Yahoo Finance Ferragamo’s K-pop Face, Comme’s ‘Market Market’ Returns, Maison Michel Adds Bags
FIRST AMBASSADOR: Ferragamo has found its own K-pop artist. The Florentine fashion house has tapped Jeno Lee, best known as Jeno, as its first global male brand ambassador.
A member of South Korean boy band NCT, Jeno attended the brand’s fall 2023 fashion show in Milan in February, sharing behind-the-scenes moments of his Italian trip with his roughly six million followers on Instagram.
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“Jeno Lee has a charismatic personality and an uncanny ability to connect with a young international audience through his music, style and persona,” said Maximilian Davis, who took Ferragamo’s creative helm last year.
“We’re driven by the same passion for creativity,” underscored Davis, while Jeno said he was “excited about the opportunity to create synergies with the brand,” which he praised for its “incredible heritage, style and craftsmanship.”
The Korean artist is not new to the world of fashion. In September last year, he was the first K-pop star to open a New York Fashion Week runway show, strutting down the Peter Do catwalk in a backless black suit, which was part of the designer’s seminal menswear collection.
Over the last few years competition in the luxury arena has heated up to secure South Korean idols, with many local stars being anointed ambassadors at one or several brands.
Most famously, Lisa, Jennie, Rosé and Jisoo of Blackpink, the most popular all-girl group, have secured partnerships with top luxury names such as Celine, Chanel, Saint Laurent and Dior. NewJeans’ members Hyein, Hanni, Danielle and Haerin have also been tapped as ambassadors at Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry and Dior, respectively.
Other examples this year include Dior and Tiffany & Co. both signing BTS member Jimin; Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein opting for fellow band members J-Hope and Jungkook, respectively, while Valentino picked BTS’ Suga. Givenchy tapped Taeyang, a member of Big Bang and a solo artist, as brand ambassador, too. — SANDRA SALIBIAN
BACK AGAIN: Comme des Garçons’ “Market Market” archive sale is making its return to New York City following a six-year hiatus.
WWD can exclusively reveal that it is scheduled from June 8 to 11 and will be held at 866 United Nations Plaza.
The sale, with the theme “monolithic magic,” will be open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. A spokesperson said that queues should not begin before 8 a.m.
Market Market will feature archival Comme des Garçons designs, as well as pieces from select Dover Street Market-stocked brands at up to an 80 percent discount.
CDG declined to reveal specifics around the sale’s inventory or amount of stock. With a sales space spanning two floors and 60,000 square feet, the event is expected to be a wide-ranging sale. The company’s New York-based visuals team will transform the vacant space with a buildout custom-designed for the sale.
The company’s last Market Market sale, held in 2016, drew hours-long lines and was attended by a colorful cross-section of fashion fans who took the opportunity to both shop and peacock in their favorite Comme looks.
James Gilchrist, vice president of Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market USA, said in a statement: “This is one of the special moments where our entire team comes together to collaborate on making this event happen, and we are really looking forward to welcoming our customers.” — MISTY WHITE SIDELL
HATS OFF: Going forward, Maison Michel is going to turn its designs on their heads — by turning them into handbags.
For creative director Priscilla Royer, adding bags to a hat specialist was a natural extension of the brand’s territory. “The bag is obvious, from the moment you put a hat down,” she said.
“When we looked at ways to make new products with our DNA, the bag felt right because it’s a much more accessible product. It’s less daunting to buy a bag than a hat,” she said. “I’ve been trying to shoehorn the idea that hats aren’t out of fashion and this continues my goal from the start of putting it on equal footing with bags, jewelry or shoes.”
Each bag design was developed and crafted using the wood shapes that are used to make hats, which number in the hundreds. In addition to its own stock, the Chanel-owned specialist has been buying vintage ones from workshops closing down and training craftspeople to perpetuate the know-how with new designs.
“We looked at which ones could do the job and how we could make new products with things like our little ears,” she said. But don’t expect to just flip your head gear around to get the same result.
Although the bags call on the milliner’s specialty techniques like sewn straw, Royer didn’t want the designs to “just be a hat turned upside down, you had to have a real bag in the end.” Finishing them off are leather details or studded straps.
