Jumatatea lui octombrie – mai ales weekendurile – inseamna confort si caldura, paturi cadrilate moi si lumanari albe, condimente in mancaruri calde, gustul dulce al merelor tarzii si portocaliul dovleacului, miros de frunze arse si de crizanteme, bratari si coliere statement in loc de cercei. Mai inseamna si altfel de raze de soare, un altfel de playlist, altfel de culoare pe unghii, altfel de esarfe…

Iar pentru ca toamna inseamna si mai multe proiecte, mai multa munca – acum organizez urmatorul meu curs de stil, va fi pe 19 si 20 noiembrie, similar ca structura celui din primavara dar putin schimbat. Asadar, daca sunteti interesate sau aveti vreo prietena/ colega/ sora, lasati-mi un comment ca sa va trimit toate detaliile. In plus, stay tuned in urmatoarele saptamani pentru ca voi avea niste concursuri interesante: cu un foarte prestigios brand de lenjerie intima, cu un brand de bijuterii si cu unul din mall-urile bucurestene. Lots of goodies, daca sunteti printese frumoase si cuminti!

Iar pentru ca printesele se ingrijesc si de interiorul lor, nu doar de exterior, avem si ceva de citit..

One month, too much fashion – “If editors had to choose which show to attend next September, could New York, London and Milan all survive?” In NY Times.

From rags to riches – “With big-name museums increasingly relying on fashion, it was only a matter of time before corporate brands saw the advantage of creating their own exhibitions and ‘museums,’ where they could set their focus without any intervention from pedantic historians and where they could make or break their own rules… But with so many more museum exhibitions scheduled to open and an audience that adores fashion displays, no one would dare to dismiss a heritage piece as ‘this old thing.’” In T Magazine.

No Logo – “Luxury products without overt branding are the new mark of exclusivity.  When it comes to statement accessories, brands as diverse as Victoria Beckham and Céline are whispering their exclusivity amid a growing consensus that “anonymity” is the key to being recognised.” In Financial Times.

U.S. fashion’s best voice – “New York has its own forgotten, or almost, stars and tastemakers, though their legacies live on.  Eleanor Lambert was one such person. She was the greatest fashion publicist of her time, and one of the greatest publicists, period. Among her accomplishments was helping to create the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute and, starting in 1948, its glittering annual gala She championed the careers of Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Anne Klein and Perry Ellis when they were still fresh-faced kids.” In Wall Street Journal.

A super-stylish vampire – “If the definition of a vampire is a pallid, blood-sucking monster with frightening fangs, Carine Roitfeld, former editor of French Vogue and a pivotal figure in the fashion world, does not seem to fit the bill… ‘Why a book — especially for someone like me who hates looking back?’ Ms. Roitfeld asked herself… ‘It marks 30 years. The end of a chapter is a good moment — and they have been ‘belles années,’ beautiful years, when I have succeeded in work and with my family.’” In NY Times.

Fashion’s brave new world – “Beginning with the invention of nylon pantyhose by Allan Gant Sr in 1 959, fashion and technology have gradually been brought together as new materials and techniques opened up countless possibilities for designers… One step further along the technological scale comes catalytic clothing, which… Claims could help combat the harmful emissions released by vehicle exhausts in cities.” In The Telegraph.

In his shoes – “THIS is the tale of the little stiletto that could, a shoe that in the long-ago days of the luxury-goods boom scampered to the top of a rarefied heap. It was just a handful of years ago that the name of Manolo Blahnik [...] was familiar only to hard-core fashion hunters and residents of ZIP code 10021.” In NY Times.

Think big but start small – “Ms Busquets’ investing style stands apart from more famous venture capital firms, which shower start-ups with tens of millions of dollars, bestowing young companies with colossal valuations. Instead, she doles out small investments as a company needs capital.” In Financial Times.

Jean Paul Gaultier: from catwalk to big screen – “It is 40 years now since Gaultier was talent-spotted by Pierre Cardin.  The young would-be designer from the provinces (born in Arcueil) has come a very long way… Khelfa’s film is one of an increasing number of documentaries and dramatic features set in the fashion world. Whether Valentino: The Last Emperor or The Devil Wears Prada, Gaultier has watched most of them. However, he has mixed feelings about the way the camera has captured his professional world.” In The Independent.

