pls, allow me, to geek out for a piece

so! News! Wwd reports that Phoebe Philo is designing for French brand Celine! Philo was most recently designer for cool boheme french brand Chloe. During which she posed classic French chic-itude with nostalgic mid-century silhouettes a la demure virgin suicide attire. At the same time the juggernauts that were/are the paddington and the less apocalyptic bay bag dominated the accessory scene. Philo designed for Chloe after Stella McCartney who in turn was after K.Lagerfeld all of whom-along with current designer paolo melim andersson-have all put their own twist of laissez-faire cool into chloe. Chloe is doin' alright with andersson's effusive looks anchored by semi-cubist architectural shoes and accessories, but Philo is so good! Which is why I am freaking to hear that she is lending her talents to Celine (owned by lvmh. Previous head of rtw design was michael kors. Started as a made to measure childrens shoe company). Not too much has been going in with Celine which is why I am psyched that Philo was chosen. She is perfect to bring the house back to the future with a clean effortlessness and tight style.

come back FTW: brand extentions and controlled equity

Short story: American Mall Sportswear; goin' for the (amex)gold. Long story: Coach is buying back a BILLION shares to 'increase economic value for shareholders' i.e. increasing the individual value of shares, there-fore increasing brand equity and giving the overall brand a more profitable appearance. This is effectively, Coach buying themselves back from the shareholders, since they are a privately traded company they can't 'own' themselves, but buying back that many fucking shares really helps then guide who does own them. Since when did Coach become worth over a bill? Who do you know that has recently bought a Coach bag/boot/whatever? Coach was one of the first (after A&F in '98) 'mall' brands to reinvent itself as a up-market retailer with prices creeping in the the $1K territory for limited edition-or "heritage"-merch.
Following on it's heels is Jcrew, who opened its men's only "liquor bar cum haberdashery" in Tribeca. Again, exclusive merch such as vintage tie clips! Globe Trotter luggage! pre-chewed pencils by famous writers!!! Complete with a visuals scheme approved by Andy Spade.
This is in immediate timing with reports that J.Crew will issue an accessories only catalog replete with Norwegian leather goods and real gold and precious stone jewelry. These choices made to, apparently, increase the brand's perceived worth by the consumers while growing their customer base.
Even Gap is skipping along with brand boosters! Are you shocked? Probs not. The Gap flagship is partnering with Collette to make limited edition products which err more on the Collette side than the Gap side. This may be lost on what was Gap's majority consumer; seemingly more intended for consumers who (a) know what/where Collette is and (b) are probably buying their basics from Alexander Wang or at least Velvet. Though, still in the vein of making their products more worthwhile to the consumer.
All of these brands, with the exception of Coach (to my knowledge), have previously been playing the fast fashion game and turning over cheap, new, trend driven product by the truck-full to middling results. Gap suffering the most for the poor design judgment. Now, all seem to be making a 180 (that likely took 12-18 months to plan) away from un-sustainable design and trying to entice the consumer's limited budget with quality and not necessarily value. This all comes at incredibly good timing for the above brands as fast fashion retailers are being whipped with a cat-o-nine tails for contributing to the insane amount of waste on the earth! While, some articles read closer to the thesis that forever21 should be blamed for all the world's ecological problems most are dead-on with bringing to light that, yes, selling shitty product that has a minute shelf life will cause people to throw these items away faster. With notes on small movements for 'local' design by sustainable, independent designers who's pricing is a little higher due to the higher cost of NOT outsourcing to elementary school children who will never see an actual school. A movement that is encouraging to hear, but yours truly is still skeptical that in country that still pushes quantity over quality these brands will get off to a running start with their extensions and growth options. Though, I would love to be proved wrong.

