Saint Laurent’s New Jewelry, Aspesi Does Eyewear, Saks’ Mental Mission
GOING FOR GOLD: Saint Laurent is the latest European brand to expand into the fizzy market for fine jewelry.
Its first collection, unveiled this week on the French brand’s online store, social media channels and in select flagships, includes takes on the house’s Cassandre and Le Maillon motifs.
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The Cassandre is the famous vertical YSL logo, which has appeared as shoe heels and handbag hardware, while the Maillon depicts oversized links of a chain for a touch of tough glamour. (“Maillon” is the French word for links.)
Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello, who has made statement jewelry a key feature of his trenchant runway fashion statements, employed 18-karat gold, diamonds and other precious materials to create a range of bracelets, cuffs, necklaces and earrings.
Retail prices range from about $790 for an 18-karat gold Cassandre logo stud earring up to $48,000 for an oversized gold chain bracelet. A twisted cuff bracelet in recycled white gold goes for $7,990.
The house bills them as functional, collectible and timeless, capturing “the forward-looking outlook and exacting Parisian excellence of the house.”
Campaign images by Juergen Teller depict models dressed in sleek jersey gowns and interacting with house plants, water spigots and a handsaw. Wrists are particularly loaded up, as they have been at several recent Saint Laurent fashion shows.
A host of Europe’s top luxury brands have added fine or high jewelry collections in recent years, including the likes of Balmain, Gucci and Prada. — MILES SOCHA
THIRD EYE: Aspesi is dipping its toes into eyewear, embracing the category via a partnership with niche Italian brand Retrosuperfuture.
In combining both brands’ quintessentially Milanese roots, the capsule comprises two sunglass styles and a jacket.
Retrosuperfuture’s signature Milano sunglasses, inspired by the sleek frames of the 1950s, have been rendered in a black acetate frame with matching black lenses and a silver frame and mirror lenses versions. They both come with a quirky touch, a third eye-shaped enamel in the eyewear’s internal bridge.
Similarly, the cobranded overshirt, inspired by Aspesi’s Mod. 13 padded jacket, has been reinvented for the collaboration, rendered in a double faced nylon version crafted from a lightweight Japanese technical fabric on one side and from olive green shiny nylon on the other, the latter face bearing a hand-sewn orange patch at the back with details on the capsule collection.
“It is said that a military uniform is a symbol of a soldier’s identity, while sunglasses provide a veil of obscurity, allowing one to witness the world without revealing their true self. And yet, when a third eye is nestled within the frame of those shades, the world becomes anew — a kaleidoscope of colors, perspectives, and possibilities, waiting to be seen through a different lens,” said Lawrence Steele, creative director of Aspesi since 2021.
“In bringing together the military uniform and sunglasses, adorned with a third eye, one embodies the very essence of an adventurer — daring to unearth new outlooks while safeguarding their identity, as they wander into uncharted territories,” he added.
Hitting Retrosuperfuture’s and Aspesi’s retail channels starting Monday, the collection retails between 260 euros for sunglasses and 460 euros for the overshirt.
“Growing up in Milan in the late ‘80s, I always loved Aspesi’s ability to be so minimally essential yet so playfully fresh,” said Sean Michael Beolchini, creative director at Retrosuperfuture. “We were thrilled about working with such an iconic brand and a creative director whom we respect so much like Lawrence Steele.”
Founded in 2007 by Daniel Beckerman, Retrosuperfuture received a majority investment from Renzo Rosso’s family investment vehicle Red Circle in 2019. The brand has developed a range of collaborations over the years with high-end labels including Off-White, Paco Rabanne, APC, Carhartt and Vans. This week it ventured into gaming by forging ties with Razer, the Irvine, California-based lifestyle brand geared at the gaming community, as reported. — MARTINO CARRERA
FOUNDATION MISSION: Saks Fifth Avenue has launched a multifaceted campaign that spotlights the importance of mental well-being and raises funds to support the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation’s mission to make mental health a priority in every community.
For the campaign, Saks has partnered with mental health and wellness influencer Yasmine Cheyenne to create custom content that will be published across Saks-owned digital platforms throughout the month of May, including interviews and videos on Saks’ social media channels and an exclusive feature on The Edit, Saks’ online editorial hub for fashion news and style inspiration.
Saks has also worked with Cheyenne to curate a collection of wellness items that can be used this month and throughout the year to help customers support their well-being, including a mindfulness journal, yoga gear, skin care products and meditation cushions. The offering is available to purchase at saks.com/mentalhealth.
Throughout the month, Saks will donate 10 percent of online sales from the curated wellness array and Saks Fifth Avenue brand merchandise to the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation, which supports nonprofits working to increase mental health awareness and education, improve access of care and promote the tools and skills that build positive mental health for those who need it most.
