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Archive for the 'fashion' Category
06
Aug
08
How to dress F-a-b-o-l-o-u-s
11
Jul
08
That’s SO Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci, is an Italian iconic fashion and leather goods label. It was founded by Guccio Gucci (b.1881 – d.1953) in Florence in 1921.[1] Gucci is considered one of the most famous, prestigious, and easily recognizable fashion brands in the world.[2] The House of Gucci belongs to the French conglomerate company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR).
Gucci generated circa US$7.7 billion worldwide of revenue in 2007 according to BusinessWeek magazine and recofirmed it 46th position of the previous year in the magazine’s annual “Top 100 Brands” chart.[3] For this reason Gucci is the second biggest-selling fashion brand after LVMH. Most importantly Gucci is the biggest-selling Italian brand in the world.[4] Gucci operates about 425 stores worldwide and it wholesales its products through franchisees and upscale department stores.[5]
History of the Gucci
The House of Gucci (pronounced Guchi) was founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci. In 1938, Gucci expanded and a boutique was opened in Rome. Guccio was responsible for designing many of the company’s most notable products. In 1947, Gucci introduced the bamboo handle handbag, which is still a company mainstay. During the 1950s, Gucci also developed the trademark striped webbing, which was derived from the saddle girth, and the suede moccasin with a metal bit.
His wife Aida Calvelli had a large family, six children in all, though only his sons—Vasco, Aldo, Ugo, and Rodolfo—would play a role in leading the company. After Guccio’s death in 1953, Aldo helped lead the company to a position of international prominence, opening the company’s first boutiques in London, Paris, and New York. Even in Gucci’s fledgling years, the family was notorious for its ferocious infighting. Disputes regarding inheritances, stock holdings, and day-to-day operations of the stores often divided the family and led to alliances. Gucci expanded overseas, board meetings about the company’s future often ended with tempers flaring and luggage and purses flying. Gucci targeted the Far East for further expansion in the late 1960s, opening stores in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Korea. At that time, the company also developed its famous GG logo (Guccio Gucci’s initials), the Flora silk scarf (worn prominently by Hollywood actress Grace Kelly), and the Jackie O shoulder bag, made famous by Jackie Kennedy, the wife of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Gucci remained one of the premier luxury goods establishments in the world until the late 1970s, when a series of disastrous business decisions and family quarrels brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy. At the time, brothers Aldo and Rodolfo controlled equal 50% shares of the company, though contributed less to the company than he and his sons did. In 1979, Aldo developed the Gucci Accessories Collection, or GAC, intended to bolster the sales for the Gucci Parfums sector, which his sons controlled. GAC consisted of small accessories, such as cosmetic bags, lighters, and pens, which were priced at considerably lower points than the other items in the company’s accessories catalogue. Aldo relegated control of Parfums to his son Roberto in an effort to weaken Rodolfo’s control of the overall operations of the company.
The AMC Hornet station wagon interior by Gucci
Aldo Gucci expanded into new markets including an agreement with American Motors Corporation (AMC). The 1972 AMC Hornet compact “Sportabout” station wagon became one of the first American cars to offer a special luxury trim package created by a famous fashion designer. The Gucci cars sported boldly striped green, red, and buff upholstery and on the door panels, as well as the designer’s emblems and exterior color selections.
Though the Gucci Accessories Collection was well received, it proved to be the force that brought the Gucci dynasty crashing down. Within a few years, the Perfumes division began outselling the Accessories division. The newly-founded wholesaling business had brought the once-exclusive brand to over a thousand stores in the United States alone with the GAC line, deteriorating the brand’s standing with fashionable customers. “In the 1960s and 1970s,” writes Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, “Gucci had been at the pinnacle of chic, thanks to icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Jacqueline Onassis. But by the 1980s, Gucci had lost its appeal, becoming a tacky airport brand.”
It did not take long before ravaged the company’s pomp by flooding the market with cheap knockoffs, further tarnishing the Gucci name. Meanwhile, infighting was taking its toll on the operations of the company back in Italy: Rodolfo and Aldo squabbled over the Parfums division, of which Rodolfo controlled a meager 20% stake. By the mid-1980s, when Aldo was convicted of tax evasion in the United States by the testimony of his own son, the outrageous headlines of gossip magazines generated as much publicity for Gucci as its designs.
