Kristen Stewart stars at Chanel show

PARIS, France - Actor Kristen Stewart starred in a cinematic tribute by Chanel on the final day of Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday. 

The show opened with a short film starring the Stewart in which she exits a Paris cinema after watching the 1961 classic "Last Year at Marienbad". 

The house's founder, Gabrielle Chanel -- better known as Coco Chanel -- made the costumes for the ultra-stylish New Wave film, and some of the looks were recreated on the catwalk, including the short haircuts and dishevelled boyish vibes, a black evening dress with a big bow across the chest and a long silver dress. 

Stewart was among the guests in the front row with Naomi Campbell, Halsey and South Korean star Soo Joo Park. 

"Of the people around me, (Stewart) is the closest to Gabrielle Chanel," artistic director Virginie Viard wrote in the show notes. "She understands Chanel, the clothing. And with her, it becomes even more modern."

The looks for the Spring-Summer 2023 collection were largely monochrome with lots of shining accessories and details, and ended with a selection of little black dresses. 

The iconic Chanel suit was presented in lots of variations -- with skirts, shorts and trousers, adorned with sequins, embroidery or feathers. 

Agence France Presse

US streetwear star Williams takes over at French label Givenchy

Paris- The American streetwear designer Matthew M. Williams was named Monday as the new head of aristocratic French fashion house Givenchy.

The 34-year-old creator is the second US streetwear star to be given the reins of a major French luxury label, after his friend Virgil Abloh, who designs Louis Vuitton menswear.

Like Abloh, Chicago-born Williams first worked with the rapper Kanye West before going out on his own with his 1017 ALYX 9SM brand.

Based in Italy, where Williams now lives, it has become so hot it got a name check alongside Nike in Canadian singer Drake's new song "Toosie Slide."

"It's been my life-long dream to be in this position, and it is really surreal that it is finally here," Williams said in a post on Instagram.

"I have worked every day for 15 years towards this single goal. 

"At the same time, it's bittersweet because we are living in unprecedented times and I just hope in some way I can bring hope and with my community create positive change for the industry and for the world," he added.

Williams has previously said that he owes everything to Kanye West, who is married to Kim Kardashian.

Kanye West is his mentor 

"He is the person that gave me my first break. I created a suit jacket for him to wear to the Grammys when I was 21. He then asked me how much I got paid, to which I replied, 'Nothing.' And he said, 'Okay, I'm going to give you double nothing to come work with me.' 

"The next day I was on a plane with him to Japan. He's been an amazing friend and mentor," Williams said.

The designer later founded the cult music and fashion collective Been Trill with West, Abloh and fellow US streetwear sensation Heron Preston.

Their most notorious creation was a set of laces bearing the words "Fuck Off" that cost $100.

Sidney Toledano, of LVMH, the French fashion giant of which Givenchy is a part, said it had "watched Williams grow into a great talent.

"I believe his singular vision of modernity will be a great opportunity for Givenchy to write its new chapter."

The name of Williams' own brand comes from his daughter Alyx (pronounced "a-leeks") and his own date of birth, October 17.

Something that deserves to exist

As well as his street cred, Williams has eco credentials from his belief that clothes should be made to last a lifetime.

"There are too many clothes on this Earth. If I am going to take the responsibility of making clothing, I need to make something that deserves to exist," he told GQ magazine.

The American replaces the British designer Clare Waight Keller, who stepped down in April after three years at the fabled, but until her arrival rather faded house.

Her biggest coup was making the wedding dress for Meghan Markle when she married Britain's Prince Harry in 2018.

Waight Keller, 49, also created a menswear range for the label that was once the favorite of Audrey Hepburn as well as bringing it back into the Paris haute couture ranks.

Williams, however, will only design Givenchy's men's and women's collections, which is sure to spark speculation that the brand is withdrawing from the elite Paris shows.

His first Givenchy show will be in Paris in October.

Agence France-Presse

Korean actor Ji Soo is new face of Penshoppe

MANILA – Another Korean star has become a celebrity endorser of the Filipino clothing brand Penshoppe.

Ji Soo, best known for his roles in “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon” and “My First First Love,” was introduced by Penshoppe as one of its newest faces.

“Ji Soo joins Team Penshoppe, upping our antics this season in a hot summer flash!” the brand said in an Instagram post on Thursday.

View this post on Instagram

Oh. Hot. Damn. @actor_jisoo joins Team #Penshoppe, upping our antics this season in a hot summer flash! 🚨 #PenshoppeSummerWithActorJiSoo

A post shared by Penshoppe (@penshoppe) on Mar 12, 2020 at 12:07am PDT

In another video, the Korean actor can be seen greeting his Filipino fans.

“Hello, kumusta kayo?” he said, adding that he hopes to meet his fans soon.


Other Korean stars previously revealed by Penshoppe as its endorsers include Lisa of Blackpink, former 2NE1 member Sandara Park, and actor Nam Joo Hyuk.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Louis Vuitton's clash of styles wraps up Paris Fashion Week

Louis Vuitton wrapped up Paris Fashion week on Tuesday with a mix-up of retro-chic, sporty and futuristic looks set to a baroque soundtrack sung by a choir in costume.

