At Paris Fashion Week, It Was Louis Vuitton vs. the World – The Summer of ‘Barbie’ Has Only Just Begun – Espadrilles, the Ultimate Summer Shoe, to read the features make sure to use only this link
https://textile-future.com/archives/115022
Dear Reader,
The Editorial Team of TextileFuture suggests today three features, all of them were firstly published in the Wall Street Journal Magazine and we proudly present them to you.
The first feature is about the Paris Fashion Week. It shows what was going on. It is entitled “At Paris Fashion Week, It Was Louis Vuitton vs. the World”
The second item is about “The Summer of ‘Barbie’ Has Only Just Begun”. And it is about a Movie around Barbie, a lifestyle part.
The third feature is on Espadrilles and is entitled “Espadrilles, the Ultimate Summer Shoe”.
We think we made the right choices for your reading and thank you for taking the time and enjoyment to read all.
Sincerely yours,
The Editorial Team of TextileFuture
Here is the beginning of the first feature:
June 27, 2023
The LVMH fashion house may have had the splashiest show of the season, but it certainly wasn’t the only notable one.
Bernard Arnault, head of luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH, has a net worth larger than that of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. WSJ’s Nick Kostov explains how the French business magnate amassed his fortune and how he plans to keep that wealth under family control. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
By guest author Jacob Gallagher from the Wall Street Journal Magazine.
One of the great basketball questions of the year was finally answered on Thursday evening at the NBA draft. No, not if Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 French sensation, would be the No. 1 overall pick—that has been all but official for months. But what would the most-hyped basketball prodigy since LeBron James wear to his coronation?
The answer: Louis Vuitton, bien sûr. A forest-green suit with a tricksy “wrapped jacket” overlaid across the top, like a chef’s apron crossbred with a kimono.
For Vuitton, it was yet another publicity slam dunk during a week in which the French luxury powerhouse seems to have fully activated all the marketing powers of its $20 billion machine.
Last week, days before Wemby was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, Vuitton opened Paris fashion week with the debut show from its new creative director, Pharrell Williams.
It was a blown-out, head-spinning affair held on Paris’s famed Pont Neuf bridge with nearly 2,000 people in attendance, including LeBron James, Beyoncé and Rihanna. There were boats, a gilded runway and an iPhones-out-to-prove-you-were-there performance from Jay-Z and Williams himself. And yes, there were clothes—the sort of assertive, opulent fare that spurs Vuitton’s millionaire clients to spend.
Days afterward, the mammoth, traffic-snarling show remained the talk of the front rows throughout the week. “The fact that it was the first day I think really disrupted things,” said Thom Bettridge, head of creative and content at online megaretailer Ssense, who was in Paris for fashion week. “It’s just really impossible to underscore the degree to which that fashion show operated on a different scale in terms of budget and celebrity than any other fashion show can.”
This proved to be a challenge for the dozens of brands that still had to orchestrate their own valiant efforts at presenting newness in the following days. How do you vie for attention and validation when all that you’re presenting is clothes? Or when the celebrities you have in your front row seem dim compared with Louis Vuitton’s megaton of pop cultural pals?
While many shows felt humble and forgettable by comparison, the shrewdest labels countered the LV hangover with some combination of Instagram-bait gimmicks, tantalizing (occasionally distracting) backdrops at shows and, often, just really great clothes.
LV vs. LVMH
Unsurprisingly, it was Louis Vuitton’s corporate siblings at LVMH, the largest luxury conglomerate, that used their mighty resources to kick-start some chatter of their own. There was Dior, which cut through with a show that began with the 51 models rising simultaneously out of the metallic floor. It was part Houdini magic trick, part “2001: A Space Odyssey” futurism and overall, 100% pure Instagram fodder. The gimmick had the pragmatic side effect of giving the audience more time to study the fetching clothes, like tweedy granny cardigan jackets, barrel-cut, to-the-shin trousers and slime-green neon loafers.
