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Balenciaga’s Fashion Faux Pas: Blacklisting Carine Roitfeld and Her Team From Its Show
By Lauren Sherman
We’re sure it has something to do with advertising. A kerfuffle over pages in a recent issue, maybe? But still, Balenciaga has a lot of nerve not inviting what might be the most commercially influential fashion team in the world to its shows.
Carine Roitfeld told WWD yesterday that Balenciaga had “blacklisted” Vogue Paris, denying any requests for samples, denying requests for tickets to the runway show and cutting all advertising in the magazine.
This seems like the last thing PPR CEO François Pinault would want to do. (PPR owns Balenciaga, which is part of the conglomerate’s Gucci Group.) It just doesn’t make sense. Even if the brand wanted to pull its advertising from the publication, there’s no reason why it would also cease working with the editors. Because really, a Balenciaga look in the editorial pages of Vogue Paris is a free advertisement. And what would possess a business to reject free advertising?
Tags: Balenciaga, Carine Roitfeld, Vogue Paris
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And don't forget that Marie-Amelie Sauve (high level French Vogue staffer) STYLES Balenciaga's shows. Weirder and weirder.
actually she no longer works with VP. so who knows if that means something.
I agree that there's something fishy about Marie-Amelie Sauve and this incident.But this is just a bad bad move on the house. American Vogue might be the best known and loved by common people, but the Paris Vogue is actually the most influential among the fashion crowd. What will Balenciaga get out of this?Oh well, bad publicity is good publicity…
balenciaga is finally reacting to the highly corrupted manners of VP. he's brave.
Corrupted manners of VP??Carine Roitfeld is by far the sweetest and nicest one out of all Vogue editors-in-chief.
Can you elaborate?
Ooh yes swoon584, spill! PS, I heard that Balenciaga don't loan samples to Elle UK. Who knew?
That's bizarre! I always assumed Carine and Nicholas were very close but may be things are not always as they seem! And if Balenciaga is part of the PPR Group, wouldn't they take group action re advertising, etc or is each label run independently to do as they please? Meanwhile Marie-Amelie Sauve has been styling for US Vogue for a while. Very interesting indeed. Can not wait to hear more on this.
No, I mean, PPR can't afford to not advertise in Paris Vogue. There are “group sales people” within the Gucci Group but each brand also has its own sales team.
it's because balenciaga prefers Vogue and Harpers Bazaars and they have limited samples..and its a way of keeping it more exclusive
think of emmanuelle alt styling the balmain, gucci and isabel marant shows plus campaigns and then using tons of their clothes for editorials in VP…and thats only emmanuelle…carine with her close relationship with riccardo at givenchy, using a loooooot of givenchy
pot calling the kettle black, marie-amelie works for balenciaga, chloe, roberto cavelli and up until they folded, phi…
well yes but marie amelie isn't exclusively attached to one magazine, where emanuelle and carine are ONLY working for Vogue paris, plus they do it in a more obvious way, putting givenchy balmain etc on a lot of editorial pages every single month…
I hate to make an obvious point, but maybe they put more of the stuff that they style in the mag because they like it more. I mean, they did style it. These women don't have to do styling jobs just for money. So yes, I'm assuming that Givenchy gets more pages than Balenciaga, but if it's such a big deal to Balenciaga, then their sales people should sort it out with Vogue Paris's sales people. Carine and co. would surely throw some Balenciaga in there if it meant more ad dollars.
balenciaga is crazy about samples regardless. when I worked at a high profile magazine (not a conde or hearst baby) we were allowed to have their samples for maybe a day at a time. we typically got them the day before a shoot and they were ALWAYS picked up on set by mid day. brings the brand to an exclusive level. on a side note, when we did have the samples, it was like staring at couture. his craftsmanship is beyond. there is not one thing out of place, anywhere. but he's also notorious for being incredibly difficult to work with. but at the end of the day, its still fashion. VP (and the rest of us) will survive. p.s. lady sauve is incredible, in whatever magazine/campaign/show she's styling for.
