The Fashion Dilemma For Davos Women

I can streamline the issue into one question: Heels vs. boots?

Over the past three days, I’ve been observing the Davos dress given the unique fashion dynamic created when one gathers the world’s elite in a completely remote, snow and ice-ridden mountain town, where events are dispersed amongst neighboring venues and when each year brings the uncertainty of two feet of snow or just the occasional flurry.

It’s a packing puzzle where challenges are a given, albeit very different, for both the female delegates and the wives of the delegates—and you often can spot one versus the other with relative ease.

Davos Wives travel with their often glamorous wardrobe, and wearing the kind of heels that require the utmost dexterity and luck–not to mention the arm of their partner–to navigate the treacherous walkways. Their bag of choice is a clutch never intended for holding business cards or a BlackBerry.

Nothing wrong with any of that, and we all have our share of evening wear for our non-business lives. But Davos Women are here for–and mean–real business.

Here lies the conundrum of the female delegates. Some of the more high-profile women strike the balance between chic and occasion-appropriate. Others markedly less so, including one delegate sporting floral, brightly colored rubber boots.

Even as the crowd pretends to overlook a fashion “practicality” like rubber boots–or my Patagonia puffy down coat–the middle road of changing from big winter shoes and outerwear into heels and a sleek look at each venue is awkward. And it does feel odd to be with power players in your winter boots, not to mention changing out of them into heels shoulder-to-shoulder with a bold name.

Should it matter? No. But do people notice? Yes.

But this is par for the course at Davos, and far better than walking in spiky heels on ice.

It’s something our male counterparts don’t think about–a winter coat, pair of boots, scarf and the usual round of suits and they are good to go. But how a woman dresses, particularly when there are so few of us here at all, is something to think about.

What you wear is your public brand, particularly for the women power players. And as trivial as it seems, it does get recognized – even more so by those women than the men.

 

The couple publish Pittsburgh Fashion Magazine

Pittsburgh may not be considered a fashion-savvy town, but Nick and Robyn Bracco are hoping to change that.

The couple publish Pittsburgh Fashion Magazine, which they started in February 2010.

With articles such as "How to Support the Steelers and Still Dress in Style" and sections on high fashion and celebrity fashion, their goal for the monthly magazine is to reach readers with the message that fashion is accessible to everyone.

As the magazine nears its one-year anniversary, the couple said they originally did not intend for it to become a career.

"For Nick, it was a creative outlet. We weren't looking to start a business, but it seems like that is what's happening," said Mrs. Bracco, editor of the magazine, which has five full-time and seven part-time employees plus contributing writers and an office on Liberty Avenue, Downtown.

The Braccos believe the response has been favorable to the message that fashion is for everyone, not just tall, thin models.

"Every woman, regardless of size, style, age and budget, should be able to pick up the magazine and see styles that appeal to them," Mrs. Bracco said.

Her work with children in Kenya on her doctoral dissertation in international education gives both of them a very down-to-earth approach to fashion.

With girls of their own, Mrs. Bracco emphasizes "the last thing I want to do is create a magazine that perpetuates the stereotype that you have to be tall, thin and possess a large budget in order to look and feel good about yourself."

Instead, she hopes the magazine inspires women to be aware of their body type, style and what works for them and dress within those parameters.

In addition to general information on fashion and beauty that applies to all women, the magazine also speaks to specific audiences, with recurring features including sections for men, petites, plus sizes, those older than 50 and children.

"We try to run the gamut on price ranges and budgets," Mrs. Bracco said.

"We have a Celebrity Fashion section in the magazine each month where we include photos of what the national celebrities are wearing, everyone from Samuel L. Jackson to Katy Perry to Julia Roberts.

"We interviewed Heidi Klum for our holiday issue, and we have some more big-name interviews coming up, but our emphasis is really on 'real' people more so than superstars. Our 'models' are sometimes real, working models and sometimes are everyday people," Mrs. Bracco said.

The couple, of Upper St. Clair, often will spot someone on the street they think has a great look and feature them in the magazine.

Shopping locally is encouraged, and local stores are featured in the magazine.

"There is a perception that shopping at boutiques is expensive, but if you know the stores, it's really no more expensive that other places," Mrs. Bracco said.

"It's a fun read with a conversational tone," Mrs. Bracco said.

Mr. and Mrs. Bracco have different backgrounds but complementary talents.

Mr. Bracco, originally from Munhall, had a career as a fashion photographer in New York and Los Angeles and now works for First National Bank.

Originally enrolled in medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, Mr. Bracco left the program after six months to attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He completed the program, specializing in photography, and moved to Los Angeles during the 1980s.

"I was nearly penniless, living in my car in L.A. and with my last $5, I bought coffee and a Danish for a photographer I really respected and waited on his doorstep to show him my portfolio."

When an assistant didn't show up for work, Mr. Bracco was given an opportunity to fill in. He shot the poster for the movie "Lethal Weapon" that day, which led to other projects, including work on the "Terminator" movie series, "The Grifters" and a video with Janet Jackson, among others. Interested in fashion photography, he moved to New York and worked for Vogue and Vanity Fair.