Plunged into darkness, the audience inside the Louvre's Court Carree gasped as the curtain rose to reveal a terraced backdrop with hundreds of singers dressed in period costumes from the 15th century to the 1950s.

The first models strutted down the catwalk in buffed-up petticoats and voluminous, multicolored jackets, in a collection designer Nicolas Ghesquiere called "Collisions of Time."

In front of an audience that included the A-list actresses Léa Seydoux, Alicia Vikander and Florence Pugh, models also wore sport-inspired outfits styled on bomber jackets, mechanic overalls and embroidered bullfighter's boleros.

"This collection is the anti-total-look," Gesquiere said in the show notes. "Functional clothing can be ceremonial dress and vice versa. I want it to be open, energetic and spontaneous."

Louis Vuitton, the flagship brand of the world's biggest luxury group LVMH, closed the Paris Fashion Week. This catwalk season has been disrupted by the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak which kept Chinese buyers, journalists and socialites from European fashion events.

French labels Agnes b. and A.P.C had to cancel their presentation in Paris while in Milan, Giorgio Armani held its show behind closed doors.

Prada and Gucci have already postponed their upcoming cruise 2021 show, initially planned in May, due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

At 97, designer Pierre Cardin is still seeking fashion's next trendsetter

PARIS -- At 97, French couturier Pierre Cardin, who helped give the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier their first big break, is not done trying to spot fashion's next superstar -- teaming up for his latest venture with a designer seven decades his junior.

Cardin, known for shaking up styles in the 1960s with futuristic bubble-dresses and other looks fit for a space odyssey, presented one of his latest protegees to the world on Thursday evening, a 27-year-old from a village in Provence.

Pierre Courtial, who makes all of his creations by hand, unveiled a collection at Cardin's studio on Paris's chic Rue Saint-Honore, with pieces that echoed some of the veteran designer's geometrical aesthetics.

Outfits included dresses and coats in contrasting colours, with bright reds paired with pastel greens, and the young designer also presented futuristic-looking jewellery.

Cardin -- who first learned the tricks of the trade with a then unknown Christian Dior before showcasing his first collection in 1953 -- said he still rated originality above anything else.

"I've always tried to be different, to be myself," Cardin told Reuters. "Whether people like it or not, that's not what matters."

Cardin said that Gaultier, who started out as his apprentice at 18, had found success by putting his distinctive stamp on designs inspired by street culture, punk and the gay scene. Gaultier, now 67, bade farewell to the catwalk with his last fashion show in January.

"Gaultier had a provocative personality," Cardin added.

SURVIVOR FROM GOLDEN AGE

The designer is still very much a hands-on mentor, according to Courtial, who started working with Cardin five years ago, after first studying mechanical engineering and then attending a fashion school.

"Cardin taught me everything, from how to sketch to the cut and sewing," Courtial said.

Following the death of Chanel's veteran creative chief Karl Lagerfeld last year, Cardin is one of the last surviving designers from the post-World War II era that marked a golden age for high fashion in France.

Peers also included the late Yves Saint Laurent, another Dior apprentice.

Cardin revolutionized fashion in other ways too. He was one of the first to show a keen business sense by exploiting brand licences -- a strategy that was embraced by rivals too before many reversed the practise in recent year.

The Pierre Cardin name ended up on everything from cheap boxer shorts to bottled water.

Cardin has yet to stop producing his own sketches and one-off designs for high-flying customers, however.

"He has a loyal American clientele in particular," said Maryse Gaspard, a former model who works with Cardin. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Super-high heels free women, says shoe king Louboutin

PARIS -- Super-high heels can free women, says legendary French shoe designer Christian Louboutin, who insists that wearing his towering six-inch stilettos is a "form of liberty."

While some feminists see vertiginous heels as sexual enslavement, Louboutin believes the opposite -- even if it means women have to walk slowly and carefully in his iconic red-soled creations.

"Women do not want to give up wearing high heels," the designer told AFP before "The Exhibitionist," a retrospective of his 30-year career, opened in a Paris museum last Wednesday.

While Louboutin also makes trainers and flat shoes, he admitted that when it comes to the spike-heeled classics that made his name: "I don't think about comfort when I design." 

"No shoe with a 12 cm (5 inch) heel is comfortable... but people do not come to me looking for a pair of slippers," said Louboutin, who helped bring high heels back into fashion in the 1990s and 2000s.

They are not meant to be worn all the time, but super high heels allow women to express themselves and break free of crushing norms, he said.

"To be a woman is also about enjoying one's freedom to be feminine if you want. Why renounce (high heels) when you can have them and flats," he said.

"I don't want people to look at my shoes and say: 'They look really comfortable!' The important thing is that people say: 'Wow, they're beautiful!'"

Even if they can only totter around in their Louboutins, that is no bad thing, he told AFP.

If the shoes "stop you running," that is something "positive," he added. 

Having learnt his art under Roger Vivier, the man who claimed to have invented the stiletto, Louboutin became a household name in the 1990s after Princess Caroline of Monaco fell for one of his first solo creations. 

Pop stars from Madonna to Tina Turner and Jennifer Lopez were soon competing with half of Hollywood for fittings. 

But even as some luxury brands like Dior, led by feminist designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, have taken an axe to towering heels, Louboutin insisted they still had their place.

