John Galliano and Kate Moss | US Vogue, September 2011

John Galliano: Rise and fall of a tormented celebrity (BBC News)
“In the dossier that was presented to the court in Mr Galliano’s defence, a story emerged of a celebrity tormented by fear, hate, self-indulgence and loneliness. There were plenty of people within the fashion industry who saw this tragedy unfolding. But it seemed no-one had the power to stop it.”

Vivienne Westwood faces franchise lawsuit (FT)
“Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood’s clothing brand is facing a court fight with one of its oldest business partners. High quality global journalism requires investment. Hervia Limited, which operates seven Vivienne Westwood shops in regional cities, has issued High Court proceedings for breach of contract after the designer sought to end a long-standing franchise agreement in June.”

Fashion Week: @whatdidIjustsee (On The Runway)
“When I saw the subtle effects of the leather in a jersey dress, I wondered how many people on Saturday night — when Mr. Altuzarra shows his collection — will notice the details or be able to identify the fabric as the models zoom past and iPhones click away… Despite the amount of information flowing, we may actually know less about the real work — the making of clothes.”

Trunk Club Raises $11 Million (TechCrunch)
“Personal styling and retail platform Trunk Club has raised $11 million in Series funding led by U.S. Venture Partners with Greycroft Partners, Apex Venture Partners, and Anthos Capital also participating in the round… The startup pivoted from being a way that men could hire their own personal shopper via Skype video sessions to building a group of professional stylists on staff who coordinate with clients via phone and email, and actually purchase goods for clients from retailers.”

Designers, celebrities woo shoppers around world (Reuters)
“Department stores, designers and celebrities wooed economically battered shoppers around the world on Thursday during the third annual “Fashion’s Night Out” event to encourage spending and raise money for charity. ‘Fashion’s Night Out,’ the brainchild of Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour, was designed to jump-start an industry battered by the global recession.”

Iris van Herpen at Berlin Fashion Week S/S 2012 | Source: Newsobserver

The Quiet Rise of Berlin Fashion (WSJ)
“Twice a year, with a series of high-profile fashion shows, the couture quartet of New York, Paris, Milan and London issues style edicts for the next season: hemlines are up, charcoal is the new black. But another capital has long held its own quiet but powerful sway in the fashion world: Berlin… With a few stops and sputters, German fashion has since picked up speed and garnered attention for its practical, minimalist designs propelled by industrious business acumen.”

Vivienne Westwood undervalues itself (Telegraph)
“Fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood has agreed to pay almost £350,000 in tax to HM Revenue & Customs for significantly underestimating the value of her own brand.”

Do fashion brands need ugly-queen discount contest? (The Economic Times)
“Fashion brands don’t really need to participate in such ugly-queen contests, year after year, trying to outdo each other by offering more and more discounts. So, what is the way forward? Fast-fashion, which ensures that designs move from catwalk to store in the shortest possible time, has been cited as an effective tool to combat such planned customer behaviour.”

Make That 15 Seconds of Fame (On the Runway)
“Today, with rare exceptions, fashion seems to lack that degree of depth, depth with a calculated eye, and one explanation is that we are simply too absorbed in consuming images. Viddy, a social video app for the iPhone and iPad, may intensify that experience during Fashion Week. Viddy allows you to shoot and instantly share a 15-second video on the Viddy network, or on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.”

Rei Kawakubo (WSJ)
“Fascinated by challenging conventional standards of beauty, she’s reconstructed “hybrid” clothes, sewn the left half of a jacket onto the right half of a different jacket and designed asymmetrical dresses made from her own vintage scarves—and that was all just in her last women’s presentation. It’s never just about creating something to wear, but rather expressing an idea.”

Simone Cipriani, Andreas Kronthaler, Vivienne Westwood, Federico Marchetti at the launch of the Ethical Fashion Africa Collection | Source: ITC

FLORENCE, Italy — Simone Cipriani spearheads the Ethical Fashion initiative of The International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. Connecting “the world’s most marginalised people to the top of fashion’s value chain for mutual benefit,” it enables communities of artisans and micro-manufacturers — the majority of them women — to thrive in association with the talents of the fashion world by fostering local creativity, enabling female employment, and promoting gender equality in order to reduce extreme poverty, according to a detailed brochure published by the ITC this month.

