by Mike Strange

Fashion News: Puma Returns to New York Fashion Week 2022.

The German company PUMA has returned to Fashion Week 2022 with famed stylist June Ambrose (who was named designer and creative director last year) running the show at Cipriani’s in New York, the Futrograde show. Among PUMA’s re-imagining of old and new street wear there was also the collaboration capsule’s like Dapper Dan. Dan’s convergence of high fashion and sportswear, which Dapper Dan said: “the best thing that could’ve happened to fashion.”

“It’s just an incredibly important moment for us for so many different reasons,” said Adam Petrick, chief brand officer of Puma. “Returning to fashion week for the first time in several years is significant because we knew we needed the right combination of factors to be present. With an emphasis on digital, a great lineup of ambassadors and an amazing creative partner in June Ambrose, the foundation and creativity for a great show are there.”

The end of July 2022 PUMA’s second quarter sales earning jumped 18.4 percent, more than 2 Billion Euros.

Chief brand officer Adam Petrick said: “So we’re going to look at our values and core principles, which is sports first. Sports never goes away. It’s something humans love and need, whether it’s the competition or the fitness or just the general health aspects. It’s absolutely not recession-proof, but it’s certainly something that we can count on as continuing to be interesting to our consumer.”

The German brand also launched a parallel Metaverse fashion show experience called Black Station that has exclusive NFTs which are redeemable for a limited-edition physical sneakers. Black Station connects consumers with various web3 activations slated to emerge over the coming years.

by Mike Strange

Articles: Are Fashion Brands Failing in Sustainability Pledges?

Some of the biggest fashion brands have in the last couple of years made public pledges to reduce their carbon footprint, however recent studies have found that most have not lived up to their promises of sustainability. environmental NGO Stand Earth released a report last year that revealed 35 companies out of 47 received a failing grade (F) on their Fashion Fossil-Free Score Card for a clean energy supply chain.

Big fashion brands like Prada, LVMH and Lululemon were some of the biggest offenders. The organization said that “In the wake of a global pandemic that reinforced growing public demand for strong action to curb the climate crisis and protect public health, fashion brands are at a critical crossroads”.

They also stated: “The fashion industry continues to rely heavily on coal to power the manufacturing of its products, contributing to rising climate emissions and deadly air pollution in countries, such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, where its supply chain is concentrated.”

As calls for fashion sustainability continues to rise, the fashion industry is estimated to contribute 5-10% of green house gases. Roughly 75% of fashion brands fail in adopting sustainability practices, some companies like are shifting to “vegan” leather materials like Nike and H&M. However it is still a long road ahead for many fashion brands.



by Mike Strange

Fashion: The Return of the Preppy Look

As one of the main fashion trends of the 60’s-80’s, the prep look has returned with a vengeance. With streetwear fashion on the decline, due to a counteraction by Gen Z and millennials looking for a more “formal style” in loafers, argyle and rugby shirts with blazers.

Designers such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Ralph Lauren are putting a bend on the classic preppy look this fall adding some flavor with modernized looks and reinterpreted with other influences.

The resurgence of preppy fashion is a remastered version for modern times, being fused with elements of punk, streetwear, etc.

Look for radical new twists on the prep look this fall and at fashion week.

by Mike Strange

Is 3D Virtual Fashion the Future of Shopping?

I remember when you wanted to buy clothes to add to your wardrobe you had to travel to a Brick and Mortar store.

Once you arrived, you had to physically look for items, or sets and try them on to ascertain fit and quality.

The advent of shopping online brought great convenience along with the greater inconvenience of not being able to physically see or try on a sample in your approximate size.

In the last couple of years “Virtual Clothing” and “3D Fashion” has come into existence, which cater to the very best of both these shopping practices. Now Virtual Clothing: is defined as any piece of clothing represented in a digital format accurately. In the majority of the cases these virtual formats can be created into real physical clothing, which can be a huge benefit for many e-commerce retailers.

Designers can now bring their fashion concepts and styles to global fashion hubs like New York, Paris, London, Milan and Asia to anyone with access to a cell phone or laptop.

3D Fashion and Virtual Clothing will represent the future of the fashion industry. Designers will be enabled to release whole new fashion lines without physically creating one single garment.

by Mike Strange

Fashion News: Harrods delays Summer Discount Sale due to New goods slow to arrive.

Harrods announced in June that they will have to delay 2022 Summer sale due to hold ups in the global supply chain, by two to three weeks. The fall out is a result of Brexit

“It’s almost impossible to find the right staff. We’ve lost significant amounts of people as a result of Brexit. And it’s not the skilled or qualified, it’s the people we need to do jobs that unfortunately the British will not do.”

Clothing outlets have been hit by problems with shipping and factory shutdowns in China and elsewhere in Asia as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Value fashion chain Prtimark also said this week that it was closely watching events in China, where lock downs were affecting some factories and ports, threatening potential disruption to deliveries of stock.

by Mike Strange

Fashion News: LVMH Owned Tag Heuer now Accepts Crypto Currency Payments Online.

