Sabyasachi Mukherjee Sweeps London, Bernard Arnault Makes an Impression in China
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ANIMAL INSTINCTS: Maximalist designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee swept into London, and into British royal circles this week, bearing a host of special creations.
He showed his high jewelry collection at Lancaster House, next door to St. James’s Palace, and created the white elephant-shaped shola masks that King Charles III and Queen Camilla wore to the Animal Ball, a fundraiser in aid of the Elephant Family charity on Wednesday night.
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Elephant Family is a charity cofounded by Mark Shand, Queen Camilla’s late brother, that works to protect Asia’s wildlife and natural landscapes.
“Save the elephants, and then you save the forest — and then you save yourself,” Shand told W Magazine, WWD’s former sister publication, in 2008. The charming Shand fell for his first elephant, Tara, in the ’80s and always said the encounter changed his life.
Mukherjee is on the same page as Shand.
He described his high jewelry collection, which he called The Animal Ball Edition, as a collection of “modern heirlooms” and an homage to endangered animals, with pieces crafted by heritage artisans.
The high jewelry pieces on display at Lancaster House were statement with a capital “S,” and as fat and colorful as summer fruits. Artisans used techniques such as hand-enamelling on gold; weaving precious stones and pearls using silk thread, and hand molding and setting precious stones in gold.
One necklace featured a 109.95-carat Zambian emerald, while a jewel-encrusted bracelet showcased a 10.14-carat tourmaline. The Lancaster House display was dizzying. Prices were on request.
A day after unveling the high jewelry collection, Mukherjee made another big reveal, handing traditional white shola masks to the king and queen. He said the masks were made by hand using age-old artisanal techniques and materials by the master craftspeople of Bengal.
Shola refers to the craft of carving sholapith, a spongey cork from an aquatic plant that grows in the marshlands of Bengal. The king’s and queen’s masks were featured two ornate elephant heads with the trunks touching.
Other masked guests on Wednesday night at Lancaster House included Kristin Scott Thomas, Christian Louboutin, Brian May and Marc Quinn.
“The Elephant Family and I are committed to similar, but different, missions,” Mukherjee said. “While I aim to preserve endangered heritage crafts, they conserve endangered wildlife and habitats. It’s my privilege and honor to be a part of their cause.”
Sabyasachi’s business is in expansion mode. He has flagship stores in major cities across India; a jewelry boutique in Dubai, and his first international flagship launched in New York last year. — SAMANTHA CONTI
SUMMER LAUNCHES: Gucci is marking summer with several new activations at its East Hampton boutique. Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura Beverly Hills, the Michelin-starred Los Angeles restaurant that is one of the city’s most coveted reservations, is appearing out east this summer and is partnering with Sant Ambroeus on a special edition cookie. Mattia Agazzi and Tamara Rigo, head chef and pastry chef of Gucci Osteria, respectively, have collaborated with the team at Sant Ambroeus to create a Gucci touch on Sant Ambroeus’ fan favorite Ventaglio al Caffé cookie. The cookie tin, which launches Friday and is available for sale exclusively in the Hamptons for $45, is decorated with historical motifs from the Gucci Archive.
Gucci East Hampton will also feature new pieces from the Gucci Summer Stories, a collection of warm-weather pieces, and the boutique’s windows will be specially designed for the Fourth of July weekend.
The East Hampton store will be the sole U.S. location to offer exclusive pieces from the Vault Summer collection with Agua by Agua Bendita. Vault, Gucci’s experimental concept store, will stock pieces from eight different brands: Agua by Agua Bendita, emerging New York designer Connor McKnight; Parisian menswear brand Husbands; Judith Leiber Couture; Maison Michel hats; Prounis Jewelry; Rowing Blazers and, finally, Vans. — LEIGH NORDSTROM
FORTUNE TOUR: After a day trip in Beijing, Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, spent Wednesday in Chengdu and Thursday in Shanghai during his whirlwind China trip.
Customers who caught wind of his whereabouts crowded shopping malls to glimpse him up close. Perhaps their only chance to see the man of such great fortune in person, they documented his visit with enthusiasm and deity-like worship, hailing him as “the god of fortunes.”
Despite a growing number of fortune-seekers trekking along at every stop, Arnault took his time to inspect many LVMH-owned retail outposts in detail.
Arnault and a group of LVMH executives, including his daughter, Delphine Arnault, chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture; his youngest son Jean Arnault, director of marketing and development, Louis Vuitton watches; Michael Schriver, LVMH group president North Asia; Charles Delapalme, CEO of Christian Dior Couture; Pietro Beccari, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, were joined by the head of local retail partners on his store visits, which included Sino–Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, Chengdu IFS, Chengdu SKP, Shanghai’s Taikoo Li Qiantan, HKRI Taikoo Hui, Zhang Yuan, Shanghai IFC and Plaza 66.
