Category Archives: BREAKING MODE
CHAUMET AND JOSEPHINE
Joséphine arrived in Paris in 1779 from her native Martinique, soon to steal the heart of Napoleon Bonaparte, before being crowned empress of France. A woman of style and passion, Joséphine infused Parisian society with a sense of originality and audacity, which find fresh expression in the city today.
joséphine’s chateau, Malmaison, was where she indulged her passion for flowers and plants, becoming widely respected among the botanists of her day. Her love of nature helped spread the 19th-century fashion for gardens and greenhouses like the Bagatelle rose garden, the Auteuil Greenhouses and the Jardin des Plantes. Today, this lush, exuberant spirit lives on in Paris’s elegant rooftop and vertical gardens, while Malmaison welcomes thousands of visitors every year. Joséphine’s jeweler, Chaumet, celebrates this love of flowers in its Jardins collection. Continue reading
ROUSSEL QUITS LVMH
Longtime LVMH executive Pierre-Yves Roussel is to become chief executive officer at Tory Burch. Roussel left his role as chairman and ceo of LVMH Fashion Group earlier this year, and was initially said to remain with the group as a special adviser to LVMH chairman and ceo Bernard Arnault. Roussel has been linked romantically to Burch for years. They announced their engagement in 2016 and were finally married only weeks ago at Burch’s Antigua
As head of LVMH Fashion Group, Roussel oversaw the fashion houses Celine, Givenchy, Kenzo, Loewe, Marc Jacobs, Pucci, Rossi Moda and Nicholas Kirkwood. He is probably best known for recruiting Phoebe Philo for Celine, Jonathan Anderson for Loewe and retailers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon of Opening Ceremony for Kenzo. Roussel’s start date at Burch could not immediately be learned.”
WELCOME TO CANNABIS COUNTY
A burgeoning new retail industry is poised to quickly scale in Canada, where the government legalized marijuana marijuana on Oct. 17. While the Canadian Parliament in 2017 passed the bill legalizing the sale of cannabis, much of the regulation, including retail sales, has been left to the provinces.
Stores have begun to pop up in Alberta and Saskatchewan, two of the first provinces to legalize brick-and-mortar cannabis rentals.
Inner Spirit Holdings’ Spiritleaf lifestyle stores, upscale-looking units with weathered wood fixtures and seating areas for sampling, have opened locations in Brooks, St. Albert and Lethbrid Continue reading
KERING CLEANS THE PLANETE
Fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world after oil and gas, and more than 90 percent of the potential to improve its sustainability lies within the supply chain much of that within China. That formed the basis for Kering to launch a sustainability award.
The prize is a partnership with Silicon Valley accelerator Plug and Play, and replicates its European Kering Sustainable Innovation Award in this part of the world a fashion manufacturing capital and a growing consumer force in the luxury goods market.
The award will target and celebrate Chinese start-ups who are engaged in the fields of alternative raw materials, green supply chain, retail and use, and circular economy, with a top prize of 100,000 euros. The winner and two runners-up will be able to meet with Kering’s network of investors for mentorship, funding opportunities, as well as trips to Europe and the U.S. to meet with industry leaders. Continue reading
IS PARIS BURNING ?
Warnings and plans for store closures swept the capital; the government plans to deploy 8,000 troops and armored vehicles in the city
Tensions ran high in Paris saterday as the French capital braced for further mayhem from anti-government demonstrations over the weekend, with luxury groups Kering and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton joining department stores in protectively shutting all of their stores on Saturday, while authorities warned people steer clear of parts of the city.
A section of the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré will be entirely sealed off for the fourth weekend in a row to protect the Élysée presidential palace.
The lockdown comes at a time when the holiday shopping season is normally entering full swing; instead the city is gripped by the possibility of more violence, with the government pledging to employ 8,000 troops and a dozen armored vehicles in Paris, and 89,000 security forces around the country. Continue reading
BURBERRY MOSS WESTWOOD
The old bird Vivienne Westwood and Burberry have lifted the veil on their collaboration, with the release of their joint campaign that’s filled with an array of new and old faces dressed in head-to-toe vintage Burberry check.
The idea for the limited-edition collaboration, Riccardo Tisci’s first, was to take a unisex approach and create a “union of punk and tradition” by reinventing some of Westwood’s most famous pieces from berets, to lace-up platform shoes and kilts using a vintage variation of the Burberry check.
