2018 fashion recap: the most important news of the year
2018 was certainly an eventful year for the fashion industry: high-profile mergers and acquisitions, big retail players struggling to keep afloat, fashion designers buying back their brands… It’s time to look back at the most important developments of the year.
January
Hollywood actresses protested against sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in the movie industry by at the 2018 Golden Globes. French luxury conglomerate Kering announced it would in Puma. Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton, while Hedi Slimane was announced as .
February
French label Jacquemus ventured into menswear for the first time, at Paris Fashion Week. The UK government required companies to publish a gender pay gap report, forcing Marks & Spencer to reveal it pays women .
March
Amazon’s chairman Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person. Stella McCartney . Riccardo Tisci was announced by Burberry as its new Creative Director.
Meanwhile, Eyewear powerhouse Luxottica with lens maker Essilor to become the world’s largest eyewear company. In the United States, department store chain Nordstrom by the Nordstrom family and Donna Karan announced all its brands .
Asos by featuring a broad range of models on its website, but a government-enforced report revealed a .
Kim Jones , while Off-White’s Virgil Abloh . Expectations were high for Abloh’s debut collection, as he was likely to bring more streetwear to the French fashion house.
April
Bestseller from French Connection. John Galliano of luxury brands going fur-free. Spanish apparel group Cortefiel to Tendam. and launched startup accelerators. Companies operating websites in the European Union had to comply with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by the end of May, but less than one month before the deadline, several retailers .
May
All eyes were on ahead of her wedding with Prince Harry. She chose Givenchy’s Clare Waight Keller to design and . The latter received so many compliments McCartney decided to launch the dress commercially as part of a debut bridal line months later. Despite of Markle’s promotion of British fashion, UK retail is going through its .
The month of May was also shaken by a video exposé from PETA depicting animal abuse in angora goat farms in South Africa, the world’s biggest mohair producer. This led a series of fashion brands, including H&M, Zara and Topshop, to .
With “Heavenly Bodies” as this year’s theme, MET Gala invited celebrities and fashionistas to . One of the surprises on this year’s red carpet was the presence of fast fashion retailer H&M, which designed . MET’s accompanying exhibition was an astounding success, having been visited by over between May and September.
May was also the month of acquisitions, with ; ; ; ; and . Meanwhile, LVMH fashion search engine Lyst and French label Carven .
June
American fashion designer took her own life after years battling against depression. UK Parliament hosted . Belgian designer Dries van Noten to Spanish conglomerate Puig, raising the question whether it is possible for designers to survive independently, without the backing of a large corporation. Meanwhile, Italian fund FSI .
Off-White’s in partnership with luxury luggage brand Rimowa became the new “it bag”. The brand led by Virgil Abloh also announced an upcoming in June.
Speaking of successful collabs, Boohoo’s line with heiress turned reality TV star flew off the (virtual) shelves. American brand Fashion Nova, an Instagram darling which turned out to be the most googled fashion brand of the year in the United States, unveiled its .
Also in June, Bottega Veneta with Creative Director Tomas Maier after 17 years and to succeed him. Guess co-founder after supermodel Kate Upton accused him of groping her years ago.
July
Burberry came under fire for in order to avoid markdowns. Dior relaunched its after almost two decades. Puma and Dolce & Gabbana over fur sandals only a handful of people actually bought. Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com announced following a 550 million investment from Google. Ivanka Trump after major retailers parted ways with her due to her father’s actions as president of the United States.
August
VF Corporation announced the Wrangler and Lee. Former employees for gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Farfetch . Burberry a new logo and monogram under Riccardo Tisci. Helsinki Fashion Week pledged to . Italian label Ermenegildo Zegna while Charlesbank out of bankruptcy. Italian hat maker Borsalino, made famous by Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca”, also found .
September
, Bangladesh finally for garment workers. Nike went through another media storm after making an the face of its advertising campaign. Speaking of controversy, Burberry took a step back and pledged to . The British label also promised to ban fur, .
But the biggest news of September was definitely the which changed its name to Capri Holdings Limited to better reflect its new status as a luxury conglomerate — the company purchased footwear label Jimmy Choo in 2017.
Meanwhile, Alibaba’s Jack Ma announced his by 2019, Madewell and L Brands .
Heidi Slimane was met with criticism when he unveiled his debut collection for Celine (after changing the company’s name to Celine, without an accent on the first E, and adopting a minimalist logo). Fashionistas the world over accused him of being a one trick pony, pointing out . Fans of Celine’s former Creative Director, Phoebe Philo, to celebrate the label’s previous designs and the search for old Celine items skyrockets on second-hand websites in the subsequent months.
October
After being heavily criticized for its low wages, Amazon decided to to 15 dollars an hour in the United States. The online giant also ventured into brick and mortar retail by launching a . More stores across Europe popped up for the holiday season.
British investment firm Lion Capital LLP to a Dutch investor 11 years after acquiring it from another Dutch investor. The company announced plans to expand even more in Europe and beyond.
Speaking of expansion, American personal styling service Stitch Fix announced its entrance . Walmart while . However, the Chinese apparel company found it best to part ways with the label’s Creative Director, Serge Ruffieux.
Speaking of Creative Directors, took this role at United Colors of Benetton, for which 2018 wasn’t the best of years. Lacoste, the French label best known for its crocodile logo, also announced its first female Creative Director in History, . After a collaborative capsule collection, .
In the UK, Sports Direct , and a series of store closings ensued. Debenhams isn’t doing much better: it decided to close over 50 stores in October, following a . Meanwhile, Arcadia Group went through another kind of crisis: its chairman, against employees, leading Topshop to fall in consumers’ opinion according to a survey.
It’s not only in the UK that department stores are struggling. US chain Sears, once the largest retailer in the world, in October.
In Myanmar, protesting for a living wage were violently attacked.
November
Proenza Schouler’s founders from Castanea Partners. H&M closed down affordable denim brand . Esprit . Kering , following the company’s acquisition by Kering’s competitor Richemont in May. Dