>> Even designers are shopping the closet when it comes to piecing together their latest collection. Fortune's Peter Gumbel writes in his new profile on Francois-Henri Pinault of PPR: "All the brands have been scouring for ways to save cash. Hiring and salaries have been frozen since last September. Bonuses for this year have been halved too. Inventiveness has become the order of the day."
Robert Polet, CEO of PPR's Gucci Group, illustrates with a story of how he found Tomas Maier on the floor of Bottega Veneta's headquarters in New York City with his shoe manager last November, going through a pile of books filled with leather and skin samples. Fortune relates: "They were checking how much of each material they had in stock, planning to use it up in the next collections. 'I left the room and thought, Wow,' Polet says. 'Finding ways to manage down inventory has almost become a sport.'"
Francois-Henri Pinault
PPR Update: Tomas Maier Recycling Unused Material for Bottega Shoes, YSL Reporting $24M Loss, and Pinault "Impressed" With Son
Good on Tomas Maier: Bottega Veneta Is Currently PPR's Only Brand Seeing a Rise in Sales
>> Just a few days after LVMH reported a decline, causing all marketing to be cut save for its top-performing brands, PPR reported a 76 percent decline in first-half profits. Tomas Maier can breathe a sigh of relief: the company's only area of growth was Bottega Veneta, on which PPR has been focusing, which saw an 8.6 percent rise in sales in the second quarter.
At flagship brand Gucci, which accounts for the bulk of Gucci Group's profits, Frida Giannini was credited by PPR chairman Francois-Henri Pinault for bolstering PPR as a whole with sustained demand for her bags in China.
Venice Biennale Overflowing with Fashion Figures and Their Families
>> Where art goes, fashion is soon to follow, and with the contemporary arts Biennale going on in Venice right now, there are plenty of designers, editors, and even models in town. On Wednesday, Olympia Scarry’s installation brought out Patrick Demarchelier, Vogue Russia's Aliona Doletskaya, and POP's Dasha Zhukova, as well as Justin Portman and Natalia Vodianova, the latter whose face was reflected in a luminated, aged sketch on display called Dorian Gray, by artist Dasha Fursey.
Naomi Campbell and boyfriend Vladislav Doronin stopped by a lunch for the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and popped up again yesterday at the opening of Francois Pinault's new museum, the Punta della Dogana. Stella McCartney was there with husband Alasdhair Willis to support her financier in his new endeavor, as were Franca Sozzani and Marc Jacobs, always the fan of contemporary art, who apparently kept exclaiming, "This place rocks."
Meanwhile, down the river, Angela Missoni held her annual party on boyfriend Bruno Ragazzi's yacht. It was quite the family and friends affair: Angela's daughters Margherita and Teresa, plus son Francesco were all mingling, Franca Sozzani brought son Francesco Carrozzini, and Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld arrived with Carine Roitfeld, who neglected to follow the rest in taking her lace-up shoes off: "It would just take too long to undo them." Bee Shaffer was sans Anna Wintour, but Jefferson Hack brought fiancee Anouck Lepere.
Even those who aren't in Venice in person are there in spirit — Mario Testino sent one of his art consultants to scout the exhibition.
>> INSIDER WIRE —After their second wedding in Venice, Francois-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek jetted off to a 4,800-square-foot villa on an island off the east coast of Africa for their honeymoon. On April 26, they landed at the Mahe airport in Seychelles, chartered a helicopter to North Island, and checked into the North Island Hotel (pictures at the sources). [In Touch Weekly, PopSugar]
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>> INSIDER WIRE —Double weddings seem to be the thing to do these days — Gisele Bundchen had two ceremonies, one in Santa Monica and the other in Costa Rica, and now Francois-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek, who were married on Valentine's Day in Paris, plan to have another wedding this weekend in Venice to celebrate with friends and family. The ceremony will take place Saturday at the Pinault-owned Palazzo Grassi, where the couple first met when he held a gala there in 2006. [E!Online, People]
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>> INSIDER WIRE —It's rumored that Harvey Weinstein helps get his wife Georgina Chapman's Marchesa creations on the red carpet, but another Francois-Henri Pinault definitely helps his wife Salma Hayek out with red carpet fare. For this year's Golden Globes, she says, "Francois was my stylist. It was Christmas and I was just overwhelmed with so many things to do. He said, 'Let me help you. How can I help?' And I said, 'Well, I have to pick a dress for the Golden Globes.' So Bottega Veneta sent swatches and sketches, and François worked with the designer Tomas Maier, and he took care of everything." [The Dish Rag]
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A Softer Side of Balenciaga for Fall 2009
>> Fall 2009 has turned out to be the season of new for Nicolas Ghesquiere and Balenciaga: new show location, new softness, new openness to models of color. Instead of showing at the brand's headquarters on the Left Bank as usual, Ghesquiere took the show to Hotel Crillon, with its gold and cream atmosphere and the models walking through French doors. The official blame for the move goes to neighbors around the HQ, who apparently didn't like the loud soundtrack, but some wondered if it wasn't prompted by Balmain's move to the Ritz this season — a little venue rivalry?
