July 2009 Archives

1.) U.S. Recession Is Worse Than Previous Estimates Stated:
"The first 12 months of the U.S. recession saw the economy shrink more than twice as much as previously estimated, reflecting even bigger declines in consumer spending and housing, revised figures showed. The world's largest economy contracted 1.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the last three months of 2008, compared with the 0.8 percent drop previously on the books . . . the third quarter of 2008 underwent one of the biggest changes, going from a 0.5 percent decrease in gross domestic product to a 2.7 percent drop. The new reading better illustrates the effect the September collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. had on the economy and credit markets."

Anyone in retail has got to be whimpering in pain at the news, though they've likely experienced it first hand all this time while wondering what kind of crazy glue the economic cheerleaders have been sniffing in the back room.

As proof in point, LVMH, the world's biggest luxury conglomerate, reported a 23% drop in profits for the first half of 2008, and is now announcing that it's cutting back on advertising and marketing for the underperforming labels in its roster: "In the wake of the 23% decline in first-half profits it announced Monday, LVMH plans to postpone or suspend marketing and promotions for its brands that failed to be top performers . . . This new withholding strategy is part of LVMH's cost containment plan for the remainder of 2009."

As the article notes, Louis Vuitton and Fendi saw increases in profit and market share -- with Dior and Guerlain perfumes not doing too badly, either -- but LVMH's wine, jewelry and watch brands saw huge drops in revenue (an over 70% plunge in some cases). The LVMH designer brands that are rumored to be affected by the cuts in marketing dollars are Loewe, Celine, Kenzo, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan and Emilio Pucci.

Pucci's sluggish selling Spring/Summer 2009 collection below. Nicole Phelps wrote in her review for Vogue: "An eighties-by-way-of-a-Miami-club vibe that just doesn't seem to jibe with the house's more blue-blooded soul" -- this was head designer Matthew Williamson's last hurrah for the Pucci label before he went on to . . . uhm . . . create a collection for down-market chain H&M:

But cleary, the 'How Low Do You Want to Go?' syndrome, while great for customers, is killing the labels: "Manolo Blahnik went on sale last Monday at its flagship store on West 58th (near Paul McCartney's loft) with 50% and more off the entire spring/summer collection . . . Century 21 ... is having an 85 per cent off clearance sale . . . Saks Fifth Avenue is countering with a "take-an-additional-50-per-cent-off-for-a-total-of-up-to-70-per-cent-off-original-prices" promotion. Bloomingdale's is offering 50 per cent off almost all reduced women's designer spring/summer collections for a total savings of 65 to 80 per cent."

The entirety of New York retail, apparently, is for the haggling.

And while Jacob's designs for Louis Vuitton appear to be holding steady, his namesake labels (Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs) are becoming a regular feature on the discount racks, but that doesn't stop him from winning any awards: "Having just bagged himself the CFDA International Award for his work at Louis Vuitton last month, Marc Jacobs now finds himself a recipient of one of the Pratt Institute's Legends 2009 awards. The designer will be honoured along with architect and designer David Rockwell and poet, musician and visual artist Patti Smith at a gala benefit on October 29 at 7 World Trade Center."

***Note: Oscar de la Renta, however, is not to be outdone in the blue ribbon race: "Margaret Hayes, president of The Fashion Group International, told WWD: Oscar personifies the word 'superstar'. While this award honours his lifetime achievements, it is also in recognition of the vitality and creativity clearly apparent in his current collections.'"

Another fashion label that's singing the blues is Hugo Boss: "German fashion group Hugo Boss said on Thursday that its net loss had more than doubled in the second quarter . . . For the first half of 2009, the company posted a 5% drop in sales . . . German press reports say Hugo Boss is under pressure from its parent company, the Italian fashion house Valentino, to cut costs across the board to cope with the global downturn."

A video clip below of the Hugo Boss Spring/Summer 2009 collection that consumers ignored -- the collection is their Orange designation, which is a lower-priced, more casual line than the spendier Hugo Black:

Speaking of jewelry sales (and we were, you know, just a couple of paragraphs back):

2.) Overstock.Com Cries Uncle in Jewelry Makers Lawsuit:
"A judge has issued an injunction that prohibits OverstockJeweler.com from using the trademarks or selling jewelry that infringes on the copyrights of a group of high-profile jewelry designers who sued the online retailer . . . The judge's ruling stated that the defendants had "infringed plaintiffs' intellectual property rights," and that going forward, OverstockJewelry.com and its subsidiaries/related companies, including BlingJewelry.com, are restrained from utilizing the designers' trademarks."

Overstock.Com was accused of manufacturing their own jewelry lines and then marketing them using other designers' names and trademarks as part of their promotion (i.e. "Inspired by David Yurman" or "Copies of Bulgari", etc.). David Yurman, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Gucci and Bulgari all joined forces and slapped Overstock with trademark infringement lawsuits, and once the legal scenario started looking dismal, Overstock caved in.

But in the 'Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread' category, pop singer Lily Allen, fresh off her photoshoot with Lagerfeld as the new face for Chanel handbags, has decided to strike while the iron is ever so lukewarm and launch her own jewelry line: "Lily Allen" is comprised of nine ranges that targets women between 14 to 40 years old. The line features whimsical theme such as colorful flamingoes, fruits, flowers, traffic signs, and smiling faces in silver or gold, with each piece reflecting her style."

Video clip below of Lily Allen in all her pop culture glory (side note: Chanel is resorting to a 24 year old pop singer to front for their expensive handbag line -- that particular move has me curious; are they attempting to revamp the more mature Chanel image to bring in the teenagers and twenty somethings?):

I predict a '50% Off All Lily Allen Jewelry' sale in the near future.

3.) Retailers Get Real:
"Neiman is stocking top-tier designer brands like trendy Manolo Blahnik shoes at a starting price of $395, roughly $150 less than a year ago. Cashmere sweaters that started at $295 this fall start at $195. It's all part of some big changes sweeping through a retail world that's starting to adjust to the reality of a frugal post-recession . . . mass retailers, supermarkets and the consumer packaged goods industry have embarked on a storewide re-evaluation of what they sell . . . 'It's going to be a decade before we see the kind of consumer spending we saw in 2007 again,' said Deborah Weinswig, retailing securities analyst at Citi Investment Research."

Analysts are predicting less of the over-abundance of choices in styles, fashions, flavors and scents and more of a focus on what sells, with retailers weeding out the 45 different varieties of shampoos or popcorn brands, for example, and sticking with the choices that are most popular with consumers. Department stores will also carry fewer items in any given size, reducing, say, a backstock of 20 particular dresses in a size small to only 10-15.

One thing I've already started to notice is that online luxury retailer Net-A-Porter is selling out of higher-priced items far more quickly than they used to, which means they're prudently stocking way less to begin with. Which is smart. Once the recession first started gaining traction in late 2007, sites like Net-A-Porter took a hit to their sales numbers, eventually getting stuck with so much unsold product that they had to establish an entirely new website (featuring dramatically reduced prices) just to get rid of it all.

In related news, Discounting Can Be Dangerous for Luxury Sector: "Late last year, Tiffany quietly nudged down prices for engagement rings--one of its biggest sellers--by about 10%. Salespeople tell customers about the reductions, but otherwise there's no publicity . . . But retail experts argue that price cuts could prove to be perilous for luxury retailers. 'The losers [in this recession] will be the ones who destroyed their brand through the discount model,' says Janet Hoffman, global managing director of consultancy Accenture's retail practice. 'We won't see the damage from that necessarily today, but we'll come back in a year and be able to [notice].'"

Even Chanel is lowering prices, and Chanel never lowers prices: "A Chanel spokesperson says price reductions are simply the result of a stronger U.S. dollar" -- but just last week, I took a pass through the Chanel boutique in Nordstrom where I saw a tray of discounted logo jewelry and trinkets sitting forlornly on a neglected counter.

4.) Cosmetics Companies Still Chasing After Pheremones:
"As the science -- or, as some believe, pseudo-science -- of pheromones advances toward commercial applications, more manufacturers of personal-care products are dropping tinctures of synthesized pheromones into their formulas, with claims that they will boost sex appeal and confidence . . . 'We don't claim using our product you're going to hit a home run,' said Ryan Gaspar, a brand manager. 'We say, 'We'll get you to first base.'"

The article is most interesting for what it tells us about social interactions in general -- that the issue of pheremones aside, people are attracted to someone who smells good: "While Dr. Fisher believes pheromones may not initially be an aphrodisiac, someone's scent can certainly be a turnoff, or a turn-on, once courtship has been established, she said."

Speaking of scent turn-offs, Marian Bendeth is interviewed for the Toronto Star about how the city worker's garbage pick-up strike can have an adverse psychological effect on the city's residents: "'The sense of smell is connected to the limbic system, which also governs emotions,' she says. Emotionally speaking, decay is synonymous with disease, fear and death. But while some people become sad in reaction to rotting food, says Bendeth, others may turn hostile."

Check out the comments below the article for an example of the hostility the anti-fragrance crowd hurls at anything fragrance related. Christopher Laudamiel, one of the top perfumers in the world, takes time to respond to the anti-fragrance misinformation.

