FT column: Follow the leaders
Whoever wins the American presidential race next Tuesday, one thing is certain: he will accept his election in a single-breasted dark suit, white shirt and (it’s 99 per cent sure) red or blue tie. How...
View ArticlePaula Broadwell’s right to bare arms
It was inevitable, I suppose, that in l'Affaire Patraeus currently gripping the United States, clothes would come to play a part. Fashion is always a key part of any seduction narrative, because it is...
View ArticleChina’s uniform message
Check out the picture below of the incoming members of the Politburo Standing Committee. Those ties! Those suits! That hair parting. If, as my colleagues point out today, the reduction in membership of...
View ArticleLeveraging Samantha Cameron for fashion’s sake
I was struck last night at the British Fashion Awards by Samantha Cameron's appearance to present the New Establishment award to Erdem Moralioglu (that's them, below). This marks Mrs C's third time at...
View ArticleAnna Wintour for ambassador? Pros and cons
The Anna-Wintour-for-ambassador rumours that have surrounded the US Vogue editor in chief ever since she became a “super-bundler” for Barack Obama have picked up steam lately: on Monday, even erstwhile...
View ArticleSilvio Berlusconi and the Italian wedding dress market
The news that Silvio Berlusconi, once-and-possible-future-Italian-PM-candidate and always colourful character, is engaged to be married to his 27-year-old girlfriend begs the usual question: not “Wait,...
View ArticleFT column: Barack and the supermodel
It’s that time again when we think back over the year, the time of a million lists of good and bad, of the best and worst, the time of “Persons of the year”. It’s that time when we begin to make...
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Get ready for Occupy Fashion Week
New York Fashion Week begins today, bringing with it the news that Occupy Wall Street is back and planning a protest. The instigator: Intern Labor Rights, an OWS spin off. The subject: unpaid interns....
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Michelle Obama models Jason Wu at State of the Union
MIchelle Obama wears Jason Wu at the State of the Union Address. Getty Images Shocking! Michelle Obama has worn the same designer at two major events in a row. At the inaugural ball she wore a Jason Wu...
View ArticleMichelle Obama resurrects dress
Right on cue, yesterday Michelle Obama resurrected a previously worn Prabal Gurung dress from her wardrobe to wear for Easter Sunday. It's not only a holiday-appropriate move, and nicely economic, but...
View ArticleMayor Bloomberg: Italian Vogue cover boy
American Vogue may have Michelle Obama as their cover coup, but L’Uomo Vogue, Italian Vogue’s men’s fashion arm, has, on their April issue…Mayor Michael Bloomberg! I kid you not. It’s a little...
View ArticlePresident Obama and the Kamala Harris appearance SNAFU
And so the morality comedy (tragedy?) currently being acted out in public over the importance of appearance continues. Last week at a fundraiser in California, President Obama called California...
View ArticleLVMH’s charm offensive
LVMH, the largest luxury group in the world by an exponential margin, has a dumb blonde problem: it seems to be the winner in the sector, so it gets attacked and mocked most of all. For a long time,...
View ArticleIn the age of austerity, UK Luxury growth expectations outpace the market –...
Though much has been made of the fact that the luxury sector, which has been on a rocket to the moon, growth-wise, is finally slowing –Bain predicts 4-6% for the next two years – a new “UK Luxury...
View ArticleHow far does cultural and creative protectionism go?
I wonder what the luxury world makes of the new French initiative to protect its culture in the digital age by imposing a tax on sales of tablets, smart phones, etc? They, after all, (the luxury folks,...
View ArticleForget austerity; Europe loves luxury – but not to buy
The ECCIA, that odd-acronym’d unified lobbying association for the luxury groups of Europe, just released a new survey about the perception of luxury in Europe, and guess what? Despite Francois...
View ArticleThe Oakley-Armed Forces connection
All this talk about Silicon Valley and the monitoring of personal data for NSA reasons has got me thinking about another rarely acknowledged supplier of national defense materials located in...
View ArticleObama in Africa: sartorial diplomacy
Look: it’s me and mini-me! Or me and not-so-mini-me! Ok, actually, it’s Barack Obama and Senegal's President Macky Sall, in matching outfits, from the light blue ties and white shirts down to the...
View ArticleCameron and Miliband miss the point at Wimbledon
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic were not the only two men working at Wimbledon yesterday; Prime Minister David Cameron (left) and Labour leader Ed Miliban (below) were on the job too. At least they...
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