Disclaimer: The following is not an advertisement for Lineapiù. The author visited Lineapiù as part of a school excursion. People often think of big brands and corporate-styled conglomerates when it comes to the business of fashion. However, manufacturers and contractors play an important role in the fashion ecosystem too. Without them, it would be difficult for companies that run on a horizontal system (put simply, they do not own their own mills and ateliers) to sustain themselves because owning everything cost money. Despite the importance of these manufacturers, there is little awareness on their creativity and the innovation they bring to the fashion industry. Lineapiù Italia is a great example. A Florentine based company,…
-
-
Fitness in Fashion
As the warm weather draws closer (well it snowed the other day here in Canada so maybe I still have to wait a while…) we all start to think about the famous bikini that we will have to dig out of our drawers soon. When I hear the word bikini I get all nervous because I know that I am SO not ready to look at myself in the mirror in one. Don’t get me wrong – I love my body and would totally hit up a beautiful beach in southern Puglia tomorrow if I had the chance, I just know that I could feel so much better if I…
-
The Cult of Counterfeits
China is going to be one of the next luxury producing countries. It will develop its own brands and will conquer a substantial portion of the luxury market backed by the purchasing power of the ubiquitous Chinese consumer. This is a strong statement, but a closer look at emerging Chinese brands shows the opposite: the typical Chinese entrepreneur has a tendency to imitate rather than create, an attitude which could explain the impressive success of a “sector” that makes up 8% of Chinese GDP: the flourishing counterfeit business. Let’s take a short trip to Shenzhen, the capital of Chinese fashion. Just next to the train station, the naïf western tourist…
-
From Yves to Hedi
Only a week ago I was discussing the fate of creative directors that nowadays don’t seem to keep their positions for long. Yesterday we saw the news about Hedi Slimane, and his departure from Saint Laurent is no April Fools. While Hedi’s four-year work is widely appreciated as revamping the iconic brand, looking at Yves Saint Laurent’s sketches I couldn’t help noticing similarities. Dropping the “Yves” from the brand’s name, the French designer still managed to keep the spirit, and today I suggest taking time to appreciate this. When I was writing about creative directors in fashion industry, I mentioned Hedi Slimane in connection with the buzz about him parting…
-
Fashion + Technology = A Whole New World!
A few months ago I attended a super interesting conference called Decoded Fashion in Milan with a few other members from BS4F (check out the link to refresh your memory…so much has happened since!). The entire conference was focused on fashion in the digital and technological age. I previously shared my love for the new (already available in some Milan stores) Smart Mirrors aka basically a fashionistas bff. However just yesterday I learned that fashion and technology have merged again to create something that is even more important and useful than the Smart Mirrors (sorry all you Instagram selfie lovers out there)…the Smart Luggage! YES! Finally a luggage that brings…
-
The Luxury Market Spectator: LVMH
(DISCLAIMER: The purpose of this article is merely to illustrate the performance of a luxury company that I care about. I’m not a market guru, manage your money wisely.) When I buy a bag, I try to expiate my sins (and to forget the negative balance on my bank account) by convincing myself that I’ve made a good investment which is going to last. But you know what? Why don’t’ you make a real fashionable investment buying a stock – of a luxury company, of course? The company I’m analyzing today is LVMH. Decrypting the acronym, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. The company, given its fame, doesn’t even need an introduction, but…
-
Creative Directors: What’s Ahead?
Two days ago we were hit by the fresh news: Massimiliano Giornetti to exit Salvatore Ferragamo. Could have been striking, but with all the recent shifts in fashion houses’ creative reigns we just close the article tab thinking “agaaaaaaain”. Seems like in the world of fashion there’s just some kind of agreement to drive the observers crazy.. What’s going on? Alexander Wang, Stefano Pilati.. In between the whole buzz about Raf Simons. Shock and regret to wave goodbye to Alber Elbaz leaving Lanvin, speculation, rumors and guesses about the future of Hedi Slimane. While in case of the first events we reacted strongly, discussing, wondering and questioning, now it feels…
-
Reinventing 2.0: Dark Side.
Working on the article about superheroes’ influence on fashion, I defined that a number of world-famous designers literally got inspired by various imaginary heroes from comics. And then I realized I was missing something that the couturiers didn’t miss. When we open a comics book, do we only worship superheroes? When we turn on «The Dark Knight», is it only Batman who interests us? Actually no. I only focused on one part before, but without another one there is no «whole». No Batman without Joker, no X-men without Mistique, no good without evil. And «evil» is sometimes not bad, at least not in terms of style. Today on lustinfashion we will…
-
The Fashion Industry in the Great White North
As many of you might already know, I am Canadian and so proud to represent my country abroad and in Italy. There are so many great things our country has, however when you think of Canada you don’t link it to fashion, why? Well, on my flight back to Canada last week I had a ton of delays aka loads of time to finally catch up on some great reads and I came across this great article in The Financial Post called “Why Fashion Brand Success Stories are so Few and Far Between in Canada”. That’s when it really hit me, yes nobody in Italy would ever think that Canada…
-
Is The Luxury Market In Trouble?
The luxury industry has continually experienced growth in the last 5 years, and has rightfully gained its nickname as the “recession-proof” industry with the major consumers located in America, Europe and Asia. The largest one, Asia, accounts for 40% of global luxury sales in 2015. Recently, however, the luxury market has been put to the test. In the last few years, China has played an increasing role in the growth of the luxury market. Chinese natives are now players in international tourism, and this has given a huge boost to luxury brands worldwide, especially in Paris, Milan and New York. Every name brand has since opened stores in China, and…
