Fashion Reverie’s Top Fashion Stories of 2013

As every fashion year is filled with new beginnings for some and the changing of the guard at revered fashion houses and brands for others, 2013 has particularly been a year of evolving points of view and directional shifts in the fashion industry. From Marc Jacobs’ departure from Louis Vuitton to Kate Moss having a banner year of campaigns and endorsements, the fashion industry is always projecting toward the future.

 As always Fashion Reverie keeps its readers informed on all the new developments in the industry, as well as the dominant, current trends in fashion. Remember, without change there is no growth, and Fashion Reverie gives its readers a front row seat on all the action.

Kate Moss Rules

This has been a banner year for Kate Moss. The 39-year old British supermodel has racked up campaigns with Stuart Weitzman, Eleven Paris, Prada, and Versace, as well as the cover of Playboy’s 60^th Anniversary cover. Add to that a contributing editor position at British Vogue.

Jil Sander Departs

Jil Sander announced in October that her spring/summer 2014 collection was her last collection for her eponymous label. The 69-year old Sander’s cited that her departure was “motivated by personal reasons.”

Founded in 1968, Sander sold her brand to a Japanese company in 1999, leaving a year later, but returning for a short stint in 2003, exiting short after her return to work at Uniqlo. Sander was back on board once again 2012, but after just 18 months, Sander had made the decision to leave.

Mario Cuomo Signs New Model Law

New York Governor Mario Cuomo signed into law stricter labor protections for child models. The new labor protections establishes the following:

• Designers have to ensure 15 percent of the model’s fee is funneled into a trust account until he or she is 18.
• If they miss three or more consecutive days of school, they must also be provided a tutor.
• Models under 16 must also be provided a chaperone and a nurse with pediatric experience should be on hand.
• Employers or guardians who break the rules will face fines of between $1,000 and $3,000.

Jeremy Scott’s New Job

Iconic Italian brand Moschino has a new creative director, Jeremy Scott. Seems like a good match. The LA–based Scott will head up a brand known for its irreverence and edgy aesthetic, similar to Scott’s own, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, the-fashion-world-be-damned, rebellious point of view.

Scott will make his runway debut for Moschino in February for the fall 2014 season. “It’s the closing of one chapter and the beginning of a new one,” explained Scott in a phone interview with style.com.

Sayonara New York Fashion Week

Y-3 says goodbye to New York Fashion Week for its fall/winter 2015 collection. The brand has decided to show in Paris starting this coming January. Y-3, a partnership between Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas has shown during New York Fashion Week since the inception of the company in 2003.

Shopping While Black

You may have heard of “driving while black.” Well, “shopping while black” has now come front and center as a lawsuit by Trayon Christian, an African American college student, was filed on Tuesday in a Manhattan Supreme Court claiming that Christian was racially profiled while purchasing a $350 Salvatore Ferragamo belt at Barneys New York last April.

In response to the racial profiling claim, Barneys has released the following statement, “Barneys New York typically does not comment on pending litigation. In this instance, we feel compelled to note that after carefully reviewing the incident of last April, it is clear that no employee of Barneys New York was involved in the pursuit of any action with the individual other than the sale. Barneys New York has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination and we stand by our long history in support of all human rights.”

Let’s Just Kiss and Say Goodbye

After 16 years Marc Jacobs is leaving Louis Vuitton to concentrate on his own fashion lines. Inside sources contend that Marc Jacobs confirmed his departure backstage at the Louis Vuitton spring 2014 in Paris.

Jacobs is contributed with invigorating the iconic French fashion house which is now accounts for 7 billion dollars in sales and more than half of LVMH’s operating budget. It had been reported that LVMH has had major difficulties with Jacobs in the past and that Jacobs has been in contract negotiations with Louis Vuitton since January 2013.

Wal-Mart Brings it Home

Retail giant Wal-Mart has joined the economic movement around homegrown manufacturing. Wal-Mart pledged in January of this year to buy an additional $50 billion in U.S.–made goods over the next 10 years.

This decision has come on the back of some of Wal-Mart’s supplier’s decision to produce more products in the U.S. due to rising wages in China. Critics of Wal-Mart’s homegrown initiative have expressed concern over the mega brand sincere efforts to support U.S.–based manufacturing.

Estee Lauder Goes to Mother Africa

Tapping into Sub-Saharan Africa’s middle class Estée, Lauder has plans to expand its presence in the region by promoting two of its most lucrative brands, Clinique and MAC. There appears to be a demand for luxury cosmetics by the region’s middle class. ”Our target consumer is the emerging middle class, the established middle class and that affluent African consumer who’s probably extremely well-traveled and very brand savvy,” says Sue Fox, Estee Lauder’s managing director of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Lacroix Returns

As the Paris Couture shows wrapped up on the last week of June, one of the biggest returns to the Paris Couture stage was Christian Lacroix. In a tribute to fashion icon Elsa Schiaparelli, Lacroix’s 18-piece “Homage to Elsa” referenced and reinterpreted Schiaparelli’s love affair with circuses, fairgrounds, and military uniforms.

Bangladesh Fires Spark Global Protests

Global concerns and protest continue as concerned groups united in June to protest against multinational retailers that have yet to support improving labor conditions and safety protections in Bangladesh’s booming garment sector. Activists staged protest around the world in major cities to draw attention and raise consumer awareness on safety violations and labor abuses in Bangladesh factories. These protests coincided with U.S. campaigns against the working conditions of Wal-Mart workers in stores and warehouses.   Activists groups staged a variety of protests and demonstrations from Osaka, Japan to New York City.

Since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in April that took the lives of 1,100 workers, Bangladesh factories, as well as multinational brands have come under international scrutiny. According to the Death Trap campaign, about 50 international retailers have signed on to a proposed safety agreement that establishes a “binding contract between the brands and worker representatives that make these commitments enforceable—so the brands have to follow through, even if it means increased costs or longer turnaround times on orders.”

Dolce & Gabbana, Caged Birds?

In June designers Domenico Dolce and Steffano Gabbana were found guilty of failing to declare 1.3 billion in income to Italian authorities. Domenico and Steffano were both sentenced to 20 months in jail. Though both designers have denied the charges, prosecutors contend that the design team evaded taxes on earned income through a Luxembourg‒based company.

When brought up on charges of fraud two years ago, this highly publicized case was thrown out of court. Still, Italy’s high court stated the Dolce and Gabbana could be charged with evasion of taxes.

Galliano, the Shame of it all

After much contention and political protest, John Galliano’s four-day workshop at Parsons the New School of Design was canceled. The controversial former head of Dior was to teach a “Show Me Emotion” four-day workshop at the famed fashion school.

Fired from Dior in 2011 for anti-Semitic rants, Galliano is currently involved in a lawsuit against the iconic fashion house. Contention rose between Parsons and Galliano when neither party could reach a compromise of Galliano having a candid discussion about his career in a larger forum that Parsons had planned between Galliano and the student body.

—William S. Gooch