Nonetheless, the typically whitewashed Balenciaga runway felt a little influx of models of color this season; Liya Kebede opened, and Chanel Iman walked, her first time for the label — last time a model of color walked, as far as I can tell, was Fall 2006 — Liya Kebede. Newcomers Johanna Kneppers and twin Gwen Loos made their first runway appearances. As for the clothes, Ghesquiere took away the recent robo-chic, instead experimenting with draping and satin — two techniques he admitted he'd never really worked with before. The result is garnering '80s Yves Saint Laurent and Dynasty comparisons, and perhaps a little uncertainty, but there's definitely a future for the high-slit, splotchy-printed dresses — Francois-Henri Pinault thought so, he was there with new wife Salma Hayek in the front row.
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>> INSIDER WIRE —Salma Hayek was coy last month when asked if she and PPR/Gucci Group CEO Francois-Henri Pinault were getting married after all (they called off their engagement last July), and now we know why: they got married on Valentine's Day in Paris! Mayor Jean-Pierre Lecoq confirmed reports that Pinault and Hayek tied the knot Saturday in the town hall in St. Germain. [WWD, US Weekly]
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Stella McCartney's Parisian Opening: Models, Jewels, and Some Rolling Paper
>> Stella McCartney marked the end of couture last night by debuting two things — her new Paris flagship (which actually opened in November) and a Cartier sapphire and diamond pendant that her dad gave her mom in the '70s and just passed onto her. Joining her in celebration were Lara Stone, who recently moved to London, Stefano Pilati, Heidi Mount, Daphne Guinness, Lily Donaldson, and the ever-goofy Sasha Pivovarova, who in addition to her book for Prada, has now been invited to illustrate a children's book for Karl Lagerfeld. There was fun to be had by all, including Francois-Henri Pinault, who joined in the game of "Who am I?," and ran around with Suzy Menkes and the rest of the bunch, cigarette rolling paper stuck to their foreheads.
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Pinault Denies Paternity, But May Be Engaged
>> Last week, PPR/Gucci Group CEO Francois-Henri Pinault was rumored to be the father of French cabinet member Rachida Dati's daughter. His spokesperson begs to differ: "Not true. We deny it totally."
But this isn't the first time Pinault has become embroiled in a game of "Who's the father?" — in 2006, Linda Evangelista gave birth to a baby boy, and opted not to reveal the paternity. At the time, Canadian Hello! quoted her saying the father was "a New York architect," but another source said it was Pinault. Her agent denied everything: "Not true. She has never said who the father is."
As for the one child under three Pinault has acknowledged — Valentina Paloma, by Salma Hayek — there seems to something still going on between her parents. The two announced their engagement in March 2007, but then called it off in July 2008, no reason given. Since then, they have been spotted together numerous times — and not just when Valentina is around.
Last night, when Salma appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Dave grilled her: "I understand you kids are engaged, is there going to be a wedding soon?" She didn't correct him, instead replying in a way that genuinely seemed unsure: "I don't know, I don't know . . . Maybe . . . but then again maybe not." But then Dave also referred to Pinault as her husband, and she didn't correct him then, either, so who knows . . .
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Paul Smith
Malene Birger
Triumph