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FARRELL DIED AT 89
David C. Farrell, died June 5 in St. Louis. He was 89. Farrell served as May Co.’;s chairman and chief executive officer for 19 years until retiring in April 1998. He’s credited with shaping the modern-day department store, pioneering matrix buying that requires vendors to meet strict sales and profit targets, thereby narrowing the list of vendors that make it into the stores, and running highly productive and tightly managed department stores.
He was at the forefront of big brand marketing, acquisitions, consolidations and aggressive cost management.
The late Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, once called Farrell the best retailer in the country.He was a great merchant and mentor to so many retail leaders through the past 40 years.
Farrell was a workaholic who micromanaged and had an authoritative management style, often labeled dictatorial. He set a strict culture at May Co.
RADIANCE IS A SERIOUS MATTER
When Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari, unveiled the new Bulgari Hotel on Thursday, he expressed his enthusiasm for the world’s 9th luxury hotel BULGARI, which has special significance because of its location in Rome, where Bulgari is based, marking as well as its historical significance.
With six floors and over 151,000 square feet of space, plus an additional terrace offering breathtaking views of Rome from the Vatican to the Villa Medici, there was no shortage of superlatives. The Pope himself is said to have blessed the luxury lord’s new flagship from his bed.
Zendaya and Priyanka Chopra attended the opening party, as did Serge Brunschwig, CEO of Fendi, and Toni Belloni, Managing Director of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. All the inteligentia of the LVMH group for an inauguration worthy of French luxury.
McCARTNEY AND ZARA MENAGERIE
Stella McCartney and Frances Hodgson’s children’s classic “The Secret Garden”. She called this collection Lady Garden and described it as “made by women and for a range of women” who accept their bodies and live in harmony with the world of Zara and its waste in African countries certainly.
COACH RESORT 2024
Designed to appeal to a younger audience, the resort collection offers a variety of silhouettes and eye-catching colors. During a preview of the collection, Vevers said he doesn’t believe his client goes on cruises or to resorts. The collection continued to build Coach’s legacy through the eyes of the next generation. Continue reading
HEARST QUITS CHLOÉ’S HEART
Gabriela Hearst is to leave the house of Chloé after three eventful, and above all acerbic years with the influential newspaper magazine Canal Luxe.
Hearst planned a collaboration between Chloé and actress Angelina Jolie, who recently announced her intention to launch a new fashion house. Naturally, Angelina Jolie, who knows nothing about couture, is taking on a designer who knows nothing about it either. Great evil spirits always meet, too.
The Uruguayan-born designer of the low-impact Nama sneaker, it is normal as she sew like a foot. She thought she’d invented upcycling: what a lack of modesty! The Lord of the Luxury group finally realized that it deserves better than a pseudo designer. Perhaps the next one will come from the chat GPT. It is far better than a “Cat on a hot tin roof”.
A VISIONARY IN EYEWEAR
Safilo’s industrial plant in Longarone, Italy may have found its white knights. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Marcolin are in advanced discussions with Safilo to take over the plant and its employees whose future, as reported, is uncertain.
The eyewear manufacturer, licensee for brands including Boss, Dsquared2, Missoni and Tommy Hilfiger, among others, said that it had “given the management a mandate to explore alternative solutions for the Longarone plant.”
A total of 468 employees are based at the storied Longarone site, in Italy’s Veneto region, one of the country’s key eyewear manufacturing hubs.
Antonio Belloni sharing the luxury conglomerate’s willingness to hire 250 people currently employed at the Longarone plant through its Thélios eyewear manufacturing company. Continue reading
LUXURY GOODS SECTOR FALLS
Paris Stock Exchange and its luxury goods sector reacted badly to Chinese data on Wednesday May 31. The leading CAC 40 index was down 0.54%, or 39.05 points, at 7,170.27 points at around 10am.
Chinese data weigh on luxury sector. Paris Stock Exchange retreated on Wednesday, May 31, showing little satisfaction with the latest Chinese economic statistics, which once again point to a less vigorous economic recovery than expected, weighing on luxury goods stocks.
The leading CAC 40 index was down 0.54%, or 39.05 points, at 7,170.27 points around 10 a.m., again at its lowest level since the end of March. On Tuesday, it had fallen sharply by 1.29%.
CONVERSE HAS A NEW BOSS
There is a new leader at Converse. The Nike-owned company has named Jared Carver president and chief executive officer. Carver’s promotion is part of Nike’s leadership realignment last week. He succeeds G. Scott Uzzell, who was named vice president/general manager for North America of Nike. Continue reading
ALBERTA IN RIMINI
A message was spelled out on blue T-shirts the designer and 32 volunteers who helped assist the Emilia-Romagna region, which was recently hit by widespread floods, wore to close the show. Continue reading
RODEO DRIVE SAYS NO TO LVMH
There is no longer any suspense surrounding the multimillion-dollar LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury hotel project on Rodeo Drive. LVMH issued a statement acknowledging the defeat of its Rodeo Drive Cheval Blanc hotel project shortly after a special election showed a slim majority against it.
CHANEL THE HEROES OF MONEY
With revenues growing 17 percent last year to $17.22 billion, Chanel’s operating profits grew 5.8 percent to $5.78 billion, closing in on luxury’s ultra-exclusive $20 billion threshold.
Announcing double-digit growth across all product lines, the French fashion house said retail teams cultivated local clienteles during pandemic restrictions, alluding to China’s lockdowns last year that hurt luxury sales.
After adjusting for currency fluctuations and changes in company structure, Asia Pacific revenues increased 14.3 percent to $8.65 billion. In Europe, revenues increased 29.6% to $4.72 billion, while in the Americas, revenues increased 9.5 percent to $3.86 billion.
