Lectura de sambata dimineata

Cu gandul la Bookfestul din acest weekend, am scos din biblioteca „Intoarcere in Bucurestiul interbelic” al Ioanei Parvulescu si, rasfoind-o, am gasit unul din putinele paragrafe din carte referitoare la shopping si vestimentatie.

„Leul din vitrina anului 1928 arata cam asa: o pereche de manusi peau de Suede (gris perle) 800 lei. O camasa de soie lavable 2.200 lei. Metrul de crepe de Chine 2.100 lei, iar cel de voile Georgette 2.800, cu reducere in Lipscani, langa biserica Zlatari. Ciorapii bourre de soie (barbatesti) 725 lei si 90 de bani perechea, iar o palarie Borsalino autentica 2.080 lei. Pantofii Richelieu (Hermes-ul de odinioara, n.ed.) 2.400 perechea, cu sireturi cu tot! In timp ce in librarii, in acelasi an 1928, o carte de critica se vinde cu maximum 100 lei (Scriitori romani si straini de Ibraileanu), un roman la moda (La Medeleni, vol. III) cu 130 lei, iar un volum de poezii cu 60.”

Iar acum sa purcedem, zic eu, la lectura de azi dimineata, cu o cafea buna alaturi.

Bold platforms for France’s new agenda – „Yet there they are, the shoes, just daring us to draw some kind of conclusion. And it’s not going to be: “Oh, she just didn’t realise what she was doing.” I mean: Valerie Trierweiler is a political journalist. If anyone understands the semiology of clothing and how it is used as an image-making tool by public figures, she does.” In Financial Times.

Cultural revolution: Philip Lim’s cool classics – “In an age when fashion designers can achieve a level of celebrity quite beyond their work, Phillip Lim is as understated and easy to get along with as the clothes that bear his name.” In The Independent.

The outfits that say „The Queen” – „The queen’s clothes, like those of circus performers and rock stars, are designed for specific functionality, since unlike most commoners, she mainly works standing up.” In NY Times

A market for the newly wealthy – “Luxury is a relative concept. In Poland just over two decades ago, it was the height of luxury to have a steady supply of toilet paper, a washing machine and a few US dollars to buy some stick deodorant at a Peweks hard currency shop.” In Financial Times.

Social retailing: breathing life back into the high street – “By creating an exhilarating shopping experience, retailers have a chance to entice people back to the high street. However, becoming more profitable will depend on how successful they are in harnessing the mountains of market intelligence that’s out there waiting to be decoded and put to work.” In The Guardian.

For tech start-ups, New York has increasing allure – “The recent burgeoning of New York’s Internet industry has forced some entrepreneurs — who, just a few years ago, might have felt they had little choice but to head west to pursue their dreams — to make a difficult choice. New York is now enough of an attractive alternative that a few West Coast-born start-ups are even packing up and moving east.” In NY Times.

Hermès family back in the saddle – “The founding family of French luxury-goods maker Hermès International Tuesday named a member of its sixth generation to become chief executive next year, cementing its grip as the threat lingers from larger rival LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.” In Wall Street Journal.

Made in Britain’s new wave – „Made in China? So last year. Here’s a reveal of a dozen all-British highly-desirables that are leading the fashion for domestically manufactured luxury goods.” In The Telegraph.