Department Stores Battle for Manhattan | Intelligence | BoF NEW YORK, United States — Two down, two to go. In February 2016, Barneys New York opened its 58,000-square-foot Chelsea flagship in the hopes of wooing the city’s tech elite working just blocks away at companies like Google and IAC/InterActiveCorp. This past week, Saks Fifth Avenue made an even more aggressive move, cutting the ribbon on an 86,000-square-foot flagship in Brookfield Place, an upscale mall near the financial district. These two stalwarts of American luxury retail have also made significant upgrades to their existing New York locations, with Saks continuing its Fifth Avenue refresh through 2019. Bergdorf Goodman, too, opened its renovated main floor to the public on September 6, marking the latest step in a five-year overhaul. But it's the coming of Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom — slated to open their first New York locations in 2018 and 2019, respectively — that will truly kick off a multi-sided battle for Manhattan. Of course, all these new stores need shoppers.
How American Eagle Dodged the Teen Retailer Trap | Intelligence | BoF PITTSBURGH, United States — For its first global advertising campaign, American Eagle isn’t relying on the typical teen-retail tropes to send its message. You won’t find fresh-faced, unreasonably tanned models running on the beach or palling around a campfire. Instead, the Pittsburgh-based company appears to be focusing on that uniquely millennial mix of individuality and collectivism, enlisting fashion industry cool-kids like photographer Cass Bird and stylist Sara Moonves to capture a cast of young influencers, from actress Hailee Steinfeld to musician Raury, in black-and-white portraits. Each image is tagged with both #WeAllCan and a personal declaration. Troye Sivan and Xiao Wen Ju in American Eagle's #WeAllCan campaign | Source: Courtesy “So many brands market to this customer in a canned, pre-packaged way. American Eagle, by contrast, is enjoying its eighth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. A change in management certainly seems to have given American Eagle a boost.
Fashion industry told to end its quest for ‘unattainable thinness’ | Fashion The Women’s Equality party is to launch an unprecedented campaign aimed at radically changing the way the fashion industry treats body size and shape. Coinciding with London fashion week, which will run from 16-20 September, the initiative will call for an end to unrealistically small “sample sizes” – the sizes in which designers show their new creations – and demand a minimum body mass index (BMI) for models. Sophie Walker, the WEP leader, plans to ask the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, to withdraw funding for next year’s fashion week if the campaign’s key demands are not in place by then. She will also ask Maria Miller, chair of the Women and Equalities Commission, to hold a public hearing in which fashion designers will be asked why their clothes are based on “an unattainable level of thinness in women”, which Walker believes is contributing to a crisis in public health with an economic impact of £1.3bn a year.
suits you! how today’s design talents are crafting the tailoring of tomorrow Gosha Rubchinskiy's show for spring/summer 17 at Pitti Uomo began with a triptych of boys marching through the Fascist architecture of a Florentine tobacco factory. The first two boys were shirtless, the second had a thick chain around his neck. All three are dressed in dark, subtle suits and, consequently, Instagram breaks before our eyes. Arguably it wasn't an unexpected strategy for Gosha to introduce tailoring for Pitti, but certainly, in its immediate impact, it felt like a sensational gesture for a Russian designer so entrenched in the sportswear-and-tracksuit aesthetics of post-Soviet youth. After all, what does streetwear try to do, if not to distance itself from the tailored uniformity of the professional, or his antipode, the school kid? By no means does a suit simply mark a new maturity in the Gosha muse, or the closing chapter of his bildungsroman. Wales Bonner spring/summer 17. Age groups are open systems. Raf Simons spring/summer 17
A Brief History of Chanel No. 5 Folklore decrees that somewhere in the world, each and every minute, of each and every day, a bottle of Chanel No. 5, is bought. It remains at the top of the international best-selling fragrance lists almost a century since its creation by Ernest Beaux, perfumer to the Russian court, introduced to Gabrielle Chanel by her then lover, the Grand Duke Dmitri Romanov, who escaped revolutionary Russia with the chemist to settle in Biarritz in 1920. A year later, in 1921, Parfum No. 5 was born. Just as it was Mlle Chanel’s desire to offer women a stylish, contemporary and uncluttered wardrobe ridding them of the frills, furbelows and unwieldy underpinnings of the Belle Epoque, so she aimed to revolutionise perfumery. Natural raw materials aside – and Chanel has gone to great lengths to protect the fields in Grasse where these are grown – the secret of No. 5’s elusive nature, and the truly groundbreaking thing about the scent, is, in fact, chemical.
Get To Know the New Michael Kors Campaign Faces | LOVE Four It girls. Four bags. One city. Introducing Michael Kors The Walk, the first-ever street style campaign showcasing fall’s chicest handbag styles. The new campaign is led by a diverse group of trendsetters, each with distinct style personalities: Solange Knowles, singer/songwriter, founder of Saint Heron and CEO of Saint Records; models Soo Joo Park and Nina Agdal; and Princess Olympia of Greece. Favorite place to visit in West Village? Miss Lily's, hands down...When I was 13 I visited Jamaica, and I've been back every year since, sometimes two or three times a year. Favorite book you’ve read in the past year? Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” really blew my mind. You take your style cues from… So many people, places and experiences...some of my style icons are Erykah Badu, Bjork, Kate Bush, Lauryn Hill, but I'm also inspired just as much by my friends. Artist who most inspires you? Favorite place you’ve ever travelled to? That's impossible to answer! Most delicious Korean food in NYC?
