Moda Operandi’s Met Ball click’n'pay red carpet

April 29, 2013 7:12 pm by Elizabeth Paton

Moda Operandi’s announcement this morning that it would be selling designer gowns seen on celebrities and society mavens direct from next week’s New York Met Ball has really lifted the veil on the extent of the commercialisation of the 21st century red carpet.

The three-year-old company, which made its name offering high fashion looks straight from the catwalk and has widely been touted as one of the few e-commerce start-ups with a real shot at competing with queen bee of the pack Net-a-Porter, first made waves earlier this year by announcing its sponsorship of the “Punk: Chaos to Couture” themed event. Read more

Posted in Fashion, Finance, Hollywood, Internet, Jewellery, Luxury goods |

Fashion as Art Part II: the legal minefield

March 20, 2013 8:54 pm by Elizabeth Paton

Following Vanessa’s blog post on the topic last week, a great conversation unfolded both here and on Twitter contemplating the validity of fashion as art – and vice versa.

Whilst definitions centred largely upon the design and craftsmanship components of garments, plus shared characteristics of the two forms like innovation, self-expression and artisanship, another major part of the debate – the increasingly prevalent use of fashion logos within art works and how big luxury brands react to it – didn’t really get a look in.

Perhaps it should. Whilst the use of commercial branding in art as a mode of social commentary is hardly new – take a bow Andy Warhol and other assorted members of the Pop Art massive – it’s currently a seriously hot topic, particularly for the legions of draconian lawyers employed by the industry A-team to take many of the artists in question down, often with heavy-handed accusations of defamation and trademark infringement. Read more

Posted in Fashion |

J Crew’s Mickey Drexler on the elephant lurking in the luxury industry room

January 16, 2013 12:15 am by Elizabeth Paton

Financo – a New York-based boutique investment bank that specializes in consumer retail – held a seminar yesterday with a CEO panel that showcased some of fashion’s most successful kingpins. Coach chief executive Lew Frankfort gave his two cents to the assembled suits, as did Juicy Couture and VF CEOs Paul Blum and Eric Wiseman, plus hospitality supremo Danny Meyer.

But the most vocal man in the room by far – J Crew’s chief executive Mickey Drexler – wasn’t sitting on the stage.

In a rather unexpected (and uninvited) twist at the tail end of an otherwise predictable dissection of retail strategy, lifestyle brands and the importance of the emerging markets, Mr Drexler sensationally hijacked the discussion from the floor, to the acute embarrassment of Financo’s head honcho Gilbert Harrison. Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods |

Indian designers get a fashion fund

May 9, 2012 7:29 pm by Elizabeth Paton

Those international Vogues are fast becoming the action heroes of the fashion world.

Only last week they banded together to declare war on underage models, and now Vogue India has now announced it is following in the footsteps of American Vogue, British Vogue, and Italian Vogue and creating its own Fashion Fund initiative to promote the businesses of young Indian designers. Go team! Read more

Posted in Fashion, Finance, India, Luxury goods |