Monday, June 25, 2012

Alexander McQueen and the Power Suite




References to Art Deco and the work of Gustav Klimt ran throughout the spectacular Alexander McQueen collection for resort. Creative director Sarah Burton played with contrasts, juxtaposing ultrafeminine dresses with sharp power suits. She worked a large round silver or gold buckle as the leitmotif, putting the focus squarely on the waist for many of the looks. Several pieces were embellished with opulent dragonfly prints — a gold-and-black version for a fluid halter evening gown, and a Japanese floral motif for a great suit. Another standout suit, this one done in iridescent silver with an intricate cutaway blazer with wide lapels, was inspired by Bianca Jagger’s signature white numbers.



















Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Elizabeth Arden Acquires Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj Licenses

With its purchase Tuesday of the fragrance licenses of Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj from Give Back Brands LLC, Elizabeth Arden Inc. is giving Coty Inc. a run for its money.


Bieber’s first fragrance, Someday, was launched in spring 2011 and became the number-one women’s fragrance launch in U.S. department stores, with annual sales of $39 million according to NPD Group figures cited by Give Back Brands. A second fragrance, Girlfriend, will be launched in Macy’s on Monday and in other national retailers on June 25, Kathy Widmer, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Elizabeth Arden, told WWD Tuesday afternoon. 


Minaj’s first fragrance is set for a September launch. These moves will meet head on with Coty as it prepares to launch its first Lady Gaga fragrance in the fall, following the debut of Madonna’s blockbuster Truth or Dare scent in late March. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. 

In a memo to employees dated Tuesday, E. Scott Beattie, chairman and chief executive officer of Elizabeth Arden, said: “We are pleased to announce that today we signed an agreement to acquire the licenses for the Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj fragrance brands from Give Back Brands.…The marketing and creative activities for these fragrance brands will continue to be managed externally by their existing team. Sales, finance and operational activities will be absorbed by the respective Elizabeth Arden functions. These brands represent another opportunity to grow our extensive fragrance portfolio through both new licenses and fragrance acquisitions.”

Monday, June 11, 2012

Ralph Pucci and Ruben Toledo Team for Furniture

NEW YORK — “I’ve painted on just about everything, from refrigerators to barns. I cover every surface I can think of,” says illustrator Ruben Toledo.

Yet his latest gig is different. He’s illustrating coffee, dining and side tables as well as benches and chairs created by Ralph Pucci. It’s a limited-edition collection, whereby Toledo will paint each piece based on what a customer specifies in the order. This manner of customizing is new to Toledo. “If you love turtles, he’ll paint turtles,” Pucci says. “Sometimes art can be too intellectual and distracting. This is clearly whimsical, surrealistic and fun.” 

The Ruben Toledo for Ralph Pucci collection will be unveiled Monday at the Pucci showroom, 44 West 18th Street in Manhattan, in conjunction with the Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Pucci, whose eclectic showroom features art, photography, mannequins and home furnishings, two years ago added to the mix by creating furniture under his label. “It’s modern, very minimal and classic. When you apply Ruben’s painting, it becomes very theatrical but it’s pleasant to live with.” 

Pucci also believes it’s a format for furniture destined to be widely copied, though he characterized the project with Toledo as a “fresh take” on a famous collaboration in the Forties and Fifties between the Italian artist Piero Fornasetti who painted furniture by the Italian architect and designer Gio Ponti.

Pucci and Toledo have been collaborating since 1986 on mannequins and wall illustrations, and the designer Isabel Toledo (Ruben’s wife) has dressed Pucci mannequins. 

Friday, June 8, 2012

Men's Designers Bring New Take to Women's



With acclaimed men’s wear mavens now piloting storied women’s houses — headlined by Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent and Raf Simons at Christian Dior — it just might spark an important change in female style.

Giorgio Armani, perhaps the industry’s most compelling example of a designer who successfully made the leap from men’s into women’s, said of the overall trend, “A men’s wear designer never loses sight of the relation between shape and function, which, transferred into women’s wear, can give great results.”

And what else might a men’s wear designer bring to the table that a women’s wear specialist might lack?

“I think the sense of reality, the elegance translated into a clean and bold line,” Armani replied.

Massimiliano Giornetti, who was named creative director for all product lines at Salvatore Ferragamo in 2010 after a decade in its men’s department, agreed that “the idea of construction and functionality — a concept banned from women’s fashion for years,” is something second-nature to designers formed in men’s wear.

“Men’s fashion always had the necessity to combine aesthetics and functionality, because men refuse to wear pieces featuring details with no function,” Giornetti noted.













Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Michael Kors 2013




The international retail expansion circuit recently took Michael Kors to Turkey, where the designer was struck by the counterpoint of modern architecture and classic Ottoman opulence. So, he packaged luxurious ornamentation on sleek, streamlined silhouettes for a resort collection of the utmost Korsian glamour. It was rooted in a bounty of gold that came splashed across a graphic black ikat bell dress, crinkled to perfection on a crushed panne velvet shift, and as micro chains and studs embroidered on a lace skirt. “When you go to Istanbul, whatever you think is glamorous jewelry in the rest of the world is considered daytime there,” said Kors, who bejeweled the necklines of jackets and dresses and the chunky mid-heels on the stellar (and seemingly comfortable) gladiator sandals.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The CFDA Fashion Award Winners

NEW YORK — The Row’s Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen won the 2012 Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Womenswear Designer of the Year award. The Menswear Designer of the Year award went to Billy Reid, while Reed Krakoff picked up the trophy in the Accessory category.


