Vogue Business’ Post

Content or #couture? Haute couture is the pinnacle of French #fashion, where designers and their ateliers can spend upwards of hundreds of hours on a single piece. So when Demna sent a dress down the #runway for his fourth BALENCIAGA haute couture show that was made in just 30 minutes and designed to unravel after the first wear, it immediately got people talking. Balenciaga described the garment as “an ephemeral couture performance and experiment”, explaining that the piece is made “in a choreographed process” where the couture atelier team drapes, staples and sculpts 47 metres of black nylon — which was chosen to evoke Cristóbal Balenciaga’s favoured gazar material — “directly on the model moments before it is seen”. They added that it was made specifically to be worn once, with the dress “unwrapped from the model’s body” after the show, never to be recreated in the same manner again. “The magic and poetry and ephemerality of this experience — drape and un-drape — is echoed in the collection’s butterfly motifs,” they note of the collection’s wider message. Throughout the mixed reactions, the question remains: who is the brand trying to appeal to? And what does it say about the way we define couture today? https://lnkd.in/eVb7jjMq

More wearable? More comfortable? More pockets? What would women’s fashion look like if more women designed them? Men have taken many of the top designer vacancies in the past several years. But with so much focus on why it has taken so long to get more women into these positions — and why there are still so few — Madeleine Schulz explores a different question: if more women were to design more collections, what would that actually look like? https://lnkd.in/exHj-miX

While the #luxurybag may have entered semi-hibernation as of late — amid a wider cultural shift towards unbranded, thrifted gems and artisanal finds — TikTok still loves an unboxing. With 301,700 posts, the focus this time around is on more timeless investment pieces, and vintage numbers, of course. The hashtag on the #socialmedia platform has over 301.7K posts, with the number growing. Here, #VogueBusiness uses exclusive #TikTok data to highlight where brands and creators can get involved in the biggest trends on the platform: https://lnkd.in/djYy-yaD

Does the industry misunderstand menopause? In the UK, some 17% of women experiencing menopause consider leaving work due to the lack of support, and around 6% actually do, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development - IOM College. A 2023 survey by The Mayo Clinic Diet found that menopause costs women in the US around $1.8 billion a year in lost working time. Campaign groups and influencers are increasingly tackling the taboos around #menopause. But in the youth-obsessed fashion and beauty industries, it is still a subject that is largely avoided, or discussed only behind closed doors. Bella Webb explores the progress needed in the fashion and beauty industries when it comes to menopause, read more here: https://lnkd.in/eCbPk9W3

#TaylorSwift has become a global socioeconomic phenomenon. Last March, the singer debuted her Eras tour, a densely packed, career-spanning, three-and-a-half-hour spectacle, with two (or more) night runs in stadiums across the world. Now, it’s reported that the the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is putting on an exhibition this summer which will feature costumes, awards and childhood items from the singer's personal archive - as Swiftmania continues. During the tour’s first leg in 2023, it was reported that Swift healthily boosted the US economy with an impact exceeding $10 billion. The European leg, which kicked off on 9 May in Paris, is set to exceed this figure, according to Fortune. Witnessing local and national businesses rebranding and offering Taylor Swift-inspired fashion, both high street and luxury fashion brands have aimed to embrace the moment. Angel Nemov examines her impact, here: https://lnkd.in/eer6taPV

GIVENCHY has a new CEO. While #Givenchy has yet to appoint its next creative director following the departure of Matthew Williams back in January, LVMH announced on Tuesday that the house has a new CEO: former president of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) at Louis Vuitton, Alessandro Valenti. The news comes after LVMH announced a new CEO for Fendi, Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, effective 1 June. Angeloglou has been managing director of the LVMH Fashion Group since March. Meanwhile, there are persistent rumours concerning upcoming changes at the creative head of Celine. Here, Laure Guilbault breaks down everything to know: https://lnkd.in/erankxB6

Last night in New York, Marc Jacobs hosted its AW24 collection filled with doll-like fashions including oversized-printed gowns and extreme lashes. "We use fashion to embrace bold and courageous self-expression to articulate and showcase our inner selves, allowing us to freely explore and display our thoughts, desires, and identities," the designer said ahead of the show. It's a trend that's becoming popular, even more than the girlhood trend, the doll aesthetic is a poignant avenue for escapism. Here, Madeleine Schulz explores how surrealism and fantasy are dominating the runways: https://lnkd.in/epQ3NF4u

Richemont’s management reshuffle continues. Louis Ferla, currently chief executive officer of Vacheron Constantin, will succeed Cyrille Vigneron as chief executive officer of the group’s largest brand Cartier, effective 1 September. “Cartier has improved in terms of perceived innovation and communication, which has resulted in greater appeal among younger customers,” Exane analyst Antoine Belge told #VogueBusiness in 2021. “He has earned the admiration and respect of his colleagues across the group and of the industry at large for having brilliantly positioned Vacheron Constantin at the pinnacle of haute horlogerie,” Richemont chairman Johann Rupert said in a statement.

The 2024 Paris #Olympics chaos drove GmbH back to its hometown, Berlin, to show its Spring/Summer 2025 collection yesterday. “When we were speaking to the French #fashion federation about organising a show during the Olympics, it seemed like there was so much red tape and additional work, so pragmatically we thought maybe it’s not worth it this time,” Huseby explains ahead of the show. “It was also quite emotionally and politically driven. Living in Germany and seeing how the political climate is, we feel now more than ever that it’s important to show our community and culture and push that narrative in a German context.” The collection, titled ‘Resistance Through Rituals’, was presented on the first day of Berlin Fashion Week at iconic Berlin events venue Tempodrom - featuring boxer shorts and blazers with lapels that wrapped around the head to form a hood, inspired by what boxers wear into the ring. Maliha Shoaib spoke to the founders about their decision to show at #BerlinFashionWeek, what it means to be a ‘political’ brand and what’s next: https://lnkd.in/eiHRuzfy

Studies show that women are undervalued and overlooked at work. Researchers at Yale, MIT and the University of Minnesota recently found at a large retail chain that women were 14% less likely to be promoted. Women were consistently judged as having lower leadership potential than men, even though women’s job performance was consistently rated higher on performance reviews. Join #VogueBusiness at London’s Soho House & Co 180 House on Thursday 25 July, for a morning event, during which executive European editor Kirsty McGregor will discuss the findings from Vogue Business’s exploration into what fashion would look like if women were in charge. The session will be followed by a Q&A and time to network and connect with fellow members. Tap to reserve your place now! https://lnkd.in/eBTxgXDa