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THE BEAUTY OF IMPERFECTION
NEW FOR FALL/WINTER 2016/17
KAPUTT DESIGNED BY
Fashion. Beauty. Business.
OCT
2015
No. 4
Overheated!All fashion, all the time. Chaos, crowds, hype, digital explosion:
Is the system headed for a burnout?
THE RAFYEARSA look at Raf Simons’
tenure at Christian
Dior as he exits the
iconic fashion house.
Fashion, p. 8
INDEPENDENTSTREAKMaking their marks
as autonomous
designers in handbags
and eyewear.
Accessories, p. 16
ENTER MR.BURBERRYThe U.K. power brand
is launching a men’s
scent and a capsule
fashion line.
Beauty, p. 30
tk Caption Rate nisque et eserae plitatem quuntion pe voluptae senimus doloribus a natem renimet fugiati squam, ipsus si sum quia
Photograph by ELI SCHMIDT
Edward Nardoza EDITOR IN CHIEF
Pete Born EXECUTIVE EDITOR, BEAUTY
Bridget Foley EXECUTIVE EDITOR
James Fallon EDITOR
Robb Rice GROUP DESIGN DIRECTOR
John B. Fairchild 1927 — 2015
MANAGING EDITOR Peter Sadera MANAGING EDITOR, Dianne M. Pogoda FASHION/SPECIAL REPORTS EUROPEAN EDITOR Miles Socha DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR Evan Clark NEWS DIRECTOR Lisa Lockwood DEPUTY EDITOR, DATA AND ANALYSIS Arthur Zaczkiewicz DEPUTY FASHION EDITOR Donna Heiderstadt SITTINGS DIRECTOR Alex Badia SENIOR EDITOR, RETAIL David Moin SENIOR EDITOR, SPECIAL PROJECTS, Arthur Friedman TEXTILES & TRADE SENIOR EDITORS, FINANCIAL Arnold J. Karr, Vicki M. Young ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lorna Koski BUREAU CHIEF, LONDON Samantha Conti BUREAU CHIEF, MILAN Luisa Zargani BUREAU CHIEF, LOS ANGELES Marcy Medina ASIAN EDITOR Amanda Kaiser BUREAU CHIEF, WASHINGTON Kristi Ellis SENIOR FASHION EDITOR Bobbi Queen ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jenny B. Fine SENIOR EDITOR, SPECIALTY RETAIL Sharon Edelson SENIOR PRESTIGE MARKET Julie Naughton BEAUTY EDITOR SENIOR FASHION FEATURES EDITOR Jessica Iredale ACCESSORIES MARKET DIRECTOR Roxanne Robinson FASHION MARKET DIRECTOR Mayte Allende EYE EDITORS Taylor Harris, Erik Maza
MEN’S
SENIOR EDITOR Jean E. Palmieri FASHION DIRECTOR Alex Badia MEN’S MARKET EDITOR Luis Campuzano MEN’S REPORTER Aria Hughes
MARKET EDITORS
FINANCIAL NEWS AND ANALYSIS Debra Borchardt ACCESSORIES Lauren McCarthy, Misty White Sidell BEAUTY Molly Prior DIGITAL Rachel Strugatz READY-TO-WEAR, Bobbi Queen FURS & INNERWEAR FASHION READY-TO-WEAR & SPORTSWEAR NEWS Rosemary Feitelberg MEDIA Alexandra Steigrad READY-TO-WEAR AND Kristi Garced SPORTSWEAR FASHION EYE Ally Betker, Leigh Nordstrom
CORRESPONDENTS
LONDON, GENERAL ASSIGNMENT Lorelei Marfil REPORTER LOS ANGELES Khanh T.L. Tran, Kari Hamanaka MILAN, FASHION AND NEWS Alessandra Turra NEW YORK, EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS William Cotto, Tara Bonet-Black, Kelsi Zimmerman Ellen Thomas NEW YORK, FASHION ASSISTANTS Andrew Shang, Ashley Davis, Kayana Cordwell PARIS, EUROPEAN BEAUTY EDITOR Jennifer Weil PARIS, SENIOR FASHION EDITOR Laurent Folcher PARIS, SENIOR BUSINESS NEWS EDITOR Joelle Diderich PARIS, GENERAL ASSIGNMENT Paulina Szmydke REPORTER, NEWS PARIS, EDITORIAL AND WEB ASSISTANT Anne-Aymone Gheerbrant WEB EDITOR, EUROPE Laure Guilbault SAN FRANCISCO, TECHNOLOGY Maghan McDowell
DESIGN DEPARTMENT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Nick Mrozowski SENIOR DESIGNER Christa Guerra DESIGNER Jewelyn Butron
PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO DIRECTOR Ash Barhamand PHOTO EDITOR Jenna Greene BOOKINGS AND PRODUCTION EDITOR Oona Wally ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR Katrina Brown
PHOTO STUDIO
PHOTOGRAPHERS George Chinsee, Steve Eichner, Thomas Iannaccone
COPYDESK
COPY CHIEF Maureen Morrison-Shulas COPY EDITORS Danielle Gilliard, David Podgurski, Maxine Wally
PREPRESS PRODUCTION
DIGITAL IMAGING Alex Sharfman PREPRESS ASSEMBLY David Lee Chin
WWD.COM
SITE DIRECTOR Michelle Preli ASSISTANT ONLINE EDITOR Kristen Tauer DIGITAL DAILY DESIGNER Ryan Richmond WEB PRODUCER Robert Tutton SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Pooja Bhaskar
PUBLIC RELATIONS PR COORDINATOR Christina Mastroianni
The supercharged finale at the Balmain × H&M fashion show.
Overheated! 50 It’s chaotic and crowded, superhyped and on digital overload — is the fashion system heading for a big burnout?
Graphic Novel42 Fresh from collection runways that demonstrated the power of accessories, spring’s crop steals the scene with bold strokes of color and form — and a touch of mystery.
The Features
Contents
4 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
6 Social Studies The best and worst in social media,
what’s trending, whom to follow.
38 Eye • Parties Olivier Rousteing’s birthday bash in
L.A. and Fashion Group International’s New
York soiree.
• Report Card Beyoncé with a rare miss . . .
New York Mets slugger Daniel Murphy gets in
on the act.
60 They Are Wearing Attendees on the streets of Seoul Fashion
Week expressed their style, both street and
chic, to the letter.
64 Finale Christian Dior revolutionized fashion with his New
Look, building the foundation for a house still
thriving today.
DEPARTMENTS
Agenda
Bold declarations, hand-scribbled missives and some seriously supersized accessories were among the
street highlights at Seoul Fashion Week.They Are Wearing, page 60
36Runway suits are being
updated for spring with a
rainbow of colors.
Beauty 30Burberry is unleashing its latest
men’s fragrance, Mr. Burberry,
along with a capsule fashion
line . . . Smell Test.
Accessories 16Making a mark as an
independent handbag
designer . . . Bespoke
eyewear gains traction.
Fashion 8Bridget Foley’s Diary: A
look at Raf Simons’ tenure
at Christian Dior, as he exits
the house.
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FASHION IN A NEW FRAME
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BIGGER
THE WEEK IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow Us @WWD
EDITED BY KRISTEN TAUER
6 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
Let’s Follow
Social Studies
#BOOMERANG: Instagram has launched a new stand-alone app. Boomerang takes a burst of photos and animates them into a video that plays forward and backward in a loop. Miranda Kerr, Karlie Kloss, Ashley Graham, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Chrissy Teigen were among the first users to try out the feature.
Trending
@itsjeremyscottFashion designer
@anndemeulemeesterFashion designer
Choreographer Emery LeCrone showed a moving side of Ann Demeulemeester’s collection.
@pamelalovenycJewelry designer
Crystal Renn took a shining to Pamela Love’s ring at the American Ballet Theatre fall gala.
@marahoffmanDesigner
“Favorite coat of the season. Looks good on everyone.” Clearly, the outerwear market has gotten very crowded.
@vfilesBrand
“Thinking about Halloween ”We’re scared already.
“WID DA LADIEZZZ #CUBA”Jeremy Scott and his friends make for a colorful crew.
@gigihadidModel
“When Subway needs a new spokesperson.. ;)”Just what Subway needs — more controversy.
Best Worst
THE ACTIVIST
@viviennewestwoodofficial
Fashion designer
CREATING CARVEN
@adriencaillaudaud
Co-artistic director, Carven
ARTISTIC EYE
@baibakovart
Founder, Baibakov Art projects
@evachen212
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FashionAgendaThe First . . .Raf Simons began his exploration of Dior, showing his fall 2012 couture collection against a backdrop of floor-to-ceiling blooms.
EDITED BY DONNA HEIDERSTADT
The Goodbye
Game
Bridget Foley’s DiaryThe civil exit — fashion’s new way.
Raf Simons lived it at Dior.
. . . and LastSimons closed out his tenure this season with another floral wonder, a mountain of blue delphiniums.
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10 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
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Simons is the second designer this season to
leave a house following a single contract; Alexander
Wang sprinted his way down the runway and out
the door following his final show for Balenciaga.
The two cases are similar in the obvious context:
designer in, designer out. But the Dior case reso-
nates more dramatically. First, Dior is one of Paris’
Big Two, and the anchor of Bernard Arnault’s
empire. Secondly, despite Wang’s very good work
for Balenciaga, we never got the feeling of a strong
mutual embrace. Though aesthetically 180 degrees
from Galliano, Simons seemed perfect for Dior.
And while he never quite delivered a collection
of the rapture-inducing sort as those with which
he closed his tenure at Jil Sander, he delivered
consistently beautiful clothes while moving toward
claiming Dior as his own. One could see the seeds
of rabid modernism planted in his first collection
in which a ballgown became a sweater and skirt or
a Bar, a sleek smoking. Explorations of M. Dior’s
love of gardens swung respectful (flower-splashed
shirts shown in flower-covered rooms) to bold (a
visit to Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights”).
He often played with contrast, whether hard/soft,
past/future, nature/urbanity and he incorporated
elements of the modern art he loves into his work.
The point of bravado came in his obvious,
deep knowledge of the legacy, his invocation of
its tenants, and the funneling of that through his
own bold worldview, which became increasingly
more apparent through the past several collec-
tions. As much as Galliano’s vision enraptured at
its pinnacle, Simons dangled an equally powerful
alternative — the promise of experiencing the
splendor of Dior through a current/futuristic
rather than retro lens. During his brief tenure,
he went both powerful and gentle, closing on the
latter note with his October collection, which he
said was a reaction to all of the cacophony going
on in fashion right now.
Backstage before his show, Simons waxed
reflective. “In the context of everything that’s
COUTURE FALL 2012
RTW SPRING 2013
COUTURE SPRING 2013
Raf’s RunwayOne and done. Is that the new contract norm
for designers at major houses? Last week, news broke that Raf Simons had staged his last show as women’s creative director for Christian Dior. Simons exits the post he assumed after the long search that followed John Galliano’s now-infamous implosion.
Backstage at Dior’s spring 2013 couture
show. Below: The fall 2013 ready-to-wear
runway.
►
12 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
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Clockwise from top left: Two looks from Dior’s fall 2013 couture collection; on the fall 2014 ready-to-wear runway; an offering from spring 2013 rtw; backstage at the fall 2015 rtw show.
There are differences. With the exception of
Vuitton-Jacobs, the above situations were overtly
acrimonious. But remove the ignominy of the Gal-
liano debacle and the mistrust/anger/outrage (call
it what you will) of the other two, and a glaring
difference remains. Each designer took creative
ownership of the brand. Though in the throes
of addiction and far from his creative best when
he left, Galliano had taken Dior by the Bar and
transported the house and its audience to a new
and magical place. His vision of Dior became Dior.
Ghesquière grasped a dormant moniker, revered
by the few and unconsidered by the many, and
made a marvel of it, a breathless expression of
high-minded uber cool. Jacobs created a sense of
theatrical fancy that played into Vuitton’s tradition
of travel while turning it on its head. As for Ford,
he re-created Gucci into a fashion power while
virtually inventing the notion of mass luxury — and
setting the major house-creative director template
that endured for about 20 years. (Time continues
to prove the Chanel-Karl Lagerfeld pairing is the
template of nothing other than its own highly
envied uniqueness.)
In each case, in the fashion psyche, the brand
became if not always indistinguishable from, then
linked inextricably to the designer’s rendering of
it. That happens not only with talent, but with
time. We thought of those designers as creators
COUTURE FALL 2013
RTW FALL 2013
RTW SPRING 2014
COUTURE SPRING 2014
COUTURE FALL 2014
RTW FALL 2014
happening right now, I’m questioning a lot,”
he said, noting that for his collection he sought
“something that’s calm, calm and beautiful and
sensitive and romantic.” In retrospect, it’s the
same kind of note — a similar palette, even — on
which he departed Sander, though that collection
had more of an elegiac aura.
A statement accompanied the departure news
last week. “It is a decision based entirely and
equally on my desire to focus on other interests in
my life, including my own brand, and the passions
that drive me outside my work,” Simons said.
Sounds like he wants a life — and more power
to him. (The comment plays serendipitously
into the cover story of this issue, “Overheated!”
When WWD posed the query across the industry
we didn’t expect a major event to drop into our
editorial laps as Exhibit A.)
In the same release, Bernard Arnault and Sidney
Toledano acknowledged “Raf Simons’ decision
and very warmly thank him for his exceptional
contribution to the house.”
All-around lucid words, as were those sur-
rounding Wang’s Balenciaga exit. What neither
carries: the resonant emotion of departures past
— Galliano’s from Dior, Nicolas Ghesquière’s from
Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs’ from Louis Vuitton and
the divorce that started it all, Tom Ford’s gloves-
off, still-hard-feelings split from Gucci. ►
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Fash
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14 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
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How is it possible for women to feel loyalty toward a brand when the next designer in might not speak to us at all?
COUTURE FALL 2015
RTW FALL 2015
RTW SPRING 2015
RTW SPRING 2016
COUTURE SPRING 2015
first and employees a distant second, if at all —
even Ford, who proudly paved the way for a new
generation of commercially oriented designers.
(That mind-set was part of the creation of which
he took ownership.)
Each of these designers had an extensive tenure,
time to claim, develop and own the house’s cre-
ative aura. When each left his respective outpost,
the split was fraught with emotion, for him, for his
bosses, for their clientele.
One saw Simons beginning to take genuine
ownership; surely the modernist bent felt right,
as if he’d seen Dior through transition to the cusp
of a new age. Yet that promise didn’t have time
to ferment. Three years into his tenure and less
than three years into his confident takeover of the
aesthetic, Simons’ modernist Dior was still a work
in progress, one that will now get scrapped as a
new creative director will head in.
Fashion has changed wildly since those now
distant Ford/Galliano/Jacobs/Ghesquière appoint-
ments. The short-term designer tenure is yet
one of many manifestations of that change, its
particular fallout just starting to show. Simons’
Dior departure, and Wang’s from Balenciaga,
seem less like emotionally charged schisms than
carefully considered corporate breaks with the
designers moving on, for whatever reasons, to
pursue other interests. Thank you for your service!
