When Guccio Gucci introduced the Gucci brand in Florence in 1921, he certainly didn't think that one day his business would need to speak to a mass movement fighting for Black Americans' civil rights. The company was born out of the traditional leather manufacturing in Tuscany; it only spread outside of Italy some 30 years later and eventually delved into ready-to-wear over 20 years after. Just 15 days after the company opened its first store in New York City in 1953, Gucci himself passed away. The fact that his company is expected to adequately address a historic civil rights movement today, speaks not only to Black Lives Matter's global power but also to the evolving nature of consumer relationships with the brands they want to buy from. 

Various luxury fashion brands have always had to sell far more than well-made products; they trade in nebulous ideas of value and meaning just as much as in tangible materials such as leather, silk and chiffon. What has changed in the approximately 100 years that Gucci and its contemporaries, such as Prada (founded in Milan in 1913), Chanel (founded in Paris in 1909) and Burberry (founded in London in 1864, a few generations older), have existed are the values that their products are expected to connote, and the audiences they are focusing on. 

The recent month's renewed international attention to the Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted how far those companies have come to meet a global audience that needs their purchases to reflect inclusive values. It's a sharp turn from the exclusivity paradigm that the fashion world has so often pulled on with an iron fist — the one that says, not slim or white or rich enough to wear those clothing? Very bad indeed! 

"The whole point of the luxury brands is that you create attraction, and that's a sense of identity. That significance must include the internal as well as external image of the brand. Luxury brands both need to convey that their products are made with people of color in mind to be acceptable to the conscious consumer, and that their businesses have internal diversity policies to appeal to the increasingly critical millennial workforce. 

A failure to predict how a conscious customer may view those products has already had negative effects on those brands. Prada's "Pradamalia" figurines attracted fast condemnation in December 2018 for their resemblance to blackface; February 2019 saw widespread outrage against Gucci and Burberry for sweaters evoking blackface and a noose, respectively. These products were not even the most offensive ones released in recent memory by any fashion company (they weren't even the most racist thing produced that season by a fashion brand). Yet certain goods have, so to speak, been a flashpoint in pushing luxury brands to face greater scrutiny from the public. 

It follows then that internally recruiting practices are now attracting the same attention as an ad campaign. First came the news of Miuccia Prada and her staff undergoing sensitivity training in February 2019, followed by the announcement that the company would launch a Diversity and Inclusion Committee, headed by Ava DuVernay. Burberry announced a slew of internal diversity initiatives later that month. Gucci launched its multi-tiered initiative Gucci Changemakers to combat racial inequity in March, and later hired Renée Tirado as the global head of diversity, equity and inclusion. In July, Chanel appointed Fiona Pageter as its first ever global head of diversity and inclusion. 

The thing about diversity officers is that they have kind of a tough task, because they need help within the company to do their job. So it's all very well and good to employ a diversity officer to help you diverse your staff, and then your ethics or marketing strategies or whatever you've made a boo of. But getting that really having an effective hold in your business is another story. 

When announcing the hiring of their diversity and inclusion officers, these luxury brands couldn't have realized that only a year later corporations from around the world would be asked to make their efforts to fight racism in public. Making those diversity promises means setting yourself up to be publicly accountable for changing customer standards — but these companies often face a tightrope of difficulties in authentically transmitting company values to a large, heterogeneous market at a moment when millions of eyes are well-tuned to any misstep. 

Companies realize that being inclusive, embracing diversity, empowering everyone to feel a part of their business is actually good, strategic conduct. So that was inside and now I guess the same sort of mindset has shifted to the outer part. It doesn't just have to make sure our immediate target client is happy. Yet we ought to look at ourselves as the world's strong corporate citizens. And where the world is headed?

One is to reflect what cultural norms and values are today. Then the other is to focus, or refract, if you prefer. And to ask, Imagine this other world and do you not want to live in this world? The obligation held by these organizations is to change.This means ensuring that the boardroom consists of black and brown faces, queer faces, trans faces, ensuring that all the individuals depicted in ads are more reflective of the population. Make sure the people who work on projects come from different cultures, different backgrounds of the society, so there are different faces at every level of production and every level of the company.

In 2018, filmmaker Jade Jackman scouted Dolan-Sandrino for appearance in a short film made for Gucci, titled Future is Fluid. She joined the Gucci's Chime for Change advisory board the following year, which has worked for gender equality since 2013. "My dream is to have more Queer Black and Brown kids every time I enter the room," she said. Since then, Dolan-Sandrino has appeared on panels organized by Gucci and contributed to the company's Chime Zine, edited by the community activist Adam Eli; in her writing for the zine and other experiences with others affiliated with the company, Dolan-Sandrino states that she was first and foremost known as an artist for her work. 

"I have to really write about what it's like to be trans," she said. "Those things are most often phrased as, Why do you matter? Why are You Existing? And in the end, the Gucci thing is that it's never been a problem. The problem has never been why I need to show you just how important it is that I have rights.

But the fashion industry is still a small, insular market, even if there has been a significant diversification in the industry. "This little island that at one point was so elitist that none really thought about it," Bethann Hardison, the legendary model and activist, said. "This island has not been getting any larger. Yet the population has risen significantly," she said. Hardison has been championing greater fashion diversity for decades, dating back to her establishment of the Black Girls Alliance with Iman in 1988. She joined the Board of Advisors of Gucci Changemakers in 2019. She cites the brand's education commitment through diverse communities as vital work.

