FENDI Hugs Retro Glamour in Astrology Summer 2023 Beachwear Campaign by Steven Meisel
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Tiffany Blue Is Star of Fendi X Tiffany Winter Campaigns by Johnny Dufort
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Technically-speaking this fashion campaign is about Fendi’s x Tiffany winter-drop two weeks before the holidays. Yet the power of a color — Tiffany Blue — defines it’s larger message and impact. The campaign is promoted almost solely by Fendi.
Trademarked as a color in 1998, and added as an official color to the Pantone system in 2001 [use governed exclusively by Tiffany], the color was trademarked in every classification.
Maverick artist Stuart Semple dared Tiffany & Co to sue him, when he liberated Tiffany Blue in 2021, creating Tiff.
Most IP lawyers agree that Tiffany would have won a lawsuit against Semple. The question was if they really wanted to sue artists — famous and not famous — the audience who bought the soldout Tiff acrylic paint at once.
The answer is no.
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Fendace Drops May 12 Worldwide with Top Models Campaign by Steven Meisel
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The highly-anticipated Fendace collection — a powerhouse, experiment between two great Italian fashion houses: Fendi and Versace — will drop on May 12, with a worldwide series of events and pop-ups.
The business synergy between these two iconic Italian brands is producing astonishing results — given that they are direct competitors owned by two mega-luxury fashion houses. LVMH is the majority stockholder in Fendi and Versace is owned by Capri Holdings.
Read MoreFendi Peekaboo Campaign Takes Airborne Adwoa Aboah on Tour of Rome
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Fendi celebrates the new Peekaboo Petite and Micro handbags, arm and arm with the Italian ‘Call Me By Your Name’ film director and friend of the house, Luca Guadagnino to create a short campaign film starring Adwoa Aboah.
Instead of boarding a magic carpet ride over Rome, Aboah spreads her own ‘Superwoman’ wings to fly over the ancient city with its ruins and visual narrative of the human story. She eventually landing on Fendi’s Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana — because this is a Fendi Peekaboo handbag campaign, after all.
Read MoreKim Kardashian Covers WSJ Magazine November 2021 Innovators Issue with Kim Jones
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Images: Annemarieke van Drimmelen for WSJ. Magazine
Kim Kardashian Billionaire
In Spring 2021, Kim Kardashian officially achieved billionaire status on the Forbes list. Unlike her sister Kylie who was dropped by the Forbes list in 2020 over the Trumpian move of inflating her assets, Kim Kardashian’s wealth was estimated by Forbes at about $1 billion, up from $780 million. Forbes estimated values of her stakes in KKW Beauty at $500 million and Skims at $225 million.
Being older and wiser than her younger sister, Kim Kardashian’s sober approach to life and business is well-articulated in her WSJ Magazine November 2021 Brand Innovator 2021 cover story, on newsstands Saturday, November 13th.
KKW poses with her friend, Fendi creative director Kim Jones, celebrating the early November release of Fendi x Skims, the underwear and cozy loungewear label Kardashian launched in 2019.
KKW: WSJ Magazine’s Brand Innovator’s Award
Kardashian West will be honored, along with 7 other cultural groundbreakers at WSJ. Magazine’s Innovator Awards virtual presentation on November 1st at 8:00 PM EST. You can register to watch online at … WSJ. Magazine's 2021 Innovator Awards Virtual Presentation
WSJ Magazine cites Skims alone as being valued at over $1.6 billion, and Kardashian is a majority owner. Kim’s beauty brand KKW is being rebooted but for good reasons and not lack of big-brand potential. Skims Sleep will soon be moving into the inner-lives of American women.
“I want to really launch an entirely new beauty brand,” she says. “I learned so much that I’m excited [to put out] a brand that has all the new information that I know. I feel like it’s going to be my baby, I’ll have my beauty brand and Skims. I can really nourish it and flourish it more if it [were] all condensed into one.”
Frequent WSJ Magazine photographer Annemarieke Van Drimmelen captures KKW for the cover story, styled by Giovanni Dario Laudicina. written by Christina Binkley.
True Grit, Serious Hustle. Major Intelligence and a Micromanaged Life
Achieving a business status that puts Kim Kardashian in a prime spot in WSJ’s annual Innovators Issue takes some serious hustle and intelligence.
Kim Kardashian has both — even if the totally engaged mother of four and supportive soon-to-be ex-wife of Kanye West — has failed some of her recent bar-exam preparation tests. Simply stated, Kar Kardashian powers on with marketing savvy and human connections that are currently too valuable to put a price on them.