"People project themselves and their stories into my shoes," he said, pointing to a particularly high pair of intricate lace boots called Corset d'Amour, embroidered with scenes of love-making.

Louboutin revealed his life-long fascination with heels was sparked when he was 10 years old and saw a sign banning the shoes at the Palais de la Porte Doree -- the museum now holding his retrospective.

"I started to draw them because of that sign," he said, which was put up to save the museum's parquet floors. 

"I think the fact that high heels were forbidden played on the unconscious... there was also the mystery and the fetishistic side... the simple drawing of a high-heeled shoe is often associated with sexuality," he added.

Louboutin also credited the sign with plunging him into "the universe of curves" which was to shape his art.

And he insisted that is art was not just about making heels higher and higher.

He has also been working on making his shoes disappear into the wearer's leg in a series which he calls Les Nudes -- in a variety of skin colours -- as well as designs which lengthen the leg. 

Other highlights of the often cheeky show, which runs until July 28, include a hologram of a shoe that turns into the burlesque star Dita Von Teese as well a series of Louboutin-sporting nudes shot by the American film director David Lynch.

Louboutin rejoices in the fact that his shoes have now become so iconic that his name has become a shorthand for luxury and sexiness, popping up in rap songs, films and books.

"Pop culture is neither controlled or controllable, so I am very happy about that," he added. 

Agence France-Presse

Paris cheers Naomi Campbell and Nigeria's rising fashion star

PARIS -- Nigerian Kenneth Ize made a storming Paris fashion week debut Monday with his "fairy godmother," supermodel Naomi Campbell, closing the showing.

The 29-year-old, who has had a meteoric rise to the Paris catwalk, lavished praise on the ageless British model who he said had supported him "from day one."

Both were cheered by the fashionistas as the end of the show.

"I am living my dream," Ize told reporters backstage after the show on the opening night of Paris fashion week.

"Naomi made this happen. She has been part of the journey since day one. She is very supportive. She is my fairy godmother," he declared.

Ize has made an name for himself reinterpreting traditional West African fabrics such as the aso oke cloth woven by the Yoruba people, and his autumn winter collection was full of it.

He told AFP that the show was inspired by his memories of going to Catholic church in Lagos with his mother, with everyone in their Sunday best outfits.

"It is about my religion, love, who I am, the people I believe in and sharing," he added. 

It is a big week for black African designers on the Paris catwalk with the South African Thebe Magugu, who won the LVMH Young Fashion Designer of the year prize, getting a special official presentation slot Tuesday.

Last month, Cameroonian creator Imane Ayissi made history by becoming the first black African designer to be admitted to the elite ranks of Paris haute couture.

Like Ayissi, Ize is a champion of traditional African fabrics and techniques with the LVMH prize jury -- where he lost out to Magugu -- praising his "authenticity and the fight to source and produce locally in Nigeria."

Ize also reflected African silhouettes with tunics worn over trousers. "I believe in the way I dress, this is who I am," said the designer, who partially grew up in Austria, where he studied in Vienna under the Turkish Cypriot British designer Hussein Chalayan.

Earlier, South Korean designer Kiminte Kimhekim sent out a playful black and white collection centred on black heart motifs, with one model even sporting a heart-shaped hairstyle.

Agence France-Presse

Neon streetwear goes sustainable for Tommy Hilfiger's London show

LONDON -- Neon leisure wear with high-topped trainers and glowing yellow laces opened American designer Tommy Hilfiger's latest show on Sunday, a collaboration with Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and singer H.E.R. that put sustainability at the fore.

Hilfiger took over London's Tate Modern, the former riverside power station that is now a contemporary gallery, to present the street style-inspired collection of unisex designs plus his more formal Hilfiger clothes for men and women.

The show, which featured supermodels Naomi Campbell, Erin O'Connor and Jodie Kidd, as well as models of diverse shapes and sizes, and accompanied by a live band that rapped, sang and played a steelpan, was underpinned by environmental sustainability, said Hilfiger.

"As a company, it's a priority for us to become sustainable, so we're working very, very hard every single day to become more and more sustainable," the designer said in an interview before the show.

Also speaking ahead of the show, Hamilton said he hoped other luxury brands would follow Hilfiger's lead and improve their sustainability profile.

"In the fashion industry, I think there's a lot of work that can be done with all these brands. I want us to kind of, create a ripple effect," Hamilton told Reuters.

Hilfiger's collaboration with Hamilton is in its fourth season. Hilfiger said teaming up with Grammy Award-winning U.S. R&B artist H.E.R. for the latest collection helped them push boundaries. Among the creations were oversized items emblazoned with the words "unity" and "loyalty."

As for his Spring 2020 collection for men and women, Hilfiger described it as mixing a rock vibe with East Coast prep. Navy and white designs featured fragments of the U.S. flag, alongside oversize duffel bags and quirky jewellery.

The show was a "see now, buy now" event -- a trend in the fashion industry that sees labels make outfits displayed in catwalk shows available to consumers to purchase immediately.

The Hilfiger brand, owned by fashion giant PVH Corp, is one of the best-known names in the U.S. apparel business, with over 1,600 retail outlets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Actress Rose McGowan blasts Natalie Portman over Oscars cape

LOS ANGELES -- US actress and #MeToo activist Rose McGowan has dismissed as a "fraud" Natalie Portman's Oscar dress embroidered with the names of female filmmakers overlooked for best director nominations.

