Designers Find Oscar's Grouching About The First Lady's Fashion Unseemly
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- “It’s not up to him to give her lessons; Michelle Obama is of her time; Oscar de la Renta is no longer,” scoffed designer Azzedine Alaïa. Ooh, breaking: Oscar is on the View now. [WWD]
- Chloe Sevigny might not do her Opening Ceremony line every season, because she’s busy being on the TV. Still with the I-actually-design-this-crap pretense! [The Cut]
- As promised, The Daily Beast now features advertising! Read all about HOW BOTTEGA VENETA IS KEEPING LUXURY RELEVANT. (Presented by Bottega Veneta.) [Daily Beast]
- Isaac Mizrahi just made an announcement on The Today Show: Women, we need to be spending all our money on our hair! It’s what’s important in life. [Anna’s Twitter]
- Ads for Matthew Williamson‘s collection for H&M, which goes on sale May 14, have leaked. Daria Werbowy prances, mantis-like, on a beautiful beach wearing acid bright paisleys. And a bikini I really want. They gave Werbowy the same rope of loosely braided fake hair that the current H&M collection models sport in their campaign, and which I assume is not even supposed to look real. [Nitro:Licious]
- Depending on the outcome of a lawsuit, Forever 21 may find itself no longer able to copy designers’ offerings willy-nilly. Trovata, whose shirts the fast fashion chain shamelessly ripped off several seasons ago, has been suing the company since, and the case is finally set to go to trial. Which means a jury would decide if the “inspiration” (which extended to the placement and choice of buttons and other unique design features) was illegal. [WWD]
- The chief executives of faltering fashion companies continue to get raises! After Kay Krill at Ann Taylor and Glenn Murphy at the Gap each got hefty pay hikes, Jones Apparel Group has raised the compensation of its CEO, Wesley Card, by 38%, to $5.5 million, for 2008. That was the same year Jones Apparel Group lost $765 million. The company owns brands like Jones New York, Anne Klein, and Nine West, and its sales fell 6% last year. Its share price has dropped by over 60%. [Crain’s]
- Experts estimate global sales of luxury goods will shrink by 10% in the coming year. [WSJ]
- Marc Jacobs opened a store for his slightly lower-priced Marc by Marc Jacobs line in London. [Independent]
- While women’s apparel sales have been falling sharply, menswear is up 1%. Tom Ford says his stonkingly expensive eponymous men’s line is doing just fine (although we can’t imagine he’s sold many $30,000 cufflinks lately). Savile Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard — where Alexander McQueen once trained — say they’ve had 20 new clients in the past month, which is a significant increase for a small business. [FT]
- Splitting the difference this spring: pant suits, especially when the jackets are in that slouchy 80s boyfriend style. The Times does an apt enough job tracing the trend to its point of origin. [NY Times]
- Frida Giannini, the woman who’s transformed Gucci‘s look (and who did groundwork for that blazer trend), says she’s keen to start a Gucci cosmetics line. [Times of London]
- Oh, my. This latest ad for edgy lingerie company Agent Provocateur sure is very racy. I hope all the attention they get for it won’t hurt their brand. [Independent]