The 2012 CFDA Fashion Awards, which marked the organization’s 50th anniversary, took place at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall Monday evening. 

The night also honored emerging talents with the Swarovski Award. This year, Joseph Altuzarra won in the Womenswear category; Phillip Lim in Menswear, and Tabitha Simmons in Accessory Design.


Tommy Hilfiger received the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award; Andrew Rosen took home the Founders Award, in honor of Eleanor Lambert, and the Media Award, in honor of Eugenia Sheppard, went to Scott Schuman and Garance Doré.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Happy Feet

It’s been 30-plus years since sneakers as a fashion statement got their improbable start when the New York City transit strike of 1980 had legions of career women hoofing it to work with broad-shouldered suits on their backs and high-tops on their feet. Little did they know then, those women were creating a look that would last — even if it was a dubious look at best — and one that has reemerged ever stronger in the designer market, where high-tops are kicking ballerina flats off their casual-chic perch. 



 
“The high-top trend has been bubbling up for some time, and, as trends go, it usually takes a few seasons for them to take hold,” says Holli Rogers, fashion director of Net-a-porter.com. “I think it’s most prevalent now, since this year we have seen a resurgence of trends from the late Eighties/early Nineties and the high-top sneaker is certainly associated with that excitement.” 

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

H&M Luxury Line?

Following its recent foray into red-carpet dressing, Hennes & Mauritz is rumored to be planning a luxury brand that would be more expensive than its high-end COS brand. Contacted on Monday, H&M neither confirmed nor denied a report in the Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri (DI) that it was working on the new concept. “We are constantly looking at new ideas; it’s a natural part of our work. However, there is nothing new that we can talk about for the moment,” spokeswoman Charlotta Nemlin said. 


The project is said to involve designer Behnaz Aram, who previously designed women’s ready-to-wear for Swedish brand Whyred. In August 2011, Aram joined the design team at H&M New Business, the division in charge of the COS, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday brands.


Michelle Williams wore a custom-made H&M dress to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards in London, and the retailer will make its red-carpet creations available to the masses with the April 12 launch of the Exclusive Glamour Conscious Collection in around 100 stores worldwide. The line is made using more sustainable materials, and features items worn by stars including Amanda Seyfried, Viola Davis and Kristin Davis.




























A dress from H&M’s Exclusive Glamour Conscious Collection.
Photo By Kacper Kasprzyk

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Kenneth Cole New Collection

Besides moving to take the company private (which sources said could gain approval in a few weeks), KCP is launching a new women’s and men’s sportswear collection, named Kenneth Cole Collection, which has higher price points, better fabrics and more advanced styling. The new line marks a major effort by the company to jump-start its business and will impact everything from its retail stores to its marketing message.


“We’re entering this phase of adulthood. We’re about to become 30 [next year]. This is a transitional period. We’re in the process of elevating and returning to certain roots of the company and elements of its heritage. We’re turning to the next chapter, with a hint and suggestion of a prior one,” said Kenneth Cole, chairman and chief creative officer, in an interview. 


The goal is to elevate the quality of design, production and distribution, he said. Changes will evolve throughout the entire company, from “below the ankles and up. We’re reintroducing women’s footwear and handbags as we speak,” he said. Cole discontinued wholesale distribution of women’s footwear and handbags two years ago due to performance issues (they were available in Cole’s own stores and online), and is reintroducing them for fall. “We’re also going to reintroduce ourselves to the Kenneth Cole woman. We’re going to speak to her in a more elevated and engaged manner. What’s on her mind, and also what’s on her body,” said Cole, whose publicly traded company last year lost $2.9 million on $478.9 million in revenues!!!


He described the men’s Kenneth Cole Collection as “tailored, refined suits he can wear to work and after work.…It’s bomber jackets, double-breasted peacoats, it’s slim suits, more dressed-up sneakers in exotic materials and a lot of metal details.” The line includes fitted pony two-button jackets, body-skimming cashmere turtlenecks, slim-fit wool trousers, as well as distressed moto jackets, sharply tailored wool top coats and knit cardigans.






Monday, March 26, 2012

Stylish Moments in Music

The phenomenon of entertainment media product placement dates way back to 1927 when “Wings,” which took home the inaugural Academy Award for Best Picture, plugged Hershey’s chocolate. Though music lacks film’s visual possibilities, in recent years “brand-dropping,” as it has come to be known, has become just as common as its cinematic cousin. There’s even an advertising firm, The Kluger Agency, that focuses on bridging the gap between its clients and the music industry. 

The latest entrant into the pop-song-as-brand-advertisement is Madonna’s “I Don’t Give A” from her album “MDNA,” which hit shelves today. 

The track, which leaked last week, features an appearance from Nicki Minaj in which she raps “In the Gabbana in the eye of Prada/We Material Girls, ain’t nobody hotter - Pop's collar/See I really can relate to your Volvo/And you can’t get these shoes at Aldo.” 

So how many songs out there actually mention designer brands? Too many to list.