This week in fashion news from around the world this week, Carlie Cushnie closes her fashion label, Cushnie, LVMH and Tiffany and Co. settle dispute and many more.
Carlie Cushnie Closes Her Fashion Label, Cushnie.
Carly Cushnie, after 12 years of running her eponymous fashion brand, Cushnie, is closing her label due to struggles from the coronavirus pandemic.
The brand, which originally started as a partnership between Cushnie and Michelle Ochs before they parted ways in 2018, has dressed the likes of Michelle Obama and Beyoncé as a solo act. The brand which was hit hard by the effects of the pandemic on fashion businesses, could not get funding in time to keep the business going.
“I couldn’t hold on any longer. I make clothes for people to go out and enjoy their lives in. I don’t make loungewear, ” Cushnie said to Vogue. “I didn’t have the ability to just suddenly switch and entirely change what my brand does. That takes a great expense, to change the direction of a brand. Whether it’s the category or the price point, it’s a big undertaking and I wasn’t able to do it.”
In an open letter, Cushnie highlighted important issues that plague the fashion industry.
“One of the great ironies of the fashion industry is that while it caters to and profits from women, it has never felt like an industry that supports them. This is especially true for women of colour,” writes Cushnie, while highlighting her accomplishments in the industry like dressing Michelle Obama and Beyoncé, being appointed a board member of the CFDA, and being the first Black female designers to collab with Target.
Although, in her interview with Vogue, Cushnie stated that there has been a surge in support for Black-owned businesses in the wake of the Black Lives Matter campaign, some support earlier would have been nice.
“It would have been better had there been more support for female designers and women of colour in the industry before everyone started to support Black-owned brands so visibly over the last few months.”
Cushnie ended her message to the fashion industry with a positive note: “The desire to set an example for young women of colour has always been a driving force in my career, and I am confident and hopeful that the distance I have travelled will help to pave the way for the next generation of diverse talent. As one of the few Black female designers to achieve this level of success, I am both humbled and empowered by the undeniable mark that I have made.”
LVMH And Tiffany Settle Dispute, Settle On Purchase Price.
In a bid to end the dispute between them and Tiffany and Co. caused by the coronavirus pandemic and close the luxury sector’s biggest-ever deal, LVMH has agreed to pay slightly less to acquire the jewellery company.
In a statement on Thursday, the companies stated that the new purchase price was set at $131.5 per share, down from $135 originally, bringing the total acquisition price to about $15.8 billion from $16.2 billion initially.
Other key terms of the initial deal remain unchanged.
“We are as convinced as ever of the formidable potential of the Tiffany brand and believe that LVMH is the right home for Tiffany and its employees during this exciting next chapter,” Bernard Arnault the CEO of LVMH said in the statement.
The transaction, which has received regulatory clearance, is expected to close in early 2021, subject to Tiffany shareholder approval. Under the revised deal, Tiffany will pay its regular quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share on Nov. 19.
“Tiffany and LVMH have also agreed to settle their pending litigation in the Delaware Chancery Court,” the statement from the companies said.
The BFC Launches New Project To Celebrate Black British Fashion And Culture.
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The British Fashion Council’s Insititute of Positive Fashion, in partnership with Black Oriented Development Agency, has announced a new project, The Missing Thread.
This new project was created to celebrate Black British fashion and culture from 1975 to date. The project will run a series of programmed events all leading to a major exhibition in summer 2022.
This exhibition will help to reference, educate, and present many Black cultural narratives and design contributions that are pivotal foundations within society.
“The fashion industry currently lacks a resource of vital Black British contributions from a cultural, design and socio-political perspective, having erased many important historical narratives,” the BFC said in a statement. “The cost of neglecting these stories is detrimental to the industry as a whole. Going forward, design knowledge and history must be taught with an appreciation and awareness of the cultural contributions of all races to the fabric of British society.”
The project was inspired by Joe Casely-Hayford, a designer who paved the way for Black designers working in the UK today and will honour his powerful legacy.
“The need for far greater accountability in our industry has become increasingly apparent over the last year,” BFC CEO Caroline Rush said. “Black fashion contributions are at the core of Britain’s reputation as a creative hub yet continue to be overlooked. We are extremely excited to work with BOLD on this project which aims at restoring and acknowledging cultural contributions to one of the UK’s most creative industries.”
Burberry Launches Gaming Technology For Fashion Design.
Burberry, in partnership with digital production agency, Kofeecup, has developed a new software to revolutionise fashion design. This new software merges gaming technology and design to significantly speed up and simplify the process of placing prints on garments.
The software can place two-dimensional prints on 3D product templates to show what the finished product will look like and providing real-time feedback. According to Burberry, the use of 3D is now embedded in their merchandising model and encourages sustainability in the brand.
“This new software is a great example of digital innovation and cross-functional collaboration. Our internal 3D development team, who built the successful games B Bounce and B Surf, saw an opportunity in how their technology could streamline a part of the product design process. Our collaboration with Koffeecup enabled us to bring our idea to implementation and we are thrilled with the result,” Mark Morris, senior vice president of digital commerce at Burberry said.
In support of Burberry’s sustainability agenda of innovating to reduce excess waste, the new technology is said to reduce paper usage at the design stage by two-thirds. It also helps to reach an accurate sample with fewer iterations.
“It has been a pleasure to work closely with Burberry to deliver this project and see first-hand how the print placement application has improved their creative process. At Koffeecup, we saw this as an opportunity to leverage technology that is usually used in gaming development and apply it to the luxury fashion space. This pioneering shift from gaming to design allowed us to move towards generating a real-time visual experience that resonated well with our creative audiences. We are very excited about the software’s potential for development. Looking to the future, we see the possibility to incorporate artificial and virtual reality to extend the software, which is a very interesting prospect,” Thomas Michelou, managing director at Koffeecup said.
Zozo Inc. Unveils New And Improved Zozosuit 2.
On Thursday, online fashion retailer Zozo Inc. unveiled a successor to its body-measuring suit, Zozosuit. This new suit, Zozosuit 2 was released ahead of the exit of its founder, Yusaku Maezawa, with promises of greater accuracy through design and software changes.
The original polka-dot Zozosuit, which when scanned with a smartphone allowed users to upload their measurements and order custom-made clothes, received massive interest but failed to drive sales amid complaints of poor sizing.
Zozo, amid calls for partners, states that the new Zozozuit 2 skintight suit has 50 times more markers and offers higher resolution scans needed to recommend items like sportswear and underwear.
Apart from the Zozosuit, Zozo already distributes Zozomat which can be used to measure users feet for customised sizing recommendations.
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