The woman who built a wardrobe with doors all over the world – “While the British high street struggles in the face of the economic downturn, My-wardrobe saw 68% sales growth in the first half of this year. Sales doubled in the 12 months to May after Curran introduced more upmarket brands such as Missoni and Phillip Lim. More than 900,000 shoppers visit the site each month to view collections from 180 designers, spending an average of £260.” In The Guardian.

A sea change in style – “The carousel of horses — and maybe the merry-go-round of the fashion world — twirled through the Louis Vuitton show on Wednesday, as the models stepped off the white horse roundabout, and the audience debated whether this would be the last LV show headed by Marc Jacobs.” In International Herald Tribune.

The art of online portraiture – “Social-media profiles are increasingly important in building your business identity. Think of these pictures as the modern-day version of the oil paintings that estate owners once commissioned. The smallest details in them will convey volumes.” In Wall Street Journal.

Steve Jobs: fashion inspiration – “He understood that if you wore the same thing every time you appeared in public you became both instantly identifiable and the owner of a look. This idea, which means no one else can wear the same clothes without referencing you, owes much to fashion figures such as Coco Chanel and Anna Wintour.” In Financial Times.

Cum e cantecul acela al Ellei Fitzgerald? “Autumn in New York [...] spells the thrill of first-nighting, glittering crowds and shimmering clouds in canyons of steel/ [...] autumn in New York brings the promise of new love, gleaming rooftops at sundown…”

Ei bine, a venit toamna: cu castane coapte si placinta de mere, cu pulovere si umbrele, cu ceai la Bernschutz in loc de limonada la Lente, cu zile scurte si nopti lungi, cu vin rosu la Bruno in loc de Long Island Ice Tea-uri la Residence, cu plimbari pe Kiseleff si pe Calderon, cu parfum de anii ’30 si nu de 2011…

Repede, sa trecem la citit:

Ready to wear: in fashion, to tweet or to remain discreet? – “How best to showcase a forthcoming collection when even the most well-heeled of Western consumers must surely be tightening her belt?… In the red corner, we have Burberry. This is a brand that upholds democracy with pride. With this in mind, the company staged what it described as the world’s first-ever ‘tweetwalk’… In the blue corner: Tom Ford… decided that he doesn’t want any pictures and/or reviews of his clothing to appear until it goes on sale at the beginning of next year.” In The Independent.

Fashion bloggers, posted and represented – “Seemingly every fashion brand is working with bloggers these days, including mainstream brands like the Gap (which featured the avant-garde-leaning Susie Bubble in a campaign), DKNY (which hired the photo blogger Jamie Beck to shoot behind the scenes at its recent runway show)… But deciding which opportunities to accept can be tricky for bloggers, who risk overexposure and being seen as a corporate shill. A blogger’s influence is derived from independence.” In NY Times.

Stylish entrant to seek love in a cold climate – “Style.com Magazine is noteworthy for more than its print title bravery.” In Financial Times

Magazines begin to sell the fashion they review – “While the glossies have long had a reputation for accommodating the designers they cover, sometimes guaranteeing coverage to those who advertise in their pages, a wave of new ventures and partnerships suggests they are willing to go even further by selling the designers’ clothes.” In NY Times.

Gucci feds its florentine roots – “The museum, housed in a 14th-century building in the Piazza della Signoria, is designed to honor the company’s leather goods legacy and to bring it into the 21st century by juxtaposing the innovation of bamboo-handled bags or luxe sports equipment with modern art… The idea of facing off past with present — under the slogan “forever now” — was the brainchild of Frida Giannini, the creative director of the famous brand.” In International Herald Tribune.

How street style changed the frontier of fashion photography -  “Tomasi Hill is a member of a new, elite class of fashion celebrities whose pictures (and shoes and bags and outfits) are fanatically snapped outside of fashion shows and events by street style photographers… These photographs, seemingly casual and snapped on the fly, now appear regularly on retail websites, blogs, and in ad campaigns and print magazines to demonstrate how “normal” people incorporate certain looks into their everyday outfits.” In The Cut.

