Couture loses another master?

The fashion world has been given another kick in their stylish pants with the news that Christian Lacroix, the french couture house, has filed for bankruptcy protection today.

The U.S.-owned company has been having major financial issues for years; never making a profit and barely breaking even. Customers have been cancelling or reducing orders and ready-to-wear sales for the fall season were down 35 per cent.

But it's not just Lacroix that's in trouble: Luxury behemoth LVMH just scrapped a plan to open a Louis Vuitton flagship store in Tokyo and earlier this year Chanel laid off 200 temporary employees.

The Times explains the impact of Lacroix's filing:

"The loss of Christian Lacroix to Paris haute couture is immeasurable. Although the designer hopes to hold a small presentation during the July couture season, this was the last house established under the formal couture rules. Even a restructuring would likely have severe implications on his 125-member staff."

But the haute couture market has been on the downturn for a long time; either closing because they didn't make enough of a profit or the great masters have stepped down (or died.)

I wrote an article about the decline of haute couture in Naked Eye magazine and related it to Valentino's retirement. My reason for saying that haute couture was a dying business was because of big business. Couture is not profitable. In fact just putting on an haute couture show can cost millions of dollars which the company will not make back. There are only a handful of people who can afford couture and their numbers are dwindling fast.

So it should be no suprise that Lacroix, renowned for its beautiful couture, is filing for bankruptcy protection. The real money is in accessories and ready-to-wear but even that market is taking a beating since people are realizing that it might be a tad bit insane to spend $1000 on a bag or $3000 on a dress.

The Times says:

"But just as royalty now has less attention than celebrity, so couture has lost its unique prestige, with the word bandied about by any high-end designer. And whereas fragrances produced from the mystique of haute couture once kept the houses afloat, now it is just as likely that a hip jeans brand like Diesel or a celebrity like Jennifer Lopez will have the perfume hit that has stubbornly eluded Lacroix."

So, with Paris Haute Couture week coming quickly in July, will there be one less House showing a collection? A friend of mine thinks that the company will be bailed out but I'm not so sure. Who would want to buy a company that doesn't make money?

But for the sake of fashion, I hope Lacroix will get help and is able to present a collection. We need beautiful clothes to look at now more than ever.

Photos from the Christian Lacroix Spring 2009 Couture show:

Food for thought

As you can tell by the title of this post, I am really hungry. Not just for any ol' food but for macarons (not to be confused with macaroons but I would take those too.)

I started looking up pictures of them to ease the hunger pains and came across some wonderful photos. I think that macarons are some of the most colourful foods. They come in all sorts of vibrant colours: indigo, neon yellow, bright pink and shocking orange.

The more I looked at the photos, the more they reminded me of the Louis Vuitton Fall 09 collection.

The LV collection uses a lot of the same colours as macaroons.

See all the colours here:


And then notice the same colours in the LV collection:



And here:




And here:



Macarons were also used in comparison to Marc Jacobs' LV inspiration in the documentary Marc Jacobs et Louis Vuitton.

Check out the clip:



So how much does food influence fashion? I don't know but I'm sure when designers get hungry, a bit of that hunger seeps into their clothing.

Addicted to LV

A couple weeks ago, a group of us who are members of The Purse Forum decided to meet in Toronto for brunch and shopping. Here we are in front of the Louis Vuitton boutique on Bloor St.
That's me second to the right leaning to the side with a big grin on my face.
I had such a fun time with them and I can't wait till we meet again. And yes, I did buy a bag.

Christmas presents...to myself

I know that I swore to myself that I wouldn't buy any bags until after Christmas. Well, to Hell with that! Last weekend myself and a few wonderful women from the Purse Forum had a Louis Vuitton meet and went on a great shopping spree. The highlight of the trip was when Sarah ordered her first Hermes Birkin.

I ended up buying a Louis Vuitton Damier Neverfull which is now my all-time favourite bag. It's really large but so light that I can stuff it with a bunch of stuff like my laptop and it won't get heavy. It's a miracle bag.

Also my Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two arrived this week and it's gorgeous. I haven't used it yet because of the shitty weather but I can't wait to take it out.

Here are the pics!

Louis Vuitton Damier Neverfull MM



Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two

Sean Connery and Louis Vuitton

James Bond himself stars in the new Louis Vuitton campaign, shot by Annie Leibovitz near Connery's home in the Bahamas. I love that he's wearing an Indiana Jones hat. Heck, I'm sold! Is it wrong that I still find him sexy and he's older than my grandfather?

Louis Vuitton Spring 2009 part one: Bags

The first images of the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 09 show are just coming in now. Most of the photos are of the bags, which is what most of us really care about, right?

I can't wait to see which ones I'm going to be aching for come Spring. It's also fun to pick out which ones I think will be manufactured for the stores, which ones will become limited editions and which ones won't make it off the runway.

