Month: March 2019

Another September has arrived, which means the beginning of a whirlwind fashion month kicking off in New York. Ahead of the shows, WWD once again asked designers to share the diverse influences that lent creativity to their spring 2019 ready-to-wear collections. In part one of WWD’s two-day coverage, designers appear set to embrace travel, both the concept and physical destinations. Carly Cushnie’s debut effort for Cushnie will look to “Jamaican dance hall culture in the…

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HARAJUKU-BOUND: GU, the trendier and lower-priced sister brand of Japanese apparel retailer Uniqlo, will test a retail concept with a store set to open in Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku district in November. The store, GU Style Studio, will link online and off-line shopping. The new store will encompass about 6,400 square feet of floor space and display samples of GU’s full product lineup for men and women. Customers will be able to see and feel the…

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MAGIC CARPET: Virgil Abloh is set to spark another Paris Fashion Week stampede once again, with a pop-up shop offering a selection of limited-edition Ikea rugs by the designer set to hit the city’s Cité de la Mode et du Design on Sept. 29. Dubbed “Still Loading” — in quote marks bien sûr — the event will serve as a taster for the designer’s home collection with the Swedish retailer due to launch in late 2019.…

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APPEALING TO PRADA: Trying to turn up the pressure on Prada to adopt a fur-free policy, animal protection activists are banding together to launch an international campaign. The coordinated effort is timed for the start of New York Fashion Week, which signals the launch of the more unofficial fashion month as buyers, influencers and editors will be off to London, Milan and Paris. Spearheaded by the Fur Free Alliance, a group of 40 animal-protection organizations…

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NEW STRATEGIES: Contemporary label Me+Em, whose success was built off a pair of trousers, has launched its first concession in Selfridges this week. Located by Selfridges’ denim department, the concession is the fourth retail space the brand has opened since 2017. Since its aggressive retail expansion, sales have increased 48 percent year-over-year, in the financial year ending January 2018 and sales have more than doubled over the past two years. Its success can be chalked…

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FROM L.A. WITH LOVE: A crowd of skaters and BMX riders mingled with the Paris fashion pack at Le Bon Marché on Wednesday evening for the launch of its “Los Angeles Rive Gauche” event, a six-week curation of L.A. designers and themed collections on all three floors of the Left Bank shopping institution. “I love L.A.’s healthy lifestyle,” said French model Constance Jablonski, who named Abbot Kinney institution Gjelina and sushi spot Sugarfish as her favorite…

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Italian label Borsalino has changed hats and is now moving on. Its new owner, private equity group Haeres Equita, is planning the relaunch of the Alessandria-based hat company starting with its fall ad campaign. Shot by Italian photographer Joseph Cardo, the images juxtapose black-and-white background shots and color portraits of models — both male and female — sporting the brand’s fall collection, which includes the brand’s signature men’s fedora style and a women’s field hat…

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SHOE IN: Études is the latest Paris-based label to tango with the Adidas Consortium brand, which commissions young brands to develop new ideas. The Parisian label on Sept. 8 exclusively in its store in the upper Marais district will launch a capsule based on a pack-away rain mac and a spin on the Adidas UltraBOOST sneaker. The latter comes in electric blue with a circle of stars on the foot, nodding to the brand’s signature graphic…

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STREET SMARTS: Contemporary meets sportswear in the new K-Way and Kappa collaboration, which launched Wednesday in London. The two heritage brands have teamed up for a one-off and one-of-a-kind collaboration in a bid to tap into each other’s consumer market. According to Dre Hayes, president of Kappa USA and K-Way USA, the collaboration and the collection came together very naturally. “So many times when brands do collaborations, one brand dominates and what’s interesting is that…

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GROWING BEARD: Veronica Beard will open a 1,300-square-foot store Friday at the Americana Manhasset. The brand already has two boutiques in Manhattan, one in Dallas and one in Los Angeles. The store will feature Beard’s full ready-to-wear collection as well as the Veronica Beard Jeans and shoes categories. Limited-edition styles, collaborations and third-party product will also be available at the Manhasset unit, including Le Specs sunglasses, Jardin and Dannijo jewelry and Sana Jardin fragrance. Codesigners and…

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