Italian fashion legend Brunello Cucinelli is to be honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Fashion Awards 2025 at the Royal Albert Hall in London in December, the British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced.
Brunello Cucinelli
The accolade, regarded as one of the fashion industry’s highest distinctions, recognises the 47-year career of the Umbrian designer, philosopher and entrepreneur.
Cucinelli is being rewarded for his “exceptional contribution to the world of fashion, as a pioneer who has succeeded in combining luxury and design with a more responsible approach to business”, the BFC said.
Its executive committee said it also chose to bestow this honour on his Solomeo-based fashion house which is “rooted in the ethical principles of Humanistic Capitalism and Human Sustainability, dedicated to promoting the dignity of the human being in all its forms and expressions, as well as to the guardianship of Creation”.
The BFC specifically highlighted “the innovation brought to the world of cashmere [which] has transformed the possibilities of the entire sector”.
Cucinelli added: “I like to think of this as a gift to dedicate to young and very young artisans who, in the future, will be called upon to contribute, in an innovative and contemporary way, to the enhancement of the dignity of manual labour, fine craftsmanship, and our Made in Italy, so highly appreciated around the world.”
UK retail footfall is on a roll in February, enjoying a fourth consecutive week of growth across all UK retail destinations, according to MRI Software’s latest data.
Photo: Pexels
Last week alone (17-23 February), overall footfall increased 8.2% compared to the previous week, with high streets leading the way (+11.6%), followed by shopping centres (+9%). Retail parks however, saw only a marginal uplift of 0.1%.
Year-on-year footfall levels also remained higher across the board, though the shift in timings of this year’s half-term may have influenced these trends, MRI noted.
Across the week, footfall rose daily in all UK retail destinations, aside from Friday (-4.6%) which coincided with a change in weather conditions. High streets and shopping centres saw double digit rises compared to the week before on three out of the seven days suggesting shoppers “were out in full force making the most of the half-term activities”.
Monday and Tuesday were the strongest days with an average rise of 20.9% recorded in all UK retail destinations. This was much higher in high streets and shopping centres at +25.5% and +22.3%, respectively.
Central London witnessed the strongest week on both a week-on-week and year-on-year basis followed by historic and coastal towns, suggesting day trips or holidays by the coast were popular, especially as much of the week saw mild weather conditions.
Regionally, the East of England (+11.3%) and Greater London (+12.9%) were the clear winners with double-digit rises recorded week on week. Scotland, however, saw footfall decline 4.4% last week from the week before and down by 1.1% from 2024 levels.
MRI Software’s Central London ‘Back to Office’ benchmark also revealed strong trends week-on-week, however much of this may also have been driven by visitors to the capital during half-term. Aside from Scotland, all regions reported positive trends with Greater London and the East of England seeing double-digit rises compared to the week before.
Milan Fashion Week kicked off Tuesday, but the flair and fanfare on catwalks will likely struggle to distract from a worrying slump in the luxury sector.
For six days, the northern Italian capital of fashion will showcase Autumn/Winter 2025-2026 women’s looks — while scrambling behind the scenes to react to macroeconomic headwinds cutting into sales.
Milan’s glamorous showcase for the latest fashion trends, which ends Sunday, comes during a difficult moment for Italian fashion, with estimates showing sales having fallen by 5 percent last year.
Italy’s woes are part of a global slump in the sector, driven by weakness in the key market of China, reduced appetite for high-priced goods, and widespread economic uncertainty.
Gucci — once the pride of fashion week but now the worst performer in Kering‘s portfolio — opened the fashion fest in Milan.
The French group earlier this month announced a jaw-dropping 23 percent drop in sales at Gucci, its flagship brand accounting for almost half of the revenue of the group, whose sales have not recovered despite an announced turnaround.
Just over two weeks before the show, Gucci announced the departure of its creative director, Sabato de Sarno — after just two years on the job.
It was up to the brand’s creative studio to sign off on an interim collection entitled “Continuum”, which drew on elements of the brand’s heritage, such as silhouettes from the 60s or minimalism from the 90s.
Fabrics were both classic and subversive, while the colour palette ranged from shades of green to gray, mauve and brown.
Instead of the traditional designer’s bow at the end of the show, dozens of people from the design studio came out to greet the audience.
“A brand is not a person, a brand is a story and it is the people who work there at all levels, that’s what we saw today,” Francesca Bellettini, deputy chief executive of Kering, told AFP.
Kering Chief Executive Francois-Henri Pinault tried to temper the fallout ahead of the show, telling analysts during its annual presentation this month that measures were being taken to “strengthen the health and desirability of our brands for the long term.”
“Gucci will come back. I have absolutely no doubt,” Pinault said.
The net profit of Kering — which also owns Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, the latter a bright spot in the portfolio — plunged 62 percent last year to 1.13 billion euros ($1.18 billion).
Consultants Bain & Company have estimated that only about a third of the world’s luxury brands experienced growth in 2024.
“Global luxury consumers, grappling with macroeconomic uncertainty and continued price elevation by brands, cut back slightly on discretionary items,” said Bain in a January report.
In Italy, the fashion sector, including eyewear, jewellery, and beauty, is expected to post turnover of just under 96 billion euros in 2024, a drop of 5.3 percent compared to 2023, according to forecasts by Italian Fashion Chamber.
The body’s president, Carlo Capasa, said earlier this month that the week of shows, buying, and networking demonstrated the sector’s willingness “to address the complexity of the moment the sector is facing.”
“Creativity, pragmatism, and flexibility,” will help the sector confront “such a challenging moment,” he told a press conference, with efforts needed to boost innovation and strengthen Italy’s supply chain.
He said the chamber would lobby the government for “support policies” for the sector.
The Italian leather and footwear sector is faring worse than fashion, with estimates from trade association Confindustria showing an anticipated revenue drop of 8.1 percent in 2024.
In Tuscany, the hub of Italy’s leather industry, nearly 100,000 people are estimated to be on furlough.
The Italian government has put aside about 110 million euros to boost the fashion sector this year and last.
But that hasn’t been able to pull some factories back from the brink of closure.
Swiss brand Bally – whose runway show is scheduled for Saturday — announced in December it would shut its production facility near Florence which employs 55 workers.
Negotiations with trade unions are ongoing to avert the closure.
Some brands are celebrating big anniversaries this year in Milan, notably Fendi‘s 100th birthday with a co-ed catwalk show under the interim creative direction of Silvia Venturini Fendi.
DSquared celebrates its 30th birthday while Kway celebrates 60 years since it was established in Paris in 1965.
Bottega Veneta will be absent, having postponed its first show under new artistic director Louise Trotter to September, after previous director Matthieu Blazy left for Chanel in December.
Saks Global is laying off around 5% of its US corporate workforce, according to a person familiar with the plan, as the department store integrates its recent acquisition Neiman Marcus.
Neiman Marcus
The layoffs will affect employees in departments including finance, legal and operations, according to an internal memo that Saks Global sent to employees Tuesday that was viewed by Bloomberg News. There will be no staff changes at Bergdorf Goodman, which is also owned by Saks Global.
“There will be additional changes to our teams as we continue to integrate our business,” Saks Global Chief Executive Officer Marc Metrick wrote in the memo. Saks Global is the new entity that was created last year to house retail brands including Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
A Saks Global spokesperson said the company is “continuing the integration process following our recent acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group by consolidating functional leadership, clarifying key decision makers and beginning to simplify our organizational structure.”
Saks Global might “lose more sales to peers Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom this year as it repositions the newly merged units, shutters select stores and seeks to repay past-due vendor balances,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mary Ross Gilbert wrote in a recent research note.
Entertainment8 years ago