And as long as we're on the subject of anti-fragrance craziness, Perfume sets off events in Fort Worth that put 34 in hospitals: "A rush of hysteria over what was initially reported as a gas leak likely resulted in 34 people being sent to area hospitals Wednesday afternoon. But the actual culprit was perfume ... Medical experts often refer to such episodes as 'contagious fear' . . . Thinking about something can make someone feel a certain way, said Mary Lynn Crow, Fort Worth clinical psychologist who teaches at the University of Texas at Arlington . . . 'Fear is one of the most contagious emotions there is. When you say to people, 'Hey, there is a contaminant in the building and it is making people sick,' then it easy for them to feel accordingly.'"

5.) Gucci CEO Admits to Logomania, Says Gucci Handbags Will Change:
"Gucci's new Pelham and Jackie handbags are "more subdued" than boom-year models, because consumers don't like to flaunt their money at a time of an economic crisis, (Gucci CEO) Polet told journalists today . . . 'The bags don't scream Gucci, they don't flaunt the logos,' Polet said of the new design for the $3,100 Jackie handbag. 'Yet the shape is instantly recognizable as Gucci.' He also said the brand's sales staff had been instructed to be "less pushy" during the economic crisis."

Zoinks! I had to read that article twice, I found it so incredible. Especially the use of the adjectives "pushy" about their sales people and "schizophrenic" about their previous collections. Of course, the Gucci Group is getting squeezed by its parent company, PPR, to maintain sales and profits after PPR reported a jaw-dropping 76% drop in net earnings for the first half of 2009.

Gucci's more "subdued" Fall/Winter 2009/2010 collection below:

6.) It's Do or Die Time for the House of Lacroix:
"Italy's Borletti Group, an investment company that owns stakes in Europe's La Rinascente and Le Printemps department stores, is one of four firms to have submitted bids for Christian Lacroix fashion house, raising hopes that the struggling French brand won't be closed down . . . At the end of July, Christian Lacroix's 125 workers will be asked to go on holiday until the end of August, a spokeswoman for Christian Lacroix said. If a buyer isn't found, 112 staffers are expected to lose their jobs . . . The winner of the bid will be announced by the administrator in September."

And yet another troubled fashion group, Italy's Ittierre (manufacturer and distributor for the Just Cavalli, VJC Versace, Versace Sport and C'N'C Costume National labels) has just announced its own reprieve of sorts: "Italy's Ittierre SpA, which went into administration in February, has secured a deal to manufacture and distribute John Galliano SA's women's wear, men's wear and leather goods collections. The five-year deal ... -- which analysts say could bring yearly revenues of around 40 million euros, or $56.3 million at current exchange rates -- is part of Ittierre managing director Massimo Suppancig's priorities to turn the company around."

Roberto Cavalli famously dissed Ittierre for what he considered a less than appealing Just Cavalli collection for Fall 2009: "'I have made this decision in order to protect the Just Cavalli image and its clients,' Roberto Cavalli told WWD regarding the show cancellation. 'The difficult Ittierre situation leaves me with no guarantee and no certainty that my young line will be as avant-garde as always.'" So the five year extension for the John Galliano line must be a relief for Ittiere as it struggles to return to profitability.

But Dan and Dean Caten, the designers behind the DSquared2 label, are doing their own PR and pushing their own brand into hopefully higher visibility by hosting a new fashion show, "Launch My Line", with the Bravo network: "The latest fashion competition will feature 10 established fashion designers paired with 10 successful industry professionals (ranging from stylists to music producers to CEOs and beyond), who want their own clothing line. The duos will work together to "bring their vision to life," and the winning team's clothing line will be launched."

I can't always wear the DSquared2 line (the cuts have at times been uncomfortably slim), but I love their jeans, and the energy and enthusiasm behind their runway shows is undeniably infectious. Below is a video clip for their 1930's inspired (which means roomier cuts!) Men's Fall/Winter 2009/2010 collection:

But maybe, in order to succeed, you just have to be big enough to throw your weight around: "Luxury goods makers LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA and Chanel SA may win more control over how Web-based retailers sell their products after a last- minute lobbying campaign over a draft European Union regulation . . . Brand owners such as Chanel, known for $2,000 quilted handbags and No. 5 perfume, and Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the world's largest jewelry maker, argue that removing restrictions on Internet sales will damage an industry with annual sales of 65 billion euros ($92 billion). Cosmetics and perfume makers contend consumers need to touch, smell and experience products at stores and claim that online retailers degrade product image."

I can understand the point about online retailers (especially the discounters) sometimes not doing a lot of good for a brand's image, but I certainly don't need to touch, smell and experience items in a physical store in order to make a purchase. I order all my clothing and fragrances online and much prefer it that way -- I can try things on (and test things out) in the comfort of my own home (away from pushy, often uninformed sales people) and make decisions that suit my own needs and schedule.

This latest move by LVMH and Chanel is really more about maintaining their iron grip on distribution than it is about caring for the needs of the consumer, because once the floodgates open and consumers get a glimpse at just how much LVMH and Chanel merchandise there is out there, the image of exclusive, hard to procure luxury just flies right out the window.

UPDATE:

7.) Inter Parfums' Report a Drop in Sales in 2009:
"'In light of the worldwide decline in consumer spending and the corresponding destocking of fragrance inventories by distributors and retailers, our 10.6% decline in net sales is rather modest and considerably less than many of our peers,' said Jean Madar, chairman and CEO, Inter Parfums."

Which I guess is a somewhat roundabout way of saying that everybody else's sales numbers suck, too, so what's the big deal? The company reported a 13% decline in net sales for the entire first half of 2009, but stated that Lanvin perfumes are a bright spot for them at the moment: "'Lanvin, our second largest prestige brand, has proven somewhat resilient ... with year-to-date sales running 25% ahead of last year in local currency due to the continued strength of Eclat d'Arpège, reorders of Jeanne Lanvin, which debuted in the fall of 2008, and the good response to Lanvin L'Homme Sport this spring.'"

I didn't realize that Lanvin perfumes were quite so popular, though it makes sense, as Lanvin was crowing about their increasing market share only a few months ago.

A couple of video clips of the activity outside our windows today as the boats paraded through Elliot Bay as part of Seattle's annual Seafair event.

Some quick photos, as well. I was hanging my camera out the window, which doesn't necessarily provide the best angle, but it was almost 100 degrees outside (with the added bonus of an Excessive Heat Warning from the Weather Advisory) so there was no way in h*** I was leaving the sanctity of my air-conditioned cave.

I'll bet there were a lot of very hot, sweaty commuters on that ferry desperately hoping for the fireboats to come just . . . a little . . . closer.

ADDENDUM:

The video clips were filmed by the BF on his tiny Flip MinoHD Camcorder. The video quality isn't fantastic, but for such a "Honey I shrunk the Camcorder!" handheld gadget, it does a good job.

And did I mention how tiny it is? You can carry the darn thing everywhere with you . . .

There's a certain mindset that equates paying a premium price for perfumes with getting a fragrance that's loud, aggressive and impossible for anyone else within a twenty foot radius to ignore. It's the same kind of mindset that wants a tire screeching, revving, brightly shellacked Ferrari when shelling out a small fortune for an automobile -- if it's not going to belch out an exotic, attention grabbing roar when you stomp your foot on the gas, then you may as well save your money and get a Hyundai, right?

So if Bigger Stronger Faster is a personal requirement for your luxury purchases, you're not going to get much of a thrill out of Pure Oud By Kilian. The rest of you, however, will be screaming like a stadium full of fourteen year old girls at a Jonas Brothers concert.

Part of By Kilian's new Arabian Nights series, Pure Oud is a straight-up homage to the Middle Eastern Oud genre, and I'm happy to say that it's the most accomplished Western take on Oud that I've yet come across.

According to Oud Blog, Oud is a fragrance category, a type of smell rather than a specific ingredient: "So long as the fragrance is strong, and characterized by woody, leathery, or smoky scent notes (i.e. vaguely implies an 'Oudy' fragrance), it is Oud oil" -- and in this respect, By Kilian's Pure Oud is most definitely a leathery, smoky, woody, pure Oud.

Back in May, Kilian Hennessy stated that his Middle Eastern customers were the inspiration for his new series: "'They like scents that are more animalistic and Oriental, scents closer to their culture,' he said. The Paris-based perfumer said he only approved the formulas of Arabian Nights when they smelled correctly to people he knew from the Middle East."

I hate to admit that I groaned when I first read that Mr. Hennessy was jumping on the Oud bandwagon. "What is it with thin white Frenchmen and their insistence on butchering oud for the Western market?" I said. "Wasn't Le Labo Oud 27 punishment enough?" I spoke too hastily then, and for that I apologize. Yes, Le Labo Oud 27 is still awful, but Kilian Hennessy is one thin white Frenchman that didn't spoil the juice.

Dusty, spicy, woody and with a surprisingly attractive animal bite (there's no "barnyard" smell in Pure Oud -- it's all about warm fur and hot skin), Kilian's Pure Oud comes out of the bottle in a rush of bracing desert wind, then instantly tames itself to the surroundings.

