Design Museum Holon | Photo: Meir Bar Asher

TEL AVIV, Israel — For people who live smack dab in the middle of the world’s most politically charged region, Israelis are a very warm and welcoming bunch, keen to show a side of the country that doesn’t make it into most international news reports. As is true for most places in the world, in order to understand Israel and its people, one really needs to visit the country and experience it first hand.

So, I was extremely fortunate to have been invited to speak at Holon Fashion Week (HoF11) last month, held at the stunning Design Museum Holon designed by Ron Arad, who is credited with putting this suburban city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, on the global design radar. Though the event was dubbed a ‘fashion week’, there were no fashion shows to speak of. In reality, what transpired was more of a constructive dialogue between the global fashion industry and Israel’s fashion community.

My local guides for the week were the vivacious Dorit Bar Or, frequently named as the country’s most stylish woman (on one evening out together, Dorit was stormed by a wall of TMZ-style paparazzi), and the charming Eyal de Leeuw, External Relations Manager for the Design Museum Holon and one half of the leading Israeli men’s style blog Ha Garconniere. Thanks to these two gracious hosts, I met the good and great of the local fashion and design communities, which opened my eyes to the energy of this gleaming modern city and its vibrant neighbourhoods Neve Tzedek and Jaffa.

As for HoF11, it was three jam-packed days exploring the fashion industry’s growing relationship with the digital world. There were keynote speeches from the likes Ron Arad and Yuli Ziv, one-on-one conversations with Zac Posen and Stephanie La Cava, several panel discussions, and film screenings featuring Yohji Yamamoto and Vidal Sassoon, as well as Lotus Eaters, a visually striking film from Alexandra McGuinness, featuring the up-and-coming model Amber Anderson, which debuted earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. Both Amber and Alexandra were also on hand in Holon to answer questions afterwards from a rapt audience.

While Israel may be geographically isolated from the Western fashion capitals, the principal discussions and debates that preoccupy the local fashion industry are much the same as those that arise in New York, London, Paris and Milan. Perhaps top of the list is that inherently borderless question: what are the implications of the digital revolution and how should the fashion industry adapt to the growth of new technologies and media platforms?

Indeed, like consumers in much of the developed world, Israelis are highly digitally connected. According to research recently presented by Mary Meeker of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Israelis spend 11.1 hours on social networks each month, more than their counterparts in any other country on the planet. And while full-price e-commerce has yet to take off in Israel, due to slow uptake by local retailers, we are already seeing the early success of local sites such as Style River and Sense of Fashion (targeted at the US market), which are focused on offering deals and showcasing to hard-to-find designers.

I applaud local initiatives like HoF11, which brought Israel’s fashion community into the global fashion dialogue during a period of great innovation and excitement for all of us who work in fashion. And, stay tuned for more fashion news from Israel later this month when Tel Aviv itself will hold its first fashion week, complete with fashion shows from local designers, as well as guest appearance from one Roberto Cavalli.

Imran Amed is founder and editor of The Business of Fashion

Hermès silk printing table by Brigitte Lacomb | Source: WSJ

The Battle for Hermès (WSJ)
“‘My job,’ says the lean, formal 44-year-old and sixth-generation descendant of the company’s founder, ‘is to keep the strong creativity of Hermès alive. To nourish the rigor and the vision . . . to make these values vibrate. ‘This,’ he says, ‘is the force of Hermès.’ Those values—the dedication to rigor, vision and creativity—are what set Hermès apart from its competitors, what company executives mean when they talk about the ‘culture of Hermès.’

Fashion’s Better Halves (WSJ)
“Two days and a handshake later, a fashion empire was born. Today, the duo presides over two of the industry’s biggest luxury labels: Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton, where the designer has been artistic director since 1997. Under Jacobs’ often iconoclastic stewardship, Vuitton now does $5 billion in annual sales. At last count, Marc Jacobs has 239 retail stores in 60 countries.”

Hundreds sick in mass fainting at Cambodian factory (Reuters)
“Nearly 300 Cambodian workers fell sick this week at a garment factory producing goods for Swedish fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), police said on Thursday. A total 284 workers collapsed on Tuesday and Thursday at M&V International Manufacturing Ltd, a supplier for H&M, in Kompong Chhnang.”

Look Back in Envy: The ’70s Take the Runway (NY Times)
“But the 1970s resonate most insistently on fashion runways, through a proliferation of languid fall looks inspired by the greatest hits of Halston and Saint Laurent, as well as those of style-world luminaries like Sonia Rykiel, Rosita and Ottavio Missoni, Claude Montana and Karl Lagerfeld, whose fluid dresses for the house of Chloé are still being emulated.”

