Michelle Obama

Reed Krakoff leaving Coach: the implications and the future

April 23, 2013 3:27 pm by Vanessa Friedman

So Reed Krakoff, executive creative director and president of Coach, the man who – along with CEO Lew Frankfort – built it into the $4.76 billion brand, is leaving after almost 16 years. Or will be leaving soon: officially, he steps down in June of 2014 when his current contract is up, which also happens to be just after Mr Frankfort retires as CEO (last September he announced he was leaving at the end of this year). Those are the facts; so what do they all mean?

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Posted in Fashion, Luxury goods |

Mayor Bloomberg: Italian Vogue cover boy

April 5, 2013 10:30 am by Vanessa Friedman

American Vogue may have Michelle Obama as their cover coup, but L’Uomo Vogue, Italian Vogue’s men’s fashion arm, has, on their April issue…Mayor Michael Bloomberg! I kid you not. It’s a little left-field as a choice, no? For both of them (the cover model and the magazine). So what’s the rationale here?

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Posted in Fashion, Menswear, Politics |

Michelle Obama resurrects dress

April 1, 2013 2:44 pm by Vanessa Friedman

Right on cue, yesterday Michelle Obama resurrected a previously worn Prabal Gurung dress from her wardrobe to wear for Easter Sunday. It’s not only a holiday-appropriate move, and nicely economic, but underscores the trend she set during the campaign for shopping her own closet, Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Politics, Womenswear |

Michelle Obama wears Reed Krakoff and CFDA hires BCG

February 22, 2013 11:05 am by Vanessa Friedman

If anyone wants to know the difference between Milan and New York fashion, the two cities that are most often seem as similar in their focus on the commercial as opposed to the insanely creative/conceptual, simply consider two recent pieces of news from over the pond: first, in her official term 2 Flotus portrait, Mrs O is wearing Reed Krakoff; second, the CFDA has hired Boston Consulting Group to help them determine their goals for the next five years. Fashion-as-business! It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

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Posted in Fashion, Womenswear |

Michelle Obama models Jason Wu at State of the Union

February 13, 2013 12:59 pm by Vanessa Friedman

MIchelle Obama wears Jason Wu at the State of the Union Address. Getty Images

Shocking! Michelle Obama has worn the same designer at two major events in a row. At the inaugural ball she wore a Jason Wu gown as she did the first time round, which is shocking enough – the last first lady to wear the same designer to two inaugural balls was Nancy Reagan. Mrs O then wore Jason Wu again at the State of the Union last night.

The dress, with a black sleeveless top and sparkly bordeaux sequinned skirt, looks like a customised variation of a frock from Mr Wu’s pre-fall collection, which had a leather spaghetti strap top and the same body. That dress, of course, was shown last December, and will not be in stores until May/June, so Mrs O is getting it celebrity-early, an indication of just how unlike normal shopping her shopping is. I think sometimes we get carried away with the J Crew side of things, and forget that there’s a very not-like-everyone-else flip side to her wardrobe – good or bad, depending on your point of view. Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Politics, Womenswear |

Jason Wu on Michelle Obama effect and ‘Made in America’

February 11, 2013 12:39 pm by Vanessa Friedman

As show season kicked off I did an interview with Jason Wu – aka the man who made Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown… twice! – before his A/W show, and two things he said have stuck in my mind:

First, for him, the Flotus effect is felt more in publicity than an actual sales spike. In other words, since Mrs O wore his gowns, everyone now knows his name in a way they might not otherwise, but it hasn’t had much effect on the bottom line.

And second, he makes 90 per cent of his clothes not just in America, but in New York, right down the street from his atelier, not because of any political position (though it’s nice to get credit for that) but because his pieces require so much hand-work – he needs to be close by to supervise. Read more

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

The inaugural fashion score card

January 22, 2013 2:33 am by Vanessa Friedman

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Posted in Fashion, Marketing, Politics, US election |
From FT.com November 23, 2012

Note to any woman considering her dressing plans as we approach the party season: the single most suggestive body part to flash these days is not cleavage (despite what those Victoria’s Secret angels say), not legs and not even the slices of side that certain fashion designers are pushing with their weird cut-out dresses. No, it’s a well-muscled arm. Stockings have nothing on biceps when it comes to shocking. Read more

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Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Womenswear |

Paula Broadwell’s right to bare arms

November 14, 2012 5:15 pm by Vanessa Friedman

It was inevitable, I suppose, that in l’Affaire Patraeus currently gripping the United States, clothes would come to play a part. Fashion is always a key part of any seduction narrative, because it is such a classic weapon of allure (and no, these words are not accidental). Paula Broadwell’s de facto signature has become her “toned arms” as widely and regularly displayed in various sleeveless outfits.  Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Politics, Womenswear |

Wardrobe-recycling trend picks up royal steam

November 12, 2012 12:36 pm by Vanessa Friedman

This is shaping up to be a trend. Yesterday the Duchess of Cambridge wore a DVF coat – double rows of buttons, epaulets – to the Remembrance Day ceremonies, which was the VERY SAME DVF coat she wore last year. Seems to me this is a statement not unlike that of Mrs O’s wearing an old Michael Kors dress at her husband’s electoral victory moment last week. Read more

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Posted in Fashion, Womenswear |
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