The Business of Fashion

Boombox: Party's over?

When London's only mega-luxury brand (Burberry) throws a launch party, invites the city's model-du-jour (Agyness Deyn), and recruits East-End club kids from the city's hippest club night (Boombox) to add to its street cred and sell its new fragance (Burberry Beat), it is definitely a formula for fashion marketing success.  Analysts and journalists have been commenting on the brand's new found hipness and pictures have appeared in all the right places, despite the extra-Zone 1 location and late start.

For Boombox, however, it's likely to be a sign that the party's over. That's not to say that Boombox hasn't had a great run. From the start, it was an ultra-cool hangout for the East End fashion and music scenesters (and a great excuse to dress up in wacky clothes). Then, almost as quickly as it emerged on the scene, websites appeared with party photos, pop-up Boombox parties were held in Paris and Milan, a book by the club's promoter Richad Mortimer was published, and most recently the "rent-a-Boombox-crowd" party was held for Burberry.

L'Officiel India: London Bound

L'Officiel India held a glitzy party in London last night to celebrate the distribution of its magazine in the UK, the first official deal of its kind for the magazine outside of India. Hosted by Bollywood director and talk-show host Karan Johar, and attended by the now infamous Shilpa Shetty (who literally sashayed into the club with an entourage who were running to keep up with her), the party was a sleek affair, mixing London fashion personalities, Bollywood star wattage, and high-net worth Indians with money to spend.

Up until now, Indians in the UK have had to use the old "suitcase" import technique to stay up to date on new hotspots in Mumbai, fashion week in Delhi, and Bollywood gossip. But now, they will be able to find L'Officiel India at their local newsagent right next to other international fashion magazines. The magazine in the UK will contain exactly the same content as the magazine distributed in India. Depending on the success of the UK initiative, next stops for L'Officiel India could be distribution deals in Dubai and Hong Kong.

Rodnik: This is not a rock band

Selfridges in London held an event tonight celebrating the launch of a new Surreal Things exhibit at the Victoria & Albert museum. Anyone walking down Oxford Street over the past week has probably seen the designer windows commissioned by the Oxford Street emporium, showing the creative work of Victor & Rolf and John Galliano, among others. [If you haven't seen the windows, you can see photos of them on Susie Bubble's site]. Another window has been designed by the dynamic duo of Rich and Phil, also known as Rodnik, who were the real stars of tonight's launch event.

I first met the Rodnik guys during New York Fashion Week in September 2006. I had been introduced to them via email by a business mentor of theirs, Maria Stammers, from the Portobello Business Centre in London. I had been exchanging text messages to arrange a meeting with Rodnik during Fashion Week in New York, but when I spotted two guys after the Peter Som show in cool webbed black wool cardigans with matching peach-coloured ties and that je-ne-sais-quoi English dandyism, I knew it was them. I tapped Rich on his shoulder and asked if they were Rodnik. At the time, they looked amused that someone would actually recognise them (or, at least, had heard of them). When I explained that I was the one whom Maria had referred, any awkwardness disappeared and we nipped off for an afternoon coffee in Bryant Park where I learned all about their budding business and their vision for where they wanted to take it.

Since then, we have kept in touch regularly and I have watched as they have  faced various business challenges (Production!), declared major fashion victories (Barneys! French Vogue! Lily Cole!), and shared their charm with the fashion world (Anna Wintour! Karl Lagerfeld! Julie Gilhart!), who have simply fallen head over heels for these two quintessential non-designer designers. With their brilliant marketing skills (Parasols! Spoof fashion show! FT Column!) they have built the beginnings of a brand.

Their latest adventure has been to put together an entourage/band/posse that includes the illustrious Peaches Geldof, maven of the London social scene (although Rich says posses are for cowboys not rockstar fashion designers). Tonight the Rodnik band gave its debut "concert" at Selfridges and the guys put on an inspired performance in line with evening's surreal theme using a miniature piano, a child-sized set of drums, an old school record player pumping out The Doors and for lead singer, a mannequin with a top hat dressed in Rodnik .  The entourage provided requisite levels of vocal support and cool factor throughout while the photogs were all leaning into capture the moment.

Does this sound like a luxury fashion label? Well no, not really. But it is brilliant marketing and will continue to weave interesting stories around which the Rodnik lifestyle brand will be built.

