New British Menswear and Mulberry in Turmoil

The Next Generation of British Menswear
The British Fashion Council and GQ magazine have announced a shortlist for their Designer Menswear Fund Award with Christopher Raeburn, Christopher Shannon, E. Tautz, Lou Dalton and Richard Nicoll the five brands that stand to benefit from its 12-month mentoring program and £150,000 business development grant. Dylan Jones, editor of GQ praised the designers as not only possessing creativity and vision but also business acumen with strong plans intended to grow their individual labels. The selected brands will now commence a two month mentoring scheme to develop and refine their business plans, before presenting them to the judging panel when the final award is decided.

Mulberry’s Woes
British fashion company Mulberry, famed for its beautiful leather handbags, has seen its stock market value brutally slashed by more than a fifth as the group issued another profit warning. Profits for the year to 31 March plunged to £14m from £26m the previous year. The disastrous results for Mulberry have been attributed to former chief Executive Bruno Guillon’s efforts to align products to the pinnacle of the luxury handbag market, alongside the likes of Prada and Fendi. Since the departure of Bruno Guillon, Mulberry has attempted to rebalance ,introducing lower priced products with its affordable Tessie handbag collection, which has proved popular with consumers.

Giorgio Armani Vs the Italian Taxman
Giorgio Armani has settled a tax dispute with the Italian tax authorities - the Guardia di Finanza - paying €270 million ($373 million) resolving a dispute over payments from the group's subsidiaries abroad. It is the latest in a series of tax cases brought against luxury good sector manufacturers including Prada and Dolce and Gabbana.