While we wait for Spring to kick in, let's have a re-cap of everything that's happened in fashion this week. Hot water bottles at the ready....
1. PPR CHANGES ITS NAME
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| Francois Pinault proudly points at his business's new logo (image via reuters.com) |
“Kerching”? we hear you question, possibly to represent the fashion giant’s ever full cash register? Or do they mean “Caring” (pronounced in a sophisticated Franglais accent, “Kering”? Well, we were closer with the latter. The company’s fifth name since it listed on the Paris stock exchange in 1988 is supposed to evoke the idea of caring. It is derived from “ker,” meaning home in Breton, a language spoken in Brittany, France, where Pinault’s family comes from, and “ing,” expressing the idea of movement, the CEO said today. And to top it all off the logo is adorned with an abstract image of an owl (I know, you can’t quite see it) and the tagline ‘Empowering Imagination’.
LLG just went straight ahead and said what we were all thinking her apt tweet today-
How much cash do you think PPR paid to have someone come up with Kering? What a waste of time and money
Snide Parisians have apparently been accusing Celine's Phoebe Philo of a scandalous rip-off. One of her AW13 coats looks rather similar to a Geoffrey Beene design which was photographed in 2004 by Jack Deutsch. It's the sleeves which have done it; Beene's concept involved tying them together at the front of the body, similarly Philo's version has sleeves made redundant with a knot but also becomes a wearable cape with armholes inserted at the side. It's unclear whether Beene's design incorporates this detail. Anyway, Philo told US Vogue recently that she's "nothing but flattered" by copies of her designs, maybe Beene fans should look at it that way?
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| Geoffrey Beene/ Celine: ties up coats (image via artinfo.com) |
A few weeks ago, these gorgeous images were released to get us all excited about Mad Men season 6. They're beautiful, atmospheric and phenomenally stylish....
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| Mad Men season 6 images via collider.com |
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| Bad fashion at the Mad Men season 6 premiere (via dailymail.co.uk) |
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| Kiernan Shipka saves the fashion day (image via dailymail.co.uk) |
Mulberry issued its second profit warning in sixth months today, blaming the lack of interest from overseas travellers wanting the heritage brand bags on their visits to British shores. "After three years of rapid growth, Mulberry has experienced a year of consolidation whilst we build the foundations for future growth," said CEO Bruno Guillon. We blame Alexa for moving across the pond.
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| Mulberry AW13, maybe they should start selling dogs? (image via vogue.co.uk) |
Spring Breakers is out in a couple of weeks, April 5th to be precise. It's directed by Harmony Korine, the indie director who's also famous for cult 90s films like Kids and Gummo. He's married to Rachel Korine, a 26 year-old actress who now gets a big part in the film about the notorious US Spring Break phenomenon which has obsessed her husband for a few years. She tells WWD that he went away for two weeks to research the film, and came back with the script written. We're wondering what went on in those two weeks?
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| Harmony and Rachel Korine (image via crushable.com) |
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| Rachel Korine looking all grown up and prim in Preen for WWD |
Is Armani Exchange trying to cut some edge? After recent collabs with the ubiquitous but brilliant RiRi and tie-ups with Nylon and Coachella can their re-hire of Patrick Robinson (he has worked for the Italian mainline label before) bring some cool back to the brand? The designer was dismissed from Gap in 2011, after only working four years at the company his high fashion sensibility was apparently lost on Gap customers. Since, Robinson has been a busy man, last week announcing his new luxury sportswear line Pashko, so far funded by Kickstarter. Another out of reach high end active wear range we really want to get our hands on.
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| Patrick Robinson (via gq.com) |
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| Beautiful sportswear from Pashko by Patrick Robinson (image via thefabulousreport.com) |
There has been some confusion about whether R-Patz is actually going to be starring in new Dior menswear ads sometime soon. A new twist in the story this week from The Sun which reports that just a few days after news broke of his girlfriend Kristen Stewart's affair with Rupert Sanders, Pattinson was having a foursome in the name of Dior. The Sun's source revealed that "he takes part in a foursome in various states of undress... he didn't take much persuading to get into role." If all this is true, then there will be some very happy people in the world when the ads are released.
7. NAOMI CAMPBELL BRINGS THE FACE TO THE UK
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| Coco Rocha, Naomi Campbell and Karolina Kurkova do The Face in the Us (image via sheisdiva.com) |
Mentored by Naomi Campbell, 24 aspiring Brit models will appear on the Sky Living show to battle it out, ultimately becoming ‘the face’ (clever) of an international brand. It hasn't yet been revealed whether Rocha and Kurkova will reprise their roles as mentors.
Princess Productions are holding auditions at the start of April – APPLY NOW!
And if you are a complete novice, make sure you read R29’s guide on how to take a great photo to have half a chance of becoming…The Face.
8. FINALLY, A PRADA VIDEO
Iti sa truth universally acknowledged that Prada make great films. Their Wes Anderson/ Roman Coppola hook-up to promote L'Eau Candy is going to be strung out over the next four weeks. Here's a the first teaser... Happy Weekend!