There were moments during the day when I was convinced its deep, leathery purr had too-soon disappeared, then I would step into a smaller, more closely built space, like the building's elevator, and Pure Oud would be instantly, noticeably present once again when the doors closed and the air stopped moving.

Denyse Beaulieu at Grain de Musc writes: "Pure Oud, now, that's another story. It certainly smells like it ought to be the real stuff: smooth, velvety, barely sweetened by almond, warmed with a touch of tobacco by immortelle, dragged a little further into leather by a smidge of inky castoreum and, oh, yessssssssss: civet. This is the dark, musty lair of a sleek-furred beast, with metallic saffron alluding to the blood of the prey. It's purring, though."

And yes, I know, I can't stand the Immortelle note, I've said it a thousand time, but this is one time when Immortelle is all right by me, imbuing Pure Oud with a languishing, desiccated quality that partners spectacularly with the surrounding leather, fur and wood -- playing a balancing, smoothing role against the other more aggressive aspects to the mix.

Octavian Coifan at 1000 Fragrances has this to say about Pure Oud: "It's rather a dark ink (castoreum-vetiver like the Lalique perfume) with a special evolution in time until the very deep and long lasting notes of immortelle and flouve odorante. . . . It is indeed a very strange and precious oud note, nothing like Montale, very dry and smoky, with a very beautiful leather effect, not sweet and intoxicating."

The comparison to Lalique's Encre Noir is appropriate, and while Pure Oud most strongly resembles the smoke and soil EDP version of Encre Noir, Kilian takes the inky darkness one step further and several layers deeper . . . you know, if you like that kind of thing.

I see all those hands raised out there!

The packaging is stunning, and suits the fragrance like a custom fit glove. The usual Kilian glossy black box is now decorated for the Arabian series with a subtle, blue pattern, likely inspired by desert tribal art, and the square, glossy Kilian bottles have an added stripe of raised, matching patterns in black leather down each side. The face of the wood box is plated with a full, gleaming, gold plate engraved with Hennessy's signature K, while the bottle sports its own engraved face plate.

The useless but decidedly lovely silver key is still a part of the presentation, and the box arrives wrapped in a black velvet slip cover embossed with the Killian K -- the slip cover serves to protect the box's engraved face from scratches and discoloring, but I have to warn you, if you're a nut about keeping your fragrance packaging perfect, the glossy wood box and the gleaming metal face plate are going to keep you awake nights in a cold sweat. The face plate for my box is already scratched and I just barely glanced at it.

Pure Oud By Kilian isn't going to be for everyone. If you're a fan of the loud Montale ouds, or if you think Le Labo's Oud 27 is the camel's knees, then you'll probably take a sniff of Pure Oud and wonder why the hothouse flowers are all swooning.

Pure Oud is the first of five anticipated releases for the new Arabian Nights series. The second release, Back to Black: Aphrodisiac, will hit the shelves this coming September. Ms. Beaulieu is all aquiver over that one, too: "Back to Black is delectable, rich, and, yes, probably deserving of its "aphrodisiac" label. It soaks into skin as though you'd spent a lazy winter afternoon in a wooden yali by the Bosphorus, bathed in the fragrant smoke of the hookah."

Wow. She makes it sound so bad and yet so good at the same time . . .

1.) Ungaro Kicks Its Hot Young Designer to the Curb:
"Emanuael Ungaro really is parting ways with its head of design, Esteban Cortazar .... Following a lengthy period of less than emphatic denials and weak shows of unity between Ungaro and the label's ceo, Mounir Moufarrige, the decision has been taken to dissolve the relationship . . . Cortazar, who was just 23 when he arrived at Ungaro, received mixed reviews for his three collections for the label."

Below is a video clip from the Ungaro Fall/Winter 2009/2010 runway show:

Apparently, the orders didn't come flowing in as hoped, though it's not difficult to see why -- the collection is lovely, yes, but impossible to distinguish from the pack. There aren't any ideas that 1.) haven't been seen before, and 2.) aren't being already offered by less expensive and trendier competitors.

Cathy Horyn, fashion writer for the NY Times, published a short interview with Louise Wilson, the course director of the M.A. program at Central Saint Martins (which has produced top designers such as Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane and Marios Schwab) in which Ms. Wilson lamented this sameness, this lack of individual style among young designers: "Did the industry plan that everyone would travel to the same countries, that everyone would have disposable means of income, that everybody would be quite bland? ... I feel huge vortexes of them are sucked into this mediocre world where nobody criticizes and it's all terribly politically correct ... It's got no individuality at all."

2.) Amy Winehouse Wants You To Smell (Like Her):
"The Rehab singer, 25, has often been snapped smeared in blood, make-up and dirt after going on benders, but she still reckons fans will still dig deep to smell like her . . . But some leading perfume houses are already getting sniffy about her . . . One industry insider said: 'Amy is a big name but ... she doesn't look like she smells that nice, so doing some positive publicity to prove it doesn't just smell of stale booze and fags would be vital.'"

What more can one add to that perfectly lobbed piece of snark? Winehouse's waning stardom is no competition for the likes of Justin Timberlake fronting for Givenchy, and her time as fashion muse came and went so quickly that I'm surprised she didn't get whiplash.

The smell of misdirected rage

In other 'Fragrances the World Does Not Need' news, I give to you, 24 The Fragrance! I wish I were kidding . . .

3.) New Jersey Politicians Swept Up in Fake Designer Bag Bust:
"An investigation into the sale of black-market kidneys and fake Gucci handbags evolved into a probe of New Jersey political corruption that produced mass arrests yesterday (July 23, 2009) . . . Among the 44 arrests were the mayors of Hoboken, Ridgefield and Secaucus, Jersey City's deputy mayor, and two state assemblymen. A member of the governor's cabinet resigned after agents searched his home . . . Also, five rabbis from New York and New Jersey were accused of laundering millions of dollars, some of it from the sale of counterfeit goods and bankruptcy fraud."

Good old New Jersey, where you can still buy a black market kidney and a fake Gucci handbag in one fell swoop -- that's what I call customer service! My favorite quote from the article: "Even for a state with a rich history of graft, the scale of alleged wrongdoing was breathtaking."

More on this story here: Community Shocked By Brooklyn Rabbi's Arrest

Speaking of corruption and fakes, did you know that Paris has a counterfeiting museum? The Musée de la Contrefaçon (Museum of Counterfeiting): "The museum was opened in 1951 by a French trade group known as the Union des Fabricants or Unifab to help educate the general public about the scope and costs of the problem . . . One display points out that genuine Lacoste polo shirts are sized numerically, so a label indicating "M" or "XL" is a dead giveaway. Another notes that on Ray-Ban sunglasses, the lensmaker's mark (a B&L for Bausch & Lomb, for example) should be visible on the lens."

Real on the left, Fake on the right (from anewdesigns)

4.) Diamond Sales Are in the Rough:
"De Beers SA, the world's top diamond producer, posted a 57% decline in sales of rough diamonds in the first half (of 2009) . . . Earlier this year, De Beers temporarily ceased production at many of its mines, resulting in a 73% drop in first-half output. It anticipates that output this year will be half of last year's 48.1 million total carats . . . In the U.S. retail market, which accounts for about half of all jewelry sales, the rate of the sales decline is slowing, said (Stephen Lussier, De Beers's executive director), while in the Far East, 'we're back into growth.'"

Mr. Lussier also noted that sales for diamonds $100,000.00 and over dropped considerably in the first quarter, but that they've lately begun to see a renewed uptick in demand for the pricier stones. De Beers has a retail partnership with LVMH, with 42 jewelry stores worldwide: "Mr. Lussier said that venture is 'in the same difficult environment as Cartier and Tiffany and others,' but it has seen strong growth in unit sales, particularly in engagement rings and other bridal jewelry."

5.) Can Christian LaCroix Come Back from the Brink?:
"In 2005, the company was sold to the Falic Group, a Miami firm that specializes in duty-free shops. The three Falic brothers who own it had hoped to make the company profitable, but that never panned out. If a buyer doesn't come forward, they reportedly plan to gut the company and reorganize it as a licensing agency -- basically slapping the Lacroix name on products made by others . . . according to Women's Wear Daily, a buyer might come through. Bernard Krief Consultants plans to bid, citing the label's importance to France's cultural heritage."

The article cites the importance of fashion icons to French culture -- that the passing away last year of Yves St. Laurent instigated a period of national mourning. It's hard to tell if Lacroix holds a similar place in the hearts of the French people, considering that the House of Lacroix has never turned a profit or seen even close to the worldwide reverence accorded to Yves St. Laurent.

A video clip below of the Lacroix Fall 2009 RTW collection that was critically praised and has seen orders from stores (Lacroix notes a significant Barneys order), but is so far going unproduced due to financial constraints:

Perhaps the focus is all wrong and the timing is too late? -- Focus from labels to essentials for urban youth: "For young people from low-income backgrounds, often faced with paying their own way and helping support their families, interest in designer labels is waning as the economic downturn strains wallets and helps boost the appeal of frugality . . . While people with lower incomes have disproportionately sought out high-end brands for at least the last 18 years, they've recently been turning away from them ... Spending on designer wear by families earning between $15,000 and $25,000 a year fell by 29 percent in 2008 from the year before, according to NPD."