Of her recent collection with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, unveiled during Pitti Uomo last month and now available on Yoox.com, Vivienne Westwood said “it’s quite incredible to think that we might save the world through fashion.”

But ethical fashion remains a somewhat fuzzy, idealistic concept, which has proven difficult to implement in practice. It also remains a niche market, even if consumers are becoming more conscious about their purchasing habits and sales of ethical fashion are growing. According to Mr. Cipriani, its widespread adoption will require a wholesale mindset shift for the fashion industry, which must eliminate waste from a fashion system that remains bloated with excess product and underpays those at the very early stages of production.

Mr. Cipriani’s official title is typical of bureaucratic nomenclature: Head, Poor Communities & Trade Program, Chief Technical Advisor, Ethical Fashion. But make no mistake, this is no ivory-towered diplomat. Cipriani spends most of his time in the field — the slums of Nairobi and rural communities around Africa — laying the groundwork for ethical fashion at the front lines and building ties to fashion houses in Europe in order to make his vision a reality.

I caught up with Simone Cipriani on a quiet rooftop terrazza during one of his rare visits to his native Florence for the launch of Vivienne Westwood’s Ethical Fashion Africa collection.

BoF: There is a lot of debate about this term ‘ethical fashion.’ What does ethical fashion mean to you?

SC: I think ethical fashion is being responsible for people and for the planet. For the planet we know sustainability is the word of today, but sustainability is a very vague concept which came out after The Brundtland Report, so it’s a word which has been over used. Now we have to talk about something which is immediately understandable by people. It is about the place where we live, usable also by those who come after us and making it liveable, making it a place worth living in for those who are here today.

The social dimension is about extreme poverty and exclusion from the wealth of the world. The reality is that 30 percent of human kind lives in a way which is not sustainable. It is about the ethics of responsibility. We are responsible for it because if we change it, it becomes better also for us. It’s not an abstract responsibility it’s a very concrete one: I am responsible for it because I am responsible for my life, the quality of my life depends on that.

If we don’t address this extreme poverty and this exclusion of the path of the human kind in a few years time, the world, and parts of the world [will become] a very dangerous place to live in.

BoF: What does this mean for the fashion industry, and in particular for our culture of consumerism?

This ethic of responsibility is also something that has to be adopted by the fashion industry, because no product can be a product today unless it is responsible. Cars have to be hybrid. If I throw [out] the garbage I have to separate [it]. That is an obligation which is part of our life. If we want to live on this planet, we have to do it. It’s like drinking water, if I want to live I have to drink water otherwise I die. If I want to live on this planet today, in this condition, I have to be responsible in whatever I do, so all the products I produce have to be responsible because products are part of our life. We are a product of our products, we are the product of what we wear and what we produce.

This is ethics. Ethics of responsibility. Responsibility towards the place where we live. It’s only fair.

BoF: But ethical fashion also has to work as a business as well, right? Ethical fashion cannot just be idealistic. It has to be a product that people actually want to buy regardless of how it was made and it has to be commercially viable.

SC: Being responsible means being practical. A fashion product has to be gorgeous [in order to be sold], it has to be beautiful; it has to be within a certain margin or price, and so on. This is the bottom line. But then there is a new bottom line which is also responsible; responsible with a positive story which is how the value is built in the whole value chain.

In the value chain today — from the producer to the customer — the majority of the value lies in the last rings of the value chain, the biggest share of the pie — the retail margin — is there. We produce in Africa then it’s multiplied by 2.5 or 3.5, then it’s multiplied again and again, so $20 here, 20 euros here, becomes 180 there. Come on, justify that. It’s a huge spread. I know it’s justified by the fact that those who buy here have huge overheads and have to cover marketing costs, and the rejects, and then they also have the 40 percent, and the rest goes to outlets.

