Recent Brand Insights and Analysis
/ Anne Enke
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Victoria’s Secret alum model Behati Prinsloo Levine and husband Adam Levine, of the pop rock band Maroon 5, front the new Jacquie Aiche Rebel Heart [IG].
Photographer Adam Franzino [IG] brings to life a visible electricity and sensual connection between the couple.
"The energy that Adam and Behati give off in the jewels, both independently and together, encapsulates everything that came to mind when I was working on this collection. It's all about sharing your own light with the world. With Adam and Behati, they're both so positive and so energetic, you could just feel the electricity between them on set,” Jacquie Aiche told the press about the campaign.
This is the first campaign that the couple shot together.
LVMH and the Council of Fashion Designers of America launch ‘Voices of Impact’, a co-created video series of conversations about sustainability as it intersects with fashion and luxury.
The six-part series goes live on Tuesday, airing on cfda.com and CFDA’s YouTube channel, as well as lvmh.com. The series consists of six digital episodes with specific, sustainability topics: Powering a Just Transformation; Biodiversity; The Heart of Innovation; Circularity x Regeneration by Design; Creative Capital: Designing Purposeful Growth, and Climate Action: Fusion Energy.
Louis Vuitton introduces its Flight Mode summer 2024 collection for global travelers. The colorful collection is inspired by vibrant colors like yellow and also prints inspired by travel stamps connected to the famous Élysée Palace Hotel in Paris.
The newly-introduced Monogram canvas bags, like the Keepall and Side Trunk, are decorated with colorful Élysée Palace Hotel stamps. Built in 1896 in the Art Nouveau style, the Elysée Palace hotel — most recently the headquarters of HSBC Bank in Paris — is under a spectacular renovation as the first Louis Vuitton flagship hotel, scheduled to open in 2026. Read more details in our January 2024 post.
Apparently this ‘insider information’ about the reason Louis Vuitton is inspired in its Flight Mode summer 2024 collection by the Elysée Palace hotel was not in the LV press release. It’s not in their IG either.
SKIMS [IG] has pulled out all the stops in the new swimwear campaign shot by British fashion photographer Nick Knight [IG] founder and director of SHOWstudio.com. Knight is joined by stylist Carine Roitfeld [IG] the former EIC of Vogue Paris, founder of CR Fashion Book and its consulting agency.
Nick Knight and Carine Roitfeld together are as good as it gets, and we see the very visible results in these images.
Knight was the creative force behind the shoot, tasked with capturing the collection “in a style reminiscent of his classic and avant-garde fashion campaigns from the 2000s,” according to a press release from the brand.
AOC also raved about the Steven Klein ‘swimweat manifesto’ featuring Kim in the SKIMS June 2023 campaign. But the photography is very different in the two projects.
Read on at the AOC Body link. I compare the two campaigns from Steven Klein and now Nick Knight.
When the National Portrait Gallery, London, reopened in June 2023 following a three-year redevelopment closure, its first exhibition ‘Yevonde: Life and Colour’ centered on British photographer Yevonde Middleton [1893-1975]. The art event, which focused on the sixty-year career of a paradigm-breaking woman photographer, was sponsored by The CHANEL Culture Fund.
With the release of its new 2024 Leathergoods Campaign, Miu Miu [IG] is also inspired by the British photographer Yevonde Middleton.
An ode to color, to femininity, to fashion and to feminism, Miu Miu celebrates its signature matelassé in images by photographer legend Steven Meisel with art direction by Edward Quarmby. Starring Gigi Hadid as a modern reflection of the Miu Miu persona styled by Lotta Volkova, the images focus on the Wander and Arcadie bags. / Makeup by Pat McGrath; hair by Guido Palau
Writing for B of F, Kit Rees cites Citibank analyst Thomas Chauvet’s April 12 note making the case that “Hermès has potential to surpass LVMH’s flagship Louis Vuitton in the coming years.”
Chauvet is a Managing Director heading up Citi’s European Luxury Goods Equity Research team in London. He argues that based on Hermés, best-known for its Birkin bags, hitting the “symbolic” €20 billion ($21.3 billion) level by 2027 or before, they will be in a position to overtake Louis Vuitton, who reached that milestone in 2022.
