American Apparel has filed for its second bankruptcy in just over a year. The company listed assets and liabilities of between $100m and $500m in its bankruptcy filing.

American Apparel’s board fired founder Dov Charney from his position of chairman in June 2014 and sacked him as chief executive in December for sexual misconduct.

An icon of British design and style who unites heritage, pop inspiration and eclecticism, has chosen Pitti Uomo 91 as the stage for a special event to launch his PS by Paul Smith collection. PS by Paul Smith, the designer’s contemporary line, offers a fusion of luxury design and performance characteristics, technical fabrics and ergonomic cuts. Paul Smith will be realizing a special fashion installation for the occasion.

Dries Van Noten will soon release its new documentary film called ‘Dries’. The latter will show the journey of the house’s designer Dries Van Noten. The film which includes several guest appearances (from the likes of Iris Apfel and Suzy Menkes) will be debuted at the American Film Markets and Conferences the coming week at a “work in progress” screening and is set to be released in cinemas next year. The film, produced by Reiner Holzemer, shows how the latter followed the designer over the time period of a year, taking viewers on a journey of the production of four collections, highlighting the career of the designer so far.

Holzemer has previously produced fashion documentaries on Juergen Teller and Karl Lagerfeld.

Stella McCartney has unveiled the debut of her first menswear collection, ready to be launched during the S/S 2017 season. The launch consisted of an event held at London’s Abby Road Studios; reminiscing the days that Paul McCartney and the Beatles brought fame to this location.

The collection has been available to pre-order from this week and will be distributed across stand-alone stores as well as boutiques and concessions in international department stores, as well as online at stellamccartney.com

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that The Costume Institute's spring 2017 exhibition will be Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons on view from May 4th through September 4, 2017. Presented in the Museum's Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall on the second floor, the exhibition will examine Kawakubo's fascination with interstitiality, or the space between boundaries. Existing within and between entities—self/other, object/subject, fashion/anti-fashion—Kawakubo's work challenges conventional notions of beauty, good taste, and, ultimately, fashionability. The exhibition will feature approximately 120 examples of Kawakubo's womenswear designs for Comme des Garçons, dating from her first Paris runway show in 1981 to her most recent collection.

In celebration of the opening, The Met's Costume Institute Benefit, also known as The Met Gala, will take place on Monday, May 1, 2017. The evening's co-chairs will be Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, and Anna Wintour. Rei Kawakubo will serve as Honorary Chair. The event is The Costume Institute's main source of annual funding for exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and capital improvements. 

On the 17th of November 2016, White Milano will host a special event at the Italian Embassy in Berlin. The latter ispart of the international promotion projects that White Milano organised in key global fashion capitals.

The road-show “IT’S TIME TO WHITE” will bring abroad a taste of the tradeshow’s brand mix including established Italian brands and more upcoming designers, in order to promote the Italian contemporary fashion companies worldwide through special fashion events conceived to attract the international press and buyers alike. 

For the event in Berlin – besides the special evening with informal modelling performance in the big halls of the prestigious Italian Embassy – three designers with a special bond with the German capital have been picked as guest speakers: Italian designers Melampo and Ludovica Diligu founder of the brand Labo.Art, who have both chosen to be based in Berlin, although they produce in Italy, and, last but not least, Berlin’s designer Simone Vera Bath who lives and works in Rome, the latter will share her experience as winner of the Time Award contest at WHITE. 

Cotton is the major raw material of denim production. Therefore, BOSSA follows every step taken towards a more sustainable production. BCI program is an important contributor to achieve the goal on this matter.

BCI Initiative defines what a better and a more sustainable way of growing cotton through an intense cooperation with a multi-stakeholder group of organisations must be like. The product of this method is called “Better Cotton.”  It is based on 6 basic principles:

1. Better Cotton is produced by farmers who minimize the harmful impact of crop protection practices

2. Better Cotton is produced by farmers who use water efficiently and care for the availability of water.

3. Better Cotton is produced by farmers who care for the health of the soil.

4. Better Cotton is produced by farmers who conserve natural habitats.

5. Better Cotton is produced by farmers who care for and preserve the quality of the fibre.

6. Better Cotton is produced by farmers who promote decent work

Having 35 % of Bossa’s total cotton consumption from BCI cotton, the company have committed to increase the consumption dramatically to 60% in 2017. The target for 2018 is to make Better Cotton 90% of their consumption while remaining 10% will be organic cotton, allowing only sustainable cottons to the production at the mill.

Bruce Weber will receive the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator at The Fashion Awards 2016 in partnership with Swarovski. Bruce Weber will be honoured at this year’s ceremony on Monday 5th December at the Royal Albert Hall for his incredible creative achievements within the global fashion industry. 

Weber’s broad sweep of interests is anchored by his erotic and risqué but always uniquely stylish portraits; models, musicians, actors, artists and creators of all kind come alive in his vast catalogue of work. The warmth and exuberance of his work, alongside that unique ability to make each image feel intimate, is what makes Bruce Weber one of the foremost fashion creators working today.

