On the heels of an array of retail bankruptcy filings that began to unfold over the course of the year in 2016, New York-based designer Bibhu Mohapatra and retailers The Limited, Wet Seal, and Payless all made headlines when they filed for Chapter 11 protection in early 2017. They were swiftly followed by a handful...
Fashion
Steven Klein, Nars Prevail in Copyright Case After Allegedly Hijacking Photo of Makeup Design for Collab
Steven Klein and Francoise Nars have prevailed in a case filed against them by makeup artist Sammy Mourabit. According to the copyright infringement suit filed in a New York state court in August 2018, Mourabit claimed that the famed fashion photographer and the makeup mogul used his work that appeared in a 2013 editorial in...
LAW After Filing Suit Against KKW, Seed Beauty is Taking on Kylie Cosmetics, Coty in New Trade Secret Lawsuit
On the heels of alluding to impending litigation involving Kylie Cosmetics in the trade dress secret case it filed against Kim Kardashian’s KKW Beauty late last month, Seed Beauty has named Coty, Inc. and Kylie Jenner’s corporate entity King Kylie LLC in a markedly similar lawsuit. In the newly-initiated legal battle, beauty brand incubator Seed Beauty is...
Sensors Woven into a Shirt Can Monitor Vital Signs
MIT researchers have developed a way to incorporate electronic sensors into stretchy fabrics, allowing them to create shirts or other garments that could be used to monitor vital signs such as temperature, respiration, and heart rate. The sensor-embedded garments, which are machine washable, can be customized to fit close to the body of the person...
How Women Dress for Other Women
“If you can’t be better than your competition,” Vogue editor Anna Wintour once said, “just dress better.” Indeed, new research suggests that women don’t just dress to be fashionable, or to outdo one another when it comes to enticing men. They also dress for other women. But Wintour’s quote misses some of the nuances that...
There’s a Complex History of Skin Lighteners in Africa and Beyond
Somali-American activists recently scored a victory against Amazon and against colourism, which is prejudice based on preference for people with lighter skin tones. Members of the non-profit The Beautywell Project teamed up with the Sierra Club to convince the online retail giant to stop selling skin lightening products that contain mercury. After more than a...
From Gucci to Supreme: Fashion Brands Are Tapping into Disney’s $60 Billion Merch Machine
Disney is not just for kids. That seemed to be a clear takeaway when Gucci sent a $4,500 plastic purse in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head down the runway at Le Palace in Paris as part of its Spring/Summer 2019 collection. As it turns out, the appearance of one of Disney’s most well-known characters...
John Galliano’s Newspaper Print is Getting the Fast Fashion Treatment 20 Years Later
Twenty years after John Galliano first turned newspaper printed textiles into garments under the name of his Paris-based eponymous brand, as well as that of Christian Dior, Pretty Little Thing (“PLT”) decided to try its hand at it. The result? The Manchester-based fast fashion retailer – which has built a thriving business thanks to an...
2019 Came to a Close With Developments in the Cases Against Emily Ratajkowski, Kendall Jenner Over Fyre Fest
Months after the dust settled on Fyre Festival, the “luxury” music festival gone awry, and after the failed-festival’s attendees had lodged their individual multi-million dollar lawsuits, citing everything from negligence to fraud, a handful of new lawsuits were filed in conjunction with the bankruptcy filing of Fyre Festival LLC. In a quest to recover the $16 million-plus...
Luxury Consumption Can Fuel ‘Impostor Syndrome’ Among Some Buyers
Purchasing luxury goods can affirm buyers’ sense of status and enjoyment of items like fancy cars or fine jewelry. However, for many consumers, luxury purchases can fail to ring true, sparking feelings of inauthenticity that fuel what researchers have labeled the “impostor syndrome” among luxury consumers. “Luxury can be a double-edged sword,” write Boston College...