As Rihanna’s newest Fenty x Savage lingerie line took the stage during last month’s New York Fashion Week for an exceptionally vivacious, celebratory, widely inclusive fashion-show-turned-live-performance, it almost felt like a long-awaited revolution in American intimates market has finally marched through the runways. The overthrown ruler of catwalk, according to media, was the once almighty Victoria’s Secret. The American lingerie juggernaut needs no introduction. Neither does Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, infamous for sending down the runway heavenly gorgeous, long-limbed, shiny “Angels” in unholy, racy outfits – all to the sound of the season’s bop, preferably performed live. This year, however, for the first time in its 25 years history, the…
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Worst and best of the month (Part 1)
Low-despicable Marylin sings “But square cut or pear shaped, these rocks don’t lose their shape…Diamonds are girls best friends”. LVMH seems to know it well since it is exploring a takeover of Tiffany&Co. This deal would be the largest ever for the luxury giant, taking significant market share away from rival Richemont, and also giving it a much bigger presence in both American and Chinese markets. Only If it goes ahead… Looks like the most iconic of US luxury brands has already refused LVMH’s offer. So, raise the price or run & hide. Richemont’s operating profit fell by 61% to €869 million for the first half of its reporting year,…
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The people shaping Fashion: Imran Amed
If you are reading this article, chances are you love fashion just as much as I do. However, the fashion world that I love, is not (just) about those breath-taking embroideries, the colourful textiles or the bold make up looks on the red carpet. I believe that there is so much beauty in taking your time to understand the complexity of this world, instead of passively admiring it. What does it take for a sustainable brand to become successful? How can online brands thrive? What was Gucci’s recipe for success? Every time my mind comes up with one of these questions, I run to my laptop and type three simple…
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Fashion Businesses and Disruptive Innovation
On the 18th of September Bocconi Students for Fashion in collaboration with Jeme Bocconi Studenti organized the event named “Fashion Businesses and Disruptive Innovations”, which was held at Bocconi University. Digitalization and online shopping are becoming elements that every fashion company should integrate in its business model in order to survive to today’s extreme level of competition. New technologies have changed the rules of the game, lowering barriers to entry and allowing new and disruptive business models to emerge. Thanks to an increasingly interconnected world, businesses no longer need high capital investments in order to grow both quickly and globally. As more and more ways of doing business emerge, those…
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A Trilogy on Tweaking Identities: A Case Study on Céline
As the continual from our discussion of Yves Saint Laurent on shifting identities of brands themselves and of society’s portrayal of dressing oneself, it would be oblivious if Celine did not take part in this potentially controversial yet necessary discussion. Why controversial? When a designer is to be succeeding a predecessor with a pronounceable-sized shadow, this signifies two things. On the one hand, there is the presence of a strong “fan base” who likely identifies their purchase vision according to this designer’s aesthetics, color palette, design philosophies, etc. On the other hand, to succeed said designer means to either play with the cookie cutters left around, or to throw them…
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Luxury Fashion for Stylish Pets
Fashion is undoubtedly one of the first things that comes to mind when we talk about self expression. Every small detail in an outfit join forces to create first impressions on everyone we come across, so it comes as no surprise that people search for ways to broaden this tool and convey more specific and genuine representations of their personalities. And our pets, especially our dogs that never leave our side, deserve to be as stylish as us, if not more. Today almost 70% of all U.S. households own a pet. Dogs are by far the most popular, around 60.2 million households own one, according to the American Pet Products…
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A Trilogy on Tweaking Identities: A Case Study on Yves Saint Laurent
The “Tweaking of Identities” could be roughly grouped into two categories. First and foremost, the internal modifications in regard to the brand, which are usually linked to changing creative designers therefore shifting how we perceive the label. The second dimension focuses on the external fashion-scape, where the actions of a designer/s collectively alter not just how we dress but how we think we should dress. Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, professionally known as Yves Saint-Laurent, was born on August 1st, 1936 in Oran, Algeria to French parents. In his early teen years, Saint-Laurent spent his time creating intricate paper dolls accompanied by the precise accessorizes, clothes, and hair carefully curated at…
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Un-fake it: The Dark Side of the Counterfeit Industry
When we hear about counterfeit goods, or so-called ‘fakes’, we almost automatically associate it with the discussion about big, market-dominating companies losing a certain share of their profit. Yet, in reality a negligible amount compared to their total revenues. We also think of all of those people on the streets, either unaware, or unwilling to spend that extra buck on a designer handbag. It is almost impossible to walk on a street of a big city and not see a poorly imitated Louis Vuitton Speedy, or more recently, Supreme-logo branded clothing. Of course this leads to negative connotations around the whole issue, which many times make the society negligent to…
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Young Entrepreneurs in Fashion: A Conversation With L’HOMME DE CUIR
“One day I remember having some leftover brown suede leather in my apartment and somehow this idea popped my mind ‘What if I made leather bow ties?’. Literally the next day, I took this piece of leather to the tailor down my street and I told him to make a bow tie from it. After that, I got some suede bow ties produced and the feedback was amazing.” One year later, 21-year old Dutch business student Milad Saleh decides to make it official and starts L’Homme de Cuir. Currently the first and only company in the world selling suit accessories made of real lamb suede, the brand focuses on handmade…
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What is Camp?
One of the most anticipated fashion events, MET Gala is on 6th of May. For the ones who do not know what MET gala is for, it is the gala for The Costume Institute of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; it is also the biggest event on the fashion fundraising calendar. Founded in 1948, the gala has been chaired by Anna Wintour. The co-chairs are mostly well-known celebrities. This year’s co-chairs are Alessandro Michele, Harry Styles, Serena Williams and Lady Gaga. 2019 MET Gala’s theme is “camp”. Since the theme had been announced, there has been many questions but the main one is certainly “what is camp?”. The new…
