Red to Blue
The Empire State Building was lit up in Tiffany Blue on Monday night to mark Valentine’s Day — the first time that the New York City architectural landmark was not lit up in red for Valentine’s.
Tiffany commemorated the occasion by having Sarah Jessica Parker, a woman whose character Carrie Bradshaw is an expert in all things love, flip the switch to light up the building blue.
“As a proud New Yorker, I’m honored to flip the ceremonial switch and turn the most iconic NYC building Tiffany Blue for the first time on Valentine’s Day — a color as famous as the Empire State Building itself,” said Jessica Parker, fresh off the season finale of “Sex and the City” reboot “And Just Like That.” The actress wore pieces from Tiffany’s Victoria and Schlumberger collections for the appearance.
She was joined by Tiffany president and chief executive officer Anthony Ledru, who told WWD, “Nothing embodies New York more than the Empire State Building and Tiffany. Tiffany Blue has been the color of love since 1837. It ignites emotions and truly symbolizes love and joy so we are thrilled to celebrate Valentine’s Day at this New York City landmark that’s the home to so many proposals and love stories.
“We are honored to have our friend of the house, an actor, producer, entrepreneur and proud New Yorker, Sarah Jessica Parker here to help us celebrate this momentous occasion.”
The Empire State Building is one of many global landmarks that Tiffany has illuminated in its signature shade of blue as of late. A guerilla marketing campaign called “Blue Is the Color of Love” has also seen the jeweler light up California’s Santa Monica Pier, Niagara Falls and Miami’s Fontainebleau Hotel among other locations. — MISTY WHITE SIDELL
Simon Nonstop
Jacquemus founder-slash master of Instagram communication Simon Porte Jacquemus has done it again.
After teasing a project involving Italy for days on social media, which further spiked the interest of the brand’s local following, on Tuesday the designer revealed that the Jacquemus 24/24 retail format is to hit Milan during fashion week.
The pop-up store will run nonstop from Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. to Feb. 27 at midnight. Details on the location and selection of products are still undisclosed and will be revealed later this week.
First debuted in Paris in December 2021 and inspired by automated convenience stores, the Jacquemus 24/24 retail concept focuses on operating 24 hours a day like a vending machine to offer shoppers key accessories of the brand — encompassing bags, bucket hats and scarves — anytime they crave one.
Whereas in its inaugural iteration in Paris the pop-up was all in pink and marked the launch of the Bambino Long bag, the Milanese leg will come with “a new color and new products,” according to the teaser posted by the designer on Instagram.
Even if details are still under wraps, it is safe to say the location will attract curious crowds and street style creatures eager for a last-minute fashion fix.
This has been a busy week for the French designer and his brand’s Instagram feed. As reported, Jacquemus has recently launched its new — and viral — advertising campaign featuring Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny portrayed while showing off his biceps in a pink minidress with baby blue slide heels or riding a jet ski wearing nothing but a pink life jacket.
In between the commercial content, the designer also used the social medium to address homophobic comments he received on Valentine’s Day, getting the support of models Bella Hadid and Vittoria Ceretti as well as filmmaker Xavier Dolan, among others. — SANDRA SALIBIAN
À La Mode
Fashion — or rather the creative process — is going to take pride of place at La Samaritaine’s latest storewide exhibition, which is rolling out in-store and online for 12 weeks starting Thursday.
Under the theme “Atelier Mode,” the Right Bank department store will start by taking its customers for a quick cinematic spin through four vignettes, starting in the sketch-strewn office of a fictional designer, the pouty and snappily dressed Mr. de Luca; to the runway, where one horrified wave of a fan from de Luca rewinds — literally — the offending look back.
Taking cues from La Samaritaine’s tongue-in-cheek advertisements from the 1960s, the fashion film’s retro ambience sees Guillaume Henry’s designs at Patou get a cameo appearance.
Taking pride of place in the store’s central stage until May 12 is the “La Mode Est Un Jeu” exhibition, dedicated to fashion photographer Erwin Blumenfeld. It will explore his radical approach to composition, optical illusions and depth of field using techniques as varied as translucent screens or putting negatives in the refrigerator, through a selection of studio works curated by his granddaughter Nadia Blumenfeld Charbit.
For those who want to dive further into what it’s like to be a designer, Henry and Patou have been tasked with telling it all through the “Table du Créateur” (or designer’s table) experience, which will offer a glance at his office as well as an exhibition of some 100 drawings done by ESMOD students.
La Samaritaine will also offer more hands-on opportunities, from do-it-yourself kits in the “Boutique de Loulou” selection to workshops, including live sketching sessions on weekends; designing a look either virtually through a sketching app or IRL, with a selection of fabrics from deadstock platform Nona Source, or learning how to do makeup like a runway pro in the beauty department.
