Armani Tests Sustainable Cotton Production in Italy

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Italian fashion company Giorgio Armani is seen at a shop in Zurich, Switzerland July 8, 2021.  REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Italian fashion company Giorgio Armani is seen at a shop in Zurich, Switzerland July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Armani Tests Sustainable Cotton Production in Italy

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Italian fashion company Giorgio Armani is seen at a shop in Zurich, Switzerland July 8, 2021.  REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Italian fashion company Giorgio Armani is seen at a shop in Zurich, Switzerland July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Luxury fashion house Armani Group has started an experimental agroforestry plantation in southern Italy to test new ways to produce cotton sustainably, it said on Monday.

Armani said cotton planting started last month over one hectare of land - to be expanded to five hectares - in the southern region of Apulia.

Agroforestry is a land-use system that plants trees in and around crop and pastureland.

"Over five years, this farm site will be among the first field experiments in Europe testing agroforestry cotton with alternative tree species and regenerative practices," Reuters quoted Armani as saying in a statement.

The project is in collaboration with the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Fashion Task Force and the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, both founded by Britain's King Charles in his former role as the Prince of Wales, Armani Group said.

Sustainability has been a growing focus for the fashion sector this year, with both Armani and Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent owner Kering pledging cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, and EU governments agreeing a ban on the destruction of unsold textiles.



UK Retailer Next Raises Profit Outlook Again

The Next logo is seen at a store of the clothing retailer in London, Britain, November 23, 2021. REUTERS/May James
The Next logo is seen at a store of the clothing retailer in London, Britain, November 23, 2021. REUTERS/May James
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UK Retailer Next Raises Profit Outlook Again

The Next logo is seen at a store of the clothing retailer in London, Britain, November 23, 2021. REUTERS/May James
The Next logo is seen at a store of the clothing retailer in London, Britain, November 23, 2021. REUTERS/May James

British clothing retailer Next raised its full-year profit outlook for the third time in four months as it reported a 4.8% rise in the first half.

The group, which trades from about 500 stores and online and is often considered a gauge of how British consumers are faring, also said on Thursday it was likely that inflationary pressures on selling prices and operating costs will continue to ease in its 2024/25 year.

For the full 2023/24 year it said it now expected to report pretax profit of 875 million pounds ($1.08 billion), versus a previous expectation of 845 million pounds and 870.4 million pounds made in the previous year.

It also raised its guidance for full price sales growth to 2.6% from 1.8% previously.
For the six months to July 29, Next made a pretax profit of 420 million pounds, on full price sales up 3.2%.


Saudi Fashion Commission Hosts EMERGE Pop-up in Milan

The Saudi Fashion Commission
The Saudi Fashion Commission
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Saudi Fashion Commission Hosts EMERGE Pop-up in Milan

The Saudi Fashion Commission
The Saudi Fashion Commission

The Saudi Fashion Commission has opened the second pop-up event EMERGE, a global undertaking through which the commission highlights the creative and emerging talents in Saudi fashion.

The pop-up will be open from 10:30 am to 8:30 pm at 10 Corso Como in Milan.

"The first EMERGE pop-up that we held in Paris was a huge success and received visitors from different cultures who had an authentic Saudi shopping experience and discovered what Saudi creative talent has to offer,” Fashion Commission CEO Burak Cakmak said in a statement on Wednesday.

He added: "I look forward to welcoming visitors to Milan Fashion Week to introduce them to the Saudi fashion world."

Thirteen designers participating in the Saudi 100 Brands program take part in the event to showcase a wide assortment of ready-to-wear pieces of clothing and elegant accessories, inspired by the rich and diverse layers of Saudi culture and heritage, offering visitors a global shopping experience.

The Saudi 100 Brands initiative, launched by the Saudi Fashion Commission in 2021, is a professional development program that helps emerging local talent reach maximum potential by giving those participating in the program international exposure.

The pop-up was hosted for the first time by the Fashion Commission in Paris Fashion Week and achieved great success, attracting over 2,000 visitors from 30 countries.