How this argument of Hérmes overtaking Louis Vuitton by reaching $21.3 billion in 2027, when Louis Vuitton compounded at +10% 2023-27 gives us $34.3 billion in 2027 is absolutely a key reason why I don’t have Thomas Chauvet’s job.
But read me anyway.
Pop star Sabrina Carpenter fronts a new SKIMS campaign for the new Stretch Lace and Fits Everybody spring collections dropping April 3.
In a volley across the net, SKIMS — who is playing hardball with Victoria’s Secret — calls Stretch Lace offering “the most alluring underwear drop yet.”
Fresh off opening Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Australia and Singapore, and touring last fall with the pop star, not all Swifties were onboard with Sabrina Carpenter promoting SKIMS.
Kim and her ex-husband Kanye West have a very sketchy history with the biggest pop star on the planet.
H&M celebrates Spring 2024 as a time of rebirth and new beginnings in a fresh and sophisticated campaign with equally upmarket clothes. For the women’s portion, models include Anok Yai, Bibi Breslin, Precious Lee, Raquel Zimmermann and Vittoria Ceretti styled by Kate Phelan.
Photographer Rafael Pavarotti [IG] is behind the lens, working with Albert Moya on what’s an exceptional and esoteric campaign film — the entire director’s cut.
In recent days, H&M received positive news in response to the Spring 2024 collections. H&M Group CEO Daniel Ervér, who abruptly replaced Helena Helmersson at the end of January, will tell you that he had little to do with the results.
H&M under Helmersson got caught in the worst possible squeeze and Ervér was her partner in that squeeze, being head of H&M for the last four years.
COVID came and Shein took off like an online rocket ship.
H&M controlled 16% of the fast fashion market in the US in November 2022, behind Shein's 50%. H&M’s $24.9 billion market cap as of November 2023 is approximately 35% of Shein's 2023 private valuation of $66 billion.
Valentino has made the announcement we’ve all been waiting for: Alessandro Michele will become the new creative director of the Rome-based couture house.
Michele will step into the creative-head shoes of his friend Pierpaolo Piccioli, who existed the Rome-based house last Friday. The designer embarks on his new journey next Tuesday, according to an internal statement.
I just visited Michele’s IG to follow any breadcrumbs he has left along the way. Of course, the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ book was a must-add to AOC’s visual about Alessandro Michele’s new journey.
A close friend of Michele’s reached out to me in regard to AOC’s commentary on the Chinese New Year 2023 Gucci post celebrating the Year of the Rabbit. AOC includes those links, as we lift off again with one of fashion’s most visionary and talented Queen Bees. AOC is so happy Alessandro Michele is back.
Louis Vuitton is in Olympic Games Paris 2024 countdown, as a lead brand in LVMH’s role as a top sponsor of this summer’s games.
Dropping the new Louis Vuitton Nautical Capsule 2024 this weekend reminds us that some fashion trends truly possess heritage status — in the way that the Olympics are heritage.
Women, Sailing and the Olympics
The world has changed almost beyond recognition since the summer of 1924 — the last time Paris hosted the summer Olympics. One simple statistic grabs our attention immediately: 2954 men competed in the 1924 games and 135 women. AOC digs deep into women in competitive sailing a century ago.
Louis Vuitton's foray into the prestigious realm of sailing and its premier position in the LVMH sponsor umbrella of the Paris 2024 Summer Games spills next into Barcelona, where Louis Vuitton hosts in late August 2024 the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series. Hosting the event since 1983 and subsequently renamed the Louis Vuitton Cup, it culminates in the race for a new America’s Cup Winner.
Designer and eco-activist Stella McCartney [IG] releases her summer 2024 campaign, starring fellow Gaia lover Cara Delevingne.
The summer 2024 collection is Stella McCartney’s most sustainable ever, crafted from 95% conscious materials. Below, Cara holds the Frame bag, crafted from a leather alternative, made from apple waste.
Photographer Harley Weir [IG] captures the model-actor at VeoliaUK’s [IG] South London recycling center.
Responding to a request for comment from WWD, Valentino confirmed on March 22, 2024 the departure of Pierpaolo Piccioli as creative director of Maison Valentino.
