Lectura de sambata dimineata

E mult prea devreme sa port cardiganuri – zilele sunt inca calde, dar nu fierbinti; noptile blande, dar nu racoroase. In curand, se face timpul pentru esarfe, pentru un trench, pentru un alt fel de parfum, pentru o ultima plimbare pe plaja, pentru o caffe latte bauta pe o terasa de pe care vantul imprastie frunzele aramii, pentru zile innorate cu cer de culoarea lavandei… Abia astept diminetile incetosate, mirosul de piele al unei jachete,visiniul unui ruj si al unui lac de unghii, fustele cu imprimeuri in nuante autumnale…

Designers start to see in triplicate – “With something like 250 runway shows and parties crammed into the New York Fashion Week that begins Sept. 8, a lot of designers are saying that there must be a better way to show clothes, or at least some way to grab people’s attention for more than a second or two. The latest thing, if a handful of them are correct, would be fashion shows in 3-D.” In NY Times.

Michael Kors by Lauren Hutton – “It’s hard to pinpoint when Michael Kors first became a fashion designer. It might have been the moment when Dawn Mello, then-fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, stopped by Lothar’s, the boutique on 57th Street where Kors was working as salesman/window dresser/in-house designer after dropping out of the FIT, and told him that if he ever went out on his own, she’d love to take a look at his collection.” In Interview

Fashion’s great confusion – “If looking fashionable is your goal, you can’t go far wrong this season, even if you don’t give a fig for sartorialism. Why? Well, fashion—the designers, manufacturers, marketers and retailers of clothes, and the stylists, editors, commentators and photographers who bring it all to you—don’t seem to have a clue as to what’s going on. There’s a schizophrenic element to this season’s looks and collections.” In Wall Street Journal.

The quiet rise of Berlin fashion– “Twice a year, with a series of high-profile fashion shows, the couture quartet of New York, Paris, Milan and London issues style edicts for the next season: hemlines are up, charcoal is the new black. But another capital has long held its own quiet but powerful sway in the fashion world: Berlin… With a few stops and sputters, German fashion has since picked up speed and garnered attention for its practical, minimalist designs propelled by industrious business acumen.” In Wall Street Journal.

H&M and Zara duke it out for US online sales – “Move over brick and mortar expansion tactics, retailers are finally realizing that bottom line growth isn’t always going to come by swelling square footage. Zara and H&M are taking their fast fashion competition online, while Urban Outfitters is jumping into F-commerce (making their Facebook fan page shoppable).” In Forbes.

Snapette aims at women shoppers – “The majority of e-commerce sites share a single thing in common: They were built by dudes. That hasn’t escaped the founders of Snapette, a social photo-sharing app built by women, explicitly for women… The app, which launched in Apple’s App Store a few weeks back, focuses on the experience of shopping and leaves out buying altogether — for now.” In All Things Digital.

The men (and women) who would be Halston – “Now presided over by the chief executive Ben Malka — until recently the president of the solidly middlebrow brand BCBG — Halston is expected to announce a new creative director, Marie Mazelis (also late of BCBG), to lead it… It’s safe to say that expectations aren’t high, after a series of ill-fated corporate maneuvers that began even before Halston himself died of complications from AIDS in 1990.” In NY Times.

Burberry in step with digital age – “The luxury fashion brand Burberry has spurned glossy magazine adverts in favour of a Facebook campaign to promote the global launch of its latest fragrance, Burberry Body… On average, digital makes up 15 to 20 per cent of media spending globally. Burberry’s strategy shows how quickly the fashion industry is moving away from magazines as it seeks to interact with consumers worldwide.” In Financial Times.

Combining sports, music and fashion raises buzz for sneaker companies – “Buzz scores—which measure recent consumer perception—have been rising among 18-49 year-olds since early August for sneaker giants Adidas and Nike, corresponding to the companies’ recent advertising endeavors that combine together sports, music and fashion.”. In Forbes.

Do fashion brands need ugly-queen discount contest? – “Fashion brands don’t really need to participate in such ugly-queen contests, year after year, trying to outdo each other by offering more and more discounts. So, what is the way forward? Fast-fashion, which ensures that designs move from catwalk to store in the shortest possible time, has been cited as an effective tool to combat such planned customer behaviour.” In The Economic Times.

Lulu Kennedy: fashion’s fairy godmother – „Kennedy is a fashion talent-spotter, founder of the venture Fashion East, which plucks emerging designers out of obscurity and gives them the chance to showcase collections to the style cognoscenti during London Fashion Week… Since 2000, star designers including Ilincic, Saunders, Richard Nicoll, Henry Holland of House of Holland and the Pringle designer Alistair Carr have all had their careers kick-started after being singled out by Kennedy’s gimlet eye.” In The Telegraph.

A head for figures – “The idea of celebrities such as the Beckhams, the Olsen twins and Sarah Jessica Parker crossing professional boundaries to launch second careers as fashion designers has become a familiar one in the 21st century. But beyond these famous fashionistas, a surprising number of financial and legal specialists are also foregoing their former areas of expertise to enter the style arena.” In Financial Times.

Sister act: Rodarte is New York’s hottest label – “Buyers either see their work as exquisite sartorial investments, or shock-frocks destined to clutter sales racks. Reviews oscillate from hyperbole to hostility, some press applauding Rodarte as a blast of fresh creative fire, others condemning them as a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes… Both sisters fall into the pale and interesting camp – they look so alike they’re often mistaken for twins. In person, they’re less intense than their clothes initially suggest.” In Independent.