Bernard Arnault Stephane Feugere GETTING AN EXTENSION: For those who have not yet had the chance to check out the landmark “Icons of Modern Art. The Shchukin Collection” exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, there is good news. The show, which was set to close in late February, has been extended until March 5, making it the perfect break in a packed schedule during Paris Fashion Week. One of the greatest art patrons of the early 20th century, Sergei Shchukin was a visionary Russian collector of French modern art. Regrouping 130 major works from his collection, some shown for the first time together since they were separated during the Russian Revolution, the exhibition has attracted more than 600,000 visitors since it opened in October.
Louis Vuitton and Alibaba Team Up to Fight the Sale of Fakes
Since the dawn of the internet, online luxury shopping has been dogged by online luxury counterfeiting, especially on sprawling sites like eBay and its Chinese equivalent, Alibaba-owned Taobao. Finally, the retailers and the brands are teaming up. Alibaba Group announced Monday that it’s forming a task group of 20 luxury brands to combat the proliferation of counterfeit sales. According to Women’s Wear Daily, the group is called “Alibaba Big Data Anticounterfeiting Alliance” and includes Louis Vuitton, Shiseido and Swarovski. The alliance is the latest positive move in Alibaba’s protracted struggle with brands. In May 2015, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and several other Kering-owned brands sued Alibaba for trafficking in counterfeit goods and trademark infringement. In April 2016, Alibaba’s entry into the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition prompted companies like Michael Kors, Tiffany & Co. and Gucci America to quit, leading to Alibaba’s suspension just one month later. It’s not just Alibaba. As even the most casual online shopper knows, the internet is littered with questionable sites peddling designer goods with suspiciously low price tags and vague sources. Fake bags were always a mainstay of New York’s Canal Street and shady trunk vendors in Los Angeles, but the internet has made buying fakes immeasurably easier — or harder to avoid, depending how you look at it. Online, community forums and comments sections express doubt and concern over the authenticity of certain products and sites. It doesn’t help that the quality of fake bags has only gone up in recent years, making it sometimes impossible to tell the real from the counterfeit. Counterfeit bags and other objects seized by French customs on the fourth national day of counterfeit destruction in Paris in 2016. PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images As such, brands are taking action against the websites leveraging their names. As early as 2008, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey won $63 million against eBay over the sale of counterfeits. Alexander Wang was awarded a “symbolic” $90 million in August 2016 in a suit against at least 459 different “cybersquatting” domain names claiming to sell Alexander Wang products. Now, Alibaba’s decision to team up with brands like Louis Vuitton is a statement of unity, putting the sellers like Taobao on the same team as the luxury companies, a move industry insiders have encouraged for months. As WWD notes, Alibaba has already demonstrated its commitment by taking action against Taobao merchants selling counterfeit Swarovski watches; now, aligned with the brands themselves, it’s got even more ammo to crack down. “The most powerful weapon against counterfeiting today is data and analytics, and the only way we can win this war is to unite,” Jessie Zheng, chief platform governance officer of Alibaba Group, told WWD. Now let’s see if the new alliance can improve the shopping experience.
Louis Vuitton Held a Conversation on the Syrian Crisis
Lisa Szarkowski, Imran Amed, and Claudia Martinuzzi. Photo: LOUIS VUITTON/BFA.COM - CARL TIMPONE “This all seems so far away from our glossy world of fashion,” admitted Imran Amed, the founder and CEO of Business of Fashion, as he opened a panel on the ongoing crisis in Syria at Louis Vuitton’s Fifth Avenue headquarters Thursday night. Considering the building is located not far from the Trump Tower media circus, he noted that it was hard not to be distracted by what he called “the latest tweet or rowdy press conference.” Still, Amed and the two other speakers — UNICEF’s Lisa Szarkowski and LV’s Claudia Martinuzzi — were quick to remind the audience of fashion-industry and media types that there is more going on in the world than just the plight we’re facing in our own backyards. In response to the crisis, Louis Vuitton, which has an ongoing relationship with UNICEF, created a campaign last week called #MakeAPromise, wherein $200 of the proceeds from each sale of its special-edition pendant and necklace designs went to the charity, which is working to help an estimated 2.2 million refugee children. Martinuzzi — who was part of a company delegation that visited Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon last year — talked about the educational training children there are receiving on how to resist and cope with violence. “Having fled Syria doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily safe,” she pointed out. Szarkowski added that refugees have settled as close as New Jersey and are in need of help. Her advice to the industry? “Hire refugees. Seek them out, befriend them.” For those looking for other ways to help, the speakers suggested donating directly to UNICEF’s work in Syria or providing coats and blankets to the charity Embrace Relief, which has drop-off locations in New York, D.C., and the Midwest. And UNICEF is always looking for volunteers to get involved, whether that’s by acting as a buddy to a refugee child or holding fundraisers. As Szarkowski put it, “These kids … are the ones who have to come back and help rebuild their country. If we don’t invest in them, then that’s not going to be a resource in the future.”
