Must Read: Stan Smith Signs Lifetime Deal With Adidas Originals, Coach Collaborated With Chinese Artists for Its Pre-Fall Show in Shanghai
Plus, another reason behind Chanel's exotic skin ban.
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday.
Stan Smith signs lifetime deal with Adidas Originals
Despite having once been the winner of the 1971 U.S. Open and 1972 Wimbledon tournaments, Stan Smith is, perhaps, now best known for his work with Adidas on a simple white leather sneaker with a green heel tab and perforated sides. The 45-year-old shoe is still one of the brand's top-selling sneakers, which is why Adidas Originals has decided to sign a lifetime deal with Smith. The sportswear giant will celebrate its partnership with the tennis legend with the release of a sneaker named #StanSmithForever that honors the shoe's original design. It will be available to purchase on Dec. 8. {WWD}
Coach collaborated with Chinese artists for its Pre-Fall 2019 show in Shanghai
French and Italian brands are running to New York to show their Pre-Fall 2019 shows, while American brands are running far, far away: Coach is presenting its own Pre-Fall 2019 collection in Shanghai on Saturday. For the show, Stuart Vevers asked four Chinese artists to reinterpret Coach's dinosaur mascot. The four collaborators are graphic artist Guang Yu, ink painter and multimedia artist Zhu Jingyi, sculptor Sui Jianguo and the music collective Yeti Out. {Vogue}
Another reason behind Chanel's exotic skin ban
There was likely more to Chanel's decision to ban exotic skins than just ethics: The French luxury house relied on a wide range of third-party farms for its supply of exotic skins, as opposed to many of its luxury competitors who owned their own farms. As a result, Chanel is increasingly shut out from the highest quality materials. The label therefore decided to remove itself from the game altogether, instead of trying to compete with a serious disadvantage. {Business of Fashion}
Farfetch introduces visual search feature
On Friday, Farfetch upped its digital game with the launch of an in-app, iOS visual search feature called "See It, Snap It, Shop It." The feature analyzes pictures uploaded by customers and then serves up either the specific product or something similar. The move is meant to improve discovery and give customers a reason to shop with Farfetch for a product, even if they discovered it outside of the e-commerce platform. {Glossy}
Why fashion has fallen for "premium mediocre"
In the age of Instagram, where a logo is more important than the product itself, brands are increasingly dressing up something mediocre instead of giving us pure luxury goods. "The major purveyors of premium mediocre fashion tend to be American — Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Tory Burch are the super stars here. They have built highly successful businesses by peddling goods in the mid-hundreds-dollar range to the masses, and by marketing them with the oxymoron 'affordable luxury,'" argues Eugene Rabkin. {Business of Fashion}
Meghan Markle is getting a mini musical
The BBC is gifting the Duchess of Sussex with a mini musical for Christmas, titled "The Sixth in Line to be King and I." Airing on New Year's Day, the 15-minute "Rodgers and Hammerstein-inspired" comedy will portray Meghan Markle's life to date and look ahead to 2019, when she'll give birth to a royal baby. {British Vogue}
Catbird teamed up with the ACLU on an RBG-inspired pendant
In celebration of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Catbird teamed up with the ACLU and Participant Media's film "On the Basis of Sex" to create a limited-edition pendant. Designed in Catbird's in-house studio using sustainably sourced mother of pearl, the pendant features an inscription adapted from a letter RBG wrote to a fellow justice. All of the proceeds from the pendant, which you can shop here, will be donated to the ACLU Women's Rights Project. {Fashionista inbox}
