Timberland’s Latest Collab, Spinnaker’s Armani Shop, Peter Dundas’ Family Affair – WWD

TIMBERLAND’S TEAM: Clot, the cult streetwear brand founded by Canadian-born Hong Kong actor Edison Chen, is teaming up with Timberland for its first collaboration, featuring a range of footwear and garments inspired by China’s traditional dragon.

The designs are out Wednesday. Clot reimagined Timberland’s 3-Eye Lug Handsewn boat shoe with a titled toe upper reminiscent of a growling dragon’s head. The model is also topped with silk embroidery for the eyes and flames, rendered in a Chinese folk-inspired aesthetic.

“Dragon motifs have always shown up in our designs. It’s mystical, it demands power, and it’s very representative of Chinese culture,” said Chen, who became an advocate for the rise of the recent Guochao movement in China, after Clot presented its fall 2018 collection during New York Fashion Week.

“The embroidery is very much an ode to hand-stitch culture back in the day, and abstractly also tattoo culture because it seems to have translated into Chinese tattoos where dragons and all those old motifs are showing up on people’s tattoo artworks,” he added.

Guochao, which means national trend in Chinese, celebrates those who bring Chinese traditional elements into the modern age. Chinese sportswear giant Li-Ning, as well as fast-fashion brand Peacebird, are among players in the fashion sector spearheading the movement.

To convey a sense of teamwork and showcase the beauty of a dragon, Chen hired a dragon dance team to star in the campaign video in Clot x Timberland attire.

“The dragon is an important guardian deity in China for its ability to control rain. With a livelihood dependent upon agriculture, ancient Chinese performed dragon dances to plead for rain and good fortune. The tradition remains generations on, translated into a celebration of unity and pride that connects all ‘descendants of the dragon’ across the world,” Clot explained in a release.

Starting from a logo T-shirt for $60 to $200 for a duck canvas jacket, the capsule will be available across Chen’s multibrand retail store Juice in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Taipei, Taichung and online. — TIANWEI ZHANG

GONE SHOPPING: In the picturesque and luxury resort sea town of Portofino, in Italy’s Liguria region, the storied Spinnaker boutique is hosting a Giorgio Armani pop-up store, running July 7 to 17.

For its 50th anniversary, the luxury boutique is partnering with the Italian fashion label. The pop-up is located on the floating pier, La Gritta.

Spinnaker’s first boutique opened in 1972 in Alassio, in the Savona province, also in Liguria, by Loretta Betti. Today, the boutique is managed by Betti’s two sons and counts 15 shops between Alassio, Sanremo, Santa Margherita Ligure, Portofino and Forte dei Marmi.

Spinnaker is considered one of the most prestigious multibrand retailers in Italy.

In addition to Armani, the boutique sells clothing and accessories from Italian fashion brands such as: Prada, Gucci, Brunello Cucinelli, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Versace, Bottega Veneta, Moschino and Moncler, but it also carries a selection of European and international luxury brands.

The Spinnaker x Armani pop-up store is named “Mare Pop Up” and is characterized by distinctive marine patterns and bright summer colors. 

The floating shop also carries the new Giorgio Armani Mare beachwear collection, as well as linen dresses and silk pants and a range of accessories.

This summer, other luxury fashion brands have chosen Portofino to launch pop-up stores, beachwear collections or even take over the design of entire beach clubs.

For its annual Dioriviera beach collection, on June 1, Dior inaugurated a resort pop-up in the bay of Paraggi. The brand took over one of Italy’s most exclusive beaches, the Bagni Fiore, and installed gazebos with a temporary spa in the gardens of the Splendido hotel, the storied luxury structure in Portofino.

Moreover, Dior has opened a pop-up store in Paraggi selling ready-to-wear, bags, shoes and seasonal accessories.