LVMH also had a curious thing for bridges this season, as Kenzo, another label in the conglomerate’s portfolio, staged its show on the Passerelle Debilly, a pedestrian span at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Still, the postcard-perfect setting didn’t quite make up for a hodgepodge, often confused collection full of denim kimonos and cargoed culottes.
The clothes were stronger over at Givenchy, yet another LVMH property. Creative director Matthew Williams sent out his most convincing collection yet in his three years at the French house with an assortment that ran the gamut from accommodating double-breasted suits and workaday black ties to thigh-kissing shorts and washed jeans.
“At the end of the day, I want to make clothes that people wear,” said Givenchy’s Williams, who dispensed with his distracting layering schemes and braggadocious logos of past collections.
At LVMH’s Loewe, the spotlight was also squarely on the clothes. The provocative collection showed its creative director Jonathan Anderson in top form and solidified Loewe’s status as LVMH’s most risk-taking label through exaggeratedly high-waisted jeans, glittery shirts and trousers, and sleeveless leather rompers with attached shoes.
“I’m attracted to the carnival,” said “The White Lotus” creator Mike White of the atmosphere just before the show. It was White’s first fashion show, and he was among a number of famous but unexpected TV names in attendance, including 77-year-old “Succession” star Brian Cox, who gamely stuck around after the show to take selfies with fans.
While White described his own style as an “L.A. skateboard, surfer vibe,” he admired the artistry of fashion and likened it to his own high-wattage industry. “I know there’s a lotta hard work behind all the goofiness,” he said.
The Indie Darlings
Many of the most captivating actual clothes—those likely to set the tone on where trends may head in years to come—came from brands outside the LVMH umbrella who weren’t preoccupied with competing at such a herculean, gotta-’gram-it scale. If Louis Vuitton’s show was the latest gazillion dollar Marvel movie, these minor-key events were the indie Sundance darlings.
“I think a lot of the hits [of the week] were operating on this quiet spectrum,” said Ssense’s Bettridge. Take Kiko Kostadinov, an upstart Bulgarian-born, British-based designer who presented a progressive yet palatable collection of robe-like overcoats, contrasting-sleeve zip-up work jackets and gorgeous, highly salable striped knits. Or 4SDesigns, a New York label showing in Paris for the first time. At a presentation that brought out American department store buyers and French editors, designer Angelo Urrutia offered a confident, flag-planting collection of bouclé tweed overshirts, collarless blazers and trompe l’oeil “jeans” that were actually made of leather.
Or Rick Owens, one of the largest remaining independent designers showing, who joined Loewe in challenging the dominant louche silhouette seen at most brands. His collection included extremely high-waisted pants that almost seemed to have a built-in corset. There were also plays on his architectural blazers, hulking leather jackets and trailing topcoats—all key categories that have long transformed casual fashion shoppers into head-to-toe Owens devotees.
“We don’t have the resources that other people do, but I feel that I have lived an honorable life,” said Owens, a California native based in Paris. “I am so grateful for my little niche.”
Owens’s collection this time around was entirely black, a choice he made because he wanted to see “something more reserved and something more formal,” in the face of all the excess and embellishment of fashion. Dare we say, this was Owens’s form of quiet luxury.
Dries Van Noten, a longtime presence on the Paris calendar, likewise pulled things back this season. “I really wanted to have the shapes and the colors standing out and not the loud prints,” said Van Noten, whose collections are traditionally a riot of abstracted floral and tie-dye motifs.
Even the conditions of the show itself conveyed restraint: It was held in a raw, unfinished building with construction dust kicking up in the air.
That’s not to say his collection did not pack a punch. There were glittery sequin shorts, tightly cinched blazers (perhaps, bleakly, an Ozempic effect, along with all those high-waisted pants) and sheer blouses, the brand’s submission to the going-out top conversation. “Nothing wrong with sexy, I think,” said Van Noten after the show.
