Best known for its well-cut blazer jackets defined by the signature half-moon shaped Smiley pockets that have become a byword for nonchalance coolness, over the last decade the brand has expanded to encompass different product categories such as knitwear and denim; added made-to-order and bridal lines, and tiptoed into accessories tie-ups, all the while gaining popularity among international style icons and “It” girls with its discreet and chic aesthetic. Over the years, personalities donning Blazé Milano pieces have included Jessica Chastain, Julia Roberts, Kristen Stewart, Emma Stone, Chrissy Teigen, Charlotte Casiraghi, Alexa Chung and Caroline De Maigret, to name a few.
To mark the brand’s first decade in business and open the next chapter, the founders decided to smooth the linear font that has so far defined its labeling and add a new emblem to represent the company. Designed by the trio in collaboration with the Paris-based creative agency MaisonNue, a seahorse logo was picked as the embodiment of two great passions of the founders: horseback riding and sailing.
The new graphic will pop up in some elements of the new collection Blazé Milano will unveil during Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday, appearing on metallic buttons, embroideries and in the lining of the brand’s newest jackets.
A preview of the fall 2023 collection revealed that the lineup will reflect the celebratory mood of the founders, as it will bank on nocturnal glam with sparkling decorations and an overall ’80s feel.
A firework pattern in dazzling rhinestones stood out on black velvet blazer jackets with matching baggy pants, while embroidered sequins resulted in a shimmering texture in another style to layer over a sparkling bra. To further amplify the party vibe, multicolored bouclé fabric with metallic threads was cut in a fancy bolero jacket with velvet trim, while cascades of fringes added movement to blazers and long skirts. Other highlights saw the trio’s sartorial skills shine in outerwear, including a double-breasted coat in fire red that oozed a sensual, feminine energy even in its oversized proportions.
“Our goal is still communicating a lifestyle of a certain type: elegant and refined, but at the same time tinged with spontaneity and authenticity. We have always loved to represent through our garments a cool, strong woman who knows what she wants,” said Torlonia.
“There has obviously been an evolution over the years because our life has changed and we want to feel more and more comfortable in the clothes we wear,” echoed Rodriguez d’Acri. “We have introduced new models and injected the Blazé aesthetic in other areas, but we remain faithful to our origins and values,” she added, underscoring that today’s bestsellers are still the first three styles the trio designed. These are the “Everyday” double-breasted blazer jacket; the “Weekend” oversize style, and the “Midnight Smoking” tuxedo jacket.
All three items were created in a small tailor’s shop in Milan, after Torlonia and Rodriguez d’Acri thought of launching a project together and involving Pinardi, who at the time was returning to Italy after working in New York.
Committed to make the blazer jacket the starting point of their venture, the founders opted for a word with a French sound to evoke that fierce and chic attitude they intended to channel and introduced the Smiley pocket as a distinctive detail.
“We took inspiration by a recurring element in 1920s fashion, that arched shape,” said Pinardi. “Those curved lines, that had a feminine and seductive touch, seemed like an interesting addition for our blazer jackets that winked to the world of men’s tailoring.
“Then the pocket became a signature thanks to the market’s feedback, which determined its success and made our pieces immediately recognizable. We had originally thought of other additional shapes for pockets but that feedback encouraged us to continue in this direction,” she added.
The brand launched a decade ago with a trunk show staged at the house of Torlonia’s grandmother in Rome. In 2015, the self-financed project landed at the Who’s on Next talent contest promoted by Vogue Italia and Alta Roma, garnering the attention of a jury including Suzy Menkes, Franca Sozzani, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Riccardo Grassi and Beppe Angiolini.
“We believe the greatest challenge was to start from scratch. We had consolidated experience in styling [at Elle Italia] but we had never challenged ourselves as entrepreneurs up to that moment — even more considering we were betting on an item of clothing that maybe 10 years ago didn’t draw as much attention in fashion as today,” said Torlonia.
