Chanel Will Head to Tokyo, Lanvin Celebrates Its Market Debut
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TOKYO BOUND: Chanel said Monday it would hold a repeat show of its 2022-2023 Métiers d’Art collection on June 1 in Tokyo.
The French luxury house made history on Dec. 6 as the first European luxury brand to stage a fashion show in sub-Saharan Africa by unveiling its latest specialty craft-focused lineup in Dakar, Senegal.
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Attended by the likes of Pharrell Williams, Naomi Campbell, Whitney Peak, Nile Rodgers, Princess Caroline of Monaco and her daughter Charlotte Casiraghi, the 2022-2023 Chanel’s Métiers d’Art show was part of a three-day cultural program in the Senegalese capital and “the starting point for an ongoing exchange between the house and Senegal,” the brand noted in a statement.
Staging this repeat of its Métiers d’Art show in Tokyo “reaffirms the strength of its close ties with Japan,” the house continued.
The Japanese capital was the first international destination for this traditionally traveling show that was initiated in 2002 by Chanel’s late creative director Karl Lagerfeld to spotlight the work of its in-house workshops.
Since then, Chanel’s Métiers d’Art shows have alighted in destinations including Shanghai; Rome; Edinburgh, Scotland; Salzburg, Austria; and Havana, Cuba, all cities linked to the fashion house’s history.
Chanel has also regularly staged exhibitions and events in Tokyo, including a repeat of the Paris Cosmopolite show, the Métiers d’Art 2017 collection, which showed in the baroque Tsunamachi Mitsui Club turned into an evocation of the Ritz hotel; and the 2014 reiteration of the Paris-Dallas Métiers d’Art, when Chanel built an expansive Texas saloon-style set in a new skyscraper. — LILY TEMPLETON
BIG NIGHT AFTER A BIG DAY: After ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in the morning, jumping into the whirlwind of Wall Street for the first time, Team Lanvin Group headed to Altro Paradiso in SoHo on Thursday night to celebrate.
“It’s not for business tonight,” said Joann Cheng, chairman and chief executive officer of Lanvin, which raised $150 million and wiped out its debt when it merged with the Primavera Capital Acquisition Corp. SPAC and became a public company.
Cheng noted it was a deal that was both 15 months in the works and, for her at least, featured an element of “destiny.”
“I started my career at KPMG as an accountant,” said Cheng, remembering back to when her then-new husband asked her to name three of her dreams.
“As a very young accountant without any real romantic dreams, I gave him very wild ideas,” she said.
The first was to walk the red carpet. Check.
“My second dream was to get one company listed on the NYSE,” she said, noting that at the time she imagined being chief financial officer and not the CEO.
Check.
“The third dream, I cannot tell you right now,” she said. “I will tell you when it comes true.”
That bears watching as Cheng seems to have a way of making her dreams come true.
Witness the listing itself.
Mitch Garber, investor and Lanvin board member, had a point when he described getting the deal through — with a SPAC and in this market — a “financial miracle.”
But being a public company requires making a financial miracle happen with some regularity.
On that score, Garber said Lanvin — which owns its namesake brand as well as Wolford, Sergio Rossi, St. John Knits and Caruso — had some serious name recognition on its side.
“If everybody knows the brands, then half the work is done,” he said.
The stock market at least started to become more cooperative.
While shares of Lanvin went on a rollercoaster during their first day, trading up over 130 percent only to close down 25.6 percent to $7.37 — the stock was rebounding by Friday, closing up 26.6 percent at $9.66. — EVAN CLARK
LATIN TOUR: Spanish singer Rosalía took over The O2 Arena in the Greenwich Peninsula with more than 20,000 guests for her “Motomami World Tour,” which kicked off in Spain on July 6 and came to an end on Sunday in Paris at the Accor Arena.
Rosalía performed her viral hits including “Saoko”; “Chicken Teriyaki”; “Malamente,” and “Bizcochito,” which has become a TikTok sensation with the singer chewing gum in the intro — fans have been recreating it on the social media app during the duration of her tour, including Simon Jacquemus, who mimicked the gum-chewing gesture at the afterparty for his spring 2023 show.
After the show, American Express hosted an intimate after party in the Amex Lounge at The O2 for card members with a cocktail bar, paella food hall and a special performance by Dominican Italian singer and songwriter, Yendry.
She performed a solo set of her singles “Nena,” “Ki-Ki-” and a new unreleased track that she described as “ being all about the community you get in the Dominican Republic, where there is no privacy with your neighbors.”
In the lounge, illustrator and designer Laura Scribbles set up a small stand personalizing merchandise that features the adage “Keep the Vibe Alive” in her signature street art-inspired designs.
“For this project I had to create a design that worked on both paper and fabric, that could also be customized,” said Scribbles, who started her career as a traditional graphic designer in her hometown of Newcastle, a city in northeast England.
Scribbles is working on launching her own shop, where she will stock prints and original pieces of art which is due to launch next year. — HIKMAT MOHAMMED
ANOTHER DEAL: Gruppo Piacenza SpA is not done with its acquisitions yet.
The Biella, Italy-based textile specialist revealed Friday it has acquired Arte Tessile Snc, a little more than one month after taking over Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti.
Based in Busto Arsizio in the Lombardy region, Arte Tessile was founded in 1984 and specializes in patternmaking for jacquard and raschel textiles. Its acquisition will provide additional expertise to Piacenza.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“The acquisition will enable us to internalize this [textile-making] phase and be more creative and rapid, ensuring service continuity,” said Vasiliy Piacenza, Gruppo Piacenza’s brand manager. He touted the company’s secrecy toward its clients as among its values and anticipated plans to expand the Varese-based company’s portfolio to clients in the furniture and home decor sector.
Gruppo Piacenza has operated a successful business banking on its high-end textiles, also dipping its toes in ready-to-wear via its Piacenza 1733 menswear brand, which showcased its spring 2023 collection at Pitti Uomo last June.
In 2020, the textile specialist acquired Lanificio Piemontese, another Biella-based woolen mill, signaling its commitment to grow its manufacturing scope and in sync with the sector’s mergers and acquisitions environment, defined by increased alliances, as reported.
Last November, the company revealed a takeover of Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti, 10 months after the death of Nino Cerruti, buying out London-based fund Njord Partners’ 80 percent interest in the textile firm and the Cerruti family’s 20 percent stake. — MARTINO CARRERA
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