Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Lindsay Lohan in a bikini at the beach
Lindsay Lohan in a bikini pics
Lindsay Lohan in bikini pics
Lindsay Lohan in a bikini pictures
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Bikini Fashion Model Vol 10
The best-known French and Italian brands can start making a handbag or shoe in China or Turkey and bring it back home to be finished and gain the "Made in France" or "Made in Italy" tag.
But designers in Paris and Milan have the benefit of commercial networks in the luxury goods trade developed over centuries and still thriving local artisanship, that is often protected by the biggest conglomerates. PPR's Gucci Group, for example, trains the artisans making its Bottega Veneta signature woven leather bags.
By contrast, designers and luxury industry executives say Britain is jeopardizing the growth of its talent by taking the move to offshore too far.
Among Britain's most acclaimed young designers, Christopher Kane is one who is suffering from the lack of nearby manufacturing capacity.
Even with his credentials -- he was partially sponsored by Donatella Versace through his master's degree -- Kane said he has difficulty finding anyone willing to make his clothes.
Bikini Fashion Model Vol 09
Now, with a renaissance of British luxury underway -- thanks to a crop of new talents and booming new demand for high-end goods from Chinese and Russian consumers -- this manufacturing gap is gaining attention.
"SELLING YOUR SOUL"
Pierre Mallevays, a former LVMH executive and now managing partner of Savigny Partners LLP, a corporate finance and M&A boutique specializing in luxury goods, said British luxury's renaissance may have come just in time.
"British brands simply cannot emulate the French and Italians -- they need to reach back and find their history, but in many cases that history in no longer there," he said in an interview.
"Where the British were very good traditionally was in their own production and their own manufacturing. Once you start dismantling that by selling factories you sell your soul."
Of course, Britain is not alone in shifting manufacturing offshore.