- Jennifer Lopez‘s 15 perfumes have sold more than $1 billion at retail. She’s launching a 16th, Love and Glamour, this fall. “I drive [fragrance company Coty] a little bit crazy,” she says. “Because it’s always not signature enough.” [WWD]
- Halle Berry‘s third perfume, Reveal, is about motherhood. (Just like J.Lo‘s!) “This is a part of expressing who I really am — for the good and the bad, it’s about being comfortable with myself as a woman, and sharing secret parts of myself,” says the actress. It comes out this fall. Berry is estimated to sell about $40 million worth of her perfume portfolio in the next 12 months. [WWD]
- Women’s Wear Daily has compressed the Berry/Lopez perfume cage fight into a handy chart. [WWD]
- But! Beating them both to the beauty counter is Avril Lavigne, whose Black Star hits stores in July. [Independent]
- Ditto Jessica Simpson, whose third perfume comes out in July. Maybe it would be simpler to list the celebrities who don’t have “signature” fragrances, to use a J.Lo word? [E!]
- Doutzen Kroes: “My life has always been like I’m in a bubble and it’s floating and it goes in the right direction. I don’t want to interrupt it.” [Strib]
- Michael Bay has confirmed model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley will be in Transformers 3. [Vogue UK]
- Ashley Greene, of Twilight fame, is replacing Lauren Conrad, of The Hills fame, as the face of the Avon brand Mark. [WWD]
- The fashion editor of the U.K.-based black lifestyle magazine Pride has criticized Karl Lagerfeld for photographing Claudia Schiffer in black makeup and an afro wig. In the same set of images, Schiffer also appeared in eye tape and a black bobbed wig, made up to look Asian. “There are not enough women of colour featured in mainstream magazines. This just suggests you can counteract the problem by using white models,” said the editor, Shevelle Rhule. “I don’t believe they deliberately set out to offend, they obviously see it as being arty and feel that they are pushing boundaries. But clearly no thought has been given to the history behind what they have done and the comparisons it draws with minstrel shows.” [Daily Mail]
- Karl Lagerfeld received the Légion D’Honneur from Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday. [WWD]
- The University of Texas recently linked UV nail-drying lamps to cancer. No shit, right? Not according to the nail polish industry, which has trotted out a Dr. David Valia to say that one use of a nail-drying lamp is no worse than a day under fluorescent light. [WWD]
- Brian Duffy, a fashion photographer prominent in the 1960s, passed away. The Telegraph has a slideshow of some of his best work. [Telegraph]
- Vivienne Westwood is selling £1,000 tablecloths. They’re to save the earth, or something. [Vogue UK]
- Rachel Bilson and Kristen Bell talk shoes at a Brian Atwood party. “Wedges are a go-to for comfort in summer,” says Bilson. “I like the clogs. I’m glad they came full circle,” says Bell. [WWD]
- At the same event, Victoria Beckham wore a suit from her new capsule collection of suits, which she made with the help of a Savile Row tailor. [People]
- Nacho Figueras, polo player and Ralph Lauren brand ambassador, is now a “connoisseur” in the employ of the St. Regis hotel chain. [WWD]
- Brandy Rusher, from America’s Next Top Model Cycle 4, was arrested for shoving a cop in Houston. [Fashion Indie]
- “That’s an example of where we can’t be forthcoming. ” Zappos‘ Tony Hsieh very nicely refusing to comment on what percentage of the business he expects apparel sales to represent in the future. [WWD]
- Fashionista compares the level of government support for the fashion industry in New York and London. The city will pay $200,000 over the next three years for the CFDA’s Fashion Incubator, which allows emerging designers to work, under mentors, in the Garment District and pay below market rents. Nonetheless, certain designers were apparently forced to decline the offer of incubator space because they could not afford the $1,500-$2,000 monthly rent for the showroom space. Meanwhile, the British Fashion Council got a 4-year £4.2 million grant from the city of London. “We do wonder if the government could have chipped in a little more money so that the designers could work in the space at no cost,” writes Lauren Sherman. But a designer whose revenues don’t cover the rent is probably not at the stage of doing business where access to a professional showroom would be useful. And we have yet to see data that show London’s support of the BFC translates into job creation. And a six-month study just found that, all things considered, the Garment District offers very favorable conditions to new businesses. [Fashionista]
- Edun, the sustainably made, LVMH-backed, Ali Hewson-founded fashion line, relaunched its website. [Refinery29]
- Struggling Abercrombie & Fitch has aggressively expanded in Europe, and new stores there have significantly inflated the company’s sales results. But sales in stores open more than one year — a key indicator of financial health, given the costs of opening new stores — are still down 3% for the month of May. [WSJ]
- Laura Ashley‘s same-store sales were up 5.3% on last year in the first quarter. [Guardian]
- Hervé Leger has signed a perfume licensing deal with Avon. Hervé Leger Femme will cost $34 for 1.7 fl. oz., and Hervé Leger Homme will cost $30 for 2.5 fl. oz. [WWD]
- Gap Inc. is looking for a new advertising agency. [AdAge]
- The flash sale discount site HauteLook raised $31 million in financing through a private equity group. [Fashionista]
- Brick-and-mortar discount chain Daffy’s would like a company to give it some money, so it can expand. [Crain’s]
- Balmain‘s $1,625 ripped t-shirt now can be yours for just $1,025. [Racked]