Latest News from Fashion United
Fashion United
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion United
Bottega Veneta marks 50 Years of Intrecciato as Creative Director Louise Trotter prepares for debut
With September's Milan Fashion Week many months away, the fashion industry is closely watching Bottega Veneta, where newly appointed creative director Louise Trotter is poised to unveil her first collection. While Trotter has remained out of the public eye since her appointment, which began end of January, the house has maintained momentum with a campaign celebrating its most enduring symbol: the iconic Intrecciato weave. Launched in 1975, Intrecciato—Bottega Veneta's signature handwoven leather technique—has long stood as a discreet emblem of the brand's artisanal integrity. In an era saturated with logos and visual excess, its tactile sophistication has become a symbol of understatement: a language of luxury spoken fluently by those who value refinement over recognition. Daniel Lee amplified its scale during his brief but impactful tenure, while Matthieu Blazy later distilled it with subtlety and precision. The latest campaign, titled Craft is our Language, marks the 50th anniversary of the technique. Directed by British photographer Jack Davison and choreographed by Lenio Kaklea, the visual project avoids spectacle in favour of subtle gestures, reinforcing the house's ethos that true luxury resides in craftsmanship and materiality. Through cinematic stills and movement, the campaign communicates a reverence for human hands—both as tools of creation and as conveyors of meaning. While the campaign reinforces Bottega Veneta's artisanal roots, it also serves as strategic positioning ahead of a significant leadership transition. Trotter, known for her thoughtful minimalism and tenure at Lacoste and Joseph, is expected to bring a refined sensibility to the brand. According to sources close to the maison, she has been working behind the scenes for months, quietly aligning her vision with the brand's codes. In a crowded luxury market increasingly dominated by fast cycles and digital fanfare, Bottega Veneta's decision to anchor its pre-season messaging around craftsmanship—not celebrity or shock—is a considered move. It signals a continued investment in heritage and a desire to deepen brand equity at a time when many competitors chase volume over value.
Fashion United
2 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion United
9dcc to cease operations: Crypto fashion brand ends activities due to economic headwinds
Fashion label 9dcc, which combines physical clothing with NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, is ceasing operations at the end of May. This was announced yesterday by founder Gmoney, an anonymous creator and collaborator in the NFT world, via the platform X (formerly Twitter). Since its launch in 2022, the brand gained recognition with 'network products' (physical products linked to digital tokens such as NFTs on a blockchain), collaborations with Adidas and Mastercard, among others, and a fanbase that includes names such as Bradley Cooper and Chance the Rapper. The clothing was linked to digital tokens, thus forming a bridge between fashion and technology. According to a press release about its creation at the time, the crypto-native label offered a fresh perspective on fashion for a 'critical, digitally-first consumer'. 'We have been on a journey to bring the digital and physical worlds together over the past few years,' Gmoney wrote on X. 'We did groundbreaking drops, organised special events and built a community at the intersection of tech and fashion.' Nevertheless, economic factors proved insurmountable. 'Despite strong brand recognition and an engaged community, we were unable to overcome the macroeconomic headwinds within the Web3 consumer market and the global slowdown in luxury retail,' said Gmoney. Gmoney's fashion house 9dcc is a fully Web3-based brand that strives to redefine the luxury fashion industry. Credits: 9dcc logo FashionUnited has contacted 9dcc for more information. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
Fashion United
2 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion United
LaMunt's chief executive officer, Ruth Oberrauch: ‘Retailers are looking for versatility'
The order season in the outdoor industry has begun. How are retailers orienting themselves? What products are they looking for? The Austrian-based womenswear label LaMunt focuses on a balance of function, lifestyle and sustainability. The outdoor label LaMunt was founded in 2020 to offer functional and stylish mountaineering and outdoor clothing by women, for women. Numerous retailers now carry LaMunt, which, like the Salewa and Dynafit brands, belongs to the Oberalp Group, and the first store has just opened in Munich. We spoke with Ruth Oberrauch, founder and brand manager of LaMunt, about the new collection, how the brand has developed and what retailers are looking for today. What themes are you focusing on in new collection? How have you developed collection further? Essentially, for the SS26 collection, we worked very hard to bring even more fresh colours and accents into the collection. We had noticed – and these are perhaps typical initial difficulties – that with LaMunt