Resort Collections 2011:
"The buoyant spirit of wealthy beach towns comes through at Marc Jacobs, where resort is flush with girlish quirks. He works a pastel palette in jumbo tweeds, webby knits and dresses with frothy, floral appliqués, all of which are feminine and flirty to the extreme in the case of full skirts — some midlength, some microsocopic — that kick out at the rear. And on the subdued side are A-line skirts, shorts suits and tipped knits for the playful preppy."
"For Stella McCartney, resort is not a question of show versus showroom, but rather how to temporarily transplant her collection to New York and upstage everyone else with a presentation-as-garden-party. This season, the venue was Gavin Brown’s enterprise staged with vignettes: models playing chess, dancing to an a cappella group, posing in a faux photoshoot (with real NYC photographers cycling through), etc. It all served as a charming, if at times chaotic, backdrop for snappy floral dresses, sporty shorts and jackets done with scalloped edges, McCartney’s signature tailored blazers, lace tops and cropped trapeze trenches. “We just try to have a bit of fun,” said McCartney, shrugging off her inspiration as “flowers, an English garden in New York.”
(wwd)Talbots Reduces Loss in 1st Qtr.
"The Talbots Inc. on Tuesday posted a first-quarter loss that was narrower than a year ago and smaller than analysts expected, but shares fell 9.5 percent on the retailer’s anemic second-quarter forecast and questionable inventory position. For the three months ended May 1, the net loss was $4.4 million, or 8 cents a diluted share, compared with a year-ago loss of $23.6 million, or 44 cents. On an adjusted basis, income from continuing operations, excluding one-time charges related to restructuring and its merger with BPW Acquisition Corp., was $21.7 million, or 38 cents a share, 22 cents above the 16 cents expected, on average, by analysts polled by Yahoo Finance. Sales rose 4.7 percent to $320.7 million from $306.2 million as same-store sales increased 2.4 percent, full-price selling was up 21 percent and markdown selling dropped 31 percent. Referring to these numbers, Trudy Sullivan, president and chief executive officer, told analysts on a morning conference call, “After 11 quarters of a year-over-year sales decline, we have turned the corner to positive sales growth.” read more
(US)JWoww Debuts "Filthy Couture"
We've been waiting (not quite at the edges of our seats) since we saw J-Woww at NY Fashion week in September, hoping that maybe it was serving as inspiration for something wearable, but now we're not quite sure..."At Sunday night’s MTV Movie Awards, Jenni “J-Woww” Farley wasn’t shy about showcasing her latest project, clothing line Filthy Couture. The Jersey Shore star stepped onto the red carpet rocking a lacy pink minidress from the new collection, telling PEOPLE of the revealing plunge-front look, “The dress has a thousand Swarovski crystals. Farley describes her personal style as “sexy gothic,” a look that will anchor Filthy Couture, which is set to debut this July on the heels of her line of made-to-order tops. “I’m more like rocker-edgy, but very sexy,” she said. “Definitely all my dresses and bathing suits and my jeans and shirts will be like that.” And is there such thing as too risqué for the 21-year-old “guidette”? Said J-Woww, “I keep it sexy classy. I won’t go to porn star sexy. I won’t go that far.” For more info on Filthy Couture, visit jwoww.com." read more
(wwd)Google Exec Touts YouTube as Brand Builder
"One of the biggest brand building mediums today is video, said Kevin Kells, national industry director of consumer packaged goods for Google Inc., which owns YouTube. It tells a story and creates an emotional connection between a brand and its customers. “The very nature of the medium forces you to be engaged with it,” he said, referring to clicking, searching, sharing and commenting. “Video is nothing more than sight, sound and motion storytelling. It’s a really powerful storytelling device.” In the last month, 77 percent of Americans online watched a video. Only five years old, YouTube garnered 2 billion views a day in May. Every 60 days, more minutes of video are uploaded than the top three broadcast channels produced in 60 years, he said. YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world after Google, and a quarter of YouTube sessions contain at least one search opportunity for brands, Kells said. Companies can advertise on the home page, next to video that’s important to customers, or they can create brand channels and archive company video." read more