Russian mink farms where thousands are slaughtered and left to rot to make $1m coats These disturbing pictures expose the macabre truth about the fur farms in Russia and China which supply the fashion market in the world's leading cities, including London, Paris and New York. Across ten time zones, the images show the reality of mink and sable gulags - many set up during the harsh Communist past - where prized animals are bred for slaughter, bringing in millions of pounds to the Russian economy every single year. An investigation by MailOnline also reveals the appalling conditions in which wild animals, including different types of fox, are captured and killed, from being skinned alive to being poisoned by the faeces in the air, and reveals the heartless farm owners who can't see beyond their profits. And there are certainly profits to be made: a sable 'blanket' sold for a record-breaking $900,000 to a royal just a few years ago, while a coat at last year's Fendi show was rumoured to have a price tag of $1.2million. Animals forced to suffer and starve in Russian fur farm
What Brexit Means for the Fashion Industry Today's news that Britain has voted to leave the European Union has sent stock markets plunging and hammered the British pound, which hit its lowest point in decades. Although it will likely take years for Britain to untangle itself from the EU, many in the fashion industry are left questioning what the change could mean for their livelihoods. Of course, London is a major fashion player, with the fashion industry contributing an estimated $38 billion to the UK economy in 2014, according to the Business of Fashion. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below A weak pound and uncertainty about new tariffs could mean major challenges for UK-based businesses, which often source fabrics and produce in other parts of Europe. Before last night's vote, the British Fashion Council surveyed its members and found that the vast majority—90% of members—wanted to remain in the EU. This turmoil is predicted to affect prices of items coming into and out of Britain, as well. Getty
Political Movements in Fashion Can fashion have a political conscience? The question is a recurring one, and the answers are all too often clichéd. Examples of the industry’s insensitivity and lack of sympathy (or knowledge) towards social and political realities surface regularly in the media, and stories about blackface editorials and articles praising the “beauty” and “philanthropy” of the wives of Middle East dictators make the movie Zoolander look like a realistic take on the fashion world. However (and contrary to popular belief) fashion is just as often used as a social commentary. When, in 1906, Paul Poiret freed women from the corset, the couturier was immediately hailed as a pioneer of the Women’s Liberation Movement. "In an ultra-connected world where news goes instantly global thanks to the Internet, it has become impossible for designers to ignore their political conscience" “I’m not politically outspoken but I make statements regularly in my work” — Pam Hogg But do any of these questions have an answer?
The Blonde Salad Ups the Ante | Intelligence | BoF LOS ANGELES, United States — Chiara Ferragni’s stream of selfies has drawn more than 6.5 million followers to her personal Instagram account. But the super-influencer has transformed her digital property The Blonde Salad, which she launched as a personal blog back in 2009 that now attracts an average of 500,000 unique visitors each month, into a full-fledged magazine that relies on plenty more than her outfit photos. “When I started back then, I just wanted a personal space,” says Ferragni, whose movie-star looks and playfully bold Italian style have earned her adoring fans the world over. “But for the last three years, we haven’t been a blog. We’ve been a website.” Now, the Los Angeles-based Ferragni is taking The Blonde Salad further, launching e-commerce at Shop.theblondesalad.com on September 6. Of course, Ferragni has learned a few things about retail from launching her shoe collection, which started out as a licensing deal in 2010. Related Articles:
How retailers can fashion their way through Brexit Is Fashion a Credible Platform for Protest? | Opinion, BoF Comment | BoF Vivienne Westwood Red Label Spring/Summer 2015, Jean Paul Gaultier Spring/Summer 2015, Stella McCartney | Photo Collage: BoF LONDON, United Kingdom — Last week in Paris, Chanel appropriated the visual signifiers of feminist protest for its seasonal runway show. In a finale led by Karl Lagerfeld, a bevy of supermodels took to a catwalk christened “Boulevard Chanel” holding signs with slogans such as “History is Her Story,” “Make Fashion Not War,” and “Tweed Is Better Than Tweet.” On the same day in Hong Kong, a genuine protest was underway. Protesting for the right to democratically elect a candidate of their own choosing, tens of thousands of Hong Kongers formed crowds that throbbed and swelled in the city’s streets. Playing out against this backdrop, the “faux-test” staged on Boulevard Chanel rang especially hollow, repackaging political riot as a light-hearted, Instagram-savvy performance. We think it can.