In a post on Facebook, the actress said she found Portman's red carpet Oscar protest "deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work."

"I'm not writing this out of bitterness," she added. "I am writing this out of disgust."

McGowan said that while the black Dior cape stitched with the names of the snubbed directors got "rave reviews from the mainstream media" it was nothing more than "an actress acting the part of someone who cares."

"Natalie, you have worked with two female directors in your very long career -- one of them was you," McGowan wrote. "You have a production company that has hired exactly one female director -- you."

In a statement to AFP, Portman agreed with McGowan that she didn't deserve to be called brave.

"I agree with Ms. McGowan that it is inaccurate to call me 'brave' for wearing a garment with women's names on it," Portman said. 

"Brave is a term I more strongly associate with actions like those of the women who have been testifying against Harvey Weinstein the last few weeks, under incredible pressure," she added in a reference to the disgraced Hollywood mogul on trial in New York charged with predatory sexual assault.

She also acknowledged that she hasn't worked with as many female directors as she would have liked and pointed out the challenges films directed by women and minorities were up against.

McGowan is among the many women who have accused Weinstein of sexual assault.

McGowan said in her post that while Portman and other actresses have spoken out against the underrepresentation of women in the movie industry, they did little to effect change.

"Until you and your fellow actresses get real, do us all a favor and hang up your embroidered activist cloak, it doesn't hang right," she said.

Agence France-Presse

Fashion Nova’s secret: Underpaid workers in Los Angeles factories

LOS ANGELES — Fashion Nova has perfected fast fashion for the Instagram era.

The mostly online retailer leans on a vast network of celebrities, influencers and random selfie takers who post about the brand relentlessly on social media. It is built to satisfy a very online clientele, mass producing cheap clothes that look expensive.

“They need to buy a lot of different styles and probably only wear them a couple times so their Instagram feeds can stay fresh,” Richard Saghian, Fashion Nova’s founder, said in an interview last year.

To enable that habit, he gives them a constant stream of new options that are priced to sell.

The days of $200 jeans are over, if you ask Saghian. Fashion Nova’s skintight denim goes for $24.99. And, he said, the company can get its clothes made “in less than two weeks,” often by manufacturers in Los Angeles, a short drive from the company’s headquarters.

That model hints at an ugly secret behind the brand’s runaway success: The federal Labor Department has found that many Fashion Nova garments are stitched together by a workforce in the United States that is paid illegally low wages.

Los Angeles is filled with factories that pay workers off the books and as little as possible, battling overseas competitors that can pay even less. Many of the people behind the sewing machines are in the country illegally and unlikely to challenge their bosses.

“It has all the advantages of a sweatshop system,” said David Weil, who led the U.S. Labor Department’s wage and hour division from 2014 to 2017.

Every year, the department investigates allegations of wage violations at sewing contractors in Los Angeles, showing up unannounced to review payroll data, interview employees and question the owners.

In investigations conducted from 2016 through this year, the department discovered Fashion Nova clothing being made in dozens of factories that owed $3.8 million in back wages to hundreds of workers, according to internal federal documents that summarized the findings and were reviewed by The New York Times.

Those factories, which are hired by middlemen to produce garments for fashion brands, paid their sewers as little as $2.77 an hour, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

The Labor Department declined to comment on the details of the investigations. In a statement, a spokeswoman said the department “continues to ensure employers receive compliance assistance with the overtime and minimum wage requirements, and the Wage and Hour Division is committed to enforcing the law.”

After repeated violations were found at factories making Fashion Nova clothes, federal officials met with company representatives.

“We have already had a highly productive and positive meeting with the Department of Labor in which we discussed our ongoing commitment to ensuring that all workers involved with the Fashion Nova brand are appropriately compensated for the work they do,” Erica Meierhans, Fashion Nova’s general counsel, said in a statement to The Times. “Any suggestion that Fashion Nova is responsible for underpaying anyone working on our brand is categorically false.”

In 2018, Saghian said about 80% of the brand’s clothes were made in the United States. Fashion Nova’s supply chain has shifted since then, and now the brand says it makes less than half of its clothes in Los Angeles. It would not specify the overall percentage made in the U.S.

The company does not deal directly with factories. Instead, it places bulk orders with companies that design the clothes and then ship fabric to separately owned sewing contractors, where workers stitch the clothes together and stick Fashion Nova’s label on them.

The brand’s clingy dresses and animal print jumpsuits are often made by people like Mercedes Cortes, working in ramshackle buildings that smell like bathrooms.

Cortes, 56, sewed Fashion Nova clothes for several months at Coco Love, a dusty factory close to Fashion Nova’s offices in Vernon, California. “There were cockroaches. There were rats,” she said. “The conditions weren’t good.”

She worked every day of the week, but her pay varied depending on how quickly her fingers could move. Cortes was paid for each piece of a shirt she sewed together — about 4 cents to sew on each sleeve, 5 cents for each of the side seams, 8 cents for the seam on the neckline. On average, she earned $270 in a week, the equivalent of $4.66 an hour, she said.