Yelling “fire” on a crowded runway – “Without question, we can count on Miuccia Prada, Raf Simons at Jil Sander, Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi and, at times, Tomas Maier of Bottega Veneta to say something with fashion, and not just offer approachable clothes. But there should be many more designers in Milan with that driving ambition. Otherwise, the future of fashion will be in jeopardy.” In NY Times.

A model business – “China is the world’s fastest-growing fashion market and the crème-de-la crème of the sector are all flocking here in search of business opportunities. Even the grande dame herself, American Vogue editor Anna Wintour, came last year — the fashion-world equivalent of a state visit — and was blown away by the buzz of energy and creativity.” In China International Business.

Aging European brands find second life in China – “The rising Chinese middle-class, driven by its strong conscious for status, is gobbling up exhausted European brands re-imagined for their rich histories and royal connections. ‘Chinese are a lot more brand driven than other countries, and also they have rapidly increasing income but their brand product knowledge is sort of behind their spending power. That creates an interesting opportunity,’ said Vincent Lui, a Hong Kong-based partner at Boston Consulting Group.” In Red Luxury.

Looking black – “Fifty years after Audrey Hepburn popularised the little black dress in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, it still comes with new twists.” In Financial Times.

The perfect handbag his fall – “With finances as they are, buying a new handbag requires the same careful, purposeful thought as, say, purchasing a new fridge or sofa. Tina Gaudoin offers picks from this autumn’s crop.” In Wall Street Journal.

From shopping sprees to marketing technique – “So-called ‘haulers’ are tween-to-20something, largely female shoppers who haul their purchases back home and post video reviews on YouTube for their followers to watch… Chris Sanderson, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, a trends and innovation consultancy, says:  ‘If that’s your world, to go to the shops and show off your stuff, then it’s incredible. This becomes a whole new mechanism for [retailers to] understand and target a demographic’.” In Financial Times.

Letting the light shine through – “As hazy, or even dark, as the future might appear for the stock markets or in the international news, in fashion, at least, designers are letting the light shine through. ’Nacre at night time,’ said Giorgio Armani referring to the French word for mother of pearl, the gleaming natural underwater treasure that was the inspiration of a show that started with a projection of waves and ended with an image of moon on water.” In International Herald Tribune.

Mario Testino at 30 years – “In 30 years of fashion photography, he has captured in images the hectic glamour of beach life in Rio de Janeiro or the disciplined enthusiasm of the Horse Guards for the royal wedding last April. For that historic occasion, he was not only behind the lens to create an iconic image of a cuddly “Wills and Kate” before the event, but was also highlighted on camera at Westminster Abbey for his fame as a household name.” In NY Times.

Iubesc perioada asta a anului. Are de-a face cu lumina soarelui care se schimba, incet-incet, de-a lungul zilei – dimineata intensa, cu frunzele in flacari pe fundalul cerului albastru, dupa-amiaza molcoma dar inca calduta. Are de-a face cu buchetele de flori, explozii de culori autumnale stranse ca intr-un pumn, cu serile mai lungi si violete, cu trecerea de la sandale la pantofi, de la matase la piele, de la culori intense la imprimeuri pe fond intunecat, de la verde smarald la bleu fumuriu, de la alb optic la galben chihlimbariu…

In prima zi de octombrie, am senzatia ca septembrie nici nu a existat – atat de mult am avut de lucru, si mai urmeaza inca pe atat! De asta si posturile au fost atat de sporadice, ca sa ma exprim cu indulgenta… Ma pregatesc pentru inca trei weekenduri in care vorbesc despre moda, ce inseamna “Made in Italy” si cum au inventat francezii conceptul de “lux”; de la jumatatea lunii ne putem intalni la cele doua cursuri pe care le tin la Fundatia Calea Victoriei (puteti deja sa va inscrieti aici si aici), iar deja pregatesc trei cursuri open de imagine in Bucuresti, Cluj si Timisoara, pentru primele saptamani din noiembrie.

…si desi stiu ca diminetile mohorate de toamna nu sunt departe ci la fel de certe ca ploile de noiembrie, am savurat saptamana asta: a fost una dintre acele ultime, insuportabil de calde, luminoase si fierbinti saptamani de toamna, care imi amintesc sa imi umplu fiecare moment cu auriu si soare si sa ma plimb cat mai mult prin oras…

Iar acum, spor la citit!

