The Business of Fashion

BoF Recommends | Valentino, the last Emperor

In the Summer of 2007,  around the time when Valentino Garavani finally resigned from his own label after months of speculation, I would have done anything to be a fly on the wall. What, with the planning of a 45th anniversary celebration in Rome, the controversy surrounding Permira's battle with the Carlyle Group for control of the House, the never-ending will he-won't he leave debate, and the ensuing rumours about potential successors (Giambattista Valli, Zac Posen, Proenza Schouler), there was a veritable tornado of activity going on in the Italian fashion house.

Today, 18 months later, I got my wish. I caught an afternoon press screening of  Matt Tyrnauer's film, Valentino - The Last Emperor, in New York City. The film happened to focus on Valentino and his partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, at precisely this time. And while there was scant mention of the business issues of the day, it was still an engaging film that focused on the uninterrupted partnership of these two legendary men of a bygone era in la moda Italiana.

BoF Recommends | A Shaded View on Fashion Film

When I first met Diane Pernet, it was hard to see beyond her iconic look : a towering pompadour, mantilla veil, cateye sunglasses and platform wedges, all in black, complemented by scarlet red lips and a signature scent.  Since then, I have never seen her in anything else.

But, despite her aesthetic constancy, she is one of those rare souls in the fashion business who still manages to surprise at every turn, with witty observations and an unflinching honesty. And, as I have come to know the person behind the veil, as it were, we have bonded over our shared passion for young design talent, debated ideas for fashion collaborations and industry progress, and exchanged dollops of industry gossip.

Diane, of course, is best known for building one of the most influential blogs in the industry, something she has done by focusing on emerging brands and edgy events from around the world, as opposed to the major brands which are covered ad nauseam elsewhere. But recently, she has been talking to me about A Shaded View on Fashion Film, which will launch at the prestigious Jeu de Paume in Paris in September.

BoF Recommends | Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers

A couple of years ago, as I was exploring the graduate collections of a stellar Central St Martins MA class, I met Molly Grad, one of the strongest talents to emerge from the legendary fashion school that year.  Apart from the deft tailoring and layering of Molly's collection itself, I was engrossed in her sketchbook, which was filled with anatomical photos interspersed with her illustrations.

I recently met up with Molly for lunch and she gave me a wonderful book called Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers, written by Laird Borrelli, who is also a friend. In the book, Laird gives us a sneak peak into the dreams and designs of the world's leading designers, alive (Boudicca, Giles and Phillip Lim) and dead (Yves St Laurent, Gianfranco Ferre).

I reached Laird via email in Sweden, where she is on holiday but still agreed to answer a few questions, from a Swedish keyboard, so we could benefit from her renowned expertise on the history (and business) of fashion illustration.

BoF Recommends | The TED talks

We have recently become addicted to a series of videos from TED -- or, Technology, Entertainment and Design -- an annual conference where passionate people descend on Monterrey, California to listen to other passionate people, each of whom are given 18 minutes to give the talk of their lives. The idea is that the best ideas will spread, by sheer virtue of the combined influence of all of the mavens and connectors in the room.

The notion of the idea virus also happens to be at the core of Seth Godin's expertise. Godin gave this prescient talk at TED in February 2003 and declared to the world's leading thinkers: "No matter what we do for a living, we're in the fashion business!" 

BoF Recommends | In the Know: The Classic Guide to Being Cultured and Cool

Even for the most culturally-savvy business types, the world of fashion can be daunting. Everyday, fashion people will mention places, names, books, buildings, restaurants and other references that they assume you must know: Truman Capote. Madeleine Vionnet. Diana Vreeland. Zaha Hadid. The Faena Hotel. Leigh Bowery. Patrick Demarchelier. The Misshapes. Jane Birkin. Matthew Barney. Marcel Breuer. Mies van der Rohe. Steven Meisel.

These cultural references form the basis of evaluating and understanding what is going on in fashion today.  So, while  you may not need to have curatorial knowledge of Dior's New Look or be able to map out the influence of Oscar Neimeyer's architecture on fashion, it is still important to have some basic understanding of how all of this fits together.

Of course, it's a body of knowledge that will take years to build up, but to get you started, we have discovered what may be the fashion business professional's version of a high-school cheat sheet for cultural credibility. 

Nancy MacDonell, the talented editor we work with over at Style.com, has crammed years of her cultural knowledge (and that of other editors and designers we respect like Jason Campbell and Gentry Lane) into a compact book titled In the Know: The Classic Guide to Being Cultured and Cool

BoF Recommends: Look, Stimuli and Issue One

We spend a lot of time here on the BoF discussing the impact of new media on the fashion industry. In fact, yesterday we weighed in on the issue over at JC Report in a full-length article about some of the new online media sites and communities that are popping up. But that doesn't mean we don't like flipping through a good old-fashioned magazine from time to time, as long as it brings a fresh perspective and the images and editorial are strong. Three new magazines recently landed in our mailbox and we thought we'd share them with you.

The first issue of New York Look magazine  gives a behind-the-scenes look into the S/S collections and all of the planning and mayhem that go into those 15 minutes of fame for a brand. Actually, it might not be quite 15 minutes. NYL provides a play-by-play of the seasons hottest shows with statistics like the number of models to the names of celebrities in attendance. Our quantitative nerdy side was immediately drawn to the lengths of shows. The longest was Narciso Rodriguez at 45 minutes; the shortest was a tight 8 minutes for Chloé. Apart from fun useless statistics, the magazine also has stunning photography and a tongue-in-cheek piece on Anna Wintour's love for Roger Federer, as we witnessed at Oscar de la Renta's show in September.

BoF Recommends: Monocle, a magazine for the 21st century

Earlier this year, Tyler Brûlé, famous for launching Wallpaper* magazine and for his now defunct Fast Lane column in the weekend Financial Times, launched Monocle magazine, a self-described briefing on global affairs, business, culture and design.

In the Brûlé days, Wallpaper* was a large format glossy magazine with a black logo printed on a white cover, with plenty of photos and little text. While it was pretty to look at, you could get through the magazine in less than 20 minutes of page-turning, and the website offered nothing extra -- in fact, it was pretty much an empty shell.

Monocle couldn't be more different. It is a smaller format magazine with a white logo printed on a black cover and plenty of text printed on matte (almost dull) paper. The focus is on the written content, which is rich, varied and quirky. The magazine did get off to a slightly slow start, but it has picked up steam over the past few issues and is beginning to find its voice. The business content is a bit random (an interview in Issue 01 with the CEO of Lego left me underwhelmed, for example) but the fashion content while light, is spot on.