Bernard Arnault hasn't been in the headlines for the right reasons recently. The LVMH chairman is currently in the middle of legal proceedings against a newspaper that alleged that his recent application for dual French-Belgian citizenship was to avoid the 75 per cent tax that France's new President has brought in. With that in mind, his recent nod of approval from the British comes at the perfect time to counteract all of the negative press.
WWD reports that Arnault will be awarded an honorary knighthood for his service to the business in the U.K. The 63 year-old will be presented with award to become an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British empire by Sir Peter Ricketts, the British ambassador to France. The date is yet to be confirmed but what we do know is that the ceremony will take place at the British Embassy in Paris rather than in the U.K.
It wouldn't be too harsh to say that Emanuel Ungaro has gone from bad to worse. First off it started with that ill-advised partnership with Lindsay Lohan, which was quickly followed by a series of creative directors that didn't last at the brand for too long. To say that it was in desperate need of a shake-up, then, is quite the understatement.
And that shake-up will come from their newly appointed creative director, Fausto Puglisi. The designer has been bought on board as a last ditch attempt to save the brand who has seriously struggled financially as a result of the instability. 'Emanuel Ungaro is a brand that has left a significant mark and still has a lot to say,' Aeffe chairman Massimo Ferretti told WWD. 'Puglisi is a young talent with an international visibility, but with strong roots in our Latin world, and who will be able to turn into a new and contemporary line.'
J. Crew is one of the few middle of the road retailers that steers clear of celebrities and that's, in part, one of the reasons I like it so much. On the odd occassion that the group does work with them, it always makes sense. Last month its sister brand, Madewell, confirmed Solange Knowles as the face of its A/W12 campaign, which is undoubtedly a match made in heaven and now J. Crew have nailed it too by working with Gwyneth Paltrow.
The actress appeared in an eight-look editorial for her site Goop last week wearing head-to-toe J.Crew and ever since then, the traffic on jcrew.com has jumped significantly. 'Eight percent of all of our traffic since we launched with Gwyneth is being driven by Goop,' a J. Crew spokeswoman told WWD. 'That's amazing.'
Am I surprised? Well no. As much as Gwynnie is known for her glamorous red carpet looks, she's also the queen of preppy staples so the partnership makes sense. 'The team here has always been fans of Gwyneth’s personal style,' J. Crew president Jenna Lyons said. 'She has a relaxed ease and a natural sexiness, Goop is a frequent online stop for me…Cool style. Cool site.' Considering how well the partnership has gone, something tells me this isn't the end of the pair working together. Clearly sales are up and since J. Crew aren't particularly fond of working with celebrities, it seems likely that now they have decided to embrace it they'll stick with one person.
Just about everyone seems to be partnering on collections these days but the latest one coming right out of France is one that I can jump on board with. Two of my favourite French brands, Carven and Petit Bateau, have confirmed that they're about to launch a limited edition capsule collection.
And it sounds promising. So far, only two images of the nine piece line have been released and as you would expect, the pieces are incredibly chic and incredibly French. Prices are accessible and range between $64 to $320 and the line caters for men, women and children just to make sure that the whole family can get in on the action. 'Our collaborations up until now [with the likes of French brands like Robert Clergerie, Zespa, L’Amyand] were often associated with a collection and a specific narrative, but the line we have developed together with Petit Bateau goes far beyond that,' Carven creative director Guillaume Henry told WWD. 'It’s no longer a story linked to a collection; it’s a story of shared values.'
The line will debut on November 5. at Colette in Paris and 10 Corso Como in Milan and will then be available in as yet unnamed boutiques in London and Brussels before arriving in the US on December 5.
Fashion week is never with a dull moment and that applies off the catwalk as it does about the clothes. This season's drama took place at the Zac Posen show. As you've probably heard, Jalouse editor Jennifer Eymere slapped the designer's PR, Lynn Tesoro, at the show after things escalated when the editor was asked to stand and far from denying the allegation, Eyemere admitted it pretty frankly to WWD. Fast forward 72 hours, though, and Tesoro was in court filing a claim against her
According to court reports, the PR filed a $1 million lawsuit in the Manhattan Supreme Court claiming 'assault, battery, emotional distress, slander and/or libel.' Eymere has since defended her actions saying that she wasn't trying to hurt Ms Tesoro (sure, because slapping someone across the face isn't intended to hurt them!), instead her aim was to humiliate her. Either way, if there's anything you can take away from this, it's think twice before messing with a fashion PR. It could prove pricey.