Brands will also get in step with the 12-week program, with the likes of Dior, Destree, Benjamin Benmoyal and By Far being given free rein for a week to showcase their creative universes through in-store events. — LILY TEMPLETON
U.S. Landing
On Tuesday, Italian advanced contemporary label Forte Forte is opening its first U.S. store on Melrose Place in Los Angeles.
The boutique was designed by Giada Forte and her partner, art director Robert Vattilana, on the buzzy shopping thoroughfare that also boasts Chloé, Balmain, Isabel Marant, Marni, Irene Neuwirth and LoveShackFancy stores.
“The original idea was to open first in New York, but then we had a chance on Melrose Place and we couldn’t pass it up,” said Vattilana, explaining how he designed the space with inspiration from Joshua Tree and Palm Springs, including naturalistic boulders, green onyx floors and polished brass fixtures. “Every location has its own approach from the surroundings,” he explained of the cheerful bohemian brand’s existing retail stores in London, Milan, Paris, Madrid and Rome.
The L.A. boutique is located in a 1930s building with shop windows that open to the street, floor-to-ceiling muslin curtains and skylights that pay homage to artist James Turrell.
The brand has 80 wholesale doors in the U.S. but sees potential for growth through its own retail channels, he said, sharing offering that the U.S. represents just 15 percent of overall sales.
Forte Forte in in the midst of a global retail expansion, funded by Style Capital, which in April 2017 acquired a 51 percent stake in the brand. Sales are projected to reach 30 million euros in 2022. — BOOTH MOORE
From Sardinia, With Love
Neither COVID-19 nor the tensions between Ukraine and Russia have stopped Antonio Marras from decamping from Milan Fashion Week to unveil his fall 2022 collection in Moscow.
In an unexpected move, the Sardinian designer said on Tuesday he will stage a physical show on Feb. 16 at the Petrowsky Passage department store, which also houses the brand’s flagship in the city.
Expected to draw 200 guests between local press, buyers and VIP clients, the show intends to celebrate the long-lasting and fruitful collaboration between the fashion company and its Russian retail partner Bosco di Ciliegi.
“We have chosen to show in Russia to seal the partnership with Bosco di Ciliegi, our very first supporter,” said Marras, recalling how in 2005 the giant retailer was the first to open a store of his brand, building a loyal customer base in the city ever since.
“I wanted to return all the trust shown in this [brand] by presenting the new collection…where it all started. It’s really true that in difficult moments like this, real friends are [revealed.]”
The show is expected to involve a performance by dancers and models, who will sport a collection dedicated to “Oci Ciornie,” a 1987 movie directed by Nikita Mikhalkov and starring actors Marcello Mastroianni and Silvana Mangano. The love story between an Italian man and a Russian woman narrated in the film is to further evoke Marras’ declaration of affection for the country.
Style-wise, the lineup is expected to boast the designer’s signature artisanal approach and poetic aesthetic with a combination of masculine and feminine codes, reiterations of knits and kilts, as well as tailored pieces enriched with embroideries and inlays of fabrics.
Yet the show won’t be livestreamed or broadcast on any channel, so for press and buyers who won’t be in Moscow, the brand will host an off-the-schedule presentation in Milan on Feb. 23 at its Circolo Marras headquarters.
The show will mark a return to the Russian capital for the brand, which in 2016 feted the partnership with Bosco di Ciliegi by presenting a haute couture capsule collection at Moscow’s Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
At the time, the capsule included 30 upscale dresses specifically designed for the occasion and the overall project was part of Bosco di Ciliegi’s Art Festival organized to promote art and various forms of creativity. — S.S.
Vanguards’ Appointment
Vanguards, the Hungarian parent company of fashion labels Nanushka, Sunnei and Aeron, has tapped luxury consultant and former editorial director of Highsnobiety Christopher Morency as its chief brand officer.
In his new role, based between London and Budapest, Morency will be responsible for leading the global brand strategy in the group, as well as identifying new investment opportunities.
“Together with the great team at Vanguards, I set out to challenge that notion and support founders in overcoming these growing pains and with them carefully expanding their brand universes beyond clothes alone,” Morency said in a statement sent to WWD.
Morency holds a bachelor’s degree in International Media from Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Prior to working his way up at the street culture site Highsnobiety, Morency held positions at Vice Media and Fantastic Men.
Founded in 2020 by Peter Baldaszti, chief executive office and co-owner of Nanushka, Vanguards took a majority stake in the Budapest-based womenswear label Aeron and Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo’s Milanese brand Sunnei the same year, as it aspires to become a new player in the competitive designer fashion sector.
Baldaszti believes that Morency “is the next in line to bring a unique skill set to our group.”
“He has a thorough understanding of how customers become a community and how cultural capital is the next scarce resource. I believe he will enable our brands to think and act like media brands,” he added.
Last year, the company bulked up its leadership team by hiring fashion director and brand consultant Candice Fragis as group fashion strategist, and appointing Sarah Scalisi-Walsh to lead global wholesale. — TIANWEI ZHANG