Zac’s back (Vogue UK)
“Zac Posen is taking his show back to New York. He will show his spring/summer 2012 offering on September 11 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall… The NY-born designer moved to Paris a year agoto show his eponymous collection there, but still presented his Z Spoke by Zac Posen diffusion line in his hometown.”

BoF Breakfast Club at Norwood Club | Photo: Drew Innis

NEW YORK, United States — When I first met Rachel Shechtman at a Harvard Business School luxury goods conference back in 2007, we quickly learned that we had much in common. Since then, we have made a point of meeting for breakfast to catch-up and discuss the state of the industry whenever work brings me to New York City.

It got us to thinking. With the non-stop madness of the fashion business, many of us don’t make the time or have the energy to sit back, think about and discuss the changes which are happening all around us. More than ever, we need to have honest discussions about the brave new world of fashion.  There is much we can learn from each other. Why not open our breakfast catch-up sessions to like-minded peers and colleagues from the industry? And thus, the BoF Breakfast Club was born.

Last Thursday in New York, designers and CEOs of established and emerging fashion businesses — Shirley Cook of Proenza Schouler, Maria Borromeo and Thakoon Panichgul of Thakoon, Charles Nolan, Bonnie Takhar of Halston, Waris Ahulwalia, Brian Murphy of Loeffler Randall, Courtney and Phillip Crangi, Elana Posner of Peter Som, Michael Angel, Susan Posen of Zac Posen and others — gathered for an intimate, off-the-record conversation on the future of fashion at the Norwood Club.

The wide-ranging discussion delved into the broken fashion cycle and new business models like subscription retailing and pre-sale trunk show sites, before moving onto the growing need for digital competencies in the world of instant fashion communication. We are grateful for all of those who took the time to join us and contribute to our salon style conversation — by all accounts, it was well worth the time invested which bodes well for more BoF Breakfast Clubs of the future.

Thank you to Rachel Shechtman of Cube Ventures for hosting the event and to Drew Innis for his photography which accurately captured the relaxed mood and open spirit of the first BoF Breakfast Club

Zac Posen for Target Spring/Summer 2010 | Source: Refinery 29

Mom, I’ll Make a Profit Soon (WSJ)
“Mrs. Posen has been pressing for more attention to the commercial side—as opposed to the artistic side—of fashion. The company has added new lines, shed expenses and employees, and even moved some production from Italy to China to save money.”

Jaeger targets younger shoppers (FT)
“Boutique by Jaeger aims to compete with high street stores such as Whistles, Reiss and All Saints, but also with diffusion ranges from upmarket designers such as Marc by Marc Jacobs and See by Chloé.”

Anya Hindmarch designs a collection of coats for Barbour (Telegraph)
“Hindmarch, who launched her own label at the age of 19, in 1993, has created four exclusive designs for Barbour’s autumn/winter 2010 collection.”

Seventies Chic, Eighties Excess—Here’s Where It All Started (Style.com)
“Saillard’s latest show presents ‘an ideal history of contemporary fashion’ of the seventies and eighties, seen through films of the era’s shows and television reports.”

Primark owner’s shares fall after City criticism of fast-fashion chain (Telegraph)
“Primark has long been held up as the retail success story of the millennium, but yesterday the fast-fashion chain suffered a rare piece of City criticism when analysts at Deutsche Bank suggested it was overvalued.”

Zac Posen Backstage | Source: NY Times

The Trials of a Former Boy Wonder (NY Times)
“There was a time when brashness was a refreshing change in New York fashion, which had been dominated by a handful of aging mega-brands until Mr. Posen planted his flag in the biggest, most expensive tent in Bryant Park. But his extravagant success came so quickly…  that his setbacks echo all the more loudly.”

Polo Ralph Lauren profit rises as it warns of Asia hit (Market Watch)
“Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. reported a better-than-expected 5.5% increase in its fiscal third quarter profit… still investors looked beyond that to focus on what the company’s investment in Asia would mean for its fourth-quarter profit.”

Prosecutors Ask Insolvency For Burani Holder (WSJ)
“Troubled Italian apparel maker Mariella Burani Fashion Group SpA faced a new challenge Monday as prosecutors in Milan asked for insolvency proceedings to begin for one of its key shareholders.”

W Hotels to Name a Fashion Director (WSJ)
“Putting a new spin on the term “designer hotel,” boutique chain W Hotels is hiring a fashion director to amp up its style credentials and its profile within the fashion industry.”

