FASHION reactivator

Marco Zanini for Elsa Schiaparelli

... that was quick (and a little surprising, too): Marco Zanini, who we learned last week is to be replaced with Alessandro dell'Acqua at the helm of Rochas, will be the new creative director of Schiaparelli.

Elsa Schiaparelli by Christian Lacroix,
presented during Haute Couture week in July 2013, photo: ParisVienne

Now, this appointment also puts an end to seasons and seasons of speculations regarding the creative vision that was to be adopted for the relaunch of the "belle au bois dormant" that was Elsa Schiaparelli's fashion brand. 

Surrealism it was ...

Diego della Valle, who is the mastermind behind all this, did take his time before making up his mind as to who would head his freshly revived high fashion brand - and there was quite a bit of name dropping before Zanini's definite appointment. In the course of these past few years we heard of Giles Deacon, Gareth Pugh, maybe even Peter Pilotto or Marios Schwab as "potential" designers for Schiaparelli.

Elsa Schiaparelli herself, as seen by Christian Lacroix.
Part of the Schiaparelli presentation in July, photo: ParisVienne

Monsieur Christian Lacroix, who presented a very faithful, surrealist and rather "museum piece/theatrical costume" Haute Couture collection for Schiaparelli could hardly be considered a serious choice in the long run (Lacroix has shifted the centre of his attention from fashion to theatre, or so we hear). 

Marco Zanini, who has been doing rather well (if a bit puffily) at Rochas over the past few years definitely belongs to a different league of fashion designers as he has shown his ability (and readiness) to familiarise himself with a creative legacy that is being handed over to him (I could find out for myself when I talked to him about his new post at Rochas, back in 2009).

What remains there to say but that I am much looking forward to Zanini's first Haute Couture collection for Schiaparelli in January and I definitely wish him the best of luck for his new task ...

BIAS cut

images from the Vionnet resort collection 2011

... interesting indeed, and for more than one reason: Madeleine Vionnet is without a doubt one of the greatest and most important names in 20th century fashion history (I cannot forgive myself for having missed the obviously more than remarkable Vionnet exhibiton at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2009) who is credited with REALLY being the one who freed women of the corset, invented new cutting and draping techniques (BIAS CUT) and thus created a remarkable signature aesthetic. The designer died in 1975, at the impressive age of 99 years, and at that point, even though quite undisputably a landmark in fashion history, her fashion house had been closed for no less than 36 years, since Madame Vionnet had only been in business as a fashion entrepreneur in her own right from 1912 to 1939. In the late 1980s, the Madeleine Vionnet name and trademark were purchased by French designer Guy Watelin de Lummen, the creative head behind the first prêt-à-porter collection at the house of Balmain, by the way. After simmering along at a rather reduced temperature for several years, the brand changed owners in 2003, when it was (yet again) to be injected with fresh energy by sheik Majed Al-Sabeh from Kuwait. Subsequently, several designers were engaged to sucessfully bring back the spirit of Madame Vionnet, with probably the best known among them being Sophia Kokosalaki. Now, in 2009, roughly one year after the Marzotto dynasty backed off from Valentino, the well known Italian textile entrepreneur Matteo Marzotto took over the Vionnet brand alongside some fellow investors (eg. Gianni Castiglioni from Marni) and, in an interview, promised to set the label back on track to success within two years. This time span has now elapsed, and even though Vionnet hasn't made it really big in the past few months, some changes seem to be sensible. Designer Rodolfo Paglialunga is doing a nice job at Vionnet, I think, and with the renowned PR agency Karla Otto looking after Vionnet, the interest of media and celebrities does certainly not suffer (Madonna was photographed wearing a Vionnet dress in Berlin recently, so that's definitely a good indicator of efforts being made behind the scenes). To cut a long story short, I think that an increased dynamics surrounding Vionnet may take place in the months to come, and while we are still waiting to see whether Diego della Valle's endeavour to bring back the Elsa Schiaparelli brand will succeed, Madeleine Vionnet is another legendary name to be closely observed for sure ...

