Christian Louboutin Offers Lots of Style with Little Comfort:
“Renee Zellweger might have looked stunning on the red carpet in her sparkly silver Carolina Herrera dress and sharp pointed Christian Louboutin shoes but as the night wore on, it seems she wished she’d gone for a more comfortable footwear option. According to the New York Daily News, after presenting the Film Editing award, Renee was spotted backstage with the $2000 shoes over her shoulder. The newspaper quotes Johnny Depp as telling the Bridget Jones star: ‘I like your shoes.’ Renee replied: ‘Thanks man. I used to like the shoes.’”
Oscar de la Renta Cashes In By Adding Handbags to his “O Oscar” Diffusion Line:
“Oscar de la Renta has announced that he’ll be adding handbags to his lower priced O Oscar line available at department stores like Macys . . . ‘Handbags are an important accessory for the modern woman who is constantly on the go, adding both style and function to her look,’ de la Renta told Women’s Wear Daily.
Diane Von Furstenberg’s American Express Commercial:
Two UK Men Arrested for Selling Fake Burberry Shoes:
“Two men have been found guilty of selling fake Burberry shoes – which they bought from a supplier for just 67p (about US $1.30) each . . . the pair were found guilty of attempting to sell over 100,000 pairs of the shoes, at £5 (about US $10.00) a pair . . . The men bought the Chinese-made shoes from a supplier in the United States.”
Study Finds that Most Luxury Brand Websites are Low Quality and Inadequate:
“In January of this year, consultancy Conchango examined the global sites of major names including Dior, Paul Smith, Molton Brown, Gucci and Louis Vuitton . . . The results of the survey show that the majority of luxury retailers are struggling to take their brands online . . . While Gucci scored extremely well on readability, its site was undermined by offering poor help and support – the equivalent of creating a beautiful store then staffing it with unhelpful assistants . . . Even the second-placed brand site, Paul Smith, tripped up by using confusing graphics and photos that were off-brand.”
***The majority of Luxury Brand sites I’ve visited function mostly as placeholders, with very little information about the brand and its collections, while sites that offer their own items for sale online are frustratingly rare and often difficult to navigate and/or purchase from. While Gucci’s online customer service may not be so hot, at least they offer a wider array of items than a good portion of their competition — for example, the newly launched Sergio Rossi online shop is clunky and offers only a fraction of the actual collection. Same with YSL.
Yohji Yamamoto Presents a Collection of Artistry for Fall 2008:
“Mr. Yamamoto is one of those rare designers who is an influencer — people from the fashion world take photos at his shows with their pocket cameras because they want to remember the details, and museum curators show up because they think his work is art . . . While many European designers have been looking to the 1960s and 1970s for inspiration, this Japanese designer didn’t bother with re-plumbing the 20th century ad nauseam — he went straight back to the 16th and 17th centuries.”
“We’re the very models of a modern major fashion show.”
***Yamamoto also partnered with Hermes to design a line of croc-leather portfolio bags which he debuted at the end of his catwalk show in Paris. Japanese-French fusion . . . reminds me of a restaurant I visited while in Tokyo. Loved it. Would go back in an instant.
Converse Celebrates 100th Birthday This March:
“CONVERSE celebrates a hundred years in fashion this March. From the invention of the All Star trainer in 1917 to the birth of the NBA, Converse has been worn by iconic figures throughout history – this being something the label plans to remember and share over the year to celebrate their centennial through product, advertising, retail displays and online campaigns.”
You Want Fur? Gaultier Shoves It In Your Face:
“With Catherine Deneuve looking shocked in the front row, enfant terrible designer Jean-Paul Gaultier got our attention with fur. Not sanitized mink and fox coats. He gave us visceral fur: a fox coat with two fox heads swinging back and forth on the model’s back — noses, eyes, teeth and all. A crocodile coat with the big lizard’s skinned tail trailing down to the floor. Animal heads, legs, tails and feet and claws rode the models’ heads or swung from their shoulders all the way down the runway.”
