After learning that Betsey Johnson was opting out of participating in New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in February 2009, speculation indicates that she is likely to design a capsule collection for either Target or H&M for Fall 2009.
Continue reading ‘Betsey Johnson May Release Capsule Collection for Target or H&M’
Chanel announced they will cut 200 jobs, or 10% of its work force, on New Year’s Eve day this year. The layoffs will affect all staff on fixed and temporary term contracts.
Many predicted that luxury brands would remain immune in the face of a recession, but it appears that this market is quite vulnerable as retailers and high fashion brands struggle to cope with tightened purse strings and falling sales figures.
Many leading labels are offering discounts and stalling new store openings while they attempt to renegotiate development and marketing plans and project realistic sales targets for the coming year.
The job losses, described by some commentators as the label’s worst crisis since founder Coco Chanel fired all her staff at the outbreak of war in 1939, represent almost 10% of the company’s production workforce. The redundancies come after a difficult year for the fashion, perfume, cosmetics and accessories businesses where growth has almost ground to a halt.
The announcement of Chanel’s job cuts came shortly after the French label announced that their Mobile Art Exhibit, a travelling show that featured artwork inspired by Chanel’s quilted handbags, would not be continuing its world tour. The pavilion was designed by architect Zaha Hadid and was due to visit London, Moscow and Paris after the New York installation, but the project was halted so Chanel could “refocus” their strategic investments.
Tracey Ross has run one of the top boutiques in Los Angeles for nearly two decades, but has decided to close her store on New Year’s Eve due to the economy. Tracey Ross was a mainstay for celebrities and their stylists, with people like Mary Kate Olsen, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears among her clientele.
Asked the reason for the closing, Ross tells WWD, “Of course, it’s the economy.”
Darn. No more shopping for hip designers like Vivienne Westwood, Derek Lam, Roland Mouret and Chloe, or picking up fashion and pop culture books, expensive handbags and cutting-edge accessories.
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
Stylist to the stars Andrea Lieberman is launching her very own fashion collection. The New Yorker has had a busy year, having just given birth to her first child a few months ago and now creating a fashion collection to call her own. Quite rightly, A.L.C. stands for the Andrea Lieberman Collection.
Continue reading ‘Celebrity Stylist Andrea Lieberman Launches ALC Fashion Line’
Yes, another celebrity is trying their hand at the design game, and actress Mischa Barton is the latest to give it a go. She’s designed a collection of headbands for Stacey Lapidus:
The Mischa Barton for Stacey Lapidus line consists of six pieces for holiday decorated with pearls, beads, crystals, sequins and flowers. One standout is a silk, crystal and pearl upside-down tiara intended to be worn on the forehead. Priced from $80 to $200, the Barton pieces initially will be sold at staceylapidus.com, but Lapidus plans to expand distribution to boutiques that sell her signature line.
This is Barton’s second foray into accessories design; she also has a handbag collection with Ri2k, a London-based company. On her vision for her next handbag collection, Mischa says she’ll go in a 70’s vintage direction, adding, “People want to see that you can deliver and do, like, a good job.”
The ever-classic Ray Ban is releasing a customizable version of their Wayfarers which will allow you to color and stencil your shades to most accurately portray just how hip and original you are.
Ray Ban beats the trend with a Wayfarer kit that lets you go crazy like school kid with coloring pens and stencils to custom your pair of shades. Dropping next year, the “Colorize” kit will give you that unique look.
Similar to Adidas’ Adicolor shoes back in the 1980’s (and again in 2005), which paired all-white low-tops with 6 acrylic paints, paintbrushes and sealant for the leather so artists could customize their kicks, the Colorized Wayfarers will really allow you to make your mark.
I think this is 99% marketing hype and 1% practicality – any artist who is talented enough to paint their accessories doesn’t need an official kit from Wayfarer or Adidas to do so. What likely results from the one-time-only efforts by consumer amateurs is a big colourful mess, and you’re left with brand-new markers to recycle and stencils you will never use again.
If only the Wayfarers came with an eraser marker so you could continually update the look and colour of your shades – now that’s an idea.
RANDOM PHOTO
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