Nothing wrong with that; it’s probably a whole
lot more emotionally sound for all involved (not
to mention mature) than agonized splits marked
by finger-pointing and pain. But it’s a clinical
approach that consumers will feel. How is it pos-
sible for women to feel loyalty toward a brand — at
least where clothes are concerned — when the next
designer in might not speak to us at all? We’ll still
feel the tingly excitement of awaiting the new, and
passion when it clicks — Gucci for some; Saint Lau-
rent for others. But loyalty is a different animal.
Hence the megabrands today, at least those with
employee creative directors, increasingly live in
and nurture dual realities. They want the buzz,
the hype, the social media frenzy that comes with
a hot designer; they want the creative validation
that comes when that designer clicks with critics.
Yet they also want — and need — to hedge against
implosion, particularly by the brand’s most
high-profile employee. Thus — Hedi Slimane’s
broad creative control aside — many brands
develop not just products, but whole identities
separate and apart from the designer’s role at
the company. Dior has its Rihanna and Jennifer
Lawrence campaigns, its classic handbags, high
jewelry, glam sneakers and tribal earrings. One
doesn’t really feel Raf in their marketing, even
if, of late, the brand imagery has taken a decided
modernist turn.
The result is that, in this era of hypersaturation
when everything operates at fever pitch and there
is a seemingly insatiable global appetite for fash-
ion, much of fashion is, at its creative source, less
emotional and more clinical than ever before. It’s
laudable to see Simons’ Dior run end with such
civility. It’s sad that we won’t get to experience
this great designer take full-on ownership of one
of fashion’s greatest legacies. ■
¬
From the top: An evening grouping from Dior’s spring 2014 ready-to-wear collection; the venue Simons erected for his fall 2015 couture show; a look from the spring 2015 couture runway.
Photograph by SHAWN BRACKBILL16 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
AccessoriesAgenda EDITED BY DIANNE M. POGODA
No Man’s (Bag) LandWhen it comes to the latest wave of independent bag designers, infiltrating the Old Boys’ Club is not
among the challenges these women faced when starting their lines. But breaking into a system of established leather goods made by centuries-old European luxury houses does have it ups and downs. Starting a
collection in a saturated marketplace can be equal parts thrill ride and endurance test. As Dee Ocleppo remarked, “It’s been like dragging a refrigerator across a beach,” while Jill Fairchild said of the experience,
“When do we get our lives back?” Jill Haber said her biggest challenge was “Just getting people to understand that I make beautiful bags. Trust me.” ¶ One thing they all agree on is that a big key to success is
establishing a unique product. Here are 10 emerging names and the bags for which they’re best known.
By ROXANNE ROBINSON with contributions from LAUREN MCCARTHY, ALESSANDRA TURRA, PAULINA SZMYDKE and LORELEI MARFIL
From left: Karen Baldwin, Jill Fairchild, Jill Haber, Dee Ocleppo and Marin Hopper.
Battaglia photograph by PIOTR NIEPSUJ18 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
Acc
esso
ries
Age
nda
Sara Battaglia YEAR LAUNCHED: 2010RETAIL PRICE RANGE: $908 to $1,020TOP RETAILERS: Saks Fifth Avenue; Intermix; Matches; Le Bon Marché; Al Ostoura; On Pedder; Lane Crawford; Luisa via RomaKEY LOOKS: Lady Me, a clutch with metal details in gold or silver, made in satin or leather; Bespoke, a clutch with metal details in gold or silver with application of letters, made in satin or leather; Teresa Bag, a shoulder bag with fringe made in leather with triangle application in Plexi.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG” AND WHY?
“With a designer bag, you can have the quality or the creativity and luxury,” Battaglia said. “With mine, you have all of them.”
M I L A N
Jill HaberYEAR LAUNCHED: 2013RETAIL PRICE RANGE: $450 to $2,195TOP RETAILERS: Harvey Nichols; Moda Operandi; Ikram; Chuckies New YorkKEY LOOKS: Modern, vintage-inspired evening boxes; mixed-media clutches and day bags.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG” AND WHY?
“It’s helpful, but it’s not crucial,” Haber said. “I do evening bags, I’m starting to do day bags, I do top handles, metal frames, soft cuts — everything. I just want a woman to think, ‘I want a bag, so I want a Jill Haber bag.’ I don’t want anyone to think, ‘Ugh, it’s that same-old, same-old.’”
N E W YO R K
Delphine DelafonYEAR LAUNCHED: 2013RETAIL PRICE RANGE :$283 to $1,700TOP RETAILERS: Saks Fifth Avenue; Le Bon Marché; Harvey NicholsKEY LOOKS: The bucket bag — most popular in black leather and mixed with python skin, studs and fringes. For spring, the designer is launching her second style, a saddle bag, in a rich mix of contrasting materials, including conventional and exotic skins, embellished and mixed with vintage fabrics.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG” AND WHY?
“All brands have their signature styles for customers to quickly
identify with them,” Delafon said. “But it’s even more relevant for the customer to have a signature of her own. [Parisian] girls don’t dress in designer clothing from head to toe. They like to run around in a pair of jeans to remain practical, so they look at the bag as the cherry on top. There’s a fetish relationship between the girls and their bags, which — unlike the rest of their look — can be a little bit more luxurious; distinctive, but easy.”
PA R I S
Showroom35 l Handbag Showroom 19 West 34th St. 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Photograph by PIOTR NIEPSUJ20 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
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Elena Ghisellini YEAR LAUNCHED: 2013RETAIL PRICE RANGE: $567 to $2,024TOP RETAILERS: Saks Fifth Avenue; Bergdorf Goodman; La Rinascente; Joseph; Luisa Via Roma; Harvey Nichols; Coin Excelsior; Moda Operandi; Neiman Marcus Direct; Jacques Loup; Boutique 1; J DirectionKEY LOOKS: The Felina Box in scarlet, a metallic box clutch with leather flap and metallic details; the Gabria Sensua Reef leather bowler bag; the Gia P Tiger Jamaica printed leather clutch with detachable fringed strap, and the Mini Leo Sensua, a black leather bucket.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE
BAG” AND WHY?
“The signature bag is a challenge and an achievement,” Ghisellini said. “It’s important to develop a unique item that [captures the brand’s] style and philosophy. A signature bag is a timeless and individual piece that, no matter the season or age of the client, effortlessly fits the time and the woman who wears it. My objective is to create essential bags that are contemporary cool and define a status.”
F LO R E N C E
Photograph by FRANCISCO GOMEZ DE VILLABOA22 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
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Dee Ocleppo YEAR LAUNCHED: 2012 in Harrods; expanded globally in 2014RETAIL PRICE RANGE: $595 to $15,000 (main collection); $295 to $695 (upcoming secondary collection, BagBar)TOP RETAILERS: Saks Fifth Avenue; Harrods; The Room at Hudson’s Bay;
deeocleppo.comKEY LOOKS: Classic silhouettes with patented interchangeable covers. Top-selling silhouettes are the Roma, available in mini, medium and large, and the Hong Kong, a cross-body bag that holds the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG”
AND WHY?
“It’s important in order to make a dent or make
your mark, particularly when you are launching a brand,” Ocleppo said. “It doesn’t matter if you are already a Louis Vuitton or [an established brand] like that. In my case, it certainly helps.”
N E W YO R K
Aevha CREATIVE DIRECTOR:: Alice HorlickYEAR LAUNCHED: 2013RETAIL PRICE RANGE: $765 to $1,540TOP RETAILERS: Graziashop; 1st Dibs; Handbag.comKEY LOOKS: Sculptural silhouettes and hand- carved finishes.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG” AND WHY?
“The signature bag is key in defining and embodying a brand,” Horlick said. “When women purchase a handbag they are investing in a status symbol, and to build the signature bag into this symbol is the most important thing an emerging designer can do. It will remain a constant, despite the changing seasons and trends; it will never go out of style.”
LO N D O N
Fairchild Baldwin DESIGNERS:: Jill Fairchild and Karen BaldwinYEAR LAUNCHED: 2013RETAIL PRICE RANGE: $495 to $1,850TOP RETAILERS: Julian Gold; Peter Elliot; Barbara Katz; Button Down; Saks Jandel; Copius Row; Elements; Amina Rubinacci; Paul Simon; Walin & WolffKEY LOOKS: Evening “O” bag; bags that go from day to night, such as the rucksack, the mini Victoria style and the Arabella tote.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG” AND WHY?
“It is very important — it is the beginnings and the birth of a collection,” Fairchild said. “Once you have that signature bag, then you build around it, and that’s how you build the rest of your collection. Also, that’s how the market identifies you. Once you’ve hit the nail on the head, you can reinvent it over and over again.”
N E W YO R K
Photograph by PIOTR NIEPSUJ
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24 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
YEAR LAUNCHED: 2010RETAIL PRICE RANGE: $700 to $2,600TOP RETAILERS: Net-a-porter; Saks Fifth Avenue; Holt Renfrew; Antonia; Lane CrawfordKEY LOOKS: Petite Fay top-handle bag; Tatiana shoulder bag; Alice cross-body; Sylvie clutch.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG” AND WHY?
“Shaping a signature model means making your aesthetic and vision strongly identifiable and different from others,” Cademartori said. “Its value is paramount, for it’s a proof of the right creative sensibility, intuition, and way to create something that is unique, timeless and desirable. As a designer, I must admit that this is surely the most challenging and exciting part of the job.”
M I L A N
Paula Cademartori
Hayward/Marin Hopper YEAR LAUNCHED: 2014RETAIL PRICE RANGE:$500 TO $15,000TOP RETAILERS: Hayward House; Moda Operandi; Farfetch.comKEY LOOKS: Spring cross-body in black-and-white leather, and canvas with pink python trim; hobo in navy suede with caramel veg tan whip-stitched leather handle; box clutch in black alligator.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG” AND WHY?
“As much as I love bags that are unadorned — and we do make them — I do want [our customers] to have a reason to gravitate toward our bags,” Hopper said. “It doesn’t have to be so obvious, but it does have to be something that catches the eye for that particular brand.”
N E W YO R K
WWD.COM OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 25
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Little LiffnerYEAR LAUNCHED: 2012RETAIL PRICE RANGE: $350 to $600TOP RETAILERS: Barneys; Tomorrowland; United ArrowsKEY LOOKS: The brand launched with three large styles: tote, clutch and pouch, nicknamed “Power,” before introducing a saddle bag, the main style for the spring. Each bag marries clean Scandinavian lines with Italian craftsmanship.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE “SIGNATURE BAG” AND WHY?
“I started my brand as a [counter-movement] to the ‘It’ bag. The styles are simple, because I wanted them to evolve with the kind of style a customer likes,” Liffner said. “A signature is important so customers can get to know the brand and get used to it. But it’s also important to evolve and perfect one’s own style. So I wanted to have the notion of a bag that is not branded, which would allow you to wear it longer and in more versatile ways.”
STO C K H O L M
26 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
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Photograph by DOMINIQUE MAÎTRE
Artisan and bespoke eyewear makers set themselves apart with unique materials, technology and service.By PAULINA SZMYDKE
IndividualPreference
Independent eyewear brands are gaining
traction.
Their perpetual quest for innovation
and desire to present unique product is
setting the bar high for larger competitors,
as the indies’ premium materials, high
level of technique — including bespoke —
and often groundbreaking design are driving both
price and demand.
Hidden in a small passage behind the Palais
Royal in Paris is one of the last surviving artisans
who has mastered the fine art of bespoke eyewear.
Spanning four generations, Maison Bonnet is a
family affair. Franck Bonnet learned the craft from
his father, much like his ancestors did before him.
All day, he draws new styles, cuts, files, polishes
and thermo-shapes each piece by hand.
No fewer than 30 hours of manual labor, fol-
lowing years of meticulous training, are required
to create one pair of bespoke spectacles. “This is
our asset but also our biggest challenge,” he said.
“It takes a long time to train people, and the work-
shops that were able to do so have disappeared.
We actually cannot do more than 1,000 pairs of
frames per year.”
The artisan is looking to hire. With the revival
of bespoke and a thriving couture business, Mai-
son Bonnet’s sales have been rising by at least 15
percent per year since 2009. In fact, the house
plans to export his savoir-faire beyond the French
borders via a London workshop, opening in 2016.
“We represent less than 1 percent of the market,
but the niche is real,” noted Antoine Weil of Mai-
son Bourgeat, a fellow artisan workshop founded
in 1879 in Morez, France, a valley in the Jura Moun-
tains, known as the cradle of bespoke spectacles.
Weil, who in February revived the bespoke
brand with his partner Guillaume Clerc, said,
“There is a tendency among consumers to return
to what’s authentic, and with sustainability as a
factor. Industrial glasses don’t last. You have to
change them every year, every one-and-a-half
years. That’s how the big groups survive. It’s a
mass market. Bespoke lasts.”
Besides a fastidious technique, durability is
achieved through the use of exceptional materi-
als. Having been named a “maître d’art” by the
French Ministry of Culture, Bonnet’s father has
been entrusted with a precious stock of turtle shell
collected before the ban imposed by the CITES
Convention of 1975, with the goal of preserving
the craft of working with the material.
“What is special about turtle shell is that it is
the closest thing to human skin. It’s composed
of keratin like our hair and nails, it’s ultralight,
extremely stable without the risk of deformation
and it doesn’t provoke transpiration, which also
means that it doesn’t slip,” Bonnet said.
At his workshop, the product is not merely
referred to as frames but “expressive objects,”
“an extension of the clients’ personality,” Bonnet
said. Weight, height and ergonomic factors count
just as much as actual measurements of a client’s
face: the prominence of the cheeks, the distance
between the pupils, at least three different nose
angles, eyelash length, the path of the eyebrows.
Just don’t call it math. “It is not mathematical.
We recently had an American diva here, a super-
strong woman, ingenious. We knocked ourselves
out creating glasses in tune with her silhouette,”
he said, noting that a bespoke eyewear-maker is
also somewhat of a fashion consultant.
Among those who came for a pair were Yves
Saint Laurent, Jackie Kennedy and Le Corbusier
— their names living on in the models they com-
missioned chez Bonnet.
With about 1,100 pounds of the precious stock
left in Bonnet’s archives, the price point ranges
between 5,000 euros, or $5,675 at current
Frames at Maison Bourgeat.
►
“We represent less than 1 percent of the market, but the niche is real.”Antoine Weil, Maison Bourgeat
NINEWEST.COM
Photograph by DOMINIQUE MAÎTRE00 MONTH 2015, No.X WWD.COM
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nda exchange, and 40,000 euros, or $45,405, for a
tortoise shell frame available in a range of natural
hues, from deep black to blond to cherry red.
Acetate and horn start at 1,000 euros ($1,135).
