Backstage at the Miss Sixty show at NY’s fashion week, Italian label Miss Sixty’s head designer and co-founder Wichy Hassan speaks about the effects of the recession on the show and the possible future price of garments at the label’s stores.

From New York and Milan — where the label hails from — he says the industry is feeling the pinch.

Check out Tim Gunn talking to Reuters about the fashion industry’s use of animal products including fur, leather and wool. Gunn, creative director of Liz Claiborne and former chair of the Department of Fashion Design at Parsons, has partnered with the activist group PETA to raise awareness about ethical sourcing of fur to his peers in the fashion industry.

We know we gave you the highlights yesterday, but figured you might like to hear straight from the … err… horse’s mouth about synthetic alternatives, attitudes of fashion insiders to the issue and Project Runway.  Sorry if it is hard for you to hear our questions, but we think the answers are pretty self explanatory.

(Video: Reuters)

Tim Gunn, famous for urging contestants on the reality show Project Runway to “make it work”, has a new message for the fashion industry: Take Responsibility. 

Gunn, also the creative director of Liz Claiborne Inc and a former chair of the Department of Fashion Design at Parsons, is working with PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, to spread the word that wearing clothing made from animal products is cruel.

People “have a responsibility to know about this. And if you’re going to use fur, you at least need to know which fur sources are less abusive than others, and if you have to use fur, then go to those sources first.”

Gunn is the narrator for the group’s latest video, called “Fashion Victims,” which among other things shows graphic footage of rabbits and snakes being skinned.

“There are such incredibly believable alternatives now, I don’t see any reason to use real fur,” Gunn said on Tuesday in New York at the height of New York’s semi-annual Fashion Week. “With so many great alternatives, why would you buy the real thing? Why would you? I just don’t understand it.”

Gunn hopes that showing the film will lead designers to think twice before they use fur.

Several notable designers, including Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger no longer use fur. Most others are open to conversations or debates about the use of fur, Gunn said, but there are a few that won’t listen, and for those, Gunn said more aggressive tactics may be necessary.

For example, PETA is planning a demonstration this evening outside a gala event for a new Armani store on Fifth Avenue. According to PETA, Giorgio Armani promised the group he would no longer use fur in his clothing designs but then used rabbit hides. About two dozen people dressed up as “rabbits” are planning to gather outside the store.

“At this point in the relationship with Armani and the level of discussions, it may need something that will wake people up,” Gunn said. 

A spokeswoman for Armani could not immediately be reached.

Here’s a full list of fashion brands that don’t use fur.

(Photo\Reuters)

The world's No.2 economy, mired in what may be its longest and ugliest recession, is not wearing its misfortunes on its sleeve -- at least not literally.

Yutaka Sato, a spokesman for Millennium Retailing, which runs the Seibu and Sogo department chains, said Japanese consumers are going green in more ways than one.

"With this year's spring season offerings, bright colour items are popular, such as yellow and green," he told me this week.

"We had been seeing a strong trend for black and grey, as it's been said that during economic hardship people choose dark colours. But this year people are buying bright colour items... we're seeing strong sales of green spring coats."

The Japanese, known for jumping on the latest trends, spend billions on themselves in good times and bad, but retailers saw a 10 percent sales slide in January. Some firms like Takashimaya are trying to frontload winter stock and perhaps nothing would say "Spring has come" more than bright colours.

PHOTO CREDIT: Reuters/Yuriko Nakao

Canadian fashionistas will now be able to order from Saks.com, as the luxury department store bids to snatch part of the estimated US$16 billion Canadian market for online retail goods.

This is the first time orders submitted on Saks.com will be shipped outside the United States, says Saks spokeswoman Julia Bentley.

“Being able to ship internationally has been a top priority for saks.com in 2008,” said Roger Scholl, VP of operations for Saks Direct, in a release.

Canadian online spending for retail goods in 2009 is forecast to grow 21 percent and total $16 billion, according to eMarketer.

U.S. fashion brands are looking outside the country to bolster sales during a challenging retail environment, encouraged by a wave of foreign shoppers that has buoyed profits.

(Photo/Reuters)

Isaac Mizrahi, the ebullient fashion designer tapped by Liz Claiborne Inc to resuscitate its namesake sportswear line, seems to have worked his magic again, according to early analyst and retailer reviews.

The designer, who starred in the 1995 movie “Unzipped” and started the cheap chic trend favored by his former employer Target Corp, was named creative director of the Liz Claiborne brand in January and his first collection for the brand will hit stores in the Spring.

While most reporters are still in the dark, analysts and retailers have seen the line and have given it the thumbs-up.

Credit Suisse analyst Omar Saad, who attended last week’s analyst preview of the Spring 2009 Liz Claiborne line, wrote in a research note on Monday that it exceeded his generally high expectations. It also increases the likelihood of a successful turnaround in that struggling brand, whose sales are now roughly half what they were at their peak, Saad said.