Don’t look back or ahead – “‘There is so much pressure in the business to be something or not to be something, people dictating what I should be or do next, that you can get drunk on all the voices,’ said Mr. Panichgul, 36. ‘I don’t want to be just a product of the hype, being categorized as ‘Michelle Obama’s designer.’ So what I’ve learned to do is to focus on what’s in front of me right now, on what I’m doing today and not tomorrow, where I am now.” In NY Times.

Fashion bloggers to spur online luxury sales - “Fashion bloggers will help propel online sales of designer clothes, jewels and luxury cars to more than 11 billion euros ($15 billion) in 2015. The exclusive fashion world has embraced the Internet later than other industries but is catching up quickly… Blogs and social media are setting trends more than fashion critics, with one out of two customers turning to Facebook or Twitter for advice before buying, the study said.” Pe Reuters.

The making of an “exclusive” – “Exclusives are valuable ammunition in the battle for market share among department stores and boutiques during this choppy economic recovery. The recession all but eliminated aspirational shoppers—consumers who drove the luxury boom by spending beyond their means. Now, high-end retailers are trying to woo a relatively small pool of affluent customers with merchandise not found anywhere else.” In Wall Street Journal.

Is digital killing the luxury brand? - “Just a few years back, most high-end fashion brands distrusted all things digital. Their fear was understandable. Digital is democratizing; it’s about accessibility. The brand image for high-end fashion is all about inaccessibility: Keep the masses out so that the people who can afford to buy their way in feel they’re exceptional.” In Adweek.

Gaytten’s difficult inheritance – “Bill Gaytten knew he had been given a hard act to follow when he took up his post at Galliano.” In Financial Times.

Building a smart wardrobe – “Even if you consider yourself a homemaker rather than a shoulder-padded business executive, you need to know that you can up the ante, if and when it’s required.” In Wall Street Journal.

Milan floats a big idea – “Recently a new fashion store opened in Milan. This would not in itself be a notable occurrence, especially during fashion week, but this is a vast, 43,000 sq ft ‘directional emporium’… This is Excelsior, Italy’s first upscale concept department store in the Selfridge’s/ Barney’s mode.” In Financial Times.

A duo clashes for fashion – “Messrs. Hernandez and McCollough, both 33 years old, are considered leaders of a new school of designers in their 20s and 30s representing the next generation of big American fashion designers. This new breed is known for its willingness to experiment with fabrics and its ability to reinterpret classic designs for a contemporary audience.” In Wall Street Journal.

Rising cost of clothes could signal end of “cheap chic” - “The days of “cheap chic” and throwaway fashion could be numbered, because the cost of clothes is rising at its fastest rate for nearly 15 years. The “fast fashion” trend, where T-shirts sell for £2 and jeans are priced at less than a fiver in supermarkets, is being battered by big increases in the cost of cotton, labour and transport.” In Guardian.

Miuccia Prada sitting pretty – “Miuccia earned her stripes slowly and after years of being regarded with skepticism from critics and fashion insiders. Untrained in design and lacking an apprenticeship in the conventional sense, she earned a Ph.D. in politics, then became a mime artist before eventually taking over the family business. 
At that point in the late ’70s, Prada was a small Milanese leather goods manufacturer.” In Because London.

Will Chinese designers get left behind in China’s fashion boom? - “China’s once almost non-existent fashion industry is on the verge of exploding. New domestic brands pop up seemingly everyday. Chinese models, like Liu Wen, who has shot campaigns with Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana and Estee Lauder, are increasingly becoming a hot commodity on foreign runways while domestic designers, such as Richard Wu, are piquing the interest of the international fashion elite.” Pe CNN.

Specifications for the way we live now – “As the fashion pack leaves Milan for the start of the Paris shows on Tuesday, one designer will go with them: Alessandra Facchinetti, late of Valentino and Gucci, who is making her return to fashion after three years via the launch of a brand far removed from her couture and high fashion roots.” In Financial Times.

Recenzii despre Saptamanile Modei:

The volume stays up - “There seems to be no escape from the orgy of prints and color consuming the runways. It continued on Tuesday at Rodarte and Vera Wang, with runny floral patterns. It struck on Monday with ice-cream pastels at Preen, tribal prints at Donna Karan and blazing red at Ohne Titel… But if you look at many of the prints that have appeared this week, and the way they were handled, you don’t find that human dimension of wit and vulnerability. They don’t make you smile.” In NY Times.

