Chloe

Making sense of ‘accessible’ luxury

May 24, 2013 1:04 pm by Vanessa Friedman

The other day I was talking to Geraldo da Conceicao, Sonia Rykiel’s new creative director, about his plans for the brand, when he said something that surprised me. “I want us to be an accessible luxury brand,” he announced. Hmmm, I responded: “So you are dropping your price points?” He looked confused. “No, not at all. In fact, they are probably going up.” Now it was my turn to be puzzled.

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Posted in Fashion, Recession, Womenswear |

In Paris, Lady Gaga’s next fashion favourite

September 28, 2012 8:53 am by Vanessa Friedman

This has been a good week for Richemont’s fashion brands. Tonight a Chloe retrospective opens at the Palais de Tokyo, and last weekend Lady Gaga gave a shout-out in front of millions of fans at the Stade de France to the designer Azzedine Alaia, calling him a genius. You know what that means: sales! Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods, Shows, Womenswear |
From FT.com May 30, 2012

How important is a creative director? This question has plagued the fashion and luxury world ever since Tom Ford walked away from Gucci in 2004, and has been as subject to trend as any dress.

From believing that star designers (designer, creative director, artistic director and chief creative officer all being synonyms) were crucial to the success of a brand, the pendulum of industry wisdom has swung in the opposite direction.

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods |

Investing in Jean Paul Gaultier

January 19, 2012 3:43 pm by Vanessa Friedman

After buying Hermes’ 45 per cent stake in Jean-Paul Gaultier last year and talking up its development potential, Spanish luxury group Puig has put yet more money where its mouth is and just announced the appointment of senior luxury executive Ralph Toledano to the newly created position of President of the fashion division. If you want to send a signal to the fashion community that you are intent on being a serious player, this is a pretty efficient way to do it.

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods, Shows, Womenswear |

Top spot changes at Chloé

May 9, 2011 3:53 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Well, the rumours have proven true, and Hannah MacGibbon has left Chloe, to be replaced as creative director by yet another English woman, the fourth in a line that began with Stella McCartney: Clare Waight Keller.  Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Shows, Womenswear |

The politics of the British Fashion Awards

December 7, 2010 8:08 pm by Vanessa Friedman

The 2010 British Fashion Awards just took place, and guess who won? Well, Burberry, for Digital Innovation; Mulberry, for Designer Brand; and — drumroll please — for Designer of the Year: Phoebe Philo for Celine. Oh, and Alexander McQueen, with that Lifetime Achievement thing. In other words, a large chunk of the major international brands that can be linked to the UK (and that advertise globally).  Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Marketing, Ready-to-wear, Womenswear |