images from the Vionnet resort collection 2011

... légèrement épuisé après mon très euhm euhm verbeux message en anglais, MAIS : je me suis dit récemment que l'on est peut-être en train d'assister à un certain envol de la griffe MADELEINE VIONNET, qui, au cours des ans passés, est passée dans pas mal de mains ... D'abord, c'est bien sûr la maison fondée par la légendaire et très douée créatrice de mode du même nom en 1912, restée ouverte jusqu'en 1939, contemporaine de Paul Poiret, Gabrielle Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli etc., mais toujours considérée comme moins brillante, moins saluée, moins fameuse que tous ceux-là. Effectivement, je me demande ce qu'elle a bien pu faire après la fermeture de sa maison de couture jusqu'à sa mort, survenue très tard, en 1975 pour être exact, lorsque Madame Vionnet avait 99 ans. Voili voilà. Puis un petit saut dans le temps, à la fin des années 80, car c'est à ce moment-là que Guy Wattelin de Lummen achète le nom et les droits d'exploitation de la marque - sans qu'il y eût un grand succès ou un grand retour de la maison, pour autant que je sache. Puis, en 2003, la maison change encore de propriétaire, c'est désormais au cheik Majed Al-Sabeh de prendre le relais, avec l'engagement consécutif de plusieurs créateurs, parmi lesquels figure le nom de Sophia Kokosalaki (partie très vite, hélas, après une ou deux saisons si je ne me trompe). Bon. Et là, il y a deux ans, le très charismatique (enfin vous allez me dire si c'est vrai, mais pour un entrepreneur...) Matteo Marzotto (pensez "Valentino") a, avec quelques partenaires, relancé la griffe avec la promesse de la porter à une nouvelle éclosion dans l'espace de deux ans justement. Eh ben voilà, les deux ans sont passées, et tenant compte du fait que la crise économique mondiale n'a pas dû faciliter les choses, où en sommes-nous ? Déjà, pour commencer, c'est l'agence Karla Otto qui s'occupe de la communication de la marque, ce qui n'est certainement pas mal ; par ailleurs, mais je me trompe peut-être, les celebrity spottings semblent s'accumuler (Madonna à Berlin il y a peu ...), ce qui est tout de même un indice de quoi que cela puisse être. Et puis, enfin je ne sais pas, je trouve qu'il y a un je-ne-sais-quoi qui commence à entourer la marque, et c'est certainement aussi en raison de la qualité des collections créées par Rodolfo "Rudy" Paglialunga. Je pense que la marque pourrait se trouver au seuil d'un prochain décollage vers de nouvelles hauteurs, et tout en attendant avec une grande curiosité ce qu'il en est de la rumeur que Diego della Valle va enfin réanimer la marque Elsa Schiaparelli, je pense que Madeleine Vionnet pourrait renouer avec son importance de jadis et trouver sa place dans le champ de la mode actuel ...

screenshot, Google image search "Madeleine Vionnet"

... la maison di Madeleine Vionnet, l'essenziale in versione concentrata: dopo tanti anni di silenzio intorno alla griffe MADELEINE VIONNET fondata dalla legendaria e forse persino revoluzionaria stilista in 1912 e poi chiusa in 1939 (36 anni prima della morte della stilista...), il cui nome è stato acquistato dal francese Guy Wattelin de Lummen alla fine degli anni 80 prima di passare nelle mani dello sceicco Majed Al-Sabeh di Kuwait in 2003, con l'ingaggio consecutivo di vari stilisti, tra i quali l'ormai assai conosciuta Sophia Kokosalaki. Poi, due anni fa, l'entrata in scena di Matteo Marzotto della dinastia dei Marzotto con qualche partner (venne menzionato il nome di Gianni Castiglioni, conosciuto come produttore di pelicce di alta qualità e fondatore della casa Marni...) e la promessa di "raggiungere dieci milioni di euro di fatturato nel prossimo biennio". Anche grazie all'aiuto dello stilista RODOLFO "RUDY" PAGLIALUNGA che raggiunse Vionnet dopo anni d'esperienza da Romeo Gigli e Miuccia Prada. Siccome l'internazionale agenzia Karla Otto si occupa ormai della comunicazione, abbiamo visto recentemente varie apparizioni di vedettes vestite di Vionnet ecc (Madonna a Berlino, ad esempio). Ora, dopo l'abbastanza breve impegno al cuore di Valentino Fashion Group, Marzotto si occupa di nuovo di una griffe di moda, (anche) questa volta con un passato grandiosissimo, ma dotata di poca importanza sul mercato della moda attuale. Potrebb'essere l'inizio di un nuovo capitolo, anche per il gruppo Marzotto? Ho appena letto sul giornale Financial Times degli articoli dove si parlava della mancanza di prospettive imprenditoriali in Italia, visto che non vi esiste nessun grande gruppo di lusso, tranne il gruppo Prada (il cui portafoglio è però stato decurtato dei marchi Helmut Lang e Jil Sander negli anni scorsi) e dove un altro marchio, BVLGARI ovviamente, è recentemente passato nelle mani del gigante del lusso francese LVMH. D'altronde, abbiamo visto, negli ultimi giorni, una specie di panico dovuto al tentativo del gruppo francese Lactalis di assorbire Parmalat. Se il marchio Vionnet vedesse una vera rinascita e desse nuovo slancio alla parte moda del gruppo Marzotto, forse lì si assisterebbe all'inizio di qualcosa ...