Designer Marc Jacobs leaves Louis Vuitton....Star designer to focus on his own label

US designer Marc Jacobs at the end of his spring/summer 2014 women’s ready-to-wear fashion show for French fashion house Louis Vuitton during Paris fashion week. The star designer is leaving Louis Vuitton as artistic director, a source close to the French fashion brand’s parent LVMH said. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters




Marc Jacobs, the star designer who turned Louis Vuitton from a staid luggage-maker into one of the world’s biggest luxury brands, is leaving to focus on his own label, a source close to the French company’s parent LVMH said today.

The move follows a series of leadership changes at Louis Vuitton, LVMH’s biggest profit- and revenue-contributor, aimed at helping the brand regain some of its lost prestige after a decline in sales growth over the past year.

“Marc Jacobs is leaving Vuitton and will focus on his own brand,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

LVMH and Marc Jacobs declined to comment.

Mr Jacobs’ departure after 16 years with the company comes a month after LVMH founder and chief executive Bernard Arnault appointed his daughter Delphine as deputy head of Louis Vuitton and replaced last year longstanding chief Yves Carcelle with group veteran Michael Burke.

Louis Vuitton, which built its name and profitability on its LV-embossed canvas bags, has been suffering from cooling demand in Asia and consumers’ growing preference for no-logo products.

Over the past year, the brand has put brakes on its expansion to preserve its exclusivity in response to fears it was becoming too ubiquitous, which contributed to its sales growth halving to around 5 per cent.

Last month, it hired accessories designer Darren Spaziani, formerly with Proenza Schouler, to strengthen its high-end offering of leather bags.

Nicolas Ghesquiere, a darling of fashion editors, who left Balenciaga last year after having successfully revamped the Kering fashion brand, is seen as a frontrunner to replace Jacobs.

“It would be a positive sign if Ghesquiere joined Louis Vuitton as he is one of the most coveted designers today and he would give a creative jolt to the brand,” said David Da Maia, analyst at brokerage Aurel BGC in Paris.

Mr Arnault has been regularly changing the creative and management teams of his fashion brands to refresh their style and drive expansion.

LVMH’s Celine has been doing well since award-winning designer Phoebe Philo took its creative helm in 2008 while Riccardo Tisci has brought new vitality to Givenchy since his appointment in 2005.

Mr Jacobs, whose theatrical fashion shows contributed to heightening the brand’s profile, introduced collaborations with artists such as Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami and Stephen Sprouse and recently rapper Kanye West to help make the brand more appealing.

Mr Jacobs, a bearded 50-year-old American, is regarded as one of the most respected and influential designers in the fashion world.

While Mr Jacobs has not said anything about his departure, he once said in an interview on the Louis Vuitton website, for which he wore a dark kilt and two ear studs: “Change is a great and horrible thing. People love it and hate it at the same time. Without change you just don’t move.”

Mr Jacobs today presented his last collection for Louis Vuitton, an all-black swan song that incorporated elements from his past shows such as the train station he once created and the slow-turning white carousel carrying models, including Kate Moss, of two years ago.

Today, the Marc Jacobs brand and particularly its more accessible line Marc by Marc Jacobs, are among the most profitable fashion subsidiaries within LVMH, enjoying strong demand in the United States and Japan.

Marc Jacobs also launched a cosmetics line in August in the United States, with distribution handled by Sephora, LVMH’s beauty products retail chain.

Media reports said the designer aimed to float his business - which is estimated to generate sales of around €500 million - on the New York Stock Exchange within a few years.

Some industry observers suggest Marc Jacobs has been emboldened by the success of Michael Kors, the US brand whose shares and sales have been enjoying stellar growth since the initial public offering late last year.

At the age of 24, Mr Jacobs was the youngest designer to receive the New Fashion Talent award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. After graduating from the Parsons New School of Design, Mr Jacobs worked for Perry Ellis and created his own label in 1984 with partner Robert Duffy.

He became Louis Vuitton’s artistic director in 1997.

 

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2 year old boy 'gives birth' to his own twin after doctors find foetus growing in his stomach !

Doctors diagnosed a Chinese toddler as "pregnant" and rushed him into surgery after discovering his twin's foetus growing inside his stomach. Picture: YouTube

A baby boy has undergone an operation to ‘give birth’ to his own twin in China.

Shocked doctors realised the toddler was ‘pregnant’ during X-rays after his stomach swelled to two thirds its normal size.

Two-year-old Xiao Feng had absorbed the undeveloped foetus in his mother’s womb and his twin included a fully formed spine fingers and toes.

Doctors said the parasitic twin would have developed into a boy after growing large enough to cause severe breathing difficulties for Xiao.

He had been rushed from his home in Huaxi village and surgeons removed the foetus measuring 20cm wide.

Identical twins form when a single egg splits during fertilisation - as opposed to two eggs both being fertilised.

Conjoined twins form when a split egg fails to fully separate. A ‘parasite’ conjoined twin can survive but not when one absorbs the other.

In 2012 surgeons in Peru operated on a three year old boy to remove a nine inch-long parasitic twin weighing a pound and a half.

In 2008 doctors had to remove a two inch embryo from the body of a 9-year-old girl in Greece.

