Sam Smith unveiled as new face of Balenciaga

British gay-singing superstar, Sam Smith lands his first big luxury goods campaign tarring as new face of Balenciaga FW15 Menswear collection. And boy he made it his own, turning drool-worthy coats and bags into a smorgasbord of chic and dramatic interpretations.

The ad campaign was lensed by Josh Olins featuring edgy tailoring by its creative director, Alexander Wang. The pairing of Smith and Wang is being referred to as a “creative collaboration” accompanied by video.

This isn’t Smith first dalliance with fashion. He appeared as Vogue’s Today I’m Wearing star in April, sharing his outfit choices every day for a month.

Goodbye Murakami: Multi-coloured monogram design discontinued at Louis Vuitton, FOREVER!

Hold on to  your Murakami’s girls!

Louis Vuitton is discontinuing its multi-coloured monogram design.

The look, designed by Takashi Murakami, became a fashion favourite when it hit stores after debuting at the labels’ Spring 2003 show under Marc Jacob’s leadership.

It reached It Bag status after it was launched, with stars like Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez and Lil Kim all sporting versions of the fun carrier over the years. But the time has come for the bag to be shelved.

“[It’s] leaving stores at the end of July, forever,” a store associate at Louis Vuitton’s Saks Fifth Avenue concession in New York told WWD.

The fashion label’s flagship store in Manhattan, situated on 57th Street, no longer has the offerings out. The shop, which once decked its entire facade in the print (white background with colourful LVs), keeps what’s left of the collections in its stock room though, so fans can snap up a design before it officially departs stores.

courtesy: bellavitadiines.wordpress.com

As well as the white background the line is also available against a black backdrop.

Louis Vuitton is now helmed by Nicolas Ghesquière, but brand representatives have declined to comment on the news.

“[The brand prefers to] look forward,” WWD were told.

Takashi has collaborated on other Louis Vuitton designs, including a pink cherry blossom variation of the iconic LV monogram and a camouflage version, but his multicoloured edition was by far the most popular.

COVER MEDIA

Alexander Wang may soon part ways with Balenciaga.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 06: Alexander Wang walks the runway during the Alexander Wang show at Fashion Week Spring 2015 at Pier 94 on September 6, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Antonio de Moraes Barros Filho/FilmMagic)

The future of Balenciaga and its current creative director, Alexander Wang, are on the chopping block, with the designer currently in talks with Kering SA about his contract with the clothing label.

As reported by WWD, the American designer may not renew his contract with the Kering-owned label as he focus on seeking investors for his own privately held brand. Wang was hired in December 2012 as the successor to Nicolas Ghesquière, who bowed after a stellar 15-year tenure and was hired as artistic director for the competing brand, Louis Vuitton.

Wang’s appointment was seen as a move to broaden Balenciaga’s appeal as growth slowed at Gucci, Kering’s largest label.

Despite double-digit rate in the past quarter, “he’s not made a huge mark on Balenciaga so far” and it wouldn’t be “a tragedy if he left,” Luca Solca, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, told Fashionista via email.

That thing called crocodile: LACOSTE GOES COUTURE!

photo courtesy: LACOSTE

Lacoste, with its popularity among the middle-class set and the sporty wannabes, no pun intended, is still largely known as a purveyor of athleticwear and polo shirts for the tennis and golf set. But that will soon changed!

CEO José Luis Duran tells WWD of its plans to make a big push towards being perceived as a fashion company, with athleticwear taking a back seat to ready-to-wear. “You will see no sports line and no Lacoste Live in most of our stand-alone stores, unless it’s a big location, such as our Champs-Élysées unit,” Duran tells WWD. “Brand positioning is really my number-one priority, and the idea is to make Lacoste more premium.”

photo courtesy: LACOSTE

At least for now,  the French brand’s retail locations will include opening 60 more stores in 2015 in China, Russia, France and the U.S., while also closing about 40. A move towards revamping its image into true blue a fashion brand.