we had to be very careful about which colourways we introduced where, because the collection does not have as many products as larger and more established brands. When you saw the entire collection, it always worked very well, but because the retailers naturally do not buy the entire collection, it was sometimes difficult to achieve the right appeal and the right radiance in terms of colour and colour mix. Therefore, we put a strong focus on this brightness theme and the radiance of the colours. I think we have made great strides in that area. What colours are those? We had actually already introduced the colour lime in the SS25 collection. We have strengthened this somewhat because it is simply a colour that can be easily combined everywhere, but it simply adds freshness. We have also added aruba, which is aqua-turquoise, and peach, which is a light orange. This gives us a beautiful colour palette. We have also worked hard to define what our base is, what our neutral tones are – taupe, beige, grey, black – and how everything can be combined. Otherwise, we have consciously focused on two areas: firstly, the theme of soul trekking, as we call it, our core area with hiking, trekking. We have also added the area of adventure-travelling, which overlaps. With a somewhat more urban look, for example, trousers with cargo pockets and a really casual cape with wide, voluminous cuts. LaMunt SS25 collection. Credits: LaMunt Does that mean that you have sharpened focus in a more fashionable direction? No, I wouldn't say that at all. Although we have become somewhat bolder in terms of colour and silhouette on the one hand, we have also invested in the technical aspects of the products and expanded them further. The mountaineering theme merges with this outdoor lifestyle approach, so to speak. It is always about both and about being able to mix both very well. How has collection developed in general? In terms of scope or categories. We are still in the clothing sector and, with around 60 pieces, have reached a size that I believe gives us the right mix. I don't think it needs any more. My briefing to the product team is: we only add new products if old ones are dropped. So we are more likely to substitute than add more products. I think it makes more sense to invest in a certain number of products than to lose focus by becoming broader to the left and right of them. What are your retailers paying close attention to at moment? What aspects of your collection have you found answers to? I actually have the feeling that retailers are also looking for this versatility in the pieces. On the one hand, somewhat detached from this strong seasonal thinking. They tend to avoid the very clear winter product, the very clear summer product. Of course, you need light shorts in the summer and of course you need warm fleece in the winter. However, retailers are also increasingly moving into areas that work across seasons. What do you mean by versatility? By versatility, I mean products that work for different activities or in this hybrid lifestyle area. We all wear functional clothing in everyday life, and these products are receiving more attention overall. LaMunt SS26 collection. Credits: LaMunt What new functions or functional materials are you working with in new collection, for example? For example, we have new technical fleece with okta fibres in the collection. These are very light fleeces with a fibre that has an octagonal cross-section. This means that these textiles transport moisture very well and also retain heat very well – with relatively little volume and weight. In other words, they are very light, soft, highly functional fabrics that have a slight shiny shimmer on the inside and are matt on the outside – which is aesthetically very exciting. Our ReMOCA pad wadding, which we developed ourselves from production waste from our Pomoca ski touring skins, is also super exciting. What does that look like? A few years ago, we took over a small company that produces velour, which we use to make our ski touring skins. When I was there for the first time and saw mountains of waste materials, I thought that something had to be made from the material, especially as we process high-quality materials there. We then carried out various tests and, together with Imbotex, finally found a way to process the waste from the looms, which consists of polyester with a small proportion of cotton, into wadding. We now use this wadding as a lightweight insulation material for LaMunt. In winter, however, this naturally plays an even greater role. Are you able to use this material for all of your insulation? We actually have two concepts: one is recycled cashmere and the other is the ReMOCA pad, depending on the product. However, we are increasingly focusing on ReMOCA because I simply believe it makes sense to recycle our own technology, but above all our own waste materials, back into the cycle. SS26 collection is now being sold in stores, so you are already working on next collections. What will be new there? In product development this time, we focused very heavily on lifecycle assessment analyses in order to be able to make better decisions about material selection on this basis and reduce our impact as much as possible. This was a very exciting process because