Comme des Garçons Opens First Latin American Flagship
The 160-square-metre boutique, located on the mall's upper level, will serve as the launchpad for the Japanese avant-garde brand's regional expansion. According to the brand, the new store signals the brand's growing commitment to Latin American markets and reflects its resonance with Brazil's expressive, style-forward consumer culture.
'It feels like Brazil has been beckoning Comme des Garçons for many years now,' said brand president Adrian Joffe. 'The fearless creative energy and authentic encouragement of individual expression in this magnificent country has always attracted us.'
Founded in Tokyo in 1969, Comme des Garçons has earned cult status for its rule-defying design language spearheaded by founder Rei Kawakubo. Over the years the brand has evolved into a retail empire, spawning numerous sub-labels and founding the multi-brand retailer Dover Street Market, which has stores in Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore and Los Angeles.
The São Paulo store will carry a wide range of Comme des Garçons' collections, including Comme des Garçons, Comme des Garçons Homme Plus, CDG Shirt, CDS Shirt Forever, CDG Play, CGD Wallet and the brand's footwear collaboration with Converse.
Learn more:
Will Dover Street Market's Big Bet on Independent Fashion Pay Off?
The Comme des Garçons-owned retailer's new Paris location is taking a radical — and risky — gamble on indie labels over big brand concessions at a challenging moment for the fashion market. 'The hunger for sure is out there — I feel it,' said CEO Adrian Joffe.
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San Francisco Chronicle
5 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Fatal explosion at U.S. Steel's plant raises questions about its future, despite heavy investment
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The fatal explosion last week at U.S. Steel's Pittsburgh-area coal-processing plant has revived debate about its future just as the iconic American company was emerging from a long period of uncertainty. The fortunes of steelmaking in the U.S. — along with profits, share prices and steel prices — have been buoyed by years of friendly administrations in Washington that slapped tariffs on foreign imports and bolstered the industry's anti-competitive trade cases against China. Most recently, President Donald Trump's administration postponed new hazardous air pollution requirements for the nation's roughly dozen coke plants, like Clairton, and he approved U.S. Steel's nearly $15 billion acquisition by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel. Nippon Steel's promised infusion of cash has brought vows that steelmaking will continue in the Mon Valley, a river valley south of Pittsburgh long synonymous with steelmaking. 'We're investing money here. And we wouldn't have done the deal with Nippon Steel if we weren't absolutely sure that we were going to have an enduring future here in the Mon Valley," David Burritt, U.S. Steel's CEO, told a news conference the day after the explosion. 'You can count on this facility to be around for a long, long time.' Will the explosion change anything? The explosion killed two workers and hospitalized 10 with a blast so powerful that it took hours to find two missing workers beneath charred wreckage and rubble. The cause is under investigation. The plant is considered the largest coking operation in North America and, along with a blast furnace and finishing mill up the Monongahela River, is one of a handful of integrated steelmaking operations left in the U.S. The explosion now could test Nippon Steel's resolve in propping up the nearly 110-year-old Clairton plant, or at least force it to spend more than it had anticipated. Nippon Steel didn't respond to a question as to whether the explosion will change its approach to the plant. Rather, a spokesperson for the company said its 'commitment to the Mon Valley remains strong' and that it sent 'technical experts to work with the local teams in the Clairton Plant, and to provide our full support.' Meanwhile, Burritt said he had talked to top Nippon Steel officials after the explosion and that 'this facility and the Mon Valley are here to stay.' U.S. Steel officials maintain that safety is their top priority and that they spend $100 million a year on environmental compliance at Clairton alone. However, repairing Clairton could be expensive, an investigation into the explosion could turn up more problems, and an official from the United Steelworkers union said it's a constant struggle to get U.S. Steel to invest in its plants. Besides that, production at the facility could be affected for some time. The plant has six batteries of ovens and two — where the explosion occurred — were damaged. Two others are on a reduced production schedule because of the explosion. There is no timeline to get the damaged batteries running again, U.S. Steel said. Accidents are nothing new at Clairton Accidents are nothing new at Clairton, which heats coal to high temperatures to make coke, a key component in steelmaking, and produces combustible gases as byproducts. An explosion in February injured two workers. Even as Nippon Steel was closing the deal in June, a breakdown at the plant dealt