Last month, as part of the first Changemakers Scholars class, it announced the 20 students who will earn $1.5 million in support over the next four years. "No money came in. Gucci already had its money cut out. They have never taken away the initiative and they could have. It really surprised me," she said of their ability to pull off the plan in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

In October 2019, the company also introduced a design fellowship program to build job opportunities for students from underrepresented groups, which includes collaborations with schools such as the University of Lagos and Bunka Fashion School in Tokyo. 

Burberry has begun plans to support 50 students over the next five years. Both Burberry and Gucci have since introduced implicit bias training through corporate departments, warehouses, and retail stores over the past year. 

Prada sponsored a conference on corporate social responsibility, entitled "Shaping a Sustainable Future Culture." Gucci created a US$ 5 million fund to help 16 community-based organizations including Houston's Writers in the Schools and the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, and Chanel pledged US$ 1 million to support grassroots, racial justice groups. It is not often possible to observe such internal machinations from the outside, but this June, when a new wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations erupted across the United States, fashion companies were once again called upon to make their position from racism public. 

Gucci posted a poem from Cleo Wade on its Instagram, followed by another post announcing NAACP, Know Your Rights Center, and Campaign Zero donations and that it will close U.S. operations as a day of mourning on June 4th. In an Instagram message, Prada also committed to advocating for social justice, while Burberry pledged a donation to Black Lives Matter, and Chanel shared three black squares in a row.

"One of the things I'm hoping this comes with is that fashion will be a lot more vocal and will want to make mistakes in order to know, rather than walking around on eggshells. This is what a lot of companies end up doing, they don't want to offend anybody, but they're doing nothing at all by not offending anybody." In true cultural revolutions to take place there needs to be a strong moral foundation, a concept that philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah discusses in his book The Honor Code: Why Moral Revolutions Happen. 

When major cultural transformations occur in society, it's important to have real morals through that. It's not because someone tells us to do it, or not because it's good for us, that the people have to feel like it. This is what we have to do because we know this is the right thing to do. That's not just black and white, that's a human moment.

With Black Lives Matter, what you could see was the knee of this guy on a man's face. It influenced a lot of people to see it. And black and white has nothing to do with it, this is a real moment. You can't see the impact of those scholarship programs, unconscious bias training or recruiting a diversity and inclusion officer in a year. 

After all, undoing century-old traditions takes more than mere months. But the public pressure has risen to such a degree that brands that do no more than surface-level ads will probably not last another 100 years.

More brands such as Rick Owens or Alexander Wang are getting involved in this movement every month.

Luxury fashion needs to reflect a world where Black lives matter.

WHAT DOES FASHION BEING ASPIRATIONAL IN 2020 MEAN?

Brooklyn 's largest cemetery is kicking off an artist-in-residence program — the first of its kind at a burial ground in New York City. The Green-Wood Cemetery is seeking mid-career artists for the nine-month residency initiative scheduled for January through September 2021. The program is open to any genre of artists within the visual and performing arts industries. 

The selected artists will have their own studio space located in the historic Fort Hamilton Gatehouse of the cemetery, with access to the vast archives of Green-Wood, which date back to its foundation in 1838. The archival materials span administrative documents alongside an assemblage of items relevant to those buried in the cemetery from artists of the 19th and 20th centuries such as books, sculptures, and clothes. The artists, who will work with staff to help create their final work will also receive a $7,500 USD stipend. The artist must also host one work-related lecture and an open studio. 

A total of 400 artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Leonard Bernstein and Louis Comfort Tiffany are buried at the cemetery. Applications are available until September the 2nd. Those interested may apply for it here.

Green-Wood Cemetery located in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City, covers 478-acre (193 ha) of land. The cemetery lies only several blocks southwest of Prospect Park, located between Park Slope, South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park. It is generally bounded by McDonald Avenue to the east, 20th Street to the northeast, Fifth Avenue to the northwest, 36th and 37th Avenues to the southwest, and Fort Hamilton Parkway to the south. 

Green-Wood Cemetery was established as a rural cemetery in 1838, during a period of rapid urbanization when New York City churchyards have been becoming overcrowded. Titled as "Brooklyn's first public park by default even before Prospect Park was established," Green-Wood Cemetery has been so popular that it inspired a competition to create Central Park in Manhattan as well as nearby Prospect Park.

While studying at high-school, Alexander Wang would spend most of his time at Green-Wood Cemetery designing his future collections.

The final resting place for a number of art legends including Jean-Michel Basquiat.

NEW ARTIST RESIDENCY WILL BE LAUNCHED AT GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY IN NY

Although other fashion houses compete for this first 100 percent digital Haute Couture Fashion Week in audacity and innovation, Dior put the blame on Matteo Garrone. And the result of this star-studded collaboration is none other than a film which combines the Italian director's imagination with the French fashion house's exclusive know-how.

Maria Grazia Chiuri has placed an accent on the work of women who inspire her, since her beginnings at the head of Dior, artists and muses, this time paying homage to Lee Miller, Dora Maar and Jacqueline Lamba's works. Throughout this unusual climate that has forced the fashion industry to reinvent itself, one of Italy's most successful directors, Matteo Garrone, has been called up by the French fashion house. Together they created a film called Le Mythe Dior, a beautiful project to rediscover the Atelier through the imagination of the Italian director and the artistic director - a truly vibrant world of creativeness. 