Maison Bourgeat, meanwhile, whose savoir-
faire lies in buffalo horn frames and metal-horn
combinations, is experimenting with alternative
materials such as tropical woods, deer horn, ante-
lope and even mammoth, which due to climate
change has emerged in large quantities in places
like Siberia. Prices range from 700 euros, or $794,
for acetate frames to 3,000 euros, or $3,405, for a
pair done from horn and precious metal.
The artisan is in talks with French couture
houses to craft limited editions, in addition to
designing his own collections, but always with the
goal to keep the quantities small.
“We have a habit of going to an optician who has
2,000 frames up his wall, of which he will show
50 to reassure the client. Reassure him of what?”
asked Clerc. “The number of standard sizes has
already gone down from 5 to 2, which means if
your features are just a little different, you are [out
of luck]. We pick three to four styles, which are in
line with the client’s morphology, and then make
a unique pair based on that.”
Berlin-based eyewear firm Mykita takes a dig-
ital approach to bespoke. It has developed My
Very Own, a manufacturing process that uses 3-D
technology along with an advanced algorithm to
create glasses whose design and fit are tailored to
the individual topography of one’s face.
In a virtual fitting, the computer scans the face
in 3-D. The algorithm then calibrates the frame
to the customer’s facial contours by making
micro-adjustments to the width of the frame,
breadth of the nose bridge and the nose pads,
among other parameters. But it’s not just about
changing the width of the bridge.
“Through the virtual fitting, the creative DNA of
the style remains intact. The glasses change pro-
portionally with all [facial] features,” said Moritz
Krueger, chief executive officer and cofounder of
Mykita. “This means that we are also able to adjust
the glass to the frame for ideal comfort, which
hasn’t been done before.”
Krueger said he sees MVO as a laboratory to
individualize all Mykita products, starting with the
Mylon styles, before also including metal frames.
Launched by the brand in 2011, Mylon is based on
selective laser sintering, in which a laser fuses fine
polyamide powder into solid objects, i.e. a partic-
ularly light, flexible and resistant pair of frames.
Krueger said an interdisciplinary approach
is key. “We have hardly any products where a
transfer of technologies hasn’t taken place. Be it
Mylon or metal injection molding, or certain sur-
face treatments, we use technologies that would
not normally be associated with eyewear.” MVO’s
algorithm was developed by Volumental, a Swed-
ish firm with research experience from NASA.
Despite its thought-provoking technique,
Krueger said technology isn’t the only factor that
sets it apart from big groups.
“In eyewear, people feed off each other, so
it’s easy to lose one’s identity. We manufacture
our own products, all under one roof. We have
extremely short times to market, with two months
from development to release, depending on the
material. The recipe is simple: Focus on what is
personally interesting to us,” said Krueger, citing
stable double-digit growth over the last few years.
In the coming months, the brand hopes to add
another retail outpost to its existing network of 10
freestanding units.
“What’s happening right now is that there’s so
much competition, so many people actually doing
pretty nice work, that the only way to stand out
is by taking that extra step. And customers are
appreciating that,” said John Juniper, cofounder
and co-creative director of Dita, in business for 20
years. “In the past it was like: ‘Oh, that’s kind of
expensive.’ But now people are saying: ‘What do
you have new?’ The attitude toward luxury prod-
uct has changed a lot in the last couple of years.”
While the brand’s retail prices range between
$500 and $1,200, Juniper says the higher end is
actually more successful at the moment, which in
turn gives the L.A.-based label the ability to invest
in crafty details such as hand-polished finishing,
laser-edged diamond patterns, custom nose pads,
or its new 2.6 millimeter thin acetate frames,
which are almost twice as thin as normal acetate
and take three times longer to do.
“It’s a pain — nobody does it. We had two
factories say no, only one factory in Japan that’s
a 100 years old said it would do it,” noted Dita’s
other half, Jeff Solorio, adding that because of its
lightweight character, the new style feels deceiv-
ingly like horn.
With double-digit growth across all markets and
expecting to hit $35 million in sales this year, times
are good in eyewear, the Dita founders noted, but
more is possible. The brand achieves 80 percent
of its business in the optical sector and is ready to
go after more fashion accounts. A new team has
been hired for the task.
“Originally, that’s where we were...selling in
fashion department stores. We didn’t have an opti-
cal frame collection until 2005, and then that took
off and brought us a whole new category. We kind
of forgot the fashion boutiques,” noted Solorio.
“Eyewear is one of the most important accesso-
ries, it’s so much of what you are as a person — it’s
in your face. Yet we all suffer in women’s opticals,
because we are too conservative. Women tend not
to wear optical in public, they use them at home to
watch TV, but when they walk out they put their
contacts in. So we figured we needed to do some-
thing that has a bit more character, more fashion,
something they can put on and forget about, like a
statement,” said Juniper, citing its Sunbird frames.
Thierry Lasry, who launched his namesake
brand eight years ago, said he’s got his sights set
on men’s. “It’s still a relatively small market, but
it’s growing fast. Until last season, 85 percent of
our business was women’s, now one-fourth of our
collection is men’s,” he noted.
In 2014, the brand logged $8 million in turnover,
registering a 30 percent increase in sales year-on-
year. “We are not fighting against Luxottica. We
function more like a fashion brand rather than
an optical brand. We do only sunglasses, and our
brand recognition is strong,” Lasry observed,
adding that his recent collaboration with Fendi
definitely helped change the brand’s status.
The biggest challenge, said the designer, who
relies entirely on wholesale, is to bring in new
techniques while staying competitive, price-wise.
“Our average retail price is $475; our most expen-
sive frames cost $525, which is the most compet-
itive price level. Above that figure, it’s a whole
different market, and department stores especially
are very price-driven. So it’s challenging.”
Handmade in France, the acetate frames feature
a range of colored patterns, up to 40 new designs
each season. Using a technique he developed,
Lasry melts the colors into unique patchworks of
shades, instead of simply stacking the colors. The
specs come with artistically sculpted side-parts
and will be upped by chic metal inserts for extra
effect next season. “I’m a child of the Eighties; I
play the frames like Lego,” Lasry said. “Trends?
There is no trend. I do my own aesthetic vision.”
Having acquired its idol brand Christian Roth
and aiming to open another flagship in London
some time next year, Dita’s Juniper agreed there
is still unchartered territory in eyewear.
“I don’t know what it is, but I’m looking for it,”
he said. “Eyewear is always a few steps behind in
technology, because it’s so traditional, but there
is still a handful of new technologies waiting to
come that we are all searching for now. Mykita is
taking it to the next level on the tech side, other
people on the bespoke side, but it’s funny how it
all intertwines. Clients want that fine craftsman-
ship rather than some microwave food. When you
pick up the frame, you can feel the difference.” ■
“Eyewear is one of the most important accessories, it’s so much of what you are as a person — it’s in your face.”John Juniper, Dita
Sunbird frames by Dita.
A work in progress at Maison Bonnet.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT PAMELA FIRESTONE, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER AT 212 256 8103 OR PFIRESTONE@WWD.COM
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COLLECTIONS
BeautyAgenda
30 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM Photograph by COREY OLSON Prop styling by MAYA LANAI
EDITED BY PETE BORN
Mr. Burberry is gearing up to launch in April as a needed mate to the My Burberry women’s fragrance.By JULIE NAUGHTON and PETE BORN
Burberry Bets On Romance
Photograph ©2015 Rochambeau
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Beauty revenues rose 4 percent in the half,
which was on top of a 26 percent increase in 2014
to more than 185 million pounds, or $285 million
at current exchange. Fragrances accounted for the
bulk of that number.
“The development of Burberry’s beauty division
is a key driver for the growth of the business as
a whole,” Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s chief
creative and chief executive officer, said last year.
“Within our overall beauty plans, fragrance will
play a leading role in driving revenue and raising
brand awareness.”
The company is moving on multiple fronts to
grow the division as fast as it can. In June, Burb-
erry inked a deal with Shiseido to distribute its
fragrance and makeup products in Japan.
The brand is also following up on its launch on
sephora.com in August of this year with 40 bricks-
and-mortar Sephora
doors across the
globe this year, with a
total of 100 expected
by the middle of
2016, said Simona
Cattaneo, senior vice
president of beauty
at Burberry.
Then there is the Burberry Beauty Box, the
firm’s freestanding store format that was intro-
duced in London’s Covent Garden in 2013. A Hong
Kong unit was added in August. The beauty-fo-
cused stand-alones allow Burberry to showcase
its fragrance and cosmetics offerings, as well as
small fashion accessories, said Cattaneo, adding,
“It’s a way to make concrete our vision of beauty.”
Digital engagement is key in these doors, Cat-
taneo continued. “You have the digital lips and
nails bar, you have the [bottle] monogramming
Burberry is hoping a male lover can help in the ongoing turnaround of its beauty business.
The British luxury brand will unveil its latest men’s fragrance, Mr. Burberry, in April in the latest phase of its strategy to build a major
beauty business in-house after taking back its fragrance and cosmetics licenses two years ago from Inter Parfums. The plan is a risky one — and not without its doubters in both the beauty and financial worlds — but the category was actually one of the few standouts in Burberry’s first-half results earlier this month that were otherwise dismal and saw the company’s shares plummet by more than 12 percent in a single day.
where customers can engage by choosing their
monogram digitally at the point of sale and sharing
it via social media,” she said. Millennials account
for an increased focus on digital. “For the beauty,
we are targeting a Millennial consumer,” she said.
“Not only for sales, but to use them as online
influencers to leverage the power of the brand.”
For all the activity, Burberry still
has work to do in getting its
beauty house in order. Before the
company pulled the business back
in-house, its fragrances were much
more widely distributed, noted
Cattaneo. That’s made plucking
all of the products out of the gray market and
masstige distribution a massive challenge. “We
used the launch of My Burberry to establish what
we thought was the right distribution,” Cattaneo
said. “We want our fragrances to be aligned with
the prestige image on the fashion side, and we felt
My Burberry needed a lover [like Mr. Burberry].
But we didn’t want it to be a masterbrand, just a
consistency.”
An influential retailer, speaking anonymously,
expressed frustration that the store had tried
to make past Burberry launches work, but they
hadn’t been able to quite click.
Pointing to Burberry Body, done under ceo
Angela Ahrendts in 2011 when Inter Parfums SA
still had the license, the retailer said “they tried
to make the brand more aspirational, like Coco
Mademoiselle. But it was too subtle. It was not
something that could resonate with the customer.”
At the time, Inter Parfums chairman and ceo, said
the objective was to create a single fragrance that is
a Burberry fragrance leader in every market. The
fashion house then had about 10 scent franchises
that were successful in different parts in the
world. The company has no current comment.
The retailer, noted that Mr. Burberry presentation
had not been made yet. “Eventually they will get
it right. I think it is a great brand.”
A financial analyst, also speaking off the record,
said taking the business in house from Inter
Parfum “has been a bit trickier than everyone
expected. [The house] should be doing better than
it is in fragrances.”
The Mr. Burberry launch will be accompanied
by a capsule collection of clothing and accesso-
ries — including suits, trenchcoats, scarves, bags,
accessories and shoes — echoing the strategies
for Burberry Brit for men and women and My
Burberry for women.
The woody herbal eau de toilette, which Bailey
created with perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, has top
notes of zesty grapefruit, tarragon and cardamom,
a heart of birch leaf, nutmeg oil and cedarwood
and a drydown of sandalwood, vetiver and guaiac
wood. The ingredients are inspired by the heri-
tage of British male perfumery, noted Cattaneo.
“Mr. Burberry is a structure of a classic aromatic
fougère that has inspired so many famous fra-
grances, but this has been totally remodeled and
remastered to introduce a radically contemporary
creation in its proportions and ingredients,” she
said.
The neck of the bottle is tied with the same gab-
ardine material Burberry uses to make its storied
trenchcoats, and the cap incorporates the Bakelite
Burberry uses for the trench’s buttons.
The scent will be available in 50-, 100- and 150-
ml. sizes, retailing in the U.S. for $68, $88 and
$115, respectively. It will also be offered in a 30-ml.
travel spray for $55 and a 1-liter collector’s edition
for $2,000. A grooming line will also be sold glob-
ally; it includes such things as beard oil, moistur-
izer, deodorant, shower gel and aftershave.
Steve McQueen shot both the print and TV ads,
which feature Josh Whitehouse as Mr. Burberry,
supported in the TV commercial by Amber Ander-
son (who is also the face of Burberry cosmetics),
and a soundtrack put together by Benjamin
Clementine. “It’s a great pool of British talent
that Christopher put together to tell this story,”
Cattaneo said. Both TV and print advertising will
begin running globally in April.
Globally, the men’s scent will be sold in about
25,000 department and specialty store doors.
The brand will also launch a new women’s scent
in February. The fragrance, My Burberry Black, is
intended to be a sensual flanker to the house’s My
Burberry pillar, which was launched in September
2014. Perfumer Kurkdjian worked with Bailey to
create the eau de toilette, which has a top note of
jasmine flower, a heart of candied rose and peach
nectar and a drydown of amber and patchouli. It
will launch exclusively at Harrods and on harrods.
com in February before rolling out to the Middle
East in May and elsewhere globally in September
2016. Customers will have the ability to person-
alize their bottles with up to three initials via
burberry.com or at selected retailers. ■
“Mr. Burberry is a structure of a classic aromatic fougère that has inspired so many famous fragrances, but this has been totally remodeled and remastered to introduce a radically contemporary creation in its proportions and ingredients.”Simona Cattaneo, Burberry
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ARHAUS FURNITURE DAVID YURMAN L ACOSTE OFFICINE PANERAI ROLEX TESL A VALENTINO
BOSS HUGO BOSS EISEMAN JEWELS LOUIS VUITTON OMEGA SALVATORE FERRAGAMO TIFFANY & CO. VERSACE
BOTTEGA VENETA ELIE TAHARI MICHAEL KORS PANDORA SPANX TOD’S VINEYARD VINES
BURBERRY THE FRYE COMPANY MONTBL ANC PIRCH STUART WEITZMAN TOMMY BAHAMA WOLFORD
BVLGARI GUCCI MULBERRY POLO RALPH L AUREN SUNDANCE TORY BURCH PARTIAL LIST
THE STORES OF NORTHPARK
Bea
utyA
gend
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Michael EdwardsAuthor of "Fragrances of the
World" and "Perfume Legends."
Paul AustinCeo of sensory storytelling
agency Austin Advisory Group.
Jean-Claude DelvilleSenior perfumer at Drom.
Karen DubinFounder and ceo of Sniffapalooza.
Victoria FrolovaFragrance industry analyst and
Bois de Jasmin editor.
Christophe LaudamielMaster perfumer
at DreamAir.
Nathalie PichardOwner of training and evaluation
agency Topnotes.
Chantal RoosCocreator of
Roos & Roos Co.
Luca TurinBiophysicist and perfume critic for arabia.style.com.
Kevin VerspoorFounder of
PerfumeKev LLC.