Far From Home, Ukrainian Designers Showcase Fashion Created Amid Air Raid Sirens

A model presents a creation by Ksenia Schnaider during the Ukraine Fashion Week presentation of London Fashion Week in London, Britain, 19 September 2023. London Fashion Week runs 15 to 19 September 2023.  EPA/NEIL HALL
A model presents a creation by Ksenia Schnaider during the Ukraine Fashion Week presentation of London Fashion Week in London, Britain, 19 September 2023. London Fashion Week runs 15 to 19 September 2023. EPA/NEIL HALL
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Far From Home, Ukrainian Designers Showcase Fashion Created Amid Air Raid Sirens

A model presents a creation by Ksenia Schnaider during the Ukraine Fashion Week presentation of London Fashion Week in London, Britain, 19 September 2023. London Fashion Week runs 15 to 19 September 2023.  EPA/NEIL HALL
A model presents a creation by Ksenia Schnaider during the Ukraine Fashion Week presentation of London Fashion Week in London, Britain, 19 September 2023. London Fashion Week runs 15 to 19 September 2023. EPA/NEIL HALL

For Ksenia Schnaider and her fellow Ukrainian fashion designers, the show must go on despite the war in their country — or precisely because of it.
For much of the past year, Schnaider and her team of seamstresses toiled away in their Kyiv studio, crafting her new collection of designer denim and luxury daywear even as air raid sirens, drone attacks and power cuts took over their lives and made production almost impossible to continue, The Associated Press reported.
Schnaider, 39, fled Ukraine with her husband and young daughter when Russia invaded her country in 2022. They found a temporary home with a British family in a peaceful corner of southern England. But she hasn’t put down the fashion business she founded 12 years ago, and continues to divide her time between the UK and Kyiv, where all her garments are still being made against the odds.
“My team needs this sense of normality — they told me they want to go to work and have something to do, to support each other, rather than staying home hiding,” she added. “We want to show the world we don’t give up.”
On Tuesday she and two other Ukrainian fashion designers showcased their latest creations in a joint catwalk show at London Fashion Week, which is adopting Ukraine Fashion Week for the second time this year as the war drags on and Ukraine’s fashion industry has nowhere to call home.
At the finale, they took their bows wearing a Ukrainian flag signed by soldiers from three different military units. Some of those men have died since signing the flags, she said.
It’s a poignant moment that the designer both looked forward to and dreaded because it’s so emotionally overwhelming.
“It’s very hard ... but of course, it is important to show our unity. We’re not competitors anymore, we’re all united in working for our victory,” she said.
Since the start of the war, more than 60 Ukrainian fashion brands have showcased their wares in cities including London and New York to “create, in contrast to the destruction brought by Russian aggression,” according to Iryna Danylevska, the founder and head of Ukrainian Fashion Week.
“Ukraine continues to live. Ukraine breathes, fights and creates,” reads a note found on every seat at Tuesday's catwalk display. “Our London Fashion Week runway show is another chance to speak to the world about the value of freedom and the price that must be paid for it.”
Schnaider, who has dressed celebrities including Dua Lipa, wonders how they keep going. "But for me, it’s important to keep producing in Ukraine, to support its people, its economy.”
The catwalk may seem a million miles from the battlefield, but fashion is just one of many facets of a huge national effort to keep the world talking about Ukraine and raise funds and awareness for what its people are going through, AP said.
Another Ukrainian designer, Ivan Frolov, brought the flag of United24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's official fundraising platform, to his fashion show in London's swanky Bulgari Hotel on Saturday.
Frolov, who has shot up in prominence after Beyoncé chose his theatrical designs for her recent “Renaissance” tour and her Dubai concert, knows the power of a celebrity fashion moment and how that could help Ukraine's cause.
“For me, fashion is not only about the clothes — it's like a very powerful media platform that can sometimes spread messages better than any other industry,” said Frolov, 29.
For his latest show, black and white footage of old-time Ukrainian singers and historic video of Kyiv in bloom in the summer served as a backdrop for a collection of barely-there dresses, lavish silk and lace gowns and corsets encrusted with crystals.
Frolov acknowledged the seeming incongruity between his romantic vision and the war ravaging his country.
“It's a big challenge, to continue to do my work in the same moment when our soldiers are dying every day on the front line,” he said.
“We cry every day, and we continue to sew evening gowns for celebrities and for our clients. Of course we are waiting for victory for Ukraine, when we can wear these gowns,” he added. “But right now this is the only way we can show how strong we are. Ukraine is a young and beautiful country with big talents."
To bring home just how challenging the conditions have been for producing her clothes, Schnaider has attached special labels to every finished piece. Her customers can scan the label with their mobile phones to hear an air raid siren sound.
When war broke out Schnaider had a team of about 50. About 20 remain, some staffing her central Kyiv shop, others packaging, producing and shipping her garments to customers. When the sirens blast, her team puts down their tools and runs for shelter. Work would be interrupted for hours, or for the whole day.
Last winter was especially tough when electricity would be cut to just two hours per day, she said. She and her colleagues would try to cram all the work and daily tasks into those precious hours, before going home to “sit in the cold and in complete darkness.”
“It was very depressing, but we kept going, and we were joking it was the best time management," she said.
Other workers and small businesses in Kyiv are as determined as she is to keep normalcy going, she said.
“In the coffee shops, the mornings after the drone attacks, everyone would say ‘let’s drink more coffee' and swear at Russia,” Schnaider said. “They are all like ‘let’s do it, let's get back to work.'"