Junya Watanabe, a veritable Japanese design legend whose brand sits in the Comme des Garçons empire, sent out his most compelling effort in recent memory, focused on heavily patchworked denim topcoats, kicky pocket-packed cargo pants and lengthy leather jackets.
Even an appearance from the man of the hour, Pharrell Williams, who sat in the front row in pixelated-print pants fresh off the LV runway, couldn’t distract from Watanabe’s ingenious, provocative designs.
Here starts the second item:
The Summer of ‘Barbie’ Has Only Just Begun
June 29, 2023
With more than 100 brand collaborations under way, including ‘Ken’ shirts from Gap and hot-pink pool floats from Target, Mattel isn’t letting anyone forget that the movie is on the way.
By guest author Chavie Lieber from the Wall Street Journal Magazine.
Did you know that there’s a “Barbie” movie coming out this summer? Mattel is making sure you don’t forget.
Ahead of the July 21, 2023, film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the Barbie parent company has been on a marketing blitz, ensuring that whether or not shoppers actually go see the movie, they will still stumble on the 100-plus Barbie collaborations.
At the mall, there are Barbie and Ken T-shirts from the Gap and pink gingham Barbie cardigans at Hot Topic. Neiman Marcus will sell pink Barbie handbags from Balmain, and at Bloomingdale’s there will be life-size Barbie DreamHouse installations. Ulta Beauty has hot-pink Barbie electric toothbrushes. Target and Amazon have Barbie pool floats. Microsoft made a Barbie Xbox.
Mattel wants to get “everyone playing with Barbie,” said president and COO Richard Dickson, “and that doesn’t necessarily mean playing with a doll.”
The movie and its accompanying avalanche of product is part of Mattel’s strategy to expand the Barbie world beyond toys. The company, which also owns Hot Wheels, American Girl Doll and Fisher-Price, banked $5.43 billion in revenue in 2022, but sees the growth opportunity in these franchise deals as “exponential.”
“The bigger opportunity for us is going to be outside of the toy aisle,” said Dickson. “That is the drive for where we see the monetization for the brand moving forward.”
The move is happening as competing fantasy empires like Marvel have seen record revenue in expanding their world. The toy industry grows at a slow rate, said Andrew Uerkwitz, a senior analyst at Jefferies, which is why competing toy company Hasbro recently put out a “Dungeons & Dragons” film.
Mattel’s growth ambitions also come at a time when America’s most iconic doll is facing fierce competition—from streaming giants pumping out products to complement their shows to YouTubers debuting toys of their own. Targeting millennials with pink crop tops and denim jackets might very well get nostalgic women to buy Barbie clothing. It might also move them to buy dolls for their children too.
“Brands that have been around for a long time ebb and flow, and Barbie is always on the defensive,” said Uerkwitz.
Dickson said Mattel sees the Barbie film as a first step to “elevate the Barbie narrative into a pop culture sensation.” It wanted to make a Barbie movie for years, he said, and began discussing the current film in 2018, when Robbie approached Mattel chief executive Ynon Kreiz about the opportunity, later bringing on the director Greta Gerwig. Mattel currently has 14 other feature films in development, the company said.
The movie is meant to drive brand awareness while moving Barbie, if not ironically, into the center of a conversation about feminism and beauty standards. Dickson declined to discuss the movie’s profit breakdown with Warner Bros., but Jefferies estimates Warner Bros paid Mattel $25 to $50 million for making the film (Warner Bros. declined to comment).
Mattel has been approaching partners over the last 18 months, eager to fill the market with Barbie products. In some agreements, a brand pays Mattel a flat licensing fee, while others give Mattel a 5 % to 15 % cut of sales.
Dickson said Mattel’s merchandising strategy targets all ages, but said many collaborations tend to skew toward teens and adults since the movie is rated PG-13.
“We go from our core customer, little girls, all the way through grandmas, or what we call ‘glam-mas,’” he said.