The brain, lungs and heart are some of the last parts of the body to develop. Removing a parasitic twin is usually easier than attempting to separate conjoined twins.

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH VIDEO:

 

 



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7 Golden Rules To Avoid Dry Skin

Most of us have had dry skin at some point in our lives and for some it seems to be a never ending battle. Dry skin can be prevalent at any age for a plethora of reasons. As we grow older our skin becomes drier.

Environmental factors also play a major role in causing dry skin, especially in areas with low humidity and cold temperatures.

The skin is the largest and most exposed organ of the body. Because of its exposure to harsh surroundings our skin takes a lot of abuse. Most of the time our skin does a great job of regulating our body’s water loss. Skin becomes dry when it is deficient of water and oil.

Scientifically speaking, “trans epidermal water loss” (TEWL) is how researchers measure the efficiency of our skin. There is a lot of research and development being utilized by pharmaceutical companies as they try to develop the perfect moisturizer for the skin.

Not only is it extremely important to find the best oil to water ratio, special ingredients such as “ceramides”, “glycolic acid” and “lactic acid” are being incorporated into moisturizers, not only to “moisturize” but also to “repair” our important “barrier” and largest “organ” known as the skin.

Creams and moisturizers which contain these special ingredients are being developed and are known as “barrier repair creams”.

Many people have inherited skin problems such as “ichthyosis vulgaris”, “eczema”, “psoriasis”, and “keratosis pilaris”, which are worsened by dry skin. Whether you have these problems or suffer with plain ole “ashy” or dry skin, there are certain skin care tips that you should follow.

1. Avoid taking prolonged showers or baths.

2. Avoid extremely hot water while showering or bathing.

3. Avoid using harsh soaps, especially if you have sensitive skin, avoid fragrance and deodorant soaps.

4. Apply your “barrier repair creams” and moisturizers immediately (within 3 minutes) after showering and bathing.

5. People with darker skin should avoid applying anything that irritates your skin because irritation will lead to unsightly discoloration and dark spots.

6. If you have “eczema” do not use Vaseline petroleum jelly as your moisturizer, because I have found that it will exacerbate or worsen the eczema.

7. If you must shave your legs, make sure you use a lubricating shaving gel or cream specifically designed for shaving. Some women like to utilize soap as their lubricant, which will usually lead to problems.

It is extremely important to keep your skin will moisturized. There are several over-the-counter moisturizers that you can choose on your own, however, if you find that your skin looks or feels worse because the choices you have made them seek the expert advice of a dermatologist.

 

 

 

 

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Janet Jackson & Husband Adopting Children

Janet Jackson and billionaire hubby Wissam Al Mana plan to adopt at least two children, from Jordan and possibly children from civil war-ravaged Syria, reports PageSix. “It’s going to happen, and real soon,” a family member said.

So we don't expect to see baby bumps...at least for now.

Nigerian-German Author Shocked As She Discovers Her Grandfather Was Notorious Nazi Killer

Few could imagine the horror of discovering that a relative of theirs was a key person involved in one of the most-heinous crimes against humanity in modern history, but author Jennifer Teege (pictured), a biracial woman of Nigerian and German descent, has lived this reality after learning her grandfather was a Nazi killer.



As reported by the AFP, Teege’s upcoming book, “Amon: My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me,” focuses on Amon Goeth (pictured), who was known as the “Butcher of Plaszow.”
Goeth’s legacy lives on in infamy due to Steven Spielberg’s film “Schindler’s List,” where he was shown sadistically killing Jews held inside the Plaszow concentration camp in Poland.

Goeth was later hanged for his crimes in 1946.
Teege was born after her father, a Nigerian student, and Goeth’s daughter had a brief affair. Giving away their daughter to a children’s home at just weeks old, an affluent family in Munich adopted her.
Teege’s birth mother (pictured below) and Grandmother visited early on but that eventually ceased. As an adult, Teege studied in Israel and encountered several survivors of the Holocaust.
However, Teege, 43,  would make the shocking discovery about her grandfather five years ago, after doing some research in a German library.

From the AFP:

Half a lifetime later looking through the stacks of her local library in the northern city of Hamburg, she stumbled upon a title that resonated with her own fractured personal history: “Ich muss doch meinen Vater lieben, oder?” (I Have to Love My Father, Right?).
The middle-aged woman pictured on the book’s sleeve looked faintly familiar and a quick scan of the biographical details revealed a perfect match with those of her birth mother.
‘It was like the carpet was ripped out beneath my feet,’ Teege told AFP.
‘I had to go lie down on a bench. I called my husband and told him I couldn’t drive and needed to be picked up. Then I said to my family that I did not want to be disturbed, went to bed, and read the book cover to cover.’

Teege works in advertising as a copywriter and has two children of her own. Co-written with journalist Nikola Sellmair, the book serves as a method of catharsis while also connecting with a part of her past that was formerly unknown to her. She also intends to research her African roots with the same fervor as well.

“Of course my story is gripping and original,” Teege said. “But it’s also more generally about the fact that it’s possible to move beyond repression to gain a kind of personal freedom from the past by finding out who you really are.”






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