Neil Barrett AW16 | LOVE Courtesy of Neil Barett Quintessentially British in it's spirit, Neil Barrett's Autumn/Winter 2016 collection reimagines the classic and timeless garments; toying with the construction and proportion, he inverts the old to create something new. The menswear and womenswear collections, both inspired by nostalgia and youth, were infused by Neil Barrett's childhood memories in Dartmoor; focusing on aged leathers and shearling, 70s inspired colour palettes, hawk and eagles prints, and lustrous knitted tops. Here, we talk to the designer himself about the new collections.... What piece of fashion clothing do you think defines the 70s? Fashion vs comfort? What era do you wish you grew up in? Flash plugin failed to load Courtesy of Neil Barrett Which football team do you support? What's your favourite team uniform? What’s your favourite teenage memory? What are the first three things you think when you wake up? What's your screensaver? Who was your childhood crush? Last book you read? Last three googles?
WATCH: Our MEAN GIRLS: Margot Robbie and Cara Delevingne #Suicidesquad | LOVE Its finally here, introducing Margot Robbie and Cara Delevingne shot by Willy Vanderperre and Katie Grand for LOVE16's latest issue. Our Cover star Margot is interviewed for LOVE16 by her Suicide Squad cast mate Cara Delevingne (in a hairdressers) . Sporting polka dot bows in their hair, and dancing to Sign of The Times by Belle Stars, LOVE's Editor in Chief says of the shoot "The first concert I ever went to was The Belle Stars. I remember my outfit vividly: white off-the-shoulder cut-off sweatshirt from Way In at Harrods, pale pink pleated skirt with dark pink stripes from Dorothy Perkins and white flat pointed winkle-picker shoes with a dark and pale pink heel and matching bow detail from Birmingham Market. Jo Parker had peroxide blonde hair and wore the opposite: pink top, white pleated skirt from Topshop. Watch the brilliant video by Willy below!
The Art of the Sublime: Léa Seydoux Stars In New Perfume Campaign for Louis Vuitton | LOVE Louis Vuitton has unveiled it's latest perfume campaign debuting the 7 fragrances created by Master Perfumer Jacques Cavaller: Rose des Vents, Turbulences, Dans la Peau, Apogée, Contre Moi, Matière Noire and Millie Feux. The series of images feature the incandescent Léa Seydoux, standing peacefully by a waterfall and in another, a more close up portrait holding a delicate flower. As stated in the press release, the perfumes describe a journey of emotions, and these emotions are embodied by the actress Léa Seydoux, who's 'beauty is as radiant as her emotional power'. In order to capture the 'radiant, contemporary felinity and render it's sublime' Louis Vitton travelled to South Africa at Lone Creek Falls - Sabie Town and collaborated with the photographer Patrick Demarchelier. "Louis Vuitton is about travel, but it’s also about dreams. Its spirit blends adventure, discovery and emotion," stated Seydoux.
Style With Spoken Word: Doc Martens Release New Campaign With James Massiah | LOVE These boots were made for.... everyone. Dr Martens, the brand who's been taken up by a cluster of subcultures ever since it's inception during the 60s, has introduced it's most evolutionary concept since - the DM’s Lite. In keeping with their iconic DNA, the collection features their classic yellow stitching, heel loop, iconic silhouettes, coupled with a more comfortable lightweight sole. The footwear brand, having left a hefty footprint on fashion, music, and politics over the years, have designed the new lightweight collection in order to appeal to a broader consumer: free-thinking individuals who are either avid fans of the brand, or complete newbies who may have never worn it before. So who better than spoken word star James Messiah to feature in the latest campaign? How did you get into spoken word initially? What has inspired you to keep pursuing it? Are you proud to be a Londoner? Could you talk some more about other collaborations you’ve done - most notably with the BBC?
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 children will be shown, window by window, traveling to an English country home, but with an imaginative twist. 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.
Luxury brands must redefine the way they do business | Media Network There were times when China was the holy grail for global retailers. Logo-obsessed Chinese buyers seeking opulence were armed with cash fresh from the economic boom. Luxury retail brands flocked to the new market, with the result of 35% of sales for brands such as Omega, Harry Winston and Balmain coming from Greater China, according to estimates by Exane BNP Paribas. The region is responsible for a whooping 25% of sales at Burberry and 20% of sales at Prada. The strategy of growth by opening stores in emerging and existing markets is neither new nor unique to luxury retail. The logic of this is that if consumers aren’t buying your stuff, create more stuff. From 2008 to 2011, there was a 42% spike in the number of luxury retail stores in Asia, compared with a 28% rise in Europe and 5% rise in North America, according to Lux Redux report by Boston Consulting Group. Overexposure is a bad strategy. Exactly how dangerous, luxury retailers are only about to find out.
Fashion house Balmain sold to Qatar's Mayhoola sovereign wealth fund | Fashion The Qatari investment fund that owns the Italian Valentino label will take over the French fashion house Balmain, which has become a favourite of film stars, the adviser for the acquisition has announced. “After completing this transaction Mayhoola for Investments will hold 100% of Balmain’s capital,” said the merger and acquisitions company Bucephale Finance. The French financial daily Les Echos in reporting on the acquisition said the Qataris offered €485m (£372m) for Balmain, which is 70% held by the heirs of the former CEO, Alain Hivelin, who died in December 2014, with the remaining 30% held by management. The reported Qatari offer was higher than sale estimates of between €300m-€400m. Mayhoola is an investment vehicle supported by the emir of Qatar. Balmain was started in 1945 by designer Pierre Balmain and has passed through several hands and periods of financial difficulty over the years. Since 2011 Balmain has gained added momentum under artistic director Olivier Rousteing.