On Friday at 2 p.m. EST, Cheyenne will host a virtual event on Saks’ digital events platform, Saks Live, to share her tips for reducing anxiety, increasing happiness and finding simple daily practices that can help support positive mental health and self-healing.
Since its founding in 2017, Saks Fifth Avenue and the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation have donated more than $6 million to U.S. mental health initiatives and reached more than 6.6 million individuals with messages that combat the shame and stigma surrounding mental health struggles. The foundation’s primary mental health partners are Bring Change to Mind, Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, Girls Inc., Inspiring Children Foundation and The Trevor Project. — LISA LOCKWOOD
ALL ABOUT THE BAG: DeMellier has launched a high summer collection with Matchesfashion as a result of its success with the luxury retailer.
The accessories brand is led by Mireia Llusia-Lindh, a Harvard graduate and former luxury strategy adviser to firms such as Burberry and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
In June 2022, it was reported in WWD that her business is on track to become a $50 million brand in the next three years.
“We’ve been performing very well, so that’s why they came to us with the idea of doing a capsule,” Llusia-Lindh told WWD on a Zoom call with Adele White, head of wholesale at DeMellier.
The brand launched with Matchesfashion in May of last year and this is the first time they’ve collaborated with a retailer on an exclusive collection. The two teams met in November to discuss the idea.
“They really wanted to go after a high summer theme. They definitely saw an opportunity there and we’ve done canvas stripe bags within our whole collection in black and white, as well as cobalt blue and white,” said White.
“We did three exclusive colors: lemon, azure and macchiato,” added Llusia-Lindh, who tweaked her designs on preexisting bags such as the New York, Vancouver and Cannes by giving them a relaxed slouch in the canvas fabric.
Summer destinations were the muses behind the light bags. Llusia-Lindh looked at vintage Italian beach photographs from the ‘60s and watched classic Italian films to gauge the overall feel of the collection.
The bags are all made from plastic-free canvas with natural cottons and the leather is sourced from a gold-rated Italian tannery.
DeMellier is carried by select stockists, including Harrods, Browns and Farfetch.
“We’ve been very picky with our distribution actually. When I founded the brand I wanted everything luxury but the price,” said Llusia-Lindh, whose bags start at 195 pounds and go up to 695 pounds.
The Matchesfashion’s fall 2023 buying report highlighted that bags are still having a strong moment with the retailer with a 290 percent increase year-over-year. — HIKMAT MOHAMMED
WOOLMARK JUDGES: The Woolmark Company has put together its panel of judges to decide its upcoming 2023 International Woolmark Prize winner.
The global wool authority on Thursday revealed the 12 industry executives, designers and creatives who will decide the winner of the annual prize.
The jury is made up of Zegna artistic director Alessandro Sartori, CR Fashion Book founder Carine Roitfeld, model Caroline de Maigret, Farfetch chief fashion and merchandising officer Elizabeth von der Goltz, Marni creative director Francesco Risso, The Woolmark Company managing director John Roberts, Alaïa creative director Pieter Mulier, fashion designer Salehe Bembury, Yehyehyeh founder Shaway Yeh, Tilting the Lens founder Sinéad Burke, fashion writer Tim Blanks and photographer Tyler Mitchell.
“The International Woolmark Prize has always been a forerunner in fashion by discovering young new talents and encouraging creativity and ingenuity,” Mulier said. “At a time where new generations raise new challenges for the industry, it’s also an essential process to develop and defend endless innovations to find the plural answers. I’m thrilled to be part of this unique experience which, year after year, embodies the future of fashion.”
The judges will decide the winner from a group of eight designers, including Rhuigi Villaseñor, founder of Rhude and creative director of Bally; Jaehyung Lee, the designer behind South Koren label Maxxij; Anthony Alvarez, founder of Bluemarble; Amalie Roege Hove, designer of Danish knitwear label A. Roege Hove; menswear designer Robyn Lynch; fashion designer Marco Rambaldi, design duo Lucile Guilmard and Paolina Russo of fashion label Paolina Russo; and Adeju Thompson, the founder of Lagos Space Programme.
The finalists were given 60,000 Australian dollars, or $40,000, to design a collection out of merino wool as part of their fall 2023 collections, which will be reviewed by the judging panel.
The winner, who will be revealed in Paris on May 15, will receiver 200,000 Australian dollars, or $133,000, to be invested in their business and will have the opportunity to be stocked in major international retailers through the International Woolmark Prize Retailer Network.
The jury panel will also award the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation to another finalist, which entails a 100,000 Australian dollar prize, and the Woolmark Supply Chain Award, which celebrates outstanding contribution from a trade partner to driving wool supply chain innovation. — LAYLA ILCHI
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