Established with a direct-to-consumer business model, supplemented by the made-to-measure project that is now available at its ateliers in both Milan and Rome, Blazé Milano launched its first wholesale sales campaign in 2014, collecting orders from international retailers including Net-a-porter, Matchesfashion, Alex Eagle and Beymen.
The brand was represented by the 247 showroom until 2020, when the pandemic encouraged the founders to tweak their approach and bring in-house that part of the business management, too, in a move that they described as the turning point in terms of propelling the company’s growth.
Last year, Blazé Milano’s revenues were up 70 percent to 8 million euros, 41 percent of which were generated outside Europe. Sales in the domestic market accounted for 33 percent of total revenues.
The brand’s managing director Filippo Fani Ciotti highlighted the company had a strong performance in China and is growing in the U.S., where the company had a sales campaign for its pre-collections that further propelled the overall business.
Going forward, the strategy is to continue to enhance its presence in the American market, as well as “enter more incisively into the Korean and Japanese ones, as we are convinced that our product can perform at its best there,” said Fani Ciotti.
Listing another driver, the executive noticed that the product itself is performing better “thanks to an improved internal communication between commercial and style departments. Our stockkeeping units also grew, so other product categories beyond blazer jackets are reporting great results.”
The brand is carried at more than 100 retailers worldwide, including Saks Fifth Avenue, LuisaViaRoma, Mytheresa, Lane Crawford, SKP, Kadewe and Al Tayer, among others. The wholesale channel accounted for 80 percent of sales last year, while the label’s own e-commerce generated between 10 percent and 15 percent of total sales. The remaining revenues came from the physical ateliers of the brand.
In the longer term, Fani Ciotti eyes expanding the team and implementing a network of stand-alone stores in key markets. “Our approach is to always aim high. In 10 years we would like to be globally present with our stores, expand product categories and, who knows, also step into lifestyle territory,” he said.
Product-wise, so far Blazé Milano’s loyal customers’ demand for total looks has resulted in the addition of a denim line; the Club Sportif casual range of T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies and a baseball cap with a retro sporty feel; the Blazé Bride capsule, as well as a series of collaborations, ranging from one with Italian luxury eyewear brand L.G.R. to an eco capsule collection developed with Arizona Muse.
“Opening up to new categories was a natural evolution of our journey after a few years of single-product focus,” said Rodriguez d’Acri, who underscored the founders’ desire “to create an all-round Blazé aesthetic, in order to give further coherence to our style, but also to satisfy the needs of different personalities and offer new interpretations to the use of the blazer, which always remains our prime focus.”
This month, Blazé Milano dropped a first co-branded project with body and hair care specialist Koh-I-Noor, consisting of limited-edition beauty accessories decorated with the new seahorse logo.
Aimed at celebrating self-care and self-love, the collaboration resulted in a concise range that included a soft-bristle brush, a hair comb, a pocket mirror and a hair barrette. Rendered in a burgundy shade, these were all crafted from the historic beauty company’s signature cellulose acetate produced from renewable sources, including plants and cotton waste.
Zara is facing a backlash about an advertising campaign which some people claim resembles images from the Israel-Gaza war.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it had received 50 complaints about the social media campaign called “The Jacket”.
One image shows the model holding a mannequin wrapped in what appears to be white plastic.
The BBC has contacted Zara for comment but the company has not responded.
In a series of images, the model is pictured against a background of cracked stones, damaged statues and broken plasterboard.
Some on social media have suggested they are similar to images emerging from Gaza following Israeli bombing in retaliation for the 7 October attack by Hamas when 1,200 people were killed.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said Israel has killed about 18,000 people.
The campaign for Zara’s Atelier line is no longer on the company’s app or website.
Some images appear to have been removed from Zara’s Instagram account, though others remain.
In the comments several users call for a boycott of the firm.
One Zara shop in Spain has a window display with some props similar to those used in the campaign.