Named after Hollywood stars, the bags range from the “Barbara” bucket bag and “Brittany” basket to “Audrey,” a take on the brand’s best-selling ear-adorned cap.
Available from June 6 at the brand’s boutiques in Paris, London and online as well as selected retailers worldwide, including La Samaritaine, Lane Crawford and Korea’s Boon the Shop, the bags will be priced between 295 and 875 euros.
Going forward, the Maison Michel bag line will follow a similar evolution to the bridal collection, with new styles inserted as part of the label’s spring offering. — LILY TEMPLETON
MORE HELP: After the widespread flooding in the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy that caused at least 14 deaths and left thousands of people homeless, many brands have shown their support with donations to the affected populations.
The latest company to join the list is Italian apparel and retail chain OVS, which on Monday donated gift vouchers for the total amount of 150,000 euros to the municipalities of Cesena, Faenza, Forlì and Ravenna, most impacted by the damages.
Vouchers can be spent in OVS, Upim or Croff shops.
The fashion industry took action right after what happened in the region, which plays an important role in the Italian fashion and beauty supply chain.
In the past week, luxury conglomerate Kering made an undisclosed donation on behalf of its maisons, while automotive giant Ferrari has donated 1 million euros to the regional civil protection agency. An undisclosed donation also came from the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton group, to “give a concrete sign of solidarity,” said Antonio Belloni, LVMH group managing director.
Last Friday, Alberta Ferrett staged the brand’s resort 2024 runway show in Rimini after careful consideration and in agreement with the mayor of the town, as well as national institutions to demonstrate the resilience of the Romagna region. Aeffe Group, parent company of the brand, said it will make a donation benefiting associations active in the area as well as organize a charity auction for top clients of Alberta Ferretti’s special archival pieces.
The Italian government has earmarked 30 million euros in response to the disaster, which took place 11 years after the region was struck by back-to-back earthquakes in 2012.
Last week’s exceptional rainfall is believed to have equaled half the annual average. — ANDREA ONATE
TIME IS MONEY: Audemars Piguet revealed its second watch collaboration with Marvel in Dubai via a charity auction.
The Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon “Spider-Man” is a limited edition watch with only 250 available for purchase. The watch features a 3D silhouette of the superhero presented in a 42 mm titanium case.
The special edition features Spiderman wearing a black suit, which is a direct reference to the 1984 comic “The Amazing Spider-Man” #252.
The watch was auctioned for $6.2 million at the launch event, with proceeds going to First Book and Ashoka, two nonprofit organizations that encourage young people with education.
The final total of the auction was $8.5 million, with two other pieces being up for grabs.
The Swiss watchmaker recently named veteran beauty executive Ilaria Resta as its new chief executive officer.
She will be joining Audemars Piguet from Swiss fragrance and flavors supplier DSM-Firmenich, succeeding longtime CEO François-Henry Bennahmias, who said last year that he planned to leave the company by the end of 2023 after almost 30 years.
Resta is set to join Audemars Piguet in August and will officially take on the role of CEO on Jan. 1, following a transition period, the watchmaker said in a statement Monday. Bennahmias will remain on board until the end of the year to ensure a “seamless and orderly” handover, it added.
The company said Resta, a Swiss Italian national who lives near Geneva, was recruited after “an extensive global search.” She had been with Firmenich for just over three years, most recently serving as president of its integrated perfumery and ingredients division, and member of the executive committee. Firmenich merged with DSM earlier this month to form DSM-Firmenich. — HIKMAT MOHAMMED
THE VIRGIN KNITS: For its second collaboration, cashmere specialist Barrie is calling on Sofia Coppola for a travel-inflected capsule that will be available in November.
Collaborating with a creative talent like Coppola was “a desire I’d had for a long time because I find it always very interesting as a young brand,” said Barrie creative director Augustin Dol-Maillot, who sees the addition of an external contribution as “a human adventure that is very valuable to [him] and the people who work in the [cashmere] house.”
