fashionologie

Jil Sander, Uniqlo To Part Ways

fashionologie — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:47:14 PDT

>> After a three-year run with Uniqlo, Jil Sander's Fall 2011 +J collection will be her last, the company announced today in a release: "With the recent completion of the design of the . . . Fall and Winter collection, Ms. Sander and [Uniqlo] agreed that they had fully explored the possibilities of their creative collaboration and accomplished what they had set out to do. Consequently, the two parties have decided to wrap up their design consulting agreement with this collection."

Uniqlo has never disclosed revenue for the +J line, and although Sander is notoriously difficult to work with, her relations with the company seemed to be going well as recently as February. According to an interview dated Feb. 1 with Tadashi Yanai, CEO and founder of Uniqlo parent company Fast Retailing, Yanai said: “Jil’s attitude towards clothing creation is truly incredible. She is particularly masterful when it comes to garment shape and style. She will recreate and refresh her designs until she is completely satisfied - even when it comes to the minutest detail. That is why customers feel so satisfied with the fit of collection clothes the instant they try them on. Uniqlo must embrace this fundamental attitude, as well as the passion and attention to detail that Jil brings to creating clothes.”

A Fast Retailing spokesman confirmed today that the company's team of 100 designers “learned a lot” while working with Sander, including her famed attention to detail in selection of raw materials.

Gap To Change Up Holiday 2009 Campaign, May Be Pursued By Uniqlo's Owner Fast Retailing

fashionologie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:42:00 PDT

>> Gap is still struggling to define itself - and for the first time in seven years, the company is looking at using a different creative agency - it has worked with Laird & Partners since 2002 - for its Holiday 2009 campaign, which could mean an entirely different approach to those simple backgrounded studio shots we've become accustomed to.

But that may not be the only big change on the horizon for the company: Uniqlo's owner, Fast Retailing, which counts French brands Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam as well as Theory among its portfolio, may be after the American retailer. CEO Tadashi Yanai recently said that he wants Fast Retailing to become the world's biggest clothing manufacturer and retailer within the next decade: "To achieve our target, the Asian market is the most important and we have already begun to expand there. In Europe and the US it is not realistic to establish hundreds or thousands of new stores solely via our own efforts, so we want to buy a big chain business."

The Indepedent reports that the "big chain business" Yanai refers to has been speculated to be Gap; in response, Yanai has said Gap is "within the scope" of the brands he might have in mind.

Anna Dello Russo Is Next H&M Collaborator

Christina Perez — Thu, 03 May 2012 05:19:06 PDT

The next big H&M collaborator is not a designer but an editor. Anna Dello Russo, Vogue Japan fashion director at large, has partnered with the Swedish fast fashion chain to produce a line of accessories.

The collection is made up of statement jewelry in gold-and-turquoise, bejeweled sunglasses, embellished minaudieres, and vertiginous heels - all Dello Russo signatures - and will hit 140 H&M stores worldwide Oct. 4.

"This is the sign of an important evolution in fashion, and I am both thrilled and humbled to be the one chosen to lead it," Dello Russo said of the retailers decision to partner with her instead of a designer. "With these pieces everybody can have fun, turning an ordinary day into a fantastic fashion day."

Stay tuned for more images, and in the meantime, watch Anna Dello Russo show off her amazing closets - and discuss her view on fashion - in the video below.

Photo, video: Courtesy H&M.

View Slideshow ›

Joseph Altuzarra On the Similarities Between His and Alexander Wang's Fall 2011 Collections and Having His Mom for a Boss

fashionologie — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:04:29 PDT

>> Fresh off the announcement of his CFDA nomination for the second year running in the Swarovski Award for Womenswear category - this time he's up against Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's The Row and Prabal Gurung - Joseph Altuzarra hit up Barneys to host a trunk show for his parka and slinky silk-dress-filled Fall 2011 collection. We grabbed him for a few minutes to chat about how competitive it is among young designers in New York, the fact that he and close friend Alexander Wang turned out Fall 2011 collections with a number of similarities, and who he'd like to collaborate with next.

Congratulations on your CFDA Award nomination! Did you do anything to celebrate?

I didn't, actually. I'm drawing pre-collection, so I drew [afterwards]. I went to the [announcement cocktails] thing, and it was great to be there. I actually didn't go last season - I was in Paris, so I wasn't able to make it. But it was really fun to go [this year], it was a nice atmosphere. And what's fun about the nomination that I got is that it's usually very similar generations. So it doesn't feel as competitive, it feels way friendlier. I mean, obviously, Prabal I know, and we're very friendly. Mary-Kate and Ashley, as well.

It feels like there's this whole group of young burgeoning designers rising up together in New York right now - for the most part, the big classic American designers were shut out from the nominations this year.

No it's true, there is I think this kind of mass effect of young designers. And I think we genuinely don't feel all that competitive. Of course you have the, "Why was he featured and I wasn't?" type of things, but overall, I think we're all really friendly - like we talk to each other about business and about what we're doing. It's very open - which is nice, I think it's how it should be.

