Saturday, June 20, 2015

Must Read: Michelle Obama Arrives in Milan in Duro Olowu, Ex-Nasty Gal Employees Describe Toxic Work Environment

Must Read: Michelle Obama Arrives in Milan in Duro Olowu, Ex-Nasty Gal Employees Describe Toxic Work Environment:

Michelle Obama arrives in Milan on Wednesday accompanied by her mother, Marian Robinson, and her daughters, Sasha and Malia. Photo: Jacopo Raule/Getty Images
Michelle Obama arrives in Milan on Wednesday accompanied by her mother, Marian Robinson, and her daughters, Sasha and Malia. Photo: Jacopo Raule/Getty Images
FLOTUS wears buzzy British designers in Europe

Michelle Obama is on an international promotion tour for White House initiatives — and what better tool to promote them than good clothes? For the UK leg of her tour, Obama wore designs from no less than three London-based designers: Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Mary Katrantzou and Christopher Kane. FLOTUS continued her trip in Milan on Wednesday, arriving in a dress from another London-based designer, Duro Olowu. {WWD}

Former Nasty Gal employees tell all
Jezebel interviewed several former Nasty Gal employees about the company's "nasty" recent history. According to them, Amoruso has been increasingly absent from the company since she began work on her success guidebook, "#Girlboss," and stepped down as CEO in January. The former employees blame worsening morale and an increasingly toxic work environment on Nasty Gal CEO Sheree Waterson, who was hired in March 2014 and has laid of dozens of employees. {Jezebel}

Coco Rocha signs with IMG Models

Coco Rocha has switched agencies, signing with IMG Models for worldwide representation. IMG's WME arm has already been representing Rocha for TV, commercials, books and speaking engagements since 2013, but Wilhelmina Models previously handled the 26-year-old Canadian native's modeling gigs. {WWD}

Justin Bieber hopes to start a fashion line

In an attempt to repair his tarnished image, Justin Bieber has lately joined forces with some of the fashion industry's biggest players: modeling for Calvin Klein, attending the Met Gala with Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing and making a cameo in the forthcoming  "Zoolander 2." The next step? Launching a clothing line, of course. "I know Kanye [West] has been working on his stuff for years and failed and came back and tried again and failed," he said humbly. "Fashion’s definitely really important, but I got to make sure I’m ready for the failing part of it because I know that comes with it. It’s not easy. It’s not like putting out an album." {WWD}

Michael Kors rakes in $15 million

Following a successful 2014-2015 fiscal year, Michael Kors and Michael Kors CEO John Idol both saw their compensation increase more than 11 percent to $15.1 million. (Small change if you consider that Kors is worth more than $1 billion, though.) {WWD}

Ralph Lauren hints at showing women's collection in Europe

At a preview of his men’s collection last week, which will bow in Milan on Saturday, Ralph Lauren said that he is open to showing an upcoming women’s collection in Europe — and any other moves that could strengthen Ralph Lauren's international presence. First, however, the designer will display his support for American fashion by presenting his latest Polo collection at the inaugural New York Fashion Week: Men’s on July 16. {WWD}

Uniqlo expands while Gap plateaus

Earlier this week, Gap announced its plan to close quarter of its North American stores. What's eating into Gap's marketshare? One only need look to Japan's king of affordable basics, Uniqlo, which is quickly closing on Gap's sales lead. Uniqlo parent company Fast Retailing generated $13.6 billion in sales last year, while Gap brought in $16.1 billion. Bear in mind that Uniqlo has a much smaller store presence: just 42 locations compared to Gap's 675. Analysts say that Uniqlo is increasingly becoming millennials' source for affordable basics. {Quartz}

Speaking of Gap...

After news of store closings and layoffs, Gap spoke to investors about its strategy for regaining loyal customers. By streamlining its staff and stores, targeting its core customer base of women ages 25-35, and focusing on high-quality apparel at accessible prices, Gap hopes to turn around lagging sales. {WWD}

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:01 PM

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