By Jing Xuan Teng, with Peter Catterall in Beijing SHANGHAI, March 22, 2024 (AFP) – With jaw-droppingly low prices and a seemingly endless selection of trendy clothes, Shein has taken the world by storm — and found itself in the crosshairs of French lawmakers who want to curb the excesses of fast fashion. Customers love the Chinese-founded firm’s massive catalogue of ultra-cheap items, from $8 sundresses to 48-cent bracelets, at a time when inflation has […]
Tag: fashion
Dior postpones Hong Kong fashion show: govt
HONG KONG, Feb 24, 2024 (AFP) – Dior has postponed a fashion show set to be held in Hong Kong next month, a city official confirmed Saturday, dealing a blow to the financial hub’s ambitions to boost its economy through major events. Hong Kong is courting top international celebrities and brands in the hope of rebooting its reputation, which had been battered by years of social unrest and strict pandemic curbs. The Dior fashion show […]
The ‘tyranny of thinness’ still dominates fashion
By Eric Randolph and Olga Nedbaeva Despite claims that the fashion industry is embracing curvier bodies, the data suggests it could be guilty of what one expert calls “fat-washing”. While a handful of plus-size models such as Paloma Elsesser have grabbed media attention in recent years, the figures shows they remain a vanishingly small minority. Vogue Business looked at 9,137 outfits unveiled during 219 shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris last season and […]
Goodbyes and good buys: Paris Fashion Week highlights
by Eric RANDOLPH Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The womenswear autumn-winter season finally comes to a halt on Tuesday, having rumbled through New York, London and Milan before ending in the French capital. Here are some of the highlights from the final set of shows in Paris. – Vivienne and Paco, au revoir – The fashion crowd said adieu to two titans of 20th century design. Vivienne Westwood’s widower Andreas Kronthaler presented something of […]
Zara owner’s profits rise despite inflation
Madrid, Spain (AFP) Zara owner Inditex reported Wednesday a jump in profits in the third quarter of its fiscal year despite soaring inflation and the war in Ukraine impacting business costs. The group, which also owns Massimo Dutti, said it pulled in a net profit of 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), between August 1 and October 31, compared to 1.23 billion euros in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by financial information service Factset […]
UK fashion retailer Joules faces collapse as inflation hits
London, United Kingdom | AFP | UK fashion retailer Joules on Monday announced it was on the brink of collapse, as decades-high inflation hits business costs and consumer spending. Joules, famous for its posh wellies, intends on appointing administrators to try to salvage some of the business, having failed to secure an emergency injection of cash, a statement said. It added that trading of its shares had been suspended. Joules employs around 1,600 staff, while […]
Adidas names CEO of rival Puma as new boss
by Sam Reeves Adidas on Tuesday named Bjorn Gulden, chief of rival outfitter Puma, as its new CEO as the German sportswear giant seeks to emerge from months of turbulence. The Norwegian former professional football and handball player will take on the role from January next year, replacing current CEO Kasper Rorsted. He faces big challenges at Adidas, which has seen sales hit by coronavirus restrictions in key market China, and recently ended a […]
‘A turning point’: Japanese fashion after Kenzo, Miyake
by Natsuko FUKUE Agence France Presse Tokyo, Japan (AFP) — At Tokyo’s prestigious Bunka Fashion College, students concentrate in silence that is broken only by the sound of scissors and sewing machines as they strive to emulate the global success of alumni like Kenzo. The loss of greats Kenzo Takada and Issey Miyake heralds the end of a fashion era, decades after Japanese design revolutionised Parisian catwalks in the 1970s and ’80s. And the French […]
Bananas to fish scales: fashion’s hunt for eco-materials
by Eric RANDOLPH Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Sneakers made from banana or pineapple leaves, dresses from nettles or fish scales — the search for sustainable materials has taken the fashion industry to some wild places. Experts warn these new textiles are not a quick fix for fashion’s enormous problems with over-consumption and waste, but may be a necessary step in developing cleaner technologies. “You could possibly eat the final product,” said Hannes Schoenegger, […]
Chile’s desert dumping ground for fast fashion leftovers
by Paula BUSTAMANTE Agence France-Presse ALTO HOSPICIO, Chile (AFP) – A mountain of discarded clothing including Christmas sweaters and ski boots cuts a strange sight in Chile’s Atacama, the driest desert in the world, which is increasingly suffering from pollution created by fast fashion. The social impact of rampant consumerism in the clothing industry — such as child labor in factories or derisory wages — is well-known, but the disastrous effect on the environment is […]
For Stella McCartney, fashion must ditch leather or die trying
by Jordi ZAMORA Agence France-Presse GLASGOW, United Kingdom (AFP) – The fashion industry must prepare to eliminate waste and take radical stances such as ditching animal leather altogether, said British designer Stella McCartney. In an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Glasgow Wednesday, McCartney said that fashion houses must “swap out bad business with good business” for the sake of the planet. “Sadly we are one of the most […]
Rice sacks to runway: India’s battle to rebrand jute
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France-Presse JAGATDAL, India (AFP) – From the boutiques of Christian Dior to royal wedding favours, jute is growing in popularity worldwide as demand for alternatives to plastic soars, with experts predicting the bag industry alone will be worth more than $3 billion by 2024. India is desperate to capitalise on this consumer shift and seize the opportunity to revive its flagging industry, expanding it from sacks and gunny bags to fashion. […]
