Phoebe Philo Returns in September 2023: Sound the Trumpets!
/
Christian Dior SS2023 Campaign by Brigitte Niedermair Honors Catherine de Medici
/
The Christian Dior Spring 2023 Campaign celebrates femininity, power and grace, as explored through the eye and lens of frequent Dior photographer Brigitte Niedermair [IG].
Models include Carla Pereira, Freja Rothmann, Jen Thomson, Sherry Shi, and Stella Lucia.
Preparing for the season, Chiuri discovered a map of Paris in the Dior archives, one that put Avenue Montaigne at its center, even though the street doesn’t represent the actual center of the city.
In short order, the map became a focal print for the spring 2023 collection — a maverick toile de Jouy print that is a sophisticated addition to Dior’s already rich use of toile de Jouy.
Old World unique artistry and needlework inspire the Dior spring 2023 collection, and raffia is used to maximum advantage. Beautiful raffia coats are decorated with delicate flowers and birds, also in play on the accessories. The embroidery work is spectacular.
Read MoreDaniel Lee's Burberry Spring 2023 Campaign by Tyrone Lebon Targets British Identity
/
It was difficult to miss the equestrian knight motif racing across the new Spring 2023 Burberry Campaign as part of “the first creative expression” shared by Daniel Lee, Burberry’s Chief Creative Officer.
For AOC, our focus was on the faces of the British heritage brand Burberry, the visualization of who wears this brand.
Daniel Lee, with roots in West Yorkshire, England agrees. “Burberry flies the flag for Britishness and for the UK and for culture. So, we have to use our platforms because we have a responsibility to communicate those things,” Lee told ‘Vogue Runway’ in December.
The designer continued:
"I don’t know if this is the right way to say this, but more than surprising people, I really would like them to see the new vision and feel reassured — like, ‘Oh, yeah, this makes sense: This is what Burberry should be.’”
Read MoreLevi Strauss & Co Partners with Pakistan's Artistic Milliners Organic Cotton Production
/
Denim giant Levi Strauss & Co is now sourcing organic cotton directly from farmers in Pakistan as part of its membership of the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) initiative.
Levi's is sourcing the organic cotton through Pakistan-based denim mill Artistic Milliners' Organic programme which involves 2,000 cotton farmers in the Kohlu region of Baluchistan.
The vast majority of cotton farmers and pickers are women, and the focus of Artistic Milliners is female empowerment. Founded in 1949 with a small factory of 22 women, the company now has a workforce of 18,000 employeess.
Read MoreTyler Mitchell Captures Louis Vuitton Spring 2023 Mens Campaign, Shot in Almeria, Spain
/
Photographer Tyler Mitchell [IG] was over the moon, shooting “a gang of boys in the Spanish desert” near Almería, Spain. The minute I saw Mitchell’s name I understood how impacted he was by the shoot. To his credit, Tyler said as much: “I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity. Photography has brought me many places but this is my first main campaign for a heritage house of such stature. Those who know me know how much this means.”
In an excellent interview Mitchell has with FRIEZE, the photographer explains how his new work is being influenced by his growing understanding of historical paintings.
AOC understands the constant mention of boyhood games and imaginations in the evolving Louis Vuitton Menswear discussion, but to me it’s just as important that cool men are relating to amusing and creative elements in their clothes. Creativity is known to be a uniting force among diverse peoples.
Virgil Abloh understood that reality. Clearly Louis Vuitton understands it in their deeply personal embrace of Virgil’s talents — then and now. And Tyler Mitchell is a similarly soft-spoken, creative personality that fits beautifully into the Louis Vuitton hive.
Read MoreLoro Piana Spring 2023 Campaign Grand Italian Tour by Inez & Vinoodh
/
Loro Piana is also on an Italian grand tour in the cashmere brand’s Spring/Summer 2023 campaign.
Models Amar Akway, Mika Schneider, Rianne Van Rompaey and Leon Dame present an appetizer excursion of authentic Italian experiences that are in communion with nature, land and community.
Inez and Vinoodh [IG] capture the quartet, styled by Aleksandra Woroniecka./ Makeup by Lisa Butler; hair by Eugene Souleiman
Writing about Loro Piana’s Fall 2022 collection and campaign, AOC shared highly-specific information about a decade’s worth of the brand’s processes and control over its cashmere production.
‘Transparency’ is a stake in the ground among today’s cashmere brands, including less expensive but very well-run cashmere labels. There is no “Don’t worry, be happy, I’ve got this issue under control so you don’t have to worry” in today’s cashmere business.
Read MoreGivenchy Spring 2023 Campaign Prompts a Fresh Look at Brand Strategy
/
Reviews for this new Givenchy Spring 2023 campaign have been very positive. It would seem that holding the line and trying to make this vision of Givenchy work has merit.
In October, the New York Times explored the evolution [or confusion] around Williams’ vision for Givenchy.
Reminding readers that Givenchy has no core house identity, the sequence of designers at Givenchy has further created murky waters.