“My days are completely micromanaged to the minute,” she says. “In order to get away from the kids, I will go into my office at my house and study. And then working on beauty and rebranding and Skims, constantly, I’m always in fittings and fabric meetings. My days are pretty full…. And that’s it. I love to be home; I love my weekends at home.”
Speaking of home, KKW just paid Kanye West $20 million for their Hidden Hills, LA home and $3 million for the furniture, art and other contents. Kim now owns the house outright.
Images: Annemarieke van Drimmelen for WSJ. Magazine
Kim Kardashian Captains Her Ship with a Steady Hand
People can heap all the hate they want on Kim Kardashian. She is a superb businesswoman, and Kardashian knows it. There’s nothing wrong with self-confidence, sincerity and an earnest approach to living.
In contrast to how the public imagines the life of Kim Kardashian West, her closest humans describe her as a non-partier and a low-grade control freak. By her own admission, she is a workaholic who reads sales numbers in bed late at night.
“I have never liked drunk people,” Kardashian West says. “I never like to be out of control. I never like to not know what’s going on.” (“I didn’t go [away] to college because of [the partying],” she says.)
Images: Annemarieke van Drimmelen for WSJ. Magazine
Kim Kardashian: Someday Matriarch
She now weighs in on most of the family’s deals jointly with Kris Jenner. “If there’s a deal, it’s always my mom, me and our attorney talking it over,” Kardashian West says.
The expectation is that Kim Kardashian will take over the reins, when Kris, 66, one day retires. “We’ve talked about it. I would assemble a team of people to take over,” Kardashian West says. “I hope it doesn’t happen for a really long time, because I’m really busy.”
The possibility that KKW will lead a Kardashian-Jenner conglomerate empire built around the fashion, cosmetic, liquor and media enterprises that her family has launched over the past decade is a real one.
Images: Annemarieke van Drimmelen for WSJ. Magazine
WWJ Magazine references the fact that the rebound fortunes of Victoria’s Secret; the pulsating growth of Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie [with indirect backing from LVMH] and now Skims soaring puts a lot of pressure on the already-stressed VS. There’s no doubt that both Rihanna and Kim Kardashian know how to play hardball, even if they do it grace and a smile on their faces.
Kate Moss modeled in recent Skims campaign images. A special Skims pop-up opened in Paris in time for Paris Fashion Week this September at the famous Galeries Lafayette department store. Skims is sold by retailers such as Nordstrom, Ssense and Net-a-Porter. “The inclusive sizing, sharp price point and comfort are just a few reasons why the brand has been so successful,” says Lea Cranfield, Net-a-Porter’s chief buying and merchandising officer, by email.
Rihanna hasn’t weighed in on this trifecta undergarments competition, but KKW reminds us that her grandmother only retired in her early 80s. “I think I’ll always feel good when I’m working,” Kardashian predicts.
“I don’t see me floating on a yacht.”
In fact, Kim Kardashian’s life plan has her as a member of the California bar, and she currently studies about four hours a day to achieve this goal. “Hopefully one day I can start a law firm where we can help people pro bono and hire people who were formerly incarcerated,” she says of her longer-term goals.
Kim’s goal is no act, in spite of the heat she’s taken for working with former president Donald Trump on prison reform. KKW marches to her own drum with four kids and a big family in tow. One wonders what Kanye West actually thinks of his uber-talented wife. R-E-S-P-E-C-T would be appropriate.
Craig McDean Captures Fendi Fall Winter 2021 with He Cong, Malika, Rianne, Tianna
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Models He Cong, Malika Louback, Rianne Van Rompaey and Tianna St. Louis front Fendi’s Fall 2021 campaign, styled by Melanie Ward. Designers behind the campaign are Kim Jones in the lead, Silvia Venturini Fendi and her daughter, Fendi jewelry designer Delfina Delettrez, with Craig McDean behind the lens./ Hair by Guido Patau; makeup by Peter Philips
Read MoreRafael Pavarotti Captures Dior Men's Pre-Fall 2021 Tribute to Kenny Scharf
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Dior Men’s designer Kim Jones paid tribute to American artist and collaborator Kenny Scharf in his pre-fall 2021 collection. The twist, of course, in the Dior Men’s fall closet is bringing Scharf’s artwork to life with Chinese embroidery. The bold visual seduction of the clothes combined with ancient artisan techniques breathes a vibrant vitality and artistry into Rafael Pavarotti’s [IG] campaign images.
Read MoreKim Jones + Amoako Boafo in Superb Dior Men SS2021 Campaign by Rafael Pavarotti
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