And so the JC Penney mass exodus continues.
The latest Ron Johnson (the recently ousted former CEO) hire to leave the struggling retailer? Beloved menswear street style dandy, Nickelson Wooster, who was appointed to a creative director position back in April of last year.
Every day, we receive numerous pitches touting the “next big thing” in e-commerce. Usually, these websites, apps and tools are way too complicated, useless, annoying, or all of the above to ever actually catch on. Occasionally, something special like Gilt Groupe, Moda Operandi, or Rent the Runway emerges. Farfetch, the online hub for independent boutiques, is one of those rare successes. And now, with another $20 million in funding—a round led by Conde Nast—Farfetch founder José Neves wants to revolutionize how e-commerce and traditional retail work together.
I spoke with Neves, who is spending some time in New York, earlier this week.
Yigal Azrouël Inc. has just named a new CEO with some pretty valuable experience. Christopher Candland will take over for Donata Minelli, who left in January to become a business consultant.
Previously, Candland was vice president of finance and operations and acting chief financial officer of SMCP Group, where he launched the buzzy Sandro and Maje brands.
Glastonbury and Lollapalooza may have come first. Bonnaroo and Bestival may have more indie cred. But no music festival offers a mix of undone glamour, across-the-board genres and good weather quite like Coachella–making it the most “fashion-y” festival of them all. Yet the sponsorship-heavy event is polarizing: Even a passing mention of this Southern California musical festival elicits a range of emotions, from nervous excitement to downright anger. The cool kids think it’s overwrought with hype and inappropriate feather headdresses, yet hardcore festival goers can’t get enough.
Still, fashion bands are clamoring to be involved with Coachella–whether by sponsoring an event, or landing a coveting spot in a festival style market story. So it is still worth it?
J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is out, according to a press release sent out by the company. The store’s former CEO, Mike Ullman, will replace him. This news should not come as a surprise to anyone who’s been watching the Penney saga unfold. Johnson, a former Apple and Target exec who joined J.C. Penney in November 2011, tried to bring the long-struggling store into the 21st Century with an updated design, tons of designer collaborations, lower prices, and the elimination of discounts. (Each of these tactics, particularly the last one, alienated what’s left of Penney’s loyal customers. People are creatures of habit. They’re used to markdowns. Even if a product is cheaper in the first place, they can’t help but want to see it discounted.)
Anyway, Johnson also brought in some great brands to Penney, including Martha Stewart (whoops, that resulted in a lawsuit), Michelle Obama favorite Duro Olowu, MNG by Mango and Joe Fresh. These were all great prospects. But no matter how hard Johnson tried, no matter how good his strategy was, it was never going work. Here’s why.
The heads are starting to roll at Lululemon in the aftermath of that whole see-through yoga pants controversy and subsequent recall.
So what does that mean for the privacy of your ass?
The sheer pants issue is going to cost the company a whopping $67 million (not to mention all the embarrassing headlines about asses they’ve had to endure over the last few weeks), and now the company is taking action.
If you’re a young designer just starting out and you sell your collection to a reputable retailer, it’s reasonable to assume that you’d receive timely payment in return, right? Nope, not necessarily.
Business of Fashion talked to some London-based designers who have had some pretty appalling experiences with retailers–late payments, unfair payment plans, and even no payments, leaving them and their fledgling businesses in bad shape.
Two concept stores, London’s LN-CC and Milan’s Corso Como, were cited as major offenders.
Today, KCD will host its seasonal open house, where market editors, stylists and other fashion types will be given the opportunity to see the latest collections from the PR powerhouse’s roster of brands—including Givenchy, Chloe and Marc by Marc Jacobs—up-close.
Mostly everyone attends KCD’s press day because it’s filled with great brands that magazines (and, increasingly, websites) want to shoot. That’s why it’s such a coup for three-year-old accessories line Reece Hudson to show its Fall 2013 collection alongside KCD’s clients. As an emerging label, the company can’t afford to pay KCD a monthly retainer for representation. But designer Reece Solomon and business partner Max Stein are mentored by KCD senior vice president of public relations, Renee Barletta, through the CFDA incubator program.
It looks like American Apparel might finally be out of the woods. That is, if Dov Charney’s 2012 paycheck is any indication.
That whole yoga pants problem is coming back to bite Lululemon in the (see-through) ass. Earlier this week the company issued a recall on black pants made with its signature Luon fabric, because they were found to be too sheer. After an earnings call with investors yesterday, we now know how the issue is going to affect Lululemon’s bottom (haha) line.
PPR has left the building. It’s no longer a thing.
The name, that is.
As was rumored, the luxury conglomerate today announced that it will change its name to *drumroll please* …
Insta. Tweet. Pin. Vine. Get up from your seat, and repeat.
That sums up Fashion Month for many of us. And with new social media outlets steadily emerging, that part of the job doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon.
But whose posts truly resonate with followers? PR agency Krupp Group teamed up with Curalate—an analytics firm that focuses on social platforms including Pinterest and Instagram—to see which images performed the best. So we’ve put together a list of the top 10 Instagram images from New York, London, Milan and Paris.
Click through to see who topped the Instagram charts.