three days of a rotten egg odor into the air around it from elevated hydrogen sulfide emissions, the environmental group GASP reported. The Breathe Project, a public health organization, said U.S. Steel has been forced to pay $57 million in fines and settlements since Jan. 1, 2020, for problems at the Clairton plant. A lawsuit over a Christmas Eve fire at the Clairton plant in 2018 that saturated the area's air for weeks with sulfur dioxide produced a withering assessment of conditions there. An engineer for the environmental groups that sued wrote that he 'found no indication that U.S. Steel has an effective, comprehensive maintenance program for the Clairton plant.' The Clairton plant, he wrote, is "inherently dangerous because of the combination of its deficient maintenance and its defective design." U.S. Steel settled, agreeing to spend millions on upgrades. Matthew Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, said U.S. Steel has shown more willingness to spend money on fines, lobbying the government and buying back shares to reward shareholders than making its plants safe. Will Clairton be modernized? It's not clear whether Nippon Steel will change Clairton. Central to Trump's approval of the acquisition was Nippon Steel's promises to invest $11 billion into U.S. Steel's aging plants and to give the federal government a say in decisions involving domestic steel production, including plant closings. But much of the $2.2 billion that Nippon Steel has earmarked for the Mon Valley plants is expected to go toward upgrading the finishing mill, or building a new one. For years before the acquisition, U.S. Steel had signaled that the Mon Valley was on the chopping block. That left workers there uncertain whether they'd have jobs in a couple years and whispering that U.S. Steel couldn't fill openings because nobody believed the jobs would exist much longer. Relics of steelmaking's past In many ways, U.S. Steel's Mon Valley plants are relics of steelmaking's past. In the early 1970s, U.S. steel production led the world and was at an all-time high, thanks to 62 coke plants that fed 141 blast furnaces. Nobody in the U.S. has built a blast furnace since then, as foreign competition devastated the American steel industry and coal fell out of favor. Now, China is dominant in steel and heavily invested in coal-based steelmaking. In the U.S., there are barely a dozen coke plants and blast furnaces left, as the country's steelmaking has shifted to cheaper electric arc furnaces that use electricity, not coal. Blast furnaces won't entirely go away, analysts say, since they produce metals that are preferred by automakers, appliance makers and oil and gas exploration firms. Still, Christopher Briem, an economist at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research, questioned whether the Clairton plant really will survive much longer, given its age and condition. It could be particularly vulnerable if the economy slides into recession or the fundamentals of the American steel market shift, he said. 'I'm not quite sure it's all set in stone as people believe,' Briem said. 'If the market does not bode well for U.S. Steel, for American steel, is Nippon Steel really going to keep these things?'
Newsweek
9 hours ago
- Newsweek
Miami Housing Market Sees South American Takeover
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Foreign homebuyers are increasing their presence in Miami, even as concerns around the impact of the Trump administration's tariffs on the U.S. economy grow and Florida experiences a deep market correction. Buyers from outside the United States represented nearly half (49 percent) of all buyers of new construction in the Miami metropolitan area in the 18 months ending June 2025, according to a recent report by Miami Realtors. A vast majority of these buyers (86 percent) came from Latin American countries. "The demand from Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina isn't slowing down, it's accelerating," real estate broker Ryan Serhant, founder and CEO of Serhant, said in the report. This increase may have "something to do with global uncertainty, in particular in South America, where there is high inflation and political turmoil," Yuval Golan, founder and CEO of Waltz, told Newsweek. "To combat this, Latin Americans may be seeking to preserve their wealth in USD through U.S. real estate." Why Are So Many Foreigners Buying New Homes in Miami? According to Golan, a combination of convenience and financial incentives is pushing internationals toward buying new builds in the Magic City. "New development buildings often offer amenities like pools, gyms, dog parks, and may even have front doormen. A new build typically has fewer maintenance issues, making it easier to manage from abroad than older inventory," he said. This is particularly true considering the current headwinds hitting the Florida condo market. The state, especially its southwest region, has struggled with a sudden rise in condo inventory in recent months following the implementation of new building safety regulations, threatening higher fees for condo associations and owners. Under the new rules, introduced after the Surfside collapse of June 2021, condo associations in Florida are required to conduct regular inspections