“The weather was amazing, the mall was packed, Mr. Bernard Arnault was even more gracious, kinder and happier than the last time he visited,” Molly Wu, general manager of Sino–Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu shared on Xiaohongshu, the popular social commerce platform.
Arnault’s high-profile China trip is viewed as an effective strategy to reiterate the importance of the China market and boost team morale.
“The move is to tell shoppers and local partners that the company is confident and has high hopes for the future of the China market, especially now that the market is experiencing an uneven economic recovery,” said Ting Zhou, dean of Yaok Institute, a luxury research and consulting organization in China.
“The head of luxury brands want to be on the ground to obtain more firsthand information that will better inform their decision-making process and management strategy,” Zhou added.
According to sources on Chinese social media, Arnault will be heading to Hong Kong Friday.
Despite an uncertain economic outlook, the China market continues to be a main driver of growth for LVMH, and helped lift group revenue by 17 percent in the first quarter.
Arnault’s China visit follows trips made by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, to Beijing last month. In recent months, Chinese authorities have been keen to woo global executives to assuage concern that the country is closing off to foreign business despite last December’s reopening.
During the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin this Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged countries to “strengthen dialogue, bridge differences and enhance consensus to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations.”
Li said China “firmly opposes politicizing economic and trade issues” and stressed that “openness and cooperation should be cherished.”
Li concluded his speech by saying that China remains confident that it would achieve this year’s economic growth target of “around 5 percent.” He remained confident that second-quarter gross domestic product growth could surpass first quarter’s 4.5 percent. — DENNI HU
RESALE PLANS: Italy’s Giglio.com is the third luxury e-tailer to team up with Vestiaire Collective globally, entering the resale model, seen overall as a strong driver for the high-end sector.
Following in the footsteps of Mytheresa and LuisaViaRoma, which inked similar deals over the past couple of years, the publicly listed online shopping destination is leveraging Vestiaire Collective’s prowess and equity in the secondhand market to launch its own circular project.
It will enable its customers to sell their previously worn fashions in exchange for credits to be spent on new goods on the e-commerce site. Giglio.com will offer clients adopting the service a premium on each sold item corresponding to 10 percent of the sold good’s value.
“This prestigious partnership seamlessly marries our value-driven trajectory in terms of environmental sustainability and circular economy awareness-raising approach in the fashion industry,” said Giuseppe Giglio, president and chief executive officer of Giglio.com.
The project kicks off Thursday and is extended to customers in Europe, the U.K. and the U.S. Both e-commerce platforms will launch a landing page dedicated to the initiative, which will involve around 50 brands at start.
“Providing our clients with the possibility to give a second chance to their garments is a new step toward a more responsible shopping experience, strengthening our positioning as trend setters in the sector,” Giglio said.
The retailer, which has operated five physical boutiques in Palermo, Italy, since 1965, and added an online platform in 1996, posted sales of 51.1 million euros in 2022, up 35 percent year-over-year. In 2021, the company landed on the Milan Bourse, listing its shares on the AIM Italia, the Stock Exchange’s program dedicated to small and medium-size companies.
Dounia Wone, chief impact officer at Vestiaire Collective, touted the partnership as another step in spearheading a circular transition of the fashion sector.
“We’re enthusiastic to keep collaborating with some of the most important players in the sector to shape a more sustainable future,” she said. “Our positive impact on the fashion industry grows as our collective [of partnering companies] increases,” she added. — MARTINO CARRERA
DRESSING UP: As summer gets underway, women and men are stepping out with dressier wardrobes. U.S. sales for adult tailored clothing and other dress clothing increased by 5 percent from January through April, 2023, led by men’s dress shirts, men’s suits and women’s skirts. In fact, the dress clothing market is larger than it was pre-pandemic, with sales revenue 8 percent higher than 2019 levels, according to Circana, formerly IRI and The NPD Group.
“Hybrid work is also hybrid play,” said Maria Rugolo, apparel industry analyst at Circana. “Dressier trends, coinciding with the return to offices, events, travel and other activities, have consumers mixing and matching how they are wearing their wardrobes a reflection of the hybrid lifestyle that has become second nature to many. Men and women are pairing styles together in non-traditional ways, such as from wearing blazers with shorts and active pants with dressier tops. This year, the fusion of casual and dress attire is particularly prominent. People want their apparel to be adaptable.”
In the women’s market, sales of dresses showed a slight dip this year, following a spike last year, as consumers likely made replenishment purchases. However, the market for dresses is still 12 percent larger than it was in 2019, and dresses are currently the top-selling clothing items in the overall apparel market, according to Circana.
