H&M Is Rocking Its Collaborations

H&M has announced that Sonia Rykiel will be working on a lingerie line for the fast fashion chain.

According to WWD:

The collection is to be launched Dec. 5 in 1,500 H&M stores worldwide, and also at Rykiel boutiques — the first time a guest designer for H&M will do so. The French firm counts 44 boutiques worldwide, along with 52 shop-in-shops.

In another first, the collaboration with Rykiel will continue into the spring season, with a knitwear line for women and girls, accompanied by accessories. This second collection will be launched in around 250 H&M stores on Feb. 20.

“We wanted something different,” H&M creative adviser Margareta van den Bosch told WWD. “Sonia Rykiel is very Parisian, feminine and playful, so it was an ideal choice.”

I am excited! Jimmy Choo is doing a line for H&M that will be unveiled this November. Perhaps this will entice more people to do a little bit more holiday shopping (or just shopping)?

A Fragrance By Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet?

Beyonce is used to being the face behind fragrances for Tommy Hilfiger (see above) and Armani. What she is not used to is being slapped with a lawsuit.

The diva songstress has been named in a trademark infringement case between Abercrombie & Fitch and Coty.

The singer was planning on launching a fragrance called Sasha Fierce. Sasha Fierce is Beyonce's performing alter ego.

Abercrombie & Fitch claims that it had sent Ms. Knowles a cease and desist letter in order to prevent her from using this name for her fragrance because the company had introduced its own fragrance called Fierce (a men's fragrance) back in 2002. It had the name registered with the USPTO in 2003.

Abercrombie & Fitch claims that her use of the name Sasha Fierce in the fragrance category will cause a likelihood of confusion for consumers. Knowles filed a letter-of-intent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in September 2008 for the Sasha Fierce mark in the fragrance category

Coty responded by saying: "We can confirm at this time...that the terms Fierce and Sasha Fierce are not being used as names of a Beyonce fragrance," reports WWD

Fake Karl Lagerfield?

Karl Lagerfield has taken knocking himself to a whole new level by allowing himself to be transformed into a Tokidoki doll. They will be sold for $190 at Tokidoki flagship stores in New York, Milan and Los Angeles along with select specialty stores.

I wonder how long it will take before we see these dolls gracing Canal Street in NYC?

Recessionistas Unite!

The term recessionista seems to be everywhere: from fashion magazines to news articles. But one surprising place would be Volkswagen car ads.

This new embrace of cheap chic has touched us all. It is a global movement to get back basics. It has even affected one of the largest luxury goods market on the planet: the Japanese.

Here is an excerpt of a New York Times article that brings the idea of how deep this recession is to a whole new level:

"Even through the economic stagnation of Japan’s so-called lost decade, which began in the early 1990s, Japanese consumers sustained that reputation. But this recession has done something that earlier declines could not: turned the Japanese into Wal-Mart shoppers."

This is significant because it seems that the only companies that are turning a profit are discount retailers. Even when the Japanese were suffering their own recession, they always made it a point to purchase luxury goods. It does not seem to be the case anymore.

"Now, the Japanese luxury market, worth $15 billion to $20 billion, has been among the hardest hit by the global economic crisis, according to a report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Retail analysts, economists and consumers all say that the change could be a permanent one. A new generation of Japanese fashionistas does not even aspire to luxury brands; they are happy to mix and match treasures found in a flurry of secondhand clothing stores that have sprung up across Japan."

This is a sentiment that is shared by not just the Japanese, but Americans and Europeans alike. The ad above says it all. Why shop at a mall when you can shop in granny's closet?

What does this say for the future of piracy? Will there be a market for knockoff luxury goods if the luxury market is in a decline? Only time will tell.

Once Slave to Luxury, Japan Catches Thrift Bug

Abercrombie and Fitch Gets Slapped With a Lawsuit

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim girl who is 19 years old. She applied for a job at Abercrombie Kids but was denied employment based on the company's dress code which states under its Look Policy that employees must wear clothes that are from the company and can not wear the color black. The girl was wearing a black scarf known as hijab (religious covering for Muslim women) during her interview.

Check out the article here:Abercrombie Faces a Muslim-Headscarf Lawsuit

British MSN Money Muses Recession's Effects on Brands

Is John Lewis in danger of devaluing its brand?


This is a really good article about the dangers brands face during the recession.

Annie Get Your Archive

Annie Leibovitz was in danger of losing the intellectual property rights to all of her creative works because of a loan deal with Art Capital Group
For Annie Leibovitz, a Fuzzy Financial Picture

It seems that she worked out a deal with Art Capital Group:

"Annie Leibovitz and her creditor ended a week of negotiation and speculation Friday when they reached a deal that allows the photographer to maintain control of her life’s work."

Annie Leibovitz Reaches Deal With Art Capital Group - Fashion and Retail Business News - WWD.com

Tiffany Sues Westfield In Order to Prevent Brand Tarnishment

Tiffany has announced that it plans to sue the landlord of its Century City location. It is alleging that Westfield Century City's plans to open an H&M will tarnish its reputation as a luxury retailer.