The company describes its thinking behind “The Jacket” as “an exercise in concentrated design that is conceived to showcase the finest aspects of Zara’s creative and manufacturing capabilities, Zara Atelier offers one garment, six ways – and with unlimited possibilities”.
A spokesperson for the ASA said: “We’ve received 50 complaints about this ad. Complainants argue that the imagery references the current Israel-Hamas conflict and is offensive.”
The spokesperson added that the ASA was reviewing the complaints but was not currently investigating the advert.
Recently, M&S apologised after the retailer was accused of posting an Instagram photo of Christmas party hats in the colours of the Palestinian flag on fire.
The ASA said that it had received 116 complaints about the image.
It said that following a review, it determined that M&S had not broken ASA rules and “no additional investigation was warranted”.
Nevertheless, M&S said it had “removed the post following feedback and we apologise for any unintentional hurt caused”.
Zara’s Spanish parent company, Inditex, is scheduled to announce its latest quarterly results on Wednesday.
GIGI, PART DEUX:Gigi Hadid’s collaboration with Self-Portrait continues, as she appears in the brand’s latest fall 2023 campaign shot in Paris by British photographer Tyrone Lebon and styled by Marie Chaix.
The contemporary fashion label, which counts Kate Middleton,Naomi Campbell,Jennifer Coolidge and Blackpink among its fans, had worked with Hadid in London and New York on previous campaigns, and according to Han Chong, brand founder and creative director, “it felt only right that we join her in Paris for our latest campaign shoot against a backdrop renowned for elegance and romance.”
In one of the shots from the campaign, Hadid poses behind a grand classical wrought iron balcony while wearing a fuchsia tweed jacket with a matching bar top and a pleated skirt from the brand’s fall 2023 collection. In a separate image, Hadid gazes down at the camera in a sequined asymmetric aquamarine dress.
Commenting on the latest campaign, Chong praised Hadid as “everything the modern Self-Portrait woman stands for — free, spirited, and joyful.”
“Being able to shoot in Paris is always such a dream…it’s one of my favorite cities in the world, filled with so much charm and magic. And to be able to shoot with the Self-Portrait team who have become such incredible partners and friends, made it an even more memorable experience,” Hadidadded.
Launching together with the release of the campaign, the fall 2023 collection will hit stores worldwide from Tuesday.
For fall, Chong offered a balanced collection that caters to both the sensual new vibe, as well as those who buy into straightforward pretty, and elegant outfits for their everyday lives.
Standouts in the collection included sequinned, embellished high-glam evening options, many of which came with sleeves, a detail that’s appreciated in the modest community.
The denim pieces were cut for a younger and cooler audience, while the abundant supply of tweed jackets and coordinated bra tops and skirts have already won over fans including Selena Gomez, Princess Beatrice and Zhao Liying, Self-Portrait’s first Chinese brand ambassador. — TIANWEI ZHANG
JUMPING THE GUN: Kirsten Dunst couldn’t help herself from leaking the news about her upcoming collaboration with Coach when actress and comedian Ayo Edebiri was spotted wearing pieces from the Observed by Us x Coach line.
The actress shared the news on Instagram with an image showing Edebiri wearing a white top with dinosaurs on it.
The collection, which will be released to the rest of the world on Wednesday, features ready-to-wear, bags, footwear and accessories printed and embellished with original, hand-drawn illustrations by Jessica Herschko, a Los Angeles-based illustrator and designer of Observed by Us, and Dunst.
Coach creative director Stuart Vevers worked with the duo to create the line of T-shirts, hoodies, floral dresses and jeans whose inspiration was based on pieces found in Dunst’s closet. Key pieces include a wool pointelle crop top, overalls and a straw hat — each printed and embellished with original, hand-drawn illustrations by Herschko. Additionally, the pieces feature “storypatches,” a signature of Coach, in Herschko’s handwriting that tell the stories of illustrations in the collection.
