Brand Noise

Miuccia Prada and the Marriage of Art and Fashion

(from Financial Times) Miuccia Prada symbolises perfectly the merging of these two multimillion-pound industries. Not only are her collections feted for the kind of conceptual audacity that would shame many a so-called artist but she has also acted as a generous patron for all things cutting edge.

Miuccia Prada has already shown that fashion – quick-moving, dynamic, ferociously embracing globalisation – can outsmart more ponderous forms of expression. But the problem, which she recognises as surely as anyone, is this: as art learns those lessons and becomes more approachable and, arguably, more facile, will it lose its sense of gravitas?

Last week the 58-year-old designer announced plans for a new headquarters for her 15-year-old Prada Foundation, in a former spirits distillery in Milan. The €25m project, masterminded by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, will restore most of the distillery’s original buildings as well as providing three new structures.  Read more (FT.com)

Good Placement Fat Boy

I managed to catch the new film by David Schwimmer called Run Fat Boy Run this last week.  Pretty harmless and amusing with some cameos from top Brit comedy folks like David Williams and Stephen Merchant.  Another cameo I didn't expect though was Nike.  The film focuses around the Nike River Run and places the brand rather well in the story.  There is even a scene in which the main character is given a pair of top Nike trainers to motivate him to run.  A small story - but a very simple human story that places the brand in a less "pumped up" context.  This is good - and it left me liking the brand in a different kind of way. 

Recession Black is the New Black

"Of course, black is like a mask," says [Christian] Lacroix, who calls this shift in sensibility a new minimalism. "The new pureness of lines centered on cut rather than decoration, the laser geometry of shapes and silhouettes are all maybe signs of a graphic protection linked unconsciously to recession, just like at the end of the '80s." Like Lacroix, Ghesquière was channeling a more austere sensibility in his Balenciaga collection, which, he said, was inspired by film noir, specifically the actress Simone Signoret's hard-edged look in the 1955 movie Les Diaboliques.

Read more.

Should Fashion Divest from Seasons?

The Wall Street Journal recently posted an interview addressing how designers and retailers are responding to warmer global temperatures.

The video revealed that there are other factors at play. And we agree.

Fashion has historically thrived on an obsolescence factor built into changing seasons. The advent of air conditioning, cars and textile technology have made the seasons passe.

There used to be a nicely nestled Cruise/Resort Collection, but most American women are globally motivated to travel throughout the year. Sunbelt travel is accessible to everyone now.

There's also a polarity of prices at play that transcends seasons. You can invest in one fabulous piece, but buy less expensive items on a weekly basis. No one is shy about mixing and matching anymore.

So the fashion issue is less a question of global warming than it is global advancement and an empowered consumer.

(Image: GalaDarling.)

Undone Feels Good Right Now, says Posen

Closing day seven of New York fashion week on Thursday, Feb. 7, Zac Posen's Fall 2008 tour de force featured sources of fetish and fantasy for both men and women, from schoolgirl uniforms to fairytale ball gowns.

"It's all of a woman’s fetishes," said Posen post-show. "That's the direction we're going to keep pushing [the collections]."

“Graphic, iconic outfits” and “Olive Oyl mixed with Helmut Newton" was how Posen described the collection. “She's a girl who can snap at any moment, a girl that men and women go crazy for."

"Undone-done feels really good right now," he quipped.

Read more. (Photo: Too high heels topple a model during the Posen show. Hey, they don't call them Knock Me Down shoes for nothing...)

How Much Longer Will the Charade Continue?

A recent NY Times article discusses the basic premise of an image business is that perception and reality shall not converge. Very interesting...My thought is that we thrive on the tension. It becomes a game we enjoy. Read an excerpt from the article:

Wasn’t that the basic point Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue, was making when she griped in her recent editor’s letter that Senator Hillary Clinton should loosen up and stop dressing like a man?

Not only is that not going to happen, it cannot, because in no place outside the fashion bubble are women given license to costume themselves as fancifully and often absurdly as magazines devoted to the subject propose. The truth is, hardly anyone (and certainly not presidential candidates or school bus drivers or brokers) goes around wearing the flapper dresses and hobbling footgear promoted and favored by people who work on the 12th floor at 4 Times Square.