THIS IS A BLIND TEST: Panelists are given vials of unidentified scent to judge impar-tially. Each of them gives a score ranging from 1 (forgettable) to 10 (unforgettable) and the numbers are computed into a final grade. The judges, led by chairman Michael Edwards, also make critiques, which are unattributed to encourage candor. The most promising scents are picked for judging in an effort to find and showcase excellence. WWD buys the products at retail, like any other consumer.
Esteemed Judges
How would you rate the fragrance? Visit WWD.com/beauty-industry-news to vote.
Illus
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Kate
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Photograph by GEORGE CHINSEE Styling by RACHEL STICKLEY34 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
This scent received high marks for sex appeal and a smoky complexity — like incense burning in an ancient
cathedral. Though its strong cedar base is right on trend for niche perfumery, some reviewers considered this a negative. Here are anonymous comments by the judges with their individual scores. By ELLEN THOMAS
The Smell Test:Aedes de Venustas Palissandre d’Or
6.3Avg Scoreout of 10
“Excellent, startling biscuity-
patchouli top note accord
— clever and unusually fresh,
spicy heart.”
Score: 8
“Falls down quickly, lacks body and volume.”Score: 4
“Maybe a bit of sexy coconut would
have made it more original. A no-
brainer to spritz and add freshness
to another deeper fragrance.”
Score: 4
“Sexy, but at the
drydown [it’s] very
much like a home
fragrance.”
Score: 6
“Genderless, addictive,
intense and provocateur.
Not for everyday but
super elegant.”
Score: 7
“Earthy, dark
[and] damp, hints
of geranium and
rose. Definitely on
trend for niche
perfumery.”
Score: 7
“A wonderfully smoky, spicy [and]
seamless swath of aroma, mysterious…a
‘churchy’ fragrance [that] takes me to
another place and creates an ambiance
to carry me through my day.”
Score: 9
“The never-ending litany of [oudlike]
things is so far past played out…too late to
the party, please do something else.”
Score: 2
“Bold statement, with a woody signature that’s complex and slightly smoky.”Score: 8
“The only small qualm is a polished but not
overly exciting finale.”Score: 8
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EDITED BY JEAN E. PALMIERI and ALEX BADIA
Agenda
True Colors36 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
FROM LEFT: Nick wears Berluti’s suit and Sunspel’s T-shirt, both in cotton. Salvatore Ferragamo sandals. Kelin wears Etro’s silk suit and Burberry Prorsum’s cotton tank top. Francesco Russo pumps. Max wears Casely-Hayford’s cotton suit. Gucci sandals. Ted wears Bottega Veneta’s wool suit and silk shirt. Giuseppe Zanotti sandals. Christian wears Boglioli’s wool blazer, American Apparel’s cotton T-shirt and Ralph Lauren Purple Label’s silk gabardine pants. Bally sandals. Nick wears Tommy Hilfiger’s cotton and spandex suit and Oliver Spencer’s cotton T-shirt. Corneliani scarf; Salvatore Ferragamo sandals. Christian wears Paul Smith’s wool suit and American Apparel’s cotton T-shirt. Bally sandals. Philipp wears Ralph Lauren Purple Label’s silk gabardine blazer, Burberry Prorsum’s cotton tank top and Ami’s cotton pants. Giuseppe Zanotti sandals. Kelin wears Hugo’s lyocell and polyester suit and Bottega Veneta’s cashmere sweater. Francesco Russo pumps. Max wears Berluti’s suit and Dries Van Noten’s tank top, both in cotton. Gucci sandals.
Runway suits are being updated for spring with a rainbow of colors, from pastel shades to jewel tones, turning the men’s wear staple into the ultimate attention-grabber. Here, some of the faces of DNA Model Management show this season’s color range. By ALEX BADIA
Photographs by JACOB & CARROL Photographer’s Assistant: ISAN MONFORT Models: NICK REA, PHILIPP SCHMIDT, TED LE SUEUR, MAX SCHLESINGER, CHRISTIAN ZELLERMAYR and KELIN DILLON at DNA Models Fashion Assistants: LUIS CAMPUZANO and KAYANA CORDWELL Hair by RIAD AZAR at Atelier Management Makeup by HIRO YONEMOTO at Atelier Management
WWD.COM OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 37
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38 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNA GREENE EDITED BY TAYLOR HARRIS AND ERIK MAZA
Backstreet’s BackTUES OCT 20 & FRI OCT 23
Balmain x H&M Launch Olivier Rousteing’s 30th Birthday Bash 39
THURS OCT 22
FGI’s Night of Stars 40
WWD.COM OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 39
“Olivier personally asked for us. He’s a huge fan,” A.J. McLean said on Oct. 24. The
boy-bander was winded and slick with sweat, having just performed with his fellow Backstreet Boys at the Balmain x H&M blowout in New York. The retail behemoth had poured mega-marketing bucks into celebrating its latest high-low mash-up and apparently, the Backstreet Boys’ appearance was requested by Olivier Rousteing himself. “He’s a big fan,” Nick Carter confirmed.
The designer was, in fact, front-and-center during the per-formance, swaying with his gag-gle of “It” girls to the three-song set of “Everybody,” “Larger Than Life” and “I Want It That Way” — all, by the way, his requests.
Backstage, before the Boys posed for selfies with guests — mostly Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner fangirls sporting gelled-back hair and takes on big-shouldered, military-inspired Balmain — Carter was asked about the hashtag used to promote the event: #hmbalmaination. What, pray tell, is Balmain nation? A principality occupied only by those with more than a million followers on Instagram?
“It’s nice to be part of some-thing so powerful and elegant and something that actually stands for something,” Carter said with the sincerity of a fash-ion outsider. If he couldn’t quite put his finger on the founding principles of #hmbalmaina-tion, the competitive postshow shopping scene painted a
clear picture of its constitution of conspicuous consumption. Rousteing stood at the center of it all as the citizens of his Balmain nation happily stuffed their bags with sequined minidresses and Lurex tops.
“I’m so happy. I’m so proud. It’s like a big achievement,” the designer said. “Tonight is just the pop-up store, on Nov. 5 it’ll be available to the whole world. This is just the beginning.”
A few days later, the scene switched from the masses to his nation’s aristocracy: Hol-lywood. “I’m ready to relax. I had an amazing show for H&M. I was really, really happy with it. Some people didn’t get it, you know? But some people got it,” said Rouste-ing, seeming to sum up his entire tenure at Balmain.
Naturally, the Kardashians got it. “We love Olivier,” said Kim Kar-dashian, perched on a couch. The rest of the clan was scattered around the property along with other celeb loyalists — Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Mary J. Blige, Rosie Hun-tington-Whiteley, Kate Hudson, Cara Delevingne, Angela Lindvall, Jourdan Dunn, Jaime King, Tyga and Chanel Iman. They were at a private manse in the Hollywood Hills, there to celebrate the designer’s 30th birthday.
“Tonight is just about love, fun and friendship,” Rousteing said, pausing. “Can I swing at the same time?” he asked, midinterview, perched on a swing dangling beneath a large tree. “I want to. It’s my b-day, so I’m free to do whatever I want.” — TAYLOR HARRIS,
ERIK MAZA AND LINDZI SCHARF
OCT 20 & 23
Dirty ThirtyOlivier Rousteing’s celeb clique turns out in Hollywood for his birthday bash.
Alessandra Ambrosio with Olivier Rousteing
at his birthday party.
Martha Hunt at the Balmain × H&M launch party.
Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne
Kris Jenner, Kourtney
Kardashian and Kim Kardashian
Jennifer Lopez
Jaden and Willow Smith at Rousteing’s birthday party.
Tyga and Kylie Jenner
Chelsea Leyland, Harley Viera-Newton and Laura Love at the Balmain × H&M launch party.
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Oh, Starry Night Fashion Group International stirs up the crowd. Photographs by Steve Eichner
The Fashion Group International’s request for a two-minute acceptance speech didn’t fly with Alber Elbaz
at Thursday’s Night of Stars. “I said, ‘I need more time.’ And I think everybody in fashion these days needs just a little more time,” the designer said after picking up his Superstar award from Meryl Streep. In what was pretty much a mini-manifesto spanning 16 minutes (but who was counting?), Elbaz challenged how the ever-accelerating fashion system is chipping away at creativity, camaraderie and an all-around good time. “I was asked the other day if I have a personal Instagram [account]. I said, ‘Not really’ and they said, ‘How come?’ I said, ‘I don’t really have photogenic friends.’” Though plenty of the designer’s highly photogenic celeb fans were dotting the dining room of Cipriani Wall Street, including Justin
Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Allison Williams, Katie Holmes, Jason Wu, Pinterest’s Evan Sharp, eBay’s Marcelle Parrish, Bulgari’s Daniel Paltridge, Jonathan Anderson, Bruno Frisoni, Angela Missoni, Ronald Lauder, Diane Kruger, Tamara Mellon, Neil Barrett and Simon Doonan, many of whom were undoubtedly Instagramming their dinner plates as Elbaz questioned the merit of documenting such activities. “I also do not take photos of the food. I eat food,” he said. Elbaz wasn’t the only one lamenting fashion’s social media obsession and withering attention span. Fashion Star honoree Anderson referred to fashion “moving at the speed of boredom,” and fellow winner Wu said, “I came into this industry passionately playing on eBay buying dolls. It’s a bit embarrassing and creepy, but anyway — whatever. Fashion’s too serious.” — ROSEMARY FEITELBERG WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JESSICA IREDALE
THURSOCT
22
Tori Kelly Zachary Quinto and Miles McMillan
Allison Williams in Lanvin.
Justin Timberlake in Givenchy and Jessica Biel.
Diane Kruger in Jason Wu, with the designer.
Katie Holmes in Zac Posen, with
Bruno Frisoni.
Alber Elbaz, with Meryl Streep in Lanvin.
Report CardThe Mighty Have Fallen The empress of avant-garde chic and Queen Bey fall short this week.
It’s considered industry sacrilege to question the patron saint of highly evolved, held-to-a-different-style-standard’s sartorial choices, but no one is infallible.
We like the severe hair, but she needs blotting papers and eyebrows.
Gender fluidity is super on trend, but does it extend to leprechauns? The bow tie and glitter-green shoes take glitzy, but otherwise acceptable, androgyny to the end of the rainbow, where she found a pot o’ silver, not gold.
We’re happy she ran her fingers through her blowout. It gives her a wind-blown, natural look and plenty of volume.
A peach cheek and tasteful smoky eye is her go-to beauty combo but it might be time to mix it up.
There’s something nice about the clean, pseudo-colorblocking of this look. The pitch-black turtleneck, gloves, clutch, tights and boots match perfectly. The peacoat is a little too Crayola Blue, but navy wouldn’t read on camera.
His ostensible weight gain seems to be under control. He has regained some angularity in his face. But
the clean shave does nothing for his jawline. A 5 o’clock shadow would give him some edge.
Men with worked-up bodies should stay away from boxy suits with strong shoulders
Things get worse with the
shiny fabric and peak lapel. He’s channeling the look of a bouncer from a strip club in south Florida.
The full beard is apparently working as a lucky charm, yet he keeps it groomed and clean around the cheeks
and neck area.
Functional and clearly
a winning combo, the
orange and blue work
super well on the second
baseman. The shiny blue helmet and white fitted leather gloves add an edge to the uniform and play well with the layered blue Nike T-shirt.
As all of her 48.7 million Instagram followers know, Bey loves a little fun in the sun with Jay. Apparently she forgot the sunscreen and the tomato red/orange velvet suit is not helping.
Not only is it not her color — whose is it? — but the pants are pulling in the wrong places and they need to be hemmed. It’s all over her like a cheap suit. Her body language suggests that even she doubts her outfit. On the plus side, her manicure is a spot-on match to the buttons.
We feel like she got pulled to the carpet before she got in the makeup chair. Her hair is glam, very Veronica Lake, but she hasn’t got a speck of makeup on. She needs some under-eye concealer and mascara.
The dress has movement and ease, and the floral bouquet keeps it from being generic. It looks like she coordinated her hair — parted and sweeping down the same side as the floral action on the dress — to complement the look. Points for foresight.
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B+
We all know he loves a hair dryer and a round brush yet the subtle volume and thin beard work well together, helping to highlight his piercing blue eyes.
The modern tuxedo fits him
well without overpowering his thin frame. But the black-and-white graphic element of the shirt is too affected and screams fashion victim.
The hint of pocket square shows a more mature and elegant side.
Justin Timberlake
BHilary Swank
We’re all about textured hairstyles but this dry, messy look is closer to cat hair than the beachy look he is going for.
Cooper loves a three-piece suit — he wears them constantly and he can pull them off, most of the time. But the traditional men’s wear style clashes with the modern polka dot shirt and ultraskinny patterned tie. Too many things at once.
The clean pant break works great with the sleek lace-up shoe.
B-Bradley Cooper
B- Duchess of Cambridge
Beyoncé
CVin Diesel
DTilda SwintonDaniel Murphy
(and if they win the World Series, he’ll upgrade to an A)B FAIL
Illus
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Graphic
CHLOÉ’S metal and acetate sunglasses.DIOR’S metal with palladium finish and resin disques earrings.LANVIN’S leather and silver metal safe-lock bracelet.
OPPOSITESTELLA MCCARTNEY’S Plexiglas clutch.LOUIS VUITTON’S stingray case bags.
Novel
FRESH FROM SPRING’S READY-TO-WEAR RUNWAYS,ACCESSORIES STEAL THE SCENE WITH
BOLD STROKES OF COLOR AND FORM — AND A TOUCH OF MYSTERY.
By ROXANNE ROBINSON
Illustrations by MATHILDE CRÉTIER
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VALENTINO GARAVANI’S hand-painted leather handbag.
OPPOSITETORY BURCH’S silk and cotton satin and mirror metallic slingback sandal.
Illus
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WWD.COM MONTH 2015, No.1tk 00
PRADA’S leather bags.RALPH LAUREN’S calfskin handbag.
OPPOSITEGUCCI’S leather top-handle bag with embroidery and tigerhead detail.LOEWE’S acetate duck brooch.
Illus
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Art
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GIORGIO ARMANI’S calfskin clutch with chain detail. MARC JACOBS’ suede pixie boot.
OPPOSITECHANEL’S printed cotton toile and aged ruthenium metal bag.
00 JULY 2015, No. 2 WWD.COM WWD.COM OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 51
OVERHEATED!
“FASHION IS A SPORT NOW. YOU HAVE TO RUN.” — KARL LAGERFELD
With its chaotic fashion weeks, torrents of tweets and Instagram posts, accelerating prod-uct cycles, and hype machinery in overdrive, the industry seems to have embraced warp speed as the new black.
Is this a sign of fashion’s rude health, its pop-ularity spiraling with the aid of new technology and tight ties with Hollywood, music and art royalty? Or is the system simply spinning out of control and heading for a big burnout?
The answer depends on whom you ask.VValid questions all, with no easy answers. WWD polled a wide swath of designers, executives, editors and others to weigh in.
