Friday Column | Noelle Reno to partner with Zandra Rhodes

| Intelligence

Zandra Rhodes for Marks & Spencer

LONDON, United Kingdom — She may have given up the boyfriend and lost the company, but Noelle Reno, the founder of Degrees of Freedom with ex-boyfriend Matthew Mellon, has retained her love of working in fashion. After a year hiatus in the wake of the separation (during which she filed suit against Mellon in Manhattan Superior Court), she’s back in London and hard at work on her next fashion project—trying to grow Zandra

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Zandra Rhodes and Betsey Johnson: Fashion grannies rock on

| Market Pulse

Two legendary doyennes of the fashion world have been making news this week -- and not just for their colourful fashions. Today, Betsey Johnson announced a majority investment in her business from Boston's Castanea Partners. Some observers are questioning Castanea's logic for investing in a 30 year old brand whose namesake is already a grandmother and whose high-profile days are long over.  On the contrary, the business  has a solid own-retail network of 51 stores and a respectable $200m in sales. This could provide a great platform for further growth, as long as Castanea doesn't dilute the brand's famous quirky irreverence, which is what is most appealing to its loyal fans. Earlier this week British fashion icon, Zandra Rhodes, garnered…

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