del.icio.us fashion links for December 15, 2009

del.icio.us fashion links for December 15, 2009:

• Keeping Fast Fashion Fresh, and Profitable – NYTimes.com
  PARIS — It is not often that the Grand Palais, one of the historic monuments of Paris, hosts a giant Ferris Wheel, a spinning swing, a shimmering mini Eiffel Tower, and a parade of scantily clad models showing lingerie on a catwalk resembling the Champs-Élysées.

  In the center of this adult amusement park stood Karl-Johan Persson, 34, in his new role as chief executive of H&M Hennes & Mauritz, his family’s business, based in Sweden. The Paris event this month was the executive’s way of announcing not just the latest H&M designer collaboration, with the iconic French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel, but a first decisive step to show some post-recessionary fun.

• Alexander Wang, Fashion’s Prodigy, Broadens His Base – NYTimes.com
  DON’T tell Alexander Wang that blue is the new black or that wedge-heel boots are the season’s must-have. Such airy edicts would most likely make him laugh. “No one talks like that anymore,” said Mr. Wang, whose keen sense of what young women want to wear is matched only by his no-nonsense approach to his, um, métier.
• Hermès and Gucci Press Equestrian Advantage – NYTimes.com
  It is not so much daggers at dawn — but saddles and stirrups. For two luxury houses are in competition in the horse jumping world to promote their brands.

  Last week, Hermès brought horses, bales of straw and horseshoe markings in the house’s signature orange to the vast space of the Grand Palais in Paris. It then announced that Le Saut Hermès — or Hermès jumping — would take place over the Easter period from April 3-4, reinforcing a tradition of equestrian sponsorship that grew from the birth of the saddle-maker in 1837.

• Luxury Jewelry Defies the Recession – NYTimes.com
  If you never noticed the recession, you are surely keeping good company: Haute joaillerie, or high jewelry, it seems, has not noticed it either.

  In the past year, the topmost niche of the luxury jewelry market has seen the arrival of a new brand, the return of a defunct brand and the revitalization of a high jewelry brand that had lost its way.

• Designers Seek Fashion Advice From Customers
  It was once unheard of for designers to ask their customers for advice. Today, it's becoming quite the trend. "We’ve never really asked, ‘What does the customer need?' . . . There’s a clear shift. People are also insecure right now, and we have to take care of them," said Concetta Lanciaux, principal of Strategy Luxury Advisors.
• Abu Dhabi bails out Dubai with $10-billion lifeline
  DUBAI — Abu Dhabi provided its flashy but debt-laden neighbor Dubai a US$10-billion lifeline to last its troubled flagship company until the end of April, heading off a bond default on payment day and sending Gulf markets higher.
• Paris Court Throws Out Forgery Claim Against Chanel – WSJ.com
  PARIS—French fashion house Chanel SAS prevailed in a forgery lawsuit brought against it four years ago by one of its small suppliers, in a case that grappled with who can take credit for the creation of expensive garments.