Industry News – May 2nd, 2016

Curated fashion industry news links for Monday, May 2nd, 2016…

TJX MAKES MOVES WITH NEW STORE GROWTH CONCEPT – RetailingToday
“Sierra Trading Post, an online retailer TJX Cos. acquired in 2012, is accelerating store expansion and could become a new growth driver for the nation’s leading off price retailer with designs on extending its value proposition to the outdoor and active lifestyle world. TJX paid $200 million for Cheyenne, WY-based Sierra Trading Post in December 2012. At the time, Sierra operated four outlet stores (in Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada). After 18 months under TJX ownership, Sierra st opened new stores near Denver in August 2014, in Fort Collins in October 2014 and in Colorado Springs in October 2015.”

RICCARDO TISCI GIVES JAPAN’S BIGGEST VIRTUAL VIRTUOSO AN HAUTE COUTURE MAKEOVER– Vogue
“Hatsune Miku is a hologram, an avatar, designed and built with software by the Japanese media firm Crypton Future Media, Inc., as a tool for next-level crowd-sourcing. Miku’s songs—thousands of which are available for purchase through her record label, Karent—are user-generated: The user writes the song, then Miku sings the song. The Mileys and Justins of the world need to step it up. This is the real millennial pop star. “She’s so cool,” says Riccardo Tisci, almost breathlessly, as he stares at the beauty on an iPhone screen. Earlier in the year, Miku traveled thousands of miles to Paris (via fiber-optic cables, of course) to “meet” with the designer for a couture-gown fitting. (The photo at left was snapped two days after the Givenchy show—the girl has access!) “The outfit has multiple types of lace with some crocodile trim,” notes Tisci, “and intermittently, though you can’t see them from far away, there are individual Swarovski crystals.”

TIFFANY & CO. PARTNERS WITH FORMER VOGUE EDITOR GRACE CODDINGTON– Forbes
“Coddington, who’s been working under Anna Wintour since 1988, has now partnered with Tiffany & Co. for its fall/winter ad campaign, to be revealed in September. Under the title “Creative Partner”, Coddington styled the campaign visuals which allegedly feature a group of young celebrity talents. Furthermore, the fall/winter ads are said to be centered around some of the American jeweler’s most iconic pieces.”

PRINCE’S “PURPLE RAIN” JACKET TO BE AUCTIONED– Yahoo!Style
“An iconic jacket worn by Prince in the 1984 film “Purple Rain” will be auctioned in Los Angeles in June, auction house Profiles in History said Friday. “It’s definitely the most important piece of screen-worn Prince clothing that’s ever come up for auction,” Profiles in History president Joe Maddalena said. “This is the first time ever for something like this, and it might be the only time because the rest of the costumes may be in his personal wardrobe.” The famously private singer gave the jacket to a makeup artist at the end of the shoot, auction house spokesman Jeff Hare told AFP. It has an asking price of $6,000 to $8,000, but is likely to fetch more at the June 29 sale.”

THE DESIGNER WHO MIXES CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY WITH COUTURE TRADITION– NYMag
“Factory smoke, lucid dreams, alchemy, synesthesia. These are the preoccupations that have taken up residence in Dutch designer Iris van Herpen’s brain and inspired some of the most out-there collections to ever walk a couture runway. The 31-year-old has been pegged as a “wearable tech” designer, a title she’s not entirely comfortable with. Though she was among the first to experiment with 3-D printing in fashion, she considers most wearable tech to be “too gimmicky.”