As for the talented American creative director Mr. Williams, does a former Kanye West acolyte, have a vision capable of translating Givenchy in modern terms — especially when none of us knows anymore, what Givenchy is about?
Because it’s game over if Mr. West, legally known as Ye, gets anywhere near an advisory role to Mr. Williams to help sort out his quandary.
From all I’ve read about him, Williams can’t possibly share West’s ‘I’ve never read a book, because I don’t need to’ attitude.
As The Atlantic explained this week: “Identifying as someone who categorically rejects books suggests a much larger deficiency of character.”
Read MoreMiu Miu Spring 2023 Campaign Promises Deep Life-Enhancing Impact on Those Who Buy It
/
Note from AOC: The Spring Summer 2023 Miu Miu campaign is not for mere mortals. It is for the fashion rebels, “united in their courage and desire to challenge conventions” by wearing Miu Miu. You are now absorbing the meaning of meeting this deadly-serious assembly of warrior-women models and talents who understand that by choosing Miu Miu, the decision has a “deep impact on life, enhancing it more and more.”
Hopefully, their sartorial Miu Miu brand enlightenment can be transferred to us, if only we open our minds to these exceptional fashion prophets.
All bow down now and breathe deeply.
Good goddess, I LOVE Miuccia Prada. Lips zipped, because I am not worthy to speak of this campaign’s brilliance. Not one more word. xxxx ~ Anne
Read MoreActivists Anya Taylor-Joy, Yara Shahidi Dior Forever Foundation Campaign 2023
/
“Black-ish” and spinoff “Grown-ish” actor Yara Shahidi has exciting news. She will be joining American Ballet Theater principal ballet dancer Misty Copeland in Abu Dhabi for the Know Your Value and Forbes Magazine second annual 2023 Forbes 30/50 Summit, running concurrently with International Women’s Day from March 7-10.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is headlining the 2023 Forbes 30/50 Summit, that is organized by Huma Abedin, vice chair of the 30/50 Summit, along with Forbes editor Maggie McGrath and “Morning Joe” co-host, and founder of Know Your Value Mika Brzezinski.
Anya Taylor-Joy was named to the Forbes Europe 30 Under 30 List in 2019. She was honored last November by Harper’s Bazaar UK in their 2022 Women of the Year Awards.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton FW 2023 Menswear with Colm Dillane Is Praise-Worthy
/
I personally went back over Virgil’s older shows and the influence of the menswear design studio is strong in the Fall 2023 collection. This is not about radical change.
AOC remains a believer that Beccari and Arnault will take the menswear design group for an innovative spin — sort of a design laboratory that focuses on the future studio workplace.
But to hear in March that Colm Dillane gets his LV men’s position would not surprise us. AOC believes strongly that elegance is in the wind. I did keep asking myself “Would Jay-Z wear these clothes? Would the NBA players wear these clothes because the LV Men’s NBA clothes are fabulous.
We are positive that LVMH will make some kind of investment in Dillane. His whole story and his talent are pretty irresistable.
Read MoreNatalie Portman Delivers Janis Joplin and a Call to WAKE UP for Miss Dior Fragrance
/
At first glance Natalie Portman’s new Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet campaign seems straightforward enough. The floral scent features notes of bergamot essence, Damascus rose, and peony with the tagline: “Love is a bouquet.”
The music to Natalie Portman’s new Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet campaign is Janis Joplin for heaven’s sake. I thought I was going to lose my mind.
When Natalie Portman looks straight at me in a Janis Joplin music commercial and says WAKE UP, she has my undivided attention.
AOC wrote in 2019 about Natalie Portman’s human connection and deep respect for Catherine Dior. The Miss Dior fragrance was named for Christian Dior’s sister who was a member of the French resistance during WWII. Catherine was sent to multiple concentration camps in Germany.
In the 2019 interview for Harpers Bazaar UK, the Hollywood star had sober words for progressive optimists:
“I think it’s a mistake to think of humanity as evolving,” the intellectually-accomplished Portman explains. You want to believe it, for sure, but it’s more like cycles of violence. Yet we’ve had an extraordinary lifetime of peace, too, so it’s allowed us to live in this belief that progress is being made.”
Read MoreTiffany Blue Is Star of Fendi X Tiffany Winter Campaigns by Johnny Dufort
/
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.
Read MoreDior Beauty Mitzah Collection, Simone de Beauvoir and Animal Prints: Tensions in Women's History
/
No one has been more committed to use her fashion shows platform to tell women’s stories than Maria Grazia Chiuri.
Dior ambassador Anya Taylor-Joy has a life-long passion and fascination with animals. The star adores animal prints, making her the perfect face for Dior Beauty’s Dior Mitzah collection.
Christian Dior’s original muse Mitzah Bricard inspired him to recognize the leopard print as a reputable trend.
Mitzah’s advice was: “When a man wants to send you flowers, always say — ‘my florist is Cartier.’” “Madame Bricard is one of the rare people for whom elegance is their sole reason for living,” wrote Dior.
Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘The Second Sex’ was published in 1949, when the French existentialist philosopher, social theorist and feminist activist was age 41.
The lifelong partner and lover of Jean Paul Sartre wrote a piece for Vogue in 1947, arguing that “Femininity is a Trap”. Dior’s Chiuri used the 1947 statement in her Pre-Fall 2022 show.
Read MoreLVMH Moves: Pietro Beccari Will Lead Louis Vuitton | Delphine Arnault At Helm of Dior
/
LVMH made major news this morning with significant executive suite moves at motherlode brands Dior and Louis Vuitton.
Pietro Beccari, the chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, has been appointed chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, succeeding Michael Burke.
Delphine Arnault, the executive vice president of Louis Vuitton, who oversees all of its product-related activities including the blockbuster January 2023 Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusame collaboration, has been named chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture.
Read MoreSydney Sweeney Joins Armani Beauty As Face of 'My Way' Sustainable Fragrance
/
The story of Armani Beauty’s ‘My Way’ journey to market is deeply rooted in the sustainability values of the younger generation, many of their boomer grandparents and conscientious consumers of every age.
Photographer Dario Catellani [IG] photographs Sydney Sweeney in the 2023 campaign. The Italian visionary is known for his deep attachment to nature — beautifully expressed in the Etro FW 2020/21 ‘We Are All One’ Campaign.
Reading more information about Armani Beauty on the L’Oreal website — L’Oreal holds the beauty license — claims and certifications about sustainability are monitored and validated by the Sustainable Product Optimization Tool (SPOT) developed in 2013 to measure social and environmental impacts.
Based on 14 key sustainability criteria, it covers the entire process from production to the end of the life cycle, including the purchase of raw materials and the product’s use by the consumer.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Holiday 2022.23 ‘Les Extraits Murano Masterpiece’ Fragrance Art
/
For Holiday 2022.23 ‘Les Extraits Murano Masterpiece’ advances this transformation of fragrance into art with the visionary expertise of Glass Master Simone Cenedese.
This entire fragrance project is so intellectual, that we must backtrack to it origins in order to full appreciate it newest fragrance art offering.
In his own words, Belletrud explains the origins of ‘Les Extraits’ collection:
Read MoreI wanted to venture where no one goes anymore. To reinvent the notion of an Extrait in a contemporary way. To bring it light, expand matter, and lighten things up. I wanted to deconstruct the very architecture of perfume
Esther Heesch in Gucci Cruise 2023 by George Katsanakis for Harper's Bazaar Greece
/
German model Esther Heesch greets 2023 in a Gucci fashion story covering the January issue of Harper’s Bazaar Greece. The ‘Gucci Cosmogonie’ Cruise 2023 Collection took a turn in the direction of sophisticated elegance with a strong hit of verve.
Simultaneously, Gucci has opened its first Valigeria Luggage store in Paris to advance its footprint in the luxury travel sector.
Harper’s Greece calls the expansion of the ‘Gucci Valigeria’ DNA is the pursuit for an “endless journey based on knowledge, experience, freedom and style”. AOC says that the ‘endless journey’ referenced by Harper’s Greece must include having an inquiring mind.
Being truly inquisitive about the heritage and true stories of other cultures is mandatory for luxury houses pursuing this business path. Our own knowledge as western liberals is deeply flawed and filled — not only with prejudice — but also ignorance about other great, ancient cultures.
Read MoreRabbits Are Rising for Mushroom Lovers
/
With the Gregorian calendar’s New Year’s Day upon us in hours, and the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Rabbit ringing in the Lunar New Year on January 22, 2023, Gucci releases a beautiful and without controversy campaign that celebrates two global cultures and also Easter 2023, coming on April 9.
Thank you to perhaps the most soulful creative in fashion — Alessandro Michele, formerly of Gucci. I am certainly one of the people who only recently expressed my understanding of your vision and perspective.
Read MoreBanana Republic Holiday 2022 by Richard Phibbs Connects Humans in United Experience
/
The Banana Republic Holiday 2022 Campaign is terrific, as are the images by Richard Phibbs [IG]. I see the Polo vibe here, but it feels like sound ground Banana is standing on.
Note that as recently as August 2022, Fast Company was asking if Banana Republic will ultimately be forced to change its name. This question comes within a larger America’s public school’s movement whereby students, parents and some civic leaders argue they shouldn’t have to go to a school named after presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
AOC does not support the eradication of all references to America’s past, because our past is very complicated. Our role is to move forward.
The cast of the Banana Republic campaign includes Cherokee Jack, Chinchin Hsu, Louise de Chevigny, Nya Gatbel and Ryan Porter and the campaign was shot in Iceland.
Many in the cast have worked on other Banana Republic campaigns this year.
Read MoreCasa Degli Atellani in Milan, Once Home to Leonardo DaVinci, Purchased by Bernard Arnault
/
