Haute couture is made by masters with decorations that require lots of time. What’s good about streetwear is that nothing like that matters—you can stand out instantly by cutting holes into something, through styling. I wanted to make both things happen at the same time. | | | | Levitate. Singer Sergio Franchi and model, Vogue 1964.
(Bert Stern/Getty Images) | | | | | | “Haute couture is made by masters with decorations that require lots of time. What’s good about streetwear is that nothing like that matters—you can stand out instantly by cutting holes into something, through styling. I wanted to make both things happen at the same time.”
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| | rantnrave:// All eyes will be on fashion's newly appointed designers this September. NATACHA RAMSAY-LEVI, who spent 15 years working with NICOLAS GHESQUIÈRE, will show her first collection for CHLOÉ. She tells BRITISH VOGUE's ELLIE PITHERS that being at the label feels natural, and that she won't be doing "Natacha's brand," but Chloé's. Designers employed by legacy houses today must balance the weight of history with their own personal creativity—at once being the public face of the brand while recognizing their role as a (highly artistic) conduit for the house DNA. It's a fine balance. And it's a job. Given Ramsay-Levi's experience at both KERING and LVMH, she's well-poised to take on the engine of creative output that is large-scale fashion. And who are her deputies? Chloé president GEOFFROY DE LA BOURDONNAYE says that on first meeting Ramsay-Levi, he saw that she had an immediate and fundamental understanding of the house DNA. It's a comment that echoes MARCO BIZZARRI's remarks about first meeting ALESSANDRO MICHELE. In an employment market that sees designers switching labels every few years (is this any different from other job markets?), I see people turning to history for a sense of grounding and continuity. De la Bourdonnaye also touches on a key point for designers today: the ability to know both street and luxury craftsmanship, which he communicates as the savoir-faire of haute couture and the savoir-être of youth culture. Freedom, movement, ease, and strong but nonchalant femininity are all values that have been associated with Chloé. Some of fashion's brightest names have passed through as artistic directors in earlier eras. I'm looking forward to what's next. Other high-profile debuts are taking place this fall at GIVENCHY, JIL SANDER, and LANVIN, plus we'll see RAF's second full collection for CALVIN KLEIN... Another designer looking to bring haute craft and street savvy together is a fashion veteran from JAPAN: YASAKA FURUTA of cult label TOGA. She tells SSENSE that in Japan, there's less distinction between the two. The interview is called "Beyond Binaries," and all I can say is amen! That sensibility can be seen in this GOOGLE ARTS & CULTURE exhibition, "Tokyo Street Fashion and Culture: 1980–2017." And don't miss WWD's feature on the change in Tokyo's fashion tribes... Briefs: HYPEBEAST launches HYPEKIDS... Finalists for the CFDA/VOGUE FASHION FUND have been announced... More stores: FORTY FIVE TEN is opening a location in NAPA (smart), EVERLANE is opening a flagship in SAN FRANCISCO, and GENTLE MONSTER continues global expansion. | | | - HK Mindy Meissen, curator |
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| The 200-year-old tailoring institution is the first of its kind to set up a permanent beachhead in the U.S. Will it work? | | |
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| As the new girl at Chloé, Natacha Ramsay-Levi is set to inject the maison with a fresh dose of streetwise Parisian attitude | | |
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| Yasuko Furuta of Toga on looking beyond the gender binary, what she learned studying in Paris, and where her ideas come from. | | |
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| Social media and socioeconomic trends have altered the face of Tokyo street fashion, ushering in a more conservative era. | | |
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| “If we see an opportunity to drive change, to drive what's happening in the industry, we take it.” | | |
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| Paul D. Ryan has promised less-restrictive guidelines for the speaker’s lobby, the golf association is adding restrictions, and social media is up in arms over “appropriate dress.” | | |
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| Bobby Hundreds talks about how he created one of the most iconic streetwear brands of all time on 'Blueprint.' | | |
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| Well, they flipped OC's name to "Oporning." Yes, for real. | | |
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| A Citigroup analysis finds each box gets a $1.46 subsidy. It’s like a gift card from Uncle Sam. | | |
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| Jane Angert’s studio in northern New Jersey contains anywhere between 150 and 250 rare Hermès bags. On any given day, she gets up around 4 or 5 a.m. to start answering emails from around the world, and often works through the night to satisfy her buyers located in Asia. | | |
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| Social media has turned fashion models into powerful digital publishers, some of whom have far larger audiences than brands or traditional magazines. | | |
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| Luxury labels like Givenchy, Balmain, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci are making a big play for the children's market, and many parents are buying into it - despite their little ones' inevitable growth spurts. | | |
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| The designer once dubbed “The King of Cling” showed the variety and sensitivity of his work in an unprecedented couture show. | | |
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| You can buy anything your heart desires in this North Korean store: premium blended whisky, jewelry and perfume. Or you can pick up a brand new drum set or a saxophone that's carefully displayed in a glass case. | | |
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| On dressing while homeless. | | |
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| "We know that 'beauty' is way more than fishtail braids and mascara," wrote Byrdie's features editor Amanda Montell earlier this month. "Beauty is identity." | | |
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| Ten years from now, when we look back at what we wore, I imagine what will strike us is not just the slimness of the clothes - although, there’s that - but also the narrowness of the shoulders. | | |
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| Would you let a chatbot tell you what mascara to buy? | | |
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| Here is a look back at the budding rivalry between the two luxury giants, and a timeline of one of the single-handed most intense show downs the fashion industry has ever seen - or in Thomas' words, "the battle of our generation." The official transactions at play date back to 2001. | | |
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| What, exactly, is the freedom in free trade for? According to Indian writer and philosopher Ananda Coomaraswamy, it led to the freedom to make things cheaply and badly. Very much in the vein of the British Arts and Crafts movement, he calls for a reintroduction of the guild system. | | |
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