Fashion Week’s split personality - “In a matter of a few seasons, the Friday and Saturday shows have eclipsed the others in excitement and energy, so much so that, by Sunday, it seemed to many that spring 2012 Fashion Week had peaked and that the remaining days, far from being a slalom, were a slog… Beyond energy, though, what do all of these young people bring to the communal fashion table, and what, specifically, do they give to designers?” In NY Times.

Paris Fashion Week – “Judging from the early shows of Paris Fashion Week, a number of designers have bondage issues – or entrapment, depending on your point of view – on the brain.” In Financial Times.

Tipping towards the dark side – “Significantly, British designers, whose colorful digitalized prints of the last couple of seasons so influenced the New York shows, have taken a sharper turn. Although not angry or belligerent in the Punk mode, an angular geometry is the new influence, with craftsmanship as the subtext. The flowery prettiness once endemic to British design has been swept away by designers using both geometric tools and a needle and thread.” In International Herald Tribune.

For a day, it’s all good - “Wednesday was a double-bonus day with outstanding shows from Ralph Rucci and Proenza Schouler. The next morning, Ralph Lauren concocted one of his romances out of straw picnic purses and robin’s egg blue, ending it with a gown as triumphant as the Chrysler Building.” In NY Times.

Milan fashion picks glam over gloom - “Designers have prepared a marathon of catwalk shows and gala openings to wow shoppers and woo their wallets at a Milan fashion week… ‘This is our chance to react to the crisis,’ Mario Boselli, chairman of Italy’s National Chamber of Fashion… Fashion is a key contributor to the euro-zone’s third largest economy. Italian brands are expected to generate total revenues of almost 63 billion euros (54.9 billion pounds) this year.” Pe Reuters.

The Roman spring of Ms. Prada – “Miuccia Prada spent her summer vacation in northern Argentina. Karl Lagerfeld was at home in St.-Tropez, ducking camera-snapping tourists. Somehow, though, their spring collections brought us all to Italy, or at least our idea of an Italian holiday. Neither show was a movie-still occasion, but the cottony, upswept hair and glitter-coated eyelids at Fendi might make you think of a 1960s film star. The collarless, knee-length satin coats and pleated chiffon dresses at Prada did the same.” In On the Runway.

E mult prea devreme sa port cardiganuri – zilele sunt inca calde, dar nu fierbinti; noptile blande, dar nu racoroase. In curand, se face timpul pentru esarfe, pentru un trench, pentru un alt fel de parfum, pentru o ultima plimbare pe plaja, pentru o caffe latte bauta pe o terasa de pe care vantul imprastie frunzele aramii, pentru zile innorate cu cer de culoarea lavandei… Abia astept diminetile incetosate, mirosul de piele al unei jachete,visiniul unui ruj si al unui lac de unghii, fustele cu imprimeuri in nuante autumnale…

Designers start to see in triplicate – “With something like 250 runway shows and parties crammed into the New York Fashion Week that begins Sept. 8, a lot of designers are saying that there must be a better way to show clothes, or at least some way to grab people’s attention for more than a second or two. The latest thing, if a handful of them are correct, would be fashion shows in 3-D.” In NY Times.

Michael Kors by Lauren Hutton – “It’s hard to pinpoint when Michael Kors first became a fashion designer. It might have been the moment when Dawn Mello, then-fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, stopped by Lothar’s, the boutique on 57th Street where Kors was working as salesman/window dresser/in-house designer after dropping out of the FIT, and told him that if he ever went out on his own, she’d love to take a look at his collection.” In Interview

Fashion’s great confusion – “If looking fashionable is your goal, you can’t go far wrong this season, even if you don’t give a fig for sartorialism. Why? Well, fashion—the designers, manufacturers, marketers and retailers of clothes, and the stylists, editors, commentators and photographers who bring it all to you—don’t seem to have a clue as to what’s going on. There’s a schizophrenic element to this season’s looks and collections.” In Wall Street Journal.

