Hedi Slimane | Source: Hypebeast

A Fashion Designer’s Second Act (NY Times)
“When Hedi Slimane stepped down as artistic director at Dior Homme in 2007, Fashion Wire Daily summed up his tenure this way: ‘Slimane leaves Dior with the well-earned reputation as the single most influential men’s designer this century, the most copied of his peers and the only one to achieve the status of a rock star.’… But Mr. Slimane seems to have left fashion behind with nary a second thought, reinventing himself as a photographer in the past few years, one who has produced an array of strikingly intimate portraits, nearly all of them black and white.”

Ralph Lauren margins fall, shares hit (Reuters)
“Ralph Lauren Corp posted a sharp drop in quarterly margins on Wednesday, hurt by rising costs, and its shares fell in premarket dealings. Shares fell 5.7 percent as gross margin fell dropped to 56.6 percent from 58 percent a year earlier. The clothing maker, which makes brands including Polo, Club Monaco and Chaps, said net income rose to $233.5 million, or $2.46 a share, in the second quarter ended October 1 from $205.2 million, or $2.09 a share, a year earlier.”

Online fashion retailer Yoox sees Q4 growth (Reuters)
“Italian online fashion retailer Yoox is looking to further revenue growth for the end of the year after strong sales in the first nine months confirmed the vigor of the luxury industry despite wider economic woes in Europe. Yoox, which powers sites for top brands such as Valentino and Roberto Cavalli alongside its own multibrand online stores, said core earnings rose 20.2 percent to 11.8 million euros ($16 million) in the nine months ended in September.”

Retail Site Raids a Big Closet (NY Times)
“Since its debut in February, Moda Operandi, the online retailer that sells designer clothes right off the runway, has become a surprise competitor on the lucrative trunk-show circuit. Now the site is becoming a competitor to traditional department stores and magazines for personnel, as well. Roopal Patel, a longtime executive in the fashion offices of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, will join Moda Operandi this month as its fashion director. And Taylor Tomasi Hill, formerly the style and accessories director of Marie Claire, will become its artistic director.”

Yohji’s World (Vogue)
“Yohji Yamamoto has explained his love of the colour black – a signature that punctuates most of his collections… ‘Colour disturbs people. I am confident in black, not in light. This dark side of life is attractive to me forever and from the beginnings. I am a lazy designer when it comes to colour. The body is the important thing to me – it is the beginning of my work.’”

Looks from the IOU project | Source: IOU

Ethical fashion weaves in social media (CNN)
“With each piece of clothing there is a link called “This item’s journey” that leads to pictures and profiles of the weaver who created the fabric and of the artisan who cut the material and created the design. Using the IOU Project’s iPhone app, you can take a photo of the QR code to pull that story up again.”

Luxury stores urge UK to issue more Chinese visas (CNN)
“Britain could give a boost to the luxury goods industry by relaxing visa restrictions for Chinese travellers, the bosses of high-end department stores Harrods and Harvey Nichols told Reuters…. Four years ago, China represented about a third of our American business, now it is four times our American business. ”

Luxury executive switcheroos (FT)
“Mr Bouissou’s move to PPR comes as its chief François-Henri Pinault has switched to a hands-on role with the luxury section of the business… Boucheron, the only jewellery brand in the portfolio, has always seemed a bit of an anomaly in the Gucci Group stable, but joined by a few other, smaller gem names – well, suddenly it starts to look a lot more logical.”

Why Saks Continues to be a Leader in Luxury Retail’s Recovery (Forbes)
“Look who’s leading a luxe charge in retail: Saks Inc. posted a soaring 51 percent gain in profits for its fiscal first quarter on… Despite the influence of consumer confidence, Saks’ sales gains of 8.8 percent to $726 million on a 10.2 percent rise in comps (comparable sales in stores open at least one year) were the result of savvy management decisions.”

Yohji Yamamoto as Himself (WWD)
“As a buildup to his 10-year anniversary with Adidas, Yohji Yamamoto has stripped down the way he works in a new documentary. Compelling as it is to see how closely the designer examines the drape of his designs and how he crouches on the floor to review rows of models’ head shots, the film’s most poignant moments happen when Yamamoto simply stands in front of the camera, speaking about his life and ideology.”