on aging buildings and fully fund future repairs. These requirements make newly built condos a safer investment for international buyers than many older condos in poor condition in the city. Another reason making new builds so appealing to international buyers, Golan said, is that some builders are offering hefty discounts to those willing to invest in the condo project before it's completely built. This kind of incentive has become more common among Florida developers in recent months, as sales have slumped and inventory has grown. The Trump administration's policies are also making investing in the American real estate market more interesting for international buyers. "This administration encourages real estate investment with tax incentives such as the Big Beautiful Bill, which offers bonus depreciation on real estate, among other benefits," Golan said. "There are also programs that encourage wealthy individuals around the world to invest in America to obtain a visa." How the So-Called 'Capital of Latin America' Is Keeping Its Nickname Miami already has the largest proportion of Hispanic and Latin American residents in the U.S., accounting for about 70 percent of its population. It's no surprise, then, that the city attracts many real estate investors from Latin America. "For many people living in Latin America, Miami is the bridge between their home country and the United States, where there are many cultural ties. This gives buyers from these places a sense of familiarity with their home country cuisine found in the city, and they can hear their language spoken," Golan said. "It builds trust because these buyers could very well have relatives who live in the U.S. or, at the very least, be able to speak their native language with real estate agents, contractors, property managers, lenders, and other people they would need to interact with to buy a property." Condo buildings in downtown Miami, Florida, as seen on August 1, 2025. Condo buildings in downtown Miami, Florida, as seen on August 1, there is more than just familiarity and an established community. "Miami is a desirable location for a variety of reasons. It has no state income tax, and many businesses are moving to Miami, bringing jobs for new residents who need housing. Miami is also a tourist destination, which brings money into the economy, and with Airbnb becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to hotels, people may buy condos to rent to these tourists," Golan said. International buyers—and those from Latin America, specifically—also seem to believe in the stability of the U.S. economy and the country's housing market "over long-term horizons," Golan said. "The USD has been one of the globally recognized currencies and is more stable than currencies in many parts of the world. In addition, U.S. real estate has shown strong performance over the last half century, so this, combined with preserving foreign-earned money in U.S. currency in the form of an appreciating asset, is appealing."
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business Insider
Japanese auto giant aims to make Africa's richest country the hub of continental truck production
The South African arm of Japanese automaker Isuzu Motors is positioning itself as a manufacturing hub for commercial trucks on the continent Isuzu Motors South Africa plans to become Africa's hub for truck manufacturing to boost production and local sourcing. The company conducts discussions with Japan to relocate more commercial truck production to South Africa. Isuzu is targeting West Africa for scaling up truck exports and aims for 45% production localisation. The South African arm of Japanese automaker Isuzu Motors is positioning itself as a manufacturing hub for commercial trucks on the continent, part of a strategy to boost production volumes and deepen the use of locally sourced parts. Billy Tom, President and CEO of Isuzu Motors South Africa, told Reuters that he has been in discussions with Japan regarding the relocation of more production to Africa. Isuzu has already run successful trials of locally building truck bodies, though it still imports some from China and the Middle East. While export volumes for trucks remain small, Isuzu already ships pickups to more than 30 countries in Africa. Tom said the company is targeting West Africa as a starting point for scaling up truck exports. Isuzu has set an ambitious target to grow its African production volumes to 45%, up from about 15% six years ago and the current 22–23%. South Africa's auto industry, home to seven major manufacturers including Volkswagen, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz ( faces mounting pressure from surging vehicle imports, particularly from China. Low domestic sales of locally assembled cars, coupled with sluggish local content levels, have already forced 12 company closures and wiped out more than 4,000 jobs in the past two years, Trade Minister Parks Tau said. The country produced 515,850 vehicles in 2024, well below the South African Automotive Masterplan 2035 target of 784,509. Adding to the pressure, South Africa's vehicle exports to the U.S. have collapsed this year, plunging 73% in the first quarter and falling even further, 80% in April and 85% in May, industry data shows.
