Photo courtesy of independent.co.uk
At 86 years young, Dame Joan Collins is not letting any grass grow under her feet. Collins stars in Valentino’s Christmas campaign video, giving the Italian luxury brand her special brand of diva glam. In the video, Joan Collins dons a lacy red off-the-shoulder gown with evening gloves. She is beautifully accessorized in a diamond tiara.
In a recent Instagram post, the brand states, “[a] holiday party wouldn’t be complete without a dinnertime surprise from a special someone.” The holiday video ends with Collins hiding behind a fan and in a grand diva moment declares, “[y]ou know I enjoy my own company as much as you do.”
That’s right Joan, we do enjoy your company, especially around the holidays!!
Photo courtesy of elle.com
Kylie Jenner increases her wealth
For a 22-year old, Kylie Jenner is making a lot of moves. Kylie’s very lucrative beauty company, Kylie Cosmetics, has been sold to Coty for a reported $600 million dollars. Kylie Cosmetics is one of the fastest growing cosmetics lines in the country.
With this new deal Kylie will continue to helm the creative direction of Kylie Cosmetics when it comes to product and communication initiatives. Coty will manage R&D, manufacturing, distribution, commercial, and go-to-market strategies aimed to facilitate growth. Coty will also act as a licensee for skincare, fragrances, and nail products.
“I look forward to continuing the creativity and ingenuity for each collection that consumers have come to expect and engaging with my fans across social media. This partnership will allow me and my team to stay focused on the creation and development of each product while building the brand into an international beauty powerhouse,” Jenner commented, as reported in a fashionnetwork.com article.
“Combining Kylie’s creative vision and unparalleled consumer interest with Coty’s expertise and leadership in prestige beauty products is an exciting next step in our transformation and will leverage our core strengths around fragrances, cosmetics and skincare, allowing Kylie’s brands to reach their full potential,” detailed Coty CEO Pierre Laubies.
Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Union busting
Hearst employees are attempting to unionize. However, some employees are claiming that Hearst executives are encouraging staffers to withdraw their union cards. Some staffers are even claiming that Hearst execs have expressed that unionization is “as a threat to Hearst’s company culture and values.”
“They told me, verbatim, that if I didn’t trust them, I didn’t have to work there,” an anonymous staffer told Intelligencer, as reported in the fashionweekdaily.com. “They’re playing really, really nasty in a way that is very upsetting to a lot of people because we work very, very hard for the company.”
In case it isn’t known, the pay scale at most print publications is shamefully low—except for executive staff—even though revenue at top print publications is way into the hundreds of millions. And unlike Conde Nast, Hearst’s money coffers are quite deep!!
Photo courtesy of businessoffashion.com
Caught red handed
Italian authorities recently discovered and arrested the boss of a manufacturing company in Naples, Italy that was employing undocumented workers making leather good for several top European luxury brands. The factory in question, Moreno Srl, located in Melito, a suburb of Naples made luxury bags and shoes big fashion holding companies that include Armani, Kering’s Saint Laurent, and LVMH’s Fendi.
When the factory was searched by Italian police, 50 undocumented workers were found, including two teenagers and a pregnant woman. As reported in Reuters, “[t]he manufacturing district around Melito is seen as China, where production is decentralized from European industry due to low costs and poor workers’ rights,” explained Rosario Pagliuca, attorney for Moreno Srl owner Vincenzo Capezzuto,
Moreno Srl is a subcontracting factory that makes luxury goods for some of the biggest European luxury brands. And like many subcontractors, the larger luxury brands/groups do not enforce labor, health and safety rules for the workers at these subcontracting factories.
“ …. the production chain at times is too long. It happens that the original suppliers subcontract to other companies, without the brands knowing,” a person working in the luxury industry quietly told Reuters. Vincenzo Capezzuto is currently under house arrest on charges of illegal employment and abduction.
—William S. Gooch
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