Since 01.11 Strellson has showcased its “Unstoppable Heliskiing’ video on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram. The video produced by Mehmet Arici in St. Moritz shows two men, two suits, a helicopter and one Mission: “Make Yourself Unstoppable”. Mountain guides Gian Luck and Marcel Schenk take the viewer on the ultimate heliskiing adventure in their AS350 Écureil on 3546m altitude at the Morteratsch Glacier in St. Moritz; all whilst being decked out in Strellson suits.

Orta has launched its first Vintage Book – the 5374 Vintage Showroom Book. The book takes its name from Orta’s great vintage showroom housed in the Istanbul headquarters and tells the story behind 49 pieces selected from the wide archive. It is dedicated to the 49ers – the milestone of the global denim industry.

The birth of denim is globally synonymous with the Californian Gold Rush. When James W Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma on January 24 1848, he inadvertently started the largest mass migration in American history. The Forty-niners were the first; the pioneers. The origins of denim are so tightly interwoven with these early settlers that this book is dedicated to them, with the selection of 49 inspirational pieces from Orta’s collection. The stories behind these 49 pieces belonging to different time periods from different locations around the world are told in the book with amazing pictures showing the details kept secret in each one.

ISKO has inaugurated a brand-new showroom in Amsterdam, in the vibrant Oud-West neighborhood. Located near Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Pepe Jeans offices and many young creative hubs, the location is a symphony of culture, fashion and art. 

On October 27th ISKO opened the doors of its new showroom to unveil the latest innovations and technologies in the S/S18 collection. Through the cutting edge technology of augmented reality, guests were able to interact with the collection, with new fabrics coming to life in 3D models that flicker on screen. 

In the evening, ISKO celebrated the new showroom with a party for guests and several key market VIPs. ISKO hosted the event with Denim Curator Wouter Munnichs, who has specialized in denim retail over the last 20 years. The event also presented talented denim professionals: Daphne Bleeker, who brought her art live to fabric and Dailybags & Sashikodenim, on hand to share ideas on how to re-use and recycle denim so it can have a second life. 

US Denim brings to industry shows all-new fabrics, giving designers original opportunities. Several such innovations will be featured at the November 2nd-3rd 2016 Denim Première Vision show in Paris.

Bi-directional stretch selvedge denim has adapted a vast array of authentic antique selvedge looms to introduce this new Bi-Stretch selvedge fabric.

Comfort and luxuriousness stems from three new collections Airy Yarn technology enhancements which give extra breathability and summer comfort in a wide range of new denims. Furthermore two other collections: Ultra-Light and Ultra-Comfy – use blends of Modal, Tencel, Viscose and special long staple yarns create a luxurious soft feel.

These creations, like authentic indigos, and bio-degradable synthetic blends – are featured at booth 27, among a range of US Denim fabrics that display the company’s product, technology and sustainability strengths.

Moda Made in Italy, the key Assocalzaturifici event for footwear in Germany, has announced new dates and a new position in the German trade fair calendar. The event will be held October 6th till 8th, 2017 rather than in September.

Due to the postponement of theMICAM (the international footwear trade fair scheduled for September 17th till 20th, 2017) Assocalzaturifici has decided to reposition Moda Made in Italy in the month of October to ensure that the German event preserves its specific role – universally recognised among buyers – as the trade fair at which end-of-season orders are finalised. The intention is to recover the former sales figures, which were halted in the most recent edition due to the early arrival of the new season.

The partnership with WGSN, an international fashion trend consulting firm, continues, allowing Moda Made in Italy to present dealers with footwear fashion trends and provide them with useful information for understanding consumers' needs and finalising their sales strategies in Germany and elsewhere.

WHITE Milano celebrated its debut international road shows with the first event in China in Shanghai on October 15th. Now the next stop is Dubai, where on the 23rd of October, contemporary trends will be unveiled. Dubai has been chosen as one of the 4 stages of the roadshow, due to its growing position as a strategic hub on the fashion and design industry map.

The special event called IT'S TIME TO WHITE made a stop in Seoul, Dubai and Berlin… An installation showcased the best of Italian and Chinese fashion: a selection of designers (already present at the show in Milan as part of WHITEAST) project which is reflected in terms of trends, use of reference materials and buyers, proving that there are no boundaries and that China is a thriving market for this particular fashion segment.

Roberto Cavalli SpA recently met with union representatives to discuss a project to reorganize the company. The project’s aim is to return to operating profitability in 2018 and provide a solid platform for the brand’s rebirth. 

The reorganisation includes the simplification of the Company’s corporate structure and the closure of its Milan corporate and design offices with the transfer of all functions to Osmannoro, Florence. Moreover, under the reorganisation production and logistics will be rationalised as will retail business operations, through a number of store closures and/or relocations. 

The project contemplates the reduction of the Company’s global headcount of 672 by approximately than 200 positions. 

Announcing the world premiere of Kartell à la mode’s spring/summer 2017 collection. The brand continues its partnership with major fashion names, presenting a new line by Paula Cademartori. #EnjoyTheFrontRow, a project by the Rinascente department store in Milan, which unveiled the collection this week, with five days of fashion shows and events featuring a hand-picked selection of fashion brands. 