Speaking of, do you and Alexander Wang ever talk about your collections together? Because for Fall 2011, you had a lot of similarities - you guys both played the same Prodigy song during your shows, and you had a similar quilted poncho cape that Cathy Horyn pointed out.

We hadn't, actually. And this is really the truth - when I saw his show [which happened a few hours before Altuzarra's], I was like, "Oh my God, we're going to get panned." But I think also what people discount is that we're the same age, and we hang out a lot, and even if we don't talk about our collections, we see similar things. I mean, we also have very similar reference points in time, because we're the same age. So, honestly, I think it's more funny than anything. But it's true, there were similarities - the fur shoes . . . I mean, it's kind of crazy when you think about how much - the Prodigy, and that cape thing, and it was kind of '90s, also . . . It was really, really eerie. But funny. And I hope people see it as more funny than anything.

Did you guys talk about it afterwards?

Yeah, I think he sent me a text. He came to my show and he sent me a text like, "That is ridiculous," or something. Or I think he said like, "I think we need to stop hanging out so much." I was like, "Yeah."

But you guys are still obviously hanging out.

Yeah, yeah, it's not like . . . I think we think it's more funny.

Last year you turned a profit for the first time. What do you credit with being able to achieve that?

I think starting during a recession has made a really big difference in the way we run the company - we thought we were going to grow the structure a lot faster than we decided to. And we've really kept it bare bones. I think most people would be shocked to know how small it still is. Our overhead costs and cost of running the company are fairly low because we're just not a lot of people and still in a fairly small space. Also, the great thing about being in New York is that you have so many of these amazing sponsorship programs - MAC at Milk, also the Tents with Maybelline - which really doesn't exist anywhere else at this level. So I do credit it in part to that. And also, I am the designer, but I'm also very aware of the business. I know how much things cost, so I know I'm shooting myself in the foot if I use a lot of crocodile or very expensive embroidery. And I know it's just not the time to do it.

So you do think about what sells when you're designing.

Oh yeah, for sure. I'm lucky to have a team around me that keeps me grounded. The bulk of my work is very creative, but there's also a side to it that's just making sure I'm doing something that can actually sell and translate to a retail floor.

What do you find sells well for you, in general, season over season?

Definitely tailoring always does very well, whether it's the Spring's more peak-shouldered jackets or the Fall's parkas. And we're also starting to see a more popular category in pants. And dresses have always sold very, very well for us.

It felt like for Fall 2011 you went more wearable than you have in the past - was that a conscious decision?

It was a conscious decision but it actually wasn't a commercial decision - it was a stylistic decision. I was feeling something that was a lot more day, just in the proportion and in the ease of things. And that kind of stylistic decision helped make the whole thing look a lot easier and more wearable.

And you're still working with both Melanie Huynh and Vanessa Traina?

Yeah, I mean they come in from different perspectives. Calling Vanessa a muse is so cliche and I wish there was another word for it, but I see Vanessa almost every day, so there is this side to our relationship that is very inspiring, just because of the way she is and how she dresses. And she obviously does a lot of consulting as well. And then Melanie definitely does a lot of consulting, but she comes in more towards the show, in terms of the styling.

Vanessa usually walks in your shows, but she didn't for Fall 2011.

She was actually not in town - I would have loved for her to walk, because this collection was very Vanessa, and it really came from how she was dressing at the time that I was drawing. I was really, really inspired by her.

Your mom is the CEO of your company - how does that work?

Yeah, she's my boss. You know, in a way, it's an ideal situation, because she lives in Paris, and it helps to have this kind of two-legged foundation, because everything is produced in Italy. In terms of time difference, it's just easier to have someone who's on that side of the Atlantic. But I obviously trust her implicitly, and we're able to have very honest conversations about business. I think we're both very good at divorcing our personal relationship from the business.

You have a strong history of collaborations - Gianvito Rossi for shoes, Gaia Repossi for jewelry, Current/Elliott for denim - is there anyone else you'd really like to work with?

No, not really. I'm trying to think . . . No, but I really do want to start developing more things under my name, so it might be enough collaborations for a little bit.

So you're trying to go in-house with accessories?

Yeah, I think maybe by next year we'll start developing accessories. I think it's important for us and for the development of the brand. We'll be at four years, which I think is a good time to start introducing more in-house things.

After everything that's happened with John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, and Christophe Decarnin, there's been a lot of talk that the current pace of the industry is driving designers to unhealthy places. Do you feel that at all?

I think you need a really, really, really good support system, both within your company but also just outside. I'm really lucky that I have the family and friends that I have - a lot of them don't necessarily work in fashion, and that's really helpful for me professionally, and just for my own sanity. I definitely feel it very bodily - like stomachaches. Yes, everything goes really fast, and now it feels like it's going faster even, mainly because of the Internet. And there's this immediacy and access to information and products, which makes everything you do feel old much sooner than it would have before. So you're constantly trying to bring something different and new to the table as fast as you can.