Rodolfo’s death in 1983 caused a major shakeup in the company when he left his 50% stake in Gucci to his son, Maurizio Gucci. Maurizio allied with Aldo’s son Paolo to gain control of the Board of Directors and established the Gucci Licensing division in the Netherlands for purposes. (This action would later have a drastic impact on the outcome of the company’s dispute with the world’s largest luxury goods company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.) Following the decision, the rest of the family left the company and, for the first time in years, one man was at the helm of Gucci. Maurizio sought to bury the fighting that had torn the company and his family apart and turned to talent outside of the company for Gucci’s future.
Gucci store at night.
A turnaround of the company devised in the late 1980s made Gucci one of the world’s most influential fashion houses and a highly profitable business operation. In October of 1995 Gucci went public and had its first initial public offering on the AEX and NYSE for $22 per share. November of 1997 also proved to be a successful year as Gucci acquired a watch licensee, Severin-Montres, and renamed it Gucci Timepieces. The Gucci brand is considered one of the most frequently mentioned brands in music. The firm was named “European Company of the Year 1998” by the European Business Press Federation for its economic and financial performance, strategic vision as well as management quality.
Gucci world offices and headquarters are in Florence, Paris, London, and New York. PPR headquarters are in Paris.
United States Flagship Stores:
- New York, New York
- Beverly Hills, California
- Chicago, Illinois
- Bal Harbour, Florida
- Honolulu
- Boston
- San Francisco
- Costa Mesa, CA
In 1989, Maurizio managed to persuade Dawn Mello, whose revival of New York’s Bergdorf Goodman in the 1970s made her a star in the retail business, to join the newly formed Gucci Group as Executive Vice President and Creative Director Worldwide. At the helm of Gucci America was Domenico De Sole, a former lawyer who helped oversee Maurizio’s takeover of ten 1987 and 1989. The last addition to the creative team, which already included designers from Geoffrey Beene and Calvin Klein, was a young designer named Tom Ford. Raised in Texas and New Mexico, he had been interested in fashion since his early teens but only decided to pursue a career as a designer after dropping out of Parsons School of Design in 1986 as an architecture major. Dawn Mello hired Ford in 1990 at the urging of his partner, writer and editor Richard Buckley.
In the early 1990s, Gucci underwent what is now recognized as the poorest time in the company’s history. Maurizio riled distributors, Investcorp shareholders, and executives at Gucci America by drastically reining in on the sales of the Gucci Accessories Collection, which in the United States alone generated $110 million in revenue every year. The company’s new accessories failed to pick up the slack, and for the next three years the company experienced heavy losses and teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. Maurizio was a charming man who passionately loved his family’s business, but after four years most of the company’s senior managers agreed that he was incapable of running the company. His management had had an adverse effect on the desirability of the brand, product quality, and distribution control. He was forced to sell his shares in the company to Investcorp in August of 1993. Dawn Mello returned to her job at Bergdorf Goodman less than a year after Maurizio’s departure, and the position of creative director went to Tom Ford, then just 32 years old. Ford had worked for years under the uninspiring direction of Maurizio and Mello and wanted to take the company’s image in a new direction. De Sole, who had been elevated to President and Chief Executive Officer of Gucci Group NV, realized that if Gucci was to become a profitable company, it would require a new image, and so he agreed to pursue Ford’s vision.
Domenico De Sole was incensed by the news and declined Arnault’s request for a spot on the board of directors, where he would have access to Gucci’s confidential earnings reports, strategy meetings, and design concepts. De Sole reacted by issuing new shares of stock in an effort to dilute the value of Arnault’s holdings. He also approached French holding company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) about the possibility of forming a strategic alliance. Francois Pinault, the company’s founder, agreed to the idea and purchased 37 million shares in the company, or a 40% stake. Arnault’s share was diluted to a paltry 20%, and a legal battle ensued to challenge the legitimacy of the new Gucci-PPR partnership, with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom representing Gucci. Courts in the Netherlands ultimately upheld the PPR deal, as it did not violate that country’s business laws. The second largest shareholder is Crédit Lyonnais with 11%. As of September 2001 a settlement agreement was put into place between Gucci Group, LVMH, and PPR. 2001 was also an incredible year for the Gucci Group as it acquired percentages of Bottega Veneta, Di Modolo, Balenciaga, and formed a partnership with Stella McCartney.
