Paris Fashion Week Spring 2012

 

Carven

 

Manish Arora

Bamain, Nicolas Andreas Taralis

 

Dries Van Noten, Normaluisa (Milan)

 

Nina Ricci, Hussein Chalayan

  

Roland Mouret

大同

 

然後你發現，一切根本沒什麽大不了。

hold

others will never know how much strength it takes

to hold yourself together

when it hits you every once in a while.

i feel like, im a contender.

Steve J & Yoni P

Nathan Smith SS 2011

to read

white dress

simone rocha

\

記得我曾經說過，每次當一段關係告吹，我得帶走一些東西。因爲戀愛，是應該讓我們成長的。不然，當時所付出過的愛，會隨著記憶凋談而貶值。記住：愛，是需要勇氣的。無論你倆現在的關係如何，愛過就是愛過。不要讓那些淚白流。

港女的問題是女人味不夠，讀點洋書，沾染了西方的一點Feminism。東方女子的優秀處丟掉,以為扮洋妞即是有性格。她們不知道，如果克林頓在西安住上半年，必把希拉利和萊溫斯基都一起甩掉。港女說話還有一股TVB腔，都像港式o靓模與女藝員之反智，開口不離飲食資訊，閉嘴不脫減肥心得，這才叫陶總最嘔心。

source

nyfw

- since stockholm i hav spotted the skirt and pants thing from acne, which i quite liked. and in nyfw we see it in richard chai's. im not sure if theres a historical link to it, but it's like girl next door, kid version. if that makes sense...

- another girl next door thing i saw is the pinafore, dresses with thick straps. traditionally has that sundress/ umbrella cut, but they have made it more linear. i saw this piece which is made of leather, quite like that.

so far im really into peter som's collection. the palette. the prints. everything looks so fun. oh that blue dress with slits. i want that forever.

The Rising Popularity of Hong Kong’s Young Haberdashers

The Rising Popularity of Hong Kong’s Young Haberdashers
07 September 2011

Creativity from an unlikely source — young, ambitious entrepreneurs– is cultivating China’s homegrown luxury industry. Particularly in Hong Kong, where relaxed taxes and government initiatives appeal to new businesses, industrious young men have created a niche market for haberdashery that is earning serious attention.

Mark Cho, 28, left his job at a London bank last year to found The Armoury, a popular men’s store in Hong Kong. Cho says, “After ten years of interest, I decided I could enjoy doing something more with it.” That’s not to say Cho abandoned all his business smarts to pursue fashion. In fact, Cho’s store was launched in conjunction with InvestHK, a government agency that promotes investment. “The business was designed specifically to be launched in Hong Kong. I think it would have been impossible elsewhere,” he says.

Justin Chang’s Hong Kong-based company, Ascot Chang, also benefits from its location. “Hong Kong’s a good climate,” the 24-year old Cornell graduate who abandoned an internship at a stock brokerage to ply his trade says, “because there’s no import tax, so [bringing in] materials from Europe [is cheaper].”

"The 'made in Asia' label is losing its stigma. We lack the marketing power of ‘Made in Italy’ or ‘Savile Row bespoke', but [for my generation] locally made products have a bit more cachet because they’re increasingly rare. There’s a nostalgic quality about them."

Chang’s store is known for its bespoke shirts, of which it makes 60,000 a year. His success is possible, he realizes, because “made in Asia” labels are losing their stigma. Chang says, “We lack the marketing power of ‘Made in Italy’ or ‘Savile Row bespoke’, but [for my generation] locally made products have a bit more cachet because they’re increasingly rare. There’s a nostalgic quality about them.”

“More and more [Hong Kongers] are cultivating their own sense of style and savoir-faire,” agrees Arnold Wong, the 19-year-old founder of Colonial Goods, a newly launched men’s wear label that celebrates Hong Kong’s colonial heritage.” Colonial Goods’ first T-shirt collection, released in August, teamed up with the 88-year-old knitting factory Lee Kung Man.

Likewise, the Armoury teamed up with popular Hong Kong tailor WW Chan & Sons to boost its image.“They provided a good starting base of customers, goodwill, and credibility,” says Cho, whose store has a corner devoted to its mentor-company.

