Please find below an article that I have written upon the request of a major fashion magazine and that I wanted to share with you for comments:
"H&M collaborations with high-end brands have been so far an extraordinary way for the retailer to inject freshness, hype and sexiness into the stores on a regular basis. The diversity of the names is even very impressive, from Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney toViktor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli, Comme des Garcons and Matthew Williamson
However, this co-branding exercise might no always be a win-win situation for the fashion brand. When it comes to a young designer, it is clearly a fast track to brand awareness, wider customer base and some decent cash.
The question is whether an established and very sought-after brand like Jimmy Choo is not having recourse to such an option just as a response to the current difficult climate. While some of the high-end brands try to refocus on their core business and invest in quality and innovation, the H&M collaboration might on the contrary give the impression of a fairly short-term strategy.
As current customers look for good deals, they will definitely be delighted to buy Jimmy Choo at H&M. Loyal and wealthy Jimmy Choo customers on the contrary might not appreciate this move.
Will Louboutin be next in the H&M pipeline? Surely not.
Lastly and more importantly, one should question this type of deal where luxury brands embrace fast fashion while, as discussed during the FT Luxury Summit in Monaco ("Beyond Green"), it is high time for luxury brands to be more responsible and promote a sustainable way of life and consumption.
When will luxury brands walk the talk?"
Florian Gonzalez
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For further information you can read:
. The following article by Samantha Pearson regarding the Jimmy Choo-H&M collaboration
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f0c2321c- 5b4f-11de-be3f-00144feabdc0,_ i_email=y....)
. The comment made by a loyal Jimmy Choo customer under the following article www.drapersonline.com/news/ multiples/jimmy-choo-to- collaborate-with...)
. The following article by Vanessa Friedman regarding the FT Luxury Summit
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f4a1462- 5b6a-11de-be3f-00144feabdc0,_ i_email=y....
2009/07/01
FT Luxury Summit and Jimmy Choo-H&M collaboration (by Florian Gonzalez)
2009/06/10
YouTube - ''homeproject'' Channel
We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate.
The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.
For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film.
HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Posted via web via gocoolyourself's posterous
Follow the new ''Green Dream Team'' website on greenkiss@twitter + GREENKISS.FR
A crew, an opened space, a virtual magazine, one million projects mixing words, interviews, images, music, videos, arts, recipes… Indoor and outdoor of the blog. From Paris to anywhere else, Green is not a new trend, a marketing tool, a temporary hobby. Green is not a dictature. Not a new diktat of life. We want to share our trust in the Green Dream… Naively, truly and sincerly. "We support environment by entertainment!"
2009/06/09
Vision of Humanity
Vision of Humanity groups together a number of interrelated initiatives focused on global peace. It brings a strategic approach to raising the world’s attention and awareness around the importance of peacefulness to humanity’s survival in the 21st century.
2009/06/05
What is the meaning of life?
The Dalai Lama's answer
"The meaning of life resides in joy and the feelings of harmony connected to happiness; without happiness, life loses meaning. Happiness is at the heart of our lives and our demand for a meaning."
Welcome to The Ultimate Question Of Life, The Universe, And Everything where we try to answer the question surrounding life and its meaning with your responses, our blogs, and narratives from those who have answered the question for themselves. There are several different forums and every few days we rotate some of our more intriguing answers to forum questions below. If you have a thought, please share it with us in the forum discussion - you can register or just post as a guest!
2009/06/04
Mister PAS à Paris
Retrouvailles hier soir avec Pierre-André Senizergues, big boss de Sole Technologie, une des plus grandes marques de skate américaine, de passage à Paris à l'occasion de MeWeCycle, l'exposition de produits issus du recyclage, proposée par Karta Healy, chez colette du 2 au 20 juin. Expo et vente regroupant de multiples créateurs inspirés par l'amour du vélo, du design et le concept du recyclage. A voir urgemment.
Bref, retrouvailles dis-je, avec Pierre-André , mon partenaire de fabrication des tshirts "God save The green", que j'avais lancés il y a environ 3 ans, et vendus chez colette. Quel joli souvenir. Tshirts a base de tshirts recyclés, aux couleurs rainbow, portant sur le torse des slogans green et décalés comme " oops i clean it again, smells like green spirit, et god save the green".
C'etait une de mes premieres experiences de creation et de production green, avec un des gourous de la scène ecolo, co-producteur notamment de la 11e heure avec DiCaprio. TRès fière, tres heureuse d'avoir pu réaliser alors mes idees et mes envies avec pierre. Revoilà les tshirts et leur fameux slogan, revisités par Pierre en solo cette fois.
Le militant skater businessman revient donc chez colette pour y présenter sa première ligne C Pas pour homme, fusion entre vêtements, chaussures et mobilier. Réalisée en collaboration avec Pierluigi Pucci, C PAS mêle des matériaux naturels, recyclés et renouvelables aux influences urbaines pour une collection destinée aux hommes soucieux de manifester leur engagement environnemental et de garder un style irréprochable.
Sacre Green est la première collection de baskets Etnies à l’empreinte carbone 100% neutre, déclinée de la Senix. Toutes les chaussures sont fabriquées à partir de matériaux renouvelables : du chanvre, du bambou, et des fibres organiques. Elles utilisent également une encre à base de soja, une colle à base d’eau, des lacets en PET recyclés, du caoutchouc recyclé – et sont proposées dans une boîte à chaussures qui peut être plantée, car des graines y sont enchevêtrées.
Enfin, Skate Study House est de retour pour une deuxième édition: le projet créé par Gil Le Bon De LaPointe , en hommage au célèbre Case Study House de Los Angeles s’enrichit de nouvelles pièces sous le nom de The Waste is The Best .
2009/05/29
Human/Nature Artists
Eight artists participated in Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet. Several qualities were considered in the process of choosing artists for this project, the foremost of which is the strong sense of generosity that comes through in all of the artists’ work, as well as an inherent integrity to their artistic approach. As travelers on a mission, the artists had to negotiate their roles as tourist, explorer, and documentarian, always maintaining a sensitive awareness of their position as outside observers.
Many of the Human/Nature projects involved the active contribution of the inhabitants of the sites, integrating their knowledge, skills, and needs. The result has been a merging of cultural narratives, evident in the works themselves. For example, projects by Ann Hamilton, Xu Bing, Marcos Ramírez ERRE, and Rigo 23, could not have come to life without the participation of the local populations. Mark Dion’s collaboration with the park rangers at his site resulted in a functional intervention at his location that directly responded to their needs. Other artists, such as Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Diana Thater, and Dario Robleto, focused their attention on the disappearing habitats of their sites and the immediate and long-term implications of industrialization, species preservation, and global warming. No matter their approach, rather than didactic responses to environmental crisis, the artists tell the stories of their sites by both exposing and obscuring the complicated imagery, histories, and function of these locations.
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