In his first stand-alone presentation, Kozaburo Akasaka showed a lineup centered around rawness and deconstruction — or “brutal sensibility” as Akasaka described it. His punk rocker sensibility favored high-waisted, cropped bell-bottom pants, deconstructed cropped jackets and amusing platform boots in bright red and black.
The deconstruction techniques worked best in exposed seams on blazer pockets and a silk shirt that was essentially falling apart.
Although the rock ‘n’ roll inspiration is a favorite among designers today, Kozaburo’s take felt fresh and modern.

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Amid a tense and uncertain climate mainly created by President Trump’s actions and promises to turn global trade on its head, sourcing and textile executives are trying to formulate a strategy amid the chaos.
From European fabric firms looking to maintain and grow their business in the important American market to U.S. mills and brands seeing opportunity for a strengthening of their revival movement, executives showed strong resolve at the latest editions of two vital trade shows in New York.
Mixed in with the Trump threats and actions on international trade agreements and relationships are the Instant Fashion phenomenon and the continued desire and move toward greater sustainability in the supply chain.
Guglielmo Olearo, exhibitions director for Première Vision International, said, “The fashion world is questioning itself. The way people are consuming fashion is different, so the way to create fashion is changing.”
He said there is a “generalness, a seasonless” approach that came about over the Instant Fashion movement, that is practical and can lead to some smart strategies such as more local manufacturing, but “it does create confusion.”
Olearo said the problem that’s pervasive, whether economies are holding their own or struggling, is consumption.
“Price is a very sensitive point versus the real value

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Lotta Volkova, one of fashion’s most coveted stylists, is having trouble keeping a straight face long enough to have her picture taken. Crossing her arms, she shoots the photographer the kind of impassive look familiar to fans of her Instagram feed, but repeatedly collapses into fits of giggles between poses.
In less than five minutes, the session is over, with Volkova opining that the first image was the best. The session was fast, fun and instinctive, an insight into the working process of the 32-year-old Russian stylist who is instrumental to cult label Vetements and new-look Balenciaga.
Volkova is part of a cadre of creative types from Eastern Europe that has taken the fashion world by storm with a raw, underground aesthetic shaped by the experience of growing up after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Alongside Demna Gvasalia, the Georgian designer who heads both Vetements and Balenciaga, and Russian streetwear star Gosha Rubchinskiy, she is championing a lo-fi aesthetic marked by oversize volumes, garish color and a fluid approach to gender. It’s a group that thrives on a collaborative approach and a postmodern take on references borrowed from Nineties sportswear, uniforms and subcultures. Collectively, they are revolutionizing luxury fashion.
“I just feel like

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Lenzing Fibers has created a technical brochure in conjunction with Spanish textile finishing specialist Jeanologia detailing the advantages when using the latest laser-laundry technologies in conjunction with Tencel fabrics and garments.
The laundry of apparel and fabrics in the manufacturing process has long been a low-tech industry driven by manual labor and poor environmental standards, but the industry is starting to turn to technology to reduce labor costs and drive product development and environmental thinking.
Under the banner of “Light Sensitive,” Lenzing and Jeanologia have conducted a study to demonstrate the advantages of laser technology when using Tencel fabrics.
“Effective laser marking requires quick and effective dye removal, clear image definition, sharp image outline and smooth gray-scale transition,” said Begoña García, senior technologist at Jeanologia. “Fabrics that contain Tencel have the desired characteristics and are the perfect fabrics to work with laser.”
Jeanologia works with many textile and apparel companies focusing on industrial solutions in garment finishing, developing under sound principles of ecology, efficiency and ethics.
“The relationship between Tencel and Jeanologia dates back to 1994 and between then and now we have participated in many different projects together,” said Michael Kininmonth, project manager at Lenzing. “The relationship is such that they now are highly

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It was a small touch but sent a clear message.

Waight Keller has been creative director for six years.

And yes, he looks better than you.

PARIS — Clare Waight Keller will leave Chloé after showing her fall-winter collection for the Paris-based fashion house on March 2, the company said Monday.
WWD first reported on Dec. 15 that Chloé had held discussions with Natacha Ramsay-Levi, a key associate of Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton. Since then, speculation had been rife that Waight Keller would not renew her contract, which officially expires on March 31.
Ramsay-Levi started her fashion career at Balenciaga in 2002 and rose through the design ranks to become Ghesquière’s top design deputy. When the Frenchman exited Balenciaga in 2013, she went on to consult for several brands, including Hermès and Acne Studios, before rejoining Ghesquière at Vuitton, according to a Paris source. Chloé would not comment on the likelihood of her appointment.
Waight Keller, an alum of Pringle of Scotland and Gucci, joined Chloé in 2011 and has brought a sure and steady hand to the house, rejuvenating its ready-to-wear and accessories business and winning largely positive reviews for her collections.
Chloé plans to celebrate the designer, who followed in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo, with an after-party on the evening of her last show.
“Clare has been a remarkable partner at Chloé

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CAVIAR AND DIAMONDS: “Fawaz, Fawaz!” The calls for attention from the De Grisogono founder and chief executive Fawaz Gruosi rang out as soon as the dessert was cleared at Caviar Kaspia and guests could extract themselves from the cramped tables and mingle.
Georgina Brandolini had organized the dinner during couture week, gathering a mix of clients, friends and socials.
When a full glass of red wine drenched his caviar potato, and his lap, Cerruti creative director Jason Basmajian looked on the bright side. “Now I can have two,” he said with a wink.
Becca Cason Thrash was heading to Venice the next morning to organize a charity event for Venetian Heritage that she is twinning with her popular Liaisons au Louvre fundraiser.
Gruosi said he’s sanguine about the business despite multiple challenges, and noted the high-end business continues to sparkle the most.

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PARIS — For Rick Owens, making a hardcore music video with self-described drag terrorist Christeene Vale isn’t just about shock value. It’s about tolerance, kindness and balancing out what the designer sees as rising bigotry and cruelty in society.
At a party during the most recent Men’s Fashion Week in Paris, Owens and Vale premiered the video, titled “Butt Muscle,” which opens with a scene depicting Vale relieving himself on the designer—- and then gleefully exalts almost every X-rated fetish in the book. Drag artists, dancers and two live horses were among the guests at a party that raged until 6 a.m. at a clandestine club under the city’s ring road.
“There’s a climate right now that is going in a direction I’m uncomfortable with, and I feel an obligation to balance that out,” Owens told WWD in an interview at his Paris headquarters. “If we have extreme self-righteous bigotry on one side, then we need to balance that out with some cheerful degeneracy on the other.”
For Owens, the “underground” may no longer be possible, but the importance of counter-culture is rising. “Sometimes there are social and political climates that people want to react against and this could be one of those moments

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