And it isn't just the bling -- top lingerie makers are feeling the pinch, as well: "Wolford AG, the Austrian maker of high-end hosiery, lingerie and swimwear, reported full-year losses and declining sales and forecast difficult markets throughout the current fiscal year . . . For the year ended Apr. 30, 2009, Wolford reported a net loss of 1.2 million euros compared with a net profit of 7.17 million euros a year earlier."

Sales of those polka-dot silk tights just aint what they used to be

Hermes, however, seems to be weathering the storm with some dignity, which isn't surprising, considering it was one of the few luxury brands that didn't grow too big, too fast: "French luxury goods group Hermes saw a better-than-expected improvement in trading in the second quarter, helped by consumers' crisis-proof appetite for its elegant handbags and stronger perfumes sales . . . Hermes is opening its first shop in Brazil in September, highlighting the extent to which the luxury group has not yet penetrated many emerging markets. It is also opening another shop in Istanbul in September."

Note the reference to "stronger perfume sales" -- Jean Claude Ellena is certainly earning his keep as in-house perfumer for Hermes.

The ability for Hermes to keep demand for its products stable during a time of greatly reduced consumer spending gives market analysts some hope: "Credit Suisse analyst Rogerio Fujimori said the strong second-quarter report from Hermes was 'obviously positive' for LVMH's Vuitton brand, adding: 'This supports our current preference for soft luxury stocks in our coverage' . . . So-called 'hard luxury,' which refers to goods like watches or jewelry, is not doing so well."

Though I never considered Hermes and Louis Vuitton as appealing to the same consumer market, so I don't know how accurate the idea is that the success of Hermes bodes well for Louis Vuitton. For example, take a look at the below video clip where a heavily tattoed Marc Jacobs talks about the Louis Vuitton ad campaign starring a blatantly sexual, blingy Madonna:

Louis Vuitton is to Hermes what a Corvette is to a Bentley

Starting at 3:37, I found this comment by Jacobs particularly telling: "The results of this were just something beautiful that one aspires to -- glamor, the Romance of Paris . . . "

Louis Vuitton is still operating on the aspirational consumer model (you know, the model that got all the luxury companies into their present over-extended, over-expanded mess), attempting to appeal to consumers who want to buy into a dream of borrowed glamor and romance, while Hermes sticks to simply appealing to the consumers who have money and want a high-quality product.

These two groups don't strike me as following similar curves on the recessionary spending graph.

The dahlia is named after the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl. He didn't discover the dahlia, but it was from the Netherlands that our modern hybridized dahlia's emerged. From Wikipedia : "In 1872, a box of dahlia roots was sent from Mexico to the Netherlands. Only one plant survived the trip, but produced spectacular red flowers with pointed petals. Nurserymen in Europe bred from this plant, which was named Dahlia juarezii."

The dahlia is also known as Tenjikubotan (天竺牡丹) in Japanese, which is translated as 'Peony of India'. The dahlia flower is an octoploid, which means it possesses eight complete sets of chromosomes in a single cell. Most plants only have two sets of chromosomes per single cell. This accounts for the wide variety in colors, shapes and sizes among the dahlia family.

The smell of the dahlia plant is largely from its leaves and stems, and is bitter rather than sweet, which prevents it from playing anything beyond a mere bit part in the multi-billion dollar global perfume market. From Turning Earth: "Once I grew dahlias, I felt such familiarity with them that I assumed they had been a part of the garden in the home I grew up in. The smell of the foliage seemed so familiar, the rather rank smell that dahlia leaves and stems produce when cut for flowers or cut down at the end of the season."

When I Googled for examples of mainstream market dahlia perfumes, I came up with one: Dahlia by Fragonard. From eHow: "Most Dahlias do not have fragrance. However, thanks to modern hybridization, new varieties are being bred with a unique smell, such as the Honka Dahlia, created by grower Rene Rotteveel."

From Dutch Gardens: "When asked what aspect of his work he finds most challenging, René (Rotteveel) says it's the process of deciding which new varieties to keep and which to toss . . . Each year, René grows out 20,000 new seedlings, and after seeing them flower, he eliminates most, selecting no more than 300 to grow on for a second year. By year three, he will have whittled his initial crop of 20,000 down to just 10 varieties he deems ready for market."

M. MICALLEF VANILLE AOUD: I was all prepared to write that I'd finally found a Montale oud that I enjoyed when I took a second look at the sample label and realized that I was testing out the M. Micallef Vanille Oud and not a Montale, so the bad news is that I still have yet to find a Montale oud I can wear, but the good news is that M. Micallef's Vanille Aoud is absolutely the right kind of oud to reach for if you've given up entirely on the House of Montale.

Listed scent notes for Vanille Aoud are: bergamot, ylang-ylang, prune, oud, caramel, musk, vanilla and benzoin. There's a trace of that fumigation scent that often accompanies the incorporation of a lesser agarwood oil (or "barnyard oud") into the mix (the best agarwood oils are rare and prohibitively expensive), but the deft blending of sweet, floral and smoky notes in Vanille Aoud manages to smooth over what I don't like about most oud scents while highlighting the warmer, richer aspects of the genre.

Longevity is good to excellent (it starts off quite strong, but will be soft and difficult to detect by the end of your workday) and the final homestretch of it is more sweet vanilla and benzoin than smoky agarwood.

MILLER HARRIS L'AIR DE RIEN: Miller Harris and I aren't very well acquainted. I think it's because I read the notes of most of her fragrance line and concluded that I could easily live without them, thank you very much, but then perfumer Lyn Harris had the audacity to attract my interest with her quirky, deeply luxe scents crafted for jeweler Solange Azagury-Partridge, so when a friend of mine with a nose for the good stuff sent me a sample of Harris' L'Air de Rien, I got curious.

Since I was going out for the day among the produce stalls and flower stands, I slathered on a liberal dose and it was truly a glorious smell to behold as I pushed open the glass doors and stepped out into the hot summer sun.

Scent notes: French oak moss, Tunisian neroli, sweet musk, amber and vanilla. Simple and yet oh so awesomely rich and musky and French. To be honest, it strikes me as a streamlined version of Mono di Orio's retro-classic power-punch Nuit Noire, and that's a good thing. I like Nuit Noire a lot, but it can sometimes feel like a depth charge in a too shallow sea if I'm not fully up to the task.

The Non-Blonde states that: "Once I started testing (L'Air de Rien), I knew I was going to need it. I have a thing for musky skin scents with a hint of a dirty, dirty girl. Rumor has it that there's vanilla and maybe amber in the composition, but for once this is not what my skin and nose are telling me . . . You'd want to touch the skin that radiates L'Air de Rien."

I agree -- the vanilla and amber are not focal points, and while I don't know how girly its dirty nature really is, I very much enjoy L'Air de Rien's leathery, musky character. And it smells fantastic on a bright July day.

Longevity is superb, with L'Air de Rien glowing off my skin through nearly the entire day.

SERGE LUTENS CHENE: This is my second go-round with Lutens' Chene, and it still ends in tears.

I didn't get the thoroughly soapy, squeaky-clean vibe that I encountered on my first test drive -- it smells more forested to me this time around, but that's also the part that steers it dangerously into green-clean territory. Well, that and the hideous immortelle essence that destroys everything it touches (my apologies to FiveOaks).

I keep thinking I'm going to eventually appreciate the immortelle note, but anything good about Chene (the fresh pine needles and sharp tree sap) is ruined by that hammy, maple-syrup undertow.

Listed scent notes are: cedar crystals, wood sap, black thyme, oak, immortelle, beeswax, silver birch, rum absolute and tonka bean. Suck out the immortelle with a laser-precision, space-age vacuum and you've got the makings of . . . well, something that I'd wear.

***Note: the Non-Blonde also wrote that L'Air de Rien reminded her of Chene, and I think I might have sent her a short message telling her to cease spouting such foul heresy, but there you have it . . .

Experimenting with a new camera (it arrived Friday). I haven't taken any bottle shots with it yet, as I want to wrap my brain around what it can do (and how it can do it) before I sit down and formally introduce it to my one true love.

But it takes great photos of flowers:

Just another Georgia O'Keefe wannabe

I'm hanging onto the Canon G10 which I've been using over the past eight months or so -- it's a great portable/travel camera and can shoot in a multitude of situations and lighting conditions -- but the new one (Canon EOS 5D Mark II) is definitely a keeper, albeit bigger, heavier and the lenses you have to carry around with it can get pretty bulky.

But it's nice to have something that can handle large-scale, long-distance shooting:

Cargo ships in the Port of Seattle

As well as more intimate subjects:

Intimate Subject

I'm looking forward to my first fragrance bottle challenge . . .

1.) Designer Fashion Meets the iPhone:
"The new application, appropriately called NET-APP, allows consumers to browse the latest collections and complete transactions directly from their iPhone or iPod touch, making Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Balmain more available than ever. The site's current homepage even features a tiny Roland Mouret who wanders onto the screen and tells you in his thick French accent that 'you look fantastic.'"