In 2016, Cortes left Coco Love and later reached a settlement with the company for $5,000 in back wages. She continued to work in factories sewing Fashion Nova clothes, noticing the $12 price tags on the tops she had stitched together for cents.

“The clothes are very expensive for what they pay us,” Cortes said.

“Consumers can say, ‘Well, of course that’s what it’s like in Bangladesh or Vietnam, but they are developing countries,’” Weil said. “People just don’t want to believe it’s true in their own backyard.”

For all their seediness, these factories are still producing clothes for major American retailers. Under federal law, brands cannot be penalized for wage theft in factories if they can credibly claim that they did not know their clothes were made by workers paid illegally low wages. The Labor Department has collected millions in back wages and penalties from Los Angeles garment businesses in recent years, but has not fined a retailer.

This year, Fashion Nova’s labels were the ones found the most frequently by federal investigators looking into garment factories that pay egregiously low wages, according to a person familiar with the investigations.

In September, three officials from the department met with Fashion Nova’s lawyers to tell them that, over four years, the brand’s clothes had been found in 50 investigations of factories paying less than the federal minimum wage or failing to pay overtime.

The company’s lawyers told the officials that they had taken immediate action and had already updated the brand’s agreement with vendors. Now, if Fashion Nova learns that a factory has been charged with violating laws “governing the wages and hours of its employees, child labor, forced labor or unsafe working conditions,” the brand will put the middleman who hired that factory on a six-month “probation,” it said in a statement.

The working relationship would continue, unless workers file another complaint against the same factory or another one that the contractor hired during those six months. At that point, the brand will suspend the contractor until it passes a third-party audit.

While Fashion Nova has taken steps to address the Labor Department’s findings, Meierhans, the brand’s general counsel, noted that it works with hundreds of manufacturers and “is not responsible for how these vendors handle their payrolls.”

‘Everyone Wants to Have More Followers’

Saghian opened the first Fashion Nova store in 2006, in a Los Angeles mall. Seven years and four storefronts later, he realized that he was losing customers to online outlets selling the same clothes.

A web developer talked him out of starting a website; it would get no traffic, because no one knew what Fashion Nova was. Saghian had a better shot on Instagram, where “there were some really basic boutiques that had 300,000 followers,” he said in the interview.

In 2013, Saghian opened an Instagram account and began posting photos of his clothing on mannequins and customers. He noticed that some of his stores’ regular visitors were influencers he had seen on Instagram, where they had hundreds of thousands of followers.

“I had rappers’ girlfriends, female rappers, models,” he said.

Saghian started giving them free clothing and they posted photos of themselves draped in Fashion Nova garb. In turn, he reposted their photos and tagged their handles.

“Everyone wants to be famous. Everyone wants to have more followers,” Saghian said. “By tagging them, the influencer would grow their following.”

Gradually, the strategy brought Fashion Nova from the outskirts of the internet into the mainstream. The brand earned mentions on hip-hop tracks. In 2017, its sales grew by about 600%.

Cardi B, the Grammy-winning rap star, unveiled her first collection with the brand in an Instagram video in November last year.

“I wanted to do something that is like, ‘Wow, what is that? Is that Chanel? Is that YSL? Is that Gucci?’ No,” she said, adding an expletive, “it’s Fashion Nova.”

All 82 styles in Cardi B’s collection sold out hours after they became available. She posted another video the same night, promising a full restock “in two or three weeks.” (Cardi B’s line is made in Los Angeles, but the government has not found any of the clothes in factories where workers have alleged they were paid less than the minimum, Fashion Nova said.)

There were more searches for Fashion Nova last year than for Versace or Gucci, according to Google’s year in search data. It has 17 million followers on Instagram, and at any given moment there are enough people browsing clothes on its website to fill a basketball arena, Saghian said.

To keep them interested, Fashion Nova produces more than a thousand new styles every week, thanks in part to an army of local suppliers that can respond instantly to the brand’s requests.

“If there was a design concept that came to mind Sunday night, on a Monday afternoon I would have a sample,” he said.

‘The Best Possible Price’

Many of the people vying for Saghian’s business occupy glass-walled storefronts jammed into the six frenetic blocks of the garment district in downtown Los Angeles.

These are the companies that design clothing samples and sell them in bulk to Fashion Nova and other retailers. Those businesses outsource the job of making clothes to nearby factories that work as subcontractors.

In November, The Times visited seven companies that got Fashion Nova clothes made in factories that underpaid workers, according to the Labor Department investigations. Some spoke freely about their work with the brand. Others refused to comment or talked on the condition of anonymity, fearing that they might lose the company as a client if they went on the record.

The five owners and employees who agreed to be interviewed said Fashion Nova would always push to pay the lowest price possible for each garment and would demand a quick turnaround.

“They give me the best possible price they can give it to me, for that will allow them to still break a profit,” Saghian said.

The companies can negotiate with Fashion Nova, but their power is limited. A dwindling number of retailers are still doing business in Los Angeles, and a couple of big orders from Fashion Nova can keep a small garment shop afloat for another year. So they look for subcontractors who can sew clothes as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Amante Clothing, which occupies a stuffy storefront filled with racks of colorful samples, regularly works with Fashion Nova. The brand paid Amante $7.15 per top for a bulk order last year, according to a Labor Department investigation conducted last December. Amante then went to a sewing contractor called Karis Apparel, which made the tops.

