Luxury & Fashion Biz News: July 22nd, 2011 (The Marc Jacobs ...

1.) LVMH — A Luxury Conglomerate in Crisis: “‘Arnault suggests it’s time for change, time to recast his global, glittering, status-laden empire as something else,’ writes Robin Givhan …’The watchwords are: intimate, Old World, artful’ . . . The huge success of Céline, with Phoebe Philo taking the reins in 2008 — the label has since seen triple-digit growth — would suggest that it’s not a necessity to have a larger-than-life eccentric steering the ship. John Galliano was often depicted as the mad pirate, frantically sailing the high seas of fashion, but Arnault clearly has a yearning for calmer waters.” But while recent articles are hinting at Arnault’s satisfaction with Philo’s success at Celine as a potential signpost for the troubled Dior label now that the hyper-dramatic Galliano has been kicked to the curb, the 800 pound gorilla in the room is still Dior and what to do about her — or more specifically, how to successfully implement a complete overhaul on such a massive, global enterprise. Dior was Arnault’s first luxury label acquisition and has been called the jewel of the LVMH crown, pulling in revenue on everything from clothing (from haute couture to logo t-shirts), shoes, bags, cosmetics, jewelry, sunglasses, watches, perfumes, keychains and more. Celine, on the other hand, is a much smaller affair, offering only women’s ready-to-wear clothing and bags at this point. So sure, it’s easy to praise Celine as the label to beat and the example for Dior to potentially follow, but can the simple, pared-down elegance of Philo’s Celine translate to worldwide nail polish and perfume sales? Is Dior to suddenly ditch its over-the-top flamoboyance and transformed itself instead into the long-lost cousin of Hermes? Because, really, that might explain Arnault’s recent attempts to hijack the Hermes label for his very own. Speaking of Hermes and LVMH, Hermes sixth-generation family member and present artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas states that, “You know, there have been a lot of very good, small restaurants in Paris that have been bought by big chains over the years, usually in the name of better management. But somehow their clients have stopped going, because they have lost their souls” — which is a none too subtle dig at the LVMH-ification of the luxury sector, and a perhaps clear-eyed summation of everything that’s currently going wrong at Dior. But it’s not like Hermes can necessarily apply for sainthood in this regard. Express India writes that, while the famous Hermes bags used to be entirely hand-stitched by highly trained leather workers, “today, they are partially made by machines and assembled by multiple craftsmen . . . They also have their enamel and lacquer products made in Vietnam. You can find a sticker at the bottom saying so.” *NOTE 1: Adding credence to the “partially machine-made” claim is the news that the famous waiting lists for Hermes bags have disappeared. In other Hermes news, the announcement of a free-trade agreement between Korea and the European Union instigated what could possibly be the first ever price reduction in the heritage label’s history: “Hermes announced an average price cut of 5.6% and a high of 10% (on some items) Friday, saying, ‘Hermes goods are produced mostly in EU countries such as France, Italy and the U.K., so it benefits most from the Korea-EU FTA. We decided to lower prices to return some of the benefits to our customers.’" Well, shucks. Maybe that sainthood application deserves a second-look, after all? 2.) Halston Brand Revival Collapses as Big Names Flee the Building: “It’s been quite the rapid decline for Halston these past few days. First, Sarah Jessica Parker slipped it into a Vogue interview that she left the brand, and Harvey Weinstein soon followed suit. Creative Director Marios Schwab also decided to get the hell out of there, and today, WWD reports that Tamara Mellon will ‘no longer be associated with the brand.’ In short, everybody famous is gone and Halston is now owned entirely by Hilco Consumer Capital.” WWD referred to the abrupt exodus of all the major players from Halston as “the executive implosion”. The rumor is that Hilco Capital wants to bring in Ben Malka, president of BCBG Max Azria Group, to take over Halston and whip it into some kind of financially attractive shape. It was Hilco’s decision to dump designer Marios Schwab, and they’re taking the drastic step of axing the entire high-end Halston line to focus exclusively on the lower-priced Halston Heritage label that Sarah Jessica Parker was in charge of until her equity stake in the company was bought out by Hilco. WWD quoted industry insiders who stated that while Halston Heritage has over 500 points of distribution, the high-end Halston line suffered from promotion efforts that were too low-key, and with not enough retail partners to stir up the kind of consumer buzz necessary to keep Halston alive and kicking. Below <a href="http://www.guccibagsusa.com"><strong>discount gucci handbags</strong></a> is a video clip from better