Burberry teams up with Harrods for 2016 Christmas Windows London department store Harrods is working with fashion house Burberry to tell “A Very British Fairy Tale.” The retailer’s effort for holiday 2016 will kick off in November when its window displays facing Brompton Road are unveiled. Holiday windows attract crowds of shoppers and passersby, allowing the retail host to become part of consumers' traditions. A British wonderlandHarrods’ holiday windows will see the creation of a snow covered landscape and two small children as its protagonists. The window panes will include wintery scenes with flying cars, floating bathtubs and secret trails. As part of A Very British Fairy Tale, Burberry will provide an exclusively designed capsule collection. Burberry launched a similar effort in its Regent Street flagship for the month of June, giving consumers a close-up view of artisan hand embossing and monogramming. Burberry trench coat artisan The brand choose to highlight both British culture and its own history by focusing the design on rainwear.
Why Brexit is good for the fashion industry | British GQ On the eve of the EU referendum in June during London Collections Men it wasn’t hard to gauge which direction the fashion pack was leaning. Unsurprisingly, thanks to factors such as the EU support of many of the initiatives of the British Fashion Council (BFF) and the fact that myriad young designers work with factories and suppliers from Lithuania to Lisbon, the community is an outward-looking and inclusive bunch. Indeed, during the campaign the BFC reported that of the near-500 designers it polled, 90 per cent planned to vote for Remain. Now the world has changed and in the face of a probable Brexit, whatever individual’s feelings may be the UK fashion industry has to start accentuating the positive. An obvious short-term silver lining is the weakness of sterling on the international markets has made London a bargain bonanza for shoppers paying in dollars, euros and yuans while reports are that e-tailing is booming. Astonishingly, the effects were almost instantaneous.
Fashion’s most iconic political statements As the date of the UK election draws nearer, politicians have turned their attention to fashion and pop culture in an attempt to wrest the youth vote. David Cameron has claimed Kardashian kinship, Nick Clegg has starred in an “Uptown Funk” election anthem, and the Labour Party has channelled Katharine Hamnett with their “Hell Yes” slogan tee. These recent antics come as no surprise – fashion and politics have long been linked. Last week we paid tribute to Dame Vivienne Westwood’s best protests, one of the great masters of using fashion as a vehicle for social commentary. Now we turn our attention to other designers who have used their clothes to shine a spotlight on important issues. From men’s skirts, anti-terrorist slogans and Pussy Riot films, to penises on the catwalk, feminist runway protests and reflections on wartime hardships, here are the most memorable political statements in fashion history.
LVMH Vice President Delphine Arnault: "IT IS HARD TO REJECT FASHION" - 032c Workshop This article originally appeared in 032c Issue #30: “NO FEAR”, released in May 2016. It is available now. If industry wisdom is now crowd-sourced, who makes the decisions in fashion? The power-center once called “the establishment” has become an amorphous blob that dilates and contracts with the flux of trending topics. The desires of demand run in every direction at once, and those who succeed at latching onto them in real time are instantly rewarded with sky-rocketing revenue. In this context, LOTTA VOLKOVA and DELPHINE ARNAULT are two opposite yet equally powerful sources of gravity. In this first instalment of the The Lotta-Delphine Complex, 032c talks to Delphine Arnault. Avenue Montaigne in Paris’s 8th Arrodissement is clean and sparkly at all hours of the day. Delphine Arnault, daughter of LVMH founder Bernard Arnault, leads this most profitable department, overseeing brands such as Céline, Christian Dior, Loewe, and Louis Vuitton, to name just a few. Yes, it is. Not for us. No.