Balmain

The Style File Daily Cheat Sheet

DKNY Resort, AE Profits Fall, Cathy Horyn on Ungaro, Burberry's Profits Rise and Obama's Trade Bill With Haiti.

(wwd)DKNY Resort 2011

click to see more pictures

(wwd)American Eagle Profits Fall

"American Eagle Outfitters Inc. issued cautious guidance for the current quarter and said the closure of the Martin + Osa business weighed on first-quarter results. Net income was cut in half to $10.9 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with $22 million, or 11 cents a year ago. Excluding the charges and losses related to the shuttered Martin + Osa business, adjusted profits of 17 cents a share met Wall Street’s expectations. Citing weaker business trends, the retailer projected adjusted profits of 12 cents to 16 cents for the second quarter, falling short of the 21 cents analysts expected." read more

(nyt)Cathy Horyn's Take on Giles Deacon and Ungaro

"Ungaro may seem “a poisoned chalice,” as one of my fashion sisters in England called the Paris house, but this is an industry that dauntlessly recovers from bad taste. If my count is accurate, Giles Deacon is now the sixth ready-to-wear designer at Ungaro in the past decade (and I’m not counting the very brief and strange Lindsay Lohan episode). That’s a lot of designers trying to give a modern look to a label known for prints and a zesty femininity. Mr. Deacon is well liked and reasonably well known in England, where he started his business in 2003, and his clothes have a quirky elegance. But many young-uns have busted out since then and the world keeps changing daily. Fashion folks point to the success of Balenciaga and Balmain — very different businesses but examples nonetheless of old houses that have been re-energized." read more

(wwd)Burberry Profits Rise to $131.5 Million

"Burberry Group plc said Wednesday profits in the year to March 31 rose to 82.2 million pounds, or $131.5 million, fuelled by a 6.5 percent spike in sales and a string of cost-efficiencies. Sales rose to 1.28 billion pounds, or $2.04 billion. The fastest growing category was non-apparel, which accounted for 36 percent of revenue. “Burberry has delivered record profits in what have been very challenging markets,” said chief executive Angela Ahrendts." read more

(wwd)Obama Signs Haiti Trade Bill

"President Obama has signed into law a bill that almost triples the amount of apparel made in Haiti that can be shipped into the U.S. duty free. The bill is intended to help Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, rebuild after the devastating earthquake in January that disrupted the mainstay of its economy — the apparel and textile industry. The centerpiece of the legislation would increase the allowances of third-country fabric of knit and woven apparel to 200 million square meter equivalents from 70 million SMEs in each category. But it would also place sublimits of 85 million SMEs on the duty free benefits for certain high-volume knit apparel products and limits of 70 million SMEs for certain woven apparel products."read more

Hi-fi shoes: What fashion week was REALLY about

An $850 million acquisition of online retailer Zappos.com by Amazon. The Sex and the City sequel where extras are clamouring for Carrie Bradshaw's shoes. Children's footwear posting an 11.8% dollar volume in sales increase. While the retail industry in almost all areas is experiencing one of the worst economic downturns in recent history, the shoe industry in the last three months has proven to be a bright light at the end of a very dark, damp, dismal, depressing tunnel. “When the product is right and offers multiple reasons for wear, the purchases will come,” according to Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for The NPD Group in an interview done by just-style.com.

“Consumers are showing they want footwear and are willing to show their passion on their feet rather than on their backs.”

Cohen's sentiments could not be more true considering what I saw Mercedes- Benz fashion week. While the most of the collections had buyers barely raising an eyebrow, the shoes on the runway caught everyone's attention. here are some of my favorites:

Guiseppe Zanotti Balmain leopard print

Check out these Giuseppe Zanotti for Balmain animal print boots. Yes they are priced at over $1,000 but guess what? People are buying them like crazy. Why? Because this country's mantra when it comes to spending is "where there's a will, there's a way." We'll discuss that later.

Guiseppe Zanotti Balmain zipper shoes

Another Giuseppe Zanotti for Balmain boot. Awesome right?

Guiseppe Zanotti for Balmain

These are my FAVORITE.

Guiseppe Zanotti leopard print shoes

Again, another crazy pair of shoes from Giuseppe Zanotti. What would you wear these with?

Guiseppe Zanotti cut out boots

I think Rhianna was eyeing these...

Roberto Cavalli shoes

While it's not really my thing to a) spend upwards of $300 on a pair of shoes and b) purchase anything at full retail price, these shoes were worth talking about because they are metallic. I have several pairs of metallic shoes and they are the best accessories in my closet!