Gucci’s reimagining under creative director Alessandro Michele has incited a craze for novel designs.
His vision of whimsical frills and sequined appliqués is working — boosting organic sales in the three months ending Dec. 31 by 21.4 percent 1.34 billion euros, or $1.45 billion — WWD reported last week.
A new arrival in the handbag department of Bergdorf Goodman’s web site has continued this tongue-in-cheek attitude.
A paper fan — painted with an owl on one side and Katakana letters spelling “Gucci” on the other — has landed on the department store’s e-commerce platform.
It is priced at $250.
The fan — made in Japan — is currently available for pre-order, with product expected to ship by early May.
Comprised of paper and a wooden handle, the design is aligned with the growing vegan trend in luxury accessories.
Bergdorf Goodman is also offering a $450 Gucci fan, this one made of printed silk, with an ebony handle. It is retrofitted with a silk tassel.
Michele has been known to derive inspiration from Japan. The creative director ventured to Tokyo with a cast of muses — including Petra Collins — for Gucci’s fall 2016 campaign. He shot the controversial, all-Caucasian cast with typical Tokyo sights — like Pachinko parlors — in

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More…

Phoebe Neuman

Her TED talk breaks down racism in the fashion industry.

Dammit, this is good.

“Every one of the creative decisions — from music to styling to accessories to shoes to bags to clothes to the girls, the diversity of the casting or the lack of diversity of the casting, everything — it’s all part of the experience,” Marc Jacobs told WWD last week when explaining his approach to his shows.
Show notes (which he doesn’t typically do) included. His, titled “Respect,” explained his inspiration, the Netflix documentary series “Hip-Hop Evolution.” After last season’s social media storm over his pastel dreadlocks, Jacobs’ decision to go there at all seemed a statement of both bravado and the desire to be understood. He wrote that he first experienced the impact of hip-hop on the broader culture as a high school kid in New York, and that this show is “an acknowledgment and gesture of respect for the polish and consideration applied to fashion from a generation that will forever be the foundation of youth-culture street style.”
And what better place to celebrate the origins of street style than on the street? While Jacobs had said that he wanted to strip away elaborate production trappings — and that he hoped his guests would respect his wishes to put away their phones and enjoy the live-show

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Read More…

Is it OK for a designer to go wherever the wind blows, aesthetically speaking? Victor Alfaro has been quietly figuring that out over the past few seasons, as he’s ping-ponged from sporty polish to superchic polish to raw, Japanese-influenced denim, followed by Victoriana crossed with modern street.
Now, he’s in gender-fluid street territory, shooting his fall women’s collection on girls and guys in Bushwick for a gritty Berlin-industrial Brooklyn vibe. He captured that mood and did it well with statement coats, such as an oversize denim robe coat with the word “Hope” and a dove embroidered on it, a hoodie with a peace sign, a jacquard bomber shown over a sweater with a star and the word “wish,” and dressed-up track pants. There were long, loose floral dresses that could swing grungy or pretty, depending on how they were styled.
Alfaro, like so many of his peers, was impacted by November’s election. “It’s going to become cliché, but I was struggling with how relevant what we do is,” he said, noting that a friend reassured him that dressing women and making them feel good is important. Aside from that, he said he’s looked around the stores he’s been in and didn’t feel that

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Read More…

It doesn’t get more downtown than showing your collection inside of a packed hotel lounge, with models standing atop couches, changing in and out of looks in a separate corner of the room. A bit frenzied and dysfunctional, yes. But none of Assembly New York’s fans are bothered by that sort of thing; at least the ones who showed up didn’t seem to mind. Greg Armas’ label and its devotees are all about nonchalance — and at least there was booze.
This season, Armas aimed to break the mold with elements of surprise and experimentation. “In terms of styling, we took underpinnings and used them as outerwear,” he said, motioning to a black mesh top worn on top of a red wool coat. He wanted the season’s color palette to be intentionally incohesive; all of it was meant to be mixed and matched, and the more unexpected the combinations, the better. “[Our girl] knows what she’s doing,” he said. “She’s mixing in her old stuff, her boyfriend’s stuff with our pieces.”
Indeed, there were tons of borrowed-from-the-boys pieces on deck, as in Armas’ houndstooth-print, drop-pleated trousers with a tuxedo stripe and an oversize, plaid wool raglan trenchcoat. A brown hooded leather coat

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Read More…

Art always informs Lisa Perry’s collection — after all, the designer grew up surrounded by it at her mother’s gallery. This time, Joan Miró had the honors. “I went to the south of France and there you can really get a feel of this whole aesthetic,” she explained. The result was an optimistic, colorful lineup with some noteworthy pieces, such as a Miró motif on a silk jacquard that came on dresses and a velvet pajama set as well as on an elegant coat — “perfect over black pants and top, for Art Basel,” she said. But it was a black short crepe dress with a pink marabou-feather hem that she also offered in a coat version with the feathers on the sleeves and in allover marabou in different tones of pink that evoked the most festive tone. “Now of all times is a great time to have a happy collection,” she said.

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Read More…

Fashion has had a historically fraught and uneasy relationship to Navajo culture, but Los Angeles-based designer Greg Chait handled it with utmost respect and care in his fall collection for The Elder Statesman.
He tapped Melissa Cody, a fourth-generation weaver and contemporary artist who grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Leupp, Arizona, to design a custom textile, which he brought to The Bowery Hotel for a preview of his latest lineup. Cody’s hand-woven rug featured traditional Native American motifs with a modern, subtly psychedelic twist. It was a vibrant and spectacularly crafted textile. Chait referenced it as a jumping-off point for fall, letting Cody’s work inform several of his luxe cashmere sweaters and blankets.

Chait rendered the design directly onto a dramatic, floor-length robe cardigan, a patchwork mishmash of colorful stripes, checks and geometric patterns. But other looks featured more subtle renderings, and not all of his looks showcased traditional Navajo motifs. One cropped cardigan, done in cream, was knit using a textural pile stitch with one of Chait’s most luxurious yarns.
“Imagine the inside of your comfiest pair of socks,” he said. (It was buttery soft to the touch.) Other sweaters featured graphic rainbow stripes, color-blocked squares and hand-painted checkerboard patterns. “There

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Read More…

Designers mined decades from the Twenties through the Eighties and a host of artwork for fall direction.

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More…