The concept of the collection, which includes a sandal and a handbag, is based on a fresh and contemporary tropical mood, with strong use of bright colours and vivid shades. The collection was inspired by the exotic exuberance of the Botanical Garden in Rio de Janeiro, a tropical paradise in the very heart of the city, featuring the delicate hues of the orchids and bromeliads and the vibrant shades of the many species of butterflies and toucans bringing to life a fun yet extremely feminine style. 

The injected plastic Parati handbag plays with woven patterns and is offered in four different colour combinations: shades of black, optic white and grey, alongside brighter colours that range from pink to purple and orange. 

Only hours after it was announced that designer Peter Dundas will be leaving Roberto Cavalli after being with the brand for 19 months, chief executive officer Gian Giacomo Ferraris has announced a radical reorganisation of the entire company. With this, Roberto Cavalli will be closing its Milan operations and transferring all functions to its offices in Florence. Production and logistics will be rationalised and the company will close, relocate and sell stores across its retail network. Cavalli, which currently employs 672 people, will eliminate 200 positions. Ferraris expects the company to return to operating profitability in 2018.

The 3rd edition of Global Denim Awards, made possible by e3 Cotton, will take place on October 26th, 2016 in Amsterdam. GDA is the world’s premier platform for the future of denim design, sustainability and craftsmanship. Having almost doubled the number of participants since debuting in 2014, GDA now presents the 11 paired fashion designers and progressive denim mills that will present their co-created capsule collections during Global Denim Awards 2016.

The 11 collections that result from the collaborations between selected mills and designers,will be judged by a jury of international denim experts on the overall look, the innovative nature of the design, and the creative use of denim. The designer of the winning collection will receive a €10,000 award, made possible by e3 Cotton. An additional award goes to the mill with the most innovative fabric. The winning collection will be exhibited at Kingpins Shows in New York City and Hong Kong, before returning to the Netherlands for Amsterdam Denim Days 2017. 

This edition’s presentation will be held at De Hallen Studios. Instead of a traditional runway show, models will present themselves on three spectacularly lit stages. It will be attended by a carefully selected audience of 500 international denim professionals from mills, wash houses, suppliers, brands and retailers.

Denham, the international premium denim brand from the Netherlands, opened its 300sqm flagship store in Amsterdam, located at Hobbemastraat 6-8, near the famous Hoofstraat shopping district, yesterday.

The store is designed to provide a fresh and innovative platform to show the brand's signature denim range as well as collections for men, women and children's wear. Footwear brands such as The Last Conspiracy and Converse and emerging jewelry brands in the likes of Ivy & Liv and Overload studio are available in the store. 
Jason Denham, always on the look-out for new things, has also teamed up with NORR 11 to create a Mammoth Chair & Ottoman, handmade using soft tumbled Indigo dyed camel leather, which is on display at the store. The leather was also featured in the leates Bowhill leather jacket, which is available in stores starting now. 

The interior consists of an eclectic mix of old vs. new – in line with Denham's mantra 'Worship Tradition – Destroy Convention'. The 3-level shop experience features, of course, the brass-handled tailor's scissors, Denham's unique icon, exposed steel beams, vintage U.S. advertising yardsticks repurpose as counter-top marquetry and floors, that are made from recycled ceiling paneling from a French farmhouse. All this is supplemented by European vintage display furniture and original Japanese roof tiles. 

There is also a Denham Coffee bar in-store and all staff is barista trained to ensure maximum consumer experience. A gallery space showcases photography and story-telling around the topic denim. There is even a Japanese inspired garden at the rear of the stores, also open to customers and serving Denham's favorite Sake rice wine on the weekends. The space has been designed to serve as a customer destination and offers an oasis of relaxation for shoppers.
It also features Denham Service Co – an on-hand repair service that washes and services your jeans as well as personalizes it with an embroidery machine, so customers can have their monogram stitched to it. To complete the customer experience, the store has a mirror on the women's side that contains 300-degrees to be able to check the perfect Denham fit from every angle. 

Premium Group, which organises the international fashion trade shows Premium, Seek and Bright as well as the conference #Fashiontech, has after its acquisition of Bright now also acquired Show&Order, making another step towards taking over the Berlin trade show market as well as consolidating its position as a market-leading organiser of trade show platforms.

Founder of Show&Order, Verena malta, remains the show's face and it will also keep its location in the iconic 'Kraftwerk' venue in Berlin's Köpenicker Straße, ideally placed between Premium, Seek and Bright.

Verena Malta explains, that she actively approached the Premium Group in order to use synergies between both platforms and offering retailers a robust and improved trade show platform.  The platform, currently showing womenswear fashion in the higher premium segment, will in the future also show women's footwear. 

Anita Tillmann, Managing Partner Premium Group says: "By bringing together expertise and knowledge, as well as with the help of our international network, we want to continue to strengthen the market and give retailers what is currently lacking in the market – a curated platform that translates global trends into feminine looks. (…) In times when selfie culture and social media are prevalent, it is becoming ever more important to offer to end consumers something new and exclusive to address the demand for individuality."