After a failed attempt at contract renewal with PPR in 2003, Tom Ford and Domenico de Sole decided to take their leave from Gucci Group. Ford’s last show for Gucci returned to the roots of his first successful collection: the culture of celebrity. Print advertisements featured models in sleek, simple gowns inspired by the glamour of 1920s silent film stars. Ford priced up the ready-to-wear and used exotic fabrics like alligator and boar hide. His collection for Yves Saint Laurent followed the lead of the previous season’s Gucci women’s wear, with form fitting kimonos and Asian patterned dresses, while the menswear collection featured classic-looking tuxedos and smoking jackets. The announcement of his departure led to a complete presale of many items in New York department stores, and waitlists for his last accessories formed just days after the collection showed in Milan. In 2005, Tom Ford began designing a line of cosmetics for Estee Lauder, and planned to launch his own line of ready-to-wear and accessories under a Tom Ford label.
Following Ford’s departure, Gucci Group retained three designers to continue the success of the company’s flagship label: Alessandra Facchinetti and Frida Giannini,[6] all of whom had worked under Ford’s creative direction. Facchinetti was elevated to Creative Director of Womenswear in 2004 and designed for two seasons before leaving the company after a management dispute. Ray served as Creative Director of Menswear for three years before resigning in January 2006, citing his inability to create a consistent image for Gucci during his time as head designer. 32-year-old Giannini, who had been responsible for designing men’s and women’s accessories, currently serves as Creative Director for the entire brand. Giannini’s Spring 2006 collection was lauded for its color and energy, recreating the buzz around the company’s ready-to-wear that was first heard after Ford’s 1995 season. Giannini’s collections have thereafter departed from Ford’s erotic 1990s looks. Even her fall-winter 2006 collection, with its sky-high hemlines and revealing necklines “wasn’t quite Tom Ford’s all-out orgy of glamour”, as a review on Vogue magazine’s website stated.
Because of its iconic status, Gucci is frequently mentioned in popular culture. With the onset of “designer label” culture in the mid to late 1970s, an early reference to Gucci in a pop song was He’s The Greatest Dancer by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, 1979. It was performed by Sister Sledge. “The champion of dance, his moves would put you in a trance, and he never leaves the disco alone… He wears the finest clothes, the best designers, heaven knows, from his head down to his toes: Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci. He looks like a still, that man is dressed to kill…”
In hip-hop music, where rappers often name-drop to brag about their lifestyles of luxury,[7] Gucci is frequently mentioned.[8] In 2003, Gucci was the third most mentioned brand in Billboard top 20 singles, with appearances in 47 different songs.[8] Some critics claim that lyrical references to products are actually paid endorsements.[7]) Songs in which Gucci is mentioned include Combination by Aerosmith; Add It Up by The Kinks; Gucci Time by Schooly D, I Know What You Want by Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey; Jigga That Nigga, Oh My God, and Poppin’ Tags by Jay-Z; Vapors and Groupie Luv by Snoop Dogg; Why You Hurt Me by Missy Elliott; P.I.M.P. by 50 Cent; Let’s Get Down by Bow Wow; Favorite Things by Big Brovaz; Hell Yeah by Ginuwine; Paranoid Android by Radiohead; The Fad by Chevelle; Still Fly by Big Tymers; Big Poppa by Notorious B.I.G; High Rollers by Ice-T. One rapper uses Gucci in his stage name, Gucci Mane.
Gucci has also been mentioned in the movies Alfie, Pretty Woman, Pret a Porter, Troop Beverly Hills, Spiceworld: The Movie, Hannibal, The Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan, Hitch, Monster-in-Law, Legally Blonde, The Devil Wears Prada, Epic Movie and Sex and the City: The Movie. But also in the Italian film I Mitici – Colpo Gobbo a Milano. Cleavon Little‘s Sheriff Bart is seen riding with Gucci saddlebags in Blazing Saddles. Gucci was also mentioned in the last season of Friends in the episode The One With Princess Consuela. Gucci was mentioned frequently in the first season of the TV series Ugly Betty.
The word “Gucci” is used adjectivally in the British Army to describe items of kit bought by individual soldiers as being superior to the issued equivalent. [3]
Using the capital obtained from the PPR issue, the Group has steadily expanded beyond just the Gucci brand through a series of takeovers. As of 2004, the Gucci Group maintained whole or partial interests in the following companies or brands:
- Fashion
- Gucci (100% share of ownership, also watches 100%)
- Yves Saint Laurent (100%, also perfume brand 100% and watches brand 100%)
- Sergio Rossi (100%)
- Bottega Veneta (78.5%)
- Alexander McQueen (51%, also perfume brand 100%)
- Stella McCartney (50%, also perfume brand 100%)
- Balenciaga (91%)
Eau de Parfum II
- Perfume
- Roger & Gallet
- Boucheron (also jewelry and watches)
- Ermenegildo Zegna
- Oscar de la Renta
- Watches
- Bedat & Co (85%)
08
Jul
08
Word to Tom Ford
Biography
[edit] Early life
Ford was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he graduated from Santa Fe Preparatory School in 1979. After studying at New York University and then Parsons School of Design in 1986, initially having studied architecture, he took design jobs with Cathy Hardwick and Perry Ellis under designer Marc Jacobs.
