There are many designers that succumb to a wistful affection for the past, and stay there. Then there are others that are constantly looking for the next best thing, and they forget about their core customer. To be truly successful, one has to look back to move forward. | | | | Christian Dior RTW S/S 2004, Paris, Oct. 8, 2003.
(Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “There are many designers that succumb to a wistful affection for the past, and stay there. Then there are others that are constantly looking for the next best thing, and they forget about their core customer. To be truly successful, one has to look back to move forward.”
| - | Nicolas Ghesquière, 2017 |
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| | rantnrave:// I was a big fan of LANVIN when ALBER ELBAZ was creative director. He brought together both the sensual and technical aspects of clothing—his draping, knotting, and twisting of fabric turned out clothes that celebrated glamour and a kind of self-possessed femininity. Elbaz created clothes for a woman in-the-know. And I have great respect for BOUCHRA JARRAR, who left the label after only 16 months—not enough time for her vision at Lanvin to grow. On Tuesday, REUTERS cited sources that Lanvin is in dire need of a cash injection, later confirmed when the label stated that majority owner SHAW-WAN LANG will put up more cash to keep the company in business. It's unfortunate the 128-year-old house’s story is becoming one of internal conflict. Little is being said about the menswear business, still under the creative direction of LUCAS OSSENDRIJVER, a 12-year veteran of the label whose collections are consistently great for their blend of sport practicality, street sensibility, and liquid tailoring. A search through REDEF shows the tumultuous history of Lanvin in the past three years, from a stunning retrospective at the PALAIS GALLIERA in 2015, to Elbaz’s controversial departure, to Jarrar’s brief stint, and OLIVER LAPIDUS's panned first collection for the house in September. The house was founded by one of fashion's most prominent early couturières, JEANNE LANVIN, in 1889. For the legacy that's at stake, I hope the label can get back on its feet. Strategies cited thus far (all from anonymous sources close to the company) don't exactly ring with inspiration. To wit: becoming a "French MICHAEL KORS" and a possible diversification into hotels. The issue with both strategies is that there needs to be a firm—don't make me say it—"brand" (which is really just a culture and story) in place in order to successfully diversify the business. As of now, the whole thing smacks of PIERRE CARDIN label's past troubles with licensing. For more of the Lanvin story, there's a roundup of recent developments from THE FASHION LAW. Does everyone wish Elbaz could join again? The label needs change, otherwise it's going to be like the skate GIF I shared in September… Congratulations to TELFAR CLEMENS for taking home the CFDA/VOGUE FASHION FUND award... EDWARD ENNINFUL's first cover for BRITISH VOGUE has a retro look, featuring model ADWOA ABOAH wearing MARC JACOBS... To all Rick 'heads, rejoice! A RICK OWENS exhibition is set to open in ITALY. | | | - HK Mindy Meissen, curator |
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 | Racked |
| What it’s really like to sell sunglasses and scarves to shoppers en route to the food court. | | |
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 | GQ Style |
| Your exclusive first look at Chris Gibbs’s debut Union collection. | | |
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 | Reuters |
| Auditors for Lanvin, France's oldest fashion house, have filed a warning with a commercial court in Paris over financial troubles at the label as it struggles to stem slumping sales, two sources familiar with the company's performance said. | | |
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 | WWD |
| The descendants of founder Jeanne Lanvin sold the building housing the men’s store to the real estate arm of Compagnie Financière Richemont. | | |
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 | Highsnobiety |
| Conan O’Brien heads uptown to get styled by Harlem’s very own Dapper Dan, the legendary stylist that outfitted hip-hop legends in the ’80s. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| The unisex line won the 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award. | | |
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 | Quartz |
| The chief merchant is generally considered second only to the CEO, but JC Penney has decided it doesn't need one at all. | | |
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 | Fashionista |
| As American malls either close or renovate, marketers are adopting alternatives to the word, which has contracted a negative connotation since its '90s heyday. | | |
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 | The Business of Fashion |
| According to TheRealReal sales data, consumers of luxury goods in the wealthiest areas of the country that voted for Donald Trump favor traditional labels including Chanel, Louis Vuitton and David Yurman. | | |
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 | South China Morning Post |
| Major e-tailers are aggressively pushing their private fashion labels, offering everything from everyday basics to high-end garments, including collections that change regularly and aren’t tied to seasons. | | |
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 | Sourcing Journal Online |
| Fast fashion may be blamed for the demise of retail, but traditional retailers are really losing market share to startup apparel brands that get it. | | |
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 | Glossy |
| In 2008, Abe Burmeister and Tyler Clemens, founders of Brooklyn-based men's fashion brand, set out to build a brand based on "radical quality." (Considering today's Zara-dominated fashion landscape, it's a thoroughly refreshing thought.) That involved remaining as committed to innovation as they were to their values, culture and community. | | |
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 | The Fashion Law |
| In light of a handful of recent acquisitions of fashion brands in the U.S. -- including, Coach's $2.4 billion acquisition of Kate Spade, and Michael Kors' move to scoop up Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion -- much has been made of how conglomerates are built. | | |
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| The Business of Fashion |
| The ancient human need to explain the vastness of the universe through storytelling and mythology is what’s driving millennial consumer culture today in the US, argues Maggie Montagna and Mortimer Singer. | | |
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| The New York Times |
| Stephanie Watine Arnault, a niece of Bernard Arnault, was in New York last week to introduce Clos19, the new online drinks platform from LVMH. | | |
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 | HERO magazine |
| With the right keywords on YouTube, we can all delve into the lo-res subcultural realm of sportswear fetishists. Cameras quietly zoom in on outfits of boys in parks, streets, bedrooms, studying the shininess of their Adidas trackies and the pristine whiteness of their Nikes. It’s this visual that’s fundamental to Ben Cottrell and Matthew Dainty’s menswear brand, Cottweiler. | | |
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 | Hunger Magazine |
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| South China Morning Post |
| Chinese haute couturier Guo Pei, who has gained international acclaim, draws sophisticated and affluent customers at home. | | |
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 | Clothes On Film |
| Clothes on Film were fortunate enough to be invited to a display of costumes from the latest adaptation of "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017), plus interview its costume designer Alexandra Byrne. | | |
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 | Messy Nessy Chic |
| Paul Poiret should be a household name, but instead he died in poverty, his genius rejected, his leftover stock sold by the kilogram as rags. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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| © Copyright 2017, The REDEF Group |
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