millennials wanna be on top

Chances are if your mother, neighbor, cousin, cousin's drunk social worker, creepy guy down the hall, or any other random stranger tells you that you should be a model, you really have no qualifications for that position. Maybe even less than zero qualifications. Models are not normal people and more often than not come from far away, moderately impoverished countries. Models are not really DISCOVERED on television competition shows or myspace or facebook or any other marketing tool that wants you to funnel your money and time into this generations pipe dream of micro-fame. In true American style, we import our fashion models for what could be termed as one of the most consumable industries. We love our Dutch, and Slavic models so much that there is a push to change the classification of their work visas so that more of these doe-eyed 15 year olds can live in cramped apartments and hope for a lucrative cosmetics campaign. Even our own citizens hope that minimal effort will result their tiny star being launched into orbit shortly before they burn out or implode on themselves.
CNN gives Gramps a good run-down of exactly what micro-fame is and how it relates to the increasingly delusional millennial belief that everyone can be a star, you just have to convince others of your importance instead of actually cultivating marketable skills. So, these individuals lope along with their Warhol screen print tote bags purchased from Urban Outfitters, unaware that they are a walking mind fuck for anyone who can read something outside of image tags and friend requests. Maybe they listened a little too hard when their boomer generation parents told them that they can be whatever they set their mind to and that no one can hold them back from their true dreams of pop notoriety. How will our already crippled economy fare with the upcoming working class, dreaming that they can 'just do it' and that no one understands their true vision to be a multi-bajilionaire athlete, designer, musician, model, whatever? Epic fail for all involved is the most likely outcome. That is unless your life goal is to exploit the micro-fame delusions of American youth, perhaps with a tv show called 'I love Money', that's a better cash cow.

model death: update

Ruslana Korshunova, 20, graced the covers of European Vogue editorials and was runway model for such designers as Jil Stuart, Betsey Johnson, and Libertine. She also jumped out of the 9th floor window of her Financial District loft to her death yesterday afternoon. By-standers commented that the sound of her death sounded like a gunshot or small explosion. Her death has been listed as a suicide as of right now since there were no signs of struggle in her apartment and the construction safety netting that surrounded her balcony (repairs were being made to the structure) had been cut. She was represented by IMG and New York models both of which are declining to comment on the situation as is the board president of the late-model's condo. I wont place bets on what her real cause of death may have been, but I sense a sad, sad, mystery about to unfold...that is if anyone chooses to investigate for any wrong doing. Like most models, Ruslana was working to send money home to help support her family who live in Kazakhstan.
Update: modelslips via jezebel gives really thoughtful insight into this situation

Kentucky "lifestyle center" ensnares elementary and middle school girls in web of jelly bracelets and 'lernins

I'm back and full of scoffing, sneering, and sass. Surely, I was missed. As, I am catching up on my emails, old and new news/internet crap reading here is a Jezebel article that briefly highlights a shopping camp for 6-12 at a Louisville, KY shopping center. While the 'camp' does go to places like Barnes & Nobel and Office Max to teach information searches and organization skills, I am rolling my eyes hard at the portion of the kiddie seminar that teaches girls how to put together an outfit and properly accessorize.
Firstly: Is this an incredibly thinly veiled attempt to boost sales by letting hyperactive tweens run amok at the only indoor camp with a food court and a Victoria's Secret? (I quick run-down of the stores in the 'Summit Lifestyle Center' shows a fair amount of brands that are either already bankrupt (Chico's ) or toeing the line (Limited brands ; Gap brands ; Claire's et al.)
Secondly: Who cares if a 6-12 year old can dress themselves stylishly? (answer: other 6-12 yr olds and their mothers with the social mentality of 6-12 yr old) When yours truly was of that tender age, I was decking myself out in all one fluorescent color, crimpin' the shit out of my hair and interspersing tiny braids and bows, painting unicorns on my face, matching my keds to my frilly socks, and stitching together whatever garment I could make from tee shirts swiped from my dad's closet. Basically, I was a tiny Boy George and my parents couldn't care less.
Do children really need to be taught how to properly dress and accessorize their prepubescent forms to some ricidulous, and most-likely poorly dressed, adults dictum? Do they really need to be spending their summer indoors snoring through the organization and information sections and flipping their shit in Limited too? When they could be, I don't know, outside? playing? like children? The article does nicely note that "not all children can be cheerleaders (and football players)" so is compulsive consumer the only other outlet for girls of that age? Apparently, it is in Kentucky.


fun fact: over-heard in a Barnes and Nobel while at the beach (yes, I was in a book-store while at the beach, I was looking for UK vogue & elle, V, and I-D of which they had none)

one approx. 14yr old dressed like Kimora Lee Simmons to another
"This store is like SO gay. I hate it."
reply from other bored tween.
"Jill would love it. She is a mega-nerd"
cackling ensues.
fin.