The Issey Miyake x United Nude project explores the potential future of creating original products based on the ISSEY MIYAKES’ concept “TEN SEN MEN” (point, line and surface). United Nude, with whom the project was started, regards shoes as architecture. Their manufacturing incorporates cutting-edge materials and techniques. The shoes created from this collaborative work put the people who will wear them at the forefront of the design process and are both functional and playful. 

ROCK is based on the concept of “structure”, these shoes are characterized by their dynamic, structured heels looking as if hewn from rock. They are a runway style fusing functionality based on structural dynamics and a colorful playfulness. They are available in six colors: white, black, pink, beige, yellow and green. 

WRAP is based on the concept of “wrapping,” these shoes are designed to envelop the foot with just a single sheet of leather. This basic model has an elastic band that improves the fit making the style simple and easy to wear. They are available in three colors: white, black, and silver, and in both flats and low heels. 

Harvey Nichols exclusively unveils NORTH WIND an installation in partnership with CIFF. Housed in the London store’s concept space, Project 109, NORTH WIND represents CIFF’s vision of the modern Scandinavian male and presents a carefully curated edit of menswear, art, gastronomy, design and lifestyle objects, that offer a glimpse into how the Scandi man lives, works, dresses, what he eats and how he designs his home. Pushing the boundaries and reinventing the traditional trade fair concept, Harvey Nichols and CIFF short circuit the usual trade-to-retail-to consumer model by offering products direct to the customer.Under the direction of Mr. Kristian W. Andersen Director & Creative Director for CIFF. The new concept will be in place for a total of seven weeks, and has three distinct phases that will showcase a unique blend of curation, creative collaborations and an unfailing eye for spotting and nurturing emerging design talent.

Fashion, talent, creativity and consciousness: these were the main guidelines of the special talk “Denim 360° – Jeans and innovation: today’s experience, tomorrow’s key players” which was presented by ISKO and Vogue Talents during the Fashion Week in Milan. 

ISKO was able to contribute its consolidated knowledge about trends and dynamics in this industry, as well as experience in training young generations, also thanks to the outstanding support from Vogue Talents, the international platform for up-and-coming talents created by Vogue Italia. The debate also focused on the limitless potential of the denim sector, both for fashion as a whole and for young talents in the industry, based on an approach involving sustainability as well as – and most importantly – “consciousness”, from an environmental and ethical perspective.

Christie’s Handbags & Accessories team have announced the launch of the department in London. In advance of the first London sale in June 2017, the department will host the first exhibition of Handbags at Christie’s King Street. The exhibition will feature both highlights of the Paris auction and a collection of private sale handbags available for immediate purchase. 

For the bi-annual sale in Paris on 9th November 2016, for the first time at Christie’s in Paris, collectors and connoisseurs from around the globe will have the chance to acquire an Herm egrave;s, Exceptional Shiny Bleu Marine Porosus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 35 with Diamond & 18K White Gold Hardware estimated €100,000 to €150,000. In addition, also by Herm egrave;s, the sale will feature a Himalaya Kelly 25, the most sought-after of the Himalaya collection, estimated at €65,000-80,000. Another first for the season, the sale will feature the finest grouping of Louis Vuitton trunks and handbags to ever be auctioned. All of these highlights will be on view in both London and Paris. 

LVMH will be purchasing the majority stake in German travel and carry-on luggage manufacturer, Rimowa. With this for $716 million, the group will put in charge Alexandre Arnault, son of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, who will become co-chief executive officer of Rimowa alongside Dieter Morszeck, who will keep his 20 percent stake in the company.

LVMH said the deal between the two companies is expected to be complete in January next year.

Outstanding creativity and originality marks the partnership between Philipp Plein, the famous German designer, who in no time at all has scaled the heights of the global fashion world, and Claudio Pironi, the architect whose studio Claudio Pironi & partners is behind the concept for the brand’s flagship stores. In the company of the fashion world’s big players, today marks the opening of the designer’s new showroom, 3000 square metres covering seven floors housing all the Plein lines. 

Set in one of Milan’s most up-market neighbourhoods, the showroom captures the very essence of the brand: explosive, outrageous, rock-inspired and conceived to amaze. The individual brand identities of the Philipp Plein Woman, Man, Junior and accessories lines are reflected to perfection in the customer areas, grouped by merchandise category. 

The pure fashion genius of Gianfranco Ferré and the photographic artistry of Michel Comte identify, respectively, two exhibitions part of the bicentennial celebrations marking the arrival in Parma, of Marie Louise of the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine, Austrian archduchess who ruled as Empress of the French and as the Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla.

“Ferré and Comte DETTAGLI. Two Great Fashion/Art Expressionists Delve Into Details” — a project ideated by Alberto Nodolini and produced by Ankamoki — will grace the halls of the first and second floors of Palazzo del Governatore in Parma from September 30, 2016 to January 15, 2017.

The first floor will host “Gianfranco Ferré and Marie Louise: Unexpected Assonances”, an exhibit curated by Gloria Bianchino and Alberto Nodolini in collaboration with the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation, while the second will exclusively feature Michel Comte’s installations in the “Neoclassic” show curated by Jens Remes in collaboration with Alberto Nodolini e Anna Tavani.