DOESN’T APPLY ONLY TO
ZARA AND H&M ANYMORE.
“FAST FASHION”
Karl Lagerfeld, who powers
through his crushing work-
load with glee, is at ease
with whatever the fashion
world might throw at him.
“If you are not a good bullfighter,
don’t enter the arena,” he says. “Every-
body is allowed to show a collection.
There may be too many — but that is not
my problem.”
Livia Firth, founder of Green Carpet
Challenge and creative director of Eco-
Age, the brand consultancy that focuses
on sustainability, has another viewpoint.
“Since I started focusing on the
fashion industry a few years ago, I keep
hearing the voices of designers and
journalists all saying the same thing:
The fashion cycle has become mental.
Too many shows, too many collections,
too many looks, styles, pressure. The
result? Designers’ creativity is compro-
mised, journalists are running on empty
and we — the famous consumers — are
bombarded day and night with the ‘latest
thing we must have’ if we want to be
cool,” she said.
To be sure, the recent round of inter-
national collections generated lively dis-
cussion about whether the overload and
fatigue many professionals acutely feel
will start infecting consumers, who are
increasingly witness to the same frenetic
spectacle via the Web and social media.
Raf Simons, who dropped the bomb-
shell last week that he would exit Dior
after three-and-a-half years as creative
director of its women’s collections, said
his decision was “based entirely and
equally on my desire to focus on other
interests in my life, including my own
brand, and the passions that drive me
outside of my work.”
The Belgian designer had hinted fash-
ion was at a breaking point just before
Dior’s Oct. 2 show, which would be his
last for the house.
“I’m questioning a lot,” he said, refer-
ring to the now palpable sense that the
overheated runway system has reached
a volatile tipping point. “I feel a lot of
people are questioning. We have a lot of
conversation about it: Where is it going?
It’s not only the clothes. It’s the clothes,
it’s everything, the Internet.”
Are overlapping fashion shows — and
fashion weeks — in anybody’s interest?
Should runway shows just go direct
to the consumer, in line with spectator
sports, theater and other entertainment?
* * *Karl Lagerfeld
“I HAVE NO PROBLEM, but not every-
body may have dream teams to do all
that work. It goes with the times we live
in. There is no way to look back. For
some people and smaller companies, it
could become too much but big compa-
nies like Chanel, Dior, Vuitton, etc., are
organized to face the speed.
There are so many different levels of
business and so many different possibili-
ties today. The thing that I hate most are
designers who accept those very well-
paid jobs and then think the demand is
too strong, that they are afraid of ► Col
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principal actors on the vast stage of
communication and, as always happens
in these cases, the same elements that
decree its success can provoke its crisis.
The feeling that there is too much of
everything and that everything goes
too quickly has long been clear to me.
Technology and the current lifestyle lead
to an increasingly stronger acceleration.
Fashion also needs pauses, and some-
times silence, to be fully appreciated.
Opening runway shows to the public
would be confusing in terms of timing
and would amplify and accelerate the
system: you would see in March shows
for fall and winter and you would imme-
diately want certain outfits that are not
yet in production. This would require us
to work as in fast fashion, reorganizing
the entire pipeline, also surely changing
the quality and especially the creativity,
which is what fashion feeds on.”
* * *Donatella Versace
“I LOVE THE PACE of fashion. Fashion is
about moving forward, and moving fast.
One of the greatest pleasures of my life is
how the new generation has connected
with Versace. If you complain about the
pace of fashion today, you are closing the
door on the future of fashion. We should
not be talking about limits, but about
opportunities.
That’s the world today and fashion
is about change and evolution. I love
the immediacy of life today and how
the doors of fashion are opening up so
everyone can feel part of a global tribe.
We started with a revolution at Versus
Versace, transforming it into a ‘see-now,
buy-now, wear-now’ brand; it has been
the most extraordinary success, finding
a whole new audience who lives their
lives online. At my most recent women’s
wear collection, we put the sequined
leopard-print Palazzo backpacks in
some key Versace flagships and e-com-
merce, because I wanted our customers
to get a taste of the catwalk right now.
Why should they wait till next season? I
believe rules are there to be broken.
We should be excited that there are
more people around the world who want
to be part of our world. It’s amazing that
the world has fallen in love with fashion,
and has a hunger for more. It makes me
want to work harder than ever.”
* * *Jonathan Anderson
“I THINK THE speed at which the fash-
ion industry is going is fundamentally
what we expect of fashion today, as ulti-
mately, this is the way the world works.
It is about the chase against boredom.
We have to adapt to the speed like we
have had to adapt to other media. I think
it is a sign of the times and it is not just
fashion experiencing that; music, film
and art are all experiencing this thing
where we need to keep up with the pace
of the world. So I don’t think it is an
issue. You have to be able to manage it.
It depends on the person. I think if
you are an individual who takes care of
the situation, then you are fine. You have
to protect yourself. It is about strong
teams and good management that helps
to maintain that you don’t overheat. I
think you have to keep very insular and
very focused on what is important to you
and to not listen to the outside world.”
* * *Renzo Rosso
President of Italian fashion group OTB
“FASHION IS NOW full of people doing
social networks, crazy things, just to
make people talk. I don’t want to be part
of this system. I just want the beauty and
the dream.”
* * *Paul Smith
“A LOT MORE people are fishing from
the same pond, and so therefore there
is an overdistribution of product in the
world. There is far too much product
and there are far too many shops that
have the same or similar appearance,
and I think in the next 10 years, you will
see big adjustments in a lot of the large
corporations. They will have to rethink
their strategy and maybe they will have
to understand that leveling out their
* * *Michael Kors
“IS FASHION OVERHEATED? Listen, the
reality is that we have never in history
had more people more interested in
fashion and style than we do today.
[Never] a more diverse group of people
— all incomes, all ages, all nationalities,
small town, big town, medium town.
So for me to say is it overheated — I
just think it’s actually more compel-
ling to more people. I wouldn’t say it’s
overheated. I would say there’s more
attention on it than ever before; it’s not a
private little insiders’ game anymore.
Today, people are interested in every
part of the scene of the fashion world.
I think maybe it’s — if you want to say
overheated — sometimes when you have
the lights on you, it’s hot.
It’s the excitement that the public has
about fashion in general. I think that’s
why you see more people getting into
the game in one regard or another, how-
ever they decide to show. Ten years ago
it was a much smaller show calendar….
The reality keeps changing. Someone
being able to shop online in the middle
of Montana — they weren’t in the game
before and now they’re in the game. I
think that if anything, that’s why we have
more shows. More, more, more.
I’m not an editor so I don’t attend….
You have to realize designers feel the
same way, if you do men’s or the design-
ers that do couture collections or design-
ers that do more than one brand. It’s just
the nature of the world today... people
are more engaged than ever. As a retailer
or editor, you could travel across the
globe and always go to a fashion show. I
don’t say it’s good or bad. Just different.
It’s tremendously different.
I’m calendar-crazy. I’m talking about
when you buy something. Most peo-
ple today want the gratification. Quite
frankly, if you buy it on Friday afternoon
at 4 o’clock, you want to wear it on
Friday at 7. I feel that now with the idea
of immediate gratification, we probably
are shipping clothes too early. We’re also
promoting them too early.
We’ve pushed everything early. The
consumer is actually shopping closer to
need. That is my biggest concern. When
I do pre-fall, we ship cotton dresses and
bathing suits because I think it’s insane
[not to]. I don’t think that I can organize
the entire global fashion calendar, but
I certainly think that everyone would
benefit from having fresh product in the
store when the consumer wants it.”
“IT’S NOT A PRIVATE LITTLE INSIDERS’ GAME ANYMORE.” – MICHAEL KORS
OVERHEATED!
burnout, etc. It’s a full-time job, not an
occupation between others. Fashion is a
sport now: You have to run.
I have no ideas how to improve an
industry that suits me perfectly. One has
to be well organized with good people.
But that may be the most difficult.”
* * *Ralph Lauren
“MY COLLECTION fashion shows have
always been like movies, but in a subtle
and nuanced way. It’s never been about
producing a larger extravaganza for me,
as then it becomes too much about the
theater. The clothes should be para-
mount, and the press and retailers need
to see the detail and how the clothes
breathe and move. My first shows were
held in the living room of my offices,
which had been converted from apart-
ments in a brownstone. I would walk the
small group through the line, in some
cases with one or two models. I have
always believed in that intimacy and
personal connection. To see, touch and
feel the workmanship and fabrics is so
important. I still believe a designer must
never lose sight of the real message — the
clothes themselves.
Having said that, the importance of
influencers, new media and the use
of innovative technology to expand
viewership of a show is clearly a reality.
This past season we worked with Twitter
to live-stream our Collection show
via Periscope to 10 million users and
simultaneously on a video billboard in
Piccadilly Circus in London, one of our
most important markets. Last year we
used the most innovative digital spe-
cial-effects technology to produce a 4-D
fashion show in Central Park for our Polo
brand, creating billions of impressions.
Expanding the number of eyes that can
see a collection is definitely good for
increasing the designer’s message and
helping enhance brand awareness and
visibility.”
* * *Giorgio Armani
“FASHION HAS BECOME one of the
“A DESIGNER
MUST NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE REAL MESSAGE – THE CLOTHES THEMSELVES.”
– RALPH LAUREN
businesses is acceptable, because they
are being so aggressive about wanting
more, more, more all the time and it’s
like if you keep blowing up a balloon:
eventually it will burst. And so I think
there has to be a time of readjustment in
the next 10 years. People will have to just
calm down a little bit.”
* * *Rick Owens
“I DON’T REALLY see a problem: I tend
to look at these things as evolutionary.
The fashion calendar is just having a
cultural moment like the Sunset Strip in
L.A. did with rock bands in the Seven-
ties. In retrospect, we might look back
and see this period as a breeding ground
for a golden age of design. The energy
will eventually dissipate and the crowd
will move on to something else. As for
myself, I feel stimulated and the volume
of stuff I see that I don’t really agree with
stimulates me to react, which probably
makes me work harder. And busy hands
are happy hands.”
* * *Diane von Furstenberg
“FASHION IS BY definition a reflection
of what is going on in the world. We live
in a moment of total disruption as our
tools change and the speed increases.
Everyone is surfing a tsunami, trying to
understand how to deal with waves of
so much information, so many images.
As always when in periods of change,
clarity and quality become imperative.”
* * *Dan Lecca
Photographer
“WHAT MATTERS the most today is how
many front-row seats a certain fashion
show could have in order to accommo-
date not the most important editors/
buyers of our industry but the VIPs,
socialites, bloggers (who, by the way,
have earlier backstage access than the
photographers who cover backstage)
and certain celebrities who are more
important than the clothes in the show.…
It is a disgrace.”
* * *Anna Sui
“I AGREE [that fashion is overheated].
But I don’t know really what we can do
at this point because it’s where we’re at
right now. It’s not just fashion, it’s every-
thing. It’s the movie industry, the music
industry; it’s sports. Everything has got-
ten to this point and celebrity, too. It’s
all so immediate, all so in your face, you
can’t calm it down anymore. I was at din-
ner the other night and somebody was
looking at their phone and it was like,
‘breaking news!’ And it was like, what
Kardashian did what. That’s just kind of
how it is now. You used to have to wait
for that monthly magazine or tabloid to
tell you who was sleeping with who, and
now it’s just in your face. That’s what’s
happened with fashion, too. It’s just
different. It’s the new now. I don’t think
you can really do anything except adapt.
That’s what we’re all trying to do.”
* * *Viktor Horsting and
Rolf SnoerenDesigners who stopped ready-to-wear to focus on
couture and perfumes
“WE SOMETIMES SPEAK about the fash-
ion industry, or at least the business of
fashion, as a puzzle that we keep trying
to solve. The speed at which it has to be
done does not help us: We are reflective
people and we need time to create. We
tried very hard to follow the rules, but
more and more felt that our creativity
functioned differently and was at odds
with the demands of the industry.
For many designers it works and they
make beautiful clothes, but for us it just
didn’t work. Focusing on couture and
fragrance gives us a breather and brings
us back to our personal basis: the joy
of creation. But creativity is not what
sets the pace — fashion is an industry
that is driven by money. Money is the
motor, and the bar gets raised by those
players with big distribution networks
that need constant refreshment. Fueled
by (social) media constantly looking for
something ‘new,’ sometimes regardless
of quality. Ultimately, there is always
space for something new that is truly
outstanding and amazing. But quality
and real, authentic talent are rare. So
something really new just doesn’t come
about that often. Having said that, the
market for beauty products as well is
often said to be saturated, but somehow
our fragrances made a difference. So it is
possible to make an impact.
We try to listen more to our feelings,
even if they say that we should not do
what we are expected to do. So more
generally speaking: creativity is the fuel
of the machine. We think we need to
take very good care of the fuel.”
* * *Stefano Pilati
“I BELIEVE PARTS of fashion have
shifted from being something ‘aspira-
tional’ or a ‘way of being,’ to a ‘form of
pure business,’ and lately, most egre-
giously, ‘entertainment and spectacle.’
Fashion designers might adapt their
instincts to fulfill the latter, but not with-
out compromise; especially for those
designers who still believe in fashion as
a form of artistic expression for valid
solutions to enrich people’s lives.
The fashion industry is saturated, and
in my opinion, imploding as a form of
evolution. Imploding isn’t necessarily
negative (in science negative is as valid
and significant as positive). The question
is: Where is this implosion leading us?
This is a very difficult question to answer
with any certainty. ►
* * *Marc Jacobs
“I LOVE FASHION. I enjoy putting on
shows and creating collections and
designing. And I question: Who is it all
for? Where does it all go? I question all
of it. But I continue to do it because I
continue to love it and that’s it.
I think all of those things [digital
access; social media] become additional
things to think about. But it’s not like, a
does-this-tick-every-box sort of thing….
There’s more on that list to look at and
try to make sense of and utilize….These
are questions. There are more constants
and yes, it is more exhausting.
We — meaning myself and the design
team — we don’t say, ‘will this work on
Instagram? Will this work on our Web
site? Will this work on the sales level?
Will this work on the show level?’ We
work on a show and we work simul-
taneously on things that we think are
versions of that show, but geared toward
different markets…
I don’t know how to do it any other
way [than to focus on the creative pro-
cess]. I can’t do this by calculator. It is an
emotional and autobiographical process.
It is about responding to something in a
certain moment and continuing to edit
and add to one response throughout
the process as you experience different
things. What you end up with is the
result of the time period, which could
include memories, experiences, a litany
of things like this.
Last time, there were a lot of things
I was trying to figure out; yes, the Ins-
tagram thing was stimulating and yes,
there was the equality of gay marriage
and other things on my mind.…It still
came from the same place it always
comes from, which was, what are we
going to make, and let’s go through this
as a creative process.
So we’re just coming from the same
place [as always], which is, I like to make
things and show them in a way that takes
people somewhere and entertains them.
