Chanel has acquired a stake in Italian tannery Samanta, a specialist in printed leather, as it continues to secure its supply chain in the face of a growing shortage of high-quality leather.
In a rapidly changing luxury market and leather industry, the two companies have decided to join forces to help Samanta further develop its unique offering, recognized by the biggest names in luxury. For Chanel, Samanta’s expertise and technical know-how represents a real added value for the leather industry as a whole.
Samanta’s expertise in printed leather will be especially useful for Chanel, which announced last year that it would no longer use exotic skins including crocodile, lizard, snake and stingray, and would instead rely on the know-how of its in-house ateliers to create high-end products. Continue reading
L’Oréal is diving deeper into the designer perfume business, disclosing Tuesday that it’s in exclusive talks to acquire the Mugler fragrance and fashion businesses, and the Azzaro fragrance brand and accessories. It sets the stage for the world’s biggest beauty company to dabble in fashion once more, while Groupe Clarins will exit the perfume and ready-to-wear markets altogether to focus on skin care.
Francesca Bellettini succeeds Chanel’s Bruno Pavlovsky as president of the governing body of women’s fashion in France. Saint Laurent chief executive officer Francesca Bellettini has been elected president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Féminine, the governing body of women’s fashion in France.
With the Givenchy collection she showed on Tuesday night, Clare Waight Keller indicated a shift from the more clearly clinical perspective from which she created her first three couture collections for Givenchy, creating some quite beautiful clothes along the way, to that of a storyteller who now also buys into the wonderment of couture. Backstage post-show, she didn’t lead with the importance of precision cuts or modernist restraint. Rather, she dubbed the collection Noblesse Radicale.
A giant Jack and the Beanstalk faux redwood in charcoal creeping up four floors up through the stairway, fabulous black and white paintings and a string quartet in white Grecian robes playing Vivaldi. Ironically, the show was staged just days before the house begins a massive reconstruction of its historic headquarters on Avenue Montaigne. 
Following its debut in pink, the Reebok Experiment 3 by Pyer Moss will be returning in a white colorway. Pyer Moss was founded in 2013 by Kerby Jean-Raymond. Jean-Raymond describes the brand as an “art project” or “a timely social experiment” at times. Pyer Moss aims to use its voice and platform to challenge social narratives and evoke dialogue.
Following the launch of the sustainable initiative Paris Good Fashion in January, founder Isabelle Lefort received a flood of reactions to the project, which was sparked by the city of Paris and supported by the Institut Français de la mode, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and the Galeries Lafayette.
Carol Lim and Humberto Leon were bidding a poignant farewell after nearly a decade as creative directors. The moving retrospective, which opened and closed the show, was choreographed by Léo Lerus. Some 5,000 guests attended, including members of the public, fashion students and Kenzo staff.
This show was an Olivier Rousteing spectacular, with the designer joining the city’s annual Fête de la Musique in Paris on the longest night of the year, and inviting a 2,000-strong (Ego forces) crowd to watch his men’s runway outing and outdoor concert. 
Off-White opened the second day of Paris Fashion Week with a controversial show. The subject of the debate wasn’t the clothes but the end of the presentation. Rewind.
Kering has named Bartolomeo Rongone as chief executive officer of Bottega Veneta, succeeding Claus-Dietrich. Rongone’s appointment will be effective beginning Sept. 1, making him the third former Saint Laurent executive to take on a ceo role at Kering.
Accademia del Profumo, the Italian association of cosmetics companies promoting the history of perfume, culture and art, named its annual award winners here on Tuesday.