Bella Hadid's Futuristic Life Is Marc Jacobs Heavenly, Lensed by Carlijn Jacobs
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As Gucci Pursues An 'Exclusive Elevated Path', Anne Says 'Watch for Landmines'
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In-transition luxury house Gucci presents its Fall Winter 2023 campaign featuring Vittoria Ceretti, Aboubakar Konte and Brando Erba, lensed by photographer David Sims [IG].
Alastair McKimm styles the cast with hair by Paul Hanlon and makeup by Thomas De Kluyver. “Brakhage” by Stereolab is the music in the campaign video.
I noted a few months ago that we didn’t even post the new Gucci Valigeria campaign video, thinking it was just a stop along the way of Gucci’s reinvention. But that mistake was AOC’s.
The video is exactly in sync with the Fall 2023 campaign.
Many luxury brands — Louis Vuitton immediately comes to mind, but also Dior — are redefining luxury in more humanist terms. This branding does not prevent exclusive salons for best customers. But our common humanity — or ubuntu — is part of the luxury brand story.
Look at the new RIMOWA campaign, as a good example.
Read MoreKylie Jenner Fronts Acne Studios True Grit Woman Campaign by Carlijn Jacobs
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Stockholm-based fashion brand Acne Studios [IG] sees double in its Fall Winter 2023 denim campaign. Put Kylie Jenner [IG] and her 399M IG followers in the campaign mix; hire Dutch photographer and director Carlijn Jacobs [IG], schedule the meet up in Los Angeles and let the good times roll.
Jacobs explains the double-trouble pleasure of having Karlie in the campaign. “The campaign sought to showcase Kylie as a woman who is in control, has love for herself and is unafraid to embrace her desires,” Jacobs said in a statement. “I aimed to celebrate her individuality by doubling her. She loves herself and is not afraid to show it.”
Reading the Acne Studios’ new sustainability report, which includes very specific information on its denim made in Italy, the report says that in FW22, 70% of the 5-pocket denim had 70% low-impact. I just wish that if these fantastic finishes are in the 70%, that someone would tell us in the product info.
Read MoreThe BALMAIN Paris Fall 2023 Campaign Is Sublime Black Beauty on Steroids
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Balmain’s [IG] Fall/Winter 2023 campaign borders on momentous. All five models are women of color — for a global luxury brand selling to all women. The five models Akuol Deng Atem, Anyier Anei, Naomi Apajok, Nyaduola Gabriel and Nyakong Chan are all women from war-torn South Sudan.
The creative fusion of Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing [IG] and star photographer Rafael Pavarotti [IG] is sublime. Apparently this is their first outing together.
Multiple people have commented on the visual, intellectual and downright spiritual synergy between Rousteing and Pavarotti, and Anne agrees. ‘Spiritual’ synchronocity is me alone, but several people I respect are wowed here by the collaboration of the two mega talents.
Read MoreClassicism Meets Something New in Loewe Fall 2023 Campaign by David Sims
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With our creative, fashion minds wrapped around one word for the last three years — ‘surreal’ — Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe for a decade, finally agreed with AOC that it’s time to bust out of the creative prison of everything is either ‘surreal’ or not ‘surreal’. Our binary thinking approach is beginning to bite us in our fashionable ‘derrières’.
Anderson seeks to draw attention to timely, complicated questions in fashion design — and they are not binary.
Talents Tang Wei and Taylor Russell are styled by Benjamin Bruno in Jonathan Anderson’s Fall 2023 Loewe Campaign, lensed by David Sims [IG]./ Makeup by Wong Chi Yee and Lucia Pieroni; hair by Lo Chu Sum & Duffy
“How do you go out of a surrealist aspect to something which is more about how we see clothing now? I think it’s kind of like a type of reduction,” he said. “Wanting to refine, and refine.”
Anderson is playing with our own minds in a very digital world.
In his Fall 2023 presentation, Anderson employed much eye-trickery. As Vogue noted, what appeared to be ordinary cardigans were, in fact, adhesive printed paper. Those cardigans were stuck on the models’ skins, but online viewers couldn’t tell the difference. We only knew what they appeared to be.
