The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views

Six NGOs urge France to investigate SUARAM over Scorpene report

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 07:58 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — Six non-governmental organisations (NGOs) today urged the French government to conduct an investigation on Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) for wrongly filing a report in 2009 on the purchase of two French-made Scorpene submarines by Malaysia.

Young Malaysian Journalists Club (YMJC) president, Dzulkarnain Taib said the NGOs had handed over a joint memorandum to the French Ambassador to Malaysia, Martine Dorance at the embassy, here at 2.30 pm today.

Besides YMJC, the memorandum was also signed by Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia, Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia, Malaysia Malay Network, Malaysian Crime Prevention Awareness Board and Malaysian Consumerism Protection Board.

He said the memorandum demanded the French government to investigate SUARAM for acting as a bogus non-governmental organisation and had manipulated the French justice system in the Scorpene probe.

"SUARAM's false pretension could threaten the long-established relationship between Malaysia and France," he told Bernama here today.

Dzulkarnain claimed SUARAM had acted in bad faith to claim itself as a bona fide representative of the Malaysian people and wrongfully used this charade to hoodwink the French courts to be appointed as the plaintiff or parti civile vis-avis the Scorpene issue. — Bernama

Balenciaga to name Ghesquiere successor soon, CEO says

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 07:45 AM PST

PARIS, Nov 6 — Balenciaga is in advanced negotiations to name a successor to its star designer Nicolas Ghesquiere, whose surprise departure has rocked the fashion industry, the fashion house's chief executive said today.

"We have a shortlist, and negotiations are well under way," Isabelle Guichot told AFP, a day after the house's owner, the PPR luxury group, announced its designer of 15 years would leave at the end of November.

Excerpt of Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2013 runway video, with Nicolas Ghesquière. — AFP/Relaxnews

"It won't be a drawn-out transition," she added, in a nod to the recent situation at Dior, which took a year to name Raf Simons as successor to its disgraced designer John Galliano.

PPR, whose fashion brands include Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen, has owned Balenciaga since 2001.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Ghesquiere — one of the most acclaimed designers of his generation — could be poised to launch his own brand for PPR's archrival, the luxury giant LVMH.

Quoting an unnamed industry source, the IHT said today that Ghesquiere has been courted by LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault.

The paper reported that Ghesquiere had been offered a house under his own name, to be overseen either by Arnault's daughter Delphine, who works for the company, or his son Antoine, who recently relaunched the shoe brand Berluti.

Fashion brands in the LVMH empire include Christian Dior, Celine, Kenzo and Givenchy and Louis Vuitton.

Since taking over at Balenciaga in 1997, Ghesquiere put the historic house of Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga back on the fashion map.

News of his departure went down like a bombshell on planet fashion, unleashing a swirl of speculation on social networks over the 41-year-old's next step and his successor at Balenciaga.

Guichot denied reports of friction between herself and the designer, saying only that, "Perhaps Nicolas wanted to express a different creativity, in a different environment."

"For a person as creative and talented as Nicolas, it drives his inspiration to be stimulated in new ways."

She also denied any planned change of strategy at Balenciaga, stressing that turnover had been multiplied by 11 since the house was acquired by PPR, with two-figure growth for the first nine months of this year.

"There are no plans to move towards something more commercial, since Balenciaga's strength and its DNA comes from the tension between its laboratory side, and the way it translates on the catwalk." — AFP/Relaxnews

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Selasa, 6 November 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views

The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views

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