Haider Ackermann, Kenzo and Céline Spring/Summer 2013 | Source: Style.com
Then Comes the 4th Dimension (IHT)
“To be modern in fashion today, a designer needs a sculptural knowledge of the human body, an architect’s understanding of graphic proportions and an ability to absorb the digital revolution. Then comes the fourth dimension. The Paris shows for summer 2013 over fashion’s long weekend have divided the protagonists into those who get the depth of possibilities — and those who are still making just clothes.”
France’s Hermès says not feeling any slowdown (Reuters)
“Hermès enjoyed healthy sales growth in the summer and September, contrasting with other luxury brands such as Burberry and Tiffany & Co which have warned of deteriorating trading conditions.”
Mencyclopaedia: Moncler (Telegraph)
“Over the past 10 years, French-founded, Italian-run Moncler has found an answer so persuasive that a 45 per cent private equity buy-out last June valued the company at one billion euros. Still relatively immature, it has only 80 or so stores worldwide, compared to the 600-1,000 norm of long-established luxury companies like Louis Vuitton or Gucci.”
25 Years of What They Need to Know (NY Times)
“When Peter Pilotto began working with the Center for Fashion Enterprise in London, the fashion incubator gave him a weekly cash flow analysis of his fledgling label. ‘We never even heard about cash flow in design school,’ the designer said. But that is why over the last 25 years, centers offering training and advice on how to turn a creative effort into a successful business have spread from Milan to Dunedin, New Zealand.”
Lunch with the FT: Peter Marino (FT)
“In the style-obsessed auditoriums that play host to the world’s fashion weeks, when someone mentions a ‘star designer’ they are not usually referring to an architect… But this week in Paris, when Peter Marino walks into the Chanel show – and the Dior show, and the Céline show, and the Louis Vuitton show – flashbulbs will go off, people will call his name and photographs of him in the front row will go viral on the internet.”