BoF: But it’s also because they don’t run their business smartly, right? They don’t buy things in a way…

SC: Bravo! Exactly, because of lack of responsibility on their side. In order to be sure that I make it, I don’t run the business in a very smart way, I just put a huge margin and whatever happens, I’m fine. It’s irresponsible, because those people [early in the value chain] cannot get enough to live.

In order for these people to get enough to live — because through this money they change their lives — we need these people to manage their businesses in a proper way, in a responsible way. Responsible also for their companies, because it’s business. If they do that, their margins remain big, always, but they minimise waste, [optimise] investment, allocate resources in a proper way. Why? Because they know that they have to give something back.

BoF: What will it take to get this message understood by fashion companies?

SC: At present they know that they don’t have to give anything back. The system through which you build the value in fashion is wrong. It is not about corporate management, because management is another thing. Management is about management, and is about being fair to people, first of all, then it’s about managing the market, then it’s about finance, but first it’s about managing people. How can you be responsible to people if you neglect what happens in the first stage of the value chain?

So, it’s about being profitable, otherwise you’re not sustainable and you’re not responsible to your stakeholders, shareholders. It’s about organising and allocating resources in such a way that this profit is also shared with the first stages. This is ethical fashion.

BoF: Who is leading the way in this regard?

SC: There are companies that [are making a good start]. Some companies start because of the inner motivation of the designers, such as Stella McCartney. People who are motivated inside, people who really have a deep, almost spiritual motivation.

But sometimes you deal with companies who do this — big distributors for instance like CO-OP Italia that does huge orders with us. They do it because they see the market changing, and realise if they don’t change their business model, they will remain out of the market. It forces everybody to work better; to maintain the same profit, but to share that in a different way.

BoF: When I walk into certain retailers in the UK or US and I see the prices at which products are being sold and the quality level at which things are being made, I can’t help but wonder, how could this have possibly been made in an ethical way? We’ve talked about smaller businesses, such as Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood, but isn’t the hugest potential impact at the mass consumer level, brands like Zara and H&M?

SM: We work with some big brands. We just became a supplier to Walmart, so we are going towards that, but you’re absolutely right.

There are two issues there, one is timing and one is money. Timing is always too squeezed. We develop this sample together now, it’s June, and I want to have the first delivery [in] mid-July. What does [that] mean? How can you think I don’t exploit people to do that, because people have to work over time, it’s impossible. Then at the same time, they say, this is what I pay in China.

But this is changing. First of all the cost of living is changing in China and the age of the cheap garment is finishing, that’s one point. The other point is that consumers are now aware. Yes, the majority of consumers want a t-shirt for $5 and that’s all. But there is a growing segment of of people who are affluent, who are able to pay $8 for that [same t-shirt] if you explain why they pay $8 and where this money is going. The only way is to communicate that to consumers, to enable consumers to see what it is about. If you don’t communicate to consumers it’s a problem and this is a fashion problem.

BoF: It sounds like you’re saying the biggest challenge we face is a mindset problem?

SC: It’s a mindset issue, and it’s all about management. What we are talking about is not a new kind [of management], it’s pure management. Manage your company well, according to what you study in the books. Because the thing is that people don’t do it; when we arrive at a company, we take shortcuts to be more profitable.

BoF: Tell me a bit about how you are trying to address these issues.

SC: Ethical Fashion Africa, the first hub created by the [ITC] to manage its business and support infrastructure in Kenya and Uganda, is completely self sustainable, with a sufficient number of customers from the industry and big distribution. Around EFAL (Ethical Fashion Africa Limited) there is a number of small enterprises and cooperatives, developed thanks to the support of the program. These companies are managed mainly by women and are working with the international market (especially through EFAL) but also on the domestic and regional markets. They include the work of around 7,000 people.

Some groups of micro producers, who are still evolving towards a more stable form of business organisation are still supported by the ITC through EFAL: at least 3,000 more people are involved in them. The communities where these companies operate have become peace and cooperation buffer zones, i.e. zones where peace and cooperation have replaced conflict and all violence and deprivation associated to poverty.