This collection reminds me a bit of Marc Jacobs's eponymous line this season; lots of colours from different spectres of the rainbow, a mix of unlikely fabrics and patterns, a multitude of shapes and plenty of influences from other countries and eras.

The bags are a mish-mash of classic monogram with feathers, beads, embossed leather, leopard (again), chain-linked handles, tassles and other embellishments.

But check them out for yourself. See any you like?








I think this one is going to be a best seller. It has lots of monogram, an easy-to-wear handle and a cute round shape. Very marketable.




Glad to see clutches are still huge this season. Love the soft material.

Everyone will want a piece of this leopard beauty.



(Photos: Getty Images)

Mama's got a brand new bag

Last night after work I headed down to Yorkville to troll the streets for celebrities here for TIFF. I wasn't interested in Brad Pitt so much as Gerard Butler and his sexy accent. So I wandered Bloor St. and decided to head into some shops that I figured celebrities would likely shop at.
First stop...Louis Vuitton. Of course. I was the only one in the store but as soon as people started coming in, I stared at them to see if I recognized them. Unfortunately no one famous came in the store but I got talking to a sales associate and I realized that I couldn't walk out of there without anything. Bad reason, I know. So I ended up buying the Damier Speedy 30, the bag that made me fall in love with Louis Vuitton but I always put off buying.

After the purchase, I tried to pop by Prada, Chanel and Hermès but they were closed. I then headed to Holt Renfrew and it looked like they were setting up for a party so I headed in and asked sales associates if they knew what was going on. I guess I asked the wrong people because they apparently didn't have a clue. Checked out some more bags, lots of stuff on sale including two gorgeous Bottega Veneta bags that were 30% off, lots of Coach, some Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch and Balenciaga. Go quick before they disappear! There was also the very cute Miu Miu bow bag in grey, but it wasn't on sale.

So even though I didn't see any celebs, it was still a (shopping) success. And my friends at work saw Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson at the CTV ETalk party last night so I feel that I saw them too. Six degrees of separation people!


I look rather scary here because my hair is wet from the shower I just took and the lighting is creepy even though it's still day outside.

Rant: The sales associate is a jackass

On Tuesday I went to the Louis Vuitton at Yorkdale mall with my sister and a Purse Forum member who's a friend of mine to buy myself a bag for my birthday.

I was trying to decide between the Damier Speedy 30 and the Epi Alma in Grenade. Since I already have four Speedies and I don't have anything in Epi, I decided to go with the Alma. I later realized that I wasn't feeling the bag so I decided to return it on Thursday. To be clear: I never used the bag and never touched the inside of it. If you use a bag, LV won't take it back which is fair.

So I get to the store and I return it to the same SA who sold it to me. While he was inspecting it he said: "You can't return bags that you've used." I told him that I never used it. He then told me "Well then you must have put your things in it. See this? (He pointed to the inside of the bag) I never sold it to you in this condition." I told him that I didn't put anything in the bag and that I didn't even touch the inside. He repeated "You put your things in the bag. Next time when you buy a bag, make sure you actually want it." I was fuming but I told him calmly that I never used it and I never put anything in it. He just ignored me but let me return it. He basically called me a liar. It really left me with at bad taste in my mouth, so I know that I will never deal with that SA again and I doubt I will shop at the Yorkdale location ever again either.

So ladies and gents, if you are ever shopping at the LV in Yorkdale, avoid the tall man with the snooty look on his face!

Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton documentary

While I was in Paris, I popped by the LV store on the Champs Elysées and while I was too broke to afford a bag, I was able to pop down my last 20 euros on the Marc Jacobs documentary.

This was the first time a camera crew was able to go watch MJ and his crew create a collection for his own label and for Louis Vuitton. It really is incredible to see all the work that goes into making a collection which ends up being shown for a mere 15 minutes down the runway.

The doc also shows us the creative process of how an LV bag is made (a nice treat shows us how the folks at LV came up with the monstrous Tribute bag and how macaroons were an inspiration for another bag.)

Watching Jacobs at work is a pleasure and makes me appreciate the work that goes into making the clothes and the bags.

Countdown to Aquarelle (we are slaves to LV)

So the limited edition Aquarelle/Watercolour speedy 35 is supposed to be released on May 1, depending on who your sources are/how good a customer you are at Louis Vuitton.
The Aquarelle line is from LV's Spring/Summer 2008 collection and featured bags designed by collaborators Richard Prince and Marc Jacobs.
Now some may say "My two-year-old niece could paint something with her fingers and the result could be better than than those bags" and you people may have a point. It certainly isn't an original, fashion-forward design, but c'mon, this is Louis Vuitton we're talking about. The company recycles the monogram style so that middle-class customers can keep emptying out their bi-monthly paycheques for a design that essentially stays the same.
I guess I am one of those people who has fallen under Bernard Arnault's evil spell. (Photo: The Purse Forum)