fashionologie

Balenciaga Reportedly Dropped Their Longtime PR Firm Last Year Because of Attention Paid to Versace

fashionologie — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:32:34 PST

>> Last May, when Balenciaga severed its 12-year relationship with public relations firm PR Consulting, rumors circulated that it was the result of a Balenciaga designer leaving to work for one of the firm's other clients and that some of the client's designs were too similar to Balenciaga. Now, WSJ. reports that insiders at PPR say Nicolas Ghesquiere felt slighted by the attention Pierre Rougier was giving to Versace, his newest client, at the Costume Institute gala last year. It's worth noting the decision to drop PR Consulting was made within two weeks of the gala at the beginning of May.

At the time of the severance, Rougier said: “It’s been a wonderful 12-year adventure with Balenciaga and I really wish Nicolas and Balenciaga all the best and lots of luck going forward. It’s been really great and I really don’t want it to seem any other way.” And now, he tells WSJ. simply, "I love Nicolas."

Post-Balenciaga, Rougier seems to be doing fine. Alongside Versace, he counts among his clients Yves Saint Laurent, Jil Sander, Dries Van Noten, and Proenza Schouler. He is "notoriously picky about whom he takes on," according to the WSJ., and "can lift a brand to another level . . . his job is to keep the Americans, whose critical opinions drive international buying trends, in line."

Vera Wang president Mario Grauso avers this fact - one of the first things he did when joining Wang a year and a half ago was hire Rougier: "Vera had gone dark - hadn't done enough media, wasn't dressing celebrities. Pierre helped me change that. We [at Vera Wang] can veer a little too mainstream, a little too bridal-y. I wanted to be edgier and Pierre knew how to do that." Grauso also credits Rougier with bringing top European press to Wang's shows, admitting it's "something we couldn't do without him."

But cultivating brands isn't all Rougier aspires to - apparently he wants to get more involved with advising the venture capital and investment side of fashion, WSJ. reports: "Too many backers choose the wrong horse in the race, he says, and then are flummoxed when throwing money at the problem doesn't solve it."

Vera Wang President Mario Grauso and Wife Anne Have Split

fashionologie — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:04:21 PDT

>> Mario Grauso, the president of Vera Wang and former president of The Raul Puig Group (which owns Carolina Herrera and Nina Ricci) until he left the company in 2009, and his wife of 18 years, Anne Grauso, have split, she confirms. The Grausos met while working at Ralph Lauren in 1989 (Mario was an intern), and have a son, Henry, 14, and a house together upstate in Millbrook, New York. Anne, who was recently profiled in Harper's Bazaar after losing 60 pounds, called the separation "amicable." [NY Post, Vogue.it]

fashionologie — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:42:09 PDT

>> Mario Grauso Moves from Nina Ricci and Carolina Herrera to Vera Wang -Mario Grauso, former president of Puig Fashion Group overseeing Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne, and Carolina Herrera, where he was credited for forging the Renee Zellweger-Herrera red carpet relationship, has moved on to Vera Wang. He appeared at Wang's show last week, and will allow the designer to focus more on the creative side of her business while he reexamines her contemporary Lavender label, which is currently on hiatus, develops the label's shoe and jewelry businesses, and works to dress more celebrities on the red carpet. As Grauso put it, "Now there are two crazy control freaks making sure that everything is perfect." [WWD]

fashionologie — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:44:15 PDT

>> Is Renee Zellweger's Red Carpet Partnership with Carolina Herrera Over? -Last week, sources told WWD that Mario Grauso, president of Puig Fashion Group who oversees Carolina Herrera, Nina Ricci, and Paco Rabanne, has submitted his resignation and will step down after New York Fashion Week. The exit is said to be amicable, but it is speculated that he was unhappy with Olivier Theyskens's ousting at Ricci. Now, a source tells Page Six, Grauso, who introduced Renee Zellweger, Amy Adams, and Reese Witherspoon to Carolina Herrera, may be taking his celebrity followers with him: "None of them will wear Carolina Herrera on the red carpet now that he's gone. Mario paved the way for the brand by putting Renée in Herrera for award shows and carpets. He made it youthful." [WWD, Page Six]

Theyskens's Successor at Nina Ricci To Be Named Soon

fashionologie — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:53:29 PDT

>> Nina Ricci is currently in a state of transition - Olivier Theyskens officially left the house earlier this month, and although Peter Copping's name has been thrown around as the replacement of choice, nothing has been made official. Apparently several staffers, including PR director Kate Etter, also left the brand with Theyskens.