In response to comment above…i agree balenciaga is super crazy with samples…i dealt with the same kind of experience. as for french vogue…I love french vogue, its maybe my number one most favorite magazine. that being said…no matter who you are…if you DO NOT shoot the advertisers, they will pull their pages/samples/black list from shows. its just the way it is…it all comes down to money. not who likes who, or who is friends with who. its a fact. if you dont shoot the advertisers…esp the ones with the most pages…they will be pissed.
WOW i thought Carine and Nicholas were BFFs
integrity.
Head of PR and Nicolas' right hand man (I forget his name but I want to say Phillippe) is apparently a complete nightmare to get round. If he so much as dislikes the placement of a Balenciaga ad in the mag, there is trouble. Not to mention his incredible distaste for mixing the looks which the VP team love to do. So for example, if a Balenciaga jacket is going to be shot with a piece of Marant = more trouble. I believe Nicolas has openly said that the 'fans' that buy the shoes and bags have nothing to do with the authetic clientele. The store on Mount St in London is completely covered by curtains – you would have no idea it's even there. The customers who want the shoes and bags will go to the department stores but the real clients know about the extremely discreet Mount St store that looks so exclusive, it would persuade me not to go in. VERY intimidating. http://layersandswathes.wordpress.com
Great point, Ali.
Good point. It's just sooo hard for me to believe that Roitfeld and co. would be ballsy enough to say no to the Vogue Paris ad sales team on shooting Balenciaga. Like, why would they bother putting their foot down with this specific designer? I feel like Roitfeld knows how to play ball–she wouldn't throw away big money.
What's more exclusive than Paris Vogue? Definitely not Bazaar.
Because Nicolas is real designer who creates with integrity and he's really fed up with this fashion mafia team who is supposed to have a journalist card and makes some lot of money on doing consulting for lot of brands. And when you see curiously a balenciaga jacket on the Balmain or Isabel Marant show, even on Max Mara(!!!) I understand he's very upset. He doesn't want anymore to do with this corruption and he's right! Sorry for my english, I'm French!
lola235, have you been following the conversation? VP makes money FOR the brands it features.
They make money especially for themselves! And don't matter if it's Givenchy or Zadig et Voltaire!! for them it's the same!
Lola, I actually think you do make a very significant point. All the stylists at VP have their own consultancy gigs on the side which makes them a hefty amount of extra cash and I guess also obliges them to feature those brands heavily in the magazine. I think this feud is most definitely connected to Marie-Amelie Sauve and her departure in October. Dare I say it, I wonder if she was fired?! I do also agree with the preservation of some brands. Whereas I love to see things mixed and matched in magazines, sometimes a total look in imperative.
^ Marie-Amelie Sauve hasn't been contributing to VP since the May 09 issue. Her name was officially out of VP's masthead around that time too. US Vogue/Anna Wintour seems to be fond of her so this leads me to guess that Wintour herself wants M.A. to work for her magazine not VP.
There are some very good points here…the last one brought up a very interesting part of this story, Marie-Amelie Sauve has been styling for US Vogue for a while now, and is increasingly a big part of their September issues. So there is NO way this is the war of Vogue's since it's all owned by the same parent company!!! M-A S is also very busy styling shows…and peddles her clients, and as much I personally LOVE Emmanuelle Alt I do believe that Balmain' overall success is not because of great clothes or great innovation, true at Balenciaga, but because he is worn by the right crowd. Same goes for Givenchy, I wear the clothes, but it does not compare to Balenciaga (actually the problem is it DOES compare a little too much) Nicholas' talent is currently the only designer whose input matters on a large scale…NOT because of the stylist or perfume sales, but because he is the golden standard of where fashion will go tomorrow. Sadly after McQueen's death, Nicholas has the burden of a genius all on his own-for now.The conflict is PERSONAL. I do think that Paris Vogue uses Balenciaga…I also know that there is too much common ground-until recently Fabien Baron was the creative director of both…and there are just too many ties. Fun to speculate about though:)!