Luxury goods

Richemont’s Johan Rupert redefines luxury as a year off

May 16, 2013 3:26 pm by Vanessa Friedman

The announcement that came along with Richemont’s 2012 annual results this morning that chairman Johan Rupert (left), is taking a year off from running the world’s second biggest luxury company starting this September is by far, to me at least, the most interesting part of the statement. For a man who has built the largest watch and jewellery Group to take a year off at age 62 – which, let’s face is not so old — at a time when the exponential growth trajectory of the luxury sector has started to slow is a little, well, surprising. And leads to all sorts of interesting speculation.

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Posted in Fashion, Financial results, Jewellery, Luxury goods |

How far does cultural and creative protectionism go?

May 14, 2013 1:17 pm by Vanessa Friedman

I wonder what the luxury world makes of the new French initiative to protect its culture in the digital age by imposing a tax on sales of tablets, smart phones, etc? They, after all, (the luxury folks, that is) have been promoting themselves as a “cultural industry” for the last few years. I mean, the name of their pan-European lobbying group is the European Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance. In case you missed it somehow. Yet as far as I know they don’t benefit from any protectionist legislation, in France anyway.  Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods, Politics |

Luxury profits from baby boomers: glasses are the new handbags

May 13, 2013 1:27 pm by Vanessa Friedman

So the other day I was chatting with Safilo CEO Roberto Vedovotto, trying to get to the root of the explosion in optics – they’re fast catching up to handbags as the super-accessory of choice – when he threw out an interesting theory: it’s the baby boomers, stupid. Read more

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Posted in Accessories, China, Luxury goods |

Ottavio Missoni dies: The end of the (family) era?

May 9, 2013 3:26 pm by Vanessa Friedman

The news today that Ottavio Missoni, known as Tai and co-founder of the fashion/knitwear brand that bears his surname, has died aged 92 has sent the fashion world into mourning, for a number of reasons — some personal, and some to do with the end of an idea about fashion itself.

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods |

In the age of austerity, UK Luxury growth expectations outpace the market – by a lot

May 7, 2013 6:30 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Though much has been made of the fact that the luxury sector, which has been on a rocket to the moon, growth-wise, is finally slowing –Bain predicts 4-6% for the next two years – a new “UK Luxury Benchmark Study” from Walpole, the British luxury consortium, and Ledbury Research, begs to differ, at least when it comes to the UK. It’s full of surprises! Read more

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Posted in China, India, Luxury goods, Politics |

Fur on the rise with global warming; seasons on the wane

May 6, 2013 1:10 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Interesting news today that fursales are at “a record high”, especially in the Far East: Korea, China and so on. So does this mean the animal rights folks have lost? They certainly haven’t ceded the cause – they still pop up on occasion in front of a show (Prada, last season) or a store (Burberry), but I think it has proved more complicated than they ever anticipated. Because they aren’t just fighting a basic totem of luxury, and an industry that is increasingly getting out in front of the issue (see the Origin Assured initiative), but the whole problem of seasonality: the end of.

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Posted in China, Fashion, Luxury goods |

The latest must-have luxury accessory: a ballet

May 3, 2013 2:14 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Forget art collaborations – they’re so yesterday. Mobile phones, ditto. These days, it seems, the must-have accessory for a luxury brand (not, note, a luxury consumer) is a gig creating costumes for the ballet. It’s the newest stamp of high-art approval. The latest to join the club: Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci. So what does it mean? Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods, Marketing |

Jimmy Choo starts writing its post-Tamara story

May 2, 2013 3:26 pm by Vanessa Friedman

I had a very illuminating chat yesterday with Jimmy Choo chief executive Pierre Denis. He’s been in the job not quite a year now (previously he was ceo of John Galliano, so you can understand the job change), and has started to articulate the brand’s story going forward. Put simply: it’s history, people. Read more

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Posted in Accessories, China, India, Luxury goods |

Will the showroom replace the flagship?

April 30, 2013 1:31 pm by Vanessa Friedman

I’ve been fascinated recently by the game of semantics being played between “showrooms” and “flagships” – and wondering whether the evolution of the second into the first is actually the future of commerce. Or put another way, the place e-commerce and bricks and mortar commerce merge.

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Posted in Fashion, Internet, Luxury goods |

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 |
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