Burlesque beauties hawking (surreal) scent-free perfume

Pre-show atmosphere


Surrealists

The debut


Stylish onlookers

Copyright Imran Amed 2007. All rights reserved.

Feting Fetishism, Paris

Last night, legendary Parisian concept store Colette feted London designer Giles Deacon's latest collaboration with Mulberry -- a link to Giles' S/S 07 collection of 'subtle' fetishism. The place was rammed with fashionistas (there were a couple of other events going on). The Parisians are into colour-blocking these days, there was a lot of red, purple and electric blue peaking out of black blazers, leather jackets and dresses. Even the cocktails of the night were electric blue.

Collaborations like this are good for emerging designers like Giles because they provide much needed cash to fund the business through working capital crunches, lend credibilty to designer's stature, and raise the profile of the designer on the back of PR events like this. Who doesn't like to have a party thrown in their honour? In return, the brands get cool products and street cred.

Who ever thought Mulberry could look like this?

The place was heaving.

The colour-blocking was raging.

Luxury Lingerie and Loungewear

How cool does this look? What a creative event.

Gentry de Paris is hosting a very special event at next weekend's Salon de

la Lingerie.

In conjunction with the cult Parisian cabaret MurderSuicidePresents, Monsieur Poudre, our mysterious Master of Ceremonies, will be your guide into the curious and surreal dream of sleeping Joséphine de Beauharnais. Featuring Lady Bird in a silver cage and Miss Morte under a flurry of ostrich feather fans, Joséphine’s strange dream comes alive once an hour through a pink champagne haze provided by to our gracious sponsor Champagne Duval-Leroy

Elegant lines and opulent fabrics inspired by the Premier Empire feature heavily in the Winter 2007 collection. Our bra-panty-garter sets in luscious French silk satin jacquards come in pale, antique colors. Opulent silk satin solids make up our pyjamas and nightgown range.  Super soft viscose jersey wireless bras and boyshorts suit every budget.  And of course our Loro Piana featherweight cashmere comes in boxers, tanks panties and pyjamas.

Marc Newson at the Gagosian Gallery, New York

A work colleague invited me to an interesting art/design exhibition of the highly-regarded young industrial designer, Marc Newson in New York's west side. It was one of those moments when I thought, Doh!, I wish I had my camera/cameraphone with me so I could capture not only the artwork but also the truly fabulous crowd that had assembled to pay hommage to this young talent. I am still getting used to always being ready to capture the cool moments  that sometimes happen unexpectedly. In any case, I really like this cool shelf that kind of looks like a giant piece of industrial honey-comb.

To be honest, I am not sure I understand exactly how the business of that whole exhibition worked, as it was an absolutely enormous space with less than 10 pieces being shown, in addition to a West-Coast pop art Surfing Video meets sleek industrial design Installation. There must have been at least 500 people there, but really not that much to see in terms of art. I think most people were enjoying the people-watching as much as I was.

Inviting interest

I have started receiving invitations to fashion shows, showrooms  and exhibitions for upcoming fashion weeks in Paris, London and New York. I'll keep posting them up here as I receive them.

Invitations are a bi-annual way of reinforcing designer's brand identity. It is amazing what some designers are able to do with a small piece of paper to make their creative vision for the season sing out from the page. In this digital era, invitations have taken a new dimension as people play around with digital elements to make the invitations come alive.

Rajesh Pratap Singh, New Delhi and Paris
I met Pratap and his sister-in-law Sapna at Delhi Fashion Week in April last year. His is one of the most talked-about collections on the Indian Fashion Scene. Beautiful minimalist lines and a muted colour palette make Pratap a stand-out in the colourful frenzy that is Indian fashion. What's more, on the business side, Sapna is the driving force behind managing this rapidly growing business. With an MBA from INSEAD and a good understanding of how to get things done in India, the business is much stronger as a result.

This is a label to watch. Check out www.pratap.ws.

 

VPL, New York
Victoria Bartlett designs for VPL New York and the business is managed by my friend Kikka Hanazawa that I met at business school. Kikka has years of experience in the fashion industry including a stint at Theory where she headed up strategy.

Check out www.vplnyc.com

Wendy and Jim, Vienna and Paris

The wonderful Anina introduced me to Wendy and Jim in the Autumn. I have not seen their collections in person yet, but hope to check it out this season. Not sure if I will be in Paris that night or not, but the invitation looks cool.

More images are on the fun website at www.wujsympathisant.com