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The Accessories Council has created an innovation committee that will spearhead a new mentorship program aimed at supporting young talent.
The six-month mentorship program, called the Accessories Innovation Committee, will leverage the Accessories Council’s industry contacts — aiding emerging talent by growing their networks and business acumen.
The Accessories Innovation Committee’s advisory board includes Karen Giberson, president at Accessories Council; Jay Lakhani, designer and founder at Deepa Gurnani; Carrie Sporer, brand strategy consultant and founder at CS Consulting; Charlie Roberts, product director at ECHO Design Group; Florence Shin, cofounder at Covry; Freida Rothman, founder and designer at Freida Rothman Jewelry; Heather Hubbard, chief executive officer, founder and design/product development at MR Handbags; Jonathan Meizler, founder and creative director at Title of Work; Katie Falchi, president and chief designer at Carlos Falchi Couture, and Kim Lai, creative director at Jaunt.
Giberson said: “The Accessories Council is proud to launch the Accessories Innovation Committee, a team of dynamic executives who represent the future of our industry. The AIC’s first project is a mentoring program that will commence this month featuring nine young brands that were chosen as ‘the ones to watch.’ The AIC’s goal for this mentoring program is to provide a support network for

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FUR ZONE: Fur may be falling out of fashion, with brands including Gucci and Michael Kors promising to eschew it in favor of the faux stuff, but not everyone is giving it up.
Following her men’s wear show in London, the Danish designer Astrid Andersen hosted a Champagne reception at the Mandrake Hotel to showcase a collaboration with the Finnish company Saga Furs.
Guests included the Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who is the face of Andersen’s small, bespoke fur collection, while grime artist Giggs from southeast London performed a set.
The standout piece from the collection was a checked coat in mustard gold, pink and palomino, with a black fur collar. Other pieces included a checked jacket with a fur lapel, and a gold and pink fur scarf. The furs used were a mix of raccoon, mink and fox.
Andersen said she worked with Saga because they are one of the only auction houses that give their furs a bar code. Customers on the shop floor can scan the tag and trace the origins of the fur. “When you buy a fur coat you need some kind of guarantee,” said the designer, adding that she believes the future is bright for fur.
“I think fur

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PURE FICTION: The first of the nine episodes of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” premieres on Jan. 17 on FX, and the Milan-based house of Versace on Monday released an official statement to clarify its stance.
“The Versace family has not authorized nor has it in any way been involved in the TV series dedicated to the death of Gianni Versace,” said the company. “Since Versace has not authorized the book from which it is partially drawn and has not taken part in writing the script, this TV series must be considered a work of fiction.”
This confirms comments made to WWD in October 2016. It is understood no legal action is being taken against the program.
The book Versace refers to is “Vulgar Favors” by Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, published in 1999, two years after the designer’s murder in Miami in 1997 at the hands of serial killer Andrew Cunanan. The series is directed by Ryan Murphy and comes on the heels of the Emmy-winning “People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” the opening episode of which was also directed by Murphy.
Gianni Versace is played by Edgar Ramírez and Versace’s partner Antonio D’Amico is played by Ricky Martin. Penélope Cruz stars as Versace’s

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SHOE-IN: Lacoste is looking to gird its footwear business by forming a joint venture with its longtime global licensee for the category, Britain’s Pentland Group.
The move reflects Lacoste’s strategy to push for better integration with its various license holders, which also include Coty for fragrances, Movado Group for watches and Marchon for eyewear.
The new venture will be based out of Pentland’s London headquarters, according to a statement released Monday. Pentland will oversee the creation and production of the brand’s footwear lines as well as distribution in Britain. Lacoste will handle distribution in its main territories.
Andy Long, chief executive officer of Pentland Brands, said the move “demonstrates the strength of the relationship between Pentland and the Lacoste Group, which is the result of 26 years of collaboration since 1991.”
Thierry Guibert, president of Lacoste Group, said the venture is fully in line with the group’s “strategic project which aims to promote the brand’s prestige and optimize the coordination of all product categories, thus reinforcing the Lacoste style everywhere in the world.”
With annual sales of $3 billion across 190 countries, Pentland Brands — a third-generation, family-owned business — counts Berghaus Canterbury of New Zealand, Speedo, Boxfresh, Ellesse, Kangaroos, Mitre and Red or Dead

