Weekend Fashion News Alert: Beyoncè’s September Issue Cover, Galliano Re-emerges in London, and The Gap’s Profits Fall

For fall 2015 black seems to be the new black. With Serena Williams gracing the cover of New York magazine fall fashion issue, Misty Copeland resplendent on the September issue of Essence, and Beyoncè triumphantly seductive on the September issue of Vogue, black women are reigning supreme on the September covers of fashion and life and entertainment magazines.

Vogue’s coveted September issue is its biggest issue of the year. This year the September issue contains 832 pages and weighs over four pounds.

Though Beyoncè’s September 2015 cover is much heralded, the issue contains no interview from its megastar cover subject. This is the first time in Vogue’s history that a celebrity who graces the cover did not give a published interview. Beyoncè’s golden silence may be a calculated move.

The essay by New York Times’ editor Margo Johnson was conceived as a cerebral think article to accompany the editorial spread. “She has to be studying how effective her interviews have been so far. She may have decided that they do not contribute as dazzlingly to the portrait of Beyoncé as the other stuff. It’s a perfectly reasonable decision,” commented Johnson.

Galliano’s back!!

John Galliano has been persona non grata in fashion communities since his famous anti-Semitic rant in 2011. Still, 2015 appears to be a turnaround year for Galliano.

As the new creative director of Martin Margiela, Galliano will make an appearance during the London Fashion Week’s spring 2016 ready-to-wear collections after an absence of four years. MM6’s spring 2016 presentation, the Martin Margiela diffusion line, is scheduled for Sunday, September 20.

The 2016 spring fashion calendar is full of shake-ups and reversal this season. Several brands and design houses that show first in certain international fashion capitals have opted to switch cities. Martin Margiela usually shows in NYC has now opted to show in London; Givenchy is showing in NYC instead of Paris this season, and Versace Versus has switched from NYC to London.

The Gap’s financial gap

For the second quarter, Gap, Inc.  has reported a drop in earnings. The quarterly decline in sales is due to a stronger America dollar, shipment delays, and week sales at its flagship brand. Also, the flagship brand has seen an increase loss of customers to mega discount brand competitors such as H&M, Urban Outfitters, Zara, American Eagle Outfitters, and Forever 21.

As reported in fashionmag.com, the company said net income fell by more than a third to $219 million, or 52 cents per share in the second quarter ended Aug. 1, from $332 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier. A stronger dollar hit quarterly sales by $100 million and hurt profit by 5 percentage points in the second quarter, Gap said on Thursday.

Market analysts feel that The Gap should focus more on garments that are more trendy and feminine instead of relying on staple items and basics. One bright spot in the quarterly report, Gap’s Old Navy sales increased 3 percent in the second quarter, and sales rose to $1.67 billion.

—William S. Gooch