Italian brand Missoni has also chosen the luxury seaside town to launch its pop-up store in the restaurant and beach club Le Carillon, customizing the area with various furnishing items, tapestries and fabrics. This marks the brand’s first step for the launch of the Missoni Resort Club project, which involves the customization of Italian and international destinations. — ALICE MONORCHIO

BABY LOVE: Peter Dundas and Evangelo Bousis are regulars in Greece, holidaying, and shooting some of the Dundas look books there, too. Last weekend, they traveled to the posh coastal suburbs south of Athens for an altogether different reason: the baptism, in the Greek Orthodox Church, of their two babies, Alexios, who’s a year old, and the three-month-old Eleni.

The godmothers were Eugenie Niarchos and Bianca Brandolini, and guests included Naomi Campbell, Natasha Poly, Dree Hemingway, Prince Nikolaos and Princess Tatiana of Greece and Denmark, Laure Hériard Dubreuil, Aaron Young, Zani Gugelmann, Catherine Baba and Claire Courtin.

The Greek-Cypriot singer Anna Vissi performed at the party that followed at the Four Seasons Resort in Vouliagmeni.

While a baptism is a big moment for many Christian families, this particular baptism, which took place Saturday at the Panagia Faneromeni church in Vouliagmeni, was a milestone. Dundas and Bousis said it was the first Greek Orthodox baptism for the children of a gay couple in Greece.

The Archbishop of the Americas and the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church baptized both children. Dundas said it was important to christen the children in the Greek Orthodox church “because Evangelo is Greek Orthodox and since our children were born, we’ve followed the traditions of the church.”

“We also thought it was important, in this time and age, that there was a change in the Orthodox Church, and that the children of gay and same-sex parents are able to be christened. We feel all children should have the opportunity to be blessed regardless of what faith and religion they believe in,” he said.

Dundas added that the Archbishop Elpidophoros of America “agreed all children are accepted in God’s eyes and have a right to be baptized. He is pushing for change in the Orthodox religion for the youth, and opening doors for everyone instead of turning people away,” he said. — SAMANTHA CONTI

A PALACE RIDE: Cult British streetwear brand Palace is teaming up with cycling wear specialist Rapha on a capsule that celebrates the return of Tour de France Femmes this summer after a 33-year hiatus.

On top of a limited-edition switch-out kit for the riders of the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and EF Education-EasyPost teams, the second collaboration between the two comes with a range of gender-inclusive casualwear offerings, including Crocs clogs complimented with Rapha and Palace Jibbits, cropped T-shirts, pullover jackets, utility vests, silk scarves and caps.

The two first worked together back in 2020 for the Giro d’Italia race.

A key element of the capsule is a green dragon placed alongside Palace’s signature motif Triferg. The dragon symbolizes the “supernatural power, wisdom, strength and hidden knowledge,” as the two felt it was “a great way of encapsulating the spirit of the women who ride for EF Education-TIBCO-SVB.”

The collaboration will be available through Rapha online, in select Rapha Clubhouses and through Palace online and in store from Friday. — T.Z.

PERRY TO SPEAK: Katy Perry will be the keynote speaker at the Project show in Las Vegas next month.

The singer, whose Katy Perry Collections line will be showcased at the show, will share her perspective on entrepreneurship, design and creative inspiration on Aug. 9 at 9 a.m. on the N:OW stage at Project in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. She will then visit her booth at the show to unveil her latest women’s footwear collection.

The Grammy-nominated musician relaunched her Katy Perry Collections brand for spring, the first since retaining ownership of the label she first launched in 2017 with Global Brands Group.

In addition to Perry, the upcoming show in Vegas will feature Kristin Cavallari, the actress and entrepreneur, who will speak with Rachel McCord, host and founder of the McCord List, about building a successful brand and life as a “mompreneur” in a session called “Uncommon Advice.” That session will take place on Aug. 9 at 1 p.m. at MAGIC in the West Hall of the LVCC.