And takes on the next life, which goes
to a store and people can’t resist them;
they’d pull their heart out wanting them,
rather than that they need them. It’s a
form of entertainment.
This is all I ever wanted to do. Then
you think, I don’t want to do a lot of
the things I end up doing in a week,
but they’re part of the job. It seems the
scale has tipped. There’s a lot more
stuff I don’t want to do than I do want
to do. But what affords me the time and
the luxury to do what I want to do is by
doing all of the other stuff, things that
require a different part of my brain and
a different type of energy. That’s reality.
It’s still called work; it’s not called fun.
But the pleasure I get out of the creative
part, the part that I really love — even
with its pain and stress and obstacles, I
still love it.
Yes, the balance of time for that is so
little compared to all of the other stuff.
But again, I still would rather deal with
all of that just to have that moment, to
work on those six weeks of shows that
are intense and those nights that are
around the clock, and the reward of
having created something that lasts for
seven minutes that feels right. It’s still
all worth it.”
“FASHION ALSO NEEDS PAUSES, AND SOMETIMES SILENCE, TO BE FULLY APPRECIATED.”
– GIORGIO ARMANI
WWD.COM OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 53
“WHO IS IT ALL FOR? WHERE DOES IT ALL GO?”
– MARC JACOBS
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Nowadays, the success of a brand
is left less and less in the hands of the
designer, who in most cases is deviated
by ambitious marketing achievements
and entertainment ‘scripts.’ From a per-
sonal point of view, integrity of the ‘soul’
of fashion is what can make fashion sur-
vive for what it is and not what it isn’t.
Currently, people use a form of com-
munication, or use their communication
tools to entertain ‘their audience’; the
ones that follow them and respond to
them, even if not necessarily belonging
to their amicable sphere.
We should direct our work to an
‘audience’ who truly understands and
is able to enjoy it actively, and not just
passively even within the social structure
that it generates. An audience, inside
and outside the fashion-business arena,
who supports the message that designers
offer, with due respect, without mistak-
ing them for cash machines.”
* * *Alexander Wang
“WHEN I TOOK on Balenciaga, it was an
incredible opportunity at the time when
I thought, ‘Well, I never wanted to define
my own brand by price point, by just
being a New York brand.’ The idea that I
wanted to speak to different customers
and see how I can communicate with
them and where my audience lies was a
great opportunity to do Balenciaga. At
the same time, H&M came. It was really
an incredible three years where I had
so much exposure on so many different
levels. After that, coming back here, it’s
given me so much more discipline and
focus into where I want to go.
Specifically speaking about the show
system, I think that’s something every-
one is challenged with — the immediacy
of things, and the idea of how to deliver
in this system, where the attention span
has become nonexistent.…Our brand,
as opposed to Balenciaga, or even a
much bigger brand where you own all
your own retail, portions of your supply
chain, they can dictate a lot more in
terms of changing certain things. We
were looking at the calendar the other
day and were like, what are the hard
deadlines? It’s the show. That’s some-
thing that we cannot control. We have to
have the collection ready, etc. Those are
pillar dates we work toward.
There are very few exceptions.
Whether you’re a lot smaller or you’re
completely outside the system like
[Azzedine] Alaïa, or if you are someone
like a Chanel or a Dior, where I feel like
they have the financial, they have the
infrastructure — like what they did with
the resort shows, where they can fly the
whole industry, make their own deliv-
eries all that, we’re more in a situation
where we have to follow the system.
We’re realizing a lot more, at the end of
the day, it’s becoming much clearer that
fashion is a business and the first priority
is the consumer. That’s why everyone
is trying to go omnichannel, direct-to-
consumer through social media or their
own magazines and building into their
own retail. It’s not just the journalists
but the buyers. Their position is being
reevaluated. I don’t have a hard feeling
or answer, but it’s definitely something
we continuously talk about in terms of
who we invite to the show.”
* * *Glenda Bailey
Editor in chief, Harper’s Bazaar
“DIANA VREELAND famously said, ‘The
eye has to travel,’ but these days, the
eye gets really tired. There are so many
images being flung at us — as editors
and consumers — it makes you crave
simple beauty and great design. Look at
the success of Valentino and Gucci, for
example. Maria Grazia Chiuri, Pierpaolo
Piccioli and Alessandro Michele are
consummate designers who prioritize
sensitivity, artfulness and craft. Well,
craft with an Instagram account.”
* * *Bruno Pavlovsky
Chanel’s president of fashion
“CONSUMERS ARE increasingly busy,
and there are a lot of brands that are
able to provide them with more and
more information. So you have to put
yourself in the position to offer more.
That doesn’t mean you have to interfere
all the time with customers. It’s more
about what I call a luxury positioning.
You have to be there when they want
you, and you don’t have to be there
when they don’t want you. It’s more an
invitation that we give them. It’s more
up to them than up to us. The level of
expectation is higher and higher, which
is good news for everyone. But it’s not
that we need to be aggressive with our
customers. I think that Chanel is about a
dream, and we have to position our-
selves keeping this dream alive.”
* * *Thom Browne
“I AGREE THAT the fashion world in
general is moving very fast. But for me,
it’s always been about doing things my
own way. In recent years, I’ve added
pre-collections to my business, but I only
did so when I was ready. Fashion shows
for me have never been just for the con-
sumer, but to create an experience and
to provoke and to simulate the mind.”
* * *Jean-Paul Goude
Photographer and art director
“THE MORE EXCITEMENT there is, the
more work there is. But the challenge
is to keep up the quality. Excitement —
even hysteria — slipped through fashion’s
fingers and was captured by entertain-
ment, with sometimes unfortunate
results and a dash of vulgarity. There’s
an opportunity for fashion to reappro-
priate the excitement and raise fashion
shows to the level of the opera or ballet.”
* * *Pierre Rougier
Founder of PR Consulting
“I THINK IT’S an age-long problem
about the shows and the system. That’s
never going to be resolved. Shows work
somehow. Are there too many? Probably.
I think because it’s working and it gets
you a lot of publicity, and if you get the
right people in the front row, it creates
more and more publicity because of
social media. More and more brands
maybe should not be showing and are
having shows and I think that’s part of
the problem. What’s very complicated is
the pace for designers, and that, I think,
is a huge problem. From the designers’
standpoint, it’s maxed out, it’s too much,
and too many seasons. We have to find a
way to feed that ever-hungry machine. I
don’t know what the solution is. A lot of
houses that can afford it have different
teams that work on pre-collections and
resort. It’s great for houses that can
afford it. For smaller houses, I don’t
know what to say about that. It’s way too
much. It’s killed a lot of young talent, a
lot of young houses. They just can’t feed
the beast anymore and are left behind.”
* * *Livia Firth
Founder of Green Carpet Challenge and creative
director of Eco-Age
“BASICALLY NO ONE can keep track
anymore. So what’s the solution? Could
we ever go back to how it used to be, to
fashion actually being a source of inspi-
ration for all? The answer is a huge ‘yes.’
If every designer, every journalist and
every woman and man could commit
“THERE ARE SO
MANY IMAGES BEING
FLUNG AT US…IT MAKES YOU CRAVE SIMPLE BEAUTY AND GREAT DESIGN.”
– GLENDA BAILEY
* * *Alber Elbaz
“THE MORE I TALK with people, I
see everybody looking for a change,
everybody. There is not exhaustion but
almost like a confusion of what we are
and who we are in fashion. I ask editors
‘how are you?’ and they say, ‘I cannot
see 60 shows in one week.” I ask writers
and they tell me, ‘I cannot keep writing
reviews in a taxi and between shows
having an apple and not being able to
digest what we saw. We need to think.’
I’m asking retailers, ‘what about you,’
and they say, ‘you know, we used to be
buying a lot, but we also used to be on
the floor to see the clothes. But now we
see numbers and shows.’
Is this industry only about numbers
and shows? That’s a question. And we,
the designers, did we change? Our title first was designer and
then chief creative director, because we have to be creative,
we have to direct. Now we have a title, it’s image-maker. Image
became a huge part of our job. Now, when you are a designer,
and you went to a fashion school, FIT or Parsons or the Royal
College, you learned about cuts and the body and innovation
and about newness, and this is what we were trained to do.
We did not go to a school of communication. We went to a
school of fashion. We didn’t learn business and we didn’t have
concepts of communication.
Today, I have a feeling that people come to see a show or they
see a show on the Internet, and they’re looking for entertain-
ment. Are we turning into an entertainment business? Is that
the fashion business? I’m questioning. I’m not criticizing, I’m
only reflecting. I feel that today in order to have a voice, it has
to be loud. You have to be loud, otherwise you cannot exist.”
“I SEE EVERYBODY LOOKING FOR A CHANGE, EVERYBODY.”
– ALBER ELBAZ
54 OCTOBER 2015, No.4 WWD.COM
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to slowing down, we would really end
once and for all the fast-fashion machine
which has destroyed all. This revolution
must start from each one of us, from
the wonderful designer who refuses to
create more than four collections a year,
to the talented journalist who refuses to
write about every single show on earth,
and from us wanting to buy ‘the latest.’
Fashion is hugely powerful and we need
to claim that power back.”
* * *Jason Wu
“IT’S A LOT. But for me, I love what I do.
For me personally, it doesn’t feel like too
much. But it’s a lot. I think you can say
that about everything. I myself am a con-
sumer of media and I am always looking
for more and want more. I guess until
we all slow down, we all have to keep up
the pace.”
* * *Ed Filipowski
Co-president and chief strategist at KCD
Worldwide
“AS AN INDUSTRY, in the past decades
we have been transformed by globaliza-
tion and now digitalization, the latter of
which is really just an iceberg with the
tip showing. Why can’t we embrace this
time now as a golden age of fashion, a
time in our history where we have more
abundant opportunity than ever? We
are a desired industry, wanted by the
art world, tech and the digital sphere,
all forms of entertainment and celeb-
rity — theater, music, film. The collab-
orative lines are blurred, we all inform
each other. Yes, there is undoubtedly
great change and with that comes some
new questions and challenges, but my
advice to clients is it is shortsighted and
a no-win situation to look back at what
‘isn’t.’ A true visionary or an industry
that breaks new ground is one that
doesn’t look to the past, but just keeps
moving forward. Fashion is a small part
of a larger cultural transformation we
are all part of, and to think we need to
‘fix it’ is myopic to say the least. I won’t
even have a conversation about old
formulas of what has worked in the past.
This is the time for pioneers, keeping a
few steps ahead.”
* * *Oliviero Toscani
“FASHION IS NOT overheated. In the
world where everything is violent and
war and money and finance and those
idiots on Wall Street.…I think it is very
useful. It’s a very good antidepressant
in a way, but at the same time, there are
women, especially, who get depressed
because they don’t look so good, they
don’t accept themselves, they don’t like
themselves. That’s a pity. I think there
have been fantastic designers who accept
all kinds of women, who could make
any kind of woman look great because
of their personality. I think it should be
more and more like that instead of dis-
criminating — I think that’s the limitation
of fashion. But otherwise it is necessary
in the world we are living. Somehow, it’s
like music. You don’t really know if it’s
necessary — of course, it is more than
necessary.”
* * *Umit Benan
“SOCIAL MEDIA IS controlling fashion
now. And I don’t like it. The attention
to workmanship is disappearing. It’s
all about marketing. I absolutely think
someone should stop this. Attention is
good. But I think it’s time for the brands
to control the final [customer]. Slow
down a bit. As long as the big brands
serve in such a fast way, the final [cus-
tomer] gets spoiled, [wanting] more and
more and faster, newer things every two
weeks. But also, if the big luxury brands
slow down, then the mass market will
take the opportunity to steal a piece of
the cake as seen by Zara, etc. So yes, it’s
too much!! Too fast! Change? Hopefully.
How? Have no clue!”
* * *Dean and Dan Caten
“THE FASHION SYSTEM is like a
machine: it goes fast, there is no slowing
down for anyone. Designers and brands
have to create and show at least six col-
lections per year in order to satisfy the
retail and wholesale expectations, but
you cannot just give it to consumers; you
need to consider all the entertainment
around it even if in today’s economic
situation, maybe it is more important
to focus on new ways to use fabrics and
use new technology to show fashion in a
new light.
Keeping an eye on heritage, focusing
on innovation: maybe this is the winning
key for today’s success.”
* * *Anya Hindmarch
“ON THE CONTRARY, I think there is a
growing and increasingly widespread
appetite for fashion as another art form
in the way that people queue up for the
latest exhibition in all the art galleries
around the world. It’s not going away. By
contrast, I think that the delivery of ►
* * *Tommy Hilfiger
“WITH SOCIAL MEDIA, with the Millen-
nials who are crazy over their heroes like
Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner and all of
these girls, [fashion is] red-hot. Our suc-
cess is proving that, because we gener-
ated more than 845 million impressions
on the last show. We had 290,000 new
followers the next day from Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter and were trending
globally on Twitter and Instagram — all
over the world, all news; we’ve never
had that kind of press. It’s all because
of social media. Having Bella Hadid and
Hailey Baldwin, all of these girls tweeting
and Instagramming from backstage,
doing selfies with each other and all of
the craziness with all of the social media
takes it to a whole different level. Fash-
ion shows have been fun and interesting
and we’ve used them for marketing and
positioning of the brand over the years,
but nothing like it is today.
We’ve also integrated programs like
social concierges, the [Twitter] Halo,
we did the Vine booth, we’ve got all of
these bloggers coming to the shows, they
reach millions of fans. We’ve launched a
virtual reality experience. We’ve led the
social media conversation during New
York Fashion Week the past five seasons.
You can’t buy that with an advertising
campaign, a media campaign. It pro-
vides a global media platform to launch
our brand story. It amplifies our brand.
It’s entertainment, and the way we’re
doing shows now is really about creating
unique experiences for the audience,
whether they’re students or [other]
people watching the live-streams in real
time.
I love the idea [of opening shows up
to the public]. It’s figuring out how to do
it so the editors don’t feel that they’re in
some public spectacle because they have
to do their jobs. But I love the idea. We
have people calling us wanting to buy
tickets; we have people e-mailing us for
tickets. We could open it up to the public
and it could be a phenomenon. If we
were to sell tickets, we would probably
donate the money to charity; it wouldn’t
be a profit. But I like the idea. It is enter-
tainment and it’s an experience. People
want experiences nowadays.
I think we need both [audiences]. I
just have to figure out how to do both
because it would become extraordinarily
expensive. The shows we produce now
are incredibly expensive, and they’re
just for editors, buyers, influencers.
If we’re going to do something for the
public [how to do it] where it wouldn’t
be a double cost?
We’ve selected items that can be
bought on tommy.com directly off the
runway. It’s our ambition to increase this
because it’s been so successful. Shoppers
don’t want to wait anymore. They see
something on the runway, they want it
that day. It’s immediate gratification,
especially for young people.
The world of social media and celeb-
rity is on fire because young people
are so attracted to it. Look, people love
fashion, entertainment, music, festivals,
they like experiences that have this pop
culture element to them. I would like
to make [shows] even more democratic
because there’s so many people out
there who are followers, they want to
become more a part of it.