The Dior F/W 2020-2021 haute couture collection is available in a miniature scale, which translates the female body via the silhouette of a fashion doll to bring the exercise of tailoring to its height. In reality, in the early days of haute couture this was how customers were presented with the dresses and accessories imagined by the designers. It is therefore a return to the nature of couture, brought to life by mythological creatures that add to these creations an extra touch of magic to the rhythm of the composer and conductor Paolo Buonvino's music. 

Shades reminiscent of flamboyant nature and the works of artists like Leonora Carrington and Dorothea Tanning adorn Dior's creations in the film. 

This veritable Odyssey of imagination takes place in the Ateliers of the fashion house at 30 Avenue Montaigne, depicted by a mystical trunk containing a realm of fairy-tales, or mythological beings, nymphs, mermaids, statues and even a satyr rub shoulders with Dior's new pieces of Fall/Winter 2020-2021 haute couture. 

The Dior wardrobe's centerpiece, the suit, is made of architectural fabrics reminiscent of the men's closet, the coat plays with pleats, and the ruffles evoke ancient aesthetics. 

And because through this film Dior undertakes a return to the fundamentals of haute couture, from choosing clothes to taking measurements, the conventional but no less glamorous wedding dress brings this masterpiece to a stunning end, the first in a new digital age.

When are we going to see Alexander Wang's haute-couture-streetwear collection? The time has come!

Indeed, in the early days of haute couture, this was how the dresses and outfits imagined by the designers were presented to customers.

LE MYTHE DIOR: A FILM DIRECTED BY MATTEO GARRONE

Fabric, pattern making, sampling, trimming, sewing, handwork, packaging, duties, shipping: This is an incomplete list of what you pay for when buying a new t-shirt. And that's before a wholesale markup (i.e., the profit a label makes on the item) or the additional retail markup if you purchase it in a shop. 

Read that again and the concept of a $5 "worth" t-shirt would seem ridiculous, if not criminal. How can it be that all these resources, transportation, and people are just dollars or cents? Many of those costs are fixed; the price of cotton, even at scale, is not negotiable. In comparison, the person who made the t-shirt is much easier to exploit. 

Maria Stanley, a Minneapolis-based independent, sustainably-minded designer, remembers her own experience working for a fast fashion company in Los Angeles ten years ago: "Retailers would tell us, 'We want 1,000 of this item for $21 a piece,' and the factory would quote us $40," she says. "However they would finally come down to $21. How do you get there? Who loses out? The fabric is a steady expense, so it's the staff losing out." 

What is the "right" price for fashion? The straight answer is possibly that it's higher than you thought. Considering where the number on a price tag comes from demands tallying every manufacturing process – fabric, labor, shipping, packaging – and adding a profit margin. Let's assume that a designer uses quality materials and pays a higher than average wage to his garment workers; the materials and labor will probably be the highest cost. The industry norm for a profit margin is between a 2.2 and 2.5x markup, meaning a dress that costs a designer $100 to manufacture it would be sold to a store for $220. The retailer will mark it up by 2.2x again to make their own profit, taking the final price to $484. (You can see how the math is difficult for that $5 tee.) The average shopper knows none of this; they may believe that the price is an arbitrary number that the brand came up with to maximize its income. They still don't know where the profits go; maybe they cover overhead expenses, such as office space, staff, legal fees and taxes, or they'll be reinvested in future collections. 

And why would they have known? Historically fashion wasn't straightforward, particularly when it comes to money and income. Rampant discounting has brought us to doubt the price of anything, whether it's a dress of $2,000 or a blouse of $200. We know it's going to be marked down if we wait a couple of weeks, or months. And if designers can cut those prices so quickly, then the original number was obviously too high to begin with, right? You would be a fool not to hold out for the sale. As a result, some retailers are actually raising their margins to compensate for the inevitable loss of 30% or 40%, sometimes pushing it up to 4x — meaning a coat it paid $1,000 for (and may have cost closer to $500 to produce) will start at $4,000 in the store. 

This is a tangled web of problems and it's particularly harmful for small businesses like Stanley's. Forget about trying to create ethical, sustainable clothing; how do you persuade people to pay for it more? Her prices are in the range of $350 but her clients still wonder why she can not go down. While she was completely avoiding sales, she felt pressured to "give in" to discounts because that is the only way we know how to shop. Another designer could cut her costs by using cheaper fabrics or cheaper labor, but Stanley is committed to her family-run factory in Delhi, India, and will not compromise on high-quality, organic fabrics. The only way she could lower her prices would be to take less income or move her company to a model that is direct-to-consumer, removing the retail markup. (A lot of her peers actually think the same thing, given the state of department stores.) 

While the best thing she can do is educate her customers exactly why it costs $550 for her new hand-embroidered organic cotton dress. Stanley freely shared the cost breakdown here: $24 covers organic cotton and coloring; intricate handwork came in at $48, because it took a full day for the embroiderer to produce the garment; manufacturing work, including stitching, pattern making, sampling, finishing, and packaging, was $48; trims, including labels, hang tags, and dust bags, were $5; shipping was $8; and duties were $24. Her total cost came to $157, and she took just a 1.59x margin, bumping the wholesale price down to $250, to keep the final price lower. (This means Stanley would gain $93 in profit if the company purchased the clothes.) With a typical retail margin of 2.2x, the actual price tag on the store's rack is $550. 