days at Halston, when Sarah Jessica Parker was first brought on board to launch the Halston Heritage diffusion label: Halston is widely considered the first American celebrity designer Speaking of designers and diffusion, Macy’s has just announced a partnership with Karl Lagerfeld: "’To me, Macy's is the perfect department store in the U.S. where everybody can find what they're looking for without ruining their budget,’ said Lagerfeld in a release. ‘That's why I am happy to make this limited collection just for Macy's.’" I’m sure whatever Macy’s is paying dear Karl also contributes quite nicely to his glass full of happiness. The price point for the Lagerfeld collection is scheduled to run about 100 per item, and Lagerfeld has been contracted to supply another smaller capsule collection for the Christmas holiday season. Macy’s is apparently hoping that the Karl can work the same frenzied magic on consumers that he did for H&M seven years ago. Lightning striking twice and all that. Other global brand news: A.) Hermes reports a near 18% sales increase for their second quarter: “This performance is particularly solid considering it came on top of a tough year-ago comparison, when sales jumped 27% . . . The ready-to-wear division was one of the strongest-growing in the quarter, as sales increased 34% … The habitually strong leather goods division (49% of sales overall) grew only 9%, a multiyear quarterly low.” So I guess that means the last Gaultier collection did particularly well for Hermes? I would like to know, someday, the full story behind that particular parting of ways, but in the meantime, there’s a very nice write-up about Hermes and their new Ready to Wear designer, Christophe Lemaire (formerly of Lacoste), in W Magazine: House Proud. Well worth reading. B.) Hotshot Proenza Schouler designers brought into the Theory fold: “It's been over a year since we first learned that Theory ceo Rosen was interested in buying Proenza Schouler . . . Now WWD reports that it is indeed happening, probably by the end of this month. The partnership will be structured similarly to the agreements Rosen has with Rag & Bone and Alice and Olivia, which are also personal investments. Rosen runs Theory and Helmut Lang, but they're owned by Uniqlo.” Rosen recently made headlines when he signed up the talented but temperamental Olivier Theyskens (formerly of Rochas and Nina Ricci) to revitalize Theory’s ready to wear collections — and now he’s tapped into even an edgier cool by snagging the team behind NYC’s urban favorite, Proenza Schouler. That he also has deals with Rag & Bone and Alice & Olivia aint too shabby, either. It’s, like, the House of the Young and Cool. Proenza Schouler Fall 2011 — straight-up downtown style C.) Tommy Hilfiger joins Belstaff: “Four days after luxury investment vehicle Labelux acquired Belstaff, Tommy Hilfiger has become an investor in the motorbike jacket specialist, joined the board and been named a consultant to the brand . . . The decision would appear to mean that the former owners of Belstaff, Franco Malenotti and his sons, will be edged out of the management of Belstaff.” Which is, to me, the death knell of Belstaff — maybe not in a commercially viable sense, but certainly in any kind of unique style contribution. *NOTE 2: Alas poor Belstaff, I knew ‘em. Although, looking at this video clip below from just a couple of months ago, it’s clear that Belstaff was headed in a big, commercial, Hilfiger-ish direction anyway — get a load of that huge flagship store! It’s certainly not “the little British brand that could” that I remember: Getting ready for the big leap From British motoring style but made in Italy, to Hilfiger mall style and (likely) outsourced to China — it just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it? D.) Kenzo brings in new artistic directors from cult brand Opening Ceremony: “The world’s top luxury retailer LVMH … announced the appointment of Humberto Leon and Carol Lim as artistic directors of the ready-to-wear label Kenzo with immediate effect . . . Leon and Lim, both 36, made their name with Opening Ceremony, the fashion concept and New York based multi-label boutiques they founded in 2002.” Designer Antonio Marras has been with Kenzo for the last eight years — eight years in which rumors have swirled that LVMH just wants to ditch the darn brand and be done with it. So obviously, the partnership hasn’t been working out as planned. Kenzo Fall 2011 — the straw that broke the billionaire’s back? E.) The Marc Jacobs company, along with company president Robert Duffy, are being sued for ######ual-harrassment <a href="http://www.guccibagsusa.com"><strong>discount gucci shoes</strong></a> and the creation of a hostile work environment by disgruntled former employee, Patrice Lataillade. The Jacobs company fired back with a lawsuit of its own, claiming the ex-Chief Operating Officer fudged numbers and cooked books to gin himself up some extra-hefty cash bonuses, and once he was discovered and then fired for financial fraud, he fabricated ######ual harrassment claims against the company to extort even more