Posts for April 19th 2012

Armani

Armani to Design Lady Gaga's Born This Way Tour Costumes

>> Giorgio Armani will reprise his role as Lady Gaga's chief costumer when he creates the clothes she'll wear for her upcoming Born This Way Ball tour.
Armani to Design Costumes For Lady Gaga's Born This Way Tour

>> Giorgio Armani will reprise his role as Lady Gaga's chief costumer when he creates the clothes she'll wear for her upcoming Born This Way Ball tour.

Armani has created costumes and red-carpet outfits for Gaga in the past, but the new costumes will be more diverse. Sketches of the clothes reveal everything from a long-sleeved, floor-length shift dress to a hat shaped like a keyboard. The Armani team used PVC, lots of metal studs, and jet-black Swarovski crystals to create the outfits.

"Collaborating with Lady Gaga is always an exciting experience for me," Armani said. "I admire the way she uses fashion as a scenic element and as a means to build a character."

A look at the characters Armani helped Gaga create in the gallery.

Photo: Lady Gaga in Armani at the 2010 Grammy Awards.

Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret's Newest Angel, Fashion Week Scheduling Resolved, & Fashion Pollution in China

>> Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.


>> Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

  • Toni Garrn has just been anointed as Victoria's Secret's newest Angel. Garrn's first official assignment was appearing in the new ads for the Dream Angels underwear collection alongside veterans Erin Heatherton and Lindsay Ellingson, but she's walked the Victoria's Secret fashion show runway in the past. While we don't know much about her yet, she has admitted she has an addiction problem — "Sweets are really my problem," she laughed. "I could just eat sweets all day, ice cream and chocolate." [Fashion Etc.]

  • Fashion Week organizers in New York and London have set show dates through September 2014 in the hopes of resolving the scheduling disagreement among the four major fashion capitals. The plan allows New York, London, Milan, and Paris to "successfully plan for the long term" — or at least it will if Paris and Milan cooperate with the new dates. [The Cut]

  • What was the best fashion film of this season? Victoria by Victoria Beckham, Prada, Lanvin, and Edun, among others, all made inventive and imaginative films to advertise their Spring wares. [Business of Fashion]

  • Liya Kebede dyed her hair red for the May cover of Harper's Bazaar Spain — or at least she put on a red wig. The model donned head-to-toe Gucci for the cover, which also promises stories about Elsa Schiaparelli and Oscar-nominated actress Berenice Bejo. [Styleite]

  • An environmental group in Beijing released a report blaming China's manufacturing industry for some "2.5 billion metric tons of sewage in 2010," which makes it the third biggest polluter of water in the country. The report names Burberry, Levi's, Guess, Zara, and Ralph Lauren as companies who have hired "textile companies that violate [China's] environmental laws." [Refinery29]
Editor's Pick

The New Online Arrivals We're Coveting This Week

>> Warmer weather and longer days call for breezy separates, dramatic accessories, and major shoes — and that's precisely what's rolling into stores right now.
Spring 2012 Online Shopping

>> Warmer weather and longer days call for breezy separates, dramatic accessories, and major shoes — and that's precisely what's rolling into stores right now. A look at all the super-chic just-in pieces — from a spike-handled Christian Louboutin python bag to a speckle-printed Mara Hoffman shift dress — here, in the slideshow.

Aquascutum

British Heritage Label Aquascutum on the Verge of Bankruptcy (Updated)

>> The 161-year-old label Aquascutum entered administration, the British equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, on Tuesday.



>> The 161-year-old label Aquascutum entered administration, the British equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, on Tuesday.

In a statement, Aquascutum executives attributed the company's precarious financial situation to "challenging conditions in the UK," which has "unfortunately meant that the team have been unable to successfully turn the business around."

The company is now in the hands of FRP Advisory, a British restructuring firm. Geoff Rowley, who is leading the administration efforts, says he hopes he can keep the company's doors open.