Tiffany said that under its leasing contract with Westfield, Westfield may not rent to retailers "whose merchandise and/or price points are not considered to be luxury, upscale or better by conventional retail industry standards" near the Tiffany store.

According to the lawsuit, H&M is not considered to be luxury, upscale, or better by conventional retail industry standards: "H&M is not a luxury or upscale retailer. H&M is at best characterized as a 'popular-price' mass merchandise clothing retailer."

Tiffany claims that a store such as H&M will actually hurt the image of luxury that Tiffany has worked so hard to create:

"The location of the H&M store will cause irreparable injury to Tiffany's business reputation as a luxury retailer, a reputation that Tiffany has enjoyed and worked hard to maintain for more than a century and a half."

It seems that H&M's masstige appeal with designers such as Karl Lagerfield and Viktor & Rolf do not impress the likes of Tiffany....

Betsy Johnson better be careful or she may not be welcome to shop at Tiffany!

Narciso Rodriguez Gets Top Honor During Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

Narciso Rodriguez was given the honor of being named THE SPRING 2010 "MERCEDES-BENZ PRESENTS" DESIGNER this week. He has been tapped as a favorite of such fashion icons such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Michelle Obama. MBFW

He gained notoriety when he designed the deceptively simple looking bias cut white slip dress that Carolyn Bessette Kennedy wore to her GA wedding to John F. Kennedy Jr.

"It is a great honor to have been chosen by Mercedes-Benz as their Presents designer," said Rodriguez. "We are both dedicated to innovation in design and the highest level of quality."

This announcement is on the heels of speculation that he will be doing a collaboration for affordable fashion with the online retailer Ebay: "I've never sold anything at these kinds of prices," Rodriguez told The Post, noting that the eight pieces in the eBay collection will be offered from $75 to $350 each. "This gets my work to a wider audience." NY Post

Rodriguez said the small collection for eBay -- which may be repeated in seasons to come -- is a way of skirting the demands of creating a permanent, lower-priced line, which typically means "hundreds of pieces and deliveries every month." NY Post

Hmmm I wonder if Ebay is more inclined to push their collaboration with Narcisco now that he has this New York Fashion Week top honor?

Betsy Johnson Wishes H&M Would Call Her

Overheard at Paper Magazine's 25th Anniversary Party by Betsy Johnson: “I would die for a collaboration with Target or H&M. They should call me.”

I would love for Ms. Betsy to do a collaboration with a masstige brand! Call me if you do Betsy!

Hijabi Style....In Exercise Gear

Trust me when I say I know what its like to be invited to go someplace like the beach, get all excited, and then realize that I have nothing to wear....burkini anyone?

When I was on the Brooklyn Technical High School tennis team, I had to wear dowdy sweatpants underneath my tennis skirts. They did not have the cool Lululemon yoga pants back in 1998 (or at least my uncool high school was not aware of them).

I always have to modify my outfits for working out because I want to stay true to my beliefs and convictions; but I also believe exercise is good for the body, mind and spirit.

Well the NYT has done an article that chronicles a huge population of women who like myself, want to workout, cover and still look pretty.

Check it out here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/health/nutrition/10fitness.html

The NYT Gives Tips On the Look For Less

The above image is the typical scene of a New York City sample sale. The New York Times has done an article with respect to finding fashion finds on a budget. I really enjoyed this article and I think you will too:

http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/bargains-abound-for-the-frugal-fashionista/

The article reminded me of the time that Carrie Bradshaw went to Century 21 (discount fashion retailer) when she had jury duty in an episode of Sex and the City.

New Yorkers are always trying to find the look for less but this NYT article does a great job of gathering those little nuggets of information into one place. Enjoy!

The Jungle Makes Carrie Stumble

Photo Courtesy of John Aquino

Are taping scenes for Sex and the City 2 torts just waiting to happen? Well it seems to be that way if you mix Carrie Bradshaw's penchant for high heeled high end shoes with New York City sidewalks and crazy fans!

While Ms. Sarah Jessica Parker was taping a scene in front of Bergdorf Goodman with her costar Ms. Kristen Davis on Fifth Avenue, an avid fan by the name of Craig Schwartz (aka Radio Man) almost rode his bicycle into her. This scene caused Ms. Parker to trip in her gold Louboutin shoes. Ms. Parker made it back on to her feet just fine, but the paparazzi had a field day with that scene.

You better watch out for those crazies Ms. Parker! In the meantime, those slip and fall attorneys have your back (or legs!).

Anna Sui For Target Collection Debuts Tomorrow: Versioning At Its Best

Designer Anna Sui is collaborating with Target to bring a line that she said was inspired by the show Gossip Girl. The tagline for the line is: "shop Anna Sui for Target. A limited time. At prices to gossip about."

There will be a pop up shop for especially trendy NYC hipsters located at: 54 Crosby St., nr. Spring St.; Th, 9/10 (11–11), F, 9/11 and S, 9/12 (11–8). The bonus of this shop? If you notice the times and dates when the shop will be open, it is far in advance from the official debut of the line in Targets nationwide (Sept 13).