He left the industry in the late 1990s to complete an accounting degree at Pitt.

Mrs. Bracco was raised in the Scenery Hill section of Washington County and is a former English teacher who is working on her doctorate, researching girls' education in rural Kenya and developing a "distance learning model" to help girls continue their education when they cannot physically be at school.

She taught in the public schools in Brooklyn, N.Y., while working on a master's degree at Columbia University. She said it was her favorite teaching job. "It was challenging because the students often faced many difficult situations," she said.

 

The battle at the heart of French fashion house Hermès

In the autumn of last year, Bernard Arnault, founder, chairman and CEO of the world's largest luxury goods conglomerates, LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), and among the richest men in France, set into motion what may go on to become the most spectacular and potentially long-drawn-out takeover battle of his career to date. Given that this is a man whose reputation for voraciously snapping up family-owned businesses precedes him, that's saying quite something.

Arnault already controls Fendi, Pucci and Louis Vuitton. Most famously, in the latter part of the 1990s, he was involved in a bitter struggle with arch-rival Francois Pinault, CEO of PPR (Pinault Printemps La Redoute) over control of the Gucci Group. In that case, Arnault was unsuccessful. But never one to let spirits be dampened, he today has his eye on Hermès, perhaps the grandest French status label of them all.

It all started with an announcement, three months ago now, stating that LVMH had amassed a 17.1 per cent stake in Hermès, taking family descendants entirely by surprise. Two months later, that rose to 20.2 per cent. "LVMH built the stake through cash-settled equity swaps with three banks that dated back to 2008 when the luxury industry was in deep crisis," reads the US edition of this month's Economist magazine. "The use of these derivative contracts allowed LVMH to skirt disclosure requirements and produced a nice profit for Mr Arnault, who had bet on Hermès' stellar rebound."

In fact, Arnault is currently facing an enquiry by French regulators over concerns that he may indeed have violated disclosure laws. In the meantime, it is perhaps only to be expected that the extended Hermès family – today comprising the Puechs, Guerrands and Dumas, all related by marriage – which owns more than 70 per cent of the business, is none too happy with what it clearly sees as an unwelcome attack, not only on its future, but also on a time-honoured heritage.

Although the powers that be at LVMH claim they have no intention of attempting to acquire a controlling stake in the company, speculation is rife that, if the current generation of family members might be reluctant to sell their shares, their heirs may be more amenable. It's not without reason that Arnault, the man at the head of it all, is dubbed "the wolf in the cashmere coat" and his far-from-demure entrepreneurial style is well-known, not to mention entirely at odds with the more discreet and traditional values this proudly independent name represents.

And so Hermès fought back. In December, a holding company was created, grouping more than 50 per cent of Hermès' capital, thereby granting family members first rights to buy shares from each other should any decide to sell. This, too, is currently being looked at by French authorities at the behest of minority shareholders but, said Bernard Puech, chairman of Émile Hermès, the family management company, in an interview for Le Monde recently, the move is "further proof to all those people who do not believe us. We are a united family, animated by one spirit – to transmit to our descendants the unique jewel received from our parents."

The unique jewel in question was founded as a harness and saddle workshop in Paris in 1837 by one Thierry Hermès. In 1880, his son, Charles-Émile, took over, moving the business to 24 Rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré where it remains, albeit vastly expanded, to this day. Assisted by his sons, Adolphe and Émile-Maurice, Charles-Émile built up a discerning and cosmopolitan clientele across the globe. With the dawn of the 20th century, Hermès, then managed by the third generation and known as Hermès Frères, cemented its reputation as purveyor of leather goods to horsemen and women of style. Émile-Maurice furnished Tsar Nicholas II with saddles and the company introduced its first bag – the haut à courroies – designed to allow the world's most well-heeled equestrians to carry their Hermès saddle with them wherever they went.

As enamoured with craftsmanship as he was innovation, Émile-Maurice, on a trip to America during the First World War, experienced the impact of the car and mass production on a brave new world and with it the potential of the luggage industry to flourish. He returned with, among other things, exclusive rights to introduce the zip, or "American fastener", to his home country. Soon known about town as fermeture Hermès, it was quickly adapted to the purposes of fine leatherwork. At the same time, Hermès' production of fashionable items increased to include travel, sport and driving accessories, clothing, belts, gloves, jewellery and wristwatches. During the 1930s, and drawing on a by-that-time extensive personal collection of paintings, books, objets d'art and curiosities related to equine pursuits and travel, Hermès classics including a petit sac à courroie pour dame, later known as the "Kelly", leather diaries and printed silk scarves, also went into production.

In 1945, following Paris's liberation from German occupation, Marlene Dietrich, in full GI uniform, marched with General Patton's army, stopping off at Hermès to sign autographs on her way. Hermès orange, initially used more extensively than it might have been during the war because of dye shortages, was officially adopted for packaging post-war, all stamped with Le Duc Attelé, a drawing by Alfred de Dreux depicting a Parisian two-horse equipage and registered as the Hermès trademark not long after. The official naming of the aforementioned Kelly bag, meanwhile, came in 1956, after a photograph of the young Princess Grace of Monaco clutching hers to her belly to hide the early stages of pregnancy appeared on the cover of Life magazine.