Sabato De Sarno to Hit Milan Catwalk on Friday with High Stakes Gucci Debut 

A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, January 27, 2023. (Reuters)
A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, January 27, 2023. (Reuters)
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Sabato De Sarno to Hit Milan Catwalk on Friday with High Stakes Gucci Debut 

A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, January 27, 2023. (Reuters)
A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, January 27, 2023. (Reuters)

Gucci creative director Sabato De Sarno takes to the runway in Milan on Friday, in a high-stakes designer debut for the Italian label's owner, French luxury group Kering.

De Sarno’s Gucci catwalk presentation - one of the industry’s most highly-anticipated shows this year - will serve as an aesthetic reset for the brand, aimed at reigniting sales, but it is also the first major test of a sweeping overhaul at Kering.

Efforts to regain momentum at the label, which accounts for the bulk of sales and profits at Kering, have prompted broad change in the group's top management.

The group has also taken steps to broaden its revenue sources, announcing plans to buy high end perfumer Creed in June and a 30% stake in fashion label Valentino in July.

Although it was one of the biggest success stories in fashion in recent years, Kering's star label struggled to capitalize on a post-pandemic rebound that fueled surging sales at rivals, such as LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton and Dior.

Group managing director Jean-Francois Palus is now stepping in to run the brand while the company seeks a more permanent replacement for chief executive Marco Bizzarri, who leaves following De Sarno's first show on Friday.

Bizzarri and the label's previous creative director Alessandro Michele had been credited with the brand's soaring success, doubling sales between 2015 and 2019 to nearly 10 billion euros, but lost ground to rivals, who invested heavily in marketing during the pandemic.

In the run-up to De Sarno's debut, executives at Gucci have been focused on timeless fashions and higher-priced products - and showcasing them in specialized shops catering to ultra wealthy clients - while increasing marketing and the number of collections.

"We believe the quiet progress being made on product, price and merchandising sets the right foundation for Sabato De Sarno's new chapter at the brand," said analysts at RBC, flagging company moves to reduce the label's entry price offer while adding new products at higher prices.

Kering may need to invest more to catch up with rivals like LVMH and Hermes, potentially prompting a revision of margin expectations, analysts say.

"We don't think that a margin reset would be badly received by the market," said Carole Madjo, analyst with Barclays.

De Sarno's new design style will be key to reigniting brand heat, not only for drawing shoppers into boutiques, but can also serve as a template to follow as stores are refurbished.

The designer's first major advertising campaign for Gucci, made public in August, features Daria Werbowy, a model who had retreated from the fashion scene after dominating the runway in the early 2000s, appearing in a slim bathing suit and chunky, gold "Marina Chain" jewellery.

A fall fashion campaign from the label, which recently wiped all posts from its Instagram account, meanwhile, maintained a "recognizable Gucci aesthetic" while not committing "too much to any one direction," said industry publication The Impression.

"It becomes now very important that the new Gucci team will score some goals and win some matches, to give investors confidence that we are indeed on the right path," said Luca Solca, analyst with Bernstein.