Read MoreChurch’s X Miu Miu Campaign Is Home to Whip Smart Boys Club Girls
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The new Fall/Winter 2023 Church’s X Miu Miu collaboration, breaking tomorrow August 29 online at MiuMiu and in MiuMiu stores from September 6, projects perfect execution and attention to detail.
‘Quirky’ but Whip Smart in the Global Men’s Club
Miu Miu has always thrived as being a bit ‘quirky’, a trait embedded in its arty, independent, young women DNA.
The multicultural, spirited Miu Miu girl chooses the unexpected, sartorial twist, like wearing Church’s brogues and double monk strap shoes with her sheerish, color-explosion Miu Miu separates.
The campaign has a distinctive point about Miu Miu charm and self-identity. She may well be studying at the London School of Economics, not only Central Saint Martins. Her glasses, brogues and gentleman’s club ‘heritage’ chair reinforce her brainiac status. She is daring and purposesful, even when appearing light-hearted or a bit silly. Do not underestimate this young Miu Miu woman.
Read MoreWill Icon Collection Pay Off for Victoria's Secret? Adriana, Candice, Gisele, Naomi to the Rescue
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The new VS campaign is excellent and has some real VS icons featured. Bringing back past VS models is a terrific idea for a brand trying to find safe ground to stand on. Shop the new collection at the VS website.
If I read the VS copy carefully, I’m sure we are all icons somewhere in it, so let’s just cut the AOC analysis short here and say “good job, VS.”
The Icon by Victoria’s Secret Collection models includes VS greats Gisele Bündchen, Naomi Campbell, Adriana Lima, and Candice Swanepoel.
The Icon cast campaigns expands to include Adut Akech, Emily Ratajkowski, Hailey Bieber, Paloma Elsesser and Sui He. I’m pleased to say that every woman listed here has archives on AOC.
Oyadeas!
Oh dear goddess Oya. I tried . . . I tried . . . I tried so hard to step carefully, but I just fell down the “we’re all icons” rabbit hole, and I did not see it coming.
Read MoreRalph Lauren's 2023 US Open Collection Is Courtside August 28 in Queens/NYC
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Ralph Lauren’s 2023 US Open collection is courtside on Monday, August 28 thru Sunday September 10 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York.
Skirts and/or Shorts for the Ball Crew
Ball girls made their debut at the US Open in 1977, an encouraging factoid until you learn that ball girls first ‘worked Wimbledon’ in 1920.
Ah yes. It’s a long road to women’s emancipation, even when you’re chasing balls around the tennis court in a grand slam event.
AOC finds the French much more emancipated for women than America these days. But the French Open didn’t get ball girls until 1984; and the Australian Open was also in the early 1980s.
Ralph Lauren, Team USA and the Road to Paris 2024
AOC expects LVMH to help deliver another spectacle for the ages, as a premium partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
I’m not sure how they will top the June 20, 2023 Pharrell Williams debut for Louis Vuitton Men — a night that rocked Paris with sounds of ‘Joy’.
Ralph Lauren will again be outfitting Team USA for the Paris 2024 games— giving us two global citizens companies, who share Anne of Carversville’s values.
Read MoreFerragamo New Renaissance Fall 2023 Campaign by Tyler Mitchell Spotlights Uffizi Gallery
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Today’s release of a new Ferragamo Fall 2023 campaign, conceived by Ferragamo creative director Maximilian Davis, takes a spin on the Louvre’s success, confirming a new and very important, global-culture role for Ferragamo and Italian culture, via the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
The partnership between the Ferragamo brand and the Uffizi Gallery is not a one-off ad campaign. Details of its depth and reach will emerge in the coming months.
Lensed by American photographer Tyler Mitchell [IG], who was named to the TIME 100 list in 2023 and has a cameo in the images, the Ferragamo Fall 2023 campaign features top models including Anok Yai, Jessica Stam, Lina Zhang, Mona Tougaard, Paul Hamline, Taemin Park, and Vittoria Ceretti.
I asked my AI partner Lulu to research the history of the Uffizi Gallery, and she has delivered in a major way. Read on in AOC link top of post.