I just downloaded the application for my iPhone. I'll have to update later with whether it works properly, though I think the only way to really test the application is if I actually *buy* something using it, so it may be a while before you get that update; but Net-App is a free iPhone application, which means there's not a whole lot to complain about in that respect.

Meanwhile, why buy when you can just steal: "A Vermont teen is facing charges for allegedly stealing a leather jacket and a cashmere sweater from Marc by Marc Jacobs on two separate occasions this week, police said."

You know, if you're going to go to the trouble of getting arrested and possibly face jail time, you might want to consider making the effort worth the while -- hitting a Marc by Marc Jacobs store is *so* not going to look impressive on the rap sheet.

2.) And Reliance on the Celebrity Face Just Keeps On Coming:
"Justin Timberlake is in Play -- that is, the Givenchy fragrance brand of that name, set to be rolled out in the U.S. this fall, following its debut in Europe a year ago . . . 'We were looking for a man who's recognized all over the world, someone new to the world of perfumery, and with great seductive potential,' said Pamela Baxter, president and chief executive officer of LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics N.A. and president and ceo of Christian Dior Inc."

Asked why Play (and its simultaneous flanker, Play Intense) were released last year in Europe but are now just hitting the United States, Baxter stated: "'Because the U.S. is one of our largest markets, we wanted to work out any kinks in Play before bringing it to the U.S.'" Uma Thurman was signed on only a few months ago as the face of a new Givenchy fragrance for women to be released in 2010. So even though sales of celebrity fragrances are cratering, the reliance on celebrity faces to provide marketing frisson is still in high gear.

Timberlake for Givenchy . . . feel the hype:

I do wonder a bit at Givenchy's use of 'Play' as a name for their latest release when the Comme de Garcons Play fragrance hit the market only in 2007. It seems a bit too soon for Givenchy to be stepping all over CdG's dress, doesn't it?

3.) Chanel's Latest Collection Is For the Kids?:
"The cheongsam/flap style may look wide of the mark west of Beijing, but this was a show packed with accessible style ideas that will swiftly be picked up by the Topshop masses. Lagerfeld, who set the show to music by new British electropop sweetheart La Roux, understands perfectly the importance of keeping the Chanel name alive and relevant for the younger generation . . . cue leopardprint linings, black lace tights, glamorous eveningwear, ankle boots and some extraordinary 'hair art'."

If TopShop starts churning out copies of Lagerfeld's couture collections for Chanel, the world might just become a better place. I know I linked it last week, but I'm including the video clip of the Chanel couture collection below again, just so you know what the h*ll they're referring to when they talk about the cheongsam/flap style:

4.) Vibrational Smell Theory Receives More Attention:
"Jennifer aims to test the theory at MIT using the RealNose biosensor, which is being developed using real human olfactory receptors. Unlike previous 'electronic noses', which have been developed to detect specific odours only, RealNose should be capable of identifying novel odours. She hopes that this will enable her to develop a mathematical model that can predict how a particular molecule will smell and also how to develop a molecule that smells a particular way. The applications could be far-reaching . . . 'It's not just about allowing perfumists to design new scents,' she says. 'We have a similar situation in drug design ... being able to predict which protein receptors a particular drug will act on, and how it acts on it, could help us design more effective drugs.'"

Jennifer is a physics graduate who was just granted a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust.

5.) Retail Sales Keep Falling:
"Retail sales declined in June, demonstrating that consumers remain cautious . . . Clothing and clothing accessories stores sales were flat adjusted month-to-month and shrunk 6.2 percent unadjusted year-over-year."

Burberry is reporting a 4% drop in total revenue for the quarter, while stating that wholesale revenue in particular took a 28% tumble, and back to school spending in the U.S. is predicted to suffer a 7.7% drop this fall.

Luxury retail business is so shaky that the Economic Times is writing that Luxury has never been so affordable: "The upside of the downturn is that luxury brands across the board are coming off their high horse and offering inducements to buy . . . Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani are offering a flat 40% on all products except sunglasses and perfumes, Jimmy Choo is selling bags and shoes at half price while labels like Karl Lagerfeld, Emilio Pucci and Nina Ricci are available at 70% discount!"

On Monday, I went shopping at Barneys with a friend of mine, and all of their 50% off sale items were marked down another 50% from the sale price, with their sale shoes marked an additional 33% off -- the amount of clothing and shoes on sale far outnumbered the regular priced merchandise. It was a little mind-bending.

6.) Target Gets Nervous, Yanks Out of Gossip Girl Tie-In:
"Target's clothing line by fashion designer Anna Sui is still a go, but the hotly anticipated outfits may no longer be 'Gossip Girl'-themed . . . 'One of Target's top executives got nervous about being that closely associated with the show, given the [debauchery] its characters get into,' says an on-the-set source . . . Target staffers even sent over boxes of clothes for the episode, labeled with the names of each female character (Jessica Szohr's Vanessa, Taylor Momsen's Jenny, Meester's Blair and the aforementioned Serena). But the store pulled out at the last second."

The Target people are still attempting to figure out how to market the upcoming Anna Sui collection, but it's still a definite go for September -- just without any TV show tie-ins.

Personally, I think Anna Sui rocks as a designer, though the Target GO International designer collections, despite being helmed by hot designers of the moment, are cheaply constructed in China (or Vietnam, or Cambodia -- pick your low-wage country) and the fabrics are of considerably lower quality than what the designers use for their own collections. I purchased some of the Target Jovovich-Hawk pieces for my teenage niece when they came out last year and my sister told me the clothing fell apart in no time flat.

Jovovich-Hawk, by the way, folded shortly after their Target collection debuted.

Video below of the latest Anna Sui collection for her own label:

That is *not* what you'll see at Target.

7.) Designer Graffiti Doesn't Pay:
"A French artist who daubed a dripping, black Chanel logo on the outer wall of Chater House above the window of a Giorgio Armani boutique disagreed with prosecutors who said that part of the facade must be replaced at a cost of HK$6.7 million . . . The 31-year-old graffiti artist expressed surprise at the cost and called it "surrealistic". He had taken special care to use children's water-based paint that was easy to wash off. He had painted on more delicate surfaces in other cities and been able to remove his works, he said."

8.) The Best of the Luxury Brands in China:
"The Luxury Institute released the results of 'Best of the Best' luxury brands in China based on the 2009 Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey, which identifies the top brands that deliver true luxury based solely on the unbiased ratings of wealthy Chinese consumers."

The Best of the Best were named as: Women's Fashion - Prada; Women's Shoes - Ferragamo; Handbags - Hermes; Men's Fashion - Giorgio Armani; Men's Shoes - Louis Vuitton. Yes, of course, how could such a survey be anything but "unbiased" . . .

So yesterday was the birthday, and it started out ordinarily enough with breakfast at The Four Seasons (can fried Kobe pastrami with beet hash and sunny-side up eggs at The Four Seasons be considered anywhere approaching "ordinary"?) and then coffee with double chocolate shortbread cookies at Fran's Chocolates (again, the question is begging), and I thought my day was going pretty darn great until there was a knock at the door.

I answered the door, and one of the guys from the building's front desk handed me a package. From New York. From . . . ooooooh! Things just got a whole lot better:

Nothin' says lovin' like the words 'Bergdorf Goodman'.

Since I hadn't ordered anything (recently!) from the good ship Bergdorf, then that meant someone in my life (who has earned the title of Brand New BFF for at least the next six weeks) is apparently very good at surprises, not to mention the perfect timing of said surprises.

It takes some amount of forethought to get a secret package to land smack on the right day . . . and what a package:

*gasp!*

Chergui is the one Lutens I'd been yammering about enthusiastically for the past several months, yet for some odd reason, never actually got around to purchasing.

When I first tested Chergui back in February, I had this to say about it: "If you're looking for an earthy, sweet scent with a swirl of Middle Eastern exoticism (rose, sandalwood, incense) across a stretch of American farmland (hay and tobacco leaf), then Chergui is going to be your new best friend."

With a cherry on top!

Fave scent & beauty blogger (not to mention preminent Lutens groupie) The Non-Blonde sums up Chergui like this: "Chergui is an equal opportunity beauty. Not an androgynous unisex, but a scent that works beautifully on both male and female, creating an intoxicating atmosphere around its wearer without resorting to a gender cliché . . . this fragrance blooms beautifully in the summer heat."

I wore it yesterday evening to the big dinner out with friends (it played nicely with the scents of deep red wine and rich, roasted food), and put some on today before heading upstairs to the building's rooftop deck to sit for just a bit on a bench in the sun, and I have to say that I fully agree: Summer Heat + Chergui = Blooming Beautifully. As the sun hit my skin, Chergui radiated a hot, earthy sweetness in all directions.

"Who? Little ol' me?"

Denyse Beaulieu at Grain de Musc recently posted a Top Ten for Summer 2009 list, stating outright that her favorite picks for hot summer weather were the big, bold fragrances, the ones that everyone else usually saves for winter wear: "There are really two schools of scenting in the heat: beat it with cool stuff, or fight fire with fire and bring on the heavy hitters. I am decidedly a member of the second school. Perfumes blossom on moist flesh: as they rise in the heat, they display more facets than at any other time of the year... Practically anything, bar the caramel-dipped gourmands - which I never wear in any season - is fair game for skin time in July."

