Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.fashion team.
Hedi Slimane exits Celine
This week, let alone the year, has seen major reshuffles at mega brands. The standout announcement? Artistic Director Hedi Slimane left Celine after seven years at the helm. Transforming the somewhat whimsical brand into a mega brand with an edgier aesthetic is Slimane’s legacy, one that’ll be sorely missed.
Michael Rider, who was previously the Creative Director at Polo Ralph Lauren, is stepping into the coveted role early next year.
This comes after months of swirling rumours that Slimane was next in line to take over the reins at rival Parisian house Chanel. The rumour mill began churning when Chanel’s Creative Director, Virginie Viard, stepped down in June.
Though Viard’s successor has yet to be announced, the empty top job is leaving a sense of real change in the air. Is there a reason Chanel is taking so long to appoint Viard’s successor? Perhaps the brand awaited Celine’s announcement.
After all, this may be what Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s former Creative Director, may have wanted. Lagerfeld was once a fan of the designer, citing Slimane’s figure-pinching tailoring at Dior Homme as the reason he ditched junk food.
Chloé Burney, Senior News & Features Writer.
Frasers to purchase £4m worth of Mulberry shares
Frasers Group never knowingly passes up the opportunity for a bit of a corporate scrap does it? This week the target is Mulberry. Following news that the struggling British luxury house planned to raise £10 million through a share sale, Frasers (which already owned a 37% stake) stepped in and said it would have funded the turnaround plans on its own and now intended to launch a bid for the whole company.
Mulberry declined the kind offer of a takeover, but unsurprisingly, Frasers was undeterred and has come back today to snap up more shares and increase its stake further. The stumbling block for Frasers and any desired takeover at Mulberry is that, while it now owns more than 37% of its shares, Mulberry has a majority shareholder in the form of Challice in Singapore and they don’t seem willing to sell up.
This scenario will all feel very familiar to enthusiastic Frasers-watchers (I know it’s not just me!). Back in 2020, Frasers made multiple attempts to save the rapidly crumbling department store group Debenhams but was rebutted repeatedly by intransigent investors. We all know that Debenhams went on to complete collapse with the Boohoo Group eventually picking up the brand and other associated IP. Frasers lost its investment (it had amassed a sizeable stake in Debenhams before its collapse) and the high street lost all of the Debenhams stores.
Ultimately it feels as though Debenhams might have been better off if Frasers had been allowed to buy it (and this is no slight on Boohoo Group, which has done a great job of the Debs website). Can the same be said of Mulberry? I’m not sure. Largely because I don’t really know why Frasers wants it. Debenhams I understood, but is Mulberry a brand that is really so strategically important to Frasers Group? Would they really want to invest in the brand, the design, the manufacturing and return it to past glories, as I do hope will happen? They weren’t prepared to put the legwork into Matches, after all. I do understand, however, that they want to protect the investment they have made so far. I’m just not sure why they invested at all.
Whatever happens, I did think the recent appointment of former Ganni boss Andrea Baldo was a good one. I’m hoping, one way or another, we’ll be allowed to see his vision enacted.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor in Chief.
Arsenal teams up with Aries for limited-edition streetwear collection
I don’t know who approached who, but I’ve got to say the “first-of-its-kind” collaboration collection between Arsenal and luxury streetwear brand Aries, that launched yesterday, looks decent.
It also makes perfect sense. Footballers and fans alike love fashion, and the crossover between the two just keeps coming hard and fast. This takes it up a notch. I’m sure Arsenal fans will love it.
The 26-piece collection is modelled by star players Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Alessia Russo and Beth Mead, as well some well known Arsenal supporters such ShyGirl, Ghetts, Lava La Rue and Knucks.
Obviously, supporters of other clubs won’t buy it, and the price points are well above your average merch (mind you, replica shirt prices these days are astronomical) – with a ‘J’Adoro Arsenal’ printed t-shirt at £60, a ‘Column Hoodie’ at £130, a ‘Stained Glass Jacquard Trucker Jacket’ at £200, and a ‘Wool Bomber Jacket’ at £350, but a few neutrals may well be tempted.
Back in 2018, Manchester United did a denim collection with True Religion, but it seemed a little bit naff (though the club did make up for it earlier this year with its Manchester United x Adidas x Stone Roses collection). This doesn’t. And, as Aries is based in North London, home of Arsenal football club, it makes even more sense. I predict it sells out fast.
Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor.
‘As Seen on Netflix’ pop-up shops and online auction to launch in support of Mind
Having just watched Nobody Wants This (if you haven’t already, please do), and now the new season of Heartstopper, I am partial to a Netflix show. So, if you’re anything like me, this news will be of interest…
The platform is opening an ‘As Seen on Netflix’ one-day pop-up to celebrate some of its biggest hits, taking place in East London later this month, before moving to The Bullring in Birmingham. Whilst I do wish the first location was more central, I very much imagine this will be an exciting concept for many fellow Netflix watchers.
So, what can you expect? The pop-up will be stocked with wardrobes, props and memorabilia from some of Netflix’s most popular shows, such as items from ‘The Crown’ and ‘The Gentlemen’.
There’s also a 10-day online auction, with items from Sully’s (Kane Robinson) Y3 Tracksuit worn in the final scene in Top Boy to a signed Victoria Beckham Rolls-Royce t-shirt – a nod to Beckham’s recent documentary – plus more up for grabs.
All of the proceeds will also be donated to mental health charity Mind to support its work across England and Wales. So not only is this a fun concept, but it’s charitable too.
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
Is a Mytheresa and Yoox Net-a-Porter merger on the cards?
This is a move that has been on the cards for a while, but why does it make me nervous? Mytheresa is, of course, brilliant. It has always had one of the best buys in luxury fashion (so much so that I often enjoy browsing new collections there, rather than on brands’ own sites), the service is great and, while its contemporaries struggled, it consistently delivered a robust financial performance. It has a laser-like focus on fashion’s big spending customers (oh, to be one of them!) and hasn’t been distracted by trying too hard to attract the less loyal, lower spending, aspirational shoppers.
Why then, I am forced to ask, would it disrupt all that by taking on a struggling rival? Why not just carry on being fabulous and let someone else deal with that? Apparently the answer lies in the ability to take on Net-A-Porter’s distribution facilities in the US and I dare say there is a great customer database too. But it still feels risky to me, but then Mytheresa CEO Michael Kliger is a far cleverer person than me, so I am going to trust him on this one, if indeed this speculation is true.
All I hope is that whatever happens, Mytheresa continues to deliver and/or Net-A-Porter can be revived. I still haven’t quite recovered from the loss of Matches, I really can’t face the thought of more trauma in this space.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