Live-streaming was really the first
step, allowing the public to see the show.
Now we have 845 million impressions
after the show. That truly is because of
social media, bloggers. Two hundred
ninety thousand new followers that
week on Facebook. It’s incredible. These
numbers are wild. Whether or not they
translate into sales, we don’t know yet.”
“IT’S INCREDIBLE.
THESE NUMBERS ARE WILD.” – TOMMY HILFIGER
OVERHEATED!
“THE MORE EXCITEMENT THERE IS, THE MORE WORK THERE IS.”
– JEAN-PAUL GOUDE
00 MONTH 00, 2015 WWD.COM
fashion content, be it shows, digital or
events, will morph into a very direct
conversation with the consumer. I think
it’s an exciting time.”
* * *Joseph Altuzarra
“IT’S TWO SEPARATE issues: One is p.r.
and one is retail. The interesting thing
to me in this era of social media and
celebrities as brand ambassadors and
fashion as entertainment is, through all
of this, clothes still sell because someone
puts it on their body and they like how
it fits and it’s the right price and feels
unique….I think a lot of the focus is on
the intensity of the public relations effort
and the intensity of the public arena
that fashion has become entertainment.
Sometimes I think that it’s really discon-
nected from what people actually buy.”
* * *Daniella Vitale
Executive vice president and chief merchant of
Barneys New York
“THE BIGGEST ISSUE is there is so
much pressure on designers and emerg-
ing brands to put on a show or presen-
tation. Their money and energy should
not be spent on this. They should be
spending money on getting the product
right, quality, production and do what
they do best — which is design. We spend
so much time going to presentations and
shows that fall flat because they do not
have the resources to do it properly. That
is so defeating for a small brand. We try
and see everything, but more inspiring
is when you get into a showroom and
see amazing product. Nowadays, press
and brand awareness comes in many
forms and the use of technology and
social media can be as effective as a
presentation.”
* * *Nick Knight
Photographer and founder of ShowStudio
“I THINK IT’S a really good pace. I don’t
find it fast, because life is fast. I don’t
find it fast in a detrimental way. I think
it’s about emotions. It’s about you falling
in love with a piece of clothing and it
happens straight away. I always felt
frustrated before the Internet, because
you pour your heart into your work and
nobody sees it for three months, and
by that time you’ve moved on and you
don’t have direct contact with your audi-
ence. So I like that sort of spontaneity
of Instagram and I like the fact that it’s
happening live. It’s like you see a dress
walking down, and immediately you
have a reaction.”
* * *Damir Doma
“IT STARTED WITH the introduction
of pre-collections, which meant more
drops, more communication and a
change of communication via social
media. Social media doesn’t have time
to go deep into the subject, it’s maybe
exciting for the viewer, but it takes value
away from creativity. It’s not just about
the clothes anymore — their construc-
tion and fabrics — but how the brands
present themselves. Too much stays
on the surface, and that’s a pity. The
market is definitely overheated, which
also renders it unstable. My solution was
to take myself out of the system. I was
a hamster in a spinning wheel, creat-
ing one piece after the other — it lost
substance. Now I create my own tempo,
having gone down from 10 collections a
year to four or six. I prefer for my brand
to be niche with a smaller turnover but a
stable customer base, instead of playing
the game.”
* * *Marco de Vincenzo
“OVER THE YEARS, we saw a crazy
acceleration in the timing of the
business. In the past, there were some
quieter moments when you had the
chance to reflect on your work, which
was something extremely useful. Even if
sometimes being under pressure pushes
us to give the best, I also think that if
the whole system doesn’t slow down a
little bit, we risk to start recycling old
ideas and not creating anything new.
Creativity is in danger. It’s becoming
a war, where we are bombarded by a
million ideas and finding room in the
market is pretty tough, especially for
small brands that cannot do an extensive
communication. In addition, I think that
cutting time lapses between when you
show something and when you sell it,
you kill that sense of waiting, which is
actually exciting. We are living a kind of
schizophrenic time where it’s very hard
to make a long-term plan.”
* * *Katie Grand
Freelance stylist and editor in chief of
Love magazine
“EVERYONE CERTAINLY feels the pres-
sure of delivering more. Marc ( Jacobs)
now goes into the resort collection with
a different mind-set. It’s not clothes on
a rack anymore, but a show. And shows
themselves have become such a specta-
cle, with all the extra material that can
be generated. There are very different
goals now. You find yourself at 2 a.m.
doing a whole fashion shoot before a
show — on top of working on the looks
and the fittings.
Designers — like Marc and Thomas
Maier — are also getting very interested
in their own social media accounts. Marc
has become obsessed with Instagram
and Thomas has caught the bug, too.
Designers are choosing to add more
noise, they’re giving themselves an extra
layer of something to worry about and
iPhones generally are making people
more easily aware of what’s going on.”
* * *Julie de Libran
Creative director of Sonia Rykiel
“FASHION IS quicker than ever before.
We sometimes feel we don’t have that
time to reflect, explore and experiment
enough with new directions. I would
love and have tried to slow down that
process. We have made the customer
and markets used to seeing new mer-
chandise in shops frequently. I believe
this is not just in fashion, I have this
feeling of things moving so fast and I
wonder sometimes if we are forgetting
all the work that is behind every piece
we see and how those pieces have a
certain value and are actually timeless.
That is what I am interested in creating
more and more.”
* * *Massimo GiorgettiDesigner of MSGM and Emilio Pucci
“THE FASHION world is spinning very
fast; we have to work on collections
and pre-collections and those today
are important for the business, like the
main ones. We also have to think about
and work on the fashion shows and ad
campaigns, without disregarding all the
creative process of a collection (from the
inspiration to the show). Therefore the
timing is very tight, and the work for the
“I DON’T FIND IT FAST, BECAUSE
LIFE IS FAST.”
– NICK KNIGHT
OVERHEATED!
* * *Derek Lam
“IT DEFINITELY feels like a moment
of reckoning, only because we as an
industry have been talking about this for
quite a few years. The pace just seems to
accelerate, as opposed to making a con-
scious effort to address what needs to be
addressed, which is this oversaturation
of design, especially in fashion, and all
the information. It’s almost out of our
control, meaning the industry, because
there are so many moving parts, and
where do you start?
We made the decision for pre-fall not
to do a look book shoot. We’re just going
to show it in the showroom for sales.
Obviously, we’ll have a press day, but I
wanted to dial it down, that necessity of
constantly having something up online.
It makes me feel more comfortable that
we’re not just pushing things out there. I
think sometimes, especially for someone
like me, the client is not looking for,
every four months, some kind of new
proclamation. So why do I need to feed
into that?
When you look at the movie industry
and the studio blockbusters, they’re not
going away and each year one or two
movies hits that ‘made more money
than ever,’ a bigger audience, you know?
But there’s a huge turn to independent
filmmakers and more interesting televi-
sion. So you see that whole shift. I think
there’s probably a parallel with fashion.
What is the client looking for, the
ones who are not looking for revolu-
tion? They’re looking to be excited, but
they’re not looking to have to think too
much about it. They want to be satisfied
and entertained and nourished by fash-
ion, but they don’t need it to be a huge
seven-course meal.”
THE CLIENT IS NOT LOOKING FOR, EVERY FOUR MONTHS, SOME KIND OF
NEW PROCLAMATION.
— DEREK LAM
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WWD.COM OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 57
designer and his team is getting harder.
In my opinion, all these new opportuni-
ties represent a big business, but it has
to be positive for the people working
on the project, and it has to naturally
respect the DNA of the brand. Today the
Web offers customers the possibility to
share the magic behind a fashion show.
It’s a very democratic tool for all the
people not involved in the fashion world.
But I think that a show should only be
for people working in the fashion arena
because even if fashion shows are full
of glamour and allure, they still are a
working moment. During the 15 minutes
of a show, buyers can already have a
first idea of what they can buy for their
clients, and the media can express a
point of view.”
* * *Sarah Rutson
President of global buying, Net-a-porter
“WE AT Net-a-porter.com not only
embrace changes in our industry, we
encourage them. Change is what forces
you to innovate, and innovation in our
business is critical. The level of attention
afforded to the fashion industry by the
customer is at an all-time high, but this
is an advantage for us. Now more than
ever, we must look, listen and respond
in true dialogue with our customers,
and indeed we have the technology
and tools to do just this. It has to be a
conversation, not just between retailers
and customers, but between brands and
retailers, and brands and customers. We
must address the needs and wants of
the customer in order to succeed. This
means being where she is, giving her
what she wants and serving as the ulti-
mate zeitgeist who leads her toward the
direction fashion moves. E-commerce is
the fastest way to directly engage with
and respond to the customer, and she
relies on the ease and speed of accessing
fashion through the click of a button.
The modern customer is hot-wired to
focus on the now, and wants things
quickly, with the luxury service for
which Net-a-porter is renowned. I think
there has never been a more exciting
time to be in this business, especially
in luxury e-commerce, where we are
excited to continue creating the future of
fashion.”
* * *Yeohlee Teng
“I DON’T THINK there will be a breaking
point. Human beings are very sustain-
able creatures — they just evolve. I can’t
be gloom and doom about it because I
don’t feel that way. This is what it is —
deal with it. It will evolve into something
else and be ready for that. It’s just life
today.
There’s the old school who says, ‘Limit
the shows.’ Who are we to tell somebody
they can show or they can’t show? That
is so elitist. It goes against my grain. If
you set up a group that says just 100
shows, that is so undemocratic.
Instantaneous communication is what
drove it to its pace today. Whether it’s
good or bad is hard to weigh. I don’t
think it’s specifically the arena of the
designer who has to crank out a lot of
work. I think everybody does. It’s like
circles — rings around each person. Like
in any circumstance, survival of the
fittest applies to some degree. It takes
a certain amount of will and gumption
to be able to think clearly when there’s
such cacophony going on around you. I
don’t think whether it’s really good or it’s
bad, I just kind of think how best to deal
with it. I like to try to understand what is
going on and hopefully respond appro-
priately. But there’s no getting away from
it. If you don’t learn how to deal with it,
you die or you get crushed.”
* * *Cindi Leive
Editor in chief, Glamour
“I UNDERSTAND it’s a problem, but it’s
a pretty good problem to have.…Every-
one needs to decide if fashion shows
are intended to be consumed on social
media…as a marketing campaign…or if
they are for editors to review them for
retailers.…There’s a hunger for seeing
and consuming fashion. The alternative
is if it’s an industry no one cared about.
Even if it’s a problem, it’s a good prob-
lem to have.”
* * *Garance Doré
Blogger
“A FEW YEARS ago, we saw a change in
behavior in our readers, who are very
hungry for fashion, but started engag-
ing much less during fashion week. I
already could feel that fashion weeks felt
overcovered and didn’t feel so new and
exciting anymore, but for the first time,
the readers were telling us directly.
It also followed an editorial question-
ing about what we want to bring to our
readers, and I answered very fast by
choosing to cover precise moments and
key events, as well as brands that reso-
nate, and in a very personal way. Very
quickly it picked up and engagement
toward fashion covered that way has
never been that strong, as well as trust
toward what appears on the blog.
So my answer would be yes, there is
too much of everything and it has had
an exhausting effect. And in that kind of
environment, bringing a different point
of view and setting a different tempo was
a very good move for us.”
* * *Jean-Marc Loubier
Chief executive officer of First Heritage Brands
“FASHION AS a whole is just mirroring a
world where speed, congestion of images
and instant everything are consumed —
too often without consideration and a
long-range view. We must expect more
from the fashion world and its leaders if
we do not want to go out of fashion.
Fashion has become a huge global
business based on the tremendous global
development of middle/upper classes
with the related mass consumption made
possible by the availability of relative
low costs to supply mostly disposable
products.
I believe in the future of our industry
as soon as we recognize the real ‘costs’
of what we propose, meaning the values
of what we propose. This is a call to
rebalance our focus more upstream and
not just trying to impose ‘obsolescence’
through huge communication budgets,
store networks or omnichannel.
I believe in our fashion shows, in their
intense moments when they are part of a
chain, not just an instant communication
blast. A whole industry gathers and each
member plays its demanding role: The
companies propose creation and prod-
ucts, the media play their role of filter,
giving background and perspectives, and
the buyers make their choice and secure
diversity. The key structural moment in
the industry should not become just a
trivial communication tool.”
* * *Massimo NicosiaHead designer, Pringle of Scotland
“FASHION HAS become the fastest-mov-
ing design discipline, and part of the
social pop-culture in the most inclusive
sense. Once fashion was exclusive and
elitist and it was targeting a niche of
insiders. Fashion is now moving at Insta-
gram speed and has to generate content
at a frenetic pace, sometimes flirting
with the ‘quantity-over-quality culture.’
We should allow ourselves more time
to create something truly considered ►
* * *Fern Mallis
“AT THE END of the day, of course it’s
good that people are so interested. Fash-
ion is to be consumed, and if customers
don’t wear it and buy, all the hoopla
and all the money spent is really a big
waste. When I was at the CFDA, I was a
big proponent of trying to create a more
consumer-driven fashion week that was
about collections when they’re in the
stores, way before there was a Fashion’s
Night Out, trying to do something that
generated business for the customers.
That’s really the endgame, and those
are the people who we really need to get
excited about the stuff. You want them to
see a show and then put their hands in
their pockets with their credit cards and
go shopping. Macy’s did a show this year
at the end of fashion week at the Theater
at Madison Garden. I thought it was great.
It was a great attempt at owning that
opportunity. You take advantage of the
runway and all the publicity that happens
that week and then create a consumer
event for people to go shopping.
It’s all out of hand, but it’s all in your hand. You’re taking on
the world in your hand. Nobody claps anymore because they’re
busy taking pictures. Even at concerts, all you see are cameras
in the air. It’s changed everything we do. You can complain
about it, but it’s not going to get any better.
Sure, too many people are showing, but how do you know
who the next talent is? Who wants to play that role, and play
God, and say you can’t show? Everybody deserves a chance.
There needs to be a lot more information and inform people so
you know what you’re going to see.”
“IT IS A DISGRACE.”
– DAN LECCA
“YOU WANT THEM TO SEE A SHOW AND THEN PUT THEIR HANDS IN THEIR POCKETS WITH THEIR CREDIT CARDS AND GO SHOPPING.”
– FERN MALLIS
58 OCTOBER 2015, No.4 WWD.COM
and resolved; the time you are able to
spend on things is becoming the ultimate
luxury in fashion.”
* * *Chiara Ferragni
Blogger
“IT’S A GREAT moment for fashion and
a lot is changing and growing. Internet
and social media made it all faster and
easier somehow...and of course, more
accessible. Fashion is not that secret
or elite thing it was before. Nowadays,
there are not only fashion weeks as
main events (which anyway run all year
long on the worldwide calendar). [Now
there is] the sensation that there is an
unmissable event I could attend every
day. I think this is not something that is
going make the system collapse, but it
allows to strongly affirm who you are or
what a brand is. There are a millions of
occasions, but maybe just a few of them
are good for yourself or for your prod-
ucts. I guess everyone (including fashion
clients) know it, too. There could be
millions of bags or brands, but there will
always be that one that you somehow
truly desire and feels like yours.”
