FASHION BUSINESS
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AZZARO names Maxime Simoëns as its Artistic Director
seen on the runways of Lemaire, Dries Van Noten and Chloé. While not everyone experimented with fancy hues, the ones who did like Jil Sander and Paco Rabanne, definitely stole our sartorial hearts.
4. CROP OR DROP
Fashion is always trying to break boundaries; an illustration of the same is season less clothing that doesn’ t just mean that consumers get to use a product year-round but also that there is a reduction in the wastage of products. A fitting result is the transition of crop tops into winter via crop sweaters and jackets, which are functional without foregoing the chicness. While Off White created plentiful crop jackets in different fabrics, oversize crop sweaters from Brandon Maxwell and Tods also looked insanely comfortable. To make the trend even more interesting, Lorenzo Serafini added tassels to an off-shoulder sweater and Rick Owens made a cropped sweatshirt disrupting the whole fashion system.
5. CAPE COVERINGS
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This season’ s main mantra is that bigger is always better and what is a better embodiment of the adage than larger than life cloak like outerwear. Everyone wants to look like a superhero out to save the world. As a result, structured clothing is being eschewed to bring in easier and freer
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Rick-Owens Sies Marjan flowing silhouettes where comfort is crucial. From Gucci and Rick Owens who added slit sleeve to their bellowing overcoats to Sies Marjan and Bottega Veneta who literally wrapped the trend and the models in a big blanket, capes are proving to be the desperately needed comfort in fashion.
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Celebrating their 50th anniversary, French fashion house Azzaro has appointed designer Maxime Simoëns as its Artistic Director who will oversee couture collections, ready-to-wear and accessories. With a meritorious education from Chambre Syndicale de la Couture and an experience of having worked at Jean-Paul Gaultier, Elie Saab, Dior and Balenciaga, he is famous for bringing fluidity coupled with perversely architectural silhouettes as well as working on polarising contrasts in his work. Simoëns succeeds Arnaud Maillard and Alvaro Castejón who left in 2016 and will present his first collection during the Paris Couture Week in July. Alongside the new role, Simoëns will continue operating his personal label called M. X Paris, which he just relaunched as an accessible and only-menswear brand.
Rebecca Minkoff increases focus on‘ see now, buy now ' strategy
While Thakoon and Tom Ford have bid farewell to‘ see now, buy now’, the strategy seems to be working out exceptionally well for the digitally forward Rebecca Minkoff. The company is laying off employees working on wholesale operations and hiring people that align better with its current strategy of building a seamless e-commerce base. The restructure will support direct retail in physical stores and online, which accounts for 60 per cent of the business. Rebecca cites a strong customer loyalty as well as the exciting experiences they provide via gutsy marketing initiatives as a big fuel to their growth. Staying ahead of the curve, the company also plans to add more production in Europe and domestically to counter Trump’ s potential TPP tax code and be able to design under shorter deadlines.
66 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2017 | www. apparelresources. com