fashion speaks | Manish Arora

The element of balance is imperative to some creatives, but yet, an unfathomable act to others. I’ve never believed it to be intentional though. I think it’s the creative mind working at its highest ability, which hinders those creatives from evening their business and creative scales. Manish Arora, a very famous Indian fashion designer, did an interview where he used himself as a great example for the infamous “creative balance” as it pertains to his career. Manish gave insight to what all creatives aim to do which is becoming successful from their artistic talents.

fashion speaks | Phillip Lim

It is difficult for many designers to inveigle fashion admirers into their personalities because many do not possess good personalities. Some designers strive to maintain a personal mystique while others are simply prisoners of their own successes. Well however they may label themselves, I appreciate it when designers can unveil their truth and unapologetically tell their story, such as Phillip Lim. While I am not a major fan of his clothes, I do love his handbags and more so his character. In the visual below, the creative collective, SHOWstudio conducted an in-depth interview with Phillip as a part of their In Fashion series that explores the depths of contemporary fashion’s current influencers. So if you have ever inquired about the man that is Phillip Lim, you are certain to receive your answers in the interview below.

Credit: SHOWstudio

Fashion Speaks | Christophe Chenut

The present Chief Executive Officer of Lacoste, Christophe Chenut provided his views on Lacoste's legacy, management, and its future as an iconic fashion brand to The Business Of Fashion and it was interesting. Now I admire John René Lacoste much more than Christophe but I was impressed by how well he advocated for the brand. I say that because not all CEOs have a cultural awareness of the brand they help curate, only the business. So he definitely won me over with his enthusiasm. View some excerpts from the interview below. 

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On René Lacoste: 

He was focused on innovation in everything, including, of course, putting a logo on a garment, inventing the petit piqué, and building a business [using] a licensing model. Not a lot of competitors were built like that. And for years after, he continued to invent and innovate [in] a lot of different ways, the metal racket, different things for golf, for cricket, for baseball. It’s truly part of the spirit of the company and even if it’s more and more difficult to innovate in the textile business today, I think we have to keep this philosophy in mind.

Diversifying Lacoste to reverse sales decline: 

What we wanted to do was recruit the young and trendy people, and also women that are talking about fashion. These people are more interested in fashion than our historical male target. We thought that by offering them a better collection, we could recreate desirability around the brand, make those people [speak] good words about the brand, and make the classical customer happy to see his children and wife wearing Lacoste again.

Today's competitive nature of the polo shirt: 

It’s funny to think that this garment is 80 years old. Sometimes young people think that the polo was invented by another brand. We try to communicate as much as we can to say we invented that 30 to 50 years before, thanks to René Lacoste. All the brands may be proposing polo shirts, but they are not from Lacoste. Having an iconic product is a strength and a weakness at the same time. It’s an incredible opportunity to have so many customers coming into your boutiques to buy one iconic product, but it’s very difficult to make them move to other products because they want to buy a polo shirt...You have to invest a lot to make sure your iconic product will remain iconic. 

Source: The Business of Fashion

Fashion Speaks | Frankie Morello

When I first came across the clothing brand Frankie Morello a few seasons ago I was very skeptical. Skeptical in a sense of why in the hell do their men's collection emulate a high-fashion Italian version of Rocawear? Honestly, that is what I thought. Even more-so, with the recent release of their Spring/Summer 2013 collection, I witnessed the same thing yet now, I understand why that street element is included in some of their designs. Maurizio Modica and Pierfrancesco Gigliotti, the founders of Frankie Morello, were two mysteries for me until I came across the interview below. The interview helped me receive clarity on the streetwear facet because Maurizio advised that he grew up being a part of  Italian street culture as a performer and choreographer, so it makes sense now. The aforementioned is why I love when designers become candid in interviews about their backgrounds because it opens up a personable path for their supports to follow, which I believe is important. Check out the interview below. 

Fashion Speaks | Dolce & Gabbana

Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana had a very in-depth interview with The Business of Fashion's editor, Imran Amed that was very insightful into their Dolce & Gabbana brand. The interview focuses on how Domenico & Stefano have adapted to the digital age of branding and what methods they have used to implement a marketing strategy that relates to present day technology. It's a brilliant interview and a different facet for these two famous designers to be presented in.



Credit: The Business of Fashion