LAPIDUS AND LANVIN

Olivier Lapidus from latin ‘lapideus’, meaning ‘made of stone, 59 years old, is a french designer quite known in France but almost unknown in the world has been appointed on Monday as the new artistic director of Lanvin.

He is expected to present his first Lanvin collection in September for the spring 2018 women’s ready-to-wear season,.

The company, founded by Jeanne Lanvin in 1889, has been majority owned since 2001 by Taiwan-based media magnate Shaw-Lan Wang. It has seen sales erode for several years which has been leading to financial difficulties.

Besides the minority shareholder Ralph Bartel and investment banker Pierre Mallevays of Savigny Partners, both board members, have submitted letters of resignation to disassociate themselves from Wang’s decisions and governance as Wang did not go through a proper process using professional advice from a talent search firm. Continue reading

LANVIN FIRED BOUCHRA JARRAR

Shaw-Lan Wang, the owner of the brand Lanvin which is in great financial difficulties has just decided to fire the actual artistic director Bouchra Jarrar after having fired the renowned designer Alber Elbaz

Bouchra Jarrar was very weakened by the lack of success of his collections. His departure had been acquired for a while already, “said the Reuter’s source.

The stylist was only appointed 15 months ago at the head of the artistic direction of the women’s fashion label. There will be no collection for the upcoming spring-summer season (scheduled for late September), said the source.

Taken in the turmoil since the departure of its former artistic director Alber Elbaz, Lanvin saw its sales fall by 23% in 2016, to 162 million euros, and recorded a net loss of 18.3 million, after a profit of 6.3 million in 2015. The trend was further aggravated in early 2017, with sales falling 32% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2016,

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CHANEL EFFECT TOWER

Stunning, the power of Wertheimer group who moved the Eiffel Tower under the dome of the Grand Palais. Lord Hamburger had even ordered clouds at the ceiling for this occasion, but he does not yet speak to God like the lord of the Arnaults. However, he has asked a German engineer, Herbert Von Wolke, to do this miracle.

Madame Gabrielle loved towers especially the Fernsehturm. Printed on our invitation, a painting by Delaunay that we had recognized and therefore we suspected that after the rocket we will have the most famous tower of the world.

In fact, the French house killed two birds with one stone: celebrating the emblematic founder of the house, and launching its new perfume named “Mademoiselle”. Then, we attended to the presentation of dresses in the shape of the perfume bottle. The Baroness of Cystitia Rheynale, told me that she had recognized in the first models the style of her friend, the great Chantal de Monteunez that she had not seen for a long time. Continue reading

DIOR 70 HAUTE COUTURE

Dior took place at Les Invalides, transformed for the occasion into a Garden of Eden located in the middle of Paris, place Vauban where the cohorts of limousines formed a fortress.

The Prince of Luxury surely spoke with God to ensure a sunny weather! The sky became blue with a few clouds from time to time to leave a slightly cool breeze caressing the bodies of women dressed for the occasion as if the air conditioning had been regulated by the nature. Dear Sir, you know that we enjoyed this tour de force, and we are aware that you like to speak to the Gods of Olympus to satisfy your audience.

Upon arriving, I came across the American actor Robert Pattinson, the couturier Alber Elbaz as well as a floor of people of TV reality series, Vicomtesses and Baronesses, who represented the society for the second collection Haute Couture of Maria Grazia Chiuri. Continue reading

MORE AND SIMPLE SPIRIT

The French Fashion Federation have simplified its name and changed the logo and the internet website. From now, the federation will be known as La Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. In the past the full name of the French Fashion Federation was : La Fédération Française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode, especially long and not easy to translate in english. So the decision was made to simplify the name but still not really to translate…. This is the french organisation.

The story of the founding of the Federation’s respective trade associations dates back to 1868, when Paris-based British designer Charles Frederick Worth created the Chambre Syndicale de la Confection et de la Couture pour Dames et Fillettes. In 1911, the trade association became strictly couture-focused, shortening its name to the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture. After World War II, it was changed once again to La Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Continue reading

CHANEL KNOCK-OFF

Last Friday, in California, federal judge condemned 30 sellers of counterfeit Chanel-logoed products that had been operating through Amazon.com. the famous luxury house

The court condemned $100,000 each seller-defendant for every knock-off item they sold leaving Chanel to collect somewhere around $3 million as a result of the decision.

Amazon must now disable the defending stores and take down images of any infringing product. Amazon Payments is this week supposed to transfer funds held in the accounts of the sellers to Chanel. Although details of the account holdings are not available, the totals are unlikely to equal the amount of damages.

 

RIMO WAY FOR SUCCESS

In June, the LVMH-owned brand hired Hector Muelas as Chief Brand Officer to oversee the brand’s global marketing and communications.

This month, Rimowa appointed Rocky Jacob as Chief Product Officer, marking as the second major appointment for the German luggage producer.

Rocky Jacob, Rimowa’s newest addition, headed the Alphabet-owned home automation producer that created the “learning” digital thermostat that adjusts room temperature based on patterns. At Nest, he served Head of Industrial Design, and now he will serve as an adviso. Continue reading

RON FRASCH JOINS BURBERRY’S BOARD

Formerly president and chief merchandising office of Saks Fifth Avenue, Ron Frasch has just been invited to join the Board of Directors of Burberry.

Burberry has tapped veteran retailer and private equity partner Ron Frasch as a member of its board of directors. He will serve as a non-executive director and a member of the remuneration and nomination committee, with effect from September.

Frasch is an operating partner at the Newton, Mass.-based private equity firm Castanea Partners. His focus is on the luxury space, which includes apparel, accessories, footwear and jewelry.

Frasch is also joining Burberry as it rethinks its strategy in the U.S., where it has a mix of wholesale and retail outlets. Sales have been shrinking in the region due to a variety of factors.

BRANQUINHO QUITS FASHION

Just a few sentences to say it is the end. Véronique Branquinho, who had successfully relaunched her feminine ready-to-wear brand five years ago, announces the ending clap.

The Belgian designer created her own couture house in 1998, parading for the first time in Paris at the age of 24. Alone at the head of her company, affected by the financial crisis, she had to stop her ready-to-wear collections (woman and man) for the first time in 2009.

In 2012, she started again with the women’s line in Spring-Summer 2013 thanks to Onward Luxury Group (ex-Gibò), which had always continued to produce its line of shoes. The European subsidiary of the Japanese group Onward, a reference in Italy for the production and distribution of very high-end collections, holds Jil Sander. Continue reading