Photo Credit :Amandine Ohayon (Stella McCartney's new CEO)
Stella McCartney appoints Amandine Ohayon as CEO
A new CEO has been named at Stella McCartney. Amandine Ohayon is set to be taking up the role from December 1st, 2023. Ohayon succeeds Gabriele Maggio, who had initially joined the company in 2019 as both president and CEO, and is expected to leave to pursue other opportunities.
Copenhagen Fashion Week announces brand line up for A/W 24
Copenhagen Fashion Week has announced the line up for the A/W 24 edition, which will continue the raised momentum for the seasonal showcase. Presenting key international and Nordic established leaders and emerging innovators this season, A/W 24 will introduce new designers in the CPHFW NEWTALENT programme, returning brands to the schedule as well as a host of exciting new names across the 4 days of shows.
The presence of reputable Nordic names set against international vanguards curated across a four day programme of 31 shows further underline the international positioning CPHFW holds within the fashion calendar worldwide.
This coming season, CPHFW NEWTALENT supported by CIRCULOSE bursary recipient Nicklas Skovgaard shall present as the official opening show on the Monday after the official reception, building on the impact the brand’s first showcase for the August edition imprinted. The schedule will continue to hold a break across the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, allowing for further support towards the burgeoning schedule of presentations, events, showrooms and trade fairs.
For this coming edition, there will be three brands awarded the One To Watch recognition slot: Martin Quad, Sloth Rousing and MLGA. These brands will present their forthcoming collections through a variety of formats that they feel best encompasses their vision, from installations, presentations, events and showroom formats.
CEO Cecilie Thorsmark states: “The global reach that Copenhagen Fashion Week continues to garner is testament to the role a fashion week must play in expecting positive change from international and Nordic leaders in the fashion industry. By implementing Copenhagen Fashion Week as a key cultural activation we are proposing new definitions of what a fashion week can symbolise, with our continued growth only underlining this.”
Upcoming Denim Première Vision in Milan
The upcoming edition of Denim Première Vision will take place on 22nd and 23rd November 2023, in Milan.
The Trend Forum returns with a new concept. Discover the season’s creative trends and latest sustainable developments through a series of pieces created in collaboration with the show’s exhibitors.
Denim PV Denim expert, Lorenza Martello, will meet visitors every day for a denim fashion seminar dedicated to Spring-Summer 25 trends, followed by a visit to the forum for a more immersive experience.
Visitors can also take part in workshops, discover collaborative projects led by students and industry experts.
The PV Fashion District is a specially designed creative space within the show, featuring collections from upcycling labels, young designers, established brands and rising denim figures. This year’s participants include Daily Blue by Adriano Goldschmied, Hen’s Teeth, Anna Galaganenko, Maurizio Massimino, Fade out Label, Regenes, Leon Emanuel Blank, Gimmi Jeans, Blue of a Kind, HNST, Jonathan Christopher and Stripes Of-f Road.
Maison Boucheron announces the acquisition of a High Jewelry workshop
As part of its ongoing growth and development strategy, Boucheron has recently acquired a High Jewelry workshop, renowned for its excellent expertise in traditional craftsmanship. The workshop is located just a stone’s throw away from Place Vendôme in Paris: this way Maison Boucheron can reinforce the production capacity of its historical High Jewelry workshop.
This workshop is composed of four companies: Blondeau, Belter, Chanson and FG Développement, which have worked together at the same address since 2017. They gather about sixty artisans (CAD designers, jewelers, lapidaries, setters and polishers) who are involved in each step of the process in the making of a High Jewelry creation.
This group was founded by Cédric Gangemi: a young French entrepreneur and a qualified jeweler himself, Mr. Gangemi had worked for Chanson and for Blondeau before taking over these companies and developing them. These new teams joined Maison Boucheron on October 31st 2023, working alongside the historical workshop of 26 Place Vendôme to give life to the Maison’s High Jewelry collections.
“The acquisition of this High Jewelry workshop writes a new chapter in the history of the Maison. It will reinforce the production capacity of Boucheron’s historical workshop on Place Vendôme, enabling us to meet the increasing demand of our clients while maintaining the excellence of our craftsmanship”
Hélène Poulit-Duquesne, CEO of Maison Boucheron
Alexander McQueen appoints Seán McGirr as Creative Director of the House
Kering and Alexander McQueen have announced the appointment of Seán McGirr as Creative Director of the House.
Seán McGirr was previously Head of Ready-to-Wear at JW Anderson. He joined JW Anderson in 2020 to head up the men’s collections, eventually adding womenswear to his responsibilities. Prior to that, he was Women’s Designer for Dries Van Noten in Antwerp. From 2014 to 2018, he was part of Uniqlo’s creative offices in Tokyo and Paris working on the men’s collections guided by Christophe Lemaire. He started his career assisting at Burberry and Vogue Hommes Japan.
An Irish national, born in Dublin, he is a graduate of Central Saint Martins in London, where he obtained a Master of Arts in Fashion in 2014.
