All Eyes on Prada in Milan

THE CHEAT SHEET

Prada Might Make Headlines On and Off the Runway

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons in 2018 | Supply: Getty Photographs

• Milan Trend Week runs Feb. 19-24; highlights embrace Moncler and Gucci on Feb. 19, Prada and Fendi on Feb. 20, Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta on Feb. 22
• Prada has denied rumours it’s searching for a purchaser, whereas declining to touch upon discuss that Raf Simons will join the brand in some capability
• Prada shares are down about 30 p.c during the last 5 years, whereas Gucci-owner Kering’s inventory is up 257 p.c over the identical interval

Although Prada as a model stays a family title from Shanghai to Sheboygan, its owner has struggled to show that notoriety right into a affluent world enterprise. The place Louis Vuitton and Gucci have soared, Prada got here late to the streetwear development and has suffered embarrassing missteps, resulting in surreal headlines earlier this month when Miuccia Prada herself agreed to attend cultural sensitivity training. Hiring Simons would certainly quiet questions in regards to the model’s succession plan, not less than within the brief time period. It is unlikely these rumours shall be confirmed or put to relaxation this week, although it is one other storyline to comply with in what’s, between Gucci’s 180-degree aesthetic flip and Bottega Veneta’s artistic and business resurgence, already a fairly plot-heavy few days.

Karl Lagerfeld: One 12 months Later

Karl Lagerfeld | Supply: Getty Photographs

• Karl Lagerfeld, longtime designer at Chanel, Fendi and his personal label, died one yr in the past this week, on Feb. 19, 2019
• Since his dying, Chanel and Fendi have begun to chart new instructions below Virginie Viard and Silvia Venturini Fendi, respectively

Like several enterprise, trend is unsentimental in regards to the individuals who commit their lives to it. Karl Lagerfeld was an exception to that rule; the business went right into a interval of collective mourning that spanned a lot of final yr. Nonetheless, commerce is commerce, and the multi-billion-dollar manufacturers Lagerfeld shepherded have begun to chart a path ahead. Chanel, one of the world’s biggest and most profitable luxurious manufacturers, is too big to fail; Virginie Viard’s first post-Lagerfeld collections have acquired positive, although only occasionally rapturous critiques, and there is not any indication the model’s world advertising machine has slowed down. LVMH-owned Fendi, a comparatively smaller model that was much less carefully related to Lagerfeld, could also be charting a more radical course below Silvia Fendi, who in interviews portrays herself as a consummate rule-breaker.

The Backside Line:  The query of who, if anybody, among the many present era of designers is prone to set up a legacy to rival Lagerfeld, additionally stays open. Within the age of luxurious conglomerates, with designers hopping from label to label, it is exhausting to think about anybody working with a model for greater than 50 years like Lagerfeld did with Fendi. 

Will Victoria’s Secret Discover a New Proprietor?

Fashions have a good time on the finish of the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Trend Present in Shanghai | Supply: Fred Dufour/AFP through Getty Photographs

• Sycamore Companions is reported to be in advanced talks to purchase Victoria’s Secret from L Manufacturers
• The non-public fairness agency has acquired different troubled retailers, together with Sizzling Matter, Staples and 9 West
• Victoria’s Secret comparable gross sales plunged 12 percent over the vacations from a yr earlier

Victoria’s Secret has begun the duty of modernising its operations, together with fundamental steps like ensuring models’ safety on photograph shoots. The much-maligned annual trend present is cancelled. Ed Razek, who championed “horny” advertising gone its sell-by date, is gone below a cloud of harassment accusations. It isn’t exhausting to think about Victoria’s Secret advertising resembling Aerie’s, Fenty’s or ThirdLove’s earlier than lengthy, whether or not or not L Manufacturers sells the model to Sycamore Companions or one other purchaser. Adopting more-inclusive advertising and treating staff humanely shall be delicate work, however the path ahead on these fronts is obvious. Much less apparent is how Victoria’s Secret can fix its retail strategy, which nonetheless depends an excessive amount of on a bloated community of greater than 1,100 shops. Even essentially the most progressive and progressive manufacturers wrestle with these questions.

SUNDAY READING

Skilled Exclusives You Could Have Missed:

The Week Forward desires to listen to from you! Ship suggestions, recommendations, complaints and compliments to brian.baskin@businessoffashion.com.

Was this BoF Skilled electronic mail forwarded to you? Be part of BoF Skilled to get entry to the unique perception and evaluation that retains you forward of the competitors. Subscribe to BoF Professional here.