Read MoreNike x Billie Eilish - Nike Air Alpha Force 88 Drops a Major LIVING INK Black Breakthrough
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Billie Eilish and Nike made sustainability news again this week, with the Tuesday [Aug.8] drop of the Nike x Billie Eilish - Nike Air Alpha Force 88 in Chicago Bulls colors.
Eilish is a devoted environmentalist and leverages her reputation always to move the fashion industry forward.
Billie’s New Kicks in Chicago
The mega-watt star wore her new kicks paired with a Chicago Bulls jersey at Lollapalooza 2023 Chicago last weekend. The scene was mega-watt, authentic Billie Eilish and the much-admired singer was generous with her kicks pics on her IG.
In total, her shoe is 25% recycled, and I’m sure Billie was begging for 35%.
In a clever headline, Vogue B wrote: “Algae is the new black: Nike sneaker swaps petroleum for sustainable ink. . . Other brands can take note.” This is news to AOC and we live close to the topic of sustainability.
Read MoreUlla Johnson Opens West Hollywood Kelly Wearstler-Designed Global Vibe Store
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Designer Ulla Johnson grew up in Manhattan but lived also ‘on the road’ as the daughter of archaelogists.
AOC immediately wants to know if Ulla traveled to the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa, a paleoanthropological site located about 50 km northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Gauteng province.
How about the Lake Turkana region of today’s Kenya, where the Leakey family discovered Lucy. Better yet, has Ulla Johnson been to the Omo Valley? Her clothes suggest ‘yes’.
As a mother to Soren, now 17; Asher, 13; Agnes, 11 and a vizsla named Daphne, and wife to Zach Miner, Ulla Johnson has travelled her own road out of Brooklyn and now to the opening of new store in West Hollywood.
Read MoreAngela Ahrendts Joining SKKY Partners Is Big Kim Kardashian News
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Taking a quick look at other Angela Ahrendts’ videos on capitalism and leadership, her decision to join Kim Kardashian’s private-equity firm is a stunning and inspiring score for SKKY Partners.
Kardashian formed SKKY in summer 2022, joining forces with longtime Carlyle Group consumer head Jay Sammons.
Ahrendts’ primary role with SKKY will focus on identifying and assessing high-potential brands; determining if and how SKKY can add value to them; and to coach and mentor the companies in which SKKY invests for its portfolio.
Read MoreTapestry to Acquire Capri Holdings in $8.5 Billion Deal in Consolidating Luxury Sector
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An American fashion mega deal was announced today, August 10, in which Tapestry, the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, will acquire Capri Holdings, home to Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and Versace.
The purchase price is $8.5 billion and is not subject to any financial conditions. Tapestry has secured $8 billion from the Bank of America and Morgan Stanley to finance the deal, which will not close until 2024.
Capri, which has a market cap of just over $4 billion, reported revenues of $5.62 billion in fiscal 2023, down 0.7 per cent on the previous year’s record $5.65 billion. This performance is very subpar in the high-end luxury market, which has had a strong rebound in a post-COVID luxury retail landscape.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton Mens FW 2023 Campaign Images | White Americans in Paris 1923
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Louis Vuitton Men’s has released images from the FW 2023 collection, co-created by Colm Dillane [IG], aka Kid Super, and the Louis Vuitton Men’s studio design team.
Marq Rise styled the shoot with images by Paul Kooiker [IG].
Preparing to write these words, I scrolled my Apple News for any event connected to this post.
The Universe Dials In
You may or may not have read my recent post about American jazz musicians seeking refuge in the French Riviera — and not only to perform.
Apple News just shared one of those “on this day 100 years ago” articles from yesterday — as if it fell into this post. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued this statement on August 2, 1923:
“Some foreign tourists, forgetting that they are our guests and that they, therefore, owe respect to our customs and our laws, have lately, on several occasions, violently shown their disapproval when they have found men of colour from French colonies sitting near them in public places. They have even gone so far as to demand their expulsion in insulting terms. If similar incidents recur measures of redress will be taken.”
