Following the opening in March of their first European flagship store at 7 Burlington Gardens, London, Abercrombie & Fitch posted more good news at the end of May noting increased net sales as high as 13%. There was much debate as to whether this archetype state-side brand could make it in the old country. Well whatever your leaning before these results it looks like Abercrombie & Fitch clothing has a place in Europe. The question now is whether their controversial marketing techniques will negatively impact their continued growth. Time will tell.
Monthly Archives
May 2007
France embracing RMC Jeans! Football stars Djibril Cissé, Thierry Henry and Frédéric Kanouté have all reputed been seen sporting RMC jeans and caps. In additon, French rap star Mokobe is seen wearing RMC jeans in his latest video. Apart from France, RMC is making waves in Sweden, Holland, Italy, Germany and in fact all over Europe. Many people are calling RMC the new and improved Evisu…
Ed Hardy files lawsuit against Christian Audigier! As most of you will know Christian Audigier is no stranger to lawsuits and is still in the process of of fighting Von Dutch who are reputedly suing him for fraud. Anyway, the latest lawsuit from Ed Hardy claims he is in breach of his contract with Ed Hardy by contracting work to sublecensees in which he holds an interest, underreporting sales and failing to pay Hardy royalties, withholding several Ed Hardy copyright certificates and failing to submit artwork to Ed Hardy for approval. Christian Audigier has got himself in the middle of an Ed Hardy + Von Dutch sandwich and it looks like someone is going to have him for dinner. Maybe it’s time for a quick get away…
Stone Island Denim has always been a hit! Although Stone Island epitomises a “Man’s Brand” some of the denim styles introduce a touch of Yin to this geezers realm. Check out one of the widest online collections here. Whatever your thoughts about Stone Island, the fact is Stone Island jeans are a definite cut above the norm. Take a butchers!
Since 2001 UNIQLO Clothing has been collecting fleece wear and converting it into fuel for power generation; now they are accepting everything, twice a year at season change. In the trial, 140,000 items were collected, 92% was suitable for additional use and donated to refugee camps in Thailand and Nepal, 6% was converted into fuel for power generation and 2% was recycled into insulation and work gloves.
Visionary fashion brand Nudie Jeans encourages the support of Amnesty International. For every sold â€Fight for human rights†t-shirt Amnesty receives 5.5 euros. This is their angle:
â€Every year, throughout the world, many thousands of people of all ages have their human rights abused. Most of us don’t experience this personally, but it tis impossible not to know that it is going on. And it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and powerless?
â€But you don’t have to feel like that. Over a million people throughout the world are doing something and you can join them. It doesn’t have to take much of your time or money – by supporting Amnesty International, you can make a real difference to this world.
â€Amnesty International depends on the support of individuals to carry out its lifesaving work around the world. Without our million-plus members, Amnesty would not be able to carry out so much on behalf of the victims of human rights abuses. Every day, we receive more urgent cries for help. Please help make sure we never have to ignore one. Please join Amnesty International”.
French Connection, the fashion brand which built its reputation on the controversial acronym, FCUK, is reputedly on the comeback after recently falling from grace. The company revealed growth of 3 per cent in the last 13 weeks while sales increased 5 per cent. The strength of the fashion ranges is the driving force behind the rise, according to a company representative.
In North America turnover increased by 6 per cent in total and 7 per cent on a like-for-like basis in the thirteen week period. “Overall, we are pleased with the performance of the French Connection ranges in our retail business and we believe that in an extremely competitive market it is the strength of the design of our ranges which is driving the improvement in our business,” said the company.
John Galliano has been sued for using the works of another artist for his own collections. The British designer used replicas of a renowned U.S. photographer’s images in his latest ad campaign without acting the artist’s permission. Galliano reportedly is required to pay William Klein Eur 200,000 for the unauthorized use of his “painted contacts,†in addition to Eur 150,000 for copy right infringement, and an additional Eur 50,000 for damaging the reputation of his work, reported for poor production quality.
