persson of Acne Paper (Interview)
“When Acne Paper was founded in 2004 as a literary prong of the multi-faceted Swedish denim empire, it faced a challenge: having to prove its creative independence, and its worthiness beyond being a fancy bit of advertising.”

Louis Vuitton, Burberry Win Millions in Landmark Canadian Counterfeit Suit (Forbes)
“Louis Vuitton and Burberry have won significant damages in Canada’s single largest trademark counterfeit and copyright case…  The fashion houses had filed suit last year… claimed that Singga, Carnation and Altec had been selling fake handbags, along with other “fashion accessories.”

Business is brisk for fashion brand Valentino: CEO (Reuters)
“Italian fashion brand Valentino is enjoying solid demand for haute couture pieces, thanks to Middle Eastern, Russian and U.S. buyers and trading overall continues to improve.”

A Vision in Melancholy (NY Times)
“For Chanel’s haute couture show here Tuesday night, he recreated the Place Vendôme inside the Grand Palais… Dresses… Added to the fin-de-siècle melancholia… it’s a legitimate mood in an overbright, bored world. It was just unclear how to read it against kitsch scenery.”

Bip Ling unveiled as new face for Forever 21 (Fashion Monitor)
“Model and DJ Bip Ling has been announced as the latest face of the US fashion store, Forever 21… Spanning three floors, the new Forever 21 London store is unveiled to the public on July 27.”

Valentino Spring Summer 2011 | Source: Valentino

Valentino: State of Grace (Interview)
“If there is something most significant about Valentino, it’s that women feel beautiful when they’re wearing Valentino. Beauty is at the core of his work—it’s not just an element.”

Nepal seeks legal cover for shawl that conquered the world (Independent)
“Coveted for its lightness and warmth, the [pashmina] wool… has brought much-needed income to the mountain kingdom of Nepal. But recently exports have slumped, thanks to competition from cheap imitations mass-produced mainly in China and India.”

Bulgari Swings To Net Profit As China Sales Surge (WSJ)
“The jewelry maker revised previously reported sales figures up slightly and said first-quarter sales rose 28% to EUR254.7 million. By category, all divisions posted double-digit growth, as jewelry sales rose 29%, perfume and cosmetics sales rose 33% and watch sales rose 22%.”

Hermès First-Quarter Sales Rise 26% (Bloomberg)
“Revenue increased 26 percent to 637.1 million euros from 507.7 million euros a year earlier, the Paris- based company said… The average estimate of three analysts compiled by Bloomberg was 590.3 million euros. Excluding currency swings, sales climbed 21 percent.”

Rise: Yusuke Maegawa (Dazed Digital)
“His dark and voluminous aesthetic led to a place at last season’s Vauxhall Fashion Scout exhibition, and that’s only the beginning for this Japanese Saint Martins graduate.”