Joanna Coles departure from Marie Claire to Cosmopolitan came as a surprise. Coming from a fashion background it instantly became interesting to find out what Coles would do at Cosmo, what with it's focus on sex, and well, more sex. And by the sounds of it, she wants to give the title the shake-up that we've long been waiting for.
'I have some ideas for partnerships and leveraging some of the brand and expanding various bits of it. Opening it up more editorially,' she told WWD. In other words expect to see more fashion content and less 'how to please your man in bed' stories. Talking to the title she explained that she wants to change the way the magazine covers fashion week and make sure that it has a strong 'front representation at New York Fashion Week.'
When we all started to saying that Katie Holmes was making a comeback after she appeared on the September issue of US ELLE, I don't think any of us quite appreciated how much of a comeback she had planned. First up was the news that she was taking her line, Holmes & Yang, to New York Fashion Week this season and yesterday, WWD reported that she's signed a deal to be the face of Bobbi Brown.
I must point out that the report is still a rumour and neither party has commented but if the claims are true, it's a pretty big gig for Holmes. While she's not a stranger to appearing in campaigns (think H. Stern, Ann Taylor and Miu Miu), this would be the first time that Brown has tapped a celebrity to front one of her campaigns. The move seems like a good one. Aside from the fact that the whole world is watching everything she does post-Tom Cruise, Katie does have a wide appeal especially with her with the young working mums demographic and besides, she's beautiful too.
Aerin Lauder's a busy woman. This week she's been in London promoting her new beauty line, which is set to drop this fall, but that's not the only thing she's working on. Lauder, who still serves as the style and image director at the family business, is working on establishing a full-on lifestyle brand so is already working on introducing other product categories like homeware and jewelry but first up is footwear.
The range, which is set to be launch for S/S12, will include 15 styles including flats, wedges and all heels ranges all coming in at accessible price points or around $179 to $400. '[The shoes] have an incredible level of detail, but at the same time, they are affordable,' she told the WWD. 'This is a huge part of the whole position of the brand,' and it makes sense. Despite the fact that spending on luxury brands is better than it was a few years ago, contemporary brands with their attainable price points are continuing to do well.
What's not to love about Esteban Cortazar? During his time at Emanuel Ungaro the brand went from strength to strength before completely falling apart when he decided to leave when bosses decided that working with Lindsay Lohan was the way to go. Ever since he's kept quite a low profile but in May confirmed that he's finally making the comeback that we've all been waiting for with the help of Net-A-Porter.
The designer has decided to start his own namesake line and will unveil the collection during New York Fashion Week. The partnership with the online retailer meant that they helped him get the brand off the ground and worked closely with him from the initial sketches all the way to the pricing process and now also with marketing and PR. 'The way we're buying his brand - our approach is that of the way we would buy into a more established brand,' Net-A-Porter managing director Alison Loehnis told WWD. While she refused to say how much the retailer has invested into the company, she did confirm that they will naturally buy the collection in a 'robust' way suggesting that we have a lot to be excited about.
Sally Singer has always been one of my favourite editors and when she moved to T, just about everyone was excited but sadly her time at the magazine has come to an end.
Yesterday WWD confirmed that Singer has left her role after only two years and in a memo to staff, Times executive editor Jill Abramson said: 'I'm sorry to announce that Sally Singer will be leaving T magazine at the Times at the end of this month,' WWD reports. 'Sally's contributions are clear to anyone who's read the magazine during her tenure,' the memo continues. 'Goregous visuals, interesting stories and enterprising features - both in print and online - have been hallmarks of her stewardship.'
While what Abramson's comments are true, there's no denying that her time at the magazine hasn't been complete plain sailing. From the moment she arrived at the magazine she made her vision very clear. Gone were the glossy, aspirational content that we saw under Stefano Tonchi and instead, Singer pushed forward with intellectual stories that went down well with her fans but unfortunately didn't serve the magazine well on the advertising side.