[edit] Personal life
Ford and his partner, journalist Richard Buckley, have been together for over 20 years. Buckley was the former Editor in Chief of Vogue Hommes International.
Noted for his interest in modern architecture, Ford has commissioned houses from the Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza, the Japanese architect Tadao Ando and the award winning Los Angeles firm of Marmol-Radziner and Associates.
[edit] Fashion career
[edit] Gucci
Scarlett Johansson, Tom Ford and Keira Knightley on the February 2006 cover of Vanity Fair
In 1990, Ford was hired by Gucci‘s then creative director Dawn Mello as chief women’s ready-to-wear designer, and later appointed design director. When, in 1994, Gucci was acquired by a Bahrain-based investment firm called Investcorp, Ford was promoted to creative director and moved to Milan with his partner, journalist Richard Buckley. In his first year at the helm, he was credited with putting the glamor back into fashion introducing Halston-style velvet hipsters, skinny satin shirts and car-finish metallic patent boots. In 1995, he brought in French stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino to create a series of new, modern ad campaigns for the company. By 1999, the house, which had been almost bankrupt when Ford joined, was valued at about $4.3 billion.
[edit] Yves Saint-Laurent
When Gucci acquired the house of Yves Saint-Laurent, Ford was named the creative director of that label as well. During his time as Creative Director for YSL, Ford won numerous Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards. Like his work at Gucci, Ford was able to catapult the classic fashion house back into the mainstream.
His advertising campaigns for the YSL fragrances Opium (with a red-haired Sophie Dahl completely naked wearing only a necklace and stiletto heels in a sexually suggestive pose) and YSL M7 (with martial arts champion Samuel de Cubber in complete full-frontal nudity) have been famous and provocative by pushing fragrance ads to a new level of creativity in artistic expression and commercial impact.
[edit] Gucci & YSL departure
In April 2004, Ford parted company with the Gucci group after he and CEO Domenico de Sole, who is credited as Ford’s partner in the success story that is Gucci, failed to agree with PPR bosses over creative control of the Group. His final show for YSL was a celebrity-studded affair as fans, including fellow designers Diane von Furstenberg, Valentino, Oscar de la Renta, Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney gathered to support and celebrate Ford’s work.
Having made no secret of the fact that he didn’t expect to be designing forever, Ford was rumoured to be making a beeline for Hollywood when his Gucci reign came to an end.
[edit] Tom Ford
Following his departure from Gucci (and YSL), Ford opened the fashion house, Tom Ford.[1] Beginning with accessories, Ford laid the groundwork for his swiftly-growing fashion empire. While all facets of his label have been received incredibly well, his line of eyewear were the first of his collection to really take-off, with virtually every celebrity from Brad Pitt, Lindsay Lohan, and Madonna to Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Aniston and Sally Field being huge fans of his eyewear collections.
On multiple occasions, George Clooney has stated his fondness for Ford’s menswear designs. While the Council of Fashion Designers of America has yet to recognize Ford’s new fashion house, the likes of a nomination will be possible when the Tom Ford label broadens its designs to cover womenswear, a direction Ford has already mapped out.
The Tom Ford line now covers Menswear, Beauty, Eyewear, and both Men and Women’s Accessories.
Ford’s first ‘Tom Ford’ flagship store opened on April 12, 2007 at 845 Madison Avenue in New York City. The store carries his new, high level luxury menswear, including suits, ties, shirts, knitwear, outerwear, accessories, luggage, and small leather goods. The clothing is exclusive to the Madison store. In recent updates, the designers’ website has updated a list of locations where the menswear will be sold. Locations include Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Monaco, Qatar, Spain, and The United Kingdom just to name a few. Most of these locations will only carry the Tom Ford name under license but additional flagship stores are planned to open in large, populated locations such as Japan and Milan, Italy.
[edit] Tom Ford Beauty
Launched in Fall 2006, Tom Ford Beauty is a luxury brand of fragrances comprising Tom Ford Black Orchid, and a secondary floral edition Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur; Private Blend, a twelve-piece unisex fragrance collection; and a new men’s scent, Tom Ford for Men along with its more intense version, Tom Ford for Men Extreme. Each scent was designed and developed by the designer himself.