Is there any particular way you're trying to address that need for the new?

Adding collections for sure is the more classic way of doing it, but I think you also have to be very careful about the press that you do, and not be overexposed. The reality today is that there is a customer who will buy a $4,000 jacket because it's in Vogue, but there's also a customer who will not buy it because it's been in Vogue for six months. So you have to find that balance where you're enticing the customer but you're not revealing everything and you're not overselling it.

Final question: Now that the whirlwind of Fashion Month is over and things are calming down a little bit, do you have any plans to relax or vacation? Or are you just going straight into pre-collection?

No, [I'm going] straight into pre-collection . . . we actually started before the [Fall 2011] show. I am going on a long weekend soon, though, which will be nice.

Hedi Slimane On Returning to Fashion Design: He Has "Options," But "What’s the Rush?"

fashionologie — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:00:56 PST

>> Hedi Slimane recently agreed to do his first interview in almost three years with Style.com, provided that he could answer all questions via email. As a result, you have Slimane's views on a possible return to fashion design, potential fast-fashion collaborations, and the state of the fashion system.

He's not ruling out that he will design fashion once again (but avoids answering whether it would be for a house or his own label).

"I am not really studying one project but different options and collaborations at the same time. Obviously, I know what I want and precisely how I want to do it. When the time is right, what’s the rush?"

"I also don’t understand what the hell people do with all those clothes" »

Julie Gilhart on the Current Fashion System: "Pity the Poor Designer"

fashionologie — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 09:56:23 PDT

>> In the latest edition of Style.com's "Future of Fashion" series, Julie Gilhart maintains that live fashion shows are still a must - "If the Rodarte girls didn’t have a fashion show, would you be able to get the essence of that collection?" - but says that the runway collections should be edited down in size, as they are becoming less and less aligned with what is actually sold in the stores:

"The runway collections actually come late in the season, and the reality of the way American retail is set up, things go on sale not that long after the runway pieces come in. So there should be less pieces in the runway, and our buys shouldn’t be weighted in the runway. They should be weighted into the pre-collections, so you have longer to sell, and you can put a mix together and it looks like a more edited exclusive product in the store. Balenciaga is one of my favorite shows to go to because Nicolas [Ghesquiere] only does 35 exits, which is really small for a show, but you can almost memorize those 35 exits. They’re put on Style.com, they’re shot in every single magazine, they’re everywhere - so by the time they come in the store, I don’t know if I so want the whole runway exit thing. Maybe I want a piece of it, but the bulk of what we’re going to sell in a collection like Balenciaga is going to come in before those runway pieces come in."

One "top" designer is "burned out" from turning out so many collections »

More Details on Uniqlo's Jil Sander Snag

fashionologie — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:26:07 PDT

>> Monday evening came an announcement that surely knocked more than one avid fashion follower out of their chair - Jil Sander is coming back to fashion as creative consultant to Japanese brand Uniqlo. We've got the who and the what, but as for the how, Fast Retailing executives (from Uniqlo's parent company) fill us in.

Apparently the company has been pursuing Sander since last June and didn't have any other candidates for the role - she's the “top of the top,” according to chairman Tadashi Yanai, who credited her with inventing the "modern basic." Sander, for her part, says she had received “a lot of offers from many companies” since leaving the fashion world, but she ended up deciding to try something “completely different” and work exclusively for the Japanese label.

One detail we still don't know? How long Sander and Uniqlo expect to collaborate: executives declined to specify the duration of the contract.
*image: source

Insiders Balk at Increasingly Fast-Paced Fashion Cycle

fashionologie — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:10:22 PST

>> With Pre-Fall show season in full swing, it may seem like business as usual on the surface, but within the span of two days, Stefano Gabbana, Donna Karan, and Bridget Foley, executive editor at WWD, have spoken out indicating otherwise. The consensus is that the industry needs rehab - and fast - that or, Foley writes, "we can wait for total industry Armageddon, à la the financial and auto industries, to step back and try to set things right."

Gabbana was first kickstarted into action when he saw cotton shorts being stocked last year in the Milanese Dolce & Gabbana store during Winter:

"I started asking myself, ‘What’s happening?’ As a consumer I said, ‘No, this makes no sense.' I don’t want cherries or strawberries at Christmas anymore. I want to eat, dress and live on time. I think we all need to sit back and ponder over this anxiety we all have of constantly needing to anticipate."

Numerous designers have bemoaned the increasingly accelerated system, and Gabbana is no exception, WWD writes - he calls the whole ordeal "drugged," partially because it leaves him warehouses full of excess merchandise:

"He foresees a vortex of collections that have shorter and shorter life spans and that are often out of touch with the needs of a consumer increasingly overwhelmed by a crescendo of merchandise and wooed by super-early sales in this tough economy."

So what's the solution? »