Vibram, the sector leader in high-performance rubber soles, yesterday inaugurated in London its second Academy flagship store inspired by the Vibram Sole Factor concept. This is a project developed by Vibram to give customers the opportunity to personalise and improve the performance of their footwear with the application of a high-performance Vibram sole. 

The Vibram Sole Factor concept provides an original solution to improve footwear performance, and users can find inspiration from the various possible combinations of compound and colour, with something for everyone: there are oversized but extra-light soles, camouflage versions, soles in EcoStep compound for a sustainable alternative and soles with extraordinary grip. Products that offer the perfect combination of functional design, high quality materials and aesthetics to satisfy even the most creative and eccentric of tastes. 

The new Vibram Academy of London store occupies an area of 60 m2 and offers, alongside the services of Vibram Sole Factor, an area featuring the brand-new Vibram FiveFingers models (five-toed socks are also available), FUROSHIKI The wrapping sole, and Vibram Pet Toys. A space with an open-plan workshop where visitors can get a close-up view of the sophisticated processes employed by skilled footwear specialists.

For its annual “Holiday Collector” edition, LACOSTE takes us on an unusual journey, an idea that came about after Felipe Oliveira Baptista, the house’s creative director, met Jean-Paul Goude. The former gave the latter carte blanche to design not only the logo on limited-edition items – polo shirts, bomber jackets, bags and clutches – but also their packagings and ad campaigns for Christmas. 

Jean-Paul Goude, “graphic artist” as he likes to term himself, left his mark on the 80s and 90s through his work with his muse Grace Jones and the various TV spots he did for brands such as Chanel, Perrier and the Galeries Lafayette. Today he meets the famous crocodile. 

The collection shows a dressed-up and sophisticated, two parading saurians, straight out of Jean- Paul Goude’s imaginary world, are embroidered upon the items of a capsule collection comprised of men’s, women’s and children’s polo shirts, as well as a tote bag, a clutch and a limited edition bomber jacket. This collection will be available in all LACOSTE stores worldwide from November 2016 onwards.

Stone Island presents Polypropylene Denim; a new interpretation of a classic. Polypropylene, a material with antibacterial properties, is the lightest available fibre on earth. 

Even very bulky garments made in this material astonish for their specific lightness. These denim cloth weaves a polypropylene yarn into an indigo dyed cotton warp. The result is a denim tela with a drastically reduced weight: it has the look of a 19 ounces material but weighs only 10. 

The jumpsuit, the outerwear pieces, the trousers and backpack of the Stone Island collection have undergone the DARK treatment, a manual sanding and light stonewash as well as an enzyme wash. 

The Polypropylene Indigo knit is made by weaving yarns, an innovative technique from the knitwear industry. For this project a yarn was especially created from indigo dyed polypropylene and cotton yarn with chain construction.

The Indigo Fleece features the WASH treatment.

Four Marketing have completed the purchase of iconic outerwear brands Penfield and Cape Heights from CEO and Creative Director James Barshall. 

Penfield and Cape Heights are distributed worldwide via department stores and premium independents. 

Four Marketing is an international premium fashion agency representing over 30 brands including Stone Island, CP Company, Paul & Shark and Velvet by Graham & Spencer. For each of these brands the company owns the flag ship retail store together with the relevant e-commerce site. Four Marketing also owns the new multi-brand store 18montrose which launched early this year. 

Crocs, the shoe company from Colorado that started in 2002 and developed a twisted boat shoe into a footwear icon, is now the 10th largest non-athletic footwear company.

With a loyal customer following, it is now expanding its European offices but also its line with its SS 2017 collection.

This season Crocs presents different collections to fully cover their customers’ needs.

Isabella consists of styles created for women and girls, all having a more feminine and less bulky character than the conventional Crocs. The sandals feature different prints, and the flips and wedges are ideal for the warmer weather. For men, the CitiLane Roka Collection is popular, especially the styles that look like a boat shoe with a perforated upper.

Swiftwater is specially created for the customer who shops for every member of the family. The shoes are multi-purpose and combine function and style, offering feminine versions for women and cute styles for kids.

Crocs also introduced special models for the most fashionable customer in its Sloane Collection, which is at a slightly higher price point. It consists of multiple sandals such as black sandals with a hammered metal  upper, which can be worn, without a doubt, at every fashion event.

As a whole, this collection has the Miami feel and shows that Crocs has developed into a brand that, apart from its classic model, also has a big variety and can cater to the retailer’s and consumer’s needs.

Milano Unica is repositioning the F/W edition of its international textile-accessories exhibition to July  2017 from September, following requests from the market and the textile industry. This shift makes Milano Unica, the Italian textiles and accessories trade show, one of the first international textile fairs to be held in the world calendar.

