Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo follow Gucci into a fur-free future, Chiara Ferragni takes charge of her own company and Gucci unveils its artsy new spring campaign. Discover these stories and more as we reveal this week’s top international fashion news.
Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo to Go Fur-Free
After years of talks between PETA senior vice president Dan Matthews and Michael Kors, the brand has finally confirmed this week that it will be eliminating real fur items from its collections. The change will be implemented starting from December 2018. Kors had been producing a small line dedicated to fur for some time, which will now be continued with a faux alternative product. “We now have the ability to create a luxe aesthetic using nonanimal fur,” the designer revealed in a statement. While there may still be genuine fur items available in some boutiques next year, the company won’t continue to incorporate the textile into any future designs. “With the advances in faux fur and the introduction of other innovative materials, it’s becoming clear that there is simply no reason to continue using a product that causes so much pain and suffering,” said Wayne Pacelle of the HSUS.
The fur ban will also extend to Jimmy Choo, which Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. acquired in July this year. PETA activists had been protesting religiously in front of Kors’ runway shows, store openings for years. Now, their efforts seem to have paid off, at last. Matthews admitted that after 15 years of negotiations with the label, he had a hunch that it was going to go in this direction, but they were thrilled to learn that Kors had finally agreed. Michael Kors’ chief executive officer John Idol described the decision as a new chapter as the company “continues to evolve its use of innovative materials.” Earlier this year, Italian legacy house Gucci also made a pledge to stop using real fur in its collections. They are joining the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney, Bottega Veneta, Tommy Hilfiger and other luxury brands that have joined the no-fur movement.
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Chiara Ferragni Takes Charge of Her Own Company
Italian fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni announced this week that she will become the president and CEO of her company TBS – better known as her highly successful fashion blog The Blonde Salad. She succeeds her former business partner and ex-boyfriend Riccardo Pozzoli. However, he will continue to maintain a minority share in the business. In an interview with an Italian newspaper, the Milan-based blogger expressed her wish to retain more control over TBS from the inside. “I decided that it was time to get directly involved in the financial aspect of my company and to refocus some things,” she shared in the article. “This is not a game, I realised that there are areas of TBS that need to be improved and costs that can be cut.”
Since launching The Blonde Salad in 2009, Ferragni has become one of the most popular fashion bloggers in the world with more than 11 million Instagram followers. With an estimated net word of USD$35 million, Forbes named recently crowned her the “world’s most powerful influencer.” TBS now employs a team of 20 and also umbrellas a talent agency representing Farragni and her sister Valentina, an online lifestyle magazine and an e-commerce venture, which sells exclusive capsule collections. While her company’s value tripled over the past two years, Chiara’s main revenue still comes from her own shoe line, the Chiara Ferragni Collection. Taking full charge of her own business is also a step towards a more secure future for Ferragni and her family. “I’m going to have a baby in April and get married after. But this only gives me the energy to do even more in my professional life.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-V0npjSKB/?taken-by=chiaraferragni
Australian Fashion Foundation Awards Winners 2017
On Tuesday evening, the Australian Fashion Foundation announced the winners of their annual Scholarship Award at the Pier One Sydney. Contestants were judged by Australian fashion heavy-weights, such as Alison Veness of 10 Magazine, designers Dion Lee and Nicky Zimmermann, former Vogue editor Nancy Pilcher, and AUSFF co-founder Malcolm Carfrae. In the end, the winners were Lucy Dickinson of RMIT and UTS graduate Mikala Tavener Hanks. “Both designers had a strong vision with collections feeling very innate and personal,” said Dion Lee of the jury’s decision. Zimmermann added: “Mikala’s collection was so refined and showed such restraint. You can see it on the floor in Barneys.”
Both winners received a grant of AUD$20,000 as well as the opportunity to join a global fashion house in the USA or Europe for a six-month internship. Based out of New York, The Australian Fashion Foundation was launched in 2008 by Carfrae and Julie Anne Quay to help and support young professionals in Australia break into the business and nurture the national fashion landscape.
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Gucci Unveils Artsy New Spring Campaign
This week, Gucci unveiled a creative new Spring campaign, merging classic art elements with fashion. The Renaissance and Surrealism-inspired illustrations are the result of the brand’s recent collaboration with the Spanish-born artist Ignasi Monreal. Entitled Utopian Phantasy the campaign is parted into three different themes, each of them subject to a different element of either the sea, earth or the sky. For Monreal, this isn’t the first brush with high-end fashion. At only 23 years old, the Barcelonian is already one of the most sought-after fashion illustrators in the world. In the past, he has worked with Dior on a Lady Dior handbag campaign, created artsy social media content for J.W. Anderson, Bally and Louboutin.
Monreal even contributed artwork to Luis Vuitton’s latest exhibition in New York, Volez, Voguez, Voyagez. He also worked with musicians such as FKA Twigs, for whom he designed tour merchandise and worked on the music video for her song “Two Weeks.” In an interview with Plastik magazine, the now London-based artist reveals that he always thought he would end up in fashion. “It was kind of obvious I would end up doing fashion illustrations, since I only drew women and they always wore very high high-heels!” As we admire Gucci’s fabulous new campaign, we are excited to see what the future has in store for this talented young Spaniard.
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These Were 2017’s Biggest Fashion Moments
The fashion industry has always been subject to an ever moving and ever changing environment. This year saw some especially significant shake-ups that will alter the face of the industry for years to come as brands are trying to adapt to digitalisation and the domination of social media. Multiple fashion labels moved their seasonal presentations from the traditional fashion show schedule or opted to consolidate their men’s and women’s collections into one, like JW Anderson, Moncler and Balenciaga. Other designers, like Isabel Marant, responded to the growing demand for more gender-fluid clothing by creating mens- and womenswear collections using the same textiles, elements and similar cutting patterns. For some, 2017 has also been the year of reflection. Versace honoured the legacy of founding designer Gianni Versace by revisiting his most iconic prints and reuniting the original supermodels of the 90s on the catwalk.
The world of glossy fashion magazines too experienced some major reshuffling as large publishing houses expanded their digital platforms. Condé Nast launched its first LGBTQI publication, them, while Vanity Fair US saw the end of an era with editor-in-chief Graydon Carter departing the magazine after 25 years in the role. Similarly, British Vogue marked the beginning of a new age as Edward Enninful took the lead as the first black editor in the history of the magazine. The design world lost one of the great with the unexpected death of grand master Azzedine Alaïa, and Burberry said goodbye to Christopher Bailey after 17 years at the helm of the British brand. Other luxury brands, like Gucci, joined the fur-free movement and Cindy Crawford’s 16-year-old mini-me, Kaia Gerber, took the fashion world by storm after her modelling debut during the Spring/Summer 2018 shows.
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Rose Schleicher is an experienced content and communications professional who has worked across three different continents over the past nine years. She has completed a master’s degree from the renowned London College of Fashion with extensive involvement in the cultural scene of Europe. As a creative, she loves writing about all things fashion, beauty, and lifestyle topics.
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