If you're of the philosophy of "buy less, buy better," it's not hard to justify the higher price. Many of Stanley's customers are investment-minded and care about their commitment to ethical, sustainable, small-batch production, but some still need to be reassured that purchasing one of her garments is "worth" buying instead of five cheaper versions. Lucette Romy, the founder of The Wylde, an organic label produced in Bali, has had similar conversations with her clients about the higher prices of organic cotton, botanical dyes and dignified labor. "However, changing their minds is often not enough," she says. So she found a different way to get the point across: The cost-per-wear breakdown of every item on her site comes with it. Her new organic cotton dress goes for 260 Australian dollars, or 178 US dollars, but if you wear it 10 times, it's 18 US dollars per wear. By the time you wear it 50 days, it's less than 4 USD. If, as you should, you intend to keep this number for years, the number would come down to pennies. Clearly that is a bargain. 

Optimists have indicated that the pandemic has begun to reorient our priorities around family and health, rather than material products. The Primark shoppers who camped out overnight before reopening tell a different story — but those shifts in value take time and the fashion industry still has a hope to lead the way and change course. It would be so wonderful to think that people are calming down and that the industry is uniting to set new boundaries. To be more sustainable, to care about others, about our world, morality and dignity - all these aspects seem so real and fundamental. Designers such as Rick Owens, Victoria Beckham or Alexander Wang have been moving in this direction since the beginning of their remarkable careers.

On the luxury side, designers and retailers are actively discussing how to become open and honest about price and quality.

After a flurry of businesses removed ads from the Facebook network, Mark Zuckerberg just became $7.2 billion poorer. 

Social media company shares fell 8.3 percent on Friday, the most in three months after Unilever, one of the world's largest advertisers, joined other brands in boycotting social network advertisements. 

Unilever, which owns brands including Hellmann's mayonnaise and Axe shower gel and has an $8 billion annual advertising budget, said they won't advertise their products on Twitter, Facebook, and Facebook-owned Instagram for the rest of the year because of the hate speech and divisive politics that users frequently share. 

"Continuing ads on these channels does not add value to consumers and society at this time," Unilever said in an emailed statement. "We will continue to track and if necessary re-examine our current position." 

The fall in the Facebook share price eliminated $56bn from the market value of the company and pushed Mr. Zuckerberg's net worth down to $82.3bn, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index says. That also pushed the Facebook chief executive down one notch to fourth place, overtaken by Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault, who together with Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates were elevated to one of three richest people in the world. 

Companies from Verizon Communications to Hershey have stopped social media ads after critics claimed that Facebook has failed to sufficiently police hate speech and disinformation on the platform. Coca-Cola said they would spend at least 30 days pausing all paid advertising on all social media platforms. 

Mr. Zuckerberg replied to the increasing criticism of misinformation on the site on Friday, announcing that the company would mark all poll-related posts with a link that invites users to look at its new voter information portal. Facebook also expanded its definition of banned hate speech by adding a clause stating that no advertisements will be permitted if they label another demographic as dangerous. 

"There are no exceptions in any of the policies that I am announcing here today for politicians," Mr. Zuckerberg said. 

Twitter shares also tumbled to $29.05 on Friday following the announcement by Unilever, dropping 7.4%. 

A civil rights coalition and other advocacy organizations, including Color of Change and the Anti-Defamation League, have called on advertisers to stop advertising for the month of July on Facebook-owned sites to protest the company's policies. On Friday, Honda's US unit said it would join the July boycott and halt advertising on both Facebook and Instagram. Unilever's pledge extends through 2020, adding to the mix Twitter social network, which has always struggled to cope with derogatory tweets but has lately taken a more aggressive approach than Facebook in several cases linked to US President Donald Trump. 

So far, the organizers of the boycott have said more than 100 corporations are involved. 

"We spend billions of dollars per year to keep our community secure and collaborate constantly with external experts to review and update our policies," a Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement adding that the company has removed 250 White nationalist groups from its platforms. "We know we have more work to do and we're going to continue collaborating with civil rights organizations, GARM and other experts to build even more tools, technologies and policies to continue this war." 

Twitter, which wasn't the object of the formal ad boycott but endured similar critiques as Facebook over the years, says Unilever reached out to warn the company of its decision before making the announcement publicly. 

"Our goal is to support the public discourse and ensure that Twitter is a place where people can communicate with each other, search and receive accurate and reliable information, and express themselves openly and safely," said Sarah Personette, Twitter 's global customer solutions vice president, in a statement. "We support the decisions taken by our partners and will continue to work and collaborate closely with them throughout this time."

Alexander Wang house has also joined the above-mentioned companies to boycott Facebook.

Following a major advertising boycott onFacebook, Mark Zuckerberg has now lost over $7.2 billion USD in net worth, according to reports.

MARK ZUCKERBERG'S WEALTH PLUNGES BY $7BN AS COMPANIES BOYCOTT FACEBOOK ADS

Companies ranging from Nike to Chuck E. Cheese parent have suffered tremendous losses in the wake of coronavirus, and Swedish fast fashion behemoth The H&M Group is no different. Following a loss of 3.06 billion Swedish Kroner (about $328 million USD), the massive chain has announced plans for restructuring that will see stores shuttered around the globe. 