Gianfilippo Testa, CEO of Alexander McQueen, said: “We are delighted to welcome Seán McGirr as Creative Director. With his experience, personality, and creative energy, he will bring a powerful creative language to Alexander McQueen while building on its unique heritage.”
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, added: “Alexander McQueen is a House we are passionate about, and we are confident that Seán McGirr will be able to pursue its journey with a new creative impetus. We look forward to opening this new chapter in the history of this unique brand.”
End of an era: PREMIUM Berlin closes its doors
The format PREMIUM Berlin, which has been a success story in the fashion and lifestyle industry for many years, will not take place in January 2024. Its past success as a benchmark, the critical developments in the industry, and the changed global economic situation are presenting big trade fair formats with a new dimension of challenges.
Since being launched in 2003 PREMIUM, has shown that its original concepts and approaches were ground-breaking and therefore shaped the fashion world. The management team led by Anita Tillmann and Jörg Arntz recognised the ever-changing challenges within the industry and paved the way for SEEK, which was launched in 2009.
SEEK, which has focussed on its core segment in recent years and serves the streetwear segment, will continue its mission. The platform has not only established itself for forward-thinking brands, but is also the proud organiser of the “Conscious Club”, the largest hub on the topic of sustainability in the industry. Here, visitors and exhibitors will not only find the most important trends and ideas in the field of sustainability, but also the most exciting new collections from the pioneers who are responsible for the positive changes. Around 200 brands are expected again in January. With this, Berlin will continue to be a place where new trends are set, creative collaborations are formed, and business is done.
With a clear focus on product quality, community building and strong values such as honesty, creativity, and resilience, SEEK is able to meet the needs of its target audience. So far, the feedback from the committed brands has been consistently positive.
Anita Tillmann: “PREMIUM was more than just a trade show. In 21 years, we have achieved a great deal, have been the stage for an incredible number of success stories in the industry and united the whole world to Berlin. In the process, we have become corporate and creative consultants, conference organisers, publishers, tech experts and retailers, established the first Fashion Week in Germany and entertained the entire industry. We have launched young talent awards, and during the years, we have seen many big players come and go. We have made friends and learnt so much, for which I am very grateful. But we are also entrepreneurs, and no concept lasts forever. Two decades is a long time, during which PREMIUM has absolutely outperformed against all odds.”
Jörg Arntz: “Our flexibility and creativity allow us to react dynamically to changes and always offer innovative solutions. Together, we strive to continue to set standards in our industry while having a positive impact on the community. Our shareholder Clarion is the fourth largest trade fair and event organiser in the world and relies on the SEEK concept, which generated better results in direct comparison to PREMIUM last summer. The SEEK generation presents the future. With joined forces with our partners, we are ready to face the current challenges, and find solutions together, now and in the future.”
Nativa and Pangaia take ‘regenerative farming’ partnership to next level
NATIVA, the world’s leading supplier of sustainable luxury Merino wool, has extended its partnership with purpose-driven lifestyle brand, PANGAIA. Known for creating clothing that uses innovative tech and bio-engineered materials to decrease its impact on the planet – PANGAIA is a materials science company designing an earth positive business model where its products are better for the planet than if they did not exist.
PANGAIA first partnered with NATIVA in 2022, sourcing the finest Merino wool from NATIVA via its certified farms, each committed to animal welfare. A year on, NATIVA and PANGAIA are excited to share the next step in their partnership — NATIVARegen.
NATIVARegen works from the ground up, bettering soil quality through a triple impact system that protects lands, safeguards animals and supports farmers by improving their livelihoods. Throughout the NATIVARegen journey, sheep are raised ethically in harmony with nature, grazing on native plants with enough space to roam. Each farmer has a management plan that assesses feeding, breeding, behaviour and health to ensure animal welfare standards are met. This includes stress free shearing and the prohibition of mulesing.
The NATIVA partner farm supplying PANGAIA’s Merino wool is Cerro Bombero, a family owned NATIVARegen accredited farm based in Uruguay. Located 130km from the city of Paysandú, where Juan and his family live, 6,000 Merino sheep are ethically raised in open fields. The farm’s regenerative practices are measured through biogenic carbon and water footprint testing, meaning it is possible to monitor the positive impact at field level.
“We are so pleased to extend our relationship with PANGAIA, one of the most respected environmentally positive brands in the world. PANGAIA’s mission to design an earth positive business model where its products are better for the planet than if they did not exist perfectly aligns with NATIVA™’s. We are so proud of our NATIVARegen™ partner farm in Uruguay and we can’t wait for PANGAIA consumers to experience the world’s finest Merino wool knowing it has further improved the environment it came from.” said Nicolas Sapelli, NATIVA Sourcing Director.
The AMIRI 2023 prize winner: Lukhanyo Mdingi
Lukhanyo Mdingi has won the AMIRI 2023 prize. The AMIRI Prize is an inclusive annual award and incubator established to encourage, nurture and showcase up-and-coming talent from fashion and fashion-adjacent fields that otherwise might not have their voices heard.