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PARIS – Fans of high tech, streetwear and street culture in mourning for Colette, rejoice. Two former employees of the recently shuttered store are harnessing their collective 23 years of experience working there for a cutting-edge, men’s-oriented concept store on Paris’ Rue Cambon dubbed Nous, which means “us” in French.
Though many of the items fall under the unisex bracket, women’s clothing and beauty products are not in the cards. Spanning artist skateboards by The Skateroom, 51,000-euro customized Rolexes by Bamford, and sweatshirts by Daily Paper, the relatively pared-back offer reads like Colette sans the kawaii. Opening with a magazine rack and table of books dedicated to street culture, other items on sale include candles by Mizensir, diamond pendants by Eyefunny and an exclusive cannabis-flavored Champagne dubbed Critical by Rozoy & Picot.
Sébastien Chapelle, who helmed Colette’s high-tech and watches pole for 14 years, and Marvin Dein, who was in charge of the store’s streetwear and sneakers pole for nine years, have joined forces as the store’s director and manager, respectively, bringing in a number of members of the Colette team. A deep-pocketed loyal Colette customer is said to have financed the project. The private investor is based in Europe, Dein said.
The store had its soft opening

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The southern Italian region is becoming the New Tuscany.

The unit features four bedrooms, four baths, and nearly 2,000 square feet of outdoor living space.

The notoriously secretive and exclusive Social Register is cracking open its doors to a new generation of members.

Here are homebuying highlights for North Tustin and Tustin from ReportsOnHousing for October.

This house-hunting report tracks listing, buying and selling of existing detached and attached residences in the communities. Analysis includes October trends based on closed sales: sale counts; average price vs. average list price; high and low price paid in the month; average cost per square foot and average size; plus, based on broker listing networks stats on Nov. 30 the “market time” metric comparing supply of listings to new escrows opened in past 30 days.

In North Tustin …

Sales: 21 sold vs. 24 a year ago.

Average sales price: $1,077,077 that ranked No. 10 out of 46 Orange County markets tracked and was up 5.5 percent in a year.

Compared to list: Sellers got 97.4 percent of what they typically asked for, ranking No. 38 of the 46 markets.

Range: High sale of $1,740,000 vs. the $676,000 low.

Sizing: On average, buyers paid $373 per square foot on a 2,890 square-foot residence. This pricing metric was up 0.7 percent in a year.

Market speed: 94 days, listing to escrow opened vs. 101 days a year ago and 106 days two years ago.

In Tustin …

Sales: 62 sold vs. 77 a year ago.

Average sales price: $791,996 that ranked No. 20 out of 46 Orange County markets tracked and was up 25.7 percent in a year.

Compared to list: Sellers got 98.3 percent of what they typically asked for, ranking No. 28 of the 46 markets.

Range: High sale of $2,900,000 vs. the $305,000 low.

Sizing: On average, buyers paid $387 per square foot on a 2,044 square-foot residence. This pricing metric was up 5.4 percent in a year.

Market speed: 51 days, listing to escrow opened vs. 73 days a year ago and 70 days two years ago.

Compare these patterns to five October trends we saw in all of Orange County …

1. Sales: 2,553 sold vs. 2,575 a year ago.

2. Average sales price: $868,090, up 10.4 percent in a year.

3. Compared to list: 98.4 percent.

4. Sizing: On average, buyers paid $464 per square foot — up 9.7 percent in a year — on a 1,870 square-foot residence.

5. Market speed, as of Nov 30: 62 days vs. 73 days a year ago and 75 days two years ago.

DID YOU SEE …

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Southern California housing takes nation’s largest bite of local paychecks

Southern California homes overvalued? Appraisers suggest yes

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