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 out
numbered 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” . . .