Anna Sui is embracing the recessionista in her and working out her own versioning model. Rather than let other pirates knock off her own work, she is choosing to create a more affordable collection in order to reach a wider consumer base. Her decision to do this coupled with the one of the trendiest shows of the season equals genius!

You Can Find Me on Twitter!

I have always tried to embrace trends, but I admit that Twitter was not one of them. It just seemed too cutesy with its terms; tweet sounded well so saccharine, twitter sounded like an annoying yuppie well yapping.

And then there was the cute image of the Fail Whale. Whenever Twitter crashed, this lovely picture of a whale trying to be lifted by twittering birds would pop up. It all seemed so juvenile to me.

Well, I must say that Twitter is indeed useful. I can keep track of fashion updates in separate columns on my TweetDeck. I can let people who are following me know what I think is an awesome lawsuit or fashion find. It is more useful than I had initially realized.

You can follow me on Twitter if you like. My user name is minara_pr. I will keep you posted on my blog and Twitter!

Fresh New Focus on E-Commerce

It is refreshing to hear that companies are learning that e-commerce is not just for electronics and books. A new approach is for e-commerce to start making items more accessible to the masses (see post about Piperlime below).

Emily Melton has been named a new investing partner for Mayfield Fund. Her approach has been to invest in companies that look beyond the obvious:

"One of Ms. Melton’s fresh perspectives: Instead of focusing on Web companies that hope to draw a lot of eyeballs and make money from advertising, she will look for “real businesses, where it’s not just as easy as getting a bunch of consumers,” she said.
Ms. Melton is particularly interested in e-commerce companies that go beyond selling electronics and books online.

E-commerce sales have held up better than offline sales during the recession, and today’s young adults have grown up online and feel a lot more comfortable buying a wide variety of things on the Web, she said. For example, at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, she invested in MyShape, a site that helps women find clothes for their particular body types." http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/mayfield-fund-hires-a-young-vc-for-her-fresh-eye/

Perhaps this is why Gap Inc. is so sure about Piperlime's expansion?

Is e-commerce the new season's black?

Freshly Squeezed: Piperlime Adds Apparel to Its Roster

This just in: Piperlime (www.piperlime.gap.com) is starting to sell apparel on its website. Piperlime is a shoe e-commerce business that was started by Gap Inc. in late 2006.

Piperlime has developed its site in a traditional magazine editorial layout with "guest editors" such as the fashion stylist Rachel Zoe (www.rachelzoe.com) making style suggestions for the current season. Piperlime creates rich pictorials in order to entice its largely female demographic to purchase the high end shoes it purveys.

The site carries an extensive arsenal of labels such as Marc Jacobs all the way to Keds. Some recent offerings in the apparel market are: Paul Joe and Sister and Rebecca Taylor (definitely a must if you love ruffles this season).

LOVE IT!

LV Is on the Fringe With Its Lawsuits

(Image is actually authentic LV bags spray painted with the word FAKE for an art exhibition).

Rather than being content with having a ubiquitous presence in the fashion world and sometimes being on the fringe of art (see above), Louis Vuitton (LV) has pushed the litigation envelope further than I have seen most fashion houses able to do.

In their latest victory over piracy, they have been awarded $32.4 million in damages against an INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER (ISP) called Akanoc. In the first verdict of its kind, a California jury has found that an ISP can be found liable for contributory trademark and copyright infringement.

The verdict opens the door for a new kind of liability: if you host websites that sell counterfeit items and even if you try to but fail to prevent this activity; you can be held liable.

This case could serve as an example for other ISPs to pay more attention when it comes to "Takedown" notices sent by copyright holders' attorneys complaining about infringement.

Takedown notices are notices that are sent by the attorney of a copyright holder that orders the removal of infringing material on an ISP. This is based on The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA), a portion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act known as DMCA 512 or the DMCA takedown provisions, which is a 1998 United States federal law that provides a safe harbor to online service providers (OSPs, including internet service providers) that promptly take down content if someone alleges it infringes their copyrights.

When Louis Vuitton's attorneys sent these notices to Akanoc back in 2007, they failed to respond. It is because of this failure to respond that they were denied the safe harbor that is typically granted to ISPs because of the OCILLA.

It is most likely why the jury was able to grant LV this award.

LV issued this statement in response to the news:

"We are very pleased that the jury recognized the Akanoc Defendants' contributory liability," said Nathalie Moullé-Berteaux, Intellectual Property Director of Louis Vuitton. "This decision is another important step towards reducing the illegal activity of websites selling counterfeit merchandise and enforcing the rule of law on the Internet."

"The size of this award should make it clear to all Internet Service Providers that they cannot act, or fail to act, with impunity when a trademark owner provides notice that websites hosted by the ISP are selling counterfeit goods," Moullé-Berteaux said. "We believe the size of the damages awarded should serve as a deterrent to other ISPs who may consider ignoring counterfeit trade on the websites they host."