Although the H&M Group quoted "a faster [financial] recovery rate in newly reopened stores," the company has chosen to close 170 stores that it owns worldwide, although it did not specify whether it would fold eponymous H&M stores or those that house its other brands, including Cos, Weekday and & Other Stories. Like the Inditex-owned Zara, which is shutting down more than 1,200 stores in favor of digital expansion, H&M's executives have signaled a shift to online shopping, booming in the face of coronavirus. 

"We can see clearly that the pandemic has caused changes in customers' behavior that will speed up our industry's digitalization," Helena Helmersson, CEO of H&M Group, told analysts in a conference call this week. "We've increased our online customer base and many of our in-store clients are now multichannel customers," noting that more male shoppers have started shopping online. "It's exciting to see that sales continue to pick up even though market conditions are still tough, there's no doubt that, so far, our sales recovery has been better than expected." 

H&M announced that its online revenue rose 32 percent in local currencies in the second quarter of 2020. Such encouraging financials have also driven the Swedish giant to accelerate the integration of its online platforms, encouraged by speedy supply chain initiatives that allowed the company to ensure a constant flow of timely product in and out of its stores.

Looks like Alexander Wang and Rick Owens houses are still keeping all their stores. We wish them luck, everyone's having a hard time at this point!

H&M's disappointing losses in first half of 2020 invite global store closures.

H&M GROUP: THE SWEDISH FAST FASHION CHAIN WILL SHUTTER NEARLY 200 LOCATIONS

Celebrate the coming summer with the Versace Summer 2020 capsule collection that boasts a bright, colorful print. 

Blue skies and bold patterns, the Versace collection includes printed designs that evoke sun-drenched holidays. The Mediterranean spirit features vibrant prints and enlivening combinations of colors defined by the capsule collection.

Home or away, the unisex Versace Home bathrobes trimmed with the iconic Barocco motif complement the new Summer collection.

Versace was often known as the "Rock'n'Roll designer," since they were producing attires for music icons, including George Michael, Elton John and Michael Jackson, amongst other the most famous musicians. In 1992, Versace designed the Elton John's stage outfits as well as his album cover costumes. Versace has designed dresses for the Princess of Wales and Monaco's Princess Caroline. In their advertising campaigns, Versace corporation is famous for using the same models as on their runways. 

In 1997, after the murder of the founder Gianni Versace, his sister Donatella Versace, executive vice-president, took over as artistic director, and his older brother Santo Versace became a CEO. Donatella's daughter, Allegra Versace, was left with a 50 percent interest in the business that she took ownership of on her 18th birthday. 

In 2000, Jennifer Lopez's "green Versace dress" at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards gained a lot of media attention, being voted "fifth most iconic dress of all time" in 2008, with Hurley's 1994 dress being first voted in a Daily Telegraph poll.

Michael Kors announced on 24th September 2018 that they were offering a deal to purchase Versace for 2 billion euros. The same month, Versace announced that one hundred percent of all family shares in Blackstone and Versace had been sold to the Michael Kors Limited Group.

Insiders say Victoria Beckham, Mugler, and Alexander Wang this season's collections are going to be striking. Stay tuned, we will be keeping you updated!

The latest fashion looks from Italian design house Versace for their Summer 2020 ready-to-wear collection.

Today Dior's Women's Artistic Director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, and the house's CEO, Pietro Beccari, revealed through a live conference that Dior's Cruise 2021 collection would be seen digitally on live models without an audience on July 22nd in Lecce, Italy. The move comes in response to the annulment of the originally planned show due to the Covid-19 pandemic on May 27th. 

Through explaining the reasons for the rescheduling and live models at Piazza del Duomo in Lecce in the Puglia area of Italy, Beccari opened the meeting. 

Luxury is emotions for Maria Grazia and I, and when it comes to fashion there's nothing that holds the emotion of a true fashion show, a live performance where art is performed without a safety net. 

Beccari went on to express how supporting fashion on a local and global scale is important for Dior's house. The Cruise collection focuses on the artisans who produce the clothes and accessories, as well as on the "gang" that showcases the collection, i.e. the production team, from models to photographers. "We think this opportunity will be auspicious for the future, a good incentive to continue with a certain optimism," Beccari explained. Beccari shared, moreover, that the collection allowed himself and Chiuri to pay homage to their Italian roots. "For both of us, support for our country is important, (as is) support for the Puglia region, which has been so badly hit by the crisis and on the brink of bankruptcy, but with a strong will to fight." 

Chiuri, whose father had come from Italy's Puglia region, went on to share: 

What was very important to me - to convey how much craftsmanship value there is in Puglia, and how important it is to invest in this especially for younger generations. We are a company that works with people all over the world, so many people depend on our work. It's a collective project involving many people and I found a great sense of sisterhood and brotherhood among those people who decided to work with me anyway despite all the difficulties and this general sense of unknowing and uncomprehending. 

– Maria Grazia Chiuri, Women's Creative Director at Dior 

While other design houses choose virtual experiences to take them off the calendar, Dior has adapted its standard resort show to capture the delicate balance between old and new. The town of Lecce serves as the ideal model for the series, as it shows the animation of modern life inside frameworks of the old world. The series is also inspired by tarot cards, which were used in the mid-15th century, as enjoyed by the founder Christian Dior himself, yet another way of looking back on history when moving forward. 

While speaking to the future shows of Dior, Beccari indicated that July's couture 2020 show will not be live, as for the plans of the house for the September Spring 2021 RTW series, "we hope to have some audience, if not a full room," Beccari said.