“Sofia is the kind of person, of woman that I think of when I envision the brand and who would wear it,” he said, adding that her wide creative range was also a draw. “I’ve always been fascinated by Sofia’s precision in terms of looks and attitude,” he continued, lauding her “perfect balance between timeless pieces and a modern silhouette.”
The designer attributed the filmmaker’s elegance to “that special touch which makes [the result] relaxed and comfortable, yet so stylish” and used detailing on staple pieces as a way to elevate them.
Among these are three types of buttons that Dol-Maillot describes as “almost jewels,” but also the versatility of pieces that are meant to work overtime, from the airport boarding lounge to a meeting.
Pieces will include a chic jogging set, a rollneck sweater, classic Barrie pieces like tops and cardigans but also a pair of knit ballerina flats. “We want to work from the very specific Barrie hands, starting with featherweight cashmere-silk blends, and play with the dichotomy between roomy, comfortable cuts and more tailored shapes,” he said.
Colors will include a midnight blue, black, grays and a palette of pinks that will span from shocking to soft.
Coppola, a self-avowed fan of the cashmere brand, had been wearing its knitwear “over and over again” and expects to be living in the fruits of their collaboration throughout the coming winter.
She said working with Dol-Maillot and the Barrie team was a fun experience and that they’d managed to reach her “dream designs: the idea of a travel wardrobe that works together, that is cozy and chic.”
The collaboration will be sold at Barrie’s boutiques and on its e-commerce site, as well as at selected retailers worldwide. — L.T.
EURO SWING: Loro Piana has revealed the uniforms it designed for the European team competing at the 2023 Ryder Cup, golf’s greatest team tournament that this year will be held in Italy for the first time.
Strengthening a collaboration that kicked off in 2016, the luxury label controlled by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton will provide the official on- and off-course uniforms for Team Europe’s athletes and their entourages for the event, which will run from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1 at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, owned by Lavinia Biagiotti Cigna.
Founded in 1927, the biannual competition pits Europeans against America’s best players, alternating locations between Europe and the U.S. too. In light of the different latitudes of the hosting golf clubs, the tournament has represented an occasion for Loro Piana to test new properties of its fabrics, since the brand’s goal is to offer uniforms that combine its signature understated luxe style with performance, functionality and comfort. To this end, for the first time Loro Piana relied on 3D technology to simulate the clothing’s reaction during a swing, for example, and further guarantee ease of movement during play.
The six looks include a short-sleeved polo with a shirt-style collar and a high-neck shirt with zipper in the Comfort Light technical material combined with superfine wool, which has natural softness, stretch and heat-regulating capability that enhance ergonomic performance. In addition, a waterproof vest allows players freedom of movement while lightweight four-pocket pants with a classic fit and tailored details come in Rain System-treated stretch wool that is crease-resistant.
To highlight golfers’ movements in style, Loro Piana’s signature kummel shade stands out on shoulders and runs down the sleeves, in addition to edging the collar.
“Loro Piana’s iconic outfits have become synonymous with Team Europe and we are delighted that captain Luke Donald’s team will become the fourth successive group of players to don these exceptional products,” said Ryder Cup’s director Guy Kinnings. “Since our partnership began at the Ryder Cup in 2016, the quality of Loro Piana’s fabrics coupled with their specialist design and production knowledge have made them the ideal fit for Team Europe, ensuring that the players look and feel the part both on and off the course.”
A selection of Team Europe uniforms will be available exclusively at Loro Piana’s store in Rome during the tournament days, retailing at prices ranging from $520 to $3,450.
Loro Piana will additionally support the European team in the 2023 Junior Ryder Cup, to be held from Sept. 26 to 28. During the final day, the young talents will wear the same style uniforms as the principal team.
The link with the holy grail of the golf world is not the only one in sports for the brand, which was acquired by LVMH in 2013. During its history, Loro Piana has sponsored a range of competitions, especially in the equestrian and sailing worlds, from the Piazza di Siena horse race to the Superyacht Regatta in Porto Cervo and races in Saint-Tropez and St. Barths, among others. In 2021, the brand inked an agreement with Turin, Italy-based soccer team Juventus to provide the men’s team with formal off-field uniforms, extending the collaboration to the club’s female division last year. — S.S.
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