The Racists in Paris Were White American Tourists
The foreign tourists not respecting French customs and laws were Americans. Follow the link at top of post to the entire story of the ugly [and presumably rich] Americans in Paris.
Read MoreLouis Vuitton FW 2023 Campaign with Emma Stone and Haim by David Sims
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Actor and brand ambassador Emma Stone headlines the Louis Vuitton Women’s FW 2023 Collection. American rock band Haim also joins the campaign, lensed by David Sims.
A Collection of Unbelievable Details
The most consistent and prevailing compliment to the Louis Vuitton FW 2023 collection is that one had to see it up close and personal, because the construction and fabrications in the collection are among the most luxurious and intricate techniques Nicolas Ghesquière has ever employed.
Vogue called the details “mindboggling”.
LVMH posted a 20 percent revenue increase in the first six months of 2023, with a profit from recurring operations of 14 percent among its fashion & leather goods division.
Read MoreKering Acquires 30% of Valentino with Option for 100% of Shares by 2028
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Kering will acquire a 30 per cent share in Valentino from parent company Qatar’s Mayhoola for an all-cash sum of €1.7 billion, the conglomerate announced on Thursday. The agreement, a significant acquisition for Kering’s fashion business, includes the option for Kering to acquire 100 per cent of the share capital of Valentino within five years. It will immediately acquire Valentino board representation upon necessary approvals of the deal.
The transaction is part of a broader strategic partnership between Kering and Mayhoola, which could lead to Mayhoola becoming a shareholder in Kering. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2023, subject to approval.
Read MoreGucci 'An Ode to Love' Campaign with Wen Qi and Daniel Zhou Shot by Leslie Zhang
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There’s an A-team on this new summer 2023 campaign including art directors Kevin Tekinel and Charles Levai, director Tin Seoi and photographer Leslie Zhang [IG], whose photography we love. Taiwanese actor Wen Qi and Chinese singer Daniel Zhou star are the lovebirds.
AOC disagrees with more than one fashion writer who has seen this new Gucci ‘An Ode to Love’ campaign and responded with words of praise that storytelling is back at Gucci. Whew!
This new campaign is pure and innocent — which is not how Alessandro Michele served it up. He took you into the setting to experience the imagery yourself, not as an observer.
In my case, he sometimes admonished me [metaphorically], because I wasn’t in the mood to be part of the joke. Yet I chuckled when he grabbed me by the arm, saying “Would you take a damn break, Anne, and let your imagination run wild. Come and play with us.”
Read MoreNew GAP CEO, Mattel's Prez & COO Richard Dickson Is a Superlative Hire
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Mattel golden boy Richard Dickson is the new CEO of Gap, ending a year-long search for a visionary leader to take the helm of the struggling mothership brand. Dickson is widely credited with reviving Barbie for the 21st century.
President and COO at Mattel
Mattel announced Dickson’s departure as President and Chief Operating Officer to staff early Wednesday, as many were still celebrating Barbie’s humongous box office success. In his role, Mr. Dickson leads Mattel's portfolio of global brands, overseeing innovation strategy, design and development, and brand marketing.
Dickson joined the retailer’s board in November 2022 and is responsible for a new partnership in which Gap sells merchandise themed around Mattel’s properties. First up is Barbie, where Gap began selling T-shirts, hoodies, jeans and other gear inspired by Barbie and Ken in May.
Read MoreSporty & Rich Founder Emily Oberg In the Streetwear Passing Lane With Soho Store
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“I do consider Sporty & Rich streetwear, but I also consider it a lifestyle and wellness brand,” Oberg is quoted by Vogue. “I’m trying to get out of the ‘streetwear’ lane because I feel it is very limiting—even Supreme’s business isn’t as strong as it once was because people are just shopping differently. The demand for logo-driven items is decreasing, so I want to expand and broaden the range.”
The spa facilities are very much “if you know, you know” and Oberg has no intention of putting a sign in the window. “Health is Wealth” is a core brand plank for Sporty & Rich — and very deeply embedded in in Emily Oberg’s personal DNA.
Read MoreDaniel Lee Rolls On As Burberry Resort 2024 Meets London New Bond Street Store Renovation
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