The storied French tennis-inspired fashion label under creative director Felipe Oliveira Baptista, unveils its new collaboration with legendary couture embroiderer Maison Lesage: A series of eight haute couture designs (embroidered with cartoonish crocodiles, Pac-Man-like tennis balls, and occasionally a scrawled graffiti-esque tag reading simply: “Rene Did It First”) were all inspired by the brand’s archives and shot on the likes of Laetitia Casta, Constance Jablonski, Audrey Marnay, and ballerina Marie-Agnès Gillot, an étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet. (VOGUE)

photo courtesy: LACOSTE

Donna Karan announces departure from her namesake label.

Donna Karan, fall 2015 ready to wear show. fashionweekdaily

Donna Karan, the pioneering designer who transformed American womenswear, is stepping down on her namesake label after 31 years.

The New York born designer graduated from fashion’s prestigious Parsons School then worked her way up starting at Anne Klein before founding Donna Karan International  in 1984 with late husband Stephen Weiss. French luxury conglomerate LVMH, which also owns Dior, Givenchy and Fendi, bought the company and its trademarks (including popular diffusion line DKNY) in 2000.

Karan’s fall 2015 ready to wear collection was “one of her best” according to WWD.

“Over the past three decades, Donna Karan has inspired women around the world to embrace their power and sensuality,” said the company in statement posted to Instagram“When she started her collection in 1985 she set out to simply make clothes for her and her friends.”

“A little collection of simple black pieces that was all about need and desire. She quickly found out that she wasn’t alone — she had a lot of friends out there. Her philosophy of a sophisticated system of dressing, ‘her seven easy pieces’ revolutionized the working woman’s wardrobe.”

In an interview with WWD, the designer said that she’d be devoting more of her time to Urban Zen, the foundation she founded in the wake of her husband’s death. Karan has been growing a jewelry, clothing, decor and beauty brand of the same name, donating 10 percent of its proceeds to post-earthquake recovery in Haiti, among other causes.

Au Revoir Marc: Marc Jacobs closes Palais Royal Store

image courtesy: huffpost.com

Marc Jacobs, a fashion pioneer in the Palais Royal, has shuttered his Collection store in the picturesque Paris locale after a nine-year run, WWD has learned.

The American firm, which is to cease production of the Marc by Marc Jacobs label and assimilate that collection’s product range and price points into the signature Marc Jacobs collection, plans to establish a new store concept elsewhere in the French capital to showcase spring 2016 collections, according to the company. The clutch of Marc by Marc stores at nearby Place du Marché Saint-Honoré remains open.

Jacobs opened the 2,000-square-foot Collection unit when it boasted only a few fashion-related nameplates such as Pierre Hardy, Shiseido and vintage guru Didier Ludot. Today, the palace is home to boutiques including Rick Owens, Stella McCartney and Acne Studios. (Reporting by  WWD Staff)

Tres Chic: Chanel to open a spa in the storied Ritz Hotel in Paris

photo: biphenol28.rssing.com

A spa fit for the fashionably chic men and women everywhere!

The legendary French fashion house led by its creative director, Karl Lagerfeld, officially confirmed the opening of the first Chanel spa “Chanel au Ritz Paris” in the newly renovated Hôtel Ritz Paris. The spa is dedicated to furthering the French house foray into skincare.

After a multi-million dollar renovation which started in 2012, the iconic Parisian hotel is set to open at the end of this year. Located in Ist arrondissement in Place Vendôme, the hotel has deep historic linked to Chanel’s namesake founder, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who made the hotel her home for 34 years.

“Having its first Chanel spa located in an iconic luxury hotel makes sense because it will attract affluent hotel guests who seek innovative and luxurious experiences found nowhere else,” said Tiffany Dowd, founder and president of Luxe Social Media, Boston. “Coco Chanel lived at the hotel for decades, and it’s a nod to the hotel’s legendary resident.

“As the first Chanel spa, it will attract a lot of attention from those who want to be the first to indulge in a completely Chanel spa experience,” she said.

Valentino Pre Fall 2015 Campaign

Photo: Michal Pudelka for Valentino

Italian fashion house, Valentino, debuts its Pre Fall 15 campaign shot by rising photography talent Michal Pudelka. 

The talented photographer Pudelka first collaborated with Valentino’s creative director duo Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli for Spring/Summer 15, in a dreamy and surreal campaign featuring 20 mermaid-inspired images. Pudelka returns in the fashion front for the special campaign bringing a visually compelling images.