Today, Mario Grauso, president of Ricci owner Puig, verified that there are "no plans [for] a hiatus at Ricci," adding that the company "will announce a new designer within the next few weeks." According to Fashion Week Daily, a well-placed industry insider is "99% sure" that Copping will be tapped, but Grauso would not confirm anything, and when prodded about a possible Copping appearance at the Costume Institute Gala, replied, "I have not yet invited people for the Met."

As for Oliver's legacy, those towering shoes he created for Fall 2009 will not be going into production - no surprise, but still, a comment on the ever-present misalignment between the brand and its former designer.
*image: source

Vera Wang Spring 2013 Bridal

Christina Perez — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:11:00 PDT

>> After last season's all-black collection, Vera Wang is doing monochrome again - but this time, it's all about the red. Or, as the collection's title, "Mei Meng" - Chinese for "beautiful dreams" - suggests, perhaps it's all about the Chinese market. The brand plans on entering Asia this year, and bridal is the first push. "Vera is most known for her bridal," president Mario Grauso explained to WWD recently. "So we feel it is safest and easiest for us to lead with bridal." With red the traditional wedding color in China - it symbolizes prosperity, love, and joy - it makes sense then that these 15 Spring 2013 bridal dresses would come in so many shades of the hue. Brides-to-be in North America, however, do not fear; Wang will offer each gorgeous gown in ivory shades as well.

View Slideshow ›

Olivier Theyskens Still "Totally Committed" to Nina Ricci

fashionologie — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:24:54 PST

>> Even though some think Olivier Theyskens's standing at Nina Ricci is tenuous because of his tendancy to produce expensive gowns, unmindful of current economic conditions, as of yesterday, he didn't seem worried - not yet anyway: “I am totally committed to Nina Ricci. None of us really know from where such rumors come up, but we are feeling very confident that things are going in the right place.”

Mario Grauso, president of Nina Ricci's parent company Puig Fashion, promised in December that Olivier would remain at the house at least through the expiration of his current contract - which is up in October: “At this point, we’re very happy with his contribution. I look forward to seeing his next show, after which we’ll start the negotiations, which is typical.”

Yesterday, Grauso reiterated that he was behind Theyskens: "I feel like, as soon as I hire somebody, there’s rumors about them leaving. To be honest, Olivier and I haven’t started to renegotiate, but right now we’re fine. I can’t help but be pleased. He’s done a great job.” But it sounds like the Fall 2009 Nina Ricci show is key for Olivier, since Grauso is looking for him to tone down the extravagance, and would not disclose sales volume for the label: “[We're] trying to keep the prices down as much as we can; now’s not the time for $25,000 dresses.”
*image: source

fashionologie — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:31:22 PST

>> INSIDER WIRE -Marc Jacobs might be losing his right-hand man at Louis Vuitton, Peter Copping, who recently met with Mario Grauso, president of Puig. This could mean Grauso is thinking of replacing Olivier Theyskens with Copping when his Nina Ricci contract runs out in October, or he could be looking at him as a successor to Carolina Herrera. [WWD]

Fashion Darling Olivier Theyskens Commits Fashion Don't

fashionologie — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:01:03 PDT

>> It has already been well-reported that Sarah Jessica Parker wore the same Nina Ricci dress to the New York Sex and the City premiere last week as Vogue contributing editor and socialite Lauren Santo Domingo wore to the Costume Insitute Gala on May 5.

More interesting, however, is the story behing the mix-up — as Cathy Horyn reports, both Nina Ricci designer Olivier Theyskens and Mario Grauso, the president of the fashion division at Puig, which owns Nina Ricci, assured SJP that the gown had not been worn in anything but magazine shoots. When she came to find out that wasn't the case, she felt deceived:

In the big picture, this is not important, but there is a relationship between the entertainment industry and fashion . . . my affection for the dress hasn’t changed, but what they did was so short-sighted. It’s just unethical and disappointing that they would allow the dress to be worn again.

Parker says she mentioned to Olivier during the fitting that she was surprised the dress hadn't already been worn:

He didn’t say, ‘Well, actually I just escorted Lauren down the red carpet at the Met.’ I just wish it had been handled differently and they had been straight about it.

When Cathy asked Grauso for a response, he of course said, "I’m upset that she’s upset.” But then he went on to fumble for excuses — he clearly knew that Lauren had worn the dress to an event before, because he said he had no reason to mention Santo Domingo:

'Is Lauren a celebrity? It depends on how you look at it.' He said he and Theyskens mainly thought of her as a friend. He then asked—somewhat incredulously, I thought—“Does everybody look at Style.com?'

A bad move on Nina Ricci's part, especially when they were just becoming red carpet gold. I wonder what Anna Wintour, who so strongly favors Olivier, thinks about it?

*images: source