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| Nicolas Ghesquière photographed by Karim Sadli Source: Business of Fashion |
Nicolas Ghesquière appointed Creative Director of Louis Vuitton.
All the speculation paid off! In my eyes, this really is a better fit for the brand as Louis Vuitton continues to re-brand itself to stay current, modern and fresh. Ghesquière is personally, one of my all time favourite designers. He knows how to design and he knows how to do it well. More importantly, Louis Vuitton in the last few years is trying to stray away from it's monogrammed culture. Louis Vuitton under the creative control of Ghesquière will no doubt provide a new and improved platform of creative expression for both the house and Ghesquière himself. Also now that Ghesquière is working for LVMH, Bernard Arnault will no doubt provide the resources to fight the lawsuit which PPR (the luxury conglomerate which owns Balenciaga) initiated against Ghesquière. Now it just seems like a bad idea on PPR's behalf because we all know LVMH is much more powerful and it's resources are much more widespread than PPR. So a big congratulations to Nicolas Ghesquière and I'm sure many are eager to see his debut collection at Louis Vuitton.
Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton's resignation as directors of Sass & Bide.
In all honesty, I really wasn't surprised at this news. Ever since Myer bought shares in Sass & Bide, the company has become more and more commercial - they've recently expanded into lingerie. When a chain department store as big as Myer has it's eyes set on a company, it's not because they really 'believe' in the brand, but rather because they know that the brand can become commercially accessible and become a source of revenue. Sass & Bide now will be a company aimed at mass appeal rather than creating designs as a source of creative expression. However that's not to say that Clarke and Middleton won't have any control of the brand, they will be staying on as brand director and creative director of Sass & Bide as well as being the public ambassador's of the brand.
Ann Demeulemeester leaving her eponymous label.
I first heard about this at about 2:50am today (right after seeing the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games Catching Fire) and honestly I don't know if it was the fact that it was nearly 3 in the morning and I had been running around all day or something else but my heart honestly sunk when I read the email from Business of Fashion announcing her exit. Demeulemeester's exit is sad in itself but also when viewed in the larger sense represents the changing landscape of the fashion industry on a global scale. Of course she will never be replaced, no matter who next holds the helm at her eponymous label, the label will never be the same and the die-hard Demeulemeester fans all know that. She is one of the infamous Antwerp Six, starting from humble beginnings, Demeulemeester has successively transformed her previously underground dark romantic aesthetic into one which is now embraced by so many in the fashion industry (Read: Mining the Goth Aesthetic, Fashion Pivots to Darkness). In my opinion, there are two types of designers; the first is the one which just makes pretty clothes - sticks to the status quo and the second which is revolutionary - challenges the audience's preconceptions. Demeulemeester is one of those rare designers who are truly revolutionary.
Read the letter she has penned regarding her exit here.
Kit Willow pushed out by the Apparel Group from Willow.
Money, Greed or simply a misunderstanding? I'm honestly not too sure what's happening there. The Apparel group owns Saba and Sportscraft - two well-respected brands within the Australian fashion industry, however they're really nothing too revolutionary or anything we haven't seen before. Willow however, is the most influential label which the Apparel Group owns. It's extremely hard in the fashion industry to stay true to one's oeuvre, especially in the Australian fashion industry where it is hard to succeed because up until a few years, we've cherished our mass-appeal and commercial brands more than anything. Australia as a nation is quite lazy? I suppose that's a good way to describe it. We're constantly behind in trends and new developments in industries whether it be the fashion industry or technology. It's always sad to see a designer pushed out of their own label that they've grown and one which bears their name - it's very much a David and Goliath situation. However, I doubt that anything too drastic will happen to the Willow label in the coming years. The whole incident will simply be brushed under the carpet as by the Apparel Group as they strive to reach new goals and sales targets for the Willow label.
Uniqlo sets it's sights on Melbourne.
Uniqlo has set a goal to become the number fast retailing company in the world. As it stands today, it is currently #4, after Zara, H&M and GAP. Currently Uniqlo holds an impressive brand portfolio of J-Brand, Helmut Lang, Comptoir des Cotonniers among others. Uniqlo is one of the stores I truly admire in the fast-retail industry because of it's strong sense of identity and direction. Uniqlo has an impressive Corporate Social Responsibility program, one of which puts companies such as H&M and Primark to absolute shame. One of the programs they've recently put to use is their Grameen initiative - they give back to the people and in particular women of Bangladesh, one of the countries exploited by textile manufacturing by companies such as Primark and H&M after the factory collapse in November of last year. Uniqlo has ventured into global expansion by two major factors; organic growth and quality in both their products and services. Uniqlo is a company which is truly Japanese in the core of their business model but is also successively expanding and adapting to the conditions of a global economy.
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