Max Mara’s Teddy Talk, Saks and Burberry, Armani’s New Book

TEDDY TALK: Max Mara celebrated its new Teddy Ten pop-up with a lengthy list of celebrities.

The fashion brand held a cocktail party Wednesday night at its first Teddy Ten pop-up boutique located at 125 Prince Street, which celebrated the 10th anniversary of Max Mara’s popular Teddy Bear coat. 

The celebration brought together the likes of Katie Homes, Kerri Russell, Jenna Lyons, Lana Condor, Dianna Agron, Lucy Hale, Bryan Yambao, Tina Leung and others. 

Max Mara decorated the pop-up shop with the coat’s plush camel hair fabric designed into the furniture and design fixtures. The coat’s patternmaking shapes were also used in the store’s design.

To celebrate the coat’s 10th anniversary, Max Mara created two versions that will be available exclusively at the SoHo boutique. These styles include the Sparkling Teddy Coat in camel or white embellished with crystals, as well as the Mini Teddy Coat for children aged five to 12. Max Mara’s full range of Teddy Coats will also be available at the pop-up.

The SoHo pop-up is the first Teddy Ten boutique in North America. Max Mara will also be opening Teddy Ten pop-ups in other cities like Aspen and Toronto. Max Mara’s SoHo boutique will be open through April 2024.   

Max Mara’s Teddy Coat has been a celebrity favorite over the last 10 years, with the likes of Celine Dion, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Holmes and others wearing the coat in street style photos. — LAYLA ILCHI

BUNDLE UP: To celebrate Saks Fifth Avenue’s unveiling of Daniel Lee’s debut winter 2023 collection, Burberry will install a series of window displays and immersive visual installations at the luxury retailer’s New York flagship on Friday. They will be up until Sept. 26.

Saks Fifth Avenue is the first wholesale partner in New York to introduce the collection, which includes womenswear, menswear, shoes, bags and accessories. Saks has the exclusive for one week.

Designed to showcase key pieces, the displays and installations blend art with architecture and introduce visitors to Lee’s creative expression for the house.

Windows will feature rose-shaped sculptures, a motif explored throughout the winter 2023 collection. Inside the store, the sculptures are replicated as shoppable installations, with shelves for product within the petals, stems and leaves.

Colored in new seasonal shade Mimosa, the installation sets the stage for Lee’s first collection for Burberry.

Thibaut Perrin-Faivre, president, Americas for Burberry, said, “We are so excited to celebrate Daniel Lee’s first collection with a special takeover of Saks Fifth Avenue. Inspired by a key motif from the collection, the quintessential English rose, the takeover offers visitors the unique opportunity to explore our beautiful luxury products in a bold and immersive setting.”

Tracy Margolies, chief merchandising officer at Saks, said, “Lee has ushered in a new era at Burberry, and his debut collection delivers a fresh take on the house’s brand identify, while simultaneously paying homage to its archival roots. We are honored to collaborate with Burberry to celebrate this important milestone, and we know our clients will be thrilled to shop the collection before anyone else.”

Lee, who made a name for himself with accessories at Bottega Veneta, has added an element of fun to Burberry’s classic styles, adding shots of color, faux fur and goat leather to clothing and accessories.

When chief executive officer Jonathan Akeroyd laid out his strategy in a presentation last November, he said he wanted Burberry to be “desirable and relatable,” with product being front and center, a renewed focus on “femininity,” and an emphasis on underdeveloped categories such as footwear.

In addition to the Saks flagship, the collection is available to shop on saks.com and and select Saks stores across the country. It has already launched at Burberry retail locations. — LISA LOCKWOOD

SAY IT WITH FLOWERS: A different take on the creative universe of Giorgio Armani has been explored in a new book to be released next week.

Dubbed “Armani Fiori,” the 192-page tome spotlights the floral arrangements and refined floral designs associated with the Italian brand. Through images and words, the volume narrates the essence of Armani/Fiori, the flower shop established in Milan in 2000 with the opening of the Armani/Manzoni 31 flagship and also present in Dubai, Kuwait City and Hong Kong. 

Agave, bamboo, tulips, oxypetalum and heliconia are some of the floral species seen arranged in sleek, clean compositions and inspired by the delicate refinement of ikebana, the Japanese art of arranging cut flowers. 

The texts flanking the selection of images include words by professor Renato Bruni, writers Harriet Quick and Dan Rubinstein, in addition to Armani himself.

“Harmony: that is what the world of flowers suggests to me,” said Armani. “A harmony of shapes and colors, but also of nature and culture, of wild beauty and creativity. An absolute union of thought and spontaneity, resolved in shapes and colors that touch the gaze as much as the heart.” 

“Working with flowers, or around flowers, is exciting, for the creativity and vitality of nature shines through in all its glory, in turn inspiring human creativity. I like the idea of disciplining the exuberance of botany, yet allowing that exuberance to take hold of me. It is always a dialogue, enriching and full of surprises,” he added.

