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Officials Defend Free Trade at Copenhagen Fashion Week

COPENHAGEN — In a context of mounting challenges to global free trade, Danish finance minister Kristian Jensen opened Copenhagen Fashion Week with a speech defending the globalized nature of the country’s apparel industry.
“Trade is unfairly being demonized,” Jensen said at an opening lunch on Tuesday that brought together designers and executives with buyers and press. “Trade barriers are what make people poorer, not globalization.”
Jensen pointed out the small-town seamstresses from his childhood had been replaced with a thriving design industry, while “globalization has given people all over the world the chance to participate.”
Just days after President Donald Trump’s administration removed the U.S. from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership and prepared to do the same with the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union, the Nordic region’s biggest fashion week is shining a spotlight on a country and industry that has been transformed by globalization, and whose business leaders and center-right government show little interest in turning back.
The country of just over 5 million people exports roughly $96 billion in goods and services each year, including almost $4 billion in fashion, according to Dansk Fashion and Textile, a trade association. In contrast with other European markets like France and Italy, which have maintained significant production facilities for

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Stephanie Seymour to Launch Raven & Sparrow Lingerie at Barneys New York

BARNEYS TEAMS WITH SEYMOUR: Stephanie Seymour is about to up her fashion status beyond supermodel to add lingerie entrepreneur.
Through a partnership with designer Casey Paul, the former Victoria’s Secret model will unveil the Raven & Sparrow collection at a “slumber soiree” at Barneys New York on Feb. 9. The pair took inspiration from Seymour’s personal archives and their respective mothers’ and grandmothers’ underpinnings. Working from the company’s atelier located at 336 West 37th Street, Seymour and Paul have created one-of-a-kind intricate designs such as silky lace-trimmed negligees and coordinating robes.
Having worked in fashion (particularly lingerie) for so many years, Seymour said Wednesday that she has “a unique perspective on style.” Still widely known for her Victoria’s Secret Angel-ship, she brings more knowledge to the category than the average executive. As an avid collector of vintage fashion, Seymour said she “has become very inspired by the workmanship of those historic pieces. Aware that the market was lacking in comparable quality designs, she said, “I feel that dressing for bed is a lost art form. It’s a ritual I find important in my own life.”
In terms of the actual process, she said, “Everything from fabrication to fit has been done with deliberation

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Lou & Grey Teams With ‘Hamilton’ Star Jasmine Cephas Jones

ACT TWO: Lou & Grey is making sure to keep Jasmine Cephas Jones — the actress best known for originating the roles of Maria Reynolds and Margarita “Peggy” Schuyler Van Rensselaer in Broadway musical “Hamilton” — extra busy since she took her final bow for the show in December.
The brand — a division of Ann Inc. — has tapped Jones as its latest collaborator for a collection of limited-edition tops and jewelry, the latter crafted with the help of Brooklyn-based jeweler, Winden. The sweats and T-shirts feature slogans such as “Love Will Conquer” and “Brooklyn Original.”
It was Jones’ first fashion design project.
“I honestly thought it was just going to be modeling, but after the first meeting with Lou & Grey, I realized they wanted to collaborate and base the project on who I am,” Jones explained. “After that, we just went for it. I wanted people to get a feel of who I am, so I thought music and Brooklyn was a great way to start.…We kept the comfy and cool Lou & Grey look with the addition of my inspirations and background.”
Jones cited her personal style as a mix of Sophia Loren’s and Lisa Bonet’s. “I love being comfortable

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