“Creating this collection with Kirsten and Jessica was delightful,” said Vevers. “We got to celebrate our shared love of imagination and playfulness. Kirsten, and her style, have often been an inspiration for me. So to design alongside her and Jessica — and to blend their vivid storytelling and color with our own American heritage design language and craftsmanship — was really inspiring.”
Vevers added that he was introduced to the duo by a mutual friend and the collaboration “evolved quite naturally from there. I was immediately drawn to Jessica’s illustrations and their imaginative use of color and playful themes, but also to the way Kirsten and Jessica joyfully celebrate the beauty in the everyday — a theme I love to explore also. The collection is charming and pretty. The idiosyncratic embellishments feel both personal and expressive. There’s also a found quality and vintage feel that adds a sense of ease and cool.”
Vevers said what he likes most about working with other brands is that it allows him to try something new. “Every collaboration I’ve done is different,” he said. “I think that’s what I enjoy most about collaboration — it’s about trying something new, and working with someone else can give me a chance to challenge myself. Whether it’s with heroes of mine, contemporary artists or iconic imagery it’s also about an element of surprise. Something I’ve not done before.”
“We started Observed by Us to create clothing and other items with images that evoke a special, happy feeling and a sense of appreciation for both the natural and the man made,” said Herschko. “It was very fun to collaborate with Coach because, much like us, they see a world of possibility in the small details and have the ability to execute that perfectly.”
The collection will range in price from $20 to $595 and will be sold on the Coach website as well as in select Coach stores. — JEAN E. PALMIERI
The rooftop of the new high-rise Summit building in downtown Seattle will heat up Wednesday afternoon with the imagined island lifestyle that’s been powering local brand Tommy Bahama for 30 years.
Four hundred guests will attend the spring 2024 show, where models will walk the runway in tropical print bikinis, shirts and seersucker suits. Yes, there will be Beach Boys on the soundtrack, as well as Beyoncé, and cocktails will be served — grapefruit basil martinis, which will be the featured drink at the new Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa opening later this year in Indian Wells, California.
An unlikely product of the Pacific Northwest, Tommy Bahama was founded in 1992 by Bob Emfield and Tony Margolis, two garment business veterans who met in Seattle in the ’70s, when they were sales reps for Brittania Sportswear Ltd. The company is named after a character they invented after buying houses on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where they dreamed of living life as one long weekend.
Now owned by Oxford Industries, Tommy Bahama — which delivered top-line growth of 5 percent in the first quarter — has become a lifestyle empire that extends from coast to coast and now includes clothing and licensed accessories, home products such as rugs, bedding and upholstered furniture, restaurants — and soon, a hotel.
There’s a unified vision for it all.
For spring 2024, St. Barths was the seasonal inspiration for the 60-member design team based in Seattle, who travel to vacation locations for research trips. On the mood board are photos of the island’s red roofs, sunshine yellow mini Mokes, leafy patios and deep blue infinity pools.
“When I first started, the men’s, women’s and accessories teams didn’t really connect very much on the beginning of the season, and they all looked very different. So we started creating a seasonal destination,” explained design director Bradley O’Brien, who joined in 2014 after a decade at Ralph Lauren, four years at Old Navy, six at Lands’ End and four at Sperry Top-Sider. “We look at everything, from the architecture to the culture to the food and the artisans. We get a lot of inspiration from handicrafts, and flora and fauna of the particular area. We take lots and lots of photos and pull together concepts for the art department that really influences the color and the prints.”
The men’s and women’s collection will feature lots of novelty dresses, including a new Johnny Collar style; linen suiting; seersucker tops, skorts, bombers and blazers; swimwear, and stretch denim with sun protection. (Tommy Bahama has seals of approval from the Skin Cancer Foundation, and has raised more than $500,000 for the organization in its stores.)
“The great part about a runway is it’s not necessarily the real way, and so you can put things out there and style them in a way that makes people think, ‘Oh, I never thought of that.’ Like pairing a linen suit with a bikini,” she said.