Grace Coddington | Source: DKNY Times

Grace Coddington: Creative Indeed (Intelligent Life)
“Grace Coddington, the creative director of American Vogue, who turns 70 in April, has been a quietly revolutionary presence in the fashion world—first as a model, then as an editor—for half a century. But only since the release of the film “The September Issue” in 2009 has she been recognised in public—greeted by strangers who witnessed some of her creative battles and now see her as a reassuringly human face of fashion.”

Consumers: We want Gucci or Target. Forget the Gap (CNN Money)
“‘They are more high and low in the way that they are spending… High-end brands are holding ground among consumers, while spending at value oriented stores has also been pretty stable. It’s a tough place for mid-tier right now,’… referring to retailers like the Gap, Chico’s and Ann Taylor.”

How the Luxury Industry is Using the iPad (Luxury Society)
“Brands began developing applications to showcase collections and product ranges, and to communicate brand values and heritage. Gucci and Stella McCartney took the next step and released applications full of bespoke content: interviews with designers, creative directors, city guides, music recommendations… designed to fully engage the new digitally-driven consumer.”

Exit Paris, Winking (NY Times)
“My guess is it was a clever provocation. Mr. Jacobs would hardly be the first designer to have watched ‘The Night Porter’ or to allude to the obsessive and ultimately objectifying nature of high fashion. But he made no attempt to back away from this imagery in the wake of the Galliano scandal.”

Yohji Yamamoto’s London Moment (WWD)
“Thirty years after Yohji Yamamoto first presented his collection in Paris, the designer is having a moment in London… Yamamoto’s first solo exhibition in the U.K. will open at the Victoria and Albert Museum, along with two smaller shows dedicated to his work at the Wapping Project and the Wapping Project Bankside galleries in South London.”

Andrej Pejic | Source: Deviantart.com

Fashion blurs gender boundaries (Telegraph)
“Transsexuals, transvestites and models with no clear gender affiliation are all the rage in current advertising campaigns and editorials.”

Hermès Shares Jump in Paris After LVMH Increases Holding (Bloomberg)
“Hermès International rose as much as 5 percent in Paris trading after larger luxury-goods rival LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA said it increased its stake in the Birkin bag-maker to more than 20 percent.”

China’s Li & Fung buys Italian fashion house Cerruti (Reuters)
“Li & Fung group’s Trinity has bought Cerruti for 53 million euros ($70 million) from the U.S. fund which salvaged the Italian fashion house best-known for its woollen men’s suits and 1881 perfume.”

V&A to present Japanese Yohji Yamamoto work (Fibre 2 Fashion)
“Next spring the V&A will open the first UK solo exhibition celebrating the life and work of Yohji Yamamoto, one of the world’s most influential and enigmatic fashion designers.”

Name You Need To Know: Fashion Designer Bibhu Mohapatra (Forbes)
“New York City has experienced a bit of a fashion renaissance lately…another newcomer is poised to join their ranks, in a very different design niche. His name: Bibhu Mohapatra. His specialty: ball gowns.”

Yohji Yamamoto | Source: Coolspotters

The Yohji Yamamoto story (Telegraph)
“Yohji Yamamoto, the charismatic and mysterious Japanese designer, is allowing the first-ever published biography about his life to be published. The book, entitled (enigmatically, of course) ‘My Dear Bomb’, will be released worldwide in October.”

Ferragamo Sees ‘Very Good’ 2010 (Bloomberg)
“Salvatore Ferragamo, the Italian shoemaker, expects ‘a very good’ 2010 as the weaker euro boosts sales and margins, and consumers return to pay full price for luxury footwear and accessories, Chief Executive Officer Michele Norsa said.”

Best foot forward as Office seeks buyer (FT)
“Office, the fashion-forward high street shoe retailer owned by Sir Tom Hunter, has put itself up for sale with a price tag of £170m. The chain was bought… in 2003 for about £16m. It has since expanded from 21 stores, mainly in London, to a national presence of 125 outlets.”

Ready-to-wear trends to impact on July’s haute couture (Relaxnews)
“Even if most designers would say there are no trends in haute couture, some of the previews of the collections obtained by Relaxnews hint at the opposite.”

Kirkwood For Pilotto (Vogue.com)
“Peter Pilotto and British shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood have announced a new footwear collaboration. The capsule collection will make its debut at Pilotto’s show at London Fashion Week in September.”