Month: May 2020

TALLEY-ING UP: André Leon Talley has locked in the number-six slot on The New York Times’ bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction with his new memoir.
”The Chiffon Trenches” created a firestorm of publicity in recent weeks, primarily due to Talley’s critique of his former boss, Vogue’s Anna Wintour. The book centers on his storied career, but it also addresses other aspects of his life like sexual abuse, weight struggles and ageism. Consumer interest in the book was so strong that his publisher Ballantine moved up the release date to May 19 from September and greenlighted a second run before it was officially out. The strategy seems to have worked, given Talley’s swift ascent to the bestseller list. Glennon Doyle ranked first for “Untamed,” followed by Michelle Obama for “Becoming.”
Talley’s recent interviews with Gayle King on “CBS This Morning” and  Tamron Hall on her eponymous talk show surely helped to sell a few books. But Talley said he was still surprised to make the bestseller list in seven days.
“Thrilled but kind of stunned by the whole thing,” Talley said, adding the accolade has been “somewhat distilled by this whole horror that has happened in Minneapolis [referring to the death of George Floyd

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Over the last four years, TikTok has skyrocketed in popularity among the Gen Z demographic, who use the social media platform to record videos dancing to today’s most popular music or participate in different TikTok challenges.
As the coronavirus pandemic has drastically increased social media usage across the board, TikTok has also seen a jump in its user base. According to Sensor Tower, a mobile app data provider, TikTok saw 315 million downloads during the first quarter of 2020, the biggest download count in the app’s history. This brings TikTok’s total download count to two billion.
TikTok doesn’t plan to slow down its growth. The social media platform last month revealed the creation of its $5 million Creative Learning Fund, which WWD is participating in, that is growing the app’s original content.
Despite this recent surge in users, many fashion and beauty brands were early adopters of the app. Take Ralph Lauren, which launched its TikTok account last August in conjunction with its campaign for the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. Other brands are creating dedicated initiatives solely for the app, such as Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, which launched a TikTok House where a rotating roster of influencers create content for the brand.
Here, WWD looks

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Flipping the traditional order of its fashion calendar, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode said it would stage an online version of Paris Couture Week from July 6 to 8.
The haute couture shows were originally slated for July 5 to 9, a week after men’s fashion week. But in May, French fashion’s organizing body set an online showcase for the men’s collections for July 9 to 13.
That means couture will kick off proceedings in Paris this season with a digital platform hinged on films and videos, the federation said, using wording identical to the earlier statement it issued regarding the men’s shows.
“This event will be structured around a dedicated platform. The principle of the official calendar is maintained,” it said.
“Each house will be represented in the form of a creative film/video. Additional content will be included in an editorialized section of the platform. All of this will be widely shared on the main international media networks,” it added.
It is understood the federation plans to involve several tech and other partners, to be revealed at a later date. In late March, as the coronavirus pandemic worsened in France, the federation canceled the summer runway shows. Men’s fashion

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