Gap Wisely Scraps Crappy New Logo
Latest- Gap, which last week announced it would be switching to a logo it had been trialling, immediately faced vituperative criticism. It first asked customers for better ideas, and then apologized. Now Gap has reverted to its boring old logo. [BBC]
- Liliane Bettencourt, the elderly billionaire L’Oréal heiress whose extravagant gifts to photographer François-Marie Banier have led her daughter to three times petition the French courts to have her mother placed under guardianship has announced that she intends to sue her daughter for harassment. “Once again, I have learned via the press that my daughter has again submitted the case to a guardianship judge, and that she even intends to appoint an administrator in place of my wealth manager. I can no longer accept such harassment, nor the damage it is doing to L’Oréal’s image,” thundered Bettencourt. She communicated this in the way we hope all elderly billionaire cosmetics heiresses talk to the press: via hand-written note from the Pierre hotel. [WWD]
- Joan Collins: “I have to say there aren’t many good-looking actresses around today. I mean there’s Angelina Jolie and… there’s Angelina Jolie. Jennifer Aniston is cute but I wouldn’t call her beautiful. She’s no Ava or Lana.” [Vogue UK]
- Rachel Weisz, a good-looking actress last time we checked, has been named the newest face of L’Oréal Paris. Her ads will appear starting this November in markets around the world — except for the U.S. [WWD]
- Phoebe Philo: “I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking, ‘Is this Céline?'” The full interview is quite excellent. [FT]
- Luella Bartley, whose label closed last year, says she admires Philo greatly. “She took three years out and made sure her kids were secure. Then, when she was ready, she got the deal she wanted. You’ve got to know what you want. I know I’ve done the right thing. I don’t mourn anything. I loved what it was but I’m happy to be out.” As for her own fortunes, Bartley says, “I have some great friends, but I’ve had to learn not to be competitive with women. I spent my twenties being competitive. And women definitely don’t need competition from other women. Like now, if I see something impressive, I think good for them! I don’t have those tangles in my tummy any more.” [Vogue UK]
- To promote the use of wool, Savile Row has been turned into a sheep farm for the day. [Time Out London]
- Speaking of which: Here are directions to knit a nice-looking cowl. (Although the Guardian refers to this neck-warmer as a snood, t’s not a snood unless it actually has a hood.) [Guardian]
- Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte are receiving a National Art Award, and rather than getting any old boring statuette, the honor will come in the form of a Jeff Koons sculpture called “Balloon Rabbit.” [WWD]
- Lara Stone says she doesn’t want to have kids — yet. “I would love to have children some day. I’d like little gay boys. That would be good. I’m terrified of having a little girl. Girls are more evil than boys. And then they have boyfriends…Of course, I’d be happy to have a girl.” [Fashionologie]
- Here are some close-ups of some of the shoes designed for Alexander McQueen‘s runway show. [TLF]
- Martha Stewart catered Reed Krakoff‘s bar mitzvah. “I still have all his contracts in my files, and all the correspondence I did with his mother about it,” she says. Krakoff is 46, which means he bar mitzvahed around 1977. [WWD]
- Tod’s owner Diego Della Valle: “We don’t take risks.” [NYTimes]
- Jason Wu gave the Taiwanese president a dress for his wife on live television. “I hope she wears it,” says the designer. Subtle. [WWD]
- Sofia Coppola has a bag collection with Louis Vuitton, apparently? [Habitually Chic]
- This is hilarious. Skechers just invented a line of slip-on canvas shoes called Bobs. They have two pleats on the toe, an elastic gusset on the vamp, and a reinforced heel. The tag is sewn into the side seam on the uppers. And for every pair of Bobs sold, the company pledges to donate one pair of shoes to a child in the developing world. Sound familiar? [Refinery29 via Ecouterre]
- Lauren Conrad, on the differences between The Hills and her forthcoming, “documentary-style” reality show about her new fashion line: “The Hills was shot with three or four cameras; things like entrances and exits were reshot; and if there were sound issues, we were asked to repeat what we just said. This show is going to have a smaller crew, and they’ll just be following us around. It’s going to have a rougher feel, but I think the end result is going to be more true.” The new series is partly inspired by The September Issue. Lord help us. [Teen Vogue]
- Apparel industry executives are warning that clothing prices will rise as China slowly raises its minimum wage. [WWD]
- Of course, that “raise” is relative: the current minimum wage for garment workers in China’s Guangdong province is 93 cents an hour. Bangladesh’s minimum wage is the lowest in the world at 21 cents. India’s is 55 to 68 cents, and Indonesia’s is 35 to 71 cents. [WWD]
- Net-A-Porter has acquired the bankrupt online retailer Koodos. Net-A-Porter is understood to mainly be interested in Koodos’ customer database. [Vogue UK]
- The UK chain Accessorize has opened its first store in the U.S., and plans a roll-out of up to 100 more in the next few years. [WWD]
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