>> This Summer, we suggest you swap out those heavy leather totes for a cooler option. Our picks from Stella McCartney, Prada, APC, and Marni are sure to lighten your load tenfold. After all, who wants to walk around the city with hot and sticky straps? Click the slideshow to see more options, ranging from bucket totes to woven satchels, now.
>> Phoebe Philo has been producing collections at Celine just short of two years now, and the label has leaped 20 or 30 places in overall editorial-credit rankings, entering the top 10 or 15 in most major markets, according to the label's CEO Marco Gobbetti.
Sales are on the rise, as well. Dresses have been the best category for Spring, while coats and jackets land at the top of the stack for Fall collections. And three bag lines Philo introduced with her first collection — the Classic, the Luggage, and the Cabas — are major hits for the brand; Gobetti calls them “pillars” of Celine's leather-goods business.
Although Celine was reportedly loss-making last year, Gobetti projects “very high double-digit” increase in growth worldwide for 2011. “I think everyone sees a significant potential for this brand.” Revenues this year have rebounded to historic highs approaching 200 million euros (approx. $289 million), and Gobetti says the label has the “potential to fairly quickly become a midsize brand,” with revenues in the 500 million euro range ($723 million).
To help make that happen, Celine is currently prepping two flagships — one in Manhattan at 870 Madison Avenue and one at 24 Rue François 1er in Paris — to open this Fall. But as for e-commerce, Gobetti says: “We will continue to study Celine’s e-commerce potential, and one day we will do it."
>> Since The Row was founded in 2006, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have raised the label's overall prices by as much as 25 percent (partially due to the introduction of more fur and cashmere pieces), and although it's The Row's policy not to disclose specific figures, sales are now estimated to be between $10 million and $12 million annually. But the collection is still produced primarily in New York factories — and in Los Angeles, to a lesser degree (The Row's handbags and a few knits manufactured in Italy.). “I really believe in our being able to create here and utilize the skills that people have here,” says Ashley. “The skill set is here. Our main issue is that some of the machinery is gone, so some knitwear is produced in Italy. But whether it’s clothing or cars, I believe in manufacturing as close to home as possible. We really want The Row to be an American luxury brand. We believe in not just American by representation but American by make.” Which is why the Olsens are presumedly OK with their clothes being "crowded onto an exceedingly unglamorous factory floor in New York’s garment center," as Robin Givhan describes. "The L-shaped workspace, brightly lit with fluorescent lights, smells vaguely of steam irons and fried rice." [Newsweek]
>> Genevieve Jones's Fall 2011 jewelry collection just hit Moda Operandi — and we've got a preview of a few of our favorites. Jones's signature safety pin earrings come with talon detailing this upcoming season, and white quartzes dot most of the rest of the Thailand-forged collection. For those who don't want to wait for the Fall collection's estimated June/July delivery, L-Atitude has a small selection of the Spring collection's safety pin earrings available.
>> As suggested last week, Olivier Rousteing, a key deputy of Christophe Decarnin at Balmain, was just confirmed as the house's new designer. He will supervise the design and development of both men's and women's ready-to-wear collections, and will reportedly not give any interviews prior to the debut of his Spring 2012 collection later this year.
According to the press release, Rousteing had been in charge of Balmain's womenswear studio since 2009 and previously spent five years at Roberto Cavalli, where he was promoted to designer of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear collections. He is French-born, was raised in Bordeaux, and completed his fashion studies at ESMOD in Paris in 2003.
>> Carla Bruni is pregnant with her first child by husband Nicolas Sarkozy, according to reports in the French publications Le Figaro, Le Journal du Dimanche, and Le Parisien. Although the Elysee Palace has not denied or confirmed the claims — a spokesperson instead commented that the subject is a private matter — the French magazine Closer reports that ministers have been told not to share the news, as Bruni is still in the early stages of pregnancy. Bruni, 43, has one previous child, Aurelien, born in 2001 by a previous boyfriend. It was already reported last week that she may skip the Cannes Film Festival premiere of her Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris, for fear of appearing too "bling" in the face of next year's French presidential elections, but a pregnancy could be another reason to avoid the scrum of press. [Vogue UK]
