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FASHION

Gucci in spotlight as Milan kicks off

Celebrity-packed New York and quirky London have offered up their best efforts under the relentless glare of the catwalk lights and the world's media.

Published: 23 September 2015 13:33 CEST
Gucci in spotlight as Milan kicks off
The eyes of the world's fashionistas are on Milan this week. Photo Gabriel Buoys/AFP

Now it is time for the real heavyweights of Planet Fashion to put their stamp on what well-heeled women the world over will be wearing when the good weather comes around again next year.

Milan's Spring/Summer 2016 shows kicked off on Wednesday in the most optimistic mood Italian industry insiders have known for years thanks to a backdrop of strong sales at home and abroad and a revamp of the city's fashion week infrastructure.

With a new headquarters and exhibition facilities amidst the skyscrapers of the new Porta Nuova business district, organizers are anticipating an upbeat week in a metropolis already enjoying the spinoffs from the buzz generated by Expo 2015, the food-themed world fair that still has another six weeks to run.

All eyes on Gucci

All eyes on the first of six packed days of shows were on Gucci, whose Alessandro Michele was set to unveil his second women's wear collection for the brand after making a flying start in the role he unexpectedly found himself in at the start of the year.

The shaggy-haired Roman went from being an accessories designer known only to fashion insiders to one of the biggest jobs in the industry following the abrupt departure of his long-standing predecessor Frida Giannini.

Famously, he only had five days to finish off Giannini's final menswear collection and barely a month to put his first women's wear show together for the Winter Fall collections in February.

He pulled it off in triumphant fashion with a collection that bore many of the hallmarks of his own, eccentric personal style – best described as a time travel tapestry in which English civil war royalist meets California dropout from the 1970s.
   
Gucci's bosses had said they wanted a new direction to turn around the brand's flagging fortunes, and they got it. Now the world waits to see if Michele can maintain the momentum with his new creations set to be unveiled from 1300 GMT.

Also staging catwalk shows on Wednesday are top Italian brands Fay and Alberta Ferretti, Germany's Philipp Plein and the up-and-coming Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean.

Among the most eagerly awaited shows later in the week will be Norwegian designer Peter Dundas's first since he left Emilio Pucci to return to Roberto Cavalli.

The move followed a decision by the company's eponymous founder and owner to sell out to Italian private equity group Clessidra after 45 years at its helm.

There are also new starts for Arthur Arbesser at Iceberg and Massimo Giorgetti, who has been tipped to go for a total makeover of the Pucci brand after replacing Dundas there.

The Milan shows conclude on Monday, with Giorgio Armani's late morning presentation set to delay the departure of the fashion circus for Paris.

Daizy Shely, known for her arresting and ultra-feminine designs, is this season's beneficiary of Armani's support for young designers with the Israeli granted the use of the veteran's theatre for an eagerly awaited show on Saturday.

Booming sales

Italy's textile and clothing exports, dominated by the high value-added fashion sector, hit a record high in July and the national fashion body Camera della Moda is anticipating growth of 5.5 percent in all sales in 2015.

For an industry that turned over €61.2 billion last year, that translates to a lot of secured jobs and significant margins for new investment.

“Italian fashion has benefited from a stronger dollar and a return of confidence among European and American consumers,” said Gaetano Marzotto, head of the textile group Marzotto.

“It is true that in China, luxury products, watches and jewellery in particular, have seen a fall in sales due to anti-corruption measures, but the accessible luxury that characterises the made-in-Italy trademark have held up well.”
   
Giuseppe Angiolini, honorary chairman of the Italian chamber of fashion buyers, says his compatriots appear to be falling in love with fashion again.

“More than a recovery, I'd say it is an awakening,” he said. “Two years ago everyone was totally fed up with fashion. Now we are seeing customers' desire and interest is back.”

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FASHION

Paris exhibition celebrates 100 years of French Vogue

A new exhibition in Paris will tell the story of 100 years of French Vogue - from the post-war 'New Look' of Christian Dior through the sexual liberation of the 1960s to the dangling-cigarette waifs of the 2000s.

Published: 7 October 2021 08:21 CEST
French Vogue celebrates 100 years
French Vogue celebrates 100 years. Photo: Thomas Olva/AFP

But as well as celebrating the magazine’s storied history, the exhibit comes at a time of turbulence for the publication.

Just last month, it was confirmed that its editor of 10 years, Emmanuelle Alt, was out and wouldn’t be replaced.

She was not alone.

Looking to cut costs, owner Conde Nast International has axed editors across Europe over the past year, and put international Vogue editions under the direct control of global editorial director, Anna Wintour, in New York.

New York-based Anna Wintour now has overall control of French Vogue. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Like much of the media industry, Vogue is struggling with tumbling sales and ad revenue in the digital era.

But the latest twist is also part of the endless push and pull between New York and Paris going back to its early days.

“The whole history of French Vogue is one of back-and-forth with Conde Nast in New York – growing more independent for a while, then being reined back in,” said Sylvie Lecallier, curator of the new exhibition, “Vogue Paris 1920-2020″, which opened this weekend after a year’s delay due to the pandemic.

The Paris edition was often the loftier, more bohemian sibling to its more hard-nosed New York version.

But it was also the hotbed in which much of 20th century style and womenhood came to be defined.

“Paris was the place to hunt out talent and content and bring it to New York,” said Lecallier.

The exhibition charts the evolution from art deco drawings of the 1920s through the erotic image-making of photographers like Helmut Newton in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its last peak was under editor Carine Roitfeld in the 2000s, who brought back a provocative Gallic identity by ridding the newsroom of foreign staff and becoming a fashion icon in her own right.

Her successor, Alt, was a quieter presence, though she still oversaw key moments including its first transgender cover star, Brazilian Valentina Sampaio, in 2017.

But internet culture has created “a perfect storm” for Vogue, says media expert Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis.

“The first 80 years of Vogue’s life, it had the market to itself, it was the bible for fashion,” McCabe told AFP.

“But online today, there are so many other ways to get your information. Influencers, Instagram, YouTube — everyone’s a threat.”

In a world where new fashion trends can blow up around the world in seconds, it has become much harder for a monthly magazine to set the pace.

“It’s not that they can’t survive for another 100 years — but they will be differently sized,” McCabe said.

Vogue has tried to branch out into different areas, including events.

“I used to work for a magazine, and today I work for a brand,” Alt said on the eve of French Vogue’s 1,000th issue in 2019.

But the big money was always in print, and Vogue Paris sales are dropping steadily from 98,345 in 2017 to 81,962 to 2020, according to data site ACPM.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the new top job in Paris, redefined as “head of editorial content”, went to Eugenie Trochu, who was key to building the magazine’s online presence.

She declared herself “thrilled to be part of Vogue’s international transformation”.

For the curator of the exhibition, it is ironic timing.

“We had no idea it would end like this when we started work on the exhibition,” said Lecallier.

“Who knows where it will go from here.”

The exhibition Vogue Paris 1920-2020 is at the Palais Galliera in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. The gallery is open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Tickets for the exhibition are €14 (€12 for concessions and under 18s go free) and must be reserved online in advance. 

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