Amante paid Karis $2.20 to sew each garment, the Labor Department found. Fashion Nova sold the top for $17.99.

“We don’t own the sewing contractor, so whatever the sewing contractor does, that’s his problem,” said a designer at Amante, who declined to be named for fear of losing her job. “We don’t know what they do to give us the lowest price. We assume they’re paying their employees the minimum.”

Karis went out of business in April. Another manufacturer ensnared in the investigations moved production to Mexico this year.

But many more factories have evaded punishment.

Same Owners, Different Names

When Teresa Garcia started working at Sugar Sky, it was called Xela Fashion. It was 2014, and Xela Fashion, state records show, was owned by Demetria Sajche, a woman whom Garcia was told to call Angelina.

Several months later — Garcia does not remember how many — the name on her checks had changed, though she worked in the same grungy factory in the heart of downtown, a few blocks from a SoulCycle.

Now her employer was called Nena Fashion, a company that was founded by Leslie Sajche, a relative of Garcia’s boss, according to business records filed with California’s secretary of state. About a year after that, the name changed again, to GYA Fashion.

In 2017, the factory moved to an industrial stretch of Olympic Boulevard in East Los Angeles and began using a new new name: Sugar Sky. About a year later, Sajche stopped running the day-to-day operations and handed the job over to Eric Alfredo Ajitaz Puac, whom workers knew as her boyfriend.

Garcia said that she believed the point of all the name changes was to avoid being shut down by federal or state officials. Several workers, including Garcia, have filed claims against Xela, Nena, Gya and Sugar Sky for back wages with California’s labor commissioner, the state agency that handles such disputes.

In her claim, which is active, Garcia included checks showing she earned as little as $225 for 65 hours of work in a week, the equivalent of $3.46 an hour. She remembers the factory’s receiving orders from Fashion Nova for up to 5,000 pieces of clothing at a time.

“They needed it so fast, they couldn’t wait,” Garcia said of the brand. “We would need to turn it around within a week.”

Weeks of trying to reach Puac and Sajche were unsuccessful. A trip to Sugar Sky’s last known location just before Thanksgiving found a furniture store. Neighbors said the garment factory had packed up and moved out two months earlier.

Fernando Axjup, who was listed as an owner of one iteration of the factory, agreed to an interview. He was recently fired from the company and had filed his own claim for back wages.

“They keep changing their names so they don’t have to pay people,” Axjup said. “There was a lot of exploitation.” As a manager, he had access to payroll data and said Garcia rarely earned the minimum wage.

Axjup suggested that perhaps he had been fired for standing up for workers like Garcia. Garcia said she doubted that, given that Axjup was the one ordering her to hurry up.

He said he could never figure out why Fashion Nova did not visit the factory floor to check on how its clothes were being made for such low prices.

“Supposedly, the brand should supervise the people who give them work, to find out whether they are being paid well,” Axjup said. “But they never do. They never came to see.”

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Love your clothes, pass them on, says Vogue supremo Wintour

ATHENS -- Clothes should be cherished, re-worn and even passed on to the next generation, Anna Wintour, the influential editor of Vogue magazine said, calling for more sustainability in the fashion world and less of a throwaway culture.

In an interview with Reuters, Wintour, considered one of the most powerful people in fashion, also said the industry was "a little bit late in the game" in pursuing diversity and inclusivity and that, despite the meteoric rise of social media influencers, Vogue would remain a benchmark for fashionistas.

Many brands are trying to bolster their green credentials and entice young environmentally-savvy consumers as the sector comes under scrutiny for fueling a throwaway culture.

But in good news for second-hand bargain hunters, Wintour, who has been at the helm of American Vogue for more than 30 years, said fashionistas should care for their clothes and even pass them on.

"I think for all of us it means an attention more on craft, on creativity, and less on the idea of clothes that are instantly disposable, things that you will throw away just after one reading," she said.

"(It's all about) talking to our audiences, our readers, about keeping the clothes that you own, and valuing the clothes that you own and wearing them again and again, and maybe giving them on to your daughter, or son, whatever the case may be."

A 2016 report by management consultancy McKinsey & Company said global clothing output doubled between 2000 and 2014, with the number of garments bought each year per person surging 60 percent.

DIVERSITY ON THE RUNWAY

Instantly recognizable with her short fringed bob haircut and sunglasses, British-born Wintour has long been a front row staple at catwalk shows.

The 2006 movie "The Devil Wears Prada" starring Meryl Streep as a no-nonsense editor of the fictional Runway fashion magazine is widely believed to be based on her.

Thanks in part to social media, who and what should be in fashion had radically changed in the past decade, Wintour said.

Fashion weeks across the globe, where designers present their latest creations, are seeing a more diverse mix of people, though Wintour said the industry had been slow on the uptake.

"We are seeing a far more diverse and inclusive representation on the runway, on our social media channels and also in the pages of our different magazines," she said.

"I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we have so many designers of color in the United States. Until there is truly a voice at the table things will not change the way that they should. I feel we have long way to go."