TV’s baddest boss is back (CNN)
“Despite its moniker, reality television has rarely been intended to give you the real story. It deals in characters (sometimes caricatures) and is usually edited to prove a point. In the case of Kelly Cutrone, however, what you see is what you get.”

Tom Ford's Ultra-Luxe Alligator Luggage | Source: Luxist

As Sales Vanish, Skins Stay on Alligators (NY Times)
“If alligator is still popular but is simply unaffordable… why are thousands of the reptiles sitting unwanted in Louisiana? And why have prices for the raw product dropped so low? He says Hermès is hoarding the skins, forcing other fashion houses to pay dearly and leaving the farmers with few other options.”

US shoppers discount driven on Black Friday (Drapers)
“US retail sales on Black Friday, the post Thanksgiving shopping day in the States, were marginally ahead of 2008, but shoppers were out looking for bargains and did not spend on full price goods or luxury items.”

Selfridges heads for £100m profit in centenary year (Drapers)
“A strong start to Christmas trading has been the icing on the cake for department store group Selfridges, which said its profits would bust the £100 million market in this, its 100th year of trading.”

Zac Posen to design Target line (New York Magazine)
“Posen has a new strategy to reach an even wider consumer base than he might with the $78 T-shirts from his lower-priced “urban hipster” Z Spoke line: a Target collection, yet another increasingly common business strategy for young (and old) designers in these times.”

Comité Colbert Adds Five New Members (FWD)
“The Comité Colbert has added five new members, the first time France’s leading luxury industry group has added so many brands at once. Notable from the world of fashion, the Comité Colbert rolled out red carpet to Pierre Hardy, the most acclaimed French shoemaker of his generation.”

Gucci Facebook Page | Source: Facebook

Luxury Brands and the Case for $4,000 Sunglasses (IHT)
“Imran Amed, who runs a Web site called The Business of Fashion, said that two years ago, when he started urging big luxury brands to embrace social networking as a communications tool, executives of these companies told him the idea was ‘stupid.’ He is getting a lot less of that these days.”

Zac Posen’s New Venture (WWD)
“Z Spoke is a new vocabulary for Posen, and the keyword is sportswear. ‘I think it’s going to surprise people,’ says Posen, who describes the 60-piece range, which is strong on separates such as knits, cotton shirting, blazers and pleated khaki shorts, as ‘minimalist and utilitarian.’”

Luxury Stores Trim Inventory and Discounts (NYT)
“All around Saks Fifth Avenue, merchandise is sold out. The $2,520 Marni shearling vest? Gone. The $5,295 Brioni leather bomber jacket? Only one left. The $1,995 over-the-knee Christian Louboutin boots? ‘All gone, except for this,’ said Nick Passerelli, a Saks employee, dangling a size 11 boot from his fingers.”

Will the high street scuff Jimmy Choo’s image? (Times)
“That does not solve the branding problem. If your business is selling trinkets (or shoes) to the truly rich and vulgar, does it make sense to market a range that tells the buyer that her wealth is, frankly, a bit juvenile. Or that her shoes are junior Choos?”

The Illusion of Brand Control (Harvard Business Review)
“You’ve probably heard by now that “your brand is no longer yours.” The assertion’s based on simple math. In the era of blogs, discussion boards, Facebook, Twitter, and other Web 2.0 tools, virtually everyone can get online and talk about your company and its offerings. As a result, the amount of information your marketing and PR departments can generate is only a small percentage of the total volume of content on the Internet about your firm.”

Prada S/S 2009 campaign photographed by Hedi Slimane, courtesy of Prada

LONDON, United Kingdom — At the Luxury Briefing Conference held in London last month, Claire Kent, former Morgan Stanley analyst and current luxury goods consultant, spelled out her thoughts for the future of luxury.

“Regardless of the credit crunch there was growing fatigue about luxury brands,” she said. “People want a redefinition of luxury. People don’t want to be buying the same brands as the people they have working for them.”

So, what are the key elements of the new luxury?

Brands need to focus on innovation, creativity, individuality and service. (She noted that it’s been hard to convince the sharpest minds to mind the shop floor, something that may change with the number of layoffs we’ve seen.)

The ‘It’ handbag, she says, is over. Carrying a bag because Gwyneth Paltrow carries one means that you don’t have your own point of view, stylistically speaking. This of course is why people started following celebrities in the first place — because it was easy. But now we’re going to have to fend for ourselves.

