Analogue Chic

Posts Tagged ‘Louis Vuitton’

A counter-example, if that wasn’t clear. Image via Art in Liverpool. Sorry.

Lots of interesting links in fashion news this week:

The Wall Street Journal tells us about a new cable channel with a Home Shopping Network premise, but featuring handmade housewares and indie designers, and informs us that there is a huge market out there waiting to be tapped.

At the same time, consumers are increasingly hungry for independent designs. In part, brand fatigue is to blame. Big fashion labels sell the same products the world over, diminishing their logos’ cachet. Their designers work on collections a year or more in advance of the clothes’ appearance in stores and rarely—if ever—meet the people who eventually buy them. Moreover, many consumers lost faith in luxury brands after watching prices soar during the boom, then plummet during the crash in the fall of 2008. The slashed sales prices raised questions about the true value of branded goods.

[...]  Now, even the huge brands are striving to establish authenticity—sometimes trying a bit too hard. British authorities recently banned Louis Vuitton ads that showed an artisan laboring on a bag, saying the ads suggested, falsely, that its bags are handmade.

The article gives a shoutout to CT’s own Trish Ginter, co-founder of the indie designer showcase Smashing Darling, and designer at Frock in Chester.

The Business of Fashion had more to add on Louis Vuitton:

A month earlier, Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH [Louis Vuitton's parent company], told investors at the luxury group’s annual shareholders meeting in Paris of his plan to take a 49 percent stake in Edun, the sustainable clothing label founded by Bono and Ali Hewson. “LVMH shares the vision and ethical values of Edun, a pioneer in ethical apparel, and its founders,” he said later. “LVMH is committed to advancing both the social and environmental aspects of sustainable development, which plays an intrinsic role in the development of our brands.”

The BoF article also discussed the struggle to balance good design, profitability, and sustainability:

Stella McCartney became known as a chic designer label that’s convincingly green, not as a green designer label that is convincingly chic. Speaking to The Business of Fashion, McCartney was clear about her priorities: “Obviously, I don’t use any animals which has a huge impact on the planet. But my first job is to make desirable, luxurious, beautiful clothing for women to want to buy. Then I ask myself: can I do this in a more environmental way without sacrificing design? If I can, then there is no reason not to. I think that women buy my product because they like how it looks, feels, fits and being sustainable is an added extra bonus.”

This emphasis on desirability and design may come as no surprise from a graduate of London fashion college Central St. Martins. But interestingly Ali Hewson, who founded Edun primarily as a means to do good, sees it no differently. She told BoF: “In the fashion business desirability is sustainability! This point has taught us over the years that we must produce quality clothes. Fit must be right, design details correct.”

Julie Gilhart, influential fashion director at Barneys New York, and an early proponent of sustainable fashion, sums it up bluntly: “Consumers respond to good design. Design and desirability must come first.” When deciding whether to spend on fashion, the consumer looks, above all, for good design. Ecological or ethical considerations are still very much secondary.

You can see Julie Gilhart riff on design and sustainability in this video.

You can also read my thoughts on these subjects in two previous posts, here and here.

Update – March 3

Some positive African links! Check it:

Celebrate Africa! Roadtrip!

AfriGadget

My fiance and I have a joke about the American (read: U.S.) tendency to use the label "African" as though Africa were a single, homogeneous country.  We repeat the DJ/reporter/commentator and say, "You know, that African band; this sounds like African music; that guy looks African", etc.  (Disclaimer: my fiance is biracial, and I studied Anthropology in college, so we can claim to know better.)

Today I was interviewed by a reporter from a local independent paper about my budding fashion career.  She had some good questions about my exploration of fashion anthropology, and at one point she asked if I had any analysis of current trends.  So I mentioned the crop of "tribal", sub-Saharan looks that are coming out lately, and stated that I don’t know if it’s a good thing– whether folks are really interpreting traditional clothing from the many cultures of Africa out of respect and genuine admiration, or if it was another cycling-through of exoticism/colonialism, the objectification of "the other."

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My friend Neha just emailed me this NY Times article about a show organized by Nigerian media mogul Nduka Obaigbena as a response to European and U.S. fashion’s regurgitation of stereotypes of Africa.  And I was reminded of a really good issue on Africa that Vanity Fair put out last year, highlighting many different artists and cultural icons from all over the continent.

So what’s my point?  Good question…

Now, I’m just as much a fan as anyone of leopard print and mud cloth (look at the wallhanging in my hallway, here) and beaded jewelry.  As my friends well know, I’m a great proponent of cross-cultural exchange (I’ve been snarkily called "Miss Multiculti").  Like biological diversity, it really is necessary for the survival of the species.

I guess I would just like my fellow United-Statesians to pay more attention to geography, and I would like Europeans to really work on getting away from colonialism; everyone needs to do some fact-checking if they’re going to talk about cultures they don’t know much about, and generally gain a greater appreciation for anthropology.  But then again, I’m biased.

Again, I’m loving the fashion synchronicity in my life…

Whilst cruising the world of WordPress the other day, I came across this very succinct and correct (in my opinion) post by the ladies at Three in a Crowd about Madonna’s new ad campaign for Louis Vuitton.  But, who cares about the bags?!  LOOK at the piping on her tops!!!  For more on my love of piped trim, see here.

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Also, take a look at this gorgeous, crisp period costume a fellow Craftster made, here.

OK, moving on…