cash. The lawsuits are still ongoing, with Robert Duffy and the Marc Jacobs company claiming innocence of any wrong doing. For his part, Lataillade says that he was fired in retaliation for sending an email about the company’s ######ually hostile and discriminatory work environment to top executives and general counsel for LVMH. Though evidence is piling on that the Marc Jacobs headquarters might just be a very strange place indeed. See: Marc Jacobs Intern Has Public Meltdown On Brand's Twitter Account and Does This Odd/######y Marc Jacobs Video Reinforce The Law Suit? Possibly related article: Most fashion professionals want a new job. Oh, don’t we all. 3.) Prada Admits to Outsourcing Manufacturing to Low-Wage Asian Countries: “About 20% of Prada’s collections — which range from bags and shoes to clothes for men and women — are made in China. The Milan-based company manufactures outside Italy in other cheaper countries such as Vietnam, Turkey and Romania . . . (but) Manufacturing in China could also backfire with the customers that brands like Prada are trying to appeal to in Asia. ‘Chinese consumers are ready to pay higher prices for luxury brands, but they want products not to be manufactured in China,’ says luxury-goods consultant Armando Branchini. Prada’s “Made in China” items aren’t priced any differently than products made in Italy.” Dana Thomas first revealed Prada’s reliance on Asian manufacturing back in 2007 when she wrote, “Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster“. At the time, her revelations of Italian designer brands importing mostly finished product from China, then sewing in “Made in Italy” tags once the final touches had been applied, was deeply controversial, with every brand interviewed denying any such thing. Now? It’s just a shrug of the shoulders and a “Look how well they do shoes!” Oh, right, and still charging as if it’s all made in Italy, natch. 4.) Versace Feels the Social-Media Fury – Stops Offering Sandblasted Denim: “After two months of pressure from the Clean Clothes Campaign and Change.org, the Italian fashion house has officially banned the deadly production technique, which involves firing tiny particles of silica at high pressure to give denim a worn and faded appearance. Inhaled, the large amounts of silica dust can result in silicosis, a pulmonary disease that's potentially fatal. More than 1,200 international activists protested the practice in an online petition.” H&M and Levi’s teamed up back in September of last year to initiate a denim sandblasting ban, followed by New Look and Marks & Spencer. Versace only just announced their support of the sandblasting ban after their Facebook site was swamped with anti-sandblasting activits, forcing the Versace company to both delete all the activits’ comments and turn off the ability to leave any future comments. 21st century social media. It’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it? 5.) FRAGRANCE INDUSTRY QUICK HITS: A.) Justin Bieber’s “Someday” has become Macy’s biggest celebrity fragrance launch on record, with eager consumers snatching up 85,714 bottles in just three weeks at the New York flagship location alone. B.) Designer Dian Von Fursterberg has announced plans to develop a full beauty division of perfumes, skin care and color <a href="http://www.ecsis.biz/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5265573#5265573"><strong>Buy Replica Bally Handbags Today! - Replica Handbags,Replica bags ...</strong></a> cosmetics. The first product to launch is the perfume “Diane”, created by Givaudan's Aurélien Guichard. C.) The Jean Patou perfume brand has been acquired by Designer Parfums, a division of the Shaneel Enterprises Group which specializes in the creation and development of designer fragrances worldwide. Shaneel Enterprises presently owns and or operates licenses for Agent Provocateur, Jean Louis Scherrer, Aigner Parfums and Worth. Designer Parfumes sees the reputation of the Jean Patou name (Jean Patou’s rose + jasmin centered JOY is considered an iconic creation among fragrance historians) as holding particular value in a crowded marketplace. Says Dilesh Mehta, Designer Parfum’s managing director: “We will re-affirm the Jean Patou heritage and credentials across our global markets and reinforce its position as one of the world’s leading fragrance houses . . . Jean Patou’s stable of fragrances will be faithfully reproduced in line with original formulations, bottles, packaging and imagery.” Something that I’m sure a lot of people I know will be happy to hear. D.) The Jil Sander brand debuts its brand new fragrance, Eve, exclusively online — Eve won’t be available to physical retail stores until September, but it’s been selling on the Jil Sander website since July 13th. Is this a new way of building advance buzz before a widespread release? No one can “test” the fragrance online before they buy, so it can’t really be about driving advance sales as much as just getting journalists and fragrance/beauty bloggers to talk about the perfume before it hits the shelves. I guess kind of like I’m doing right now . . .