Business of Fashion

The ‘nouveau romance’ of Celine menswear AW21



Celine men winter 21

Chapeaus off to GQ’s Rachel Tashjian, who wrote this very astute critique of Hedi Slimane’s latest Celine menswear collection. And the brand’s overall current appeal.

“His clothing is probably the most intelligently merchandised stuff on the planet. He is making clothes to sell them, proving with every one of his choices why you need them…When you go into a Celine shop, or look at the brand’s e-commerce, you see something so clear and intelligent it might make you mad at other big fashion brands: a few perfect blazers, a leather motorcycle jacket, a leather blouson, a suede trucker jacket, and so on. All the pants are just right. The loafers, sneakers, and boots are just the kind you’re looking for when you don’t know what you’re looking for. Slimane is actually thinking about someone going into a store to buy clothing. What might they want?” (more…)



Pieter Mulier to Maison Alaïa



Pieter Mulier creative director Alaïa ss22

Some exciting news on the designer front. Pieter Mulier, the one-time secret weapon of Raf Simons (who can forget his stand out supporting role in Dior & I?) has been appointed creative director at Alaïa.

This sounds like an excellent appointment, with Mulier promising to retain Azzedine Alaïa’s “legacy of celebrating femininity and placing women at the heart of creation”, hopefully with a modern hand. I imagine Richemont will expect a big ROI with fulsome collections of clothes, accessories (and maybe even beauty?) but hopefully they can also find a way to imbue some of the slower pace Alaïa was known for with his ‘it comes when it comes’ schedules. (more…)



Meet Finematter: Net-a-Porter for jewellery



Finematter jewellery ecommerce DTC - photo by Hasse Nielsen

Watch out Net-a-Porter, Matchesfashion and Farfetch; Finematter is the fine jewellery site coming to steal your crown.

I first got wind of the Danish DTC jeweller (pay wall) a few weeks ago. Founded by Caroline Chalmer and Mie Ejdrup, two retail strategy veterans, with influencer Pernille Teisbæk on board as a creative advisor, it’s the clean, serene jewellery etailer for the #OldCeline set and, crucially, the woman who buys fine jewellery for herself. (more…)



Remember Mahabis? They’re back



Good to see the return (and improvement of) the OG Mahabis slippers.

These were all over my social media back in the early days and a huge hit with stay-at-home millennials. Until an unfortunate blip in 2018 sent the company hurtling into administration, to be rescued by Simba Sleep founder, James Cox.

Now the original slipper design has been revived as the ‘Curve’ model, a return to Mahabis’ signature silhouette with contrasting rubber sole and toe detail (more…)