Rick Owens, Alexander Wang, Mugler, Courreges show are going to take place later this year. Stay tuned! We are going to keep you updated!

Dior Will Go Ahead With a Cruise Show in Puglia — Sans Audience.

DIOR’S CRUISE LIVE SHOW WILL BE HELD IN LECCE, CAPITALE DEL BAROCCO

Despite the coronavirus pandemic little by little getting under control, the French luxury goods company Chanel predicts that the lingering economic effects will affect the luxury sector for at least the next two years. 

“We expect that the global climate will continue to affect the luxury segment negatively for at least the next 24 months,” says Chanel's CFO Philippe Blondiaux in an interview with Reuters. Despite these predictions, the group has seen a growth of 13 percent since 2019 and expects to be profitable at the end of the year. Previously having to shut down many of its retail locations, nearly 85 percent of the group's stores have now reopened, with a massive sales bounce in China going over 100 percent for a few weeks. According to the CFO, activity is beginning to resume in Paris, Milan and Berlin too. "This incredibly strong performance with the local clientele will not be enough to compensate for the absence of international business, the absence of international visitors and the fact that our duty-free business is still largely closed," said Blondiaux. Chanel has agreed to reduce promotional expenses and advertisements, slash inventory, as well as reworking fashion shows to prepare for the bleak future. 

Looking at the bigger picture, consulting firm Bain & Company says the $310-billion luxury goods market can see revenues fall by up to 35 percent this year.

Chanel S.A. It is a private French company owned by Alain Wertheimer and Gérard Wertheimer, grandsons of Pierre Wertheimer, who was the couturière Coco Chanel's early business partner. Chanel is a luxury company focusing on high fashion and ready-made clothes, luxury products, and accessories. From her time as a chanteuse, Gabrielle Chanel earned the nickname Coco in her youth. As a fashion designer, CC catered to women's taste for elegance in dress, with shirts and suits, trousers and skirts, and jewelry of simple design, that replaced the opulent, over-designed, and constrictive clothes and accessories of the 19th-century fashion. Fashion models, actresses, and icons have personified the Chanel product brands, including Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Nicole Kidman, Anna Mouglalis, Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Tautou, Kristen Stewart, Keira Knightley, Jennie Kim, Cara Delevingne, Marilyn Monroe and others.

Looking forward to hearing from big fashion houses such as Alexander Wang or Mugler about their future plans and prognoses.

Despite predicting a profitable year overall.

CHANEL: CORONAVIRUS WILL AFFECT LUXURY SEGMENT FOR AT LEAST NEXT TWO YEARS

Black society is American culture. Without Black Lives, we are nothing. We hear you to the black community. We're standing by you. We're aware that we should do more. 

Alexander Wang will launch an initiative to mentor future generations of black professionals in and beyond the fashion industry, creating opportunities for those affected by systemic racism and wealth inequality. 

Also, we will make donations to the following organizations: 

Since day one, the Black Community has been supporting and directly influencing Alexander Wang. Now, we are more committed than ever to support you in the dismantling of white supremacy and systemic racism.

Alexander Wang is a US fashion designer (born 26 December 1983). Wang started his fashion brand Alexander Wang in 2005 and came to prominence after winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2008. Wang was a Creative Director at Balenciaga from November 2012 till July 2015. Wang is famous for his urban-inspired designs and use of black. 

Wang was born to Taiwanese parents in San Francisco, California, where he and his brother Dennis were raised. Wang has noted, despite speculation, that he does not speak Mandarin Chinese.

Wang attended elementary and middle school in San Jose, California, at the Harker School. As a boarding student he spent the ninth grade at Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California. Wang eventually attended Drew School in San Francisco and graduated. At the age of fifteen, Wang took part at the Central Saint Martins summer design programme. 

Wang moved to NYC at the age of eighteen to attend Parsons School of Design. After two years he left his program to start his professional career and never graduated. 

An open supporter of the LGBTQ community, Alexander Wang in 2018 partnered with Trojan to release a limited-edition capsule collection "Protect Your Wang" to support the LGBTQ community and to celebrate Pride. 

While Wang is synonymous with sportswear, he is not athletic and has never been involved in any sports.

Alexander Wang's statement supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

ALEXANDER WANG PUBLISHED A BLM STATEMENT ON COMPANY'S WEBSITE

King Princess, Jane Fonda, Lil Nas X, Miyavi and David de Rothschild star in Gucci's First Off The Grid Circular Lines campaign.

The collection and its campaign is the first part of Gucci Circular Lines, a series of campaigns working towards a purely circular production vision – creating no waste and remaining carbon neutral. Designed and developed by creative director Alessandro Michele, the Off the Grid range uses recycled, renewable, bio-based and sustainably sourced fabrics, including regenerated nylon, Econyl. This yarn comes from pre- and post-consumer waste nylon, including trashed fishing nets and carpets — reworking plastics that harm marine life and old materials that are likely to end up in a new high-quality thread in landfill. Beginning in 2016, Gucci became the first luxury brand to use Econyl regenerated nylon thread for its products. The company has also pledged as much as possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its supply chains, and to offset the remaining emissions to be carbon neutral. 

