Prada’s China Repeat, Lenny Collaborates, John Richmond’s Seaside Pop-up
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PRADA VU: Prada will restage its men’s and women’s fall 2022 collection in Beijing on Aug. 5.
The runway show marks the Italian luxury brand’s first return to China’s capital city in 11 years. In 2011, Prada revisited its men’s and women’s spring 2012 collection with added new styles at Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts museum. The same year, Prada went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
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The fall 2022 collection will be shown at Prince Jun’s Mansion, a courtyard hotel in downtown Beijing in the traditional Chinese style, which was formerly the residence of Prince Jun in the Qing dynasty.
“Prince Jun’s Mansion seemed the perfect setting to celebrate once again our ongoing dialogue and commitment to Chinese culture that we have pursued with different activities throughout the years,” Prada co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons said in a press release.
Despite COVID-19-related travel restrictions, the brand sought out creative methods to bring its runway shows to China, one of the brand’s key markets. China sales were up 56 percent compared with 2019 for the 12 months ended Dec. 31. Last September, Prada showcased its women’s spring 2022 ready-to-wear collection simultaneously on catwalks in Milan and Shanghai, a first in fashion history.
In June 2019, Prada skipped Milan Fashion Week to showcase its men’s spring 2020 collection in Shanghai. Minsheng Wharf, the 80,000-ton warehouse, was transformed by OMA/AMO into a neon-lit space with ’80s synth-filled soundscape for the event.
In September 2017, Prada restaged its resort 2018 collection at Rongzhai, the restored historic mansion in Shanghai.
Prada’s Beijing runway show next week will go live at a critical time for the country. The capital city and economic hub is cautious to stick to its Zero-COVID policy ahead of the Communist Party National Congress later this year, when President Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term.
Beijing started easing COVID-19-related restrictions in June, but maintained regular testing every three days for people to enter public venues.
Prada might be the only luxury brand to host a physical runway show in China this year. So far, no luxury brands have hosted a physical fashion show in the country, and according to local PR agencies, none have revealed plans to host offline screening events or large runway shows in China for the rest of the year. — DENNI HU
POWERING UP: Many collaborations are short-lived, with celebrities or influencers flaunting a maximum number of looks for a limited time, and then vanishing once the product runs out.
But Lenny founder Lindsey Davidson and stylist Britt Theodora have come together through an existing camaraderie and professional bond. And while they are unveiling a collaboration of upcycled jeans and T-shirts, they are also thinking about working together long term.
The Los Angeles-based reconstructed denim specialist and the New York-based Theodora first connected through their business coach, Kara Duffy, and they have a number of mutual friends who are also female entrepreneurs. In recent months, including during awards seasons, Theodora handled her L.A.-based jobs in Davidson’s home office.
”Kara is all about us supporting each other and collaborating. She is really straightforward about what we should be charging for our rates or goods for services. Being a woman in business, we can all agree that it is hard to advocate for yourself,” Theodora said. “Since I started working with Kara at the start of COVID[-19], my business has scaled immensely. It’s definitely fun to collaborate with a brand like Lyndsey’s because we’ve both have evolved a lot in the last year alone.”
Having run her own styling business since 2017, she now has “a big, beautiful office on Fifth Avenue,” and is hiring a third team member, she said. Pete Davidson, Kevin Bacon and Elliot Page are among her clients.
Debuting today on Lenny’s site, the collaboration between Davidson and Theodora consists of unisex upcycled jeans and T-shirts. The initiative is rooted in sustainability, since each pair of upcycled jeans are customized based on the wearer’s measurements, but more than that, it amplifies the importance of female entrepreneurship and women working together.
Along with the women’s empowerment theme, Theodora noted how one of her key motivations for being a stylist is to make her clients feel and look their best. In 2020, she started “energy styling,” a concept that plays up color therapy so that not just clients, but also friends and colleagues, understand that you can emanate certain moods by wearing certain colors. “My tagline is, ‘Manifest what you want with what you wear.’” she said. “It really promotes confidence and Lindsey’s jeans are truly the most flattering jeans I have ever worn. What makes them special is they are tailored to your body.”
The $325 collaborative jeans are offered in five colors – yellow, green, red, pink and turquoise. Shoppers at withlovelenny.com can read about each reflects a certain mood such as green, which “helps us relax our muscles and nerves and balance our energy.” There are also $88 T-shirts with hand-stitched symbols. The aim is to sell 200 to 300 items of the upcycled jeans and of the T-shirts.
Photo by Marisa Langley/Courtesy
Started in 2020 as a tie-dye brand, Lenny switched gears to a bespoke denim resource in the fall of 2021. “The whole reason I started Lenny was [to relay] confidence in a pair of jeans. No one likes to not feel good in what they’re wearing. When you have something you feel confident in, it’s almost as though you can take on the world. I know that sounds a little cheesy but it’s true,” Davidson said.
Looking ahead, Davidson and Theodora plan to continue to work together. They are interested in getting a joined office space in Los Angeles next year that could possibly include other creatives.
Asked about how the public’s increased interest in Pete Davidson and in how his style has evolved (since his relationship with Kim Kardashian has hurled him onto the worldwide stage) Theodora said, “he’s really confident in what he wears and he’s not afraid to wear color. He shown how anyone can wear a basic but have a colorful twist to it. That’s something I’ve always felt that anyone can do but he does it in a really fun way.”
The stylist first teamed up with him in 2019 for the comedian’s debut Netflix special. Along with some new clients, Theodora will be working on a yet-to-be-disclosed streaming show and other celebrity styling-related projects. The Lenny founder will be monitoring how the T-shirts are received and she expects to roll out repurposed jackets this fall. There are also a few other collaborations in the works. — ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
BEACH BOUND: John Richmond knows well how to celebrate the summer season.
The Italian brand designed by the namesake British creative director has entered the hospitality market by collaborating with The Cone Club, a beach club located inside the 7Pines Resort, Baja Sardinia.
John Richmond is hosting a pop-up store, which started July 22, and a beach lounge privée characterized by the brand’s rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic. Features include customized interiors, and a store selling beachwear, sunglasses, beach towels and other accessories.
John Richmond is tapping into urf-vibes by including a branded surfboard that will be the main element of the pop-up store.
Courtesy of the brand
The staff that will welcome guests will be dressed head-to-toe in John Richmond outfits. The pop-up and lounge are open for the entire duration of the summer season, until mid-September.
The Cone Club is made up of a restaurant overseen by chef Nicolas Han and Clemens Kriegerowski, a beach resort and wellness services. It opened at the beginning of July and is located inside the 7Pines resort owned by the Hyatt hospitality group. The resort is the first Hyatt affiliate in Sardinia and the second Destination by Hyatt in Europe, after Ibiza.
This year, John Richmond has seen a slate of new collaborations to amplify the brand and diversify its product selection. In July, WWD reported John Richmond launched Unknown Pleasures, an olfactory collection of four genderless fragrances; in March, the brand debuted its first NFT collection — a partnership with cryptocurrency provider Shiba Inu, one of the key players in the blockchain-enhanced ecosystem — and that same month, it unveiled a capsule collection with Playboy.
John Richmond is operated by Arav Group, which also controls the Marcobologna and Silvian Heach brands. In 2017, the group acquired a controlling stake in the fashion house. In 2021, Arav Group reported a turnover of about 40 million euros. — ALICE MONORCHIO
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