Her Lutens pick for summer was Santal de Mysore, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if someone walked through her door sporting Chergui.

"Did someone call for a bucket of fire?"

Listed scent notes are: honey, musk, incense, tobacco leaf, hay sugar, amber, iris, rose and sandalwood. I already have three Lutens fragrances -- Ambre Sultan, Vetiver Oriental and Un Bois Sepia, but Chergui just effortlessly pole-vaulted over all three to land in my Lutens #1 spot.

***Note: a big shout-out to my brand new BFF for the bottle of Chergui. I've never had a birthday smell so good. As for what we had for dinner: 2 bottles of Krug Brut, 4 bottles of Napa Valley cabernet (Hundred Acre and Araujo), Idaho White Sturgeon Caviar, fresh Northwest oysters, escargot, beef tartare, caesar salad, bone-in rib eye steaks, ostrich filets, fresh lobster tail, sweet corn, asparagus, roasted portobello mushrooms, macaroni and cheese, and a finale of Black Forest cake with a bottle of vintage Dow port. Ay yi yi, we staggered out of the restaurant over four hours later, full of food, wine and good spirits -- though I have to admit, I was finding it mighty difficult to wake up this morning.

L'Artisan's Fleur de Narcisse was released in October/November of 2006 in a limited edition of 3,000 bottles and modeled along the same premise as a single vintage, single varietal bottle of wine -- for example, if the soil and weather conditions conspire to create a particularly striking grape for a particular geographical region and year, then the harvest is often set aside to be showcased either entirely on its own, or with minimal interference from blending.

While relying heavily on regional and/or vintage harvests for wines is common, it's not normally practiced in perfumery, though it's also not unheard of. Chanel famously utilizes rose de mai and jasmine year to year from the same fields in Grasse, France for its Chanel No. 5 extrait.

In the case of L'Artisan's 'Exceptional Harvests' series, the company sought to set themselves apart from their peers by producing limited edition fragrances built around one special essence from one region in one particular year; hence, Fleur de Narcisse, crafted around the narcissus absolute gathered from the 2005 harvest of narcissus poeticus flowers planted in the renowned volcanic soils of Lozère, France.

Narcissus Poeticus (or poet's daffodil) is the most graceful and beautiful, but also the most poisonous, of the daffodil family, and while narcissus absolute was widely utilized in traditional French perfumery, and is said to be used as an ingredient in a full 11% of today's fine fragrances, Wikipedia states that "the scent is powerful enough that it can cause headache and vomiting if a large quantity is kept in a closed room."

Now that's what I call a ringing endorsement! But nonetheless, I think I'm in safe territory when I say that L'Artisan's Fleur de Narcisse, constructed around the potentially toxic narcissus, is a rich, complex and almost heady brew with excellent longevity (6-8 hours) and a vapor-trail (i.e. sillage) that ghosts your exit like an invisible air kiss goodbye.

Listed fragrance notes for Fleur de Narcisse are: narcissus, hay, hyacinth, blond tobacco, iris, blackcurrant bud, moss and leather. The promotional booklet that's packed into the box along with the fragrance states that Fleur de Narcisse explores "the narcotic depth and sumptuous distinction of perfumery's 'noble flower' . . . highlighting its honey-sweet base note tinged with sublime blond tobacco, fresh hay and soft leather undertones."

That's a serious enough mouthful for any fragrance to live up to, but I have to say that the honey-sweet base note is one of the more surprising and attractive qualities to Fleur de Narcisse.

Yesterday, I took a friend out shopping in downtown Seattle, and about four hours after I'd first (generously) applied the Fleur de Narcisse to my skin, I was walking through the Nordstrom designers section and was struck by the scent of something golden, sweet and almost gleaming. I immediately thought to myself, "Wow, these stores are getting really good at this environmental scenting technique!" . . . and then I stopped dead in my tracks (right by the rack of Fall 2009 RM, of course), closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. Right. That wasn't environmental scenting -- that was the warm, delicious honey note of Fleur de Narcisse hovering about me as I moved through the store.

Hay, tobacco, moss, leather -- all these earthy notes are present, but the sweetness of the narcissus itself brushes the dirt off the mix to reveal its bright, sunny center.

The packaging for this limited edition fragrance is special in its own right: the box is fashioned out of a beautifully mottled wood featuring a green cloth ribbon and antiqued metal fastener, the interior paper cushioning the fragrance bottle is a printed silk paper, the glass bottle is etched with stylized narcissus flowers, the gold cap is engraved with the name of the fragrance and the year of its release, and the individual number of the bottle from the limited edition run (mine is 1666 out of 3000) is etched unobtrusively onto the bottle itself.

There weren't any corners that were cut or materials that were cheaped out on to shave a few dimes and nickels off the final cost, so if you're looking for a gift item that wears its sense of quality and high attention to detail on its sleeve, the L'Artisan Exceptional Harvests package is definitely worth exploring.

Other opinions:

For The Love Of Perfume: "Fleur de Narcisse was composed to be unisex and not one I expected to like after glancing at the notes. Yet it is glorious!"

Perfume Smellin' Things: "Fleur de Nacrisse is a painting in which the artist takes creative license with his subject and manages to evoke the real flower without being at all realistic in his method . . . It fearlessly and strikingly combines the wraithlike, fresh beauty of narcissus with a full-bodied, sensual forcefulness of leather."

Legerdenez: "A smoky, difficult virility blossoms into a green floral and fades to a distant snowdrift of ivory soap . . . The dregs of this fragrance are heavy on the leather and blond tobacco of real man land."

Perfume Posse: "A series of complex things all running together to create this whole other thing . . . Fleur de Narcisse is like that, hard to see up close, but exquisite when you pull back and quit trying to see its parts."

Me? I'd have to sum it up as an artistic interpretation of the sharp, bittersweet green of the daffodil flower mixed with the idea of a hot June sun, rolling grassy hills, wind-borne pollens and the sweet scent of honey from nearby hives. There's a rustic, pastoral vibe to the piece that will appeal to those who appreciate the smell of the wide-open outdoors more than the delicate scent of flowers in a vase.

Surprisingly, considering how good the fragrance is and that it's a limited edition released over two and a half years ago, you can still find Fleur de Narcisse at Lucky Scent, Aedes De Venustas, Barneys and on the L'Artisan Parfumeur website.

***Note: yes, I know, the flowers in the photos are not narcisse, and have little to do with the official scent notes, but I picked them up at the market and they were just so gosh darn colorful . . . !

1.) Christian Lacroix Marches On (But For How Long?):
"On Tuesday, Christian Lacroix, the incarnation of frivolity and joie de vivre in high fashion, will show a collection -- but only thanks to the benevolence of embroiderers, feather suppliers and shoe makers working for free . . . And on Friday the financial authorities announced that all but 12 of the 124 staff members would be laid off, unless one of three possible investors comes through."

Lacroix's final (?) haute couture gasp below:

Meanwhile, the House of Valentino is struggling with its own mounting financial issues: "Valentino Fashion Group's lenders are seeking to renegotiate the Italian luxury group's debt by the end of the summer amid falling sales across the luxury-goods industry . . . UniCredit SpA, Mediobanca SpA and Citigroup Inc. are pressing Valentino Fashion Group and its owner, the U.K.-based private-equity fund Permira, to agree to new lending terms that will allow the Italian fashion company to avoid defaulting on debt payments in 2009."

Video clip below of the fringed, feathered, ruffled and beaded Valentino haute couture Fall/Winter 2009/2010 collection:

The Valentino Fashion Group owns the Hugo Boss label, among others, and was counting on sales of the sportier Hugo Boss brand to carry the Group through the downturn: "For years, the Italian firm counted on German fashion house Hugo Boss, which is controlled by Valentino Fashion Group, to generate a steady cash flow, offsetting lackluster sales at the group's namesake Valentino brand. Hugo Boss, which makes up about 75% of Valentino Fashion Group's sales, posted a 27% decline in net profit in 2008."

But global recession aside (or maybe because of?), LVMH fashion house Dior is reporting a rise in sales in the UK due to the falling value of the British Pound, but the news was tempered with the admission that sales in the U.S. are flat to down: "Chief executive Sydney Toledano said on Monday the couture company was enjoying double-digit sales growth in Britain . . . 'With the weak pound, all the tourists of the world are in London, the shops are full,' Toledano told Reuters . . . However, Dior was not seeing signs of recovery in the United States where it makes about 15-18 percent of total sales, Toledano said, noting that mark-downs at U.S. department stores last autumn had 'killed luxury'."

For Dior's Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2009-2010 collection, head designer Galliano decides to showcase . . . the undergarments? I guess if you're afraid that there are far too few clients now left willing to spend $30,000.00 on a dress, then spotlighting the relatively less expensive stockings, corsets and bras exhibits a certain kind of desperate logic:

And since we're on the subject of the haute couture shows in Paris, American Vogue editor and fashion industry powerhouse Anna Wintour went awol for the whole thing -- perhaps this is a not so subtle indication that haute couture's influence over the larger and more infinitely profitable ready to wear industry is on the wane: "The real headline-grabber is a certain infamous editrix's absence from the shows. That's right, Anna Wintour herself has so far chosen to sit couture week out. The move is no doubt controversial given fashion's tumultuous state. While Wintour was nowhere to be found, 'her minions Grace Coddington and Sally Singer sat front row while Hamish Bowles and Lauren Santo Domingo sat right behind them,' says Fashion Week Daily."