In the men’s category, higher-priced suits are leading sales in the tailored clothing business and are the highest they have been since the pre-pandemic period. — LISA LOCKWOOD
POP FASHION: Iconic looks in pop cultures designed by British fashion designers — such as the swan dress designed by Marjan Pejoski that Björk wore to the Oscars in 2001 and a Harri latex suit worn by Sam Smith to this year’s Brit Awards — will go on display at the upcoming “Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion” exhibition at the Design Museum.
More details about the exhibition, which aims to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the British Fashion Council’s Newgen program and will run from Sept. 16 to Feb. 11, 2024, were revealed Thursday.
The exhibition will also showcase the outfit Harry Styles wore in his music video for “Golden” by S.S. Daley; a neon purple dress from Christopher Kane’s debut spring 2007 catwalk collection; the upcycled Union Jack jacket by Russell Sage that was worn by Kate Moss for British Vogue, and the Molly Goddard blue ruffle dress Rihanna wore and which later went viral on Instagram.
Together, the showcase will feature around 100 looks from groundbreaking debuts and early collections, and these items will be shown alongside films, drawings, memorabilia and never-before-seen archive material from some of these U.K.-based designers.
The swam dress, for example, was first unveiled at Pejoski’s Newgen runway show in London for fall 2001, where it was spotted by the singer, who also wore it on the cover for her fourth studio album Vespertine. The dress has only ever been on public display twice in New York before, meaning that its presence in the exhibition marks the very first time it is to be seen by the public in the U.K.
In total, more than 300 designers who graduated from the Newgen program, including Christopher Raeburn, Erdem, Kim Jones, JW Anderson, Craig Green, Mary Katrantzou, Molly Goddard, Simone Rocha, Priya Ahluwalia, Saul Nash, Grace Wales Bonner, Bianca Saunders and Nensi Dojaka, will be referenced in the exhibition. — TIANWEI ZHANG
NEW STORES: Isabel Marant has expanded her retail fleet to 81 stores, with the opening of new stores in Tokyo and East Hampton, New York.
In Tokyo, Marant teamed up with Japanese artist Yutaka Sone to create Yellow House, which showcases the brand’s ready-to-wear and accessories collections.
The focal point of Yellow House is a striking, large-scale artwork facade, drawing inspiration from Sone’s earlier series, “Power of Ten” and “Obsidian” — two series that involve an intense study of obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly.
Spanning more than 2,152 square feet, the architecture conveys a passion for art and craftsmanship. Marant plays with the space, cutting out patches from the ceiling — as if they were dress patterns — or playing with vibrant colored Sone obsidian stones, carved wooden units and fluffy Berber sofas. The Terrazzo floor, custom made by Marant herself, is dotted with natural stones and glass bringing traces of nature into urban life.
“We are thrilled to partner with Yutaka Sone for our new shop in Tokyo Aoyama,” said Isabel Marant, founder and creative director. This collaboration allows us to merge different perspectives and disciplines, creating something new and unique that transcends the boundaries of our individual fields.”
The Tokyo store carries Marant’s full range of men’s and womenswear, including the brand’s dresses, relaxed tailoring, Oskan Moon bag and Balskee wedge sneakers. To celebrate the opening, Marant and Sone will host an exclusive launch event on July 6.
The Hamptons store marks Marant’s first store on Long Island’s East End, opening in June at 66 Newton Lane in East Hampton, New York.
The 904-square-foot boutique draws inspiration from the ’70s French experimental movement. The store, which features Marant’s main line for women, Isabel Marant Etoile collection and accessories, showcases a variety of furniture pieces, including a jewelry and sunglasses display and wooden podiums designed by Rotterdam designer Jonas Lutz, concrete and ceramic planters by Parisian artist Kalou Dubus, as well as ceramic glazed podiums developed by the Spanish studio Apparatu. — L.L.
GARMENT GRANTS: New York State is prepared to award $4.5 million in grants to garment industry brands through its NY Forward program.
On Thursday, Manhattan Borough president Mark Levine announced an open call for any organization or individual seeking funding for a capital project in the Garment District NY Forward-designated area, which is defined as between 34th and 42nd Streets between Fifth and Ninth Avenues.
To be eligible, the projects must, among other things, contribute to the economic revitalization of the Garment District, by creating or retaining jobs, supporting area businesses, improving quality of life, activating public spaces, supporting affordability and achieving climate goals. The projects can also include development or rehabilitation of real estate, public spaces, signage or district branding.
Interested parties can apply at garmentdistrictnyf.com to ensure they meet the criteria.
“The NY Forward funding signifies an incredible opportunity for the Garment District, emphasizing the pivotal role this district plays in the economic dynamism of Manhattan and the midtown region,” Levine said. “This financial boost sets the stage for transformational developments in an area that’s already flourishing and robust.”
In addition to this open call for proposals, there will be opportunities for Garment District companies to learn more about NY Forward in the coming months, including public events slated for July and September. — JEAN E. PALMIERI
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