Klein who resides in France , is “insulted and furious†that Galliano used his images in ads that ran in several fashion magazines and were “gross plagiary.†The prints were replicas of his signature half-painted photos of street scenes. The artist has gained notoriety for his technique of using coloured enamels to highlight parts of photographs. One of these collections was recently featured at an exhibit at the Pompidou Centre in Paris where it did very well.
The history of New Balance begins at the beginning of the 20th Century in Cambridge, Massachusetts. New balance had made its duty to help humans with foot problems, they improved the fitting of the shoes. Inserts and shoes on prescription remained to 1961 the cornerstone of the enterprise, until the “Trackster” , was brought out. The worldwide first running shoe with score-sole, which was available also in several different widths. During the 60s the reputation of New Balance grew as an innovatively producing enterprise by mouth propaganda. When Jim Davis bought the enterprise on the day of the Bosten Marathon of 1972, he committed himself to the original virtue of the enterprise: Good fitting of the shoes, achievement and production.
The New Balance Topmodells: 1500, 860, 576 and 801 (New in 2007) are still hand-made in England. Materials of highest quality are main part of the new collection independent whether in the Far East or in England produced. Worth mentioning are also the new acquisitions: 801,872 and 782 from the Trailrange. In 2007 New Balance will have the 576, 860 and 574 as women styles.
Fenom, the forward-thinking Levi’s + Hiroshi Fujiwara, Fragment, collaboration, continues to take Levi’s into new fashion territory. The latest collection lives up to the high expectations and is everything a true collaboration should be; innovative, visionary and plain off-the-radar.
Giorgio Armani signs Beyoncé Knowles to be the face of his next women’s fragrance, Emporio Armani Diamonds, due out this autumn. “There is no one today who transcends music, film and fashion in the way that Beyoncé does,” said Giorgio Armani. “Beyoncé is pure sensuality. She has that ability to mix it up: young and sexy or elegant and sophisticated, but always with incredible charisma and magnetism.”
“She represents perfectly the energy, style and sensuality that inspires the Emporio Armani lifestyle,” added Armani.
“Earnest Sewn, by definition, is a denim brand which pays homage to its Americana past and mixes, for perhaps the first time, traditional denim worktheyar with the ancient Japanese style aesthetic, Wabi-Sabi. Designed by Scott Morrison, formerly the designer/co-founder of Paper Denim & Cloth.
Focusing on each individual jean and the numerous amounts of processing, hand application, and refinishing techniques used to create an Earnest Sewn jean, they take things even further by intentionally incorporating imperfection and inconsistency into key design and sewing details. This is exhibited in irregularities such as stitch detailing, needlework, sewing construction, trims, thread variation, and our ever changing ‘e & s’ back pocket stitching.
Although several themes are referenced throughout the collection, the most significant reference is in Earnest Sewn’s adoption of the Japanese aesthetic system of traditional beauty, Wabi-Sabi. At its core, Wabi-Sabi is the beauty of all things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. The idea that perfection can be found in the imperfect is not a new thought, in fact it’s thousands of years old, but when combined with distinctly American products such as jeans, worktheyar, and sportstheyar, the result is fresh and unexpected.
Those fortunate enough to find a pair of Earnest Sewn in their local retailer will have found a line of denim and denim related products that reflect an unprecedented commitment to quality and individual style. They’ll also find an unwavering appreciation for denim and the fading mystique of American ingenuity and craftsmanship. Each piece of Earnest Sewn is handcrafted to perfection, the end result, an obvious byproduct of our obsession.
Tradition noted. History referenced. Homage paid.”
Blood & Glitter vintage denim, established in 2002, has gone from strength to strength. With rock Blood & Glitter lives its name. They are the Blood that drives the designs forward creating vintage denims with a rock edge. Blood & Glitter Vintage Denim is created by using the finest ringspun indigo denim fabrics in order to produce a unique jeans collections, employing hand sanding, oven baking, colour tinting and silicone softeners or simply rinse washing to remove shrinkage in the pursuit of perfection.