The brand’s customer demographic is age 35 to 60, with the sweet spot in their 40s and 50s, and the women’s business is now growing faster than men’s. As a percentage of sales over the last five years, women’s has grown 53 percent, while men’s has grown 22 percent.
Dresses and knits are the two biggest categories and, surprisingly, women’s suiting is not far behind. ‘We’ve always done linen suiting for men and we can’t even keep it in stock now. There’s definitely a trend happening in women’s as well all around the blazer and the suit. So this is the first time that we’ll be offering really great suiting for her as well.”
Performancewear under the Island Zone franchise has also been key to the brand’s success, and the spring 2024 collection is taking inspiration from “court and course,” with clothing that can be worn from the golf course to the pickleball court.
“The fabrics keep you dry, they stretch, they’ve got great details, pockets and things that help you stay active,” said O’Brien, adding that the Palm Coast Polo is a top seller.
The brand has also hit with a woven fabric that’s perforated, used for camp shirts. “It looks like a silk camp shirt but it performs really well, is super lightweight and stretches and keeps you dry. It’s been so popular, we’re introducing it for women. That’s what’s fun about being a dual gender brand.”
Spring will also mark the debut of a performance seersucker fabric, alongside a traditional woven one, leaning into fashion’s return to prep and the old money trend.
“We absolutely look at the runway in the beginning of the season, and scour through some of the shows of the tried and true brands. Then we put it through the Tommy Bahama filters.…Our guest is not about fast fashion but wants to be relevant. And so if puff sleeves are definitely trending, we might put a puff sleeve on something that we already know she knows and loves in a fabrication that she already has in her closet to get her to buy into a new version.”
What are the Tommy Bahama filters?
“We talk about quality, artistry and craftsmanship, and especially in the imagery, we always want to show up looking like sun and sea and sky and sand. And then when it comes down to the product itself, it has to be effortless. Sometimes things will have one or two details too many.…You just want to be able to throw something on and feel super comfortable and relaxed,” O’Brien said. “And then the last thing that we say is we always want to have ‘a sprinkle of sand.’ It’s just a cute detail that makes the customer smile.”
For some fresh inspiration, the brand has partnered with the New York-based nonprofit Fashion Scholarship Fund on a design contest, and on Wednesday will award three $15,000 scholarships to students whose work will be included in the 2024 Tommy Bahama Artist Series.
“They’ll be representing their artwork and will have their apparel on mannequins, and everybody will be able to meet them and understand the inspiration,” O’Brien said. “Coming from the East Coast, and having a career at brands that are household names, I wanted Tommy Bahama to be a household name. And what better way than to gain awareness and recognition with these students? We just launched an internship program as well…so the talent of tomorrow wants to come and work here, too.”
One of the female executive’s proudest achievements has been elevating Tommy Bahama’s women’s profile. “It’s nice to see the perception is shifting,” said O’Brien, who favors the brand’s dresses, jeans and flirty tops for work. “And when you’re in stores, you also see families coming in. So it’s definitely a brand the entire family engages with.”
That’s thanks also to the Tommy Bahama Marlin Bars, which debuted way ahead of the latest wave of fashion-fronted restaurants like the Polo Bar and Tiffany Blue Box Café. Three more Marlin Bars are opening on the horizon.
“We do see that the stores that are attached to those, the sales are really, really strong in those doors. So the guest likes to come in and enjoy being a part of the brand and then shop it as well,” she said.
Soon they can also be able to live it at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa, opening in November outside of Palm Springs, California, with 215 rooms, three pools, and a 12,000-square-foot spa.
“That’s going to be a big moment,” O’Brien said. “I was lucky enough to work with our home wallpaper and fabric licensee to help pick out all the fabrics and wallpapers for each of the suites and the rooms. And we are going to have our artists go down and create signature murals for them.”
The hotel property will feature a 1,200-square-foot retail store, even though it’s within miles of Tommy Bahama stores in both Palm Springs and Palm Desert. O’Brien said, “We’re thinking of it more as a lab, where we can test elevated product.”