“We thought the spring line preview, which featured everything from work attire and sportswear to athletic apparel and cocktail dresses, was well merchandised and boasted a modern (but not too edgy) feel that should resonate with the Liz core consumer,” wrote Saad.

Saad said he liked the bright color palette, unexpected details on many of the garments and the new “LC” logo, which is being used as a print on button-down shirts, swimsuits and handbags.  

Women’s Wear Daily recently obtained sketches of the clothes, which revealed safari-inspired outfits, dresses with bold stripes, plaids and polka dots, and floral leggings that matched the lining on a trench coat.

The fashion industry publication also cited executives from the brand’s department store clients.

Macy’s Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said “it looked great”, while Bon-Ton Stores’ President Tony Buccina said the new product “makes you smile,” according to WWD.

The clothes may be fun and new, but Credit Suisse’s Saad noted that the weak state of the current economy makes this a difficult time to execute such a complex restructuring and turn-around. And that is something that even the magic of Mizrahi may not be able to fix.

(Photo: Reuters)    

In politics, appearance is everything. And for politicians’ wives, looking great for the cameras is key, whether its the Jackie Kennedy-influenced sheaths favored by Michelle Obama, or the bold, jewel-tone colors Cindy McCain sported at the GOP convention this week.

And for designers, having your outfits worn by a potential First Lady certainly can’t hurt. Witness the press (and extra sales) generated for Chico’s White House Black Market chain after Michelle Obama wore a black and white scoop-neck day dress from the retailer during an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
    
Chico’s could use the lift, given over a year of dwindling sales at its main chain that caters to women over the age of 40. Earlier this week, it announced an endorsement deal with Debbie Phelps, who it said wore its clothes the whole time she was in Beijing cheering her son, Olympic champion Michael Phelps.

Now, Wall Street is wondering who is next to endorse a brand.
    
“If Michelle Obama is boosting White House Black Market sales and Chico’s is paying Debbie Phelps to pose for its catalogs, doesn’t it make sense that Gymboree or Children’s Place hire Sarah Palin as spokesperson for their brands?” asked JP Morgan retail analyst Brian Tunick in his monthly “Tunick’s Top 10″ list to clients.

Other possibilities for Palin could be Uggs boots (it’s cold in Alaska), or Lenscrafters (a story on the candidate’s rimless, titanium pair that did not come from the lower-cost glasses chain ran in USA Today). 

Other suggestions?

(Photo: Reuters)

How to stop shoppers from “fashion foreclosure?” Give them what they need, make it fun, and provide them with an element of escape, argues The Doneger Group’s David Wolfe.

Wolfe’s presentation on current fashion trends in womens’ wear attracted a large crowd of buyers earlier this week at the Magic Marketplace apparel trade show in Las Vegas, the largest such show in the United States.

To counteract what Wolfe called “a seismic shift in spending patterns” by the American consumer in light of the weak economy, Wolfe pointed to new twists on classics and a return to more tailored dressing.

“Classics are very new to women who have been dressing like Britney Spears,” said Wolfe, who added that texture, whether lace or tweeds, was now replacing over-the-top embellishments, and the color grey was proving a big hit.

Back in the cavernous convention hall where the three-day show takes place, few buyers sported tailored looks — in the August heat of Las Vegas, many attendees show up in casual looks that go from trade show to poolside.

Perhaps the most prevalent trend on display among attendees was the “Maxi” dress, a long sundress that provides a willowy Boho look to taller women, but ends up making shorter women look dumpy, in this reporter’s humble opinion.

According to www.divavillage.com, a web site that purports to be a resource for awakening one’s inner diva: “Maxi dresses penetrate ever so deeply into the past and romantic theme, having dreamy and flowing full lengths that brush the floor similar to how many odd years ago when women would impart sexuality and grace through the way her dress would sway.”

(Photo: Reuters)

Check out Talbots’ sales forecast.
 
The struggling women’s apparel retailer said it expects same-store sales to be flat at its namesake stores in the current quarter and down low-to-mid single digits at its J. Jill stores.
 
That looks like progress, especially at the Talbots’ brand.
 
But, wait. Hasn’t the weakness in women’s apparel has been going on for some time now. So the glass-half-empty view would be to look at how that forecast compares with a year ago.
 
Same-store sales at Talbots’ stores fell 8.2 percent last year (and J. Jill same-store sales fell 6.5 percent).
 
So there might be some improvement coming at Talbots’, but it is off a weak comparison.
 
Then again, with how women’s apparel has gone lately, flat same-store sales might be a welcome new fashion trend.
 
Also in the basket:
 
Dollar Tree posts higher quarterly profit
 
Brown Shoe 2nd-quarter profit down; cuts outlook
 
Urban Outfitters Fashion Growth Plan (Wall Street Journal)

(Photo: Reuters)