BoF: What would you like to have achieved in 5 years time?

SC: In 5 years time, the program will have expanded its operations also to Ghana, Burkina, Mali and I hope it is able to address the catastrophe of cotton, by creating perspectives of value addition in place. Soon I will provide a business and development perspective for that area of work as well as we shall start developing our business and support infrastructure in Ghana in the months of September 2011.

I think that, by diversifying the products and focusing on the specificities of these new regions (cotton, beautiful prints, natural dyes, weaving techniques, large creative potential) we shall achieve similar results. We have already done feasibility studies but now we have to start working.

In The Long View, BoF speaks to leading thinkers about their forward-looking visions for the fashion industry

Vivienne Westwood | Source: Entrelinhas e Botoes

Westwood: From outsider to subversive insider (FT)
“This coming week marks 30 years since Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s ‘pirate’ collection stormed the runway in London with a blaze of sunshine colours and ethnic prints. The show was Westwood’s first swagger on to the catwalk, forging a sophisticated post-punk aesthetic with a billowing new romantic silhouette.”

Duffy Sued (Vogue UK)
“LVMH has defended Robert Duffy against claims made by a former Marc Jacobs chief operating officer, alleging that the company’s president is guilty of sexual discrimination and using company money for personal expenses.”

Oxford Street to receive £1bn makeover (Fashion United)
“East Oxford Street is about to get a makeover. The New West End Company, which represents 600 businesses in London’s West End, has revealed over £1billion of private and public sector investment… set to be injected into the East end of Oxford Street by 2016.”

H&M Profit Misses Estimates as Retailer Absorbs Cost Rises (Bloomberg)
“H&M, the world’s second-largest clothing retailer, reported first-quarter profit that fell more than analysts anticipated as the company decided against passing on higher costs to customers.”

Rise: Camilla Bruerberg (Dazed Digital)
“Camilla Bruerberg is a Norwegian menswear designer who founded her label C/BRUERBERG in 2010 at Oslo Fashion Week. Her latest collection, SOUP, uses a variety of different materials to create pieces focused on the fusion of knit and digital print.”

Ann Demeulemeester Autumn/Winter 2011 | Source: The Cutting Class

The Tribes of Westwood, Owens and Demeulemeester (The Cutting Class)
“While some designers tend to beat to the drum of being on-trend, others have already cultivated their own communities and are even referencing it within their collections. In the recent Ann Demeulemeester, Rick Owens and Vivienne Westwood collections you feel that they are speaking in a language that their customers already know and understand.”

Tokyo’s fashion stores slowly reopen (Relax News)
“‘Tokyo’s fashion business is gradually getting back to usual…Monday’s foot traffic along Omotesando Avenue and Harajuku seemed close to normal levels and shoppers were seen making purchases at Vuitton, Dior and Forever 21. H&M’s closed flagship drew some puzzled looks from passersby.’”

Luxury malls yet to catch on as brands can’t find the right space (Live Mint)
“With little expansion in the luxury mall space, what is emerging is a hybrid retail concept where luxury and premium brands are juxtaposed… For example, while there are pure luxury brands such as Burberry and Armani at Palladium in Mumbai’s Lower Parel, premium brands such as Diesel and Zara on the ground floor.”

Inditex Net Income Rises, Adds Stores in Asia (Bloomberg)
“Inditex… reported profit growth that beat analysts’ estimates and said it will accelerate expansion in stores and online. Fourth-quarter net income rose 14 percent to 553 million euros ($784 million), according to calculations based on today’s full-year results.”

John Lobb Unveils Bespoke Line (Forbes)
“It was created as a celebration of world cities: Eleven teams were assembled in 11 capitals to each create a unique pair of John Lobb shoes. The idea was to make two shoes that embody the spirit of the city, Paul-Dauphin said. He called it ‘around the world in 22 shoes.’”