Their commitment to sustainability is reflected in a Harmony Korine advertisement which has collaborated closely with Michele on previous initiatives. With an impressive cast consisting of Jane Fonda, Lil Nas X, King Princess, Miyavi, and David de Rothschild, the campaign follows a group of city-dwelling friends who built a treehouse to be their new home in the heart of a busy metropolitan area. These people seem content and beautiful as they come into contact with nature and rediscover their own connection. Throughout film and photography, both done by Korine, the pictures derive strength from a beautiful contrast between the natural elements such as wood and leaves and the steel, glass, and concrete constructions of humanity. Clad in Gucci upcycled, the stars and the optimistic energy they bring to the harmonious compositions of Korine fit colorfully. 

The campaign is already a tremendous success and a hugely significant message in itself, and provides an important moment in the wider brand sense. All of Gucci's imagery draws heavily on a sense of imagination, tap into a dream world that represents inner concepts of beauty rather than external reality. While this campaign suggests some of its elements of fantasy, with its whimsical contrast between organic and urban, it is also urgently real. Respect for nature and a commitment to sustainability is not just an eco-fantasy, a distant ideal, but is a real necessity if we want to live on this earth for a long time to come. It's time for companies – in our business and everywhere else – to use their power and energy to create a manufacturing process that is fully sustainable and emission-free. Gucci has started taking significant first steps and we hope the seeds they have planted will continue to grow. Looking forward to seeing big houses such as Rick Owens, Saint Laurent and Alexander Wang join this "trend" and start working along with Gucci on improving our planet.

Gucci is setting an example of how beautiful sustainability can be with their Off the Grid collection launching.

GUCCI'S NEW OFF THE GRID COLLECTION: JANE FONDA, KING PRINCESS AND DAVID DE ROTHSCHILD

Kering has approved the appointment to its board of three new directors. The French luxury goods behemoth has announced the arrival of actress Emma Watson, businessman Tidjane Thiam, and entrepreneur Jean Liu to its board of directors, after their names were proposed to the group on 12th March. 

"The mutual wisdom that comes from a range of backgrounds and the diversity of interactions are critical to our organization's future. I am proud to add these outstanding talents to the squad," said François-Henri Pinault, CEO and Chairman of Kering, in his statement. 

Watson will also act as Chair of the Committee of Sustainability. While best known for her role as Hermione Granger in adaptations of the Harry Potter film and parts in movies like Little Women, in recent years she has turned her attention to activism on issues related to the environment and women's rights. Since 2014, she has been a UN WOMEN Global Goodwill Ambassador, and has edited a sustainable fashion issue of Vogue Australia. Watson also spoke recently in support of trans rights after Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling made transphobic comments.

Kering appointed Thiam to preside over the Audit Committee. Formerly CEO of Credit Suisse Group AG, the French-Ivorian banker is currently serving as the Special Envoy of the African Union on COVID-19, and is a member of the International Olympic Committee. 

Liu is president of Beijing-based transportation company Didi Chuxing, and through DiDi Women's Network has advocated the empowerment of women in tech. Liu also serves as a founding member of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum advisory board, and is an active member of the board of trustees of the Asia Society. 

Kering, which owns brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga, has contributed around $1 million USD in recent months to counter coronavirus spread. Because of COVID-19, it reported a 15.4 percent drop in revenue for Q1 2020 in April.

Do you think Rick Owens, Mugler, Victoria Beckham or Alexander Wang Houses are going to have big nameы on Board of Directors this year? We will keep you updated, stay tuned!

KERING ADDED EMMA WATSON TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

VYZR Technologies, a Toronto-based Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) company, has just launched one of the most protective face masks against pathogens. Under the category of Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR), the BioVYZR provides a full, wide-angle, anti-fog face shield. At the back, there is also a built-in N95/N99 air purification system that filters out pathogens, allergens and pollutants. 

The packable BioVYZR can run on a single charge via USB for 8-12 hours, and weighs only 1.25 kg with the battery pack. The entire set-up is also weatherproof thanks to sealed seams, made from neoprene, marine vinyl and ripstop fabric. VYZR Technologies recommend the unit to be used in crowded spaces such as airports, schools and public transport. Currently on sale at $172 USD, the BioVYZR now can be pre-ordered at Indiegogo where funding has already crossed $312,000. 

The mask's proprietary design provides a 360-degree seal for shielding every side of your personal space. It also features an integrated air purification system that filters out bacteria, allergens and toxins from the air you are breathing in. The BioVYZR is a form of PPE called a Powered Air Purifying Respirator (or PAPR). Previously these were only used in industrial or health-care environments. The BioVYZR 1.0 bundles this essential technology into a functional interface that can be accessible to anyone.

High optical transparency and wide-angle view 

One size suits most (adults) and one for children 

The USB port helps you to charge the mask using any USB-compatible power source

Materials: Neoprene, Ripstop, Marine Vinyl

Dimensions: Chest Size: 30”- 52”, Height: 27” 

Weight: 0.95 kg (no battery pack), 1.25 kg (with battery pack) 

Consumer care: See guidelines for care and protection 

Fashion designers such as Rick Owens, Alexander Wang or Boris Bidjan Saberi have already released their branded face masks, although this BioVYZR face shield indeed takes the Covid19 protection to the next level.

The BioVYZR is an outer layer that protects against airborne hazards in our daily environments.

BIOVYZR FACE SHIELD TAKES COVID-19 PROTECTION TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Houses of street style and heritage jewelry may not be the most obvious partners. The Roman jewelry house Bulgari are following the trend. Their latest project comes from a union with wunderkind Alexander Wang, the New York designer. 