LVMH‘s Tag Heuer announced that it will now accept Crypto payments on it’s U.S. website via a press release over a week ago. Tag Heuer now accepts 12 cryptocurrencies via BitPay which includes Bitcoin, Dogdecoin, Etherium, Shiba Inu, Stablecoin and others for transactions up to $10,000.

“The press release announcement came after LVMH brands and rival luxury fashion houses at Kering are investing in the Metaverse and Web3, which is the concept for a new stage of the internet relying on blockchain technology.

“Balenciaga will soon start accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment at its flagship U.S. stores and online, as reported by Women’s Wear Daily. Earlier this month, Gucci announced it would start accepting crypto as payment in select U.S. stores.”

Digital currency is not accepted in brick and mortar stores of Tag Heuer at the moment, but they did not say that it wont happen in the future.

 

by Mike Strange

Art’s & Entertainment: Amanda Holley an Octave Above the Rest.

Amanda Holley’s 5 Octave voice is not only captivating, but also calming and soothing while she delivers important and personal messages. With each single/EP, you can see and hear her evolve in “RUNAWAY” and “CODE”, both out now. You can listen to “CODE” on Amazon Music,Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL.

This multi-talented bi-racial singer, songwriter, musician, actor (yes actor too!) has captivated audiences of hundreds and thousands, performing at Coachella, NYFW, LAFW, Carnegie Hall, iHeart and MTV. This SONY signed artist has it all it takes to be a mega star, on stage and TV!

AMANDA HOLLEY

Look for Amanda’s EP “The HolleyGraphic”, (to be released soon) in collab with Billboard Charting producer/songwriters Davis Chris & Cecily Wagner, as well as her starring on a new Reality TV show that will be announced in 2022/23.

Ms. Holley recently talked about her new acting role, spirituality, and working with amazing giants in the industry on the Elegant Classy Gentleman Magazine Podcast, which will be on social media in a few days in 2-3 parts (Amanda has much to talk about) in which Amanda will elaborate…on many things!

Amanda Holley
by Mike Strange

Fashion News: Owners of Karl Lagerfeld Sell Brand for $210 Million to G-lll

The fashion brand owners of Karl Lagerfeld have sold the majority stake to G-lll Apparel Group Ltd. for 200 million euros ($210 Million) paying in cash. G-lll purchased 81% of Karl Lagerfeld’s brand from a group of private and public investors headed by Fred Gehring of Amlon Capital, in addition to the 19% stake brought in 2016 while forming a North American joint venture in 2015. The apparel group also owns Donna Karen.

The buyers anticipate retail sales of the brand could reach over $2 billion. Hun Kim (former Tommy Hilfiger designer) is now head of design, along with Carine Roitfeld and Amber Valletta to create collections. Pricing is considered “Affordable Luxury” with a mid-tier price point.

Included in the deal G-lll will also acquire the 10% stake in it’s China joint venture with global expansion and ramped up licensing deals.

by Mike Strange

Restaurant Review: Enoteca Harlem

The owners of the Chilean pastry & bakery shop Dulceria, have now opened right next door (literally} the tapas & wine restaurant Enoteca. This small, but charming tapas wine bar has about 30 seats, a back yard patio (as well as a store front patio).

A few tables take up most of the small and narrow space with a large couch in the middle (in lieu of a bar) which is the common seating for diners without a reservation.

As I walked in (late for my 6pm reservation) they were carving a leg of imported Chilean ham and watched in amazement for a minute or two before I was led to my table for dinner by one of the pretty servers.

My Table

Now Enoteca boosts about 40 Chilean Wines, and I wanted to inspect (of course) their selection of Chardonnay’s. I went with the Halclenda San Juan Chardonnay: This “biodynamic” wine from the coastal region of Casablanca in Chilie has a citrus and fruit flavor, with a mild after taste that can be described as refreshing.

Halclenda San Juan Chardonnay

Since this is tapas, I ordered a few things, and the Piquillo: Red Rooster Peppers filled with Cod, and covered in leek cream and Tigre: Mussels boiled in white wine, onion garlic and bechamel seemed like a good place to start.

Piquillo & Tigre

These two tapas dishes were quite tasty, I really enjoyed the complex taste of the Tigre which had a unique flavor and mild seasoning which played upon my pallet quite delightfully.

Next up I was presented with the Lobster the Cava: Alioli of cava and butter lobster’s claw, and the Scallops: Txacoli wine with fresh garlic lime covered with shrimp.

Lobster the Cava & Scallops

These two tapas dishes were so good I was tempted to order another round of the most delicious tapas I have ever tasted! I highly recommend these two. Last but not least I had the Bacalao: Cod onions and the rest is a secret (and indeed it should), as this tapas dish was probably the best of them all! I ate it very slowly to savor the flavor of this exotic dish.

Bacalao

Enoteca is located at: 2220 Frederick Douglass Blvd (917) 993-4459 on the corner of West 120th Street. This is the perfect place for a romantic dinner/intimate evening, after work drinks with friends, or get to meet new people in conversations on the couch over a superior glass of wine!