For evidence of this impending change in attitude, she pointed to the car industry where the groovy people (Ok, some of whom may be celebrities) are driving cars not much bigger than their dogs, while the SUV has become a symbol of shame.

Aside from better-made things, there are a few sectors Kent sees as ripe for rapid expansion. The categories are hers, the reasons why are mine. (Budding luxury entrepreneurs, take note):

1. Jewellery. Although we’ve sent the big groups and the watch brands get more active in this area, the vast amount of jewelry sold is still unbranded and comes from mom-and-pop shops, not big chains.

2. Men’s Shoes. Where, oh where, is the Christian Louboutin of men’s footwear?

3. Men’s Grooming. Yes, there are more men’s products on the market than 10 years ago, but none dominate.

4. Eco Luxury. Along with Eco everything else.

5. African Culture. Obama, Obama, Obama. Did someone say Obama?

6. High-end Food. Because once you experience the difference, it’s impossible to go back. Just like with Louboutins.

According to Kent, one element is a return to craft. Her big problem with fashion apparel is that, if it’s not based on craft, these days it’s simply too hard to compete with the Zara’s of the world. Therefore, luxury consumers will become more discerning and spend more per item, but buy fewer items. It is the ‘masstige’ brands that will suffer most.

And, based on personal experience, I have to agree with her. It is increasingly hard for me to justify a designer purchase. The fact that I know margins have been improving (for the brands, not for the consumers) does nothing to quell those fears. So this winter the few things I bought from anyplace outside of Zara and its ilk, I bought from Bamford & Sons.

The brand is owned by the family that made its money selling JCB diggers (or tractors) and also produces the Daylesford Organic range of foods — clearly a family with their finger on the pulse of what luxury shoppers want. I was particularly impressed by the men’s offerings and I thought I’d tell my boyfriend never to shop anywhere else. Now I am not so sure.

For the prices, one would expect it all to be of impeccable quality. But within a month, the tassel on a pair of £400 Bamford boots I bought fell off and a £225 cashmere scarf I bought my boyfriend was looking a bit worse for wear.

The quality versus price conundrum is a tough one for designers. They’re supposed to be selling a vision, but Kent, and I, think that increasingly people are going to want value for money — in the old fashioned sense of the word.

This should make second lines all the more important. If brands will still have value in the credit crunch future, it holds to reason that consumers will shift down to Marc by Marc Jacobs before landing where I am, at COS (Collection of Style, the upper end of H&M).

This makes the recent decision of Zac Posen to shutter its Contemporary line all the more puzzling. The company only recently brought in a team to produce it, but they’ve all been fired. The remaining 70 percent of employees have been told they will be taking a 15 percent pay cut and, as for bonuses, forget it.

To be fair, the decision wasn’t made purely on market decisions. An expected influx of cash from their backer, Ron Burkle, never materialised. As with many other brands, Zac’s fashion show sponsors have backed out, putting his runway show, like many others, in jeopardy. Will the world weep? Doubtful. I think that everyone, from the buyers to the editors to the consumers were sick of the fashion show circus.

It’s hard to know what to do — particularly for the majority of luxury goods executives who have never had to live through times like these before. But I wonder if, finally, we’re about to see a return to an idea of luxury that’s more, well, luxurious.

The Business of Fashion welcomes Lauren Goldstein Crowe, our new Friday columnist.

Following his blowout 3-day fashion fiesta in Rome earlier this summer, WWD is reporting today that Valentino and his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, will both step down from their positions at Valentino after this season. Finally, the fashion industry’s rampant speculation about Valentino’s future role in the post-Permira world will come to an end. But, this will only make more room for the other question on everyone’s lips: Who will replace Mr. Valentino?

Zac Posen and the designers behind Proenza Schouler (which was recently injected with $3.7m of funding from Valentino Fashion Group) are amongst the names being tossed around. Over at Fashion Inc the money is on Proenza Schouler. Others are saying that Alessandra Fachinetti, the former womenswear designer at Gucci, is at the front of the pack.

Regardless of who gets the job, this could spell trouble for Permira, who recently took a majority stake in the company. Unless Valentino himself continues to be involved in some way as a consultant or behind-the-scenes advisor and unless he is actively involved in choosing his successor, Permira may find it difficult to grow the business to provide the returns that Permira’s investors expect, while also protecting the integrity of the brand for the long term.

Up until now, the driving force behind Valentino’s success has been his partnership with Mr. Giammetti. With both of these key players gone, there are some seriously massive shoes to fill.