Kering’s Role is Unclear in the Mayhoola Decision
We don’t know what the role of Gucci-parent Kering has in this decision. Kering acquired 30% of Valentino in July, 2023, with an option to purchase the whole of Valentino's share capital no later than 2028.
Luxury Stocks Are Holding Steady with Kering Plunge of $6.8 Billion
As fashion’s titanic luxury brands ship rocks in a week that witnessed Kering stock lose $6.8 billion of value on Wednesday, following news of a 20% revenue decrease at Gucci, Kering is the hardest hit.
LVMH is holding steady and positive, along with other key brands like Brunello Cuccinelli and Ralph Lauren.
AOC believes that very different luxury brand marketing positions at these more ‘humanist-centered luxury brands’, coupled with deep bench strength in executive talent at LVMH — but also individual luxury brands like Cucinelli and Lauren — are positioning them to weather storms in the luxury sector.
Italian luxury brand Valentino is making headlines today, with news that the maison’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli has come to the end of his Valentino tenure after 25 years.
Related: Pierpaolo Piccioli's Humanist-Focus Chapter Ends at Maison Valentino AOC Daily
The Italian humanist was not a member of the Maison Valentino family in 1995, when esteemed photographer Herb Ritts [IG] created this series of elegant but sensually provocative images anchored by Christy Turlington of the Valentino F/W 1995.96 collection for Vanity Fair US.
AOC wonders if fashion scholars have explored this transition of sexual mores, especially within the Italian brands, who historically and geographically lived closer to the Levant-based lands of the goddess worship that predated monotheism.
What is true is that the woman — Turlington here — is the center of this ritualistic fashion ritual, captured for Valentino in 1995 by Herb Ritts.
The watery effect of Pucci’s heritage Vivara print takes the stage in a new Spring 2024 campaign headlined by Vittoria Ceretti and captured by Mario Sorrenti [IG] at Villa L’Alma near Milan.
Pucci Artistic Director Camille Miceli has invited us to Rome on April 4 to view Vivara in action as "one of the house's most iconic prints, dating back to 1965 and featured in all the archives."
To many of us, Pucci is an absolute jewel, with speculation-only 2023 revenue of $100m. If any group can nurture her to Pucci’s maximum potential, it’s LVMH.
Previously working under LVMH’s Sidney Toledano as the chief executive of smaller brands like Celine and Fendi, Camille Micelli at Pucci — along with Belgian fashion executive Saar Debrouwere as Pucci CEO — will operate under the guidance of Michael Burke, who recently took the helm from Toledano.
I dig deeply into the LVMH approach to developing talent in the Michael Burke link above.
Coco Chanel's connection to Villa Noailles [IG] is a fascinating chapter in fashion history. That unique relationship is expressed in the Chanel [IG] Spring 2024 ad campaign and also in lush floral prints inspired by the villa itself, located in Hyères, in the heart of the South of France.
This year, the campaign stars actor Riley Keough, named days ago as Chanel’s new ambassador, alongside longtime Chanel muse, supermodel Rianne Van Rompaey.
Villa Noailles was celebrated at Chanel’s Spring 2024 PFW runway show last October. The new campaign by frequent Chanel collaborators Inez and Vinoodh [IG], unfolds in the villa’s garden and its iconic pink room, envisioned as sanctuaries of creativity and happiness for the Chanel woman.
Zara [IG] drops its Studio Collection twice a year, with today’s Spring 2024 drop called Rêveries.
Real-world models include Fei Fei Sun, Nyawurh Chuol, rising model Rosalieke Fuchs and Vivienne Rohner. Are they pondering Betty Friedan’s life-changing book ‘The Feminine Mystique’ [1963] — but are not quite ready to tackle the deeply philosophical and life-unsettling Simone de Bouveoir treatise ‘The Second Sex’ [1949]?
Steven Meisel [IG] shoots the quartet in rich, mid-century midtones, sheerish blouses, cardigans and pencil skirts, complemented by interior furniture in sensual hues and slowly-increasing sunlight.
Ralph Lauren Collection Spring 2024 releases key images on Instagram and Ralph Lauren online, presumably with a print campaign to follow. Models in the first release include Adele Aldighieri, Bruno Tenorio, Felice Nova Noordhoff, Maty Fall and Sui He are lensed by Carter Berg [IG].
Whatever you think of this bold Ralph Lauren design formula, it’s working in the corporate financial statements.