Lukhanyo Mdingi’s eponymous label is an ever-evolving emergence of consideration, community and timeless design. Established in Cape Town, South Africa in 2015, the label exists as a space that moves deeply into the very essence of human ingenuity and the preservation of craftsmanship. Fundamental to the cosmology of Lukhanyo Mdingi, is the exploration of fashion as its current lexicon through which they harness the spirit of being human. In this way, the label re-imagines and reinstates dignity and notoriety in their garment production with a small team based in Cape Town, while continually collaborating with artisans on the continent such as the expert weavers from PHILANI in Khayelitsha, Cape Town to textile artisans at CABES GIE in Burkina Faso.
Lukhanyo’s approach to design is a practice that is centered around these relationships; it is from these symbiotic connections that Lukhanyo Mdingi conceptualizes collections, believing that beginning with human beings is where the essence is held for creating meaningful & intelligent design. In working with the notion of lineage-building; this is particularly noted in their partnership with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, as well as being the recipient of the LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2021, leading on becoming a finalist of the ANDAM Prize 2022.
These on-going relationships continue to nurture the label’s longevity, balancing both the creative and entrepreneurial spirit for which Lukhanyo Mdingi is known. Having debuted at SA Menswear Week in the year of their inception, 2015, the label has presented at New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week to acclaimed reception. This eternal reverence for the hands that make is central to Lukhanyo Mdingi’s vision, and the label is a testimony and dialogue occurring on African soil as an intention to emanate outward across the planet.
Stone Island x Surpreme A/W 2023 collection
Supreme has worked with Stone Island on a new collection for Autumn 2023. Made exclusively for Supreme, the collection consists of a cowhide leather Bomber Jacket; reversible Down Puffer Jacket; cotton bull denim Trucker Jacket, 5-Pocket Jean, 6-Panel and Beanie treated with garment dye and reflective resin lamination; wool blend bouclé Cardigan; cotton S/S Top, Hooded Sweatshirt, Sweatpant, and Camp Cap with spiderweb printed graphic; and printed L/S Top.
Heimtextil 2024: expanded range & realigned sustainability formats
New international contacts, inspiring business encounters and intensive networking: Heimtextil 2024 records strong registration figures across all product segments. With over 2,600 exhibitors participating, demand exceeds the number of exhibitors at the previous event.
“Heimtextil provides a bundled and therefore efficient market overview of all global trends in the home and contract textiles industry on a central platform over four days. In 2024, we are pleased to be able to intensify this experience with the launch of the new Carpets & Rugs product segment and an increased number of exhibitors,” says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies.
Heimtextil 2024 will be expanded by two new halls: Hall 5.1 for the new Carpets & Rugs product segment and Hall 10.4 for Asian Selection exhibitors in the home textiles segment. Hall 3, which will serve as a creative hub for the Heimtextil Trends 24/25 and exhibitors from the wall decoration, textile design and textile technology segments will also be reopened. In addition, the new Carpets & Rugs product segment, the realignment of the sustainable event formats under the title “Econogy” and the expanded range in the Fibers & Yarns section will provide fresh business impulses.
Heimtextil 2024 is expanding its portfolio with the new Carpets & Rugs product segment. Located exclusively in the new Hall 5.1, it showcases fitted, handmade and custom-made carpets, machine-made woven carpets, mats and dirt-absorbing carpets, as well as rugs and runners. Carpets are traditionally an integral part of Heimtextil, presented in various halls. Starting in 2024, this offering will be permanently bundled at the request of the industry.
For “Asian Excellence” and “Asian Selection”, both the house textiles (10.0-10.4) and home textiles (6.0, 5.0, 6.1) segments have a strong presence at Heimtextil 2024. Quality in all quantities meets private label excellence here.
At Heimtextil 2024, a realignment of all sustainable formats of the worldwide Texpertise Network will be launched with Econogy. Econogy standardizes the evaluation criteria of all Messe Frankfurt textile events for sustainability and clarifies the holistic connection between economy and ecology.
The Econogy offering at Heimtextil includes the Econogy Finder. The directory helps visitors find certified suppliers. Since many years, Heimtextil exhibitors have the opportunity to have sustainability checks carried out in order to be listed in special directories. In the future, these checks will be harmonized across all textile fairs of Messe Frankfurt. Econogy thus creates transparency and comparability across trade fairs with regard to criteria used to select resource-saving products and exhibitors. In cooperation with independent external sustainability experts, the current status of recognized seals and certificates are included and the SDGs are also integrated into the checks.
The Heimtextil Trends have been forming the heart of Heimtextil for many years. They translate megatrends into textile visions. A visit to the Heimtextil Trends is a must for all textile professionals who are constantly expanding their knowledge of textile materials. Under the overarching theme of “New Sensitivity,” textile transformation is the focus of the Heimtextil Trends 24/25, with three approaches showing ways to a more sensitive world of textiles: plant-based production of textiles, supporting textile circularity through technology, and the bio-engineered use of natural ingredients. In addition, the Future Materials curate regenerative materials and designs.
Heimtextil will be held from 9 to 12 January 2024.
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