you said it brutther

"“We as a business cannot afford to have a customer take a second look and ask, ‘Do I need this?’ ” said Bud Konheim, the chief executive of Nicole Miller. “That is the kiss of death. We’re finished, because nobody really needs anything we make as a total industry.”"

above is regarding the cautious pace at which consumers are now approaching fashion purchases in this article from the NY Times that touches on the disparity between mid-level fashion actually decreasing in price since '98 and luxury goods skyrocketing and what this all means to the consumer and from an economic standpoint.
if you can clearly explain when asked by any drunk or even a blindingly sober person who is more familiar with KFC than WWD, after explaining what you do for a living, why fashion apparel costs what it does then this article is no big whoop. the slideshow noting the items that have decreased in cost (lacoste polos) stayed the same (brooks brothers suits) or neglagibley increased (calvin klein underwear) is interesting as well, but mainly read it for more choice quotes from Bud Konheim up there.

willkommen and bienvenue!

ref29 you rule my brain. i'm stilll catching up on my internet news and refinery29 fashion interviews were on my list of things to read last night. and they did not disappoint! chitchattin' about the hinterland's newest babies kaviar gauche and the newest crop of artist edition tee's pay close attention to brendan donnelly's too cool mummies n' daddies near the bottom. now back to thirsty thursday. jeah.

if you like miami so much maybe you should marry it

art basel is going on right now and i'll admit, i've been lazy and the only thing i've read the past week were the instructions on big brain academy, but i've caught up somewhat. fyi: art basel is a week long gallery show in miami's new museum of contemporary art, but like miami itself, it's pretty beat and no one in their right mind would voluntarily go there unless they really like tanning and hair gel. new york times wrote a kind of sad article on it, depicting how the gajillion artists involved display in booths not unlike those in a craft fair and comment that
"the art is heavily scripted, raucously colorful and monstrously proportioned. Parties and people-watching crowd the field of vision"...."Statement-making works are otherwise scarce. A few halfhearted gibes at the market, like the fake A.T.M. by Elmgreen and Dragset, are quickly absorbed into the briskly commercial atmosphere. Merlin Carpenter’s slapdash text painting “Die Collector Scum” sold the first day." it gives the vibe, also, that the only people buying are art-nouveau-riche, but i think the comment on merlin carpenter half ass painting i just put down shows that pretty well.
on one hand the artists who's work is selling are making out like bandits since the majority of attendants are better versed in spotting the richard prince for vuitton nurse outfits than any of the nurse paintings, even if they had a lit up sign and a free martini bar affixed on top of them. on the other, for the artists that aren't doing so well, the excess of the whole debacle glosses their work into the booth next to theirs and next to theirs making it unidentifiable and really just wasting their time. i mean, i'm not saying everyone who professes to be an arrrteeesteeee should really put effort forth and pursue that (i think you can follow and conjure my references), but even i am not so cruel to put a young, possibly naive, person into a situation where someone could easily throw candy colored liquor up on or crash into their work all while potentially destroying their ideas of their works worth and giving them a harsh introduction to the art world. over-all the whole situation feels like some bizarre real life pretending to be real life reality show in a microcosm where-in the known winners win despite their flaws and no matter how good your work is you are presently a nobody and nobody cares about nobody. however, the whole deal being in miami (have i let you know i have nothing but contempt for miami? because i do. i hate it. big time) should set off red-flags in anyone trying to be serious about anything. though, deerhoof and iggypop played and terrence koh was there so now he can buy a spare pair of balenciaga gold leggings or maybe the new latex robot outfits for spring 08? j/k i love t.koh

NewsFlash

So there are talks that "The Devil Wears Prada is in preliminary development to become a stage musical." Barf please no. I mean it was fine as a book and I guess fine as a movie, but theaaaatree no please. I'm just picturing it being even more anti-fashion industry and more pro-underdog. Newsflash: fashion isn't nice, Anne Hathaway, and if you were in real fashion you would not be getting an Ugly Betty style make-over and win the icy hearts of the fashion overlords. You'd be broke and jobless. For real. immadip out and read W.

swiped from fashionista