we naturally play through all these considerations in every product development, but now, for the first time, we carried out calculations in the conceptualisation phase and not just when the product was almost fully developed. This was an interesting exercise because you don't always assess all aspects correctly. For example, we found with our nylons that the decisive proportion of the product footprint is actually attributable to the fabric production. Not the yarn production or the making-up, but the weaving phase of the fabrics is responsible for this. Integrating these processes much earlier and the resulting learning that you take with you for all further products was the highlight for me in the development of the next collection. LaMunt SS26 collection. Credits: LaMunt How important is sustainability to your customers and how important is it to retailers now? If we start with the end customer, with LaMunt we are primarily addressing a woman who is a little more established in life, and not necessarily an 18-year-old girl. In other words, a woman for whom quality and longevity are very important. Of course, there are differences, but I experience our customer as a mindful customer who is very keen on sustainable aspects. As far as retailers are concerned, I would say that all retailers definitely have the issue on their radar. However, there are differences in how intensively they can deal with it. Larger retailers naturally have it easier because they have built up the appropriate structures and capacities. It is a big task to collect information from all brands, integrate it into your own systems and pass it on to end customers. The individual brands simply have a huge amount of information. Therefore, I don't get the feeling that the issue is seen as unimportant, but rather that it poses a challenge. I believe that it is a major task for the entire industry, both the brands and the retailers, to develop solutions here that make it easier for the brands to communicate these aspects on the one hand and for the retailers to process them on the other. What feedback are you currently receiving from retailers? How are retailers doing? I think these have been exciting years for everyone with ups and downs. With all the logical consequences, such as full warehouses, which had accumulated after the boom period during the pandemic and naturally resulted in too much product on the market. But I am already noticing that there is a positive mood again, that sport, outdoor and mountaineering are still on trend. I don't see that this is declining rapidly in any way. I always say that this outdoor boom that many people like to talk about is not something that was created by Covid-19. This trend already existed before and it continues to exist. It was only accelerated by the pandemic. Therefore, outdoor activities are continuing, but somewhat less quickly than we may have been used to a few years ago. And that is also good in the long term. Therefore, I am already noticing a positive mood in the market again. LaMunt SS25 collection. Credits: LaMunt Supply chains were a major issue during pandemic, and now they are back in focus in view of threatened trade tariffs. Are you dealing with this? Absolutely. From LaMunt's point of view, this issue is certainly less relevant because we are limiting ourselves purely to Europe. But of course, from the Oberalp Group's point of view, it is an absolutely hot topic. What makes me particularly uneasy about it is the arbitrariness and unpredictability that currently prevails. Not only in relation to the ups and downs of tariffs, but because this feeling of unpredictability is causing a loss of trust in a previously functioning system. This is causing me great concern – also in the medium term – because it is unclear what this means for international relations and the development of business models. In a globalised world, we need solid partnerships, because the more long-term and solid our partnerships are, the better we can jointly implement qualitatively correct measures. I was travelling in Asia when this tariff issue was announced and I witnessed how our partners were considering whether they would have to relocate their production, which of course makes no sense from either an economic or a sustainability point of view. There is a bit of a feeling of what can I still rely on? And I think that if this attitude arises, in us humans or in our society, then that is an extreme damage to the way we cooperate. These things worry me much more than the fact that we currently have a problem with our pricing. What is Oberalp Group doing now to prepare for these scenarios? We have consciously set up our supply chain in a very diverse way in recent years. In other words, we have made sure that we do not only produce shoes in one country, for example, but we have increasingly diversified the product categories. This is naturally helping now. We can also rely on very long-term partnerships. Especially during the Covid period, we consciously made the decision that, despite all the difficulties we all had with payments, we always prioritised the punctual payments to our suppliers. Which of course also strengthened the relationship and mutual trust. In this way, we can rely on a very solid supply chain