Wintour, who is also artistic director at parent company Conde Nast, was speaking to Reuters in Athens on the sidelines of the Vogue Greece 'ChangeMakers' event on Wednesday.

Vogue Greece hit the newsstands earlier this year following a seven-year absence as publishers bet the county's economic recovery after a debt crisis will revive an appetite for glossy fashion and lifestyle prints.

Asked about the growing influencers' effect, Wintour said they had "fun and varied" views but could never match the reach of Vogue.

"Globally Vogue has 127 million followers ... I think that Vogue is the biggest influencer of them all on a global scale."

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Taiwanese-Canadian model Godfrey Gao dies while filming in China

BEIJING, China - Taiwanese-Canadian actor and supermodel Godfrey Gao, the first Asian to be the face of Louis Vuitton, died while filming a TV show in China on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old Gao collapsed in the eastern city of Ningbo while on the set of "Chase Me", a competitive sports reality show in China's Zhejiang Television.

A statement from the network said Gao had slowed and fallen to the ground while running during filming, and that the hospital had confirmed it was a sudden cardiac death.

His management company Jetstar Entertainment said in a statement posted on the Twitter-like Weibo platform that Gao had fainted and was declared dead after nearly three hours of medical care.

The statement thanked "every fan who loves Godfrey" and said his death was "extremely painful."

In 2011, Gao became the first Asian model to be signed by Louis Vuitton, and he played the role of Magnus Bane in 2013 Hollywood action film "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones."

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Louis Vuitton group raises Tiffany bid to $16 billion: sources

NEW YORK -- French luxury group LVMH has raised its bid to acquire US jewelers Tiffany by over $1 billion, two sources close to the matter told AFP Wednesday.

LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moet & Chandon increased its bid for the storied New York-based company to around $130 per share from $120 per share, the sources said.

The move lifts the overall value for Tiffany to around $16 billion from $14.5 billion.

Neither LVMH nor Tiffany immediately responded to a request for comment.

LVMH, which is led by billionaire Bernard Arnault, has sought to acquire Tiffany as a means to boost its presence in the US market.

The transaction has also been seen as way forward for Tiffany, which has not matched some rivals in terms of sales growth in recent years.

Some analysts have predicted a price hike would seal the transaction.

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Burberry logs rising profit despite Hong Kong protests

LONDON - Luxury British fashion house Burberry on Thursday logged rising interim profits despite the impact of ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

Profits after taxation rose 14 percent to £150.3 million ($193 million, 175 million euros) in the first half of Burberry's financial year, or 26 weeks to September 28, it said in a results statement. 

Burberry, famed for its designer handbags and trademark check pattern, added however that sales in Hong Kong suffered a "double digit" percentage decline due to the protests.

The fashion house also took a £14-million impairment on the value of its stores in Hong Kong.

However, total group sales grew 5 percent to £1.28 billion, aided by new collections from chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci.

"We are pleased with our performance in the half, as we remain on track to deliver the first phase of our strategy," said Chief Executive Marco Gobbetti.

He added: "We also continued to strengthen momentum around our brand and transform our distribution.

"We delivered financial results in line with guidance despite the decline in Hong Kong and we confirm our outlook for 2020."

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Nike announces collaboration with Korean superstar G-Dragon

Footwear giant Nike announced its latest collaboration with Korean superstar Kwon Ji-yong, more popularly known as G-Dragon.

The leader of the Korean group Big Bang posted a teaser of the collaboration on his personal Instagram page on November 1, just a few days after he was discharged from military service.

According to Nike, the Air Force 1 "Para-noise" has a "unique upper fabrication that features a black painted overlay designed to slowly wear away over time to reveal a personal artwork created by G-Dragon."

Photos posted by G-Dragon show a black Air Force 1 with a daisy embroidered on the tongue and G-Dragon's PEACEMINUSONE imprint.

Nike also said the artwork conveys G-Dragon's "vision of a world where the youth are unified through creativity and a free exchange of ideas."

The Nike Air Force 1 Para-noise will be released globally on November 23.

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British-Filipina is British Vogue's emerging designer

LONDON – Twenty-three year-old designer Cabrini Roy from Portsmouth, England is a featured designer on British Vogue.

She joins the list of emerging designers in the magazine's Designer Profile Campaign, a three-month campaign on British Vogue that pays tribute to up and coming designers.

Roy, who specializes in handcrafted luxury ready-to-wear clothes, said she was over the moon.

“It makes me feel really proud of myself because I’m achieving all my goals. I just feel overwhelmed. It doesn’t feel real to me,” said Roy.

The British-Pinay said her designs are for “chic, trendy and modern kind of women.”

“They (British Vogue) thought their readers would love the brand and what my brand stands for,” she said.

Roy was influenced by her mother, a nurse in the UK, to become a fashion designer. At age nine, she knew she wanted to create beautiful clothes and at age 13, she begged her parents to buy her her first sewing machine.

“I was inspired by my mum. She loves to dress up. Actually, because of her, I started designing,” she explained.

Roy’s designs speak of her roots. She makes pieces that show her Filipino and British culture, like the use of puffed sleeves and silhouettes.

During the London Fashion Week in September, she was also one of the featured designers in Fashions Finest. She showcased a six-piece collection, taking inspiration from her Filipino heritage in a modern Maria Clara-themed ensemble, with a combined twist of soft tailoring and feminine touch.