Published by Rizzoli NY, the book will be released on Tuesday, when a launch event will also be staged in Milan to coincide with the inaugural day of the fashion week. 

Retailing at $120, the volume comes with a silk cover, a back with visible binding, and Japanese-style inserts. All proceeds from the royalties of the volume will be donated to the Forestami urban forestation project.

Fashion brands’ fascination with the botanical world is in full bloom. As reported, this week Prada launched an activation to celebrate its fall 2023 ad campaign, involving a range of flower kiosks globally to offer Prada-packaged flower seeds of marigold, daisy and sunflower. — SANDRA SALIBIAN

CULTURE CLUB: Fans of French fashion journalist and documentary maker Loïc Prigent’s YouTube channel will know he recently dropped his fly-on-the-wall video of Pharrell Williams’ debut menswear show for Louis Vuitton in June.

Now, fashion followers can delve even deeper with the launch of the house’s first podcast, “Louis Vuitton [Extended],” designed to cement its aura as a “cultural” brand.

Episode one, set to go live on Thursday, features the “Happy” singer talking about his sources of inspiration and the creation of the show, which drew the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna and Zendaya, and ended with a concert by Jay-Z.

Hosted by Prigent, the English-language podcast will provide a bimonthly “deep dive into the creative heart, minds and projects of the maison,” Vuitton said.

Participants will be varied, ranging from the house’s creative directors to a chef who has worked with Louis Vuitton on one of its many culinary projects, or an artist on a collaborative design project, for example. The episodes, lasting 20 to 40 minutes, will be available for free on the main audio streaming platforms.

In the inaugural episode, Williams explained his decision to invite Voices of Fire, the gospel choir he recruited via a 2020 Netflix series, to perform his original song “Joy (Unspeakable)” at the event.

“I wanted people to be clear that the universe had the sun shining on me, and so I felt like the greatest way to express that on the end of it was with the song ‘Joy’ by Voices of Fire,” he said. “It’s like a Hallmark card for encouragement. When you’re feeling low, and you feel like you don’t have any other answers, faith is a very powerful thing.

“And it doesn’t mean that it’s, like, 100 percent on everybody at the time that they want it, but it’s 100 percent because it does come around. Maybe not on your time, but it’s gonna come around on the universe’s time. And I don’t know, there was just a feeling from that, that I wanted the world to feel,” Williams continued.

Prigent also hosts his own podcast in French, “Au coeur de la mode,” in which he provides behind-the-scenes commentary on fashion shows with his cameraman Julien Da Costa, recorded in the car between venues. — JOELLE DIDERICH

TOAST OF THE TOWN: Kilian Hennessy will host an ephemeral bar at Paris’ Hôtel Plaza Athénée during the upcoming fashion week in the French capital.

The pop-up bar, running from Sept. 25 to Oct. 2, is in celebration of Hennessy’s new perfume, called Smoking Hot.

The Kilian Bar will be located in the tony hotel’s central courtyard, which is to feature an XXXXL-size Kilian Paris perfume bottle.

All five of Kilian Paris’ fragrance lines — The Fresh, The Narcotics, The Cellars, The Smokes and The Liquors — will be there.

Signature cocktails nodding to such perfumes can be ordered. And from noon to 10 p.m., people may have bespoke olfactive consultations.

This marks the second time Hennessy has created an ephemeral bar during a Paris Fashion Week. Another at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée popped up last September, and a Kilian Bar made an appearance at the Carlton Beach Club at the Cannes Film Festival this past May. — JENNIFER WEIL

TEQUILA NIGHT: Don Julio González-Frausto Estrada was just 17 when he founded his Tequila distillery, Tequila Don Julio.

The famed tequila brand, which is named after its formidable founder, was born in 1925 in the remote highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. An entrepreneur from the get-go, the teenage Gonzalez would journey across Jalisco on horseback, selling tequila from small wooden barrels and would soon be known as a true pioneer of agricultural techniques that set his brand apart, growing agaves further apart and allowing them to mature for longer, revolutionizing the tequila industry over his 60-year career.

The brand uses agaves (only 100 percent blue agave) grown in the microclimate and the mineral-rich red clay soils of Jalisco and harvested after seven to 10 years.

The spirits brand is gearing up to release its new global campaign for Por Amor with “A Love Letter to Mexico” on Wednesday, an anthem that celebrates modern Mexico and its people. Within this new venture, the brand has tapped Mexican-American fashion designer Willy Chavarria to reimagine Don Julio González’s famed hat as a new cultural symbol from Mexico with a custom hat created for the global campaign, a design that debuted at Chavarria’s spring 2024 fashion show Wednesday evening in New York City’s Woolworth Building.

“To me, it symbolizes so much, it symbolizes hard work, motivation and dedication to excellence, all of these characteristics that my grandfather had, and that also are characteristics of the original Don Julio González” said Chavarria.

The hat style, which is made from a wool felt, is shown in a variety of colors, including red, white, black and beiges, adorned with red roses on its brim, a flower that holds a special connection within Mexican culture.

