2012

Luxury & Fashion Biz News: May 11th, 2012 (Are celebrity perfumes a joke? Plus, Brad Pitt for Chanel No. 5, and Burberry tussles with Bogart)

May 12, 2012

1.) Raising a Stink in the Perfume Business, Salvatore Ferragamo perfume division CEO says celebrity fragrances are a joke — “’It’s short term business. One product, huge investment and huge media, and then it disappears. It’s just volume, that’s it. It is a joke … It is for low target people. We are completely different, [...]

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Luxury & Fashion Biz News: May 4th, 2012 (Is it the 2008 recession all over again? Plus, more designers on the merry go round)

May 5, 2012

1.) The majority of the time, there are clear patterns that I can sense when combing through fashion, luxury and retail news (and if not clear patterns, then at least some entertaining sideshow events), but this week has been particularly challenging because the only pattern that seems to be emerging is that the global consumer [...]

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Going High-Low in the Niche Perfume World: Escentric Molecules and Smell Bent

May 4, 2012

WWD (Women’s Wear Daily, the news arm of the fashion industry) recently published an article about the High-Low shopping habits of post-recession consumers, that while once reliably high-end fashion consumers still splurge on luxury items, they’re now shopping six times more often at discount retailers — and the retailers are starting to notice. WWD quote: [...]

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Luxury & Fashion Biz News: April 27th, 2012 (Roberto Cavalli becomes pop-culture; and while menswear is hot, the rest of retail is chilly all over)

April 28, 2012

1.) Roberto Cavalli Tweets His Way Into the Fashion Conversation: “Before, likely during, and after calling American fashion “almost fashion” in an interview with D — La Repubblica last week, Roberto Cavalli has been busy micro-blogging, asking his Twitter followers whether they prefer their sex “in the day time or in the night” and what [...]

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Luxury & Fashion Biz News: April 20th, 2012 (The Price of Celebrity, What does being a British brand really mean, and the future of luxury is the relationship)

April 21, 2012

1.) The High Price of Celebrity Perfume: “A New York judge Friday ordered pop star Prince to pay $3.95 million to a perfume maker for failing to promote the 3121 line of scents. Prince was sued by Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics in 2008 for failing to promote the perfume, which was supposedly inspired by his [...]

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Letters to a Fellow Perfumer: Mandy Aftel & Laurie Erickson (ep. 5)

April 16, 2012

March 31st, 2012 / Berkeley, CA Dear Laurie, Thank you so much for taking the time to smell my two perfume samples, Sepia 8A and Sepia 8B. Your reactions were insightful about both, and I agree with you that while sample 8A is pretty, it doesn’t convey the mood of aging and lost worlds that [...]

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Luxury & Fashion Biz News: April 13th, 2012 (A new direction for Dior, Downton Abbey is old world chic, and Dunhill looks outside of China for customers)

April 14, 2012

1.) The Rumor Merry-Go-Round Finally Stops Spinning at Dior: “Belgian designer Raf Simons is taking over as artistic director at Christian Dior, the Paris fashion house announced on Monday, ending months of speculation over who would replace his disgraced predecessor, John Galliano . . . Simons, who previously worked for fashion house Jil Sander and [...]

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Luxury & Fashion Biz News: April 6th, 2012 (Marc Jacobs branches out into cosmetics, Coty wants to buy Avon, and has Dior found its new designer?)

April 7, 2012

1.) Could Designer Maxime Simoens Be Headed for Dior?: “After designing for the house of Leonard for a mere (one) season, designer Maxime Simoens is already headed for something new — though it’s not clear yet what that “something new” could be . . . However, if you believe the rumors, Simoens has also been [...]

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Luxury & Fashion Biz News: March 30th, 2012 (Kors vs. Coach, online shopping is kicking retail’s a**, and H&M goes upscale)

March 31, 2012

1.) Michael Kors and Coach Battle It Out for Accessories Customers: “Since the (Michael Kors) company went public three months ago, his ambitions have become clear. Michael Kors aims to more than double its North American store fleet to 400 and more than quadruple to 1,000-plus its department-store boutiques. Michael Kors will operate in malls [...]

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Letters to a Fellow Perfumer: Mandy Aftel & Laurie Erickson (ep. 4)

March 30, 2012

March 22nd, 2012 / Healdsburg, CA Hi Mandy, I received your recent package of samples –- thank you so much! The liquid Parfum Privé smells truly heavenly. It’s amazingly beautiful. I love the floral heart (

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