And even those women tend to ditch the killer wedges from Jil Sander for Lanvin ballet flats the second they’re out of paparazzi range. Walk a half-block west of the Bryant Park tents and you’re bound to spot some blistered Condé Nast employee huddling in a doorway as she tucks her Frankenboots into a Balenciaga satchel.

Team of Three Collaborate for DVF Campaign

Diane von Furstenberg with the artist Francois-Marie Banier and the creative vision of David Lipman, featuring Natalia Vodianova, has created a campaign that infuses the spirit and distinctiveness of the eponymous brand.

Inspired by von Furstenberg's desire to reflect the DNA of the brand -- the power of women and their courage -- Banier produced some 50 black and white images of Natalia, and with strong brushstrokes, smudges, and spatters, he applied bold color and writing to each photograph to create layers of complexity, both visual and emotional.

Not too many years ago, Natalia Vodianova was a poor fruit seller on the streets of Moscow. Now she's one of the world's most in-demand models and married to a very rich, very handsome aristocrat, Justin Portman.

Known for his iconic portraits, painting and writing, Francois-Marie Banier's friendship with von Furstenberg dates back to the early seventies. Like von Furstenberg's designs and strong prints, the trilogy of talent developing this campaign was spontaneous and full of chemistry. Her role in the campaign, she contends, was simply to make introductions.

Kid Robot, Secret to “Yo Gabba Gabba!” Success?

“Yo Gabba Gabba!” began appearing on Nickelodeon in August, and with remarkable speed it has acquired fans who are preschoolers and fans who are old enough to be their parents...Charles Rivkin, the president and chief executive of Wildbrain, which produces the show, says, “I challenge you to find another preschool show that four months after going on the air is actually selling adult apparel at Barneys.”

While plenty of shows for children have also appealed to adults — “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” “H. R. Pufnstuf,” even “Sesame Street” — “Yo Gabba Gabba!” updates this idea for a generation that, it has been argued, is ambivalent about letting go of its own youth.

The real deal came when the original creators hooked up with Wildbrain. Back in 2006, Wildbrain acquired a majority interest in Kidrobot, which makes and sells high-end “designer toys” and apparel that appeal to fashionable young adults (who may or may not be parents). Thus “Gabba”-related products arrived in exclusive retail settings much faster than usual, demonstrating consumer demand to other merchandise partners.

You couldn’t ask for more perfect serendipity in partners, which goes to prove that authenticity starts at the drawing board. Had “Yo Gabba Gabba!” been conceived under other premises, it wouldn’t have been strong enough to bring into the Kid Robot world. On the other hand, if “Yo Gabba Gabba!” merchandise went straight to big box retailers you would’ve had a watered down product. The Kid Robot connection offers the brand longevity, with more staying power than it would have had on its own.

(Image: T-shirt recrafted into dress by JinJur.)
Read the article.

HyperLink My World, Please

The Green Holiday catalog from Barney's arrived in the mail yesterday filled with everything from Lanvin shopper bags to organic Levi's. But no sign of what color that fabulous lipstick is on the cover...
In my perfect little world even the Barney's billboard at Mulry Square would have a teeny Semapedia tag that would give me all the info I need--provided all colors were perfectly matched.

Woman Attempts to Reunite Long-Lost Pairs (of gloves)

Jennifer Gooch, who is pursuing her master of fine arts degree at Carnegie Mellon University, started onecoldhand.com in an effort to reunite dropped gloves with their mates -- and in the process spread some goodwill.

One of her first ones was a moist, lambskin glove that someone had propped up on a ledge on campus. In its place, she left a small rectangular sticker. A drawing of a black glove is scrawled on it and says, "Missing a glove? onecoldhand.com."

Gooch, originally from Dallas, photographs each glove and puts the picture and information on her Web site, where people can report found gloves and request stickers.

She's working with two women in New York to start a similar effort there, and is talking with local businesses about creating glove dropboxes where people can leave their fabric finds.