PARIS — Fendi enlisted 13 industrial designers to live, breathe and sleep design during “Craft Punk,” an event that began Wednesday during the Salone del Mobile in Milan.

The designers, who hail from as far away as Japan, South Korea and Slovakia, will take up temporary residence in the space where Fendi stages its fashion shows, and have been given carte blanche to create design objects using discarded materials from the Italian brand’s handbag factory in Florence.

Also at their disposal will be 10 Fendi artisans who are bringing their sample-making prowess, having spent years transforming the sketches of Silvia Venturini-Fendi into three-dimensional objects by draping, forming, stitching, stretching and finessing fine leathers.

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TOKYO — Chanel opened its first freestanding beauty store here Friday in a bid to make buying lipstick just as luxurious as shopping for a quilted handbag.

The 1,506-square-foot store, designed by Peter Marino, features interiors in Chanel’s signature hues of white, black and beige; plenty of mirrors, and tweed upholstered chairs.

Located on the ground floor of a new shopping and entertainment complex in the trendy Aoyama district, the Chanel store carries the French brand’s full range of fragrance, cosmetics and skin care items.

Chanel Beauty store in Tokyo.
Photo By Courtesy Photo

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MILAN — Valentino Fashion Group forecast an uncertain and difficult year ahead, after operating profits fell 7 percent in 2008, but remains confident in its medium-term growth prospects.

The group, which owns Valentino and Hugo Boss and operates under license Marlboro Classics and M Missoni, said on Friday that operating profits for the 12 months through Dec. 31 decreased to 248.3 million euros, or $365.3 million. VFG did not disclose net earnings.

Consolidated turnover for the year rose 3 percent to 2.21 billion euros, or $3.25 billion. Earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization fell 3 percent to 320.4 million, or $471.4 million, adjusted for one-off costs related to management changes at Hugo Boss and group reorganization.

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LONDON — Londoners can now get a peep into the kooky, colorful world of Marc by Marc Jacobs. Earlier this month, the label opened its first British store on South Audley Street, nearby to Mount Street, where a Marc Jacobs unit opened in 2007.

The 3,896-square-foot store is located in a space that was once a bank, and boasts parquet wooden floors, high corniced ceilings and bank vaults in the basement — one of which has been converted into a room to display bags and shoes. Shelves of fluorescent T-shirts and jeans line the walls; rucksacks hang from the ceiling, and chrome stands filled with chunky bubble rhinestone rings, red heart-shaped mirror compacts and plastic lipstick pens greet customers at the door.

“I love the heights of the ceilings and I love the space, but I love to fill space with stuff,” said Robert Duffy, president and co-founder of Marc Jacobs International. “And I like it to be entertaining. I love to watch people come in and go through all the nooks and crannies trying to figure out what is in here.”

Marc by Marc Jacobs store in London.
Photo By Tim Jenkins

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A model displays an outfit by Ogodor during the Audi Joburg Fashion Week in January, 2009. [Agencies]

JOHANNESBURG – Designers defied the global economic crisis at this season’s South African fashion week by showing off vibrant outfits with hints of tradition inspired by a golden era of African civilisation.

Stoned Cherrie, South Africa’s best-known black design label, closed fashion week in Johannesburg with bold colors and fabrics reminiscent of royalty, influenced by the ancient Mapungubwe civilisation from southern Africa.

“Stoned Cherrie is about abundance,” Nkhensani Nkosi told Reuters after the show, which featured models bedecked in brightly colored dresses covered with frills, mixing fabrics such as mesh, lycra and a delicate silky cotton.

“Inspired by the curiosity around Mapungubwe, we basically tried to imagine what it would have been like in the present day,” she added.

Mapungubwe is believed to have developed into the largest kingdom in sub-Saharan Africa before it was abandoned in the 14th century and may have boasted sophisticated trade links with India and China as far back as a thousand years ago.

Fashion in post-apartheid South Africa reflects the country’s journey from pariah state to a multiracial democracy, as young designers like Nkosi mirror the country’s diversity and growing cultural confidence.

Not so long ago, designers — both black and white — would often simply mimic European trends. But in recent years, new labels like Stoned Cherrie have combined indigenous African fabrics with sleek modern lines or funky streetwear.

Stoned Cherrie, known for its T-shirts adorned with iconic prints of political leaders like Steve Biko, also has global ambitions, and recently held its first show in New York to what Nkosi said was a “fantastic reception.”

The show in Johannesburg at the weekend was packed.

Nkosi said she was determined not to let the global financial crisis, which has dulled demand for haute couture from Paris to Tokyo, temper the optimism at the heart of her collection.

Fellow designer Uyanda Mbuli, who exhibited her Diamond Face Couture label at fashion week, echoed Nkosi’s sentiments.

“Just because there’s an economic meltdown doesn’t mean that consumers aren’t buying clothes,” Mbuli said, adding her one-year-old business had not been affected. “It’s just that their buying decisions are now backed by intellect. They seek value.”

–article from chinadaily.

Tags : fashion, Vogue