As part of their 'Serpenti Through the Eyes Of' series, which debuted in 2017, Bulgari handed over the creative reins to Wang for a special capsule collection to reinterpret their Serpenti signature motif. The resulting collection of Alexander Wang x Bulgari centers around a reimagination of the lady-like Serpenti Forever bag in the house, which Wang has multiplied into six different styles. 

From a belt bag with two snake closures, detachable straps and handle, to a double and triple flap handbag (each layer emblazoned with the head of the snake) that also features additional indoor pockets for practical purposes, Wang's renowned design riffs elevate the charm of the original design while imbuing it with a youthful versatility. 

'I was drawn to the Bulgari Serpenti head, made in the 1960s, in my research into the archives, which has a true timelessness to it,' Wang explains. 'Bulgari was then able to replicate that particular design and we applied it to the capsule as the focal hardware.' 

Although it is available in a variety of sizes, materials and colors, such as calfskin in light green, black and white, natural python skin and a glossy lizard, there is no stopping of the effort. Wang also developed the idea of turning luxury packaging items, like dust bags, paper shopping bags and watch boxes, into actual accessories. These pieces make a convincing tongue-in-cheek comment, from streamlined shopping totes and box-like minaudieres with matching wrist cuffs to the defiant two-in-one satchels that fuse a leather handbag with a drawstring dustbag exterior. 

'I wanted to approach this collaboration a little differently from the rest, and focus on the notion of packaging as a luxury – taking key elements of the purchase ceremony and highlighting them in a way that only a heritage house like Bulgari can,' Wang says. 'It was about looking at all the external elements that come with the experience of luxury shopping.' 

Wang 's collaboration adds a new chapter to the already close relationship Bulgari has had with New York. In 1971, at the Pierre Hotel near Central Park, the Italian jeweler opened their first retail outpost in the town. The blue and red gemstone-swathed collection of 'Stars and Stripes' was designed a year later to commemorate the Bicentennial of the United States. In 2017, in celebration with the Fifth Avenue flagship, the house launched another New York collection, brilliant with coral, lapis lazuli and antique American coins. 

Bulgari's managing director of accessories Mireia Lopez Montoya concludes, 'Daringness is something we love in the designs of Alex and that is part of Bulgari's approach to creativity. But what really struck us was that Alexander paid particular attention to the brand's history, passing through our historical archive, despite his own, extremely contemporary viewpoint. He has had a very clear vision of what he wanted to do from the very beginning. What makes this such a strong partnership is his ability to create a virtual bridge between this new collection and the house's historical design codes.'

Bvlgari's Mireia Lopez Montoya: Daringness is something we love in Alexander Wang's designs and that is part of Bvlgari's approach to creativity.

ALEXANDER WANG REINTERPRETS BULGARI’S SERPENTI MOTIF

Alessandro Michele is always interested in shifting our point of view – to challenge, provoke and play. His F/W 2020 Gucci show put the backstage center stage – the make-up was front-of-house, while in Michele's words a transparent scrim revealed the process of dressing up the models, "making the heartbeats visible". It also unexpectedly made their entrance to the catwalk become not the beginning of a dream for the viewer, but its culmination, upward fashion norms, attitudes and aspirations. Turning the tables. It also played out to the words of another great Italian showman, Federico Fellini. 

Michele decided to continue doing so for his latest Gucci campaign in the fall / winter of 2020. Instead of the obsessive authorship of a figure like Fellini – in which Michele freely admits he usually reveals – he surrendered control to a group of characters from his show, encouraging them to develop a series of intimate self-portraits that decontextualize Gucci in everyday life, Michele's ideas have always been fascinating. There were no hair stylists or MUA, not even photographers. Michele decided on this "experiment" (his word) back when the process of shooting conventional fashion imagery was impossible in the planning of that spectacular February show-and before the Covid-19 pandemic. He called the "Routines" movement - and it honors daily rituals-dressing, living. Rituals that were interrupted, somehow. 

"It's so weird, because it's just that this weird time has given me the chance to experiment, to do something I really wanted to do. It never was the right moment. Before the lockdown forced everyone into this kind of situation, there was some sort of a strange creation at the last show in Milan. I thought [for the campaign] maybe we've got to work the same way, changing the perspective the way I did for the show."

"Now, when I see the campaign's images, it is like this is the only way I could work. But the reality is that during that work in Milan, on the show, I began the campaign. Since I was likewise thought, working from a different viewpoint to uncover the secret aspect of the work, I tried to imagine what would happen if we, as I really wanted to do for a long time, changed the perspective of the campaign to work in a different way?"

"I wanted to stop being the obsessive image director. In my imagination, the models were actors: I work it as a director. I thought, What if I do what Andy Warhol did? I want to see what happens if, before the experiment, my imagination is just the job I can plan? I was trying to change the point of view and then I was trying to get inside my guys' lives. I didn't just use them as models but also as characters. I wanted them to be their own Manager."

Designers such as Hedi Slimane, Boris Bidjan Saberi, Rick Owens, Alexander Wang or Yohji Yamamoto have crucially changed their approach toward seasoning and fashion business, in general, this year. Let's see how the fashion of 2021 will look like, stay tuned!

Alessandro Michele speaks about the concepts and process behind Gucci’s Autumn/Winter 2020 campaign, his ideas of creativity and his thoughts on the moment.

ALESSANDRO MICHELE: GUCCI’S LAST CAMPAIGN AND CREATIVITY

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