Balmain Designer Says Robbers Made off with 50 Items for His Upcoming Paris Fashion Week Show

Models present creations by designer Olivier Rousteing as part of his Spring-Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Models present creations by designer Olivier Rousteing as part of his Spring-Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 28, 2022. (Reuters)
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Balmain Designer Says Robbers Made off with 50 Items for His Upcoming Paris Fashion Week Show

Models present creations by designer Olivier Rousteing as part of his Spring-Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Models present creations by designer Olivier Rousteing as part of his Spring-Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 28, 2022. (Reuters)

Balmain artistic director Olivier Rousteing says robbers have made off with more than 50 pieces of the new collection that his Paris house intends to show at Fashion Week later this month.

Posting overnight Sunday on Instagram, Rousteing said a group of people hijacked his delivery driver on the way from an airport to Balmain's Paris headquarters. He said they made off with the last pieces he'd been expecting for the Sept. 27 womenswear show — more than 50 items in all. He didn't detail the pieces.

"Our delivery was hijacked," he wrote. "Thank God, the driver is safe."

"So many people worked so hard to make this collection," he added. "We are redoing everything but this is so so disrespectful."

"We won’t give up."

He didn't specify which airport the delivery driver was coming from. Paris has two main international airports. Rousteing wrote that he'd been waiting in his office Saturday morning when "our driver called us and said that he was hijacked by a group of people."

"This is so unfair. My team and I worked so hard," he wrote. "We will work more, days and nights. Our suppliers will work days and night as well."

Paris police directed Associated Press questions to prosecutors who couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the weekend.


Dr Martens to Offer Repairs in Sustainability Step

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Dr. Martens store in Manchester, Britain, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Dr. Martens store in Manchester, Britain, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo
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Dr Martens to Offer Repairs in Sustainability Step

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Dr. Martens store in Manchester, Britain, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Dr. Martens store in Manchester, Britain, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo

Dr Martens plans to launch a shoe repair service in Britain next month as it seeks to polish its sustainability credentials, encourage customers to extend the life of their boots, and create a new revenue stream.
The London-listed maker of leather boots, shoes and sandals is currently testing the service with its employees, CEO Kenny Wilson said in an interview. The British launch is a pilot, with a view to expanding the service to continental Europe, Reuters reported.
Even if the repair service displaces some demand as people opt for repairing their boots over buying a new pair, Wilson said the service would bring benefits overall.
"Could it potentially lose us some business short term? Yes, but we think about it long-term, therefore we think it will breed customer loyalty, and it's the right thing to do," he said.
"I get letters from people every week saying can I get my DMs repaired," he added.
Dr Martens is working with The Boot Repair Company in the northern English city of Leeds to offer repairs.
To replace worn-out soles on a pair of boots - a procedure that requires taking the whole boot apart - customers would pay 81 pounds ($100.50), Wilson said, while other repairs would likely be less expensive. That compares with 169 pounds ($209.68) for a new pair of Dr Martens 1460 boots.
Overall, Wilson said he sees a big opportunity in the second-hand market for Dr Martens, with the potential to grow to a tenth of group revenue. In May last year, the company launched a resale service with second-hand marketplace Depop.
Clothing and footwear brands around the world, including Zara and H&M, are seeking a toehold in the resale market as more sustainability-conscious young shoppers opt for second-hand over new.


H&M's Quarterly Sales Lag Expectations

A Swedish flag flutters in front of residential houses in Stockholm, Sweden, September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Marie Mannes
A Swedish flag flutters in front of residential houses in Stockholm, Sweden, September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Marie Mannes
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H&M's Quarterly Sales Lag Expectations

A Swedish flag flutters in front of residential houses in Stockholm, Sweden, September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Marie Mannes
A Swedish flag flutters in front of residential houses in Stockholm, Sweden, September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Marie Mannes