The quiet rise of Berlin fashion- “Twice a year, with a series of high-profile fashion shows, the couture quartet of New York, Paris, Milan and London issues style edicts for the next season: hemlines are up, charcoal is the new black. But another capital has long held its own quiet but powerful sway in the fashion world: Berlin… With a few stops and sputters, German fashion has since picked up speed and garnered attention for its practical, minimalist designs propelled by industrious business acumen.” In Wall Street Journal.

H&M and Zara duke it out for US online sales - “Move over brick and mortar expansion tactics, retailers are finally realizing that bottom line growth isn’t always going to come by swelling square footage. Zara and H&M are taking their fast fashion competition online, while Urban Outfitters is jumping into F-commerce (making their Facebook fan page shoppable).” In Forbes.

Snapette aims at women shoppers – “The majority of e-commerce sites share a single thing in common: They were built by dudes. That hasn’t escaped the founders of Snapette, a social photo-sharing app built by women, explicitly for women… The app, which launched in Apple’s App Store a few weeks back, focuses on the experience of shopping and leaves out buying altogether — for now.” In All Things Digital.

The men (and women) who would be Halston - “Now presided over by the chief executive Ben Malka — until recently the president of the solidly middlebrow brand BCBG — Halston is expected to announce a new creative director, Marie Mazelis (also late of BCBG), to lead it… It’s safe to say that expectations aren’t high, after a series of ill-fated corporate maneuvers that began even before Halston himself died of complications from AIDS in 1990.” In NY Times.

Burberry in step with digital age – “The luxury fashion brand Burberry has spurned glossy magazine adverts in favour of a Facebook campaign to promote the global launch of its latest fragrance, Burberry Body… On average, digital makes up 15 to 20 per cent of media spending globally. Burberry’s strategy shows how quickly the fashion industry is moving away from magazines as it seeks to interact with consumers worldwide.” In Financial Times.

Combining sports, music and fashion raises buzz for sneaker companies - “Buzz scores—which measure recent consumer perception—have been rising among 18-49 year-olds since early August for sneaker giants Adidas and Nike, corresponding to the companies’ recent advertising endeavors that combine together sports, music and fashion.”. In Forbes.

Do fashion brands need ugly-queen discount contest? – “Fashion brands don’t really need to participate in such ugly-queen contests, year after year, trying to outdo each other by offering more and more discounts. So, what is the way forward? Fast-fashion, which ensures that designs move from catwalk to store in the shortest possible time, has been cited as an effective tool to combat such planned customer behaviour.” In The Economic Times.

Lulu Kennedy: fashion’s fairy godmother - “Kennedy is a fashion talent-spotter, founder of the venture Fashion East, which plucks emerging designers out of obscurity and gives them the chance to showcase collections to the style cognoscenti during London Fashion Week… Since 2000, star designers including Ilincic, Saunders, Richard Nicoll, Henry Holland of House of Holland and the Pringle designer Alistair Carr have all had their careers kick-started after being singled out by Kennedy’s gimlet eye.” In The Telegraph.

A head for figures – “The idea of celebrities such as the Beckhams, the Olsen twins and Sarah Jessica Parker crossing professional boundaries to launch second careers as fashion designers has become a familiar one in the 21st century. But beyond these famous fashionistas, a surprising number of financial and legal specialists are also foregoing their former areas of expertise to enter the style arena.” In Financial Times.

Sister act: Rodarte is New York’s hottest label – “Buyers either see their work as exquisite sartorial investments, or shock-frocks destined to clutter sales racks. Reviews oscillate from hyperbole to hostility, some press applauding Rodarte as a blast of fresh creative fire, others condemning them as a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes… Both sisters fall into the pale and interesting camp – they look so alike they’re often mistaken for twins. In person, they’re less intense than their clothes initially suggest.” In Independent.

Mijlocul saptamanii m-a prins cu un sentiment de anticipare al weekendului, visand la cine in aer liber si discutii pana noaptea tarziu, plimbari desculta, cu sandalele intr-o mana, pe asfalt, nisip sau iarba, si la leganat intr-un hamac.

Mi-am promis ca imi gasesc timp si pentru emailuri catre prieteni vechi, pentru buchete de flori de camp, pentru degustat un platou de branzeturi cu struguri, nuci si felii de mar verde, pentru incercat o reteta noua de ardei copti la gratar, pentru o pauza intr-o gradina umbrita si, bineinteles, pentru citit.

