In 2012, a New York woman shopping for shoes found a disturbing note in her Saks Fifth Avenue bag. Someone claiming to be a worker imprisoned in a Chinese factory told a story of 13-hour days and being treated "like slaves," pleading for "HELP HELP HELP." Now the man behind that letter has been found.
Last night, atop an impossibly garish neon-lit stage, television and televised commercials reached a horrible event horizon in Fashion Star, America's first primetime network show in which product placement supplants entertainment completely. It was vapid, tacky, and embarrassing.
The next time you go clothes-shopping, be sure to wear your favorite opaque full-body unitard—unless you don't mind department store employees watching you while you try on outfits in the fitting rooms. The secret's in the slats, shoppers!
Erin Lucas didn't return to The City for a second season, sadly. But just because she isn't playing Whitney Port's best bud on MTV on Tuesday nights doesn't mean she's been sitting around twiddling her thumbs. Louis Vuitton debuted its new ready-to-wear boutique and 2010 cruise collection at Saks Fifth Avenue on…
• Not only is Karl Lagerfeld not planning on retiring, he tells Cathy Horyn that he's staying at Chanel until he dies. Also: He says the blogger who started the rumor that he's stepping down "is an idiot." [NYT]
• The Jackson clan all wore Versace to the memorial service today, in case you were wondering. [InStyle]
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• Stylist Pat Field may not take part in the Sex and the City sequel—it seems she can't bear the idea of Carrie Bradshaw going from "fashionista to recessionista." But she does have a bit of advice for Susan Boyle, which is nice. [Grazia]
• The return to scarcity: Saks and Neiman Marcus report they're ordering a lot…
Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army's defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Leave it to Saks Fifth Avenue to give the day entirely new meaning. The retailer has announced that today "has been designated by the city of New York as Chanel No. 5 Day," and "a portion of Fifth Avenue is being…
• Saks has agreed to pick up Christian Siriano's fall line. The collection will be sold at the in-store boutique for up-and-coming designers. [NYM]
• Rachel Zoe is launching a budget clothing line. Because she can. [SW]
• Kira Plastinina, the 16-year-old designer and Russian mogul's daughter who watched her company …
• Barneys is trimming staff: The company cut 76 jobs today. [Crains]
• Topshop's signage is here! And a whole bunch of people will be on hand for the big opening on April 1, naturally. [Racked, NYP]
• Sign o' the times: The old New York sign in Midtown has been replaced by one for Burberry. [Racked]
• The Valentino…
Just because there was bad news today doesn't mean you can't remind people that there's a little good news to report, too, right? The full release below.
• Paris Fashion Week came to a conclusion today with a memorable show by John Galliano and Marc Jacobs' collection for Louis Vuitton, which, shockingly, only started seven minutes late. [NYT, Telegraph, WWD, WSJ]
• Want to see Project Runway return to the air? Heidi Klum suggests demonstrating outside Harvey…
• The Chanel show at Paris Fashion Week was just as chaotic as it was expected to be. Photographers ended up in a scuffle when Kate Moss turned up and part of the set broke. [NYT, WSJ, NYT, WWD, Telegraph, Guardian]
• Roberto Cavalli has branched out into petwear. He's selling dildos now, too, apparently. [FWD, FWD]
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Even if you've never stopped to think about what the fashion director of a store actually does—they're not buyers, or merchandisers, or window dressers, or marketing execs, but sprinkle their oracular wisdom (shoulder pads: back! Heels: high! Hems: flouncy!) over all of these domains—you may still be taken aback to…
Hope you didn't make the big mistake of taking Michael Bloomberg's investment advice yesterday! The mayor singled out three companies, telling reporters that General Electric, Macy's and Saks were all "irreplaceable brands" and were undervalued in the current market. But with the exception of GE, which is about where…
• More on the clothes and behind-the-scenes drama at Milan Fashion Week. [IHT, Reuters, Telegraph]
• Pop magazine has a new editor: Dasha Zhukova (left), Russian fashion/art "It" girl and girlfriend of billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich. The new editorial board includes the likes of Julia Restoin Roitfeld and…
• Olivier Theyskens is, in fact, parting ways with Nina Ricci. [Grazia, FWD]
• The couture shows in Paris began today and they're as over-the-top as ever. [NYM]
• Brioni just launched a line of suits that cost as much as $43,000 apiece. "The timing was not fortunate for us," says Brioni's CEO. Go figure. [WSJ]
• Tom…
• Kate Moss will celebrate her 35th birthday this weekend with a "four-day marathon of excess." The sight of a bunch of models standing around a giant pig on a spit at a hog roast? Priceless! [DM]
• She's no Michelle, but Oscar will be dressing Hillary for the inauguration. [People]
• Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang,…
• Karl Lagerfeld on the recession: "Bling is over. Red carpety covered with rhinestones is out. I call it 'the new modesty.' " Of course, said recession isn't affecting Karl personally, who says he has "no budget" and that "throwing money out the window brings money back in through the front door." [NYT]
• Saks is…
• Shopping for high-end luxury products during a recession must be done covertly and in private, and must not be discussed with outsiders under any circumstances. [NYT]
• Stefano Gabbana has lots to say about the fashion biz. And seasonal fruit. [WWD]
• Saks is closing 16 of its bridal salons. [WWD]
• It looks like …