Louis Vuitton and Alibaba Team Up to Fight the Sale of Fakes
Since the dawn of the internet, online luxury shopping has been dogged by online luxury counterfeiting, especially on sprawling sites like eBay and its Chinese equivalent, Alibaba-owned Taobao. Finally, the retailers and the brands are teaming up. Alibaba Group announced Monday that it’s forming a task group of 20 luxury brands to combat the proliferation of counterfeit sales. According to Women’s Wear Daily, the group is called “Alibaba Big Data Anticounterfeiting Alliance” and includes Louis Vuitton, Shiseido and Swarovski. The alliance is the latest positive move in Alibaba’s protracted struggle with brands. In May 2015, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and several other Kering-owned brands sued Alibaba for trafficking in counterfeit goods and trademark infringement. In April 2016, Alibaba’s entry into the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition prompted companies like Michael Kors, Tiffany & Co. and Gucci America to quit, leading to Alibaba’s suspension just one month later. It’s not just Alibaba. As even the most casual online shopper knows, the internet is littered with questionable sites peddling designer goods with suspiciously low price tags and vague sources. Fake bags were always a mainstay of New York’s Canal Street and shady trunk vendors in Los Angeles, but the internet has made buying fakes immeasurably easier — or harder to avoid, depending how you look at it. Online, community forums and comments sections express doubt and concern over the authenticity of certain products and sites. It doesn’t help that the quality of fake bags has only gone up in recent years, making it sometimes impossible to tell the real from the counterfeit. Counterfeit bags and other objects seized by French customs on the fourth national day of counterfeit destruction in Paris in 2016. PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images As such, brands are taking action against the websites leveraging their names. As early as 2008, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey won $63 million against eBay over the sale of counterfeits. Alexander Wang was awarded a “symbolic” $90 million in August 2016 in a suit against at least 459 different “cybersquatting” domain names claiming to sell Alexander Wang products. Now, Alibaba’s decision to team up with brands like Louis Vuitton is a statement of unity, putting the sellers like Taobao on the same team as the luxury companies, a move industry insiders have encouraged for months. As WWD notes, Alibaba has already demonstrated its commitment by taking action against Taobao merchants selling counterfeit Swarovski watches; now, aligned with the brands themselves, it’s got even more ammo to crack down. “The most powerful weapon against counterfeiting today is data and analytics, and the only way we can win this war is to unite,” Jessie Zheng, chief platform governance officer of Alibaba Group, told WWD. Now let’s see if the new alliance can improve the shopping experience.
Louis Vuitton Held a Conversation on the Syrian Crisis
Lisa Szarkowski, Imran Amed, and Claudia Martinuzzi. Photo: LOUIS VUITTON/BFA.COM - CARL TIMPONE “This all seems so far away from our glossy world of fashion,” admitted Imran Amed, the founder and CEO of Business of Fashion, as he opened a panel on the ongoing crisis in Syria at Louis Vuitton’s Fifth Avenue headquarters Thursday night. Considering the building is located not far from the Trump Tower media circus, he noted that it was hard not to be distracted by what he called “the latest tweet or rowdy press conference.” Still, Amed and the two other speakers — UNICEF’s Lisa Szarkowski and LV’s Claudia Martinuzzi — were quick to remind the audience of fashion-industry and media types that there is more going on in the world than just the plight we’re facing in our own backyards. In response to the crisis, Louis Vuitton, which has an ongoing relationship with UNICEF, created a campaign last week called #MakeAPromise, wherein $200 of the proceeds from each sale of its special-edition pendant and necklace designs went to the charity, which is working to help an estimated 2.2 million refugee children. Martinuzzi — who was part of a company delegation that visited Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon last year — talked about the educational training children there are receiving on how to resist and cope with violence. “Having fled Syria doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily safe,” she pointed out. Szarkowski added that refugees have settled as close as New Jersey and are in need of help. Her advice to the industry? “Hire refugees. Seek them out, befriend them.” For those looking for other ways to help, the speakers suggested donating directly to UNICEF’s work in Syria or providing coats and blankets to the charity Embrace Relief, which has drop-off locations in New York, D.C., and the Midwest. And UNICEF is always looking for volunteers to get involved, whether that’s by acting as a buddy to a refugee child or holding fundraisers. As Szarkowski put it, “These kids … are the ones who have to come back and help rebuild their country. If we don’t invest in them, then that’s not going to be a resource in the future.”
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