Sweden's H&M on Friday reported flat sales in its most recent quarter, lagging expectations as the fashion firm struggles to attract customers while the cost of living crisis drags on.
"The work towards the company's goal of reaching a 10% operating margin in 2024 is going in the right direction. Profitability and inventory levels have been prioritized in the quarter," H&M said in a statement.
The world's second biggest fashion retailer said June-August local-currency sales, the figure most closely watched, were "flattish" year-on-year, missing the 5% growth forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.
Net sales rose 6% to 60.9 billion Swedish crowns ($5.45 billion), lagging the 63.5 billion expected by analysts.
Excluding its Russia, Belarus and Ukraine operations - it's Russian stores were temporarily open for part of the third quarter last year but have since shut - H&M's sales rose 8% measured in Swedish crowns, it said.
H&M has announced that it will begin reopening stores in Ukraine in November which were closed last year following Russia's invasion.
H&M had seen a reversal of fortune this year that lifted its share price by 53% as sales rose while cost cuts announced last year took effect, but faces competition from Zara owner Inditex and China-founded fast-fashion retailer Shein.
Inditex beat expectations with a 40% jump in half-year net profit on Wednesday even as the world's biggest fast fashion company slowed the pace of its price increases.
Inditex's sales in constant currencies increased 14% between Aug. 1 and Sept. 11, falling short of analysts' expectations for an 18% rise in a sign that the heatwave in Europe had dented demand for autumn and winter clothes.


Brazilian Indigenous Women Use Fashion to Showcase their Claim to Rights

An Indigenous woman presents a creation from Indigenous designers during a fashion event at the third March of Indigenous Women, in defense of women's rights, local Indigenous people and the environment in Brasilia, Brazil September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
An Indigenous woman presents a creation from Indigenous designers during a fashion event at the third March of Indigenous Women, in defense of women's rights, local Indigenous people and the environment in Brasilia, Brazil September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
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Brazilian Indigenous Women Use Fashion to Showcase their Claim to Rights

An Indigenous woman presents a creation from Indigenous designers during a fashion event at the third March of Indigenous Women, in defense of women's rights, local Indigenous people and the environment in Brasilia, Brazil September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
An Indigenous woman presents a creation from Indigenous designers during a fashion event at the third March of Indigenous Women, in defense of women's rights, local Indigenous people and the environment in Brasilia, Brazil September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

Indigenous women in Brazil’s capital Brasilia showcased their creations during a fashion event as part of the Third March of Indigenous Women to claim women’s rights and the demarcation of Indigenous lands.

Under a huge white marquee, models in headdresses, necklaces and traditional attire strutted along a catwalk lined with green foliage to the cheers of a couple of hundred onlookers, many of whom had their smartphones out to share the event on social networks, The Associated Press reported.

Kajina Maneira da Costa, from the Nukini people in Acre state, near the border with Peru, said she was nervous before taking to the stage, but was proud to be representing her people.

“There still exists a lot of prejudice. It’s not normal to see an Indigenous fashion show,” the 19-year-old said.

Kitted out in a bright yellow dress and headdress, Célia Xakriabá, a federal lawmaker from the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais, said on stage that the event was about “decolonizing fashion.”

“Today we showed the power of our creation in clothing ... our headdresses and our ancestry. We participate in politics when we sing and parade,” Xakriabá added later in a post on Instagram.

Xakriabá was voted in during last year’s October elections, at the same time as Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

Since taking office in January, Lula has given significantly more attention to the demands of Indigenous peoples than his predecessor. Bolsonaro opposed Indigenous rights, refused to expand Indigenous territories and had a record of statements critics called racist.

In Lula’s third, non-consecutive term, eight Indigenous territories have been demarcated, and he created the country’s first Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, headed by Indigenous woman Sonia Guajajara.

Indigenous women are increasingly center stage on Brazil’s political scene, and even within their communities. The Third March of Indigenous Women, which took place from Sept. 11 to 13, is a testament to their growing movement.

“Indigenous men had visibility, but now women are adding their strength to the defense of their territory too,” said Ana Paula da Silva, a researcher at Rio de Janeiro State University’s Indigenous peoples study program.

“They are marching to say ‘we are here’ and it’s no longer possible to keep ignoring us,” she added.