The Barbie Xbox Series S—a gaming console nestled inside a three-story DreamHouse—opens the franchise up to another demographic: the gamer. Xbox sees the collab as a way to “motivate young girls in following their passions and highlight careers in STEM and gaming,” Kirsten Ward, Xbox’s vice president of integrated marketing at Xbox said in an email.
A new Airbnb listing for a Barbie Malibu DreamHouse went viral this week. Amenities of the hot-pink ocean-view mansion include a closet full of Ken’s clothing and an outdoor disco dance floor. Not included: a kitchen or TV.
Mattel has long been an aggressive marketer of products, said Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, a history lecturer at Case Western Reserve University. The company defied industry standards in the 1960s when its TV ads spoke directly to children, she said.
Mattel has reinvented the doll several times to keep up with pop culture. In 2016, Barbie’s proportions were changed, in response to criticism that the doll’s shape wasn’t realistic. The company also issued dolls with more skin tones in response to diversity critiques. Rabinovitch-Fox said the company is now using the film to rebrand Barbie for adults.
“It’s a repackaging of Barbie to be cool,” she said. “Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has irony and undertones that grown-ups will find funny.”
Brands are hoping that if the bright colors and splashy patterns aren’t enough to lure adult customers, nostalgia will win them over.
“We see ‘Barbie’ as the most highly anticipated film of the summer so we’re really leaning into it,” said Kevin Harter, vice president of integrated marketing at Bloomingdale’s.
“It is 50 shades of pink here,” said Forever 21 chief executive officer Winnie Park, who estimated pink products make up 15% of the company’s sales. “Pink appeals to men, women and them. It’s a major driver of our business.”
Some brands hope to stand out with merch that has a wow-factor.
“You want to create products that are catchy and grab attention because you have to remember who Barbie is and what that style is about,” said Lorenzo Boglione, chief executive of Superga, an Italian footwear brand that debuted sky-high pink platform sneakers in early June.
The products have caught the attention of Barbie fans like Matthew Bruneau-Richardson, a 32-year-old independent filmmaker and animator in Boston. He’s been collecting Barbie dolls for about seven years, which he displays in his office. He recently purchased paint from the Barbie collaboration with Backdrop to make his office the same color as the Barbie DreamHouse. Bruneau-Richardson also has Barbie T-shirts and plans to buy more merchandise before the film, including the movie’s official yellow rollerblades from Impala.
“Growing up, I would think, ‘as a boy I can’t like Barbies, and as a teenager I can’t like toys,’ but now that I’m in my 30s and have control over my life, I don’t need to be concerned about that,” he said. “I’m living out what 6-year-old me would have dreamed of.”
Jacqueline Pont, a 21-year-old college student in Gainesville, Fla., hasn’t looked at a Barbie doll in years, but said she still finds the brand endearing. Her earliest memories are of going to garage sales with her mother and sister in search of old Barbie dolls. Pont has a continuing text message thread with her sister where they share all the different Barbie products coming out, and said the merchandise “fuels my soul.”
“The Barbie collabs are exactly what I want them to be,” said Pont, who owns a Barbie T-shirt from Old Navy. “We want the pink, the plastic, the girlie, like we’re adults wearing kids clothes.”
Raquel Morris, a 27-year-old nonprofit professional in Washington, D.C., who recently bought Gap’s Ken tee, said she plans to wear an all-pink outfit to see the Barbie film in theaters.
Sydney Skeete, a 21-year-old college student in Ontario, said all the Barbie merchandise makes her feel nostalgic for childhood and “tugs at my heartstrings.” She has her eyes on a Cowgirl Barbie doll Mattel put out for the movie, though she wants to sleep on the purchase a bit longer.
“I went to a Taylor Swift concert recently, so I need to hold off a little until I know what I really want,” said Skeete.
