عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Fashion

Sleek Silhouettes, Flowers and a Protest Mark Hermes Show in Paris

TOPSHOT - Models present creations for Hermes during a show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 in Paris on September 30, 2023. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Models present creations for Hermes during a show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 in Paris on September 30, 2023. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
TT
TT

Sleek Silhouettes, Flowers and a Protest Mark Hermes Show in Paris

TOPSHOT - Models present creations for Hermes during a show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 in Paris on September 30, 2023. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Models present creations for Hermes during a show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 in Paris on September 30, 2023. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Hermes artistic director Nadege Vanhee-Cybulski evoked a country garden for her spring show at Paris Fashion Week on Saturday, seating the audience among wildflowers and grassy borders as she showed sleek coats, silk skirts and slim, skin-baring dresses.
Models marched down a runway strewn with vegetation, wearing monochrome looks mostly in taupe or crimson, including fitted leather dresses that molded to the body. Coats were also tailored in leather, or cashmere.
The show was briefly interrupted when, about halfway through, a protestor jumped from the audience onto the runway, holding up a sign that called for the label to stop using exotic skins such as crocodile or ostrich hides.
Audience member Bryanboy, a digital creator whose real name is Bryan Yambao and who regularly attends runway shows, leapt out of his seat and snatched the banner away from the protester.
"It's rude to disrupt a show that people have been working on for months," he told Reuters after the show.
"I love an Hermes exotic," he said, gesturing towards his leather bag.
There have been several incidents involving protesters disrupting catwalk shows this season, including at a Coach show in New York.

Most Viewed

 
 
Fashion

LVMH Shares Drop after Missing Second-quarter Estimates

A man walks past a shop of fashion house Dior in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A man walks past a shop of fashion house Dior in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
TT
TT

LVMH Shares Drop after Missing Second-quarter Estimates

A man walks past a shop of fashion house Dior in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A man walks past a shop of fashion house Dior in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Shares in LVMH (LVMH.PA) fell as much as 6.5% in early Wednesday trade and were on track for their biggest one-day drop since October 2023 after second-quarter sales growth at the French luxury goods giant missed analysts' consensus estimate.

The world's biggest luxury group said late Tuesday its quarterly sales rose 1% year on year to 20.98 billion euros ($22.76 billion), undershooting the 21.6 billion expected on average by analysts polled by LSEG.

At 1000 GMT, LVMH's shares were down 4.5%.

The earnings miss weighed on other luxury stocks, with Hermes (HRMS.PA), down around 2% and Kering (PRTP.PA), off 3%.

Kering is scheduled to report second-quarter sales after the market close and Hermes reports on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Jittery investors are looking for evidence that the industry will pick up from a recent slowdown, as inflation-hit shoppers hold off from splashing out on designer fashion.

JPMorgan analyst Chiara Battistini cut full year profit forecasts by 2-3% for the group, citing softer trends at LVMH's fashion and leather goods division, home to Louis Vuitton and Dior.

"The soft print is likely to add to ongoing investors’ concerns on the sector more broadly in our view, confirming that even best-in-class players like LVMH cannot be immune from the challenging backdrop," said Battistini in a note to clients.

The weakness of the yen, which has prompted a flood of Chinese shoppers to Japan seeking bargains on luxury goods, added pressure to margins, another source of concern.

Equita cut 2024 sales estimates for LVMH by 3% - attributing 1% to currency fluctuations - and lowered its second half organic sales estimate to 7% growth from 10% growth previously.

The lack of visibility for the second half beyond the easing of comparative figures - as the Chinese post-pandemic lockdown bounce tapered off a year ago - is unlikely to improve investor sentiment to the luxury sector, Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet said in an email to clients.

"No miracle with the luxury bellwether; sector likely to remain out of favour," he wrote.

Jefferies analysts said the miss came as investors eye Chinese shoppers for their potential to "resume their pre-COVID role as the locomotive of industry growth and debate when Western consumers will have fully digested their COVID overspend".

LVMH shares have been volatile since the luxury slowdown emerged, and are down about 20% over the past year, with middle-class shoppers in China, the world's No. 2 economy, a key focus as they rein in purchases at home amid a property slump and job insecurity.

LVMH offered some reassurance, with finance chief Jean-Jacques Guiony telling analysts during a call on Tuesday that Chinese customers were "holding up quite well," while business with US and European customers was "slightly better".