Joe Zee | Source: Sartorially Correct

Fashion’s Approachable Ambassador (NY Times)
“As fashion has evolved from an insular club to mass-market obsession — helped in part by proliferating Web sites, blogs and TV shows like ‘Project Runway’ — Mr. Zee, 42, has come to epitomize a new form of top-of-the-masthead personality. He is not the aloof style arbiter, gazing out silently behind Frisbee-size sunglasses, but a chatty and approachable ambassador of fashion.”

Tastes of the newly wealthy (FT)
“Both McKinsey and CLSA point to the fact that China’s rich really are different from their western counterparts and the luxury brands themselves are having to adjust their approach. Chinese millionaires, for example, are 15 years younger than their overseas peers and they spend more per transaction.”

Chinese Creativity: Who Are The Emerging Designers? (Jing Daily)
“With Shanghai Fashion Week about to kick off, and Beijing Fashion Week just around the corner, Jing Daily is looking forward to the newest collections by some of the top emerging designers in China. Some we’re watching closely.”

CFDA Fashion Award Nominees Set (WWD)
“This will mark the 10th year that Swarovski is underwriting the awards gala, which will take place on Monday, June 6… As in previous years, the night will also be an occasion for the CFDA to hand out several special awards. Marc Jacobs will receive this year’s Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Westwood’s Lasting Imagery (NY Times)
“Ms. Westwood’s 1980s fashions now are the focus of an exhibition at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The show… is highlighted by pioneering looks such as a unisex ensemble in billowing striped cotton from the 1981 Pirates collection, which may well have an effect on designers now experimenting with genderless styles.”

Hobbs Designer Womens Clothing | Source: Hobbs

Equity turns fashionable (Fashion United)
“Investing in something more than a covetable wardrobe is turning to be a trend that arrived to stay. Even more equity and investment firms are looking for opportunities to enter the fashion business, which is proving to be resilient to crisis and financial turmoils.”

Coach to Move Production From China (WSJ)
“Leather-goods maker Coach plans to gradually move some production out of China, where labor costs are rising, and into lower-cost countries, such as India and Vietnam. At the same time, China is proving a boon to Coach’s sales… comparable-store sales grew by double digits in China.’”

How long will Burberry’s success last? (CPP Luxury)
“The ‘democratic luxury” positioning, although it may have a very possitive message during the current recession, it remains to be seen how the consumers will regard it once most of the international market will have recovered from the recession.”

Selfridges: Bright Young Things (Dazed Digital)
“The windows of Selfridges will feature some of the biggest upcoming stars in British fashion and art… 25 young designers and artists [will] create their own displays and showcase their work to millions. They will also design limited edition pieces.”

Vivienne Westwood’s jewellery extravaganza (Telegraph)
“Dame Vivienne Westwood, the high-priestess of punk, will mark the opening of London Fashion Week next month, with an extravagant launch of her precious jewellery at the Wallace Collection.”

Versace Atelier Autumn/Winter 09 | Source: Versace

Versace Cuts a Fourth of Its Work Force (NY Times)
“Versace Group, the fashion house based in Milan, said Wednesday that it would cut 26 percent of its worldwide work force and consolidate its operations as it targeted a return to profitability in 2011.”

Fashion’s Night Out on the calendar for 2010 (AP)
“ShopperTrak, an independent reporter of consumer traffic, estimated a 50 percent jump in retail foot traffic as stores held cocktail parties, offered makeovers, and hosted meet-and-greets with celebrities and designers.”

Tillman firm snaps up Koodos (Drapers)
“E-trader Group, a software development company founded by fashion entrepreneur Harold Tillman, has bought discount fashion e-tailer Koodos.”

China’s Street fashion (CNN)
“It’s a hot august afternoon in Beijing, and student Li Yanan is shopping with a friend at the Joy City mall, in the city’s Xicheng district. The mall offers plenty of Western brand-name stores… But Li, 20, is drawn to the only store displaying a large slogan printed in Chinese characters. Your own style, it reads.”

How jilted Carrie’s wedding became Westwood’s big day (Evening Standard)
“Sales of Westwood labels rose by almost a fifth last year to £17.6million after Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw, wore one of the designer’s gowns for her ill-fated wedding.”