Tom Ford describes the Private Blend collection as his own “scent laboratory.” The collection, which he states was “designed with the true fragrance connoisseur in mind”, includes:
- Amber Absolute
- Noir de Noir
- Black Violet
- Velvet Gardenia
- Tobacco Vanille
- Oud Wood
- Moss Breches
- Bois Rouge
- Purple Patchouli
- Tuscan Leather
- Neroli Portofino
- Japan Noir
Tom Ford chose to promote his mens fragrance debut with a very provocative advertising campaign featuring the fragrance bottle placed between the dewy breasts and thighs of a naked woman. The suggestive nature of the ads mimic the designer’s previous creative choices, which made him infamous, back when he was at the helm of Gucci and YSL.
[edit] Vanity Fair
In early 2006, Ford was asked to be the guest editor and creative director for the February 2006 Hollywood edition of Vanity Fair. The cover was originally planned to showcase three of Hollywood’s most promising young actresses — Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson, and Rachel McAdams. Once shooting began, however, it was quickly decided that the girls should appear in the nude. McAdams was not satisfied with this decision and was excluded from the shot after refusing to remove her clothing. Feeling the photo needed more than two people, Ford stepped in and replaced McAdams.[2] The issue generated criticism, with many claiming that it further perpetuated the need for Hollywood actresses to be sexual icons, since the edition featured no nude actors inside the magazine while featuring several nude actresses, including Angelina Jolie.
[edit] Awards
Ford has been recognized by important design and cultural councils worldwide including the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and TIME.
- 1995: International Award – Council of Fashion Designers of America
- 2000: Best International Designer – VH1/Vogue Awards
- 2001: Womenswear Designer of the Year – Council of Fashion Designers of America
- 2002: Accessory Designer of the Year Award for Yves Saint-Laurent – Council of Fashion Designers of America
- 2005: André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award – Savannah College of Art and Design [3]
- 2006: Accessory Brand Launch – Accessories Council Excellence (ACE) Awards [4]
- 2008: Menswear Designer of the Year – Council of Fashion Designers of America [5]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ La Ferla, Ruth. – Business: “Tom Ford, Clothing Designer, Will Open Store of His Own”. – New York Times. – February 28, 2006. – Retrieved: October 12, 2007
- ^ Entertainment: “Johansson, Knightley Bare All for Mag Cover”. – Associated Press. – (c/o Fox News). – February 22, 2006. – Retrieved: October 12, 2007
- ^ Award named after American Vogue Editor-at-Large, André Leon Talley
- ^ The Accessories Council Excellence (ACE) Awards – Accessories Council
- ^ Won this award after only his first year on the menswear scene with his own private label. He beat out fellow nominees Thom Browne and Michael Bastian.
Videos
NEW YORK — Levi Strauss & Co. may have built its brands with bottoms—the company is synonymous with 501 jeans and Dockers khakis—but CEO and president John Anderson is aiming to leverage that heritage into complete lifestyle collections that garner a much larger percentage of sales from tops, accessories, footwear, outerwear and other categories. The strategy is aimed at jump-starting the company’s $4.27 billion in sales—which have been basically flat since 2003—and diversifying the company beyond its iconic bottoms businesses, which currently account for about 87 percent of total sales.
“I think the mix should be 50/50,” said Anderson in an interview last week in Levi Strauss’s New York showroom. “The real opportunity for us is in tops and other categories—we need to drive those businesses even harder. In our own stores we’ve already hit that ratio. We need the opportunity to put those tops in front of more consumers.”
Source: DNR News
18
Apr
08
LRG X New Era hats
These Cavalli Jeans show you how serious Cavalli is about fashion.
Definatly on another level of production, quality, and execution.
03
Apr
08
How to dress in summer 2008
My summer style guide will be:
Low cut shoes: Addidas, Vans, Creative Recs, Ralph Lauren Polos
Basic shorts or jeans: nothing too flashy.
V-Neck tees: True size if you wear a large wear a large, clothes are made to fit your body not hide it.
Tattoo inspired clothing will be big again: Blac label, Ed Hardy, Monarchy, Affliction, Brad Butter,
Night and club wear: all rules thrown out, get Doug E
If you disagree… Good. You just do you, I’ma do me
Love, Style, & Peace
-E
22
Mar
08
Big Faces Boutique Blog 