Get Pharrell Williams talking about fine jewelry and he's as clear and emphatic on the subject as the giant diamond solitaire ring on his finger — "D flawless, no inclusions, colorless." The Blason jewelry line a collaboration between the super producer/artist and Camille Miceli for LouisVuitton will debut 1/21/08.
OFF 5TH TO RE-DEBUT
The Off 5th outlet chain, a division of Saks Inc., has developed a prototype that will make its debut in the Prime Outlets International center in Orlando, Fla., in mid-April. The 26,400-square-foot outlet will replace the existing 21,800-square-foot unit in the same mall. Over the next 60 days, three or four new locations will be unveiled as leases get finalized, and sites for additional locations are being scouted around the country, Robert Wallstrom, president of Off 5th, told WWD.
GUCCI MOVIE A GO BUT STALLED DUE TO WRITER'S STRIKE
Giannina Facio, Ridley Scott's Costa Rican wife and the producer of his upcoming Gucci biopic film, revealed more details about the project. The project is currently stalled due to the writers' strike, but Scott seems to have settled on a writer, the third scribe to work on the script.
Facio said that while she was the one who read the biography and showed it to her husband, she defers to him on all creative matters, including casting, which hasn't happened yet.
Ridley makes all the decisions about the movie. He's an artist, and he does what he wants," she said, though she emphasized the actors chosen would be top notch, not Italian unknowns.
Given Scott's proclivity for casting A-list stars... The film will span from the Sixties to the Nineties, and expect to see original period pieces from Gucci's archives.
"I have spoken to all of the family members except for Patricia because I want to make sure we make an authentic movie," said Facio. "Of course, everyone wants to tell it from their point of view." Facio said her husband's greatest talent is for "totally creating a world in which you feel like you are there. He's gonna do Milan in the Eighties and Paris in the Nineties so well."
CHANEL TEAMS UP WITH AUDEMARS
CHANEL is adding a new component to its watch offering.The luxury house has teamed up with Swiss fine timepiece firm Audemars Piguet to create a new movement for an exclusive version of its best-selling J12 wristwatch that will be introduced at retail in September.
HILARY CLINTON IS A FLIP-FLOPERDon't mess with Anna Wintour. Hilary Clinton¹ was to appear in Vogue as the presidential race reached high gear, but backed out late last fall before a photo shoot was scheduled for fear of appearing too alluring. Annie Leibovitz had her cameras at the ready for nothing. A Vogue spokesman confirmed: "We were told by Ms. Clinton's camp that they were concerned if Clinton appeared in Vogue that she would appear too feminine." (Clearly, though, the presidential candidate didn't worry about that when she cried in New Hampshire)
In her February editor's letter, Wintour takes Clinton to task for being behind the times. "Imagine my amazement, then, when I learned that Hillary Clinton, our only female president hopeful, had decided to steer clear of our pages at this point in her campaign for fear of looking too feminine. The notion that a contemporary woman must look mannish in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of power is frankly dismaying." Wintour continues: "This is America, not Saudi Arabia. It's also 2008: Margaret Thatcher may have looked terrific in a blue power suit, but that was 20 years ago. I do think Americans have moved on from the power-suit mentality, which served as a bridge for a generation of women to reach boardrooms filled with men. Political campaigns that do not recognize this are making a serious misjudgment."
Vogue's spokesman said the magazine and the Clintons are "working on something together for Vogue in the near future."
RIHANNA'S TO DEBUT ANOTHER² LINE OF UMBRELLAS
Rihanna will hit New York this fashion week for a luncheon On Feb. 5 celebrating the launch of her second umbrella collection with Totes. The singer will dine at the accessories firm's showroom along with the three masterminds behind the Senz label — Gerwin Hoogendoorn, Gerard Kool and Philip Hess — who will be launching their windproof umbrella collection in the U.S. Totes will also be debuting its new Eco collection, where umbrellas, gloves and slippers are all made of recyclable products. Rihanna Umbrellas will retail exclusively at Macy's this spring with prices ranging from $20 fora piece in a single color to $50 for a two-toned canopy style.
MATTHEW WILLIAMSON TO OPEN IN NYC
Matthew Williamson is slated to open his first boutique in New York by June, Jean-Manuel Pourquet, senior vice president and managing director for Matthew Williamson America, revealed Wednesday during the designer's pre-fall presentation. "We haven't excluded any neighborhoods," said Pourquet, "but our top priority is the Meatpacking District." He said the house is also looking at real estate in SoHo and along Madison Avenue.
USE IT DON'T ABUSE IT
Alvin Valley is out to save the world. The New York fashion designer teamed up with Amanda Hearst to create the "Use It, Don't Abuse It" canvas tote. Twenty-five thousand of the slate gray canvas totes, which bare the designer's first name and an image of the globe, will go on sale at Duane Reade drugstores starting next month. A portion of the sales of the $14.99 tote will go to Stevenson Green Roof Consortium, which will install an eco-friendly roof on the Stevenson Campus building in the Bronx.
LULULEMON BASHES SODAS, STOCKS ROLLERCOASTER
Lululemon Athletica Inc., the Canadian athletic-clothing maker, removed a reference on its Web site that suggested Coke, Pepsi and other sodas will be considered the "cigarettes of the future,''
The yoga apparel maker's manifesto had said that "Colas are not a substitute for water. They are just another cheap drug made to look great by advertising.''
After starting off like a rocket, shares of yoga-wear retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. (TSX:LLL) have returned to earth in recent weeks trading near where the stock was in the days after its much-hyped initial public offering. This week, the market will be watching carefully as the lock up period for Lululemon's investors expires on Jan. 23 following company's initial public offering in July and the number of shares eligible to trade is set to grow significantly.
"I think a lot of people might expect those to be sold by insiders and that's one of the things that is keeping the stock low," ThinkEquity Partners analyst Suzanne Price said.
Shares of Lululemon have been on a wild ride since the company's initial public offering last summer at an issue price of US$18. On Friday, the stock ended the week down $1.50 or about 4.5 per cent at $31.84 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which has also struggled so far this year. Lululemon stock began the year at $47, and traded as high as C$58.77 in October.
Price rated the stock a "buy" with a US$60 price target.
"The company has tremendous growth opportunity, a strong management team, a proven model that has done well in Canada and now is rolling out throughout the U.S." she said.
¹- How can you be afraid of being too alluring when you had one of your campaign Chief of Staff pose in some high end outfits for a 5 page spread. what a manipulating shark
²-when did she come out with the first one and did it sell like that?
No comments:
Post a Comment