Hudson Jeans has announced its new HUDSON Unfiltered Live in NYC experience which is taking place at Coterie NYC tradeshow this September. Hudson is bringing a new exciting approach to how people experience Tradeshows that has never been done before. With the belief that one of the most powerful tools for this is the Arts and the Youth, they will this season at Coterie donate 10% of Sales to the Arts benefiting the following causes:

#BARS Workshop NYC is a workshop on rap for musical theater presented by Hamilton Star, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal. For the Rapper who wants to step into theater, or Actor who wants to incorporate rap into their wheelhouse – this gets you firmly at the center. Develop rap, rhythmic narrative, spoken word and improvisation skills to bring yourself to the forefront of the next evolution in musical Theater. 

Get Lit – Words Ignite is a youth poetry literacy non-profit committed to lowering drop-out rates and creating education reform one poet at a time. Through an innovative curriculum that fuses classic, iconic poetry with students’ original spoken word responses, Get Lit places the greatest poets of our time in dialogue with over 20,000 teens each year who transform their lives and communities through art and social consciousness. 

Performances by musicians and poets as well as artists will take place at their booth during the tradeshow. With this, the brand will make the visitors’ experience at their booth an interactive one with offering of food, drinks etc given.

The trade shows Who’s Next and Premiere Classe have now closed their doors. The objective for this edition was clear: to create an influential and flourishing setting, suitable for the act of buying in a lively and friendly trade show environment. For this new edition the team curated around the theme of the “Mediterranean”, which altogether proved very popular among the visitors and exhibitors.

To put it in figures, there were 38,258 visitors who walked the aisles of the Parc des Expositions at the Porte de Versailles. A decrease of 7% in the number of visitors compared to September 2015 (-8.2% of the French public and -5.4% international visitors). An expected decrease but still remains reassuring for the business of the next edition of the trade shows.

The trade shows proved to have a strong presence from northern European countries such as Sweden (+11%) and Denmark (+16.9%). In contrast, there was a fall in the presence of southern European countries, particularly with Italy (-8.3%) and Spain (-5.7%), Portugal remained unchanged and there was a return from Greece. The trade shows also attracted the American continent (+7.6%) with an increase in the number of visitors from the USA (+13.3%). In a sensitive context, the Middle-East stabilised itself, as well as Asia with China (8.1%), South-Korea (+1.2%) and Japan (-3%).

The last point, a reconnection with business for all participants, during which new French investors were present. This suggests a wealth of confidence for 2017.

In the past edition of Munich Fabric Start, Nastrificio Victor, famous for its high quality nastris, showed considerable innovation in their booth concept. 

Rather than just the normal booth size- with some products, a table and a chair- they made it into an experience. A colorful booth, inspired by a tropical theme displaying parrots and flamingos, invited customers into a feel-good atmosphere. 

Attached to this colorful setting were the most recent nastris, for visitors to touch or take samples from. They also showed that creativity has no limits with different animals being construed with their nastris, making them absolute eye-catchers. 

As a whole- it offered visitors not only a destination to make business, but also an interactive platform to experience the entire brand-world and network whilst at the same time taking a moment to relax ,dipping into the tropical feeling for the Nastrifico Victor world. 

Matteo Marzotto has acquired stake in Dondup and has been named president. Its former president Massimo Berloni will remain with the brand as honorary president. Manuela Mariotti, who co-founded the brand in 1999 with Berloni, will remain creative director. 

Greenshowroom and Ethical Fashion Show are expanding their exhibition space for their winter edition taking place from 17th till 19th of January 2017. With this, their catwalk shows ‘Salonshow’ and ‘Ethical Fashion on Stage’ will be moved to the Energie Forum next door. The remaining space will then be used for more exhibition space.

In designing the 5:31 Jerome collection for men and women, Jerome LaMaar looks to the future through the evolution of the human race, and explores the idea of the cosmic race of multicultural fusion. Street wear, oceans, tan skin, ethereal ideas and evolution of glamour all come together in this collection, AWAY, which featured  which featured sweaters and jackets with Swarovski crystals, in avant garde cuts.

“The look refers to a conceptualized approach to futurism and the high tides that are forecasted to arrive at our shores,” says Lamaar of the collection. The handpainted straw hats symbolize a UFO. The shapes of the models’ fingernails referenced surfboards , and the eyewear was hand crafted in Japan in collaboration with Archibald Optics. On the models’ feet were Birkenstocks, encrusted by hand with seashells and pearls."

This latest visual travelogue features an escape on the Mediterranean sea, where Massimo Rossetti – the Parajumpers’ Creative Director – is braving the waves on his Californian vintage sailing boat. Inspired by “Corto Maltese”, the main character of Hugo Pratt’s comic book, the “The Ballad of the Salt Sea”, Massimo Rossetti reflects on past, present and future and his love of sailing and the immaculate beauty of the sea, comparing himself to Maltese, who is “a gypsy, a sailor that travelled the world and had extraordinary adventures”.

“’Stories' is about boundary-pushing personalities who are inspired and driven by everyday beauty, something we often tend to ignore” explains Rossetti. “We want to give them a voice, to let them tell their very own stories – stories that become the filter through which we define our dreams, goals and possibilities” he adds when referring to the recent video footage of 'Stories by Parajumpers'.

Mustang, the Denim specialist from south Germany, has upgraded its brand architecture and presents this for the first time at Karstadt in Hamburg on more than 30m².

