Gucci doesn’t do things small-scale. Frida Giannini, head designer, has decided to promote female empowerment – with one of the biggest concerts since Live Aid. And who’s headlining? Beyonce. Of course. Read on for all the insider gossip…
Fashion is going big- stadium-size big.
Gucci is behind a massive concert and multi-media experience called The Sound Of Change Live, to be held in London on June 1. And they’ve pulled in some pretty high-profile performers to support the cause: female empowerment.
Beyonce, who helped to found the initiative that’s holding the concert, Chime For Change, will headline, but other Gucci fans including Australian Iggy Azalea, Ellie Goulding, Florence & The Machine and Rita Ora will perform too.
The entire enterprise is to be held in the massive Twickenham stadium, and ticket sales have a unique charity angle: after you buy them, you can select which area of female empowerment you want to fund with your money, from education to drinking water.
We love it when fashion does good, and Frida Giannini, head of Gucci’s designers, is clearly intent on making a change.
“This is the emergency and the opportunity of today,” she said. “We have reached a historic moment in the history of girls’ and women’s empowerment and now is the time for change.”
Tickets are on sale now if you happen to be visiting the UK in June, but Chime For Change will also have initiatives for us Aussies who can’t quite make the plane trip.
Image: Chime For Change.
The opening of the first Vera Wang bridal salon in China was meant to be enormous news.
But a scandal has erupted at the Shanghai store, with irate brides revealing that they’re being charged large amounts to try on dresses, and not allowed to take any photographs of their choices.
It’s not the policy of any other Vera Wang store in the world – but brides-to-be must pay 30000 yuan, the equivalent of $AUS460, just for a 90-minute session of dress-trials.
If they decide to buy one, then the amount is deducted from the dress, but if they don’t, the cost is forfeit.
The controversial policy, which Vera Wang’s store managers assured the press was to discourage ‘counterfeiters’ – a huge problem in big markets such as China – has drawn irate comments from the press and prospective brides.
3000 yuan isn’t very much for anybody thinking of seriously purchasing a Vera Wang bridal gown. The gowns, which have been worn at the weddings of celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Kate Hudson, are some of the highest-priced in the world, with some running to nearly a hundred thousand dollars for custom-made work.
Counterfeiting is also a very serious issue for brands seeking to protect their copyright – last year Gucci prevented shoppers from taking photographs of window displays – and Vera Wang’s staffers have also made the point that it’s an exclusive brand, and they only want serious customers, not uni students looking to play dress-up.
What do you think – a reasonable idea or upsetting to brides?
Image: Vera Wang bridal salon.
Politics has bred some very famous first-lady fashionistas, from Michelle Obama to Carla Bruni.
However, the newest fashion star comes from an unexpected place: China.
The new First Lady of the President, the glamorous Peng Liyuan, is causing a fashion frenzy in the media with her classic choices, leading Time Magazine to label her the ‘Chinese Kate Middleton’.
And it’s all the more surprising because traditionally, Chinese First Ladies keep a very low profile, staying out of the news and keeping their fashion on the muted side.
With Peng, however, that appears in the past – a black trench coat and bag she wore from the Guangzhou-based label Exception crashed the firm’s site for days, and it’s only now struggling back online to cope with demand.
The editor of Chinese Vogue celebrated the advent of a new fashionista on the political scene. “It’s the first time that China’s first lady appears like a modern woman. I think she dressed very well, with taste and confidence. And after so many years, we finally have a first lady who can represent us so appropriately.”
Peng, who is a professional operatic soprano and massively popular in China in her own right, has been labelled the Peony Fairy by the Chinese media, and is one of the most searched terms on Chinese social networks.
So how do you get the Peng Liyuan style? Impeccably fitted trench coats, crisp suits, a bouffant and a distinctive blue scarf.
Image: Peng Liyuan.
