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Bridget Foley’s Diary: Chanel’s COVID-19-Era Price Hikes

Price hikes at a time of global economic devastation? It’s happening in luxury. As reported by WWD’s Tianwei Zhang on Tuesday, with luxury shopping reopened in China, some brands are increasing their prices, none more dramatically than Chanel. Rumors across social media that significant increases would soon go into effect sent shoppers racing to Chanel outposts in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hangzhou in search of pre-markup acquisitions.
Chanel confirmed the price hikes to WWD. They range from 5 to 17 percent in euros, and apply to “a small portion” of the house’s handbag and small leather goods offerings. The changes go into effect over the next couple of days in China, and are not limited to China. In keeping with Chanel’s policy of global price consistency instituted several years ago, adjustments have been or will be instituted around the world. Any increases above 17 percent reflect currency and exchange rate fluctuations. The price hikes apply only to the iconic 11.12 and 2.55 handbags as well as the the Boy, Gabrielle and Chanel 19 bags and some small leather goods. Prices on seasonal bags, ready-to-wear and shoes will not be impacted, nor will fragrance and beauty.
Chanel is not alone in upping prices

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Clothing Luxury

Luxury Exclusive Collared Shirts – Prada Adds the Highly Exclusive May Shirt to Its Time Capsule (TrendHunter.com)


(TrendHunter.com) Luxury fashion house Prada announced its Time Capsule selection of shirt launches earlier this year and the latest to join is the May shirt. The most notable element of the top is the exclusivity of…

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Accessories Luxury

Gucci Taps Lu Han, Chris Lee, Ni Ni and Song Yanfei for 520 Campaign

LONDON — Gucci is launching a series of digital campaigns targeting the 520 Chinese Valentine’s Day, as 520 sounds like “I Love You” in Mandarin.
Brand ambassadors Chris Lee and Ni Ni will join popular idol Lu Han and Song Yanfei, and four other friends of the house to spotlight GG monogram outdoor, a timely setting for post-coronavirus China, as people begin to go out and travel again.
The campaign will be gradually rolled out on major Chinese social platforms, including Weibo, WeChat, Shipinhao, Xiaohongshu and TikTok. Each platform will have slightly different visuals and tone of voice to drive engagement. Dionysus, 1955 Horsebit, GG Marmont and Ophidia are key items in this campaign.
On Weibo, celebrities will share their encounter with the brand in a radio show format, while WeChat content focuses on the connection between the GG monogram and the idea of love. Readers will be able to participate by sharing their own stories. Gucci’s TikTok videos will be more Gen-Z friendly. The brand launched on TikTok’s China edition last week and has become one of the most followed luxury brands on the platform.

Lu Lan stars in Gucci’s 520 campaign for China. 
Courtesy Photo

Lu Han’s 520 campaign, first published on Thursday evening on

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Parsons Launches Podcast Series for Master’s Program, Public

As students transition from the classroom to virtual learning, Parsons School of Design has launched a Retail Revolution podcast that features weekly episodes with experts from a variety of fields offering insights and perspectives on how retailers can weather the coronavirus crisis.
New episodes of the podcast, which is housed on its own web site as well as on Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn and Spotify, will air twice a week. So far, episodes have featured Meisha Brown, vice president of department stores for Kering Eyewear; Brandon Roe, marketer and author, and Noam Levavi, chief executive officer of ByondXR.
Producer Joshua Williams, associate director of the master’s program at Parsons, said the school is currently recording new interviews that will be aired soon. Guests will include Donald Rattner, architect and space design expert, and Xiafeng, an e-commerce and digital engagement executive. It is hosted by Christopher Lacy, a customer experience and operations executive who has worked for brands including Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss and Gucci.
“What started out as a podcast to help facilitate our course going from onsite to online, is now turning into its own entity,” said Williams. “We will continue to release new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays through June,

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Brooks Brothers to Stop Selling Product Made From Exotic Skins

Brooks Brothers will no longer sell products made from exotic animal skins such as crocodile, ostrich and lizard.
In thanks, PETA, the animal rights group, sent the company a box of vegan crocodile-shaped chocolates.
“Behind every crocodile- or snakeskin item is an animal who experienced a violent, bloody death,” claimed Tracy Reiman, PETA’s executive vice president. “PETA thanks Brooks Brothers for protecting these vulnerable animals.”
In 2018, Brooks Brothers stopped purchasing mohair in response to PETA’s investigation of angora goat farms in South Africa. It now joins Jil Sander, Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, Hugo Boss, Victoria Beckham, Vivienne Westwood and other fashion brands that have banned exotic skins.
Only a fraction of the brand’s business was in exotic skins, according to a spokesperson, and it includes shoes, bags and small leather goods. The retailer stopped designing and ordering skins around a year ago and is selling through the last of that remaining inventory.

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Gucci Spotlights Animal Conservation Efforts With Pre-fall Ad Campaign

GUCCI’S GREEN PASTURES: Gucci is spotlighting its support for the protection of wildlife animal species and their natural habitats with its pre-fall 2020 ad campaign.
In February, the Italian luxury brand joined the The Lion’s Share Fund, a non-for-profit organization that raises money to protect endangered species by partnering with global brands and advertisers using animals in their ad campaigns. Gucci has pledged to donate 0.5 percent of its paid media spend to the organization every time an animal appears in one of its advertisements.
In its latest ad campaign lensed by Gucci’s longtime collaborator Alasdair McLellan under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele, deer, fawns, owls, blue birds, skunks, squirrels, frogs, hedgehogs, ducks and rabbits flank the models enjoying their time under the sun in a playground with swings and slides and flanked by a waterway.
In keeping with the sense of free-spirited eclecticism that has become deeply connected with Gucci’s image in the Michele era, the images candidly portray a range of characters hula hooping or playing the flute and reconnecting with the natural environment. The Florentine house described the campaign as an “ode to retrieved innocence, a return to the infant world,” the same theme Michele developed for the men’s

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How Dog Apparel Is Performing During Quarantine

It’s taken less than a year for Boobie Billie to emerge as fashion’s newest “It” girl. Confident and photogenic with a great sense of humor in her Instagram posts, she’s a chameleon when it comes to style and doesn’t shy away from playful experimentation and head-turning looks. Her recent quarantine outfits have included pieces from Prada, Carolina Herrera and Nike.
Oh, by the way, Boobie is a dog.
Whether the designer fashions Boobie dons are real or Photoshopped, dogwear is, in fact, a real and fast-growing market. In recent years, designers such as Thom Browne and Donatella Versace have expanded into the category, often photographing their respective pups Hector and Audrey in promotional marketing material.

@hectorbrowne inside the Thom Browne showroom. 
Courtesy Photo

Dogs are no stranger to the fashion week circuit, either, recently appearing on the Baja East and Lela Rose runway shows, and in Monse’s pre-fall 2019 lookbook, where designers Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia introduced dog sweaters and accessories with preppy chic undertones.

Donatella Versace’s dog Audrey wearing the Crete de Fleur motif hooded shirt. 
Courtesy Photo

In the past two years, retailers such as Ssense, Browns and The Webster have taken note of the rise in designer dog apparel and accessories, launching dedicated pet

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