François Lesage | Source: Simple Virtues
‘Big O’ Birthdays for Generations of Designers (IHT)
“The loss last week of François Lesage, the beating heart of Parisian embroidery, at age 82, marks fashion history. A mighty tree in the landscape of haute couture has fallen… Fashion has a way of holding up a mirror to the wider world. But in the fading days of 2011, the bellwether is not about changes in style. It’s about designers themselves and a seismic generational shift.”
Hermès sees 10 percent growth in 2012 (Reuters)
“French luxury goods group Hermès expects sales growth of 10 percent next year, with trends in the current quarter broadly in line with the rest of the year… Last month, Hermès raised its full-year sales forecast to between 15 and 16 percent, reflecting strong demand in Asia, Europe and America, up from a previous forecast of 12 to 14 percent.”
‘Cyber Week’ Sets New Record With $6 Billion Take (Mashable)
“Online sales for the so-called “Cyber Week” that ended on on Dec. 2 were just shy of $6 billion, setting a record, according to comScore. With an estimated $1.25 billion take, Cyber Monday 2011, Nov. 28, was only the second billion-dollar day for online U.S. sales in history, following the equivalent day in 2010.”
China’s answer to Prada? (Telegraph)
“Just as Western luxury brands colonise and coin it in China, it is inevitable that Chinese companies will want to do the same right back. While some might currently be lacking in savoir faire , what those with big ambitions won’t lack is money; Beijing and Shanghai are packed with newly minted billionaires looking for glamorous investment opportunities.”
What Women Want: Jonathan Saunders (Independent)
“Saunders is nothing if not serious about his work – so much is evident in his sliced and precise patterns, a signature lightness that never becomes frothy, and his attention to detail. But he also speaks about the clothes he makes with a businesslike sense of creating merchandise – a hangover from his original line of work in product design.”