And this is the beginning of the third and last item of today:
Espadrilles, the Ultimate Summer Shoe
These lightweight loafers are the vacation footwear that never goes out of style.
By guest authors F. Martin Ramin photographer, for WSJ. Magazine | Prop stylist Tanya Moskowitz | Fashion Editor Rashad Minnick from the Wall Street Journal Magazine
Newsletter of last Week
FASHION: How Kendall Jenner Wants to Ditch the Nepo Baby Playbook – FASHION: Pharrell Williams Brings Out Beyoncé, Jay-Z for Louis Vuitton Fashion-Week Debut https://textile-future.com/archives/114473
Highlights of News of the past Week
Construction
Swiss Empa. Launch of Circular Building Charta – Circular economy in construction: Twelve big players move forward https://textile-future.com/archives/114561
Data
Almost 86 000 asylum seekers in EU in March 2023 https://textile-future.com/archives/114438
EU Agricultural price increases slow in Q1 2023 : https://textile-future.com/archives/114445
EU employment: use of digital devices https://textile-future.com/archives/114525
Cyprus: substantial increase of trade and crossings across the Green Line https://textile-future.com/archives/114708
Discounts
Bargain debasement: why are ‘fake discounts’ on the rise? https://textile-future.com/archives/114454
EU
EU CommissionCommission welcomes political agreement on new rules to boost cybersecurity in EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies https://textile-future.com/archives/114470
Data Act: EU Commission welcomes political agreement on rules for a fair and innovative data economy https://textile-future.com/archives/114604
Single Currency Package: new proposals to support the use of cash and to propose a framework for a digital Euro https://textile-future.com/archives/114619
Financial services: EU Commission welcomes political agreement on the review of Central Securities Depositories https://textile-future.com/archives/114633
COLLEGE MEETING: The European Commission appoints a new Director in Eurostat https://textile-future.com/archives/114637
EU proposes comprehensive new outlook on threats of climate change and environmental degradation on peace, security and defence https://textile-future.com/archives/114649
Tourism: Expenditure in Switzerland and abroad recovered significantly in 2022 https://textile-future.com/archives/114685
EU-NATO Task Force: Final assessment report on strengthening our resilience and protection of critical infrastructure https://textile-future.com/archives/114721
Events
Karl Mayer Group: An exhibition that impressed CEO Arno Gärtner shares his thoughts on the highlights of the KARL MAYER GROUP stand at ITMA 2023 https://textile-future.com/archives/114461
Global Business
Global Business: Bad Apple: why is the tech giant trying to trademark a fruit? https://textile-future.com/archives/114610
Technology:10 tech trends every boss needs to know about https://textile-future.com/archives/114691
Moldova
Attempts to destabilise Moldova: Swiss Federal Council adopts targeted sanctions : https://textile-future.com/archives/114616
Personalities
Statement by President von der Leyen on the composition of the College and the next European Commissioner from Bulgaria https://textile-future.com/archives/114702
Switzerland
«Switzerland’s Security 2023 »: The Federal Intelligence Service publishes its latest situation report https://textile-future.com/archives/114396
Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter and Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat to open international fintech conference in Zurich https://textile-future.com/archives/114428
https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en
Switzerland and France sign an additional agreement supplementing the bilateral double taxation agreement https://textile-future.com/archives/114569
Benefit of European cooperation in education, research and innovation undisputed in Brussels https://textile-future.com/archives/114589
The electronic patient record is to become a central pillar of the Swiss healthcare system https://textile-future.com/archives/114622
Switzerland 2024 budget adjusted – consultation launched on 2025 relief package https://textile-future.com/archives/114652
Ukraine: Switzerland expands list of sanctions https://textile-future.com/archives/114663
WIPO
Join the WIPO Global Awards Ceremony on July 11, 2023 https://textile-future.com/archives/114555
WTO
TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE -WTO Members discuss cybersecurity, intangible digital products, raise over 60 trade concerns https://textile-future.com/archives/114673