New Exhibition Devoted to Chanel’s Life and Work Opens in London

Members of staff looks at the different dresses and outfits displayed during the press photocall for the exhibition "Gabrielle Chanel, Fashion Manifesto" at the V&A museum in London, on September 12, 2023. (AFP)
Members of staff looks at the different dresses and outfits displayed during the press photocall for the exhibition "Gabrielle Chanel, Fashion Manifesto" at the V&A museum in London, on September 12, 2023. (AFP)
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New Exhibition Devoted to Chanel’s Life and Work Opens in London

Members of staff looks at the different dresses and outfits displayed during the press photocall for the exhibition "Gabrielle Chanel, Fashion Manifesto" at the V&A museum in London, on September 12, 2023. (AFP)
Members of staff looks at the different dresses and outfits displayed during the press photocall for the exhibition "Gabrielle Chanel, Fashion Manifesto" at the V&A museum in London, on September 12, 2023. (AFP)

The little black dress. The tweed dress suit. The perfume simply known as No. 5.

Those instantly-recognizable fashion classics, and many more lesser-known designs by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, are celebrated in a major new exhibition at London's V&A Museum dedicated to the life and work of the famed French designer.

Curators have brought together nearly 200 outfits seen together for the first time, charting Chanel's long career from the opening of her millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to her final collection in 1971.

"Of course there are many elements that we are all familiar about Gabrielle Chanel and what she contributed to fashion,” said Connie Karol Burks, one of the curators. “But in this exhibition we expand out from that, and we really look in detail at how her approach to design influenced the way we all dress.”

The exhibition begins with one of the earliest surviving Chanel garments — a simple cream blouse from 1916 made from silk jersey, a humble fabric previously used for underwear and stockings.

Chanel was the first to show the fabric's appeal for high fashion, curators said, and the blouse sets the tone for the relaxed elegance and defiance of the more rigid fashions of the day that the designer is known for.

“What's really striking about it is just how modern it looks today,” more than a century later, Burks said.

Visitors at the exhibition are treated to galleries filled with Chanel's creations, including her famous little black dresses — an enduring hit that, in 1926, American Vogue magazine likened to the popular Ford car and predicted that “all the world will wear.”

The show's highlight is a mirrored room filled from floor to ceiling with a stunning display of Chanel's signature suits, from monochrome black and cream to more cheerful shades of rose, lilac and red.

There are also on display outfits created for Hollywood stars Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich, and sections devoted to Chanel's coveted perfumes and handbags. The finale is a showstopping recreation of the mirrored staircase in Chanel's couture salon in Paris, populated with mannequins donning a collection of the designer's opulent evening gowns.

Tristram Hunt, the V&A's director, said the museum hoped that the new display will build on and follow the successes of previous blockbuster fashion exhibitions featuring Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen.

“Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto” opens on Saturday, and runs until Feb. 25.


H&M to Sell Second-hand Clothes at London Store

FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians and shoppers walk past a branch of fashion retailer H&M in central Stockholm, Sweden, July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians and shoppers walk past a branch of fashion retailer H&M in central Stockholm, Sweden, July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
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H&M to Sell Second-hand Clothes at London Store

FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians and shoppers walk past a branch of fashion retailer H&M in central Stockholm, Sweden, July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians and shoppers walk past a branch of fashion retailer H&M in central Stockholm, Sweden, July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo

H&M plans to sell second-hand clothes and accessories at its flagship store in London from Oct. 5, as pressure increases on fast fashion companies to curb their environmental impact by encouraging the reuse and recycling of garments.

With the European Union planning new regulation to crack down on textile waste in the bloc, H&M has said it is "part of the problem" and that the way fashion is produced and consumed needs to change.

The "PRE-LOVED" womenswear collection, at H&M's Regent Street store, will include garments from several other brands and designers as well as H&M group brands, which include Arket, Cos, Monki, and Weekday.

The autumn-winter 2023 collection of the second-hand offerings will include metallic dresses and shirts, trench coats, and "trendy knits", H&M said, with new items added every day.

H&M did not immediately respond to a query about pricing and how the garments would be sourced. The retailer launched a clothing rental service at its Regent Street store in November last year.

Peer-to-peer resale of second-hand garments has become big business, with online platforms like thredUP, Vinted, and Depop multiplying and brands following suit by launching their own services.

Zara last week launched its online second-hand service in France, having trialed it in Britain since November last year.