Fendi Spring 2010 Campaign | Anja Rubik by Anja Rubik

Morgans Hotel Group loves MiN New York

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery which is how we couldn't feel more flattered by Morgans Hotel Group.

About a year ago we sponsored an event in Soho and produced a window display featuring our slogan and type font/layout:



Today we see the new banner ads for the Morgans Hotel Group:



Give us a call next time and we'd be happy to help.

Margiela Exits Margiela

PARIS — Fashion’s mystery man is becoming even more mysterious: Belgian designer Martin Margiela is hanging up his scissors, and his lab coat, for good.

What’s more, the Paris-based fashion house that bears his name confirmed Tuesday that no successor would be named, leaving a team to carry on the legacy of a designer so avant-garde he never showed his face to his fashion-obsessed public.

“We want to stay avant-garde, and provocative, but without a new creative director,” said Giovanni Pungetti, chief executive officer of Maison Martin Margiela. “It’s a challenge. We know this. We will probably make mistakes, but the most important thing is to learn from them.”

Margiela — who introduced cleft-toed boots, deconstructed fashions and all-white stores to the fashion lexicon — issued no statement. Pungetti declined to comment on the reasons for the designer’s exit, characterizing them as personal.

According to sources, Margiela has recently poured creative energies into painting and wished to walk away from the fashion business.

Pungetti described the parting as fully amicable, and stressed that Margiela remains allied with the strategy, as he has since 2002, when Italian industrialist Renzo Rosso’s Only the Brave Srl swept in and bought a majority stake in the house.

Tuesday’s announcement ends speculation about Margiela’s level of design involvement that reached a zenith ahead of his 20th anniversary fashion show in Paris in March, viewed by many as a retirement show. At the time, Pungetti disclosed that Margiela had gradually reduced his day-to-day involvement in the company, working mainly on special projects, such as the “artisanal” collection presented during couture week in Paris, and the house’s first fragrance, under license with beauty giant L’Oréal and due on counters in February.

On Tuesday, Pungetti explained the company granted Margiela several months, at his request, to reflect on his future.

During that time, the company explored its options, too, including the possibility of naming a new creative director. Belgians Raf Simons and Haider Ackermann were among those approached.

“We came to the conclusion that we didn’t want to substitute [Martin], not because he is irreplaceable, but because we are the Maison Martin Margiela,” Pungetti said, seated at a white table at Margiela headquarters with an empty snow globe, an all-white set of Russian dolls and a boot-shaped candle. “He always liked to say to his design team, ‘You are more Margiela than me.’”

Pungetti said Margiela’s “right hand” for the past 19 years would lead the team, which consists of about 25 people and is continually refreshed “with new talent, but no big names, please.”

While the latest Margiela show for spring received poor reviews, Pungetti said orders shot up 20 percent, reflecting continued commercial momentum for the firm.

He held out hope that clarity about Margiela’s exit from the company would encourage critics to “evaluate the collection and not focus on who has designed this.”

While revenues at Margiela catapulted 50 percent in 2007 to 60 million euros, or $82.2 million at average exchange, as the company expanded its product lines and retail network, sales in 2009 will be flat versus 2008, with the company operating at “near breakeven,” Pungetti said.

“We think 2010 will be tough, but no tougher than 2009,” he said. “We have good deliveries, and good sell-through.”

The company will end the year with 17 freestanding stores and 21 shop-in-shops, with boutiques in Italy, France, the U.K. and Los Angeles running well ahead of last year. No openings are planned for 2010; however, growth vectors for the company include its move into home objects and interior design. This week, Margiela will unveil a suite it decorated at Les Sources de Caudalie “vino therapy” spa near Bordeaux, France.

Pungetti described “very big potential” for the interior design service, noting Margiela is competing for a Paris hotel commission and has fielded requests to do private homes. “The reputation of the Maison as a global design company, not only fashion design, is increasing,” he said. [Via]

Stockholm Metro Stations

Zac Posen For Target

As collaboration fans breathlessly await the launch of Rodarte for Target's Go International program, the mass retailer has announced Zac Posen as the designer on deck for the nest installment.

Many might wonder if the popular, precocious Posen might already be too well established for the program meant for lesser known, up-and-coming designers. After all, he is already famous enough to have appeared as himself on TV shows like "Ugly Betty", and unlike, Thakoon and Proenza Schouler, for example, everybody pretty much knows how to pronounce his name by now. However, his young designer bona fides were enough for Target, so you can now mark your calendars for April 25th when his line will be released for a month or so of selling. So far, there's no other word on the collection or what sorts of things it will include, as Target is, characteristically, keeping a lid on things.

Posen has been paring down his own company's staff lately perhaps in preparation for a big Spring. Aside form the Target project, the designer will also be introducing a more casual, less expensive label called Z Spoke which will launch exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue. If all goes well, the two lines should cleverly promote each other at the same time. [Via]

Paul Smith + Kashimax

Paul Smith teamed up with Japanese bicycle saddle specialist, Kashimax, on a limited edition leahtersaddle covered in Smith’s signature stripes. Only 20 will be available at Paul Smith’s “Space” store in Japan as well his Floral St. store in London.

Dan Ariely And The Psychology Of Fakes

Dan Ariely, author of the book Predictably Irrational and an lecturer in behavioral economics at MIT, is currently working on a project around luxury brands – particularly around the emotional aspect of counterfeit products. His current hypothesis on luxury brands and counterfeiting is that luxury brands could find more efficient ways to decrease consumer enthusiasm for fakes.

When people purchase counterfeits, says Ariely, they think only about how much money they have saved.

What they fail to predict is how it will make them feel later on – for example – when they go to a party and receive compliments on the product. The internal knowledge that it’s fake will have an effect on their internal psychology; producing a kind of internal shame. While other people think you are projecting a positive image, but internally you are aware that you are not.

Says Ariely, “And that turns out to matter. We wear brands not just for the outside world but also for the inside world and it changes the way we behave. When we give people real and fake sunglasses and let them walk around campus then see how much they cheat people who wear fake are more likely to cheat. The notion there is once you have tainted yourself, once you think of yourself as a cheater, it’s easier to make the next step. Based on this, it’s not just important what brands are telling consumer, but it’s also important what consumers are telling themselves; how consumers are using brands to inform themselves.”

Ariely believes that the work that luxury brands have done to try to connect counterfeiting to terrorism and child labor is less effective than stimulating this internal idea of internal shame at point of purchase.

The implications of this are enormous for those luxury brands which are losing significant business to counterfeit products. It suggests that the strategic issue for luxury brands is to reconsider the dramatic ways in which they have demonized counterfeiting in the past – fakes boost terrorism, fakes involve child labor, buy a fake and be stopped at customs etc. Instead the opportunity is to ‘internalize’ the appeal, to communicate more on the personal psychology of the feelings associated with owning a fake.

Ariely believes that encouraging consumers to think about the idea of ‘identity’ is potentially a more powerful way to tackle the issue.

His work on the psychology of counterfeiting is still underway, results will be published at the end of his research. Dan Ariely can be contacted via his website – Predictably Irrational
Image (C) Zevs

Gucci Pops-up in SoHo

Gucci pops-up its Gucci-Icon Temporary Shop on 43 Crosby St. in New York’s SoHo tomorrow morning at 10 am. Featuring its signature colors, Gucci's white-washed walls are covered in the signature evergreen and red stripes, Gucci will pack up as soon as its wares — which include the Gucci Ronson sneaker, a collaboration with celebrity DJ Mark Ronson — are sold out. "The company is hoping to close the space even before its two-week run is over,” reported WWD.

Let's see if this store will make it past this weekend.

Betsey Johnson awarded Lifetime Achievement in Fashion Medal of Honor

This past Tuesday evening, legendary fashion designer Betsey Johnson was awarded National Art Club’s Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Fashion. The venue of the event was New York’s National Art Club located in the historic Tilden building that has stood near Gramercy Park since the 1840s. In the reception area, the Victorian architecture and décor was thrown into sharp contrast against a display of Betsey Johnson through the ages. Five brightly colored mannequins commemorated five decades of Betsey Johnson’s reign in the fashion world with an iconic style from each decade. The guests were dressed in everything from brightly colored vintage Betsey Johnson dresses to traditional long ball gowns proving that the iconic designer has become a timeless classic. This Club, located in the historic Tilden building, has stood near Gramercy Park since the 1840s. In the reception area, the Victorian architecture and décor was thrown into sharp contrast against a display of Betsey Johnson through the ages. Five brightly colored mannequins commemorated five decades of Betsey Johnson’s reign in the fashion world with an iconic style from each decade. The guests were dressed in everything from brightly colored vintage Betsey Johnson dresses to traditional long ball gowns proving that the iconic designer has become a timeless classic.

Betsey Johnson began her career in the 1960s and has since developed a trademark of sexy, hippie inspired patterns and whimsical detailing. She drew inspiration from her love for dance and costuming and became an icon of the youthquake movement and Andy Warhol’s underground scene.

Today, Betsey Johnson has over forty-five stores around the world and has been inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame. She has now joined the esteemed ranks of previous lifetime achievement honorees including Geoffrey Beene (2003), Oleg Cassini (2004), Carolina Herrera (2005), and Arnold Scaasi (2006).

Farewell Captain Lou

Legendary wrestling figure Captain Lou Albano, perhaps best known for his association with pop singer Cyndi Lauper, died Wednesday, according to World Wrestling Entertainment.


Captain Lou Albano reached a new level of fame in the '80s with his association with Cyndi Lauper.

Albano, 76, was "one of the company's most popular and charismatic legends," the company said in a statement.

The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

"Albano began his storied career with Vincent J. McMahon in the 1960s as one half of 'The Sicilians' tag team with his partner Tony Altimore," the WWE said. "He will be greatly missed by the WWE and his fans."

Albano, who was with the WWE from 1983 to 1996, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.

He started as a tag team wrestler in the 1950s but became a successful manager of champion wrestlers in the 1970s, according to a biography on the WWE Web site.

Albano was recognizable by his penchant for unbuttoned Hawaiian shirts and a trademark beard, which was usually bound by a rubber band.

His persona earned him the distinction of "one of the most hated men" in wrestling for 15 years, the WWE biography said.

Albano's image evolved in the 1980s, when he teamed with Lauper on several music videos, such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," and wrestling appearances.

As his celebrity status grew, Albano landed acting jobs, including a role on several episodes of the "Miami Vice" TV series, the biography said.

Albano became a cartoon in 1989, when he was the voice of Mario "Jumpman" Mario for 17 episodes of "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" according to the Internet Movie Database.

The Upper House HK

The Upper House, designed by architect Andre Fu, is Hong Kong's newest and most innovative boutique hotel. Tucked away on the 38th floor, guests of the Upper House are guaranteed to relish in the magnificent views below. Images courtesy of Michael Weber Photograpy.