2.) Designer Giambattista Valli Scores Lucrative Distribution Deal:
"Italy's Mariella Burani Fashion Group said it has signed a five-year contract to make and distribute the ready-to-wear collection of Italian fashion designer Giambattista Valli, a deal aimed at growing both companies as the luxury goods industry suffers through the economic crisis. The licensing deal would give the 43-year-old Mr. Valli a stronger industrial and marketing base on which to build his five-year-old namesake brand . . . Mr. Valli, who until now has produced and distributed clothes via another Italian company, made 20 million euros in sales last year on his ready-to-wear line and other business, including wedding dresses and furs . . . the two sides are also considering the possibility of starting an accessories line under the Giambattista Valli name."

Valli became widely known in fashion-blog circles for his sky-high platform pumps (a particular favorite of Victoria Beckham's), and can arguably be said to have near single-handedly fueled the pre-recession craze for dangerously towering heels.

The deal between Mr. Valli and Burani is said to be a major blow to Burani's distribution rival, the Gilmar Group. The Gilmar Group had been distributing Valli's collections since 2004, and they considered Valli one of their most important creative assets (Valli also designed for Gilmar's Iceberg brand). For his part, Giambattista Valli stated that the new lucrative partnership with Burani will allow him to stay creatively independent as the licensing & distribution deal will give him the cash he needs to stay afloat without resorting to financing from an outside investment company.

From the same article: "Mr. Valli said that smaller companies such as his may be able to emerge from the economic crisis strongly because they don't have too many overhead costs such as factories and expensive boutiques around the world. 'Small independent houses are going to surprise,' Mr. Valli said. 'They are the ones that have the potential to really jump as they are more agile,' he said."

Roberto Cavalli has been rumored to give up family control of his company when he was forced to accept badly needed financing from a private equity group: "Italy's fashion industry was on the brink of another private equity deal after the designer Roberto Cavalli signed a letter of intent this month to sell a 30 per cent stake to Italy's Clessidra Capital Partners, the Milan-based buy-out house."

A look below at Valli's dramatic 2009-2010 Fall/Winter collection, which kicks off the partnership between Valli and Burani:

3.) And Prada Just Keeps on Keepin' On:
"After opening 34 stores in 2008 and with plans to continue at a similar pace over the next three years, a Prada spokeswoman confirmed Thursday the Italian luxury firm was set to unveil at least two boutiques this month -- in Paris and Prague -- and remodel and expand others . . . Prada aims to generate more than 70 percent of consolidated turnover from directly operated stores by 2011, from around 53 percent currently, a company spokesman said last month. At the close of 2008, Prada's directly operated store network totaled 238 boutiques worldwide."

Prada has an established name and image, and unlike, say, Valentino, Gucci and Versace, they've been careful not to price themselves completely out of reach of the aspirational consumer, producing slightly more affordable items such as leather trimmed nylon handbags, logo sunglasses and even cell phones to keep themselves mainstream friendly. They seem to now be counting on the consumer's conflation of luxury with a more utilitarian (i.e. functional) vibe to get them through the extended downturn.

In other news, Versace appears to have seized upon the idea of using Michael Jackson's memorial service as a free global PR blitz: "Janet, LaToya, the Jackson brothers and Michael's children will all be wearing custom-made Versace in honor of Michael, who had a long love affair with the Italian fashion house. Michael was often seen wearing Versace both on and off stage and was a huge fan of the late Gianni Versace's designs."

I'm sure Gucci executives are kicking each other up and down the hallways of the PPR headquarters about right now . . .

4.) Retailers Squeeze By With Less Inventory On the Shelves:
"Inventory levels at many chains are down 15 percent or more from a year ago, but instead of simply going on the defensive against stock gluts and consequent markdowns, stores quickly are learning to make their existing inventories more productive, bringing merchandise into stores closer to when it's needed and being more selective in what they buy and replenish based on actual sales results."

I'm giggling a little at the idea that making inventories more productive and being more selective in what they buy and replenish is somehow a grand new idea rather than just good common sense for running a business. No wonder the big chains are hurting -- they were behaving as if profits simply materialized out of thin air instead of having to actually plan out a strategy and work hard at maintaining customer interest and loyalty.

The same article goes on to note that, for Saks Fifth Avenue, "same-store sales fell 26.6% in May following declines of 32 and 23.6% in April and March, respectively" (ouch!) and that analysts expect a decline of 20% for the full Fall season. That ought to batten a few hatches.

5.) PETA Gets a Downgrade From the Catwalk Club:
"Naomi Campbell, one of the previous faces of the 'I'd rather go naked than wear fur' campaign by PeTA, is allegedly back in fur . . . The model was famously dropped by the animal rights group shortly after the mid-Nineties ad campaign launched after wearing fur in a fashion show. The supermodel claimed, however, that she defected from the PeTA campaign stating that they "went too far" in their attacks on Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld."

Campbell will be featured in the Fall/Winter 2009-2010 ad campaign for designer Dennis Basso, who built his reputation on the use of furs.

6.) Companies Turn to Core Values As They Struggle to Survive the Downturn:
"It turns out, we have lived through the End of Excess before--luxury firms hope that excess is like a zombie that you can't really kill--and so we have some idea how luxury firms survive. Luxury brands today, one after another, are making this 'flight to quality' . . . 'We are seeing the consumer move away from the prestige purchase, the blingy, the flash, to quality,' says Mary Beth Whitfield, senior vice president of the consulting firm Retail Forward . . . The brands refuse to admit this, but they are all looking at tweaking not just the message but also the product, considering where they can lose the buckles, zipper, or extra pleat or where they can switch from alpaca to cashmere."

Tiffany & Co. is touted as an example of a luxury brand that survived the Great Depression based on its long history of producing quality goods for discerning customers. While they went the flashy, bling-laden route as much as anyone else during the last few decades, they also have a heritage to fall back on, a name that might actually stand for something in the mind of the public, as opposed to numerous super-luxe brands that only just appeared at the height of the global hype.

A video clip below showing exactly how Tiffany is using its heritage and history to convince today's wary consumer of the company's product value and its focus on craftsmanship:

"Everything is very classy, very timeless . . . "

Another way to view the "flight to quality" syndrome would be to compare two of the latest haute couture shows from this last week in Paris. First, the House of Chanel, founded in 1910 -- the show was all about classic shapes, timeless fabrics and understated sensuality:

Now, we'll compare that to the haute couture show of Giorgio Armani. The House of Armani was founded in 1975. It has no real heritage to fall back on during troubled times, as Armani rose to prominence during the excessive, expansive decades of the late 1900's and early 2000's. His 2009/2010 haute couture display is a near note-perfect encapsulation of what the above article discussed when the author mentions that many fashion houses are in denial, still slinging glitter-trash down the runways as if nothing has changed:

Even though the tailoring is superb, when placed side by side against Chanel, it becomes obvious that the House of Armani has no heritage or history to fall back on, and so must continue to rely on what now seems an untoward amount of bling, glitter and skin.

And as long as we're on the topic of Chanel, Cathy Horyn at the NYT writes: "I asked Mr. Lagerfeld ... about those blog reports that he would leave Chanel and be replaced by Alber Elbaz of Lanvin. Mr. Lagerfeld said to forget about it. He was going to die with his boots on. He also mentioned that Alain Wertheimer, whose family owns Chanel, said he would sell the house when the designer leaves. This might not be the case, Mr. Lagerfeld said, but it was a nice thing to be told."

In other words, when Lagerfeld goes down, he's taking the House of Chanel along with him. I believe him, too!

And even more Chanel! A copy of a letter Chanel paid to publish in the back of an edition of WWD:

So, a jacket is not a Chanel jacket unless it's made by Chanel, got it? 'Cuz it makes Chanel angry, and you don't want to see Chanel when it's angry . . .

7.) CEO of World's 3rd Largest Luxury Group Predicts a Grim 2009:
"Richemont, the world's third largest luxury goods group behind LVMH and Hermes, will earn less this year than last year, chief executive Norbert Platt was quoted as saying . . . Platt said he did not see a turnaround in the U.S. market and was not sure whether the recession in Europe had reached a trough yet, and a worsening of the crisis was still possible . . . "Everybody hopes for a change at the end of the year or even in autumn, but we bracing ourselves for the status quo until the end of the year and will be happy if we are wrong,' he said."

The CEO mentions that demand for expensive watches has fallen off a cliff for 2009 (Richemont owns Cartier, makers of the famous Cartier Tank watch), and that the Swiss watch market as a whole is hard hit. The one bright spot for Richemont is China: "The Chinese market was holding up well and would become Richemont's biggest single market in two or three years, overtaking Japan, he said."