Chanel unveiled its cruise 2023 collection in Monte-Carlo last year, then repeated the show in Miami later in the year, along with its lavish ready-to-wear and haute couture displays in Paris. In the Senegalese capital of Dakar, the brand unveiled its Métiers d’Art collection, making history as the first European luxury brand to do so.
VUITTON 2023
The assets of Bernard Arnault, who holds a little more than 40% of LVMH shares, have thus melted by 11.2 billion dollars. The reason is not the latest Vuitton Cruise collection, but the German banks believe that “it is time to be more selective” in its investment choices. Continue reading
DIOR RETURN IN 1949
Saturday night, during the rise of the steps of the actress Natalie Portman in a dress from the archives of the house Dior. Between reinterpretation and iconic creation, we reveal the underside of this mythical dress.
And for good reason! This unique piece is a reinterpretation of a Dior model from the fall-winter 1949 Haute Couture collection.
This strapless dress, reworked for the occasion by the workshops of the house of Dior, is composed of tulle fully embroidered with sequins shaded. Here is all the creativity of the Italian, take a vacation in Mexico and make a dress from the archives.
FM
THE CUCARACHA YA NO PUEDE CAMINAR
Dior’s unbridled conquest of fashion is breathtaking and emulates that of the conquistadors. Here is signora Chiuri playing Hernán Cortés at the conquest of Moctezuma, and the Gran Tenochtitlan (the current Mexico City) located on the salt lake Texcoco, foundation of the city of “Aztecs”.
MYSTERY HAS ALWAYS SURROUNDED CONSUMERS
There has always been a mystery surrounding consumers.In the $20 trillion U.S. economy, personal consumption expenditures account for 70.8 percent.Due to inflation rates, bank failures, and other factors, consumers are skittish right now.Retail’s leaders are left guessing where shoppers are and where they’re going.
Now is a great time to be a merchant. Consumers are spending more on food and consumables, which saw sales increase in the low double digits, while general merchandise sales declined in the mid-single digits.
Consumer shifts show just how fast retail is changing right now as consumers are changing dramatically.The good news here is that new shoppers seem to be sticking at least for the time being but the less good news is that their activity is mostly confined to staples and necessities.
There is a widespread sense that a tougher consumer environment is on the way. Even Johann Rupert, chairman of Cartier-parent Compagnie Financière Richemont, is looking for a volatile year ahead in the U.S. and described the Fed’s sudden move to higher interest rates as “reckless.”
“The United States will not be as buoyant as a year ago,” Rupert said last week. “Will it return?Consumers are spending more, but they may not be getting more, since inflation is at generational highs and eroding purchasing power.With luxury continuing to thrive while economic concerns push more shoppers to the value channel, the space in between has only gotten trickier, with brands really having to stand out. Continue reading
CANNES IN VENISE WITH BVLGARI
Here Bulgari unveiled its latest high jewelry collection, Mediterranea, a tribute to the company’s origins, inspired by founder Sotirio Bulgari’s journey from Greece to Italy. During a conversation at Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel, a hidden gem in Venice, a private building dating back to the 15th century, where Bulgari set up a showroom to show off is collection.
This inclusivity was reflected by the brand ambassadors who attended the show for press and American clients on Tuesday evening, held at the city’s Palazzo Ducale, including Lisa of Blackpink, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Crystal Liu, Hikari Mori, Yang Yang and Lashana Lynch.
In 2023, Bulgari held its event in Venice, as the crossroads of Mediterranean influences, “where the Roman Byzantine Empire fused with the Roman Western Empire to give rise to inclusive and unrivaled arts and architecture.”
VALENTINO RETURNS TO ITALY
Dubbed Valentino The Narratives, the show will take place on June 16 at 2 p.m. at the Università degli Studi di Milano Statale. The event will kick off Milan Fashion Week, which runs through June 20.
While the women’s and couture collections are traditionally unveiled in Paris, this is actually a return to the roots, since founder Valentino Garavani presented his first men’s show in Milan in January 1985. No more Paris and its traffic jams.
In 2022, the house launched Valentino House Essentials, a selection of timeless but ever-changing staples that serve as codes for Piccioli’s creative vision, and the project will continue this year.
Other luxury brands, from Gucci to Versace to Givenchy to Moschino, have moved away from the mixed-use format, where women’s clothing often distracts from men’s clothing. It’s likely to move away from Paris Fashion week as well.
CHANEL IN HOLLYWOOD
Coco Chanel was invited by Samuel Goldwyn to add glamour to the flagging film industry by creating costumes for his United Artists studio.
LUXURY CRITIC, WHERE ARE YOU?
They are called the “Employees of Fear” and it is the lord of the Arnault family who sets the tone with the man from Toledo and his Marand who takes the “Edict of Nantes” for an English woman. But, can we criticize luxury today? Are there still critics in this profession? Because the luxury industries frame journalists and influencers by putting them under a drip of money, paying a salary to these “Dubaï-Brother”,
For my part, I only met tireless scribblers who lived off the brands, fake talents metaphorizing sclerotic words, never speaking with reflection but always with interest. Brands are content with little, because for them it is better to have a good jack who can be bent over and over again, than a dodgy smelling chief who might drop a truth in a moment’s lapse.
If you criticize these groups, and even if this criticism is constructive, they systematically blacklist you to relegate you to the bottom of their cesspool, a sort of luxury purgatory where you have to get down on your knees to show your allegiance before reaching paradise, a compulsory four-legged as a sign of submission.