Her fashion design heroes are Alexander Wang and Alexander McQueen.

“My ultimate dream is to one day have my own studio and shop in London and my online shop also to take off,” said Roy.

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Dior apologizes for China map excluding Taiwan

BEIJING - Luxury brand Dior has become the latest company to apologize to China over a perceived insult to national sovereignty, saying Thursday it "cherishes the feelings of the Chinese people."

The French luxury brand found itself in hot water after using a map of China which did not include Taiwan, a self-ruled island which Beijing views as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

The scandal broke after a student posted an anonymous video to the Chinese social media app Weibo, purporting to show a presentation Wednesday at Zhejiang Gongshang University, in eastern China.

In the video a presenter from Dior displays a map without the island of Taiwan marked, which quickly drew criticism online and prompted Dior to deny that it represented the brand's position.

"Dior always respects and maintains the principle of One China, strictly upholds China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and cherishes the feelings of the Chinese people," the French brand said in a statement.

"The company has started to investigate seriously and promised to deal with it severely," Dior's statement read.

By Thursday afternoon, the hashtag "Dior apologizes" had more than 250 million views.

China reacts strongly to any brand that appears to insult its territorial sovereignty.

"Haven't we talked about this many times this year? It's definitely intentional," one netizen posted on Weibo.

A number of companies and international airlines have edited their websites to refer to the democratic island of Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" or "Chinese Taipei."

Hotel chain Marriott's website in China was shut down by authorities for a week in 2018 after a customer questionnaire listed Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong as separate countries, prompting the hotel chain to apologize and change the wording.

Brands that appear to support the unrest in Hong Kong have also faced consumer ire, including the territory's flagship carrier Cathay.

Jewellery brand Tiffany removed an advert showing a woman covering one eye earlier this month, after Chinese consumers accused the company of supporting protesters by referencing a well known injury.

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Forever 21 files for bankruptcy

Fashion retailer Forever 21 Inc said on Sunday it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure its business, joining a growing list of brick-and-mortar players who have taken a hit from fierce e-commerce competition.

The company said it plans to exit most of its international locations in Asia and Europe, but will continue operations in Mexico and Latin America.

The retailer said it received $275 million in financing from its existing lenders with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as agent, and $75 million in new capital from TPG Sixth Street Partners, and certain of its affiliated funds.

It lists both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, according to the court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Since the start of 2017, more than 20 U.S. retailers, including Sears Holdings Corp and Toys 'R' Us, have filed for bankruptcy, succumbing to the onslaught of fierce e-commerce competition from Amazon Inc. 

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Sick Kylie Jenner pulls out of Paris Fashion Week

LOS ANGELES -- Makeup mogul Kylie Jenner on Wednesday pulled out of Paris Fashion Week where she was due to launch a new cosmetics line with French luxury brand Balmain.

Jenner, 22, said on Twitter that she was sick and unable to travel to Paris to launch the collection as planned on Friday with Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing.

The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star did not give details of her illness but celebrity website TMZ.com said she was admitted to a Los Angeles area hospital earlier this week with what an unidentified source described as severe flu-like symptoms, including nausea and dizziness.

Jenner's representatives did not return a request for comment on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately I'm really sick and unable to travel. I'm heartbroken to be missing this show ... Creating this collection with Olivier has been a dream," she said on Twitter.

Jenner, whose lip gloss kits and other cosmetics have made her a billionaire, was due to launch the Kylie X Balmain line of eyeshadows, lip liner and lip gloss on Friday at the Paris fashion show. The line is to be worn by Balmain models walking the runway for the Spring Summer 2020 collection.

Jenner was also absent from the Emmy awards show in Los Angeles on Sunday where she was due to present an award with Kim Kardashian and her model sister Kendall.

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Saint Laurent brings elegance to dazzling show in front of Eiffel Tower

PARIS -- Saint Laurent's models on Tuesday paraded down a runway filled with dozens of projector lights against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower to showcase the French label's collection for Paris Fashion Week.

Long, fluid dresses and burnished gold embroideries from the '70s, chosen by creative director Anthony Vaccarello for the 2020 summer collection, sparkled along with the Paris landmark.

Ushering in Vaccarello's fourth year in the job, the women's collection unveiled at the show heavily featured short and knee-length shorts, high boots, dazzling cigarette pants and jumpsuits.

See-through tops with deep necklines also set the tone for the looks.

Kaia Gerber, the daughter of top model Cindy Crawford, was one of the models, while Naomi Campbell closed the show.

"A sharp take on Saint Laurent classics devised to strengthen individuality," Saint Laurent said in a statement, describing the show.

The crowd included French icon Catherine Deneuve, Mexican actress Salma Hayek, who is married to Francois-Henri Pinault, chief executive of the Kering SA conglomerate that owns Saint Laurent, and actor Rami Malek, who played Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the rock film drama "Bohemian Rhapsody."

In addition to Saint Laurent, the Kering luxury goods conglomerate owns the Gucci and Balenciaga labels. Saint Laurent accounts for around 13 percent of the group's revenue. Kering is scheduled to present its third-quarter sales results on Oct. 24.

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