Excellent Holiday 2023 Performance at Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren reported its third quarter sales — which include holiday 2023 — on February 8, 2024. The results put Ralph Lauren in LVMH territory, with their organic revenue growth of 10%, and not Kering Group, who reported a 5% holiday sales decrease.
WWD shared the unconfirmed rumor that Louis Vuitton hopes to take over the defeated proposal for a 109-key Cheval Blanc hotel on the 50,000 sq foot property on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
LVMH thought they had a deal going last spring for the Cheval Blanc in Beverly Hills. AOC knew LVMH had the wrong team negotiating on their behalf, long before we wrote the end of the very close vote story.
Weekend Paris Protests at New Louis Vuitton Hotel Site
The circumstances of the 2023 Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills no-vote is even more relevant today, after protesters took over the Paris construction site of the new Louis Vuitton hotel and store in Paris this weekend.
Margaret Zhang’s tenure as editor-in-chief of Vogue China will be a short one.
Condé Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour shared the news with Vogue China staff in an email on Friday that Zhang will be leaving the publication at the end of March when her contract expires.
Youngest EIC Ever
Zhang’s appointment to the prestigious position of editor-in-chief in February 2021 redefined the career skills propelling a professional talent into such a prestigious position. Not only was Zhang the youngest Vogue editor ever at just 27, she was the first influencer — and one with little magazine experience — to be named a top editor at any Vogue edition.
If you believe in the dopamine dressing effects of bold colors on the brain, the new Gisele Bündchen Balmain Spring 2024 campaign is better than a 90% bioavailability liquid infusion of vitamin B.
Gisele, you can use your brain-activation talents in a patriotic way for your second-home country.
Gisele, how about joining forces with Taylor Swift in an American 2024 presidential election get-out-the-vote campaign? No choosing sides; just get folks to register in their states and vote for their preferred candidate.
As Trump bears down on Taylor Swift in the coming months, she could use a shoulder to lean on. Don’t worry, yummy mummy. Just show off your Jiu-Jitsu moves, Gisele, and MAGA will stand down. PS: they say nasty things about you, girl.
Models Devyn Garcia, Doutzen Kroes, Imaan Hammam, Lily Aldridge and Mayowa Nicholas invite us into Victoria’s Secret 7.0, or whatever version we’on at this point. Anne is totally lost.
It’s great, though to see such a high-quality cast assembled on behalf of the new Body by Victoria 2024 Campaign.[IG] Photographer Mikael Jansson [IG] captures the quintet, styled by Camilla Nickerson. / Makeup by Mark Carrasquillo; hair by James Pecis
We don’t know the annual results for VS, which had another very tough year in revenue and profitability in 2023. Those results will become public on March 7, 2024.
It seemes that the global fashion show documentary did not fare particularly well, as VS chief executive Martin Waters said — speaking about a list of VS actions to reinvigorate the entire business, not only the renewed 2023 fashion show: “Despite everyone’s best endeavours, it’s not been enough to carry the day.”
Healthy Food for Kids Unites Jennifer Garner and Ron Finley
It’s been over five years since AOC wrote about Jennifer Garner’s co-owned business ‘Once Upon a Farm’. Our focus in summer 2018 was the actor’s support of Ron Finley, the Gangsta Gardener of the Ron Finley Project.
Jennifer Garner got AOC’s attention today after seeing a Fortune Magazine headline that Once Upon a Farm is now a $100 million business eyeing an IPO.
AOC knew in 2018 that Once Upon a Farm had B-Corp status. But we were confused reading today that the company also registered as a Public Benefit Corporation [PBC] in 2021.
Of course, we asked: What’s a PBC? Now we have some answers.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Tod’s-LVMH decades-long business connection went into high gear with news that Tod’s Diego Della Valle, his brother Andrea Della Valle and the LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton have entered an agreement involving the launch of a tender offer at €43 per Tod’s share. The goal of delisting Tods’Group from the Italian stock exchange is in sight.
Today’s financial offer will leave the Della Valle Family with a 54 percent stake in Tod’s Group capital and assets; L Catterton will indirectly own 36 percent and Delphine SAS [a fully-owned subsidiary of LVMH] will retain a 10 percent stake.
Tod’s first announced a desire to delist its company from the Italian stock exchange in August 2022. That effort failed in October 2022, when a bid launched solely by the Della Valle family failed to reach the 90% threshold required to delist.
Anne of Carversville wrote days ago about about our growing understanding of the management style of LVMH/Bernard Arnault-trained executives. The trees planted have deep roots that bear premium fruit with long-term alliances, strong interpersonal friendships, trust and loyalties. It’s impressive.
In 1992 American designer Donna Karan launched her campaign “In Women We Trust” shot by Peter Lindbergh. That fashion maverick statement about female leadership and competence was celebrated again today — not with America’s first woman president which we’ve all hoped for — but with photographer legend Annie Leibovitz gathering eight models so famous that they can go by their first names without confusion.
Featured in the Donna Karan revival campaign are Amber Valletta, Carolyn Murphy, Cindy Crawford, Imaan Hammam, Karlie Kloss, Linda Evangelista, Liya Kebede and Shalom Harlow.
Photographer Leibovitz shot the campaign in a Brooklyn warehouse, with video by Barbara Leibovitz Hellman and styling by Jessica Diehl.
Italian Maison Acqua Di Parma, a member of the LVMH family of artisans and artists-inspired maisons, brings its Italian heritage and Milanese creativity to Seoul with the Acqua di Parma Yellow Café. The design by Dorothée Meilichzon fuses Italian charm with the dynamic spirit of Seoul.
Located at Lotte Avenuel Jamsil B1F, Acqua di Parma Yellow Café is much more than a café, proposing an immersion into the Maison’s unique aesthetic and heritage.
Indeed, you are seeing a ‘wavy plate’ on a shelf [below] in Seoul’s new Acqua di Parma Yellow Café. If you seek a concrete signal about the hoped-for evolution of the new cafe in Seoul, recall the March 2022 pop-up in Milan for the brand’s new fragrance Colonia CLUB.
The more AOC studies LVMH from every angle, the more impressive the organization becomes. I’ve been researching ways in which LVMH has addressed the philosophy of humanism. The concept flourishes across the maisons, and it seems that great care is given to developing both the executives and the artisans.
Fundamental to the maisons is a similar vision for how the brands interact with their clients — and not only their elite-class clients. LVMH plants deep, dynamic forests for their brands.
As everyone says, LVMH moves fast, but it’s also the case that huge mistakes are avoided because of a culture of deep roots and also deep knowledge about the humans who work in their businesses.
American designer Zac Posen is starting his next chapter in San Francisco, accepting a dual role as Executive Vice President & Creative Director of Gap Inc and Chief Creative Officer of Old Navy.
In Posen, Dickson said he saw a combination of cultural savvy and technical skill that could jumpstart Gap Inc. getting it back on track.
Posen’s position is the first time Gap Inc. has hired a creative lead at the executive portfolio level which includes Athleta, Banana Republic, and Old Navy besides Gap.
Dickson is looking for an intellectual creative partner to cultivate and inspire his own vision at Gap. Part of Posen’s role will be to create sparkplug synergy in Dickson and other creatives across the organization.
Lauren Ralph Lauren is chasing a Palm Beach breeze or going further south to the Ralph Lauren home High Rock in Jamaica. Set on the highest point of the Round Hill resort which consists of a small hotel and 29 villas on a peninsula, it’s a place of total serenity for Ralph and Ricky and their expanding family.
Models Cora Emmanuel, Blanca Padilla and Georgina Burke are born to embrace the Ralph Lauren spirit. This collection and more treasures coming are revealed on the Lauren Ralph Lauren IG. And if you want to armchair travel to High Rock, Ralph is waiting your arrival.
Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta opened its third store in Milan on Tuesday, with a design perfectly integrated into Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a landmark location between the city’s Duomo cathedral and the Teatro alla Scala.
Covering about 2,600 square feet over two levels, the store is AOC’s favorite to date. It’s modern without being cold and sumptuous without being overbearing. Even the huge gold planter works for AOC. Love the green leather.
“There are different experiences of space in the store,” Matthieu Blazy told WWD. “I wanted to express the idea of a domestic interior referring to Italian modernist architecture that contrasts with the aesthetic of a spaceship. And to capture the intimacy and the imagination of getting dressed.”