The day before, Lala Kent, a social media star, actress and writer, will tackle the topic of social media trends for 2023 and offer tips on how to scale a business and brand by engaging celebrities to transform marketing efforts and employing engaging social media campaigns. That session will be 1 p.m. at MAGIC in the West Hall.

“It’s not often you have the opportunity to learn from Katy Perry, Kristin Cavallari and Lala Kent, three remarkable women leading various corners of the fashion industry, combined with a robust lineup of brands and premium denim from Levi’s, Hudson Jeans, and Joe’s Jeans,” said Kelly Helfman, president of Informa Markets Fashion, which owns Project and MAGIC. “In addition to highlighting emergent brands, paired with respected and established brands, our upcoming event brings attention to the circular fashion landscape, from seed to shelf and everything in between — a true representation of today’s fashion ecosystem.”

MAGIC, Project and Sourcing at MAGIC will be held Aug. 8 to 10 in Las Vegas at the Convention Center. — JEAN E. PALMIERI

STRONGER BOND: Giorgio Armani is further sealing the longtime collaboration between his namesake fashion company and Federico Marchetti.

Marking Armani’s 88th birthday on Monday, Marchetti sent his wishes to the designer with a post on his Instagram handle adding that he was “very honored to be reappointed for another three adventurous years” as a member of Armani’s board.

Marchetti, who founded Yoox and spearheaded the merger with Net-a porter, becoming its chairman and chief executive officer, first joined Giorgio Armani SpA as an independent, non-executive director of the board in July 2020 and as the first non-family member.

Armani was one of the first designers in Italy to embrace online retailing, launching an Emporio Armani online flagship store with Yoox Group in 2007 in the U.S., followed in 2008 by the European Union and Japan in 2009. In 2011, the designer revealed he would also launch an armani.com store with Yoox, offering collections from Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Armani Jr., Armani Jeans, EA7 and Emporio Armani.

In 2009, Armani also joined Yoox in sponsoring students for a new one-year master’s degree in e-fashion program at the Politecnico di Milano’s business school MIP. The scholarship covered tuition fees and included a work experience opportunity with the Emporio Armani online store project team, powered by Yoox.

The following year, an Emporio Armani online store was launched in China, becoming the first Western fashion brand to open an official e-commerce site in the country, also enabled by Yoox, and banking on the growing importance of the Chinese online market. In addition to Emporio collections for men and for women, the store carried the EA7 sports line, a selection of the Armani Jeans collections, accessories, watches, eyewear and jewelry.

Last year, Marchetti exited the Yoox Net-a-porter Group and was appointed chair of the fashion task force as part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative that the Prince of Wales launched during the World Economic Forum at Davos in 2020. The Armani Group is part of the SMI task force. — LUISA ZARGANI

NEW HOME: Iconix International, formerly Iconix Brand Group Inc., has relocated its global corporate headquarters to Palm Beach, Florida, from New York City.

Some 15 percent of the workforce will be relocating to the new headquarters.

Iconix will maintain its New York City location to support global brand management and licensing operations. The move also puts Iconix closer to its investor base and many of its new and potential global operating partners that have relocated full- or part-time to Florida since 2020.

The move to 251 Royal Palm Way, Suite 600, follows Iconix’s take-private transaction, completed last August. Iconix’s portfolio includes such brands are Umbro, Pony, Starter, Ocean Pacific, Danskin, Lee Cooper and Ecko Unltd.

No complete department will be relocating, but some executives and support staff will work out of the Palm Beach headquarters. The firm isn’t hiring for its Palm Beach office.

As reported, Iconix completed its deal last August to be purchased by Lancer Capital in an all-cash deal for $3.15 a share, totaling $585 million including debt.

“We are excited to open our new corporate headquarters in Florida. It aligns with our long-term strategic approach to focus on sports, activewear and lifestyle brands in a location that is friendly to business and closer to many of our global partners, colleagues and associates. We are looking forward to continuing to build relationships in this dynamic community,” said Bob Galvin, chief executive officer of Iconix International Inc. — LISA LOCKWOOD