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…)
Great to hear that Gabriela Hearst is the new creative director at Chloe. She has proven sustainability credentials, a contemporary-classic point of view (which I prefer to her predecessor’s) and clearly knows how to design fantastic bags.
It will be interesting to see if she can retain her considered approach while working for a brand that thrives on constant consumption. Perhaps we’ll see her instil a slower pace of product release. (more…)
“I’m very materialistic. Unfortunately, I am also very uninterested in money, so it’s a horrible combination. I have more Anderson & Sheppard suits and jackets than I should. More than I could really afford. Of course, you don’t actually need any of these things, and I have more than I need. That doesn’t mean that I have more than I want, since I seem to be the only American who knows the difference between desire and need. But I enjoy the whole process. There is nothing that I like more than to spend hours looking through swatches. I love deciding between 17 shades of grey.” (more…)
Welcome to the latest travel retail column for DRG by Alison Farrington aka The Retail Planner (TRP)
As global travel slowly picks up, we look at the business and shopping trends of the travel retail world. Recent highlights include the launch of beauty retail ‘café’ destinations in Hamad Airport, Doha and a focus on exclusive duty-free products in Hainan, where Chinese consumers continue to ‘revenge spend’ their way out of the pandemic, while domestic travel is their only option.
1/ BEAUTY RETAIL-TECH ‘CAFÉ’ CONCEPTS. L’Oréal has launched two ‘phygital’ retail concepts at Hamad Airport, Doha. The new retail-tech destinations – from Lancôme and YSL Beauté – sit next door to each other as one beauty department within the Qatar Duty Free retail space.
The Lancôme concept features a French apartment-inspired décor and the addition of bar stool seating gives a luxury café atmosphere. The counters offer interactive touchpoints where customers can personalise their purchases. It’s the first store in the brand’s EMEAI (Europe, Middle East, Africa, India) division to launch Lancôme’s new Shade Finder tool – the skin tone measurement technology that can identify up to 22,500 shades for foundation matching. (more…)