8.) 'The Lipstick Effect' Now Applies to the Men's Counter, Too:
"Cosmetics companies have also realised there is money to be made in a recession by catering to the other half of the market: men . . . potions, lotions and creams for vainglorious men now compete for space with rouge and nail polish at the cosmetics counter. One of the successes of winter has been the launch of Diesel's Only The Brave fragrance for men . . . Businesses such as L'Oreal, Clinique, Clarins and Nivea are pumping out a catwalk of male-specific cleansers, moisturisers and after-shave products that have extended the options for retailers and customers."

'The Lipstick Effect' refers to when sales for smaller items, such as cosmetics and perfumes, remain strong despite weakening in other areas of the retail sector: "Lipsticks aren't inferior goods, economists say, but they could be small indulgences, an inexpensive treat meant to substitute for a bigger-ticket item. Or lipsticks could also be morale boosters, like Charlie Chaplin films were during the Depression. A warm shade that perfectly matches your skin tone might make you forget how far your 401(k) has tanked."

Lipstick is like Charlie Chaplin:

8.) Don't Wear This T-Shirt in Dubai:

"A T-shirt showing Victoria Beckham in the nude caused Raffi Nernekian, a Lebanese national, to be jailed in Dubai . . . The skin cancer awareness T-shirt features a naked Beckham, who is discreetly hidden by the phrase "Protect the skin your in." Nernekian, whose brother says he bought the shirt during a visit to New York, got into an argument with a local over the shirt and was jailed for a month for "offending public decency," according to the U.K. Telegraph."

Well, just *look* at the darn t-shirt -- anything with Victoria Beckham's nude body splayed across it is obviously a fashion crime, right?

And speaking of Dubai: "Despite the fact that French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a ban on burqas in France last week, saying the body coverings imprison women, Paris held a fashion show showcasing specially made designer abayas, the black overgarments worn by some Muslim women . . . John Galliano, Nina Ricci, Blumarine and Alberta Feretti were among the 21 designers who created black body coverings adorned with sequins, fringe, and more for the show. 'It is an obligation to wear the abaya there, but let them feel good about it,' said Dania Tarhini (a general manager of Saks Fifth Avenue in Saudi Arabia)."

9.) 55 People in China Become Millionaires Each Day:
"Dan Sontag, president of the global wealth management group at (the former) Merrill Lynch, along with Capgemini global financial services managing director Bertrand Lavayssière ... suggested that the market will fully recover by 2013, using the post-dot-com crash in the early part of this decade as a model; however, where in the world that wealth comes from will change. Currently, the US leads with 2.5 million HNWIs (High New Worth Individuals), but Asian countries like Japan and China are nipping at its heels. By 2013, the report suggests that the Pacific Rim region will boast more millionaires than North America. According to Sontag, 55 people in China become millionaires each day."

It's no wonder that while market share is falling in the U.S. and Europe for luxury companies such as Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Marc Jacobs, sales numbers are up 24% in Asia.

If you're going to make a proper Black Forest cake, then you need to use a proper cherry brandy from the actual Black Forest region of Germany:

When I went searching for a recipe for the best Black Forest cake in the world, I read this little tidbit on Wikipedia: "Traditionally, Kirschwasser is added to the cake, although other liquors are also used (such as rum, which is common in Austrian recipes). In the United States, Black Forest cake is most often prepared without alcohol."

Wha-wha-WHAT?!! What is the *matter* with us Americans that we can't even be counted on to add alcohol, much less a proper Kirschwasser, into our Black Forest cakes? Wait, don't answer that . . .

When the BF and I visited Prague back in April of 2008, I had the pleasure of experiencing one of the most luscious Black Forest cakes I've ever tasted. We stopped in at a French bakery near our hotel in Old Town district, Au Gourmand -- this is what I had to say back then about their Black Forest cake: "I still have visions of a glorious Foret Noire -- airy, moist slices of dark devil's food cake and thick layers of real whipped cream clogged with chocolate covered black cherries and heaped with curly chocolate shavings."

By the way, Au Gourmand's Foret Noire is presently ranked as the #1 favorite customer dessert on their website (and with good reason, too). I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that they include a genuine Kirschwasser in their recipe.

You can get your own bottle of German Black Forest Cherry Brandy at the following link: Genuine Black Forest Kirschwasser. The Schladerer family website is here: Schladerer website, creators of the Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser Black Forest Cherry Brandy.

I never did find a recipe for the best Black Forest Cake in the world.

Also known as 'Tobacco Toscano' (that's how it's listed for sale on the Aedes website), Santa Maria Novella Toscano is named after the Toscano cigar that was first produced in Tuscany in 1818, so Tobacco is a prominent part of the scent mix, yet lightly sweetened with a vanilla and amber blend to woo female consumers as well as men.

Toscano introduces itself with a fresh bergamot-laced burst, then settles into a smooth jasmine-laced blonde leather and mild tobacco leaf routine that's ever so gradually overtaken by an exceptionally warm and attractive sweetness that nearly drips like honey off the skin. Louise stopped by earlier in the day to drop off some packages and said, "Wow, you smell really good!" after I opened the door to let her in, which took me completely by surprise as the phase changes were so subtle that I hadn't even noticed how the Toscano had progressed on my skin from bright, citrusy floral to warm, leafy amber.

It's now about eight hours after a rather more generous than usual application and Toscano is subtly sweet and totally laid back, with a boozy, smoky tone that plays like a favorite pop song rolling out the windows of a car idling at a distant stoplight -- and because it sits so lightly on the skin, it easily works in hot summer weather (just in case the idea of a malted tobacco amber makes you think only of Fall/Winter).

Other opinions:

Glam Man Grooming: "Santa Maria Novella ... strikes a very contemporary chord with scents that are uniquely clean and warm and very different from many of today's mass marketed fragrances . . . I was drawn to one of their newer fragrances called Toscano which contains notes of bergamot, tobacco, vanilla, birch leaf and burnt malt. I'm not generally a fan of "tabacco" scents but this one is well rounded and comes across as more of a balance between all of the fragrance notes."

Joe Frances at Basenotes: "A fairly light tobacco fragrance, with a honey or amber element that I think is the source of its sweetness, and makes it unisex. I was looking for a pipe tobacco note, but that's not what we get here . . . I think that, while Toscano might be just a bit too sweet and a bit too light for me, I imagine that there are a lot of BNs (Basenote Members) out there who would really go for this."

Now Smell This: "The first two times I wore Toscano, I thought it was boring and was upset to smell a similarity between it and recent (bland) vanilla fragrances, but when I sprayed on a generous amount of Toscano, I liked it more and the tobacco note (which I enjoy) was amplified."

Video clip below of a woman making the famous Toscano cigars:

We finally got our dishes yesterday, so we were able to have our first sit-down meal at home (we've been eating out for weeks -- terrible on both the budget and the wardrobe/waistline). We found a very simple tableware design in ceramic from a brand called Heath Ceramics -- I don't think I've ever been so fond of a set of dishes in my life:

Everything about them hits all the right notes for me -- the rounded edges, the slightly flecked off-white color ("linen"), the clean lines. The bowls are so smooth and balanced I just want to clutch them to my breast and breathe happy sighs all day, while the coffee cups are what I'd expect to find in a cafe in Heaven:

Nice, right? They make the morning coffee that much sweeter.

And some photos from our first meal (I had to document!):

Sweet and sour goldew peppers from DeLaurenti in the Pike Place Market. Dishes of grilled mushrooms and a bean salad are in the background. The vinegar bottle is the Goccia 20 year from Italian producer La Vecchia Dispensa.

Plus meats, cheeses, fresh crusty breads, a calamari salad, heirloom tomatoes, sweet onions and a bottle of red wine!

I think we celebrated our new dishes quite nicely.

Oh, and the Daybreak Violins! That refers to the Liz Zorn Daybreak Violin I've been wearing since we moved into our new place. When we first arrived in Seattle, the weather was on the cool, cloudy side of things, but ever since the moving truck arrived and we hauled all of our belongings upstairs into our new pad, the sun has been blazing and it's beautifully hot outside -- Daybreak Violin more than proved itself to be the ultimate complement for such sun soaked days.

The Zorn website describes Daybreak Violin as "a wonderfully bright and sensual may lily and lilac perfume, with hints of hay and mint in the top and mossy earthy musk in the base. It is a true example of a green earthy floral. Very modern and ethereal, with a classic structure." From the description alone, I never would have thought I would like it so much, but it's brilliantly fresh and light, with a green floral shimmer underscored by a subtle mossy base that lasts and lasts.

The Zorn site also states that while Daybreak Violin was originally developed as a bridal fragrance, the base has been "grounded" so that it balances the original airy floral qualities to result in a clean, green summer scent that can easily be worn by both men and women.

Longevity is excellent (8 hours later and it's still holding) and because it comes across as light and sheer, I can spray on quite a bit without worrying about overpowering anyone in the vicinity. I pumped on about 6 sprays yesterday morning before my daily shopping at the market and all I could discern was a subtly fresh, breezy green scent hovering about me as I made my rounds from coffee shop to produce stall to cheese/bread vendor. I have a feeling this will be my serious go-to choice to get me through the hot months of July and August.

***Note: Daybreak Violin is part of Zorn's Moderne Collection, which is different from her all-natural line in that the Moderne fragrances are created utilizing a blend of natural and synthetic essences.