with long partnerships, some of which have lasted for 20 years. This naturally helps in difficult situations. LaMunt opens first store in Munich Credits: LaMunt LaMunt has just opened its first ever store in Munich. Are there any further plans? This first store in Munich is a test pilot. It was not planned long in advance, but an opportunity simply arose that we seized – knowing that a good part of our community is based in Munich and that Munich, as a large city with a large catchment area and a certain affinity for mountaineering, outdoor activities and lifestyle, is very well suited. But I also think we have a lot to learn and it is incredibly fun because we have also opted for a somewhat special format. Not just a classic store, but above all a community place where we can try out a lot of things. Firstly, it is a lot of fun, but I also think it takes time to try these things out before you roll them out. During my time at the Oberalp Group, I learned that it makes little sense to plan to open a store in exactly this city. You need the right location and the right people on site, only then can it really work. What would be another desirable location? Well, Bolzano would of course be nice as our home town, but on the other hand we are already well represented in South Tyrol. I think Zurich would be an exciting topic. But as I said, there are no plans for further stores yet. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
Fashion United
2 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion United
Despite record sales in first quarter, Abercrombie & Fitch lowers profit forecast
The US clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch Co. was able to significantly increase its sales in the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, but had to accept a drop in profits. Although the current figures, which the company presented on Wednesday, exceeded expectations, the management lowered its earnings forecasts for the year as a whole. Hollister brand boosts sales performance In the first quarter, which ended on May 3, group sales amounted to almost 1.1 billion dollars. This corresponded to an increase of 8 percent compared to the same period last year. The group owed the new sales record to an increase of 22 percent to 549.4 million dollars in the Hollister division. The increase was enough to more than offset a minus of 4 percent to 547.9 million dollars in the Abercrombie segment. All market regions contributed to the strong growth in group sales. In the Americas, revenues increased by 7 percent to 874.8 million dollars, in the EMEA region, which includes Europe, the Middle East and Africa, they rose by 12 percent to 185 million dollars and in the Asia-Pacific region by 5 percent to 37.5 million dollars. Management corrects its earnings targets downwards However, higher costs meant that profit missed the corresponding previous year's level. Operating profit fell by 22 percent to 101.5 million dollars. Net profit attributable to shareholders fell by 29 percent to 80.4 million dollars, but was above the company's expectations. Based on the latest developments and current customs and tax rates, the management updated its annual forecasts. It now expects sales to increase by 3 to 6 percent in 2025/26, after growth of 3 to 5 percent had previously been expected. However, the forecast for the operating margin, which had previously been 14 to 15 percent, was lowered to 12.5 to 13.5 percent. The group now only expects earnings per share of 9.50 to 10.50 dollars, after 10.40 to 11.40 dollars had previously been forecast. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
Fashion United
2 hours ago
- Business
- Fashion United
Hermès to open factory in France in 2027
Luxury group Hermès has started work on the Beyrand factory, a subsidiary of the group since 2017. The site will open in 2027, in Couzeix, France (Haute-Vienne), and will be dedicated to tableware. In approximately two years, 300 people will come to work in the town of Couzeix. They will be working at the new Beyrand factory. Among the technical specialities of the site, employees will be recruited to work on the printing of chromes and the application of decorations on porcelain. The company stated in a press release that training programmes will be integrated. The building will cover 13,000 square metres and was designed by architect François Bouchaudy. Bouchaudy has already worked on a factory project with Hermès, the Saint-Junien glove-leather goods factory. The site will combine wood and glass and will feature 2,800 square metres of photovoltaic panels, as well as heat recovery tools. This announcement comes a month after the announcement of a new Hermès leather goods factory in Colombelles, Normandy, which will open in 2028. The increase in the creation of Hermès production sites reflects the group's excellent financial health. It had 15.2 billion euros in turnover in 2024, up 15 percent at constant exchange rates. The Hermès group now has 60 production and training sites, as well as a network of nearly 300 stores in 45 countries. It employs 25,185 people worldwide, including 15,556 in France in 2024. Hermès has been managed since 2013 by Axel Dumas, a member of the sixth generation. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