The thrilling new campaign was shot in Bratislava (Pudelka’s hometown), the ads feature models Maartje Verhoef, Ine Neefs and Grace Hartzel, styled by Karl Templer.

See the stunning images below!

Photo: Michal Pudelka for Valentino

Louis Vuitton retains top spot as the world’s most valuable fashion brand.

photo: purseblog

Each year research group Millward Brown and the advertising conglomerate WPP ranks the top 100 most valuable global brands across categories. The study measures brand equity based on interviews with more than three million global consumers, an analysis of companies’ performance,  consumers’ attitude toward purchasing its products and its potential for future earnings

Louis Vuitton, the grand dame of luxury conglomerate LVMH, leads the competition in brand value as it gained 6 percent to $27.4 billion, beating the likes of Chanel and Hermes. It is one of the two luxury fashion brands (Chanel gained 15 percent) whose brand value increased despite a sluggish sales in China and Russia.

According to Millward Brown, the value of the top 10 luxury-goods brands fell 6 percent, or $7.1 billion, to $105 billion. 

image hosted on flickr

“After the global recession, luxury made a strong comeback, and in fact was the biggest growth category in 2013,” said Greg Christoforides, senior partner at Millward Brown Vermeer, New York.  “Since then, there have been slowdowns in emerging markets like China, Brazil and Russia, all of which are growth engines for luxury brands.

“The anti-corruption laws in China have affected many luxury brands and there is also the grey market (i.e. price differences between geographic markets, which lead to shopper tourism), something that brands are starting to address,” he said.

“China continues to show impressive growth – mainly at Europe’s expense. China was represented by 14 brands in the 2015 report, up from one in the inaugural report in 2006. It will be interesting to see how Chinese marketers seize the opportunity to expand on the global stage.”

Trailing behind Louis Vuitton, there’s Hermès ($19 billion), Gucci ($13 billion), Chanel ($9 billion), Rolex ($8.5 billion), Cartier ($7.6 billion), Prada ($6.5 billion), Burberry ($5.7 billion), Michael Kors ($3.8 billion) and Tiffany ($3.2 billion).

The luxury ranking is part of a broader study commissioned by WPP Plc, the advertising-company parent of Millward Brown. Apple Inc. overtook Google Inc. as the world’s most valuable brand with its estimated value rising 67 percent to $247 billion, Millward Brown said. Google’s value gained 9 percent to $173.7 billion.

Vuitton ranked 34th in brand value across all industries, compared with 30th last year.

Lady Gaga has 36 wedding dresses! And she hasn’t announced it yet.

Alber Elbaz for Lanvin

Lady Gaga is one hot fashion hit and miss. The “Born This Way” hitmaker is known for her ostentatious red carpet fashion, from wearing a meat dress to a walking-talking Kermit the frog. As crazy as one might think she is, her fashion antics made her a bonafide fashion icon.

When actor Taylor Kinney popped the question to Mother Monster on Valentine’s Day, fashion designers began sending Gaga congratulatory notes and air-kisses became competitive. Tongues began wagging and the question on everyone’s mind, Who would design the dress for the wedding?

“It will be totally for Taylor,”  Gaga exclusivley told WWD of her wedding dress. “It’s all about my man. I haven’t really thought about anything specific yet but whatever it is, it will be totally for him.”

WWD asked some high profile designers to design a dress they fancy for Lady Gaga, the Mother Monster of everything outrageous, scandalous, fantastical, and majestic.

On Wednesday, WWD released 36 sketches of wedding regalia submitted by the world’s most famous designers, exclusively for the “bride of the decade”. And Lady Gaga was SPEECHLESS!

Browse through the photos below and head over to WWD for the rest. Prepare to be stunned!

Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel

Monique Lhuillier

Joe Bates, Sid Bryan and Cozette McCreery for Sibling.

Alberta Ferretti

Mara Hoffman

Massimo Giorgetti for MSGM

Alexander Wang for Balenciaga

Rebecca Minkoff

Donna Karan Atelier

Carol Lim and Humberto Leon for Opening Ceremony

photos courtesy of WWD.