Kate Moss poses in a check shirt and matching high-waisted pants; Sistren, a group that creates podcasts about the stories of queer black women, are in mini kilts, knee-high socks and bucket bags all re-created in Burberry check, while musician Leonard Emmanuel wears an oversize T-shirt with the slogan “Cool Earth has a plan to save the rainforest.” Continue reading
PHARAOH PHARRELL WILLIAMS
This is not Elizabeth Taylor, anyway,” Karl Lagerfeld declared. Encamped in a suite at the Mercer Hotel which the Chanel entourage took over in full in preparation for the house’s Métiers d’Art show on Tuesday night Lagerfeld quickly dispelled any preconception of a luxe cheese fest of overdone makeup and tricked-out headdresses inspired by La Liz’s (albeit delightful) turn as Cleopatra.
There’s a timelessness to it, he said of the allure of ancient Egyptian imagery, noting that the idea for the collection crystallized before the location was secured. “I always was interested in the old Egypt, from 3,000 years before Jesus Christ. And then I said it would be great to show it in the Met, but I never thought it was possible
But then, if “impossible” exists within the world of Chanel, we’ve yet to see it. Here, the house booked the Met for the show (which necessitated closing public access to the Temple of Dendur for many days prior) and a nearby expanse of Central Park for the party.
Julianne Moore, Margot Robbie, Penélope Cruz, Lily-Rose Depp and Sofia Coppola. One celebrity wasn’t seated: Pharrell Williams walked the show, a vision all in gold, long sweater atop leather pants. Continue reading
EXCLUSIVE HOTEL BOUCHERON
Boucheron is set to open its newly restored Place Vendôme flagship Wednesday.
With its sweeping views of the famed Paris square and its spiraling column, the mansion, which covers nearly 20,000 square feet of space, now has a winter garden and an intimate perch to observe it from in addition to a succession of distinct, refurbished salons. Moving past the traditional realm of a high-end boutique, the upper floors house the label’s design studio and workshops, as well as an entire floor that can serve as an apartment to host its most elite clients overnight stays included.
For the Boucheron project, which coincided with the house’s 160th anniversary this year, the building’s historical stature took precedence, recounted Hélène Poulit-Duquesne, chief executive officer of the jeweler.
Least complicated, by Poulit-Duquesne’s account, was defining the mission of the Kering-owned jeweler with François-Henri Pinault, chairman and ceo of the luxury group. Continue reading
THE CORE OF VERSACE
Donatella Versace loves New York. She’ll tell you herself, but now there’s a Versace T-shirt that spells it out, too, combining the Medusa logo and Milton Glaser’s iconic “I Love NY” state logo on a see-now-buy-now souvenir from the house’s inaugural pre-fall show, staged where else but Manhattan. Continue reading
AS DIOR, SIMONS IS OVER
Canal-luxe was right. When Raf Simons was at Dior’s, the troubles at the brand raise questions over Simons’ future at Calvin Klein given that his contract is up for renewal in August. He currently has direct oversight of the underperforming 205W39NYC collection and jeans, as well as a raft of other categories, global marketing and communications, visual creative services and store design.
That’s the word from chairman and chief executive officer Emanuel Chirico of PVH Corp., which has owned Calvin Klein since 2002, as he laid bare his “disappointment” in its third quarter performance during a call with investors Friday morning.
He assured Wall Street that he’s taking swift action to correct the brand direction, which the Belgian designer skewed too fashion forward and too expensive for its core consumer since he took over the helm as chief creative officer in 2016. Continue reading
GLAMOUR IS OVER
It was one of the first American fashion magazines to put a black woman on the cover, in August 1968: Katiti Kironde, a Harvard student who was the winner of the magazine’s “best-dressed college girls contest,” which became “college women of the year” and included Diane Sawyer, Martha Stewart, Curtis Sittenfeld and Tamira A. Cole.
After all, it’s not as if there’s no history to talk up. Glamour occupied a very specific place in the landscape of women’s fashion magazines for a very long time. That’s why many readers took to social media in the hours after the closure was announced to mourn its print demise. It “feels like my teenage self is getting a golf club to the back of the knees,” went one post.
“End of an era! My mom was always a subscriber (then so was I) I thought it was the quintessential fashion mag that was still accessible to women in diff economic backgrounds,” went another. Continue reading
LVMH CARBONE 14
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton said it has met this year’s objectives related to its carbon fund and has reduced emissions by the amount typically generated by 1,600 European households annually.
The bulk of the 112 projects funded this year, at a cost of 11.3 million euros, were linked to stores and energy efficiency. In particular, the company focused on lighting, insulation and more efficient air conditioning and heating systems, mostly in Europe. Continue reading
THE NAKED FAMILY
Kourtney Kardashian is totally stripped down for the December/January issue of GQ Mexico. The reality TV star appears on a number of covers for the magazine, and for one of them, she ditches the pants. The 39-year-old mother of three may wear a cozy black turtleneck in the shot, but besides that, she’s au naturel.