* * *Ruth Chapman
Executive chairman Matchesfashion.com
“I THINK LIFE is overheated! We are all
working and traveling and consuming
information more than ever before,
which can be overwhelming — and the
fashion industry is reflective of this. But
the growth in the global appetite for
fashion is a positive, as is the way more
people are turning to fashion as an outlet
for their creativity and to express their
individuality. Technology has enabled
this, and we all need to embrace the
positives that it brings, which is a deeper
understanding of the customer and the
global market.
As customers are more digitally
engaged, we also have more information
than ever about them, so brands need
to use this to really understand their
customer demographic — know your
woman or man and then think outside
the box to find the most relevant way to
engage them. For example, a younger
brand may not need to do a catwalk
show, but social media is key to their
customer so they can serve up content
and engage their customer in the right
way — which sometimes will be more
directly.”
* * *Jason Basmajian Chief creative officer, Cerruti 1881
“THE FASHION industry is moving faster
than ever before, both from a product
perspective (fast fashion) as well as mar-
keting, media and hype. We are starting
to see a slight backlash to this. The
recent documentary, ‘The True Cost’ by
Livia Firth, raises some interesting and
fundamental questions on the price we
may pay at the end of the day.
Authentic and great work still takes
time to develop organically and quality,
not quantity, will endure in the end.
The fashion system today may expedite
accessibility and enhance visibility, but
in the end, the product and brand has
to deliver. There are no shortcuts and
consumers have become increasingly
demanding and savvy. The trend for
direct-to-consumer shows will continue
because it makes business sense and
allows companies to get a jump on a
season.
I believe that the fashion industry like
many others will go through self-cor-
recting cycles and the spinning wheel
will also be a test of which designers and
brands can stick, and stay the course.
Honest and quality journalism is still
important, as is end performance at
retail. Developing a company and brand
takes time and unfortunately, patience
is a virtue often overlooked in our
industry.”
* * *Marios Schwab
Designer who canceled his runway shows earlier
this year and opted instead for one-on-one
appointments in a more intimate setting.
“WHAT IS THE point of inviting 500
people to a catwalk show when I have a
niche label? I felt like the handwork, fab-
rics and details were getting lost on the
catwalk. I wanted an intimate dialogue,
not a circus, and a show that was man-
ageable for me and for my business.”
* * *Lisa Armstrong
Fashion director of The Telegraph
“COMMON SENSE would suggest this is
a crazy way to run an industry, espe-
cially since so many of the clothes we
see, style and write about don’t even
make it into the stores. I was sent a sur-
vey this week saying that most consum-
ers can’t relate to most of what they see
on the runway, and are more influenced
by what they view on Instagram.
In the end, it’s down to editors to edit.
You can already see that many editors
have learned to focus in on the outstand-
ing shows and collections that count and
stopped trying to cover everything. I’m
hopeful that eventually the industry will
get wise and work out what is and isn’t
worth doing and how much all of that
publicity is genuinely useful, and how
much is simply white noise.”
* * *Paul Alger
Director of international affairs at the
U.K. Fashion & Textile Association
“THERE IS TOO MUCH supply and
not enough demand. Not everyone is
going to succeed. Buyers are getting
barraged by brand-new companies each
season, and there is a limit to the time
and investment they can make in small
brands.”
* * *Marie de ReyniesDivisional merchandise manager
for women’s wear, Printemps
“IT IS A QUESTION we have been asking
ourselves, especially from the per-
spective of our customer. How can she
understand? Even for those of us who
work in fashion, it’s becoming so fast, it’s
difficult to follow, so for someone on the
outside, it cannot be easy. At the same
time, we have observed that brands with
an accelerated rhythm of delivery and
proposition are those that meet with
* * *Ralph Toledano
President of Puig fashion division and the
Fédération Française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-
Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode
“THE INDUSTRY has seen tremendous
change in the last 20 years. It used to be
designers/artisans designing ready-to-
wear lines distributed through whole-
sale, and now you are talking about
giant global brands with their own retail
networks and a much broader product
range.
Yet some things are exactly the same.
There were pre-collections back then,
but they were not presented to the press
because they were incorporated into the
shows, which had 60 to 90 exits. I pulled
out a Paris Fashion Week schedule from
15 years ago and there were the same
90 shows. We have not increased the
number. New York has expanded. Milan
has shortened. This is the reality.
Of course, there’s some disconnect
between the time we show and the time
customers can find it. On the other hand,
consumers are very educated and they
know that. Even if we wanted to show
when the garments are shipped, we
would have to show it to the press and
to the customers several months before.
I don’t know any designer who would
put a collection on ice for four or five
months. You have to adapt to the times
and look forward.
Burnout is something that can happen
in any industry. In my opinion, it’s a
management responsibility to make sure
that doesn’t happen. I don’t think the
shows are the problem — they are even
a reward for the whole design team. It’s
true that we see competition increasing
and pressure increasing, but this is not
specific to the fashion industry. It’s the
manager’s responsibility that this doesn’t
happen and to make people happy.
Fashion shows are very, very import-
ant in terms of creativity, of commit-
ment, of execution, and of dialogue
between the press and consumers,
between vendors and their clients. I
make a lot of decisions after a show
because you see much, much better your
strengths and weaknesses. We can’t just
blame an anonymous system. There is a
dual responsibility. The responsibility of
management is to protect designers and
make sure they handle the demands.
On other side, the designer is respon-
sible when he takes the job to do what
is needed to meet the demands of the
market and remain competitive. It’s a
management tool for sure.”
“YOU HAVE TO ADAPT TO THE TIMES AND
LOOK FORWARD.”
— RALPH TOLEDANO
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“BUSY HANDS ARE
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– RICK OWENS
WWD.COM OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 59
strong commercial success. So, I’m not
worried in terms of business, because
it’s quite positive in terms of business.
I’m concerned about the consumer’s
comprehension, but she seems receptive
to it, it is after all the Zara model that has
been put into place. But afterward, the
question we could ask ourselves is, can
the whole industry in the background
keep up? I worked for the fashion houses
before I was at Printemps. It is a rhythm
that is extremely intense, because as well
as the brands, there is the whole produc-
tion chain, product development behind
that. I think it will go on for some time
still, because it has shown such positive
results in terms of growth. In the short
term, the houses are structuring them-
selves and have more and more mer-
chandised rhythms for their collections.
In the longer term, will the whole value
chain be able to keep up? For a certain
length of time, yes, in the longer term, I
don’t know. We find solutions, because
it generates activity and creates jobs, the
problem is the ever-increasing speed.”
* * *Beatrix Ong
“AT SOME POINT, someone has to make
the leap of faith to change, to stop doing
collections by season, for example. It
comes down to an individual’s choices.
The fashion industry is not evil, but
certain practices have become the norm.
People are under pressure, they may not
have time, but hopefully better practices
will become the norm.”
* * *Serge CarreiraLecturer at Sciences Po Paris
“FASHION IS a reflection of society. It’s
schizophrenic because the consumer is
[schizophrenic]: He is looking for both
authenticity and coolness. The main
challenge for designers is to make sense
while they’re being asked to send out
five or six collections per year. Fashion
has always been a show. It’s its essence.
What changes today is the immediacy in
the Internet age.”
* * *Scott Tepper
Director of fashion buying and merchandising,
Liberty
“THE VELOCITY and amount of infor-
mation and photos instantly available
live from the shows has totally rocked
the fashion industry. Fashion shows have
evolved from industry-focused events to
branding events, which is actually great
to encourage the level of interest in the
brands we sell. The only downside is that
shows totally built for Instagram, such
as a Moschino or Kenzo, run the risk of
making such a splash that the customers
have already moved on to next season’s
big splash by the time the spring product
actually arrives in store and online.”
* * *Tina Craig
Blogger behind The Coveteur
“WITH HIGHER volume and nearly
instantaneous exposure, luxury fashion is
accessible to everyone — and that’s a posi-
tive. Luxury fashion shouldn’t be a clique
of ‘mean girls’ (and boys) but an alluring
force in which everyone who’s interested
can potentially take part, even if by only
voicing their appreciation of a newly
released bag on their favorite form of
social media. Aspirational consumers are
becoming more educated, as a result of
rapid-fast, ever-expanding technology and
the resulting democratization of fashion.
Inevitably, the woman who invests in
a $3,500 bag is automatically worried it
will become ubiquitous by the time she
carries it, and for good reason. Thanks to
the consistent gifting of goods to celeb-
rities, social media saturation, and high
fashion’s consequent overexposure, a
special purchase is potentially less likely
to feel quite so special anymore.
There’s an unarguable need to slow
down. Designers are churning out four
to six collections a year, and trends are
jutting in and out of style as quickly as one
can blink. The answer is simple. I think
cutting out a lot of the noise and relegat-
ing access to true experts who can process
the information and translate it for the
consumer is an important strategy.”
* * *Ariel FoxmanEditorial director, InStyle
“I’M MOST interested in the consumer
and the enthusiastic fashion participant.
When you look at the spike in interest
during fashion week-month, for the
woman who is engaged, I don’t think
it’s overheated. There’s conventional
wisdom that says, is this sustainable? I
would argue that we’re exciting more
women than exhausting more women.
I suspect there’s an aspect of the
question that is: Is it losing its exclu-
sivity? If the clothing is great and the
ideas are standouts...opening it up to as
many people who are interested doesn’t
make a difference. The most directional
designers are some of the most socially
engaged people in the field.
I think that fashion is an industry that
has always incorporated aspiration and
a little bit of a cloak of it being out of
reach. Now you see it, now you’ll buy
it in six months. I think there is still a
myopia around this understanding that
simply because people are Instagram-
ming or Snapchatting about it — this
democratization of fashion — means
everybody knows about it. It’s still a very
small group of people who are engaging
in this content. It’s still a very, very small
core group of fashion enthusiasts.”
* * *Lynn Tesoro
Founding partner of HL Group
“IT’S CRAZY because there’s a launch
of an app, an online retail site…there’s
something happening every single day.
You’re getting bombarded. I think it’s
going to find its balance. I don’t think
it’s 100 percent bad, and I don’t think
it’s 100 percent good. I do really honor
the design process and do respect how
clothes are shown. Online is great, and
I get a lot of information when I’m not
in Paris or Milan. But for people who
are journalists and are critics, there’s no
replacement to the [live] fashion show or
presentation.
Celebrities brought a lot of attention
to the runway shows. Now the celebrity
thing has died down tremendously.
Some designers are picking models that
have huge Instagram followings. Every-
one is thinking a little differently than
they ever thought before. At New York
Fashion Week, you had Lauren Conrad
doing a show, you had Kanye West,
people were running out of the more
traditional shows to get to them. Adam
Levine has a clothing line now. I do think
fashion has become entertainment. Peo-
ple are fascinated by the process. I don’t
know if fashion has eclipsed entertain-
ment in terms of consumer fascination,
but it’s a very big part of it. Fashion has
become entertainment. I watched DVF’s
TV show the other night. Who wouldn’t
want to be in that industry?
Before, you had to worry about your
critics, and you had to make the editorial
side happy, now there are so many other
conversations going on. Right after the
show hits, it’s already posted, an hour
afterward you’re seeing your reviews, it’s
a far greater reach. Someone critiques
it on Instagram, and has a point of view.
We’ve created wonderful personalities on
Instagram and Twitter. Are they truly the
voice of authority and experience?” ■
* * *Ken Downing
Fashion director and senior vice president at
Neiman Marcus
“I FEAR THE fashion fatigue is beginning
to slowly move through the customer
psyche, because she and he are follow-
ing the collections with the immediacy
that we as retailers, editors and fashion
insiders are following it. They are as
excited and stimulated in the here and
now as we are and there’s the sense that,
six months from now, when clothes and
accessories arrive in stores, she’s becom-
ing a bit bored. She feels that she’s seen
it before on social media, online, on
celebrities. We’re telling the customer
far too much too soon in a society when
people have a short attention span and
are hungry for the next thing. It begs the
question, how much is enough and how much is too much?
We’re all guilty. I’m Instagramming from every show.
It’s fast-moving and I don’t want to be the voice of a jaded
fashion person, but fashion is a visual feast, and when I’m not
being fed, it’s easy to lose interest. Also, the marketing machine
has taken some of the soul out of the beauty of the craft.
I look to the Hollywood model of launching a movie. They
don’t open the set and let in the customer and the media to
Instagram and report on and talk about their latest production.
It’s held tight and as it becomes closer to a release date, then
you hear more about the actors, more about the role. Then
you see a teaser and people stand in line for hours for a ticket
to a movie. We, the fashion industry, are throwing all of it out
in front of the world as it’s happening and then scratch our
heads when the customer becomes disengaged because they’re
living the same cycle we fashion professionals are living.”
“EVERYONE FEELS THE PRESSURE OF DELIVERING MORE.”
– KATIE GRAND
OVERHEATED!
“I FEAR THE FASHION FATIGUE IS BEGINNING TO SLOWLY
MOVE THROUGH THE CUSTOMER PSYCHE.”
– KEN DOWNING
TH
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A
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Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx
Photographs by SIMPSON KIM60 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
Attendees at Seoul Fashion Week in the trend-conscious
South Korean capital expressed their style, both street and chic, to the letter — as in English letters. Lots of them. And with a nod to individuality, they did it with bold declarations, hand-scribbled missives and some seriously supersized accessories.
SEOUL FASHION
WEEK
WWD.COM OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 61
62 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
SEOUL FASHION
WEEK
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registration discount
ends December 2
FINALE
64 OCTOBER 2015, No. 4 WWD.COM
Creating a new look in fashion is no small feat, and Christian Dior unleashed his in 1947 — and in capital letters. His waist-cinching, fan-skirted New Look caused a sensation, and set the foundation for an empire that continues to thrive today. In Paris, women on the street tried to attack models being photographed in lavish Dior dresses, enraged by such extravagant use of fabric in the austere, postwar period. “I never guessed what an explosive quality my modest formula would prove to have in an age of compromise and laissez-faire,” the designer said at the time.
Although his glorious career was cut short with his death in 1957, Dior cut a wide swath in fashion history, innovating with a business built on the principles of luxury and craftsmanship. His successors — a new one arriving soon, in the wake of Raf Simons’ exit — continue to interpret his influential silhouettes. The founder certainly felt the pressure of leading fashion, and embraced the need to provoke with bold creativity. “To manufacture emotion,” he once said, “a man must have a working agreement with madness.” — MILES SOCHA
Capital Idea
Christian Dior in his Paris studio, 1952.
Phot
ogra
ph b
y Ro
ger W
ood/
Get
ty Im
ages
WWD.COM OCTOBER 28, 2015 65
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