PARIS, March 11, 2008 /FR/ — The CEO of Parisian house Chloé, Ralph Toledano, has announced yesterday that Hannah MacGibbon was named Creative Director.
She succeeds in this position at Chloé Paulo Melim Andersson who has been at the house’s creative helm since october 2006.
Hannah MacGibbon had collaborated previously with Chloé for five years, from 2001 to 2006. In more recent times, she was the Creative Director for the development and the launch of the new Chloé fragrance. Before that, she was an assitant to Mr; Valentino Garravani. Hannah MacGibbon is a graduate of British design school Central Saint Martin’s.
« Paulo is an extremely gifted designer, whom we wish to thank warmheartedly for his contribution to the house. I have no doubt he is to continue a brilliant career”, has expressed Ralph Toledano. “Hannah has been at key positions at Chloé for several years now. We are convinced that her creative vision of the brand will be a capital element for our growth in the years to come.”
HONG KONG, March 11, 2008 /FR/— Chanel has certainly created a surprise announcing that the French brand was to inugurate tomorrow (March 12) in Hong Kong , “Mobile Art”, a container of modern Art created by architect Zaha Hadid .
A modern brand, constantly moving forward, cultivating the extraordinary and its innate sense of the moment, Chanel is resolutely open to the world and turning towards the future. It is this propulsion that incites Chanel to perpetually create surprise, from one continent to the next, and to impact on our collective imaginary consciousness.
A travelling project, with entry free to all, Mobile Art will circulate for two years throughout Asia, the United States and Europe, opening tomorrow in Hong Kong, it will later reach Tokyo, New York, London, Moscow and Paris.
In this futuristic pavilion created at the request of Karl Lagerfeld -Chanel’s Creative Director- some twenty international artists will exhibit work that was inspired by the elements that give the Chanel bag its identity. Through this collaboration, resulting from their singular points of view - poetic, audacious and as yet unseen - the multiple facets of this mythical bag and its universe are revealed.
Mobile Art is a revolutionary event, uniting one of the greatest architects of our time, some of our most innovative artists, and an icon of the fashion world: the quilted bag. Mobile Art allows a different perspective of our brand to be exposed, while enriching our culture with entirely new elements. Mobile Art is founded in the continuity of Gabrielle Chanel’s strong relationship with the arts, and reaffirms once more the haute couture brand’s devotion to creativity.
To celebrate the grand inauguration of Mobile Art in Hong Kong, Chanel is hosting an exclusive gala party at The Star Ferry Carpark on March 12, 2008 . Both Karl LAGERFELD and architect Zaha HADID will be participating in this event.
PARIS, March 8, 2008 /FR/ — It was announced at the height of Paris Fashion Week, after an unbearable wait of more than three weeks. After former supermodel Katoucha had been reported missing on February 2, after her handbag containing her credit card and cell phone had been found by the houseboat where she used to live on that saturday morning, after the waters of the river Seine, around the Alexandre III bridge, right in the middle of the French capital, had been searched in vain for two days [read our previous article] , finally, the missing body emerged from the waters of the river, at the bridge called Pont du Garigliano and was found on February 28, dirst spotted by a passer-by.
Katoucha, the Peuhl Princess is dead, and with her, an extraordianry embodiment of class and nobility seldom seen at this level on the runway. We are pûblishing here, in this article, as a tribute to her beauty and elegance, pictures from our archive.. Katoucha Niane has woked and been the muse of the most prestigious fashion houses and grand couturiers: Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior, Thierry Mugler to name but a few.On this international day for women, let us remember that she was an activist working against Female Geniatl Mutilation, which she had endured herself in Africa when she was nine years old. She had, since then with some of her famous predecessors Mounia, Lucky and Capucine, opened the door of the catwalk to a new generation of black models who have all become supermodels like she did herself. Let us cite here Naomi Campbell, Iman, Alek Wek, marvelous vreatures who are still enchanting the world of Fashion.
After her Katoucha Niane’s corpse was discovered, the autopsy, according to French police “showed no signs of foul play”, 
pointing to the possibility that Katoucha could have fallen accidentally into the river. The ex- model and mother of three was then supposed to have “died from rapid submersion with no traces of violence. She fell into the water and went straight to the bottom.”
However, her family has called on a famous French lawyer, Roland Dumas (former French Foreign Office Minister under Francois Mitterrand and the former head of France’s highest legal body, the Constitutional Council), as they had “serious doubts” about the French investigation following the discovery of Katoucha’s body and have now filed a legal complaint with a French investigating magistrate, requesting a second autopsy, because they are suspecting that Katoucha could have been murdered.
Roland Dumas, who has accepted to represent the family, said: “They told me that Katoucha’s face was intact, which is troubling after nearly a month in the water. Katoucha’s father has many questions about the circumstances surrounding his daughter’s death”. “An investigating magistrate will automatically be designated on Monday,” Mr Dumas added.