Wong commissioned a photo shoot of well-dressed men in Hong Kong. The photos, which featured Chang, Cho, and Cho’s partners at the Armoury, have gone viral on men’s wear websites. The success of Hong Kong haberdashers, the entrepreneurs agree, is the close-knit community that they share, both personally and professionally, in an youthful environment looking to create its own identity, fashionably and economically.

source

hmm.

what defines you

sometimes i think i'd be pretty happy wearing this combination for the rest of my life.

just a light cashmere sweater and drapey harem pants.

paired with anything form ferragamo vara to acne atomica, thanks

and then for a more feminine appeal, high waisted full skirts.

Chiaki Kuriyama.

i can never get over her i-d shoot.

朦朧的

有些人，我們如何努力，也是抓不住的。

不要自以爲是，以爲曾經擁有，就可以保持到永遠。

很多東西，是會變質的。

張樂怡，其實你老早就明白這個道理，每一個關係，都是會有"此日期前最佳"的。

人家可能看不透，或只是想著先哄哄你，反正不是他們的問題。

但你自己的感覺，才是最真實的證據。

儘早逃離，就不會損手爛腳。受傷了的人總是孤獨的。

有些人，就算你對他如何冷淡，他還會在。

相比之下，你就知道誰值得你去愛，誰不再值得你去花心血

心血在這個年代很便宜，每個人一開始都自命愛得嘔心瀝血，

但最後只有你發現，當你貧血的時候，該來救你的人是不會來。

也許我是偏激了，但我就是那種亡命感性派

愛，就得到底。

不愛，就得撇脫點。

離場時記得不要遺留太多自己，一回頭看，你就輸了。

Rei Kawakubo

“I don't feel too excited about fashion today. People just want cheap fast clothes and are happy to look like everyone else.”

read more

Do fashion brands need ugly-queen discount contest?

Jaspal Singh Sabharwal Aug 29, 2011, 03.19am IST

As Indian fashion brands gear up to meet the challenges of growing domestic demand, the ride ahead could be rocky unless the level of preparedness is high. And all this, as experts will tell you, is primarily because of 'inventory'.

The 'I' word often emerges as the villain-in-chief —destroying brands, reputations and cash flows mercilessly. Is this just a hype or a legitimate concern? First, let's look at what some of the global biggies do. Meet Louis Vuitton, a company that never discounts its leather goods.

It balances demand-supply cycle very well by ensuring that people buy its products for the right reasons—design and aspiration—and not the wrong reason—discounts. Unlike other luxury brands, Louis Vuitton never licenses out the brand to others. Running its own stores gives it control over inventory, pricing and visual merchandising.

On the other extreme, most of our Indian brands/retailers end up selling half of their inventory at the list price (as fresh stock) and the remaining half at a heavy discount (end-ofthe-season sales).

Fashion business enjoys healthy gross margins but the sell-through rate (percent by volume of merchandise that is sold at full price) for most Indian brands is low—45-50%.

This dampens their overall profitability and long-term viability. On top of discounts, retailers end up spending more than 40% of their annual marketing budget on communicating the announcement of sale.

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 behavior.

While it reduces incentives for consumers in multiple ways, rapid production reduces gap between demand and supply and decreases the probability of excess inventory.

Enhanced product design, on the other hand, gives customers a trendier product that they value more, making them less willing to risk waiting for a sale. Zara, H&M and Mango have been implementing this strategy successfully.

Consider this: Zara churns out more than 11,000 designs in a season, compared to only 2,000-4,000 items that its competitors offer. End result: Zara's customers visit the store 14 times on an average per year, compared to 3-4 visits per year at traditional chains. Sellthrough rate for Zara is 80-85%. But such an approach needs a lot of planning, determined execution and meticulous monitoring.

However, the fashion sector looks attractive, and this is reflected in the increasing number of brands, even more so in terms of valuations. But clearly, the pitch is changing.

And an advice for Indian brands in a hurry—the ground you are stepping on has wall-towall landmines. Watch the business, the valuations will take care of themselves.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-08-29/news/29941390_1_indian-brands-discounts-louis-vuitton


This applies the same to Australia.

market hq lookbook

your taste changes as you grow up.

when i was just a little girl, the only sushi i would eat was tobiko. but i grew to love salmon and other things. and now i grow to love velvet.