It now features a selection of high-quality materials combined with unique elements bringing about a modern, bright and friendly appearance: white lacquered wood meets warm rolled steel and oiled oak, resembling a marriage of modern zeitgeist and traditional craftsmanship. This concept will be integrated step-by-step into all Mustang showrooms, shop-in-shops, trade-show representation and enterprise retail spaces.

The recently opened Mustang monobrand store in Dubai also was designed according to this concept and so will be the relaunch of Mustang retail spaces at Kaufhof Düsseldorf and Karstadt Frankfurt, which follow later this year.

“It was important for us to find a language of design and form that reflects both our heritage as well as our vision for the future”, explains Dietmar Axt, CEO of the MUSTANG Group. “Even if our current innovative product development is occasionally ahead of its time, we will never forget our roots as the first European jeans brand.”

Tommy Hilfiger has announced #TOMMYNOW, its first ever in-season fashion show, taking place on Friday, September 9, 2016 on “Tommy Pier” at South Street Seaport in New York City. The Fall 2016 designs, including the TommyXGigi collection designed in collaboration with Gigi Hadid, will be available to purchase globally through e-commerce, retail, wholesale and social commerce channels the moment they hit the runway.

The #TOMMYNOW runway show will be open to the public, reflecting Hilfiger’s longstanding vision to democratize fashion and engage consumers in a fun, unique experience both onsite and online. The shoppable live stream will allow those at the show and those watching remotely to immediately shop every look on tommy.com. The runway collection will be immediately shoppable at the show using digital touchscreens, and remotely through live stream and social commerce channels, including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Pinterest.

Amsterdam Denim Days will be debuting in 2017, a New York edition of its denim festival. The event is set to combine the artistic and cultural organisations of both cities.

&ldquo Yes, the big word is out! Next year New York City will turn indigo blue as we run a serious New York Denim Days edition in 2017! Wanna hear more about about this Blue Festival come and visit our talk 'Towards a Brighter Blue' at the Dutch Consulate in NY this Friday starting at 9.00 a.m. See you in NY!"

E-tailer Zalando hosted the first “new” Bread & Butter in Berlin after BBB’s collapse as Europe’s dominant leisure-wear trade event. Around 25 leading sportswear brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s, G-Star, Converse and others took brave initiative and substantial investment by creating impressive futuristic booths, offered visitors, who were end-consumers en large, possibilities to customize product and interact with the brands. Zalando did its best to entertain visitors by all means. However, if such big (and impressive) investments from brands will be seen in person by only 20,000 consumers (those were the officially reported visitor numbers), not industry professionals, the question arises, whether this justifies the costs. Of course, the goal was to reach consumers via all channels of the internet, but this will happen as well during B2B fairs.

Let’s for one moment take a step back and do the maths: compare the combined budgets present at trade-shows of global buyers from department-, multi-brand or bigger online store (like Zalando itself) and compare it to the effect of inviting 20,000 end consumers including their possible followers to an event. Where are guaranteed sales? What advances a brand globally?

It is clear, that there are marketing advantages. However, even using Gigi Hadid is short-term and relevant only for a certain market, and only substantially for the one brand using her, despite Tommy Hilfiger having done so very well.

Further, despite current efforts of many brands to desperately sell to consumers directly and cut middle-man to control all sales – do not forget, that such thinking got quite some big brands into existential trouble, such as the Sixty Group. Too many own stores, long leases for too much money, no more flexibility, not interesting enough by themselves to truly attract enough end consumers into the stores-  to make it short: brands should concentrate on creating desirable and sellable fashion; Retailers should concentrate to market this fashion best and create environments of interest and pleasure, inspiring consumers to buy such products.

That is still the best working formula today, if done properly and adapted to today’s times with online-stores. Most major brick and mortar stores operate also an online store today and generate more online sales than offline sales in their traditional stores. But they need both to be successful and there is no way around these influential retailers in order to position a brand globally and long-term.

I do not have to remind this industry that the multiplier effect of the big retailers marketing a brand and a product correctly is substantial. Not only brands can use the power of digital influencers.
Don't make the mistake, some have done before, to put all eggs into one basked, but use this power retailers have and are curently inventing models to use this even more efficiently. 

A further feature of this industry is to give smaller brands a chance, to advance those that bring varieties to the big ones and really make fashion a creative industry. Those do not have even a close shot at either building huge booths, nor paying digital influencers or even reaching a critical mass of end consumers. They still need retailers.

Don’t get me wrong: Zalando invested heavily, did a great job, but aimed clearly and solely to reach consumers. This Bread & Butter had nothing to do with the old one, a typical B2B fair, connecting and inspiring the industry.

How will Bread & Butter evolve? Zalando already said they will continue it. Brands do not have results yet to comment how happy they will be to return again.

In my mind, unless the concept will change into a B2B/ B2C event, Karl Heinz Müller’s correctly assumed but wrongly executed route, this will not be the perfect answer to today’s question how to market a brand successfully to consumers on a global level whilst generating the necessary sales. Don't forget – marketing and sales is not only B2C or B2B – it is all about the correctly balanced mix. 