"We are conscious of the value of the Aquascutum brand and its long-standing heritage and because of this are keen to enter into early discussions with interested parties open to purchasing the business as soon as possible," Rowley said.

Aquascutum lost over $38 million in 2008, and British Fashion Council chairman Harold Tillman bought the struggling brand in 2009 for an undisclosed price. He appointed Belinda Earl as its CEO and hired designer Joanna Sykes as creative director in May 2010. Sykes's work for the brand was well-received, but didn't translate to the turnaround Aquascutum needed.

If the company can't be saved, the 250 people who work for it will be out of work.

Update: Aquascutum announced on Thursday, April 19 that it will shut down its UK manufacturing plant in Corby, Northamptonshire, due to "loss-making operations and a lack of funding." The factory employed 115 people, all of whom the company says will get help finding new jobs.

"Whilst a difficult decision, it has been necessary in order to stem on-going losses for the business, and to protect the positions of the 135 remaining employees," a spokesperson said. "We plan to provide appropriate assistance to all affected employees . . . All head office and retail operations across the UK and international high street, concession and outlet stores are operating as usual at present."

Photo: The finale of Aquascutum's Fall 2012 runway show.

Dior

LVMH Buys Stake in Rumored Dior Candidate Maxime Simoens

Maxime Simoens mightnot have gotten the top job at Dior, but a recent cash infusion from Dior and LVMH owner Bernard Arnault should be a comforting consolation prize.
LVMH Buys Stake in Dior Candidate Maxime Simoens

Maxime Simoens mightnot have gotten the top job at Dior, but a recent cash infusion from Dior and LVMH owner Bernard Arnault should be a comforting consolation prize.

Arnault is reported to have purchased a stake in Simoens's eponymous two-year-old fashion label. The size of Arnault's stake in the business is unknown, but his investment indicates that he wants to keep tabs on Simoens. At 27, Simeons is so well-regarded in the French design world that he was widely rumored to be in the running to replace John Galliano at Dior. Until recently, Simoens was also the creative director of French label Leonard, but he left that post earlier this month — which made many believe that he would in fact take over for Galliano. It was announced shortly afterward that the job went to Raf Simons.

But just because Simoens isn't at Dior now doesn't mean he won't be in the future. A source suggested to WWD that LVMH may be interested in parlaying Simeons's talent into a future role at one of its bigger fashion houses, which include Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi, among others.

The last time Dior bought a stake in a smaller fashion company was 2009, when it acquired 49 percent of Edun, the eco-friendly line founded by U2 frontman Bono.

A look at highlights from Simoens's past collections in the gallery.

Photo: Maxime Simoens takes a bow at a presentation of his clothing in Singapore, October 2011.

Zac Posen

Zac Posen Z Spoke For Lord & Taylor

>> As far as Zac Posen is concerned, there's no reason his 12-piece Z Spoke collection for Lord & Taylor can't be as sensational as the gowns he creates for the red carpet.
Z Spoke For Lord & Taylor

>> As far as Zac Posen is concerned, there's no reason his 12-piece Z Spoke collection for Lord & Taylor can't be as sensational as the gowns he creates for the red carpet.

"I don't believe that true trends actually come from high fashion down anymore," Posen said of his capsule collection of dresses, all of which are priced under $200. "I think that if you have the ability to create directly at that price point . . . that's really exciting because then you're addressing a much wider audience. And it makes it more fun."

For Posen, fun means colorful, straightforward dresses created with his core design principles in mind. "They're still flirty. They still have our signature construction in them," he said. "Sometimes we'll take out the lining of some of our couture gowns and even that on its own would just be an amazing dress."

But these dresses aren't just glorified crinolines — they're ways for new consumers to get more familiar with his work. Coco Rocha attended the capsule collection's launch party on Wednesday clad in a blazer from Posen's Target collaboration. She said the Lord & Taylor dresses were a smart move.

"For so long, no one could really relate to him," Rocha said. "It was all about really beautiful gowns and a romantic sort of fairy tale. I think this is appropriate, because now we all — even I! — can have a Zac Posen dress."