Inside Giorgio Armani's Fashion Legacy | The Business of Fashion

May 4, 2015 • Just days before the opening of Armani/Silos a new museum housing the vast Armani archive, BoF's Imran Amed interviews Giorgio Armani on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his business.

Giorgio Armani Documentary - Success Story (2012)

Ralph Lauren: How I Built a Fashion Empire

Karl Lagerfeld: Ex-Vogue Editor Alexandra Shulman Remembers the Fashion Icon - BBC Newsnight

Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld died aged 85 in Paris.

Tom Ford OWN Visionaires Documentary

After revealing a series of trailer clips, OWN's full-length footage highlighting world-renowned fashion designer and film director Tom Ford is now available. The documentary brings to light Ford's every day happenings, as to let you into the otherwise closed quarters of his rather particular lifestyle. While most people think of the Texas native in regards to his overwhelming impact on the fashion industry, there is much more than meets the eye with the well-versed creative. He is also a well-respected Oscar nominated film director whose talents expand far beyond simply building an unmistakable fashion empire. View the entire piece above to gain further insight into the highly intriguing man that is Tom Ford.

Dolce and Gabbana Sentenced to Jail for Tax Evasion
BBC: Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been sentenced to jail in Italy for one year and eight months for tax evasion.

The pair were not at the trial and deny the charges.

They are accused of hiding millions of euros from Italian tax authorities.

Dolce and Gabbana have not yet given a public comment on the sentence and are likely to appeal the verdict. They are said to be unlikely to go to jail any time soon.

Their customers have included Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss and Bryan Ferry. » | Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Stitch In Time Makes Billions for Zara and Its Founder
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Amid the pervading gloom in the retail sector, one fashion chain is so dazzlingly successful its founder has overtaken Warren Buffett as the third-richest man in the world. Amancio Ortega, the major shareholder of fashion retailer Zara, was the fastest mover on the annual Forbes magazine rich list released this week. The personal wealth of the 76-year-old Spaniard grew by almost $20 billion to $57 billion in the past year on the back of Zara's record profits. Only Mexican telecommunications giant Carlos Slim and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are wealthier.

Zara has cracked the secret recipe for fashion retail success, and customers love it - but it is not a model that impresses all observers.

''Zara has really driven the formula for modern-day chains in that what they are capable of doing is getting on-trend fashion into store faster, higher quality and better priced than most of its competitors,'' said Karen Webster, chairwoman of the Australian Fashion Council. ''They're able to get the Prada look in store before Prada does.''

Since opening its first store in Galicia, Spain, in 1975, Zara (owned by fashion distributor Inditex) has grown to a worldwide success story that can lay claim to developing the philosophy of ''fast fashion''.

It's a model that relies on fast turnover of stock at its 1700 global stores to always keep the customer enticed, always seeing new products and hopefully coming back to buy more.

While even the best-run traditional fashion retailers might have new stock in the store every four weeks, Zara has compressed that to between two and three weeks and is believed to launch 10,000 new designs a year.

This model led one fashion industry executive to describe Zara as ''possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world''.

Zara's success is based on not exactly copying, but ''editing'' the latest catwalk looks from premium fashion houses, insiders said. » | Eli Greenblat, Kelsey Munro | Saturday, March 09, 2013

Dolce and Gabbana: Stylists to the Stars Face £320m Tax Fraud Case

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's next public appearance in Italy's fashion capital will be on Monday, with the start of a trial in which they are accused of evading more than €400 million in tax.

They are accustomed to bathing in the adulation of models and fashion critics as they parade down the catwalks of Milan.

But Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's next public appearance in Italy's fashion capital will take place under rather less glamorous circumstances, as the famed stylists face a trial for alleged tax avoidance on an epic scale.

Monday will see the start of a trial in which they are accused of evading more than €400 million in tax when they sold their D&G and Dolce & Gabbana brands to a holding company, Gado, which they set up in Luxembourg in 2004.

Prosecutors say the complex arrangement enabled the duo, whose friends and clients include Angelia Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, Monica Bellucci and Naomi Campbell, to avoid paying higher taxes in Italy and instead pay at a lower rate in Luxembourg.

Investigators say the price at which the companies were sold – €360 million – was about one third of their true market value. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Sunday, December 02, 2012

Indonesia Aims to be Islamic Fashion Powerhouse

WSJ – BLOG: JAKARTA–A new breed of designers is seeking to blend Islamic modesty with cutting-edge style to turn Indonesia into a global center of Islamic fashion.

The idea may seem like a bad fit for some fashion mavens, who when thinking of Islamic fashion usually picture drab black or white cloths used to cloak female beauty rather than celebrate it.

But the Islamic-fashion industry has taken off in recent years as designers look for ways to incorporate the bold colors and rich textile traditions prevalent in some Islamic societies while still maintaining sufficient modesty to adhere to Muslim mores.

Indonesia, as the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, is already one of the main players, with a local fashion industry now estimated to be worth $6.6 billion dollars a year. But local designers and retailers – led by an industry group called the Indonesian Islamic Fashion Consortium – are hoping to expand the Islamic fashion component of the industry even more by drawing up a road map to make Indonesia the “capital” of global Islamic fashion by 2020.

Right now, Malaysia, Thailand and France are among the leading Islamic fashion hubs, industry officials say. » | Ahmad Pathoni | Monday, October 15, 2012

Valentino Slips from Italian Hands

THE GUARDIAN: Sources say Qatari royal family is behind Gulf investment group that has bought the fashion house for a reported €700m

The fashion house Valentino became the latest in a long line of famous brands to pass out of Italian hands on Thursday, when it was bought by the royal family of Qatar for a reported €700m (£550m).

It was the second renowned Italian design firm in two years to be snapped up by Gulf investors.

The company's founder, 80-year-old Valentino Garavani – a friend of princesses, socialites and film stars – staged his last collection in 2008. Ten years earlier, he and his life partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, had sold the company for around $300m (£195m) to an Italian conglomerate.

For the past four years, the design of Valentino's collections has been in the hands of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Picciolo, who worked closely with Garavani until his retirement. Their dresses have been worn by, among others, Jennifer Aniston and Rachel Weisz. » | John Hooper in Rome | Thursday, July 12, 2012

BBC Middle East Business Report: Designer Dishdasha

Lochcarron of Scotland


Quintessentially Scottish: Lochcarron >>>