Klaus Vogel

Publisher & Editor
WeAr Global Magazine

TISSUE' is not just a new brand, it is also a different approach to style: a unisex, precise, unconventional language. For S/S 2017, the outfits reveal a sober, timeless, conscious elegance. A strong reference is made to the logic of uniforms, but also an intense desire to get away from the past and explore new idioms. Sharp silhouettes and wide volumes are dismantled and influenced from a number of different points of view. The choice of fabrics marks out the creative project from its roots, but with a renewed consciousness of style.

The collection allows the masculine and feminine to share aesthetical principles and values, whilst still keeping their absolute identity.

Inspired by 18th century court dress worn by Louis XV’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, the ISKO Commission was made for the Love Thy Denim exhibition using fabrics supplied by the exhibition’s sponsor ISKO, global leader in denim manufacturing and textile innovation. The concept behind the ISKO Commission is to show the versatility and beauty of denim.

The ISKO Commission will be just one of many pieces in this fashion exhibition exploring the origins and versatility of denim from its workwear heritage in the Wild West through to its adoption into mainstream fashion and becoming the fabric of our everyday lives. Alongside the Commission, will be a jacket and trousers from Vivienne Westwood’s 1991 Cut, Slash and Pull collection, a Jean Paul Gaultier men’s ensemble on loan from the Fashion Museum Bath and a piece from Maison Margiela’s S/S 09 Artisanal Collection. Also on display will be 19th century denim artefacts dug up from US silver mines, iconic denim advertising images, denim accessories including sunglasses and denim art.

Love Thy Denim will be open in The Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre until Sunday 23 October. It then opens at Gallery @ Gosport Discovery Centre on Saturday 29 October. Admission to both venues is free of charge, donations are welcome. 

CORDURA brand has announced its collaboration with TENCEL from Lenzing, showcasing the softer side of durability with the next generation of soft-comfort performance fabrics. First in the collaboration line-up are new softened strength denims featured in the latest CORDURA Denim ‘Infinity’ Collection, with more innovations across the CORDURA fabric family forthcoming.  The Denim ‘Infinity’ Collection, part of the "Authentic Alchemie” Collection portfolio, presents latest generation performance denims crafted to integrate the “best of both worlds” – softness with strength, fashion with function and durability with definition. 

 “Our latest fabrics incorporating Tencel fibre go beyond traditional denims, migrating to lightweight and comfortable denims that can travel effortlessly with you throughout the day – wherever you may go,” said Cindy McNaull, global CORDURA brand and marketing director. 

According to Tricia Carey, director of global business development at Lenzing Fibers Inc., “As denim takes on modern evolution, we’re able to use our denim fabrics in ways that address our lifestyle. CORDURA brand brings the long-lasting durability and strength, and we help enhance it with comfort and softness.”

Products from the collaboration can be seen at MUNICH FABRIC START on the LENZING TENCEL stand (H3 | C15), as well at the Artistic Milliners stand (H7 | B24) within BLUEZONE, an independent concept for the denim and sportswear community.

Fashion Forward Dubai, a biannual fashion showcase has named the designers who will be showcasing their Spring collections at the event. The event is supported by the Dubai Design and Fashion Council and will be held from October 20th till 23rd 2016, at the Dubai Design District.

"We are pleased to extend our support to Fashion Forward. Now in its eighth season, Fashion Forward has established itself as an important platform to celebrate creativity and fashion, and to showcase the work of our designers from the region. The event continues to gain momentum each season and we look forward to witnessing the breadth of talent on display during this edition." — Nez Gebreel, CEO, Dubai Design and Fashion Council

Catwalk and Presentations designers:
Amato by Furne One, Amira Haroon, Arwa Al Banawi, Bedouin, Bouguessa, Amal Al Raisi, Dima Ayad, Ezra, Michael Cinco, Mira Hayek, Mrs. Keepa, Orkalia, Said Mahrouf, Salta, Sotra, Starch Foundation, Salim Azzam, Timi Hayek, Tair, Zaid Farouki, Varoin Marwah, Zareena, Zena Presley, Alessa Jewelry, Bleuis Bags, Exocet, Rula Galayini, Madiso, Myriam Sos, Nathalie Trad, Ns by Noof, Vanina, and Vinita Michael.

Jason Wu has signed on as an ambassador for the Woolmark Company. His role will be to implement ideas on how Australian merino wool can be incorporated into his own designs. Wu’s Fall collection already features several pieces of certified Woolmark, but for Spring, Wu will be implementing ‘cool wool’ into his collection.

“Merino wool has always played an integral role in my designs,” explained Wu. “Yet partnering with The Woolmark Company really allowed me to further explore and develop wool for summer. What my Spring/Summer 17 collection does is push the boundaries with conventional seasons, creating year-round luxurious pieces, which I could achieve by working with wool.”

Tommy Hilfiger has announced that together with supermodel Gigi Hadid, they will launch their collaborative TommyXGigi collection at Bread & Butter by Zalando in Berlin on the 2nd of September 2016. 

The collection is currently seen on Tommy.com and available from September 1 there and on Zalando.com.