The daughter of the writer and historian Djibril Niane, Katoucha was born in Conakry, the capital of the former French colony of Guinea, in 1960. When she was nine years old, her mother told her they were going to the cinema to see a movie. Instead, she handed the child to an aunt to be circumcised according to ancestral custom, an extremely painful procedure which was carried out without anaesthetic.
Katoucha arrived in Paris in 1980 after having been sexually abused and falling pregnant at the age of 17 and quickly climbed the ladder of fashion to achieve the career that we know as a supermodel.
After retiring from modelling, she launched her own clothing label “Katoucha” and also, an association against female genital mutilation, “Katoucha pour la Lutte Contre L’Excision” (meaning “Katoucha Against Female Circumcision”, also known as KLPCE).
Last year, she published in France ‘(Editions Michel Lafon) “Dans ma Chair” ( In my Flesh) where she told about her personal genital mutilation. She travelled across Senegal visiting villages to try to persuade women to give up the practice. Before she died, Katoucha was planning to establish an orphanage there.
Yesterday (Friday, March 7) at the Paris Grande Mosquée, some 500 people, including Pierre Bergé -who represented Yves Saint Laurent- and Naomi Campbell, attended a memorial ceremony for the ex-model.
Katoucha’s courage and generosity have made her a role-model and a cult figure among black youngsters, as the former supermodel has consistently tried to help them assert with pride their black identity and full femininity. Katoucha, you have probably joined heavenly angels now. Whether you have been murdered or have died after an accident, you are most beloved in many hearts and will remain so forever!
Jean Paul Cauvin
PARIS, Feb 22, 2008 /FR/ — The management of Ramosport has announced today that Julien Fournié has been named Creative Director in the company. He is now the head designer for all Ramosport womenswear, menswear and accessories collections.
Ramosport has been creating since 1905 outerwear clothing in the spirit of casual luxury.
The house’s creations do ally the know-how specific to outerwear and the innovative Parisian creative spirit.
Creative Director of Torrente Haute Couture until 2004, Julien Fournié has since then worked as far as Asia, where he was advising several brands producing womenswear, and then back in France for some luxury houses specializing in fashion accessories. Before he joined Torrente, Julien Fournié had also collaborated as a designer for womenswear with several Parisian big names including Jean-Paul Gaultier and Claude Montana.
«Julien Fournié represents the alliance between an indispensable knowledge of luxury ready-to-wear, fashion accessories and an abundant creativity », says Nicoletta Giadrossi, Ramosport’s CEO.
At the creative helm of Ramosport, Julien Fournié is replacing the designer Silvia Gavina, previously in this position.
The very first collection for Ramosport signed by the French designer will be presented to the press for the Spring-Summer 2009 season, during the next Paris Fashion Weeks (starting in June for menswear).
«Time has come now for Ramosport to re-establish more clearly its designer’s house identity, on the same track which has given our brand its full brilliance with designers such as Anne-Marie Beretta, Hussein Chalayan or Jean Colonna,” explains Nicoletta Giadrossi in the press release. “We are certain that Julien Fournié is going to give our brand a new edge in this tradition of creative design.”
Retailing in 400 exclusive shops, plus at Le Printemps, Neiman Marcus…. Ramosport also has its own boutiques in Paris. The company recently opened a flagship store in Beijing (China).
Photo: Julien Fournié taking the bow at a Torrente runway show / FashionWindows archives
PARIS, Feb 22, 2008 / FR/ — From Wednesday, 12 March, through Sunday, 17 August 2008, the Fashion Museum of the Province of Antwerp (MoMu) will present the exhibition ‘Moi, Veronique, Branquinho TOuTe NUe, marking the 10th anniversary of the Veronique Branquinho designer label.
Veronique Branquinho graduated from the fashion department of the Antwerp Royal Academy in 1995. She first presented her women’s collection in Paris in October 1997. In 2003, she added her men’s line and opened her flagship store in Antwerp.
In her first retrospective exhibition, the designer let us look inside her ambiguous, suggestive world, where birch forests bathe in moonlight and men warm themselves around a fireplace with glasses of whisky.
She gives an overview of the themes and atmospheres that have been decisive in her work and give her collections her unique signature. References to film, photography and music, which continue to reappear in her presentations and visual language, will also receive ample attention
Duality is constant in Veronique’s world: attracting and repelling, playing and pushing away again. Things are never what they seem. The woman is Veronique’s oeuvre is at once innocent and erotic, playful yet severe, mysterious and always complex. Returning elements such as long dresses and concealing capes make one curios, never giving anything away.
Veronique Branquinho has invited the Blitz collective - writer Oscar van den Boogaard, actor Steven Van Watermeulen and Sven Grooten of B-architects to help her hone her concept and scenography for the exhibition.
Moi, Veronique, Branquinho TOuTe NUe
Dates: Mar 12 - Aug 17, 2008
Fashion Museum Province of Antwerp - MoMu
NationaleStraat 28
2000 Antwerp