TIME FOR A SECOND ACT: After a four-year hiatus, Nary Manivong is back on the scene with a direct-to-consumer signature collection.
The designer decided to hit the reset button, even leaving New York for the better part of 2014, before returning. Interestingly, Manivong said he didn’t jump at the opportunity to start his own label when Handa Fashion’s Jack Shi presented the idea. The duo have known each other professionally for 10 years, but their partnership evolved over time. Not wanting to rush back into fashion full time, the conversation played out over 18 months during which Shi offered to provide all the production services for his signature label at no cost.
Manivong now occupies a floor that serves as a factory, sample room and showroom in a West 35th Street building. His capsule collection — three dresses, a skirt and six tops — will be sold online direct-to-consumer starting Thursday. Aiming to be strategic with his growth plan, he wants to find the right retail partner initially rather than multiple ones. Retail prices will range from $400 to $900 with the higher-end of the spectrum made from Laotian textiles. The Ohio-born designer took the 19-hour flight there earlier this year to meet many relatives for the

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ACTING OUT AGAINST FUR: Animal rights activists have recruited actress Pamela Anderson to lobby Prada to go fur free.
Her support is being tagged onto an international effort against Prada Group that was started earlier this month and led by Fur Free Alliance. For what appears to be more of a personal appeal, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has enlisted Anderson. The “Baywatch” actress has penned a letter to Miuccia Prada that was sent today, according to a PETA spokeswoman.
Anderson wrote, “I have long admired your creativity — and Prada’s timeless nylon bag — but I was disappointed to learn from my friends at PETA that instead of going fur-free, Prada has chosen merely to reduce the amount of animal pelts that it sells. A ‘ gradual’ reduction is no consolation to animals who are languishing inside tiny cages on fur farms and being anally electrocuted and skinned alive for their fur right now. Please, I urge you to drop fur immediately.”
In response to this month’s global effort, Prada executives responded by noting how PETA had been informed that Prada has committed “to a gradual and concrete reduction in the marketing of these products which, to date, represent less

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Orla Kiely, the Irish homeware and fashion brand has shuttered, after parent company Kiely Rowan PLC ceased operations, earlier this week.
The brand’s web site and brick-and-mortar stores — located in Covent Garden and King’s Road in London and Kildare in Ireland — have also stopped trading, with immediate effect.
According to British media reports, company employees were also made redundant without pay and escorted out of the building on Monday.
“We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Orla Kiely’s Home and Design licensing business will not be impacted and its selection of its homeware and accessories will continue to be sold through its distribution partners,” the company said, in a statement published on its web site. “Thank you for embracing our brand and designs throughout the year and for ongoing support.”
According to the latest company filings by Kiely Rowan on Companies House, the official registry for U.K. businesses, profits decreased to 74,000 pounds in 2017 compared with 109,000 pounds in the previous year.
Paul Appleton, managing partner at the consultancy David Rubin & Partners has been appointed to wind down Kiely Rowan and liquidate its assets.
A representative from David Rubin & Partners confirmed the news and said that Orla Kiely will be placed in

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LONDON — Harvey Nichols is seeing its revenues grow, as the storewide refurbishment of its Knightsbridge flagship starts to take shape.
In the financial year ending March 2018, revenues were up 9 percent to 210 million pounds, compared with 194 million pounds last year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were up 102 percent, to 14.7 million pounds, compared with 7.3 million pounds last year, when the store’s ongoing overhaul ate into the retailer’s bottom line.
“Our ambitious Knightsbridge store refurbishment plans have had a positive impact,” said Manju Malhotra and Daniela Rinaldi, the group’s joint chief operating officers. “However, the retail environment remains challenging and competitive. With this uncertain outlook, we are focused for the remainder of this year on continuing to drive sales and delivering an omnichannel experience for our customers.”
In the last two years, the store unveiled revamped men’s, beauty, fine jewelry, accessories and women’s wear departments, introducing more modern, sleek interiors and a boutique-life feel.
“The difference between us and the other main department stores is our size. We’re small, and so we wanted to play on that more and make it our strength rather than be apologetic with smaller spaces,” said Hazel Catterall, head of women’s wear buying,

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MILAN – “It’s going to be full of surprises,” Livia Firth teased on Wednesday, speaking of the upcoming second edition of the Green Carpet Fashion Awards, Italia event, which will close Milan Fashion Week on Sept. 23.
That said, Firth, founder of Eco-Age, and Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian Camera Nazionale della Moda, did reveal that Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Cindy Crawford, Armie Hammer as well as Colin Firth will attend the event at the La Scala theater. This is not a superficial step for them, contended Firth. “They come because they believe in it, and by being here they give an important message.”
The press conference to discuss the next edition of the awards was held at La Scala and the square in front of the theater already showed some signs of the green backdrop organizers are setting up for the event, with an installation overseen by Vogue International editor at large Hamish Bowles.
 

The square in front of La Scala and the event’s installation. 
Courtesy Image

Fourteen awards that will “recognize the value of craftsmanship and the human hand” will be handed out that evening, said Firth.
“Each winner proves how the pipeline can be improved in a more respectful way, showing how

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