Photo by Jeff Sutera
Gurls Talk Comes to Brooklyn
It was a full on #gurlsfest this past Sunday as model activist, Adwoa Aboah, brought her Girls Talk festival stateside for the first time. The full day of panel discussions brought notable names like UK rapper Professor Green, Paloma Elsesser, Teddy Quinlivan and many more together to discuss a range of topics from sexuality, race, mental health, and body image. [MODELS.COM]
LMVH Young Fashion Designers’ Prize 2018 edition announces its 9 finalists
The annual LVMH Young Fashion Designers’ Prize competition has announced its 9 finalists, selected from a shortlist of 20 semi-finalist designers. That’s 1 more from what has been traditionally 8 in the past. Between them they hail from the United States, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea. The names of the finalists’ brands include: A-Cold-Wall, Botter, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Doublet, Eckhaus Latta, Kwaidan Editions, Ludovic De Saint Sernin, Matthew Adams Dolan and Rokh. They will be judged on June 6th at the Louis Vuitton Foundation by a jury including Jonathan Anderson, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld and Delphine Arnault. The winners recieve, “A grant of 300,000 euros and a personalized technical and financial support from the Group for a 12-month period following the LVMH Prize award.” Winners in the past have included Marine Serre (2017), Grace Wales Bonner (2016), Marques’ Almeida (2015) and Thomas Tait (2014). You can explore the finalists here.
Versace Goes Fur Free
Who says you can’t stunt responsibly? In an effort to be more sustainable, Donatella Versace has eliminated animal fur from all future collections for the Milanese brand. “Fur? I am out of that. I don’t want to kill animals to make fashion. It doesn’t feel right,” the designer declared this week. The luxury label known for its maximalist aesthetic, started by brother Gianni Versace, joins brands like Giorgio Armani, Gucci, and Michael Kors that have all eliminated the material from their collections. [THE ECONOMIST]
The CFDA announces its nominees for the 2018 Fashion Awards
The CFDA listed the designers nominated for its Fashion Awards, selected by the CFDA Fashion Awards Guild which is made up of 500+ members. For Womenswear Designers of the Year: Raf Simons for Calvin Klein, Gabriela Hearst, Marc Jacobs, Virgil Abloh for Off-White, and Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row. For Menswear Designer of the Year Award: Raf Simons for Calvin Klein, Virgil Abloh for Off-White, James Jebbia for Supreme, Thom Browne and Tom Ford. For the Accessory Designer of the Year Award: Paul Andrew, Stuart Vevers for Coach, Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel for Mansur Gavriel, Irene Neuwirth, and Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row. Additionally for the Swaroski Award for Emerging Talent Mike Amiri, Laura Vassar Brock and Kristopher Brock of Brock Collection, Aurora James of Brother Vellies, Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss and Sander Lak of Sies Marjan are nominated. The awards will be hosted by Issa Rae on June 4th at the Brooklyn Museum.
H&M withdraws its contentious lawsuit against graffiti artist REVOK
Following a counter action taken by giant retailer H&M after the Los Angeles-based graffiti artist, Jason Williams, known as “REVOK” sent a cease-and-desist letter for the use of his work in the background of one of their campaigns, the company says they have withdrawn their lawsuit. News of the case quickly mobilized a boycott campaign against the retailer led mostly online by the graffiti community, the second boycott in recent times following their racially charged “Coolest monkey in the jungle” PR catastrophe. H&M claimed the works were illicit vandalism and therefore were afforded none of the copyright protections Williams suggested and filed a lawsuit against. Artists suggested otherwise. H&M yesterday released a statement stating, “We should have acted differently in our approach to this matter. It was never our intention to set a precedent concerning public art or to influence the debate on the legality of street art. As a result, we are withdrawing the complaint filed in court. We are currently reaching out directly to the artist in question to come up with a solution.” [The Fashion Law]
Creative Director Guillaume Henry departs from Nina Ricci
Nina Ricci announced its creative director of 3 years, Guillaume Henry, will be leaving the house. The next collection will be designed by the in-house studio. This confirmation comes after Nina Ricci had denied a report by WWD released on March 1st. Previously Henry helmed Carven, starting in 2009, and there has been no mention of where the designer will go following this departure. [WWD]
Hubert de Givenchy Passes Away
The fashion industry mourned the death of French couturier Hubert de Givenchy who passed at age 91. The famed fashion designer was responsible for founding the House of Givenchy and dressing iconic women like First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Grace Kelly and historically Audrey Hepburn who insisted he make her clothes for all her movies, including “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “Funny Face”. One of the last survivors of the grand Post-War couturiers, he trained under designers like Jacques Fath and Elsa Schiaparelli before going on to start his own collection and being part of immense moments like the Battle of Versailles. Since his retirement in 1995, his brand has seen a notable list of designers at its helm from John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Riccardo Tisci and now Clare Waight Keller, who left a touching tribute to the designer on her Instagram. [NY TIMES]