By that point, and with Émile-Maurice's son-in-law, Robert Dumas, at the helm, anyone who was anyone shopped at Hermès: Christian Bérard, Jean Cocteau and Colette, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Bergman, Bogart, Bacall, Bardot and more. The spectacular success of the Kelly was followed, some 30 years later, by that of the Birkin, sketched, fashion folklore decrees, by Jean-Louis Dumas, a fifth-generation family member who took up the company reins in 1978, as he chatted to the actress on a flight between Paris and London. At a recent sale of vintage Hermès bags at Christies, nine of these dating from the 1980s sold for more than £30,000 apiece, four fetched just under £40,000. A 1998 Rouge Moyen alligator Birkin went under the hammer for £49,250. Birkin sold her own black calfskin bag to benefit the International Federation of Human Rights for a record €74,352 in 2009.

Given a culture that thrives on conspicuous consumption and a fashion industry that still, for the most part, decrees that what is in one season will be out the next, Hermès stands alone as a creator of entirely timeless luxury goods that are as understated as they are beautiful. Designers as diverse as the elusive, Belgian-born Martin Margiela and the extremely famous Jean-Paul Gaultier have worked their magic designing womenswear for the house, always ensuring that its history and unparalleled respect for fine workmanship is upheld.

Next month in Paris, a new name, Christophe Lemaire, will debut in this capacity. Since the late 1990s, Veronique Nichanian has been responsible for equally elegant menswear. Unlike the majority of fashion's big names, Hermès has never licensed any of its by-now formidable output, preferring instead to control its production first-hand in workshops on the outskirts of Paris.

Neither has the company ever paid celebrities to endorse its designs. And yet, everyone from Martha Stewart to Kate Moss and from Elle Macpherson to Victoria Beckham are all too happy to parade their allegiance to the Birkin in particular. The latter is said to own more than 100 Birkin bags. More extraordinary still: no amount of over-exposure appears to dent its allure.

If Hermès has always had an eye on experimentation and modernity, the manner in which everything from the most modest of wallets to a crocodile handbag studded with diamonds is made, is exclusive to the point of anachronistic. Even the tools involved in the creation of merchandise are handmade. Those who staff the Hermès ateliers are trained for between two and three years, then join the company as apprentices before being allowed to work unsupervised.

As for the legendary waiting lists – which mean that even those prepared to pay upwards of £4,400 (the starting price for a Kelly bag) and £5,700 (for a Birkin) might not actually get hold of either for months and even years – they are in place not as part of any canny marketing strategy, but because Hermès turns down more skins than it accepts, such is the rigour of its quality control.

Hermès scarves, equally, of which two collections are released each year, are sewn and printed entirely by hand, each one woven from thread produced by no less than 250 mulberry moth cocoons. The more classic, and still predominantly horsey, designs are favoured by Queen Elizabeth II and Hillary Clinton, but that's never stopped the more obviously fashionable likes of Madonna and Sarah Jessica Parker sporting them.

And therein, perhaps, lies the ultimate secret of Hermès' success. While the vast majority of luxury brands have an image that appeals to a distinct customer base, the only link between one Hermès customer and another is that they are in possession of perfectly good taste and, of course, a disposable income to match. Hermès may be worn by the lady of the manor just as it might a young fashion designer, dressed always in battered jeans but in possession of an Hermès belt, say. While other designer bags and accessories come and go, anything designed by Hermès really is for life, destined to be handed down from generation to generation, just as the business has been for more almost 200 years.

Throughout the Seventies and Eighties, Jean-Louis Dumas radically extended and reinforced the presence of the Hermès Group across the globe until, by 1990, annual sales were reported at $460m. Dumas died last year, although he had passed the Hermès baton to Patrick Thomas, the first-ever outsider, four years before that. While the family claims it is united, just as the descendants of the Louis Vuitton family did before it, there are many more members than there used to be, and there's no guarantee that the next generation will feel as bullish.

According to the Financial Times, as of October 2010, a mere 0.1 per cent stake in Hermès was worth in the region of €18m. The company posted €289m in net income in 2009. It's small wonder, then, that Arnault is keen to remain in the frame. Should the family eventually loosen its hold, it would be nothing short of humiliating for Arnault were it to fall into the hands of any competitor.

"LVMH knows that it cannot do much without the approval of members of the fifth generation of about 15 people aged roughly between 65 and 75," HSBC analysts confirmed last month. "But LVMH is positioning itself for the sixth generation. While the fifth generation always said it wanted Hermès to remain independent, the sixth generation may think differently."

For his part, M Puech is unconvinced. "The sixth generation is extraordinarily committed and wants the maison to remain an independent, family-controlled firm." With aristocratic nostrils suitably flared, he said: "We are inheritors of values more than of money".