The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Fashion merry-go-round brings Paris new faces for 2013 Posted: 23 Dec 2012 02:51 AM PST  A model presents a creation for Saint Laurent during the Spring/Summer 2013 ready-to-wear collection show on October 1, 2012 in Paris. – AFP pic What better way to whet the appetite of fashionistas and keep sales ticking over? "There comes a point when a brand needs to renew itself," said Serge Carreira, a luxury industry expert and professor at Sciences Po University. Change can come about involuntarily — as in the case of John Galliano, sacked by Dior over a racist outburst in February 2011 and succeeded last spring by the Belgian minimalist Raf Simons. Or it can be deliberate, as at Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, where Hedi Slimane and Alexander Wang were named to replace the outgoing designers Stefano Pilato and Nicolas Ghesquiere respectively. "Taking on a new designer has become the new way for brands to whip up consumer appetite," said luxury industry consultant Jean-Jacques Picart. For the fashion world, this much change in one year spells the end of a cycle and the start of a new one, as seen in the early 2000s with the arrival of Slimane at Dior Homme, and Tom Ford at Saint Laurent, Picart said. Ghesquiere spent 15 years at Balenciaga, as did Galliano at Dior, while Pilati was at YSL for 12 years in total, starting under Ford, said Pamela Golbin, curator at the Paris museum of decorative arts. Long enough for the industry to change, and the job of designer too. "The number of collections has gone from four to eight, 12 or more if you include capsule collections," she said. Brands increasingly look to designers to act as their public face, opening stores and attending galas. 'Couturiers have to sell clothes' Golbin captures the outlook in today's fashion industry with a quote from the late French designer Madeleine Vionnet: "'Artists are here to make us dream — couturiers have to sell clothes, or they go out of business.'" "Today it's no longer enough to be able to design a dress," Carreira said. "Having a strong identity and a distinctive product are the keys to success." At a time when luxury houses are looking to shore up their prospects for future growth, they need to strike a balancing act between creativity and business imperatives. "And history tells us that it pays to be bold," Carreira said. "If you ask talented creatives to produce standardised products, there is no reason it should work." Consumers have changed, too, in the past 15 years. The industry is now addressing switched-on customers who are far from the fashion novices of the 1990s. Today's clients go back and forth between big and niche brands and more or less expensive offerings. This spring will bring what is widely awaited as Slimane's first "real" shows for Yves Saint Laurent, after last October's spring-summer collection by the cult designer seen as a homage to the house's late founder. Dior's new designer Simons has already made a mark in Paris with two collections, one couture and one ready-to-wear, that reworked the house's iconic nipped-waist silhouette with a clean-lined, contemporary twist. And Wang, the darling of the New York fashion scene, will be taking his first steps at Balenciaga at the autumn-winter ready-to-wear shows this spring. At 28, Wang is already a seasoned businessman, at the helm of an own-name fashion house that has been pushing into Asia, where the Taiwanese-American designer has his family roots. His arrival at Balenciaga may or may not herald a more aggressive market strategy, but whatever direction the house takes, for Picart, Wang's appointment "seals the arrival of a new generation" of designers at the high table of fashion — in the style capital of the world. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| One million Brazilians join cheating dating service Posted: 23 Dec 2012 01:20 AM PST  Since it arrived in Brazil 15 months ago, Ashley Madison has attracted one million lusty Brazilians. – AFP pic Since it arrived in Brazil 15 months ago, the website has attracted one million lusty Brazilians, turning this South American country of 194 million people into one of the biggest markets for the Canadian company. Created 10 years ago, Ashley Madison and its slogan: "Life is short. Have an affair" is now present in 24 countries, with eight million members in the United States and six million in Canada. But Brazil has seen the firm's most explosive growth in terms of number of clients — 70 per cent of whom are men — and in money spent to finance the temptations the site offers. "Brazilians have a very strong propensity for pleasure, sex and fun," said Eduardo Borges, the company's representative in this body-conscious country famous for its exuberant samba dancing and carnival. "Add to this a fascination for technology, for communicating and meeting other people," he noted. The country has around 80 million Internet users and is among world leaders in the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. This provides a combination which, according to Borges, does not promote infidelity but offers alternatives to practise it in a "proper manner." Know-how is precisely the basis for Ashley Madison's marketing appeal, including references to famous cases of infidelity such as those of former US president Bill Clinton and Prince Charles. Lover guaranteed "We started in Brazil in late August 2011. I expected 500,000 subscribers in a year, but we got more than 800,000. And we are going to close 2012 with more than one million, a much bigger growth than what we anticipated," Borges added. With 17 million subscribers worldwide, the website will gross US$120 million this year, but Borges would not say how much is generated in Brazil. "Brazil is our second largest market in terms of income," he said, adding that before the end of the year, the company hopes to open an office in Sao Paulo, the first outside Canada. "Brazil is the apple of our eye," he added. There are many other leading dating sites in Brazil such as eHarmony or Second Love. Ashley Madison was created with women in mind. They do not pay to subscribe or make contacts with men, who are the ones who must pay to send emails, chat messages, draw hearts or use other techniques of virtual seduction. Its business model is based on credits rather than monthly subscriptions. For a conversation between two members, one of the members must pay five credits to initiate the conversation. Any follow-up messages between the two members are free after the communication has been initiated. A pack of 100 credits, which allows a man to contact 20 women on average, costs US$25. Bare chest pictures, faces with piercing looks, adjectives such as "sensitive and affectionate, creative and adventurous," anything goes. "Send me a picture?" said one subscriber named "Guto" when contacted by AFP. He claimed to have been married for 21 years, said he joined the site in March and bought 4,000 credits. "I spent more than I wanted, but I got a few contacts. So far I have had two cases of casual sex, pretty good experiences," he crowed. To mark its first year in Brazil, Ashley Madison launched "Lover guaranteed", a program offering the money back guarantee of an affair. "So far no one has asked for their money back," said Borges. David Benoliel, the company's vice-president for Latin America, said acceptance in the region has been amazing "despite many social and religious taboos". Company officials see infidelity as the perfect recipe to save marriage from boredom. "If there is something missing in your marriage but you do not want a divorce, here we have what you are looking for," Borges insisted. — AFP/Relaxnews |
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