Fashion’s better halves – “After 28 years of phenomenal success and some gut-wrenching controversy, Marc Jacobs and his business partner, Robert Duffy, still love each other.” In Wall Street Journal Magazine.

Cut from a different cloth – “What happens when bespoke is not enough? As the ability to personalise everything from your trainers to your trench has become democratised thanks to the internet, those in search of the truly special – the ne plus ultra of made-to-order – have become frustrated. Even more so as their old go-to solution, the tailor, has been constrained by the increasing homogeneity of cloth.” In Financial Times.

Carine Roitfeld by Karl Lagerfeld – “Although Carine Roitfeld is no longer the editor of French Vogue, she remains steadily at the perch of the fashion world, standing atop those super-high bondage-referencing heels that she partly made a staple of Parisian style. But la femme parisienne, which Roitfeld very much is, makes her own ground wherever she walks.” In Interview.

Rei Kawakubo – “I don’t feel too excited about fashion today, more fearful that people don’t necessarily want or need strong new clothes, that there are not enough of us believing in the same thing, that there is a kind of burnout, that people just want cheap fast clothes and are happy to look like everyone else, that the flame of creation has gone a bit cold, that enthusiasm and passionate anger for change and rattling the status quo is weakening.” In Wall Street Journal Magazine.

At 90, fashion’s latest star - “Mrs. Apfel, the subject of a string of museum exhibitions, a coffee table book and even a fashion advertising campaign, has long been a magnet to aficionados, those devotees of fashion who dote on her style — a more-is-more mix of haute couture and hippie trimmings that appears at a glance to have been blended in a Cuisinart.” In NY Times.

The fastest growing private company of 2011  – “Flash-shopping sites, a decade-old phenomenon in Europe, took root in this country around the time of the recession, when ideeli and its three best-known competitors launched. Members receive e-mail alerts about sales, and the clock starts ticking. For customers, the appeal is brands at a discount, which at ideeli can reach 80 percent.” In Inc.

Creating your own clearance rack -  “Don’t some clothes have the capacity to make you feel like the proverbial million bucks, while others render you almost incapable of leaving the house? Are there clothes hanging in your wardrobe that you won’t wear because of a bad association—a funeral, bad news at work, a disastrous date—never mind bad-hair day? There are days when the mess in my wardrobe makes me want to shoot myself or a tight waistband renders me incapable of rational thought at my desk.” In Wall Street Journal.

Vogue’s Anna Wintour: intimidating, no; powerful, yes – “‘I don’t think of myself as a powerful person. You know, what does it mean? It means you get a better seat in a restaurant or tickets to a screening or whatever it may be. But it is a wonderful opportunity to be able to help others, and for that I’m extremely grateful.’” In Forbes.

Look back in envy: the 70s take the runway – “But the 1970s resonate most insistently on fashion runways, through a proliferation of languid fall looks inspired by the greatest hits of Halston and Saint Laurent, as well as those of style-world luminaries like Sonia Rykiel, Rosita and Ottavio Missoni, Claude Montana and Karl Lagerfeld, whose fluid dresses for the house of Chloé are still being emulated.” In NY Times.

“Made in China” chic is making Chinese proud - “‘The world has used China as a cheap manufacturing land,’ said Shu Shu Chen, communications director for the Hermes Chinese fashion line Shang Xia. ‘This has been the defining thing for the past 10, 20, 30 years. The time has come to move on from that idea.’… While the Far East has traditionally been associated with cheap labor and shoddy production, its reputation is changing—and attracting big name brands.” In Red Luxury.

Mad woman Janie Bryant - “The costume designer for “Mad Men” on her new collaboration with Banana Republic, her dislike of ’90s fashion and the secret to Don Draper’s sex appeal.” In Wall Street Journal.

On wrists, inner rebels peek out -  “On the streets of New York, scruffy young creatives are tapping their inner Steven Tyler and strapping on leather cuffs, woven friendship bracelets and nylon cords — sometimes 5 or 10 each wrist — as part of their downtown uniform. The look is no longer reserved for Johnny Depp and flâneurs on the Côte d’Azur.” In NY Times.