Kourtney getting even barer, posing completely nude atop a counter or sprawled out on the floor. The spread was shot by photographer Michael Schwartz.
Kourtney already has a response to critics who’d disapprove of her posing nude. “I am very comfortable in my own skin, I like to be naked in my house and I think it is important to show positive images of our body,” she says in interview, she’s apt to post bikini pics and stripped-down photos on Instagram.
She also isn’t the only member of the family to show serious skin for a magazine. In August, sister and model Kendall Jenner posed topless and freed the nipple for her feature in LOVE’s 10th anniversary issue. And Kim Kardashian, Queen of the Naked Selfie, recently posed topless for Richardson magazine’s 20th anniversary issue. Continue reading
CHANEL IN PARIS
On the heels of major openings in London and New York, Chanel has unveiled its new five-story flagship in Paris, marking the culmination of a six-year project that lays the groundwork for the digital transformation of the French luxury house’s retail network.
The new location, a stone’s throw from its historic boutique on Rue Cambon, is the brand’s largest in the French capital, with 10,800 square feet of sales floor, including its biggest shoe department. Architect Peter Marino designed the store, which is housed in three historic buildings, among them a former 17th-century convent.
In addition to the entire Chanel range of ready-to-wear, accessories, watches and fine jewelry, perfume and beauty, the flagship features two floors of reception rooms where VIP customers will be able to do everything from take a shower to enjoy a private meal. Continue reading
BLACK FRIDAY WINDOWS STILL SHINE
In a queasy year for retail, the department-store holiday extravaganza gleams on. For the most important selling season of the year, the venerable department stores of New York have marshaled their resources for elaborate displays of festive cheer. These are a family tradition and a tourist destination, a spare-no-expense arms race for delighted gasps, bugged eyes and Instagram feeds.
DOLCE FIRED BY CHINA
Dolce & Gabbana Shanghai Show Canceled, Chinese Celebs and Models Flee Furor Stefano Gabbana claims insults about China posted from his personal Instagram were from a hacking.
The fallout from the canceled Dolce & Gabbana show and the brand’s inflammatory remarks about China continued to roil the Chinese fashion world with powerful editors, influencers and celebrities expressing everything from rage to deep disappointment.
A multimillion dollar one-hour runway show scheduled here by Dolce & Gabbana was abruptly canceled the day of, after insults about China were posted from the Instagram account of designer Stefano Gabbana, leading to the country’s biggest names in fashion and entertainment pulling out of attending the show en masse. The designer and the brand posted on Wednesday afternoon just hours ahead of the planned event saying that the account had been hacked. Continue reading
ERIC TIBUSCH COUTURE 2019
MEN, MIX OR NOT, THAT IS THE QUESTION?
After switching to joint women’s and men’s displays following the arrival of Clare Waight Keller as artistic director in 2017, Givenchy has decided to switch back to the men’s wear fashion calendar for the fall 2019 season. At least one major brand is battling the tide of coed shows.
The French fashion house will stage a presentation on Jan. 16 during Paris Men’s Fashion Week, before returning to the runway in June.
Waight Keller, will continue to show women and men side by side in her ready-to-wear and haute couture shows, the brand said. “Granting men’s wear a dedicated platform starting from January reflects the house’s support of Clare Waight Keller’s vision for the brand,”. Continue reading
LAST WEEK SECRET WAS OUT
Last week, Victoria’s Secret ceo Jan Singer left her post under pressure. A representative from L Brands would not confirm whether Mehas would be joining Victoria’s Secret, only to say that further “commentary” regarding Jan Singer’s departure would be revealed during report to day.
Though women carrying Victoria’s Secret shopping bags are still a familiar sight in malls and big cities, the brand for the last few years has been struggling to reverse declining sales and recapture relevancy amid changing consumer tastes and shopping habits and increased competition, among them Aerie, Soma, ThirdLove, Adore Me, Lively and Spanx.
Victoria’s Secret has been under scrutiny for failing to keep up with shifting consumer demands, especially involving themes of female empowerment and diversity. Its reticence to change has been made even more pronounced with the emergence of competitors like Rihanna’s lingerie company Savage X Fenty and ThirdLove, which aim to be more inclusive of women of different shapes, sizes and backgrounds. Underwear trends have also been shifting toward comfort and athleticism, rather than lacy, padded and push-up. Continue reading