RED COLOR FOR LOUBOUTIN

The designer Christian Louboutin claimed an important victory in his ongoing battle to trademark red soles, after the European Court of Justice on Tuesday supported the company’s claim that the use of a specific shade of red on the underside of its shoes constitutes a recognizable characteristic of the brand.

The ruling by the European Union’s highest court comes in the context of a dispute between Louboutin and Dutch high street shoe brand Van Haren dating back to 2012. A Dutch district court in The Hague asked the European Court of Justice to rule on the nature of Louboutin’s trademark before it settles the matter.

Louboutin’s lawyers argued, on the contrary, that the trademark consisted of “the color red (Pantone 18‑1663TP) applied to the sole of a shoe,” regardless of the shape of the sole.

At issue was whether Louboutin’s trademark should be considered a shape trademark or a position trademark an important distinction as European trademark law does not protect signs consisting exclusively of the shape of a product. Continue reading

BASQUIAT, SCHIELE AT FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON

This Fall, Egon Schiele and Jean-Michel Basquiat will be both the subject of two separate monographic exhibitions at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. We will celebrate this year the anniversaries of their deaths — both died at 28, in 1918 and 1988, respectively  and offers an opportunity to confront the old (Europe at the beginning of the 20th century) and the new (the U.S. in the Eighties) with a focus on lines, through mostly drawings for Schiele and paintings for Basquiat. Many works by the latter have never been shown to the public before as they are drawn from Bernard Arnault’s personal collection. Continue reading

GUCCI VESPER FOR THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Alessandro Michele deserves the award for the most dazzling spectacle to date in a season thick with powerful imagery. The Gucci creative director chose the Alyscamps, a Roman necropolis in the southern French city of Arles, as the setting for his show, and took full advantage of the area’s epic history with a nighttime display that transcended space and time with a trove of references ancient and modern. Continue reading

CARVEN CHAPTER 11

The house was founded in 1945 by the late Madame Carven, the French couturier who traveled the world with her collections. The French contemporary brand and its parent company, Société Béranger, have filed a voluntary petition with the Paris Commercial Court for the French equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the spokesman said.

Carven underwent a renaissance under Sebaoun and the former artistic director Guillaume Henry, who positioned it as a contemporary brand.

After Henry moved to Nina Ricci, the brand initially named Alexis Martial and Adrien Caillaudaud as artistic directors for the women’s collections, and Barnabé Hardy for men’s.

The company, which was “already fragile,” was hit to the tune of several million euros by a delay in the production of its spring 2018 collection designed by Serge Ruffieux, which forced it to cancel deliveries, he explained. Carven, which employs 99 people, has annual revenues in the region of 20 million euros. Continue reading

DIOR HAS NAMED C.DELAPALME

Charles Delapalme must be the new Diore managing director of commercial activities. The appointment takes effect on June 15, 2018.

“Charles will be taking over from Serge Brunschwig,” Dior said in a press release Tuesday morning. Brunschwig left Dior in January to become president of Fendi, which like Dior is a major fashion house within the giant LVMH luxury conglomerate. While at Dior, Brunschwig’s principal role was overseeing Dior Homme.

Moving in the opposite direction Delapalme joins Dior from Fendi where since 2016 he has been Managing Director of Retail & Wholesale.

While at Fendi, Delapalme reported to Pietro Beccari, the former president of the Roman luxury brand who is became CEO of Dior in January. Continue reading

BRITISH DRESS OF SUSSEX

I am a working mother, I am used to juggling schedules! In total, about 50 people worked on the dress, veil, shoes and bridesmaids’dresses. Three thousand, nine hundred hours over the course of four months work.

Clare Waight Keller was born in Birmingham, England on 19 August 1970. She studied at Ravensbourne College of Art, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fashion, followed by a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art.

She started her career at Calvin Klein in New York as a stylist for the women’s ready-to-wear line, then at Ralph Lauren, for the Purple man line.In 2000, she was hired by Tom Ford to join Gucci, responsible for women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, until her departure in 2004.

After months of speculation about Meghan Markle’s wedding dress, with names including Ralph & Russo, Erdem and Franck Sorbier being tossed around like bridal bouquets, the designer turned out to be Clare Waight Keller.Indeed, the artistic director of Givenchy fulfilled her assignment with such discretion that only she and Markle knew who and what the dress being designed was for. Continue reading

J’ADIOR MYKONOS

Dior is opening a Pop-up shop in Mykonos in June. Maria Grazia Chiuri has designed exclusive pieces, including Dior Book Tote bags featuring the name of the island woven into the canvas.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of women’s collections at the French fashion house, has designed a collection of exclusive pieces for the occasion, including striped bodysuits and sweaters, silk cravats and cotton pareos bearing the slogan “J’adior Mykonos.”

The boutique will also carry advance items from Dior’s fall collection, including Dior Oblique zipped pouches, baseball caps and berets, and a Dioraddict bag that can be accessorized with a choice of five straps. These items will be available in Dior boutiques worldwide from mid-July.

The Greek influence could be felt in his designs from 1953, with dresses carrying names such as Athènes, Corfou and Rhodes. Maria is reinventing in copying looks in the archives of the Fashion House! At Myconos, Dior is becoming Iconos!

HYÉRES FESTIVAL

“Hyères” “means in French yesterday” During Sunday night’s prizegiving for the 33rd Festival International De Mode, De Photographie Et D’Accessoires De Mode a Hyères, Lisi Herrebrugh are a Dutch duo, neither of them fluent in the local speak and therefore momentarily ignorant their names had just been called. So their models beat them to the podium, their chaotic exuberance amplifying the winning collection of menswear infused with the couple’s Caribbean roots. Continue reading

VALENTINO ASSOCIATION WITH DEVIL

Valentino has linked with Chinese giant Alibaba to give its Candystud collection some pop in Beijing. Maison Valentino is launching two limited-edition Valentino Garavani Candystud bags, four exclusive sneakers styles and a collection of small leather goods to mark the occasion.

The collaboration will help promote the Valentino Garavani Candystud collection at a Valentino pop-up store in Beijing’s Sanlitun neighborhood and on a 3-D virtual store on Tmall Space, where the platform’s Luxury Pavilion hosts pop-up shops.

Jessica Liu, president of fashion and luxury at Tmall, said, “Valentino’s simultaneous running of a physical Candystud Factory pop-up store in Beijing and online with a Pavilion Tmall Space is a perfect illustration of how luxury brands can leverage Alibaba to engage their consumers and take advantage of the New Retail opportunity.” Continue reading

LIE SÉOUL FASHION WEEK

Chung Chung Lee was born and raised in Seoul to renowned designer parents who founded the legendary Korean fashion house LIE SANGBONG. Having access to the atelier since the age of six, runways and various fashion week events across the globe since the age of 14, Chung Chung was raised in an environment that fostered creativity and encouraged experimentation, hence his innate inclination toward the arts. Continue reading

SANTOS BROKECASH MONTAIN

Jake Gyllenhaal is joining forces with Cartier as the new face of its Santos de Cartier watch, The star of films “Brokeback Mountain” an American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee, adapted from the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx.

Jake Gyllenhaal embodies the Santos de Cartier man. A man who commits utterly and does nothing by halves. A man who defines fearless as honest and true to himself,” Cartier said in a statement on Monday.

Though considered one of Hollywood’s most stylish leading men, Gyllenhaal has been highly selective in his brand endorsements.

The American actor and producer last year made his debut as an ambassador for Calvin Klein’s Eternity fragrance in a black-and-white spot shot by Cary Fukunaga. Continue reading