SUN SURF
“Sun Surf’ is a brand owned by Toyo Enterprise that is spotlighted by our Sugar Cane label. The Sun Surf brand is a collection of vintage designs from the heyday of Hawaiian shirts (1940’s -1950’s) reproduced true to their original fascinating colors and charm.
SUN SURF was launched in the mid 1970’s when Toyo was concentrating on reproducing American style clothing from the “good old days” (1940’s – 60’s). Additionally at this time, Toyo was energetic in reproducing Hawaiian shirts. The Hawaiian shirts from those days were mostly made from polyester and some rayon, but of less desirable print colors.
SUN SURF designs have been carefully selected from our collection of over 1,000 vintage Hawaiian shirts. We have striven to recreate in minute detail our Hawaiian shirts to resemble the originals by using the original fabrics, printing colors, and printing methods.
KEONI OF HAWAII
KEONI OF HAWAII is a brand revived from the works of John Meigs, a textile designer in the 40’s and 50’s who was living in Hawaii. His artwork includes a collection of over 400 Hawaiian print designs, of which 50 were never used as shirts. He is recognized as one of the outstanding Hawaiian shirt designers and the only living designer from that period. Today, John Meigs is an active artist painting modern art and landscapes. John Meigs has personally given us his advice on how to revive the designs after half a century. Needless to say, with Sun Surf’s quality and attention to design, the shirts themselves are not replicas but are true vintage Hawaiians.
SUN SURF – SPECIAL EDITION SERIES
In response to the Hawaiian shirts’ collector’s demands, Sun Surf also presents a special edition series. A selection of our designs has been recognized as collector’s items. These designs were about impossible to reproduce due to the complex characteristic mixture of 15 or more colors. The shirts in this series are individually boxed in the original boxes. To respect the brands, fabrication is 100% rayon, and the labels and hangtags have been reproduced true to their original historical condition.
These evisu-jeans with cream or green brush painted Daicock embody the true spirt of Evisu with the bold brand signature on the back. From the Heritage line, these are unwashed raw selvedge denim with incredible detailing. One of the most popular jeans in the entire Heritage line.
Hugo Boss is offering an attractive collection of shoes this Spring Summer 2007. Hugo Boss Shoes have never hit the heights of TOD’s, DiSanto, Gucci or Prada but this year their footwear is worth a second look. These black lace-ups are taken from the Hugo Boss 07 Collection.
Miss Sixty Jeans were producing tight and skinny jeans way before the vast majority of of the so-called premium denim brands on the market today. Miss Sixy was born in 1991 as Energie’s womenswear line and ironically went on to spawn the men’s collection, called simply: Sixty. Although Sixty Jeans never achieved the success of Miss Sixty. The Miss Sixty jeans Spring Summer 2007 Collection includes these ultra slim “high binky” jeans which are clearly unforgiving and will only fit a very slim figure. Don’t squeeze into these unless you’re stick thin or you’re going to look a right pudding!
For decades Hugo Boss Ladieswear was thought of as some kind of anathema! How could the ultimate high-rolling “geezers” brand be seen to produce ladieswear; the whole idea was about as convincing as Juicy Couture for men. Guess what, this season Hugo Boss ladieswear is for real. The Spring Summer 2007 Collection has all the finesse and subtle raunchiness of Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino and Versace. Hugo Boss Ladieswear has arrived for sure.
The Paul Smith London Spring Summer 2007 Collection is as sharp as ever. Sir Paul Smith has the uncanny knack of making the traditional contemporary. Some fashionistas remark that Paul Smith is the United Kingdom’s version of Giorgio Armani and although that might be thought of as a compliment, the fact is Paul Smith cannot be compared to any other brand; it is truly unique in it’s style and fashion flavour. This season the Paul Smith Suits, Jackets and Shirts are well worth a butchers!