“The way that the brand celebrates Mexican culture is very modern, very respectful to Mexican art and music and fashion influence and really touches in an elegant and sexy way that very much connects with my brand,” said Chavarria.

The campaign that was lensed by by Thalia Gochez and styled by Nayeli De Alba, a highly sought-after stylist and creative director, was shot entirely in locations throughout Mexico, resulting in a true testament to the brand’s profound appreciation for the country and the amazing culture it has to offer — all in looks provided from Chavarria’s previous collection.

“Tequila is such a cultural thing, because it’s something that is sometimes quite intimate, that you share with a close friend, but it can also be something very celebratory, that we used in a big, big way together. But tequila does always have this feeling of comfort and vibrancy,” added Chavarria.

To commemorate the campaign launch, the Tequila brand manufactured a limited and engraved Don Julio 1942 bottle, which will not be sold, instead an exclusive invite which was sent to VIPs ahead of Chavarria’s fashion show. — LUIS CAMPUZANO

GOOD SUIT: Ecoalf’s premium line Ecoalf 1.0 is teaming with Lapo Elkann on a capsule collection that marks the former’s foray in sartorialwear.

Known for his dandy style, Elkann lent his creative ethos to a range of genderless suits that combine elegance, sustainability and performance.

Crafted from the registered Econyl recycled nylon fabric, derived from discarded fishing nets, carpets and fabric scraps, the suits are made in Portugal, incidentally the home country of Elkann’s wife Joana Lemos Elkann, who played a pivotal role in orchestrating the tie-up.

Ecoalf said the low-impact suits release the least amount of micro plastics, in sync with Ecoalf’s all-sustainable pledge and ambition to help combat marine pollution. Additionally, the production of the collection saved about 243,000 liters of water and ensured a 58 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional suiting, the company said.

“With this limited-edition collection of suits, we wanted to bring elegance and style to the sustainability world, which isn’t sexy or dapper yet, to bring it to a market that is growing, but also key for our world and planet,” said Elkann, who has recently closed a deal to sell the Italia Independent eyewear brand to Modo Group, as reported. “Sustainability is fundamental for a better quality of life, but that should not mean [it is] boring,” he added.

The lightweight and performance suits are available in four colorways, including navy blue, turqouoise, coral red, and Klein blue, and feature pleated, carrot pants matched to single breasted, single-button blazers with wide lapels.

“In 2009 we began with developing backpacks made with recycled materials and over the past 14 years we have expanded into other categories to offer a complete sustainable lifestyle,” said Javier Goyeneche, founder and president of Ecoalf. “To design our first collection of suits I couldn’t think of a better person than Lapo. His creativity, taste, and vision add an incredible value to create a purpose-driven suit that embodies his style while minimizing the environmental impact,” he said.

In addition to the environmentally responsible component, Ecoalf said 10 percent of proceeds from the sale of the collection will be donated to the Laps Foundation established by Elkann to support underprivileged children and young people with educational initiatives.

The collection, retailing at 397 euros for blazers and 147 euros for pants, will be available at Ecoalf’s Milan store from Monday and will bow on the brand’s e-commerce site a week later, on Sept. 25. — MARTINO CARRERA

OUT THERE: Freshly nominated for a 2023 CFDA Award for American accessory designer of the year, Brandon Blackwood has many tricks up his sleeve, teasing a new outerwear collection on TikTok with a digital fashion show during New York Fashion Week.

“I wanted this to be a show everyone could attend,” Blackwood explained of choosing to show on social media. “It’s a relatively small outerwear collection, so doing a whole production seemed wasteful. A virtual show allowed me to have more fun with the visuals while allowing more people to view the collection.”

The show clocked more than 1,000 views when it went live on Monday night, with viewers hyped for the fall drop of the brand. Blackwood is known for his bags with a cult following, adding footwear earlier this year, and now a proper outerwear expansion is the natural next chapter. According to his show notes, the fall inspiration stemmed from finding the perfect medium between sophisticated staples with strong construction and focused on creating pieces that embody a powerful woman mixed with the grittiness of New York street style.

The digital fashion show saw a small group of powerful woman stomping though a brutalist industrial space, each in a new coat style, including a short ink blue puffer with logo details, a sandy hued puffy trench, a black technical parka and more. “We put stories of heroic women with somewhat taboo stories on our mood board,” he said of his show inspiration. “What would a present-day Giulia Tofana wear during a winter in NYC? Dark, strong, confident, powerful, and a little scandalous.”

He pairs the new coats with handbags — of course — using innovative textures like a patented tweed snakeskin, which Blackwood noted took months to perfect.

When asked about his muse for fall, he looked close to home: “I constantly tell my team to think of the ‘dream version’ of themselves. We all have an ideal version of who we want to be. A perfect version of ourselves. That’s who we’re dressing, that’s who we are creating for. A heightened understanding of the very people we already are. This is limitless, as we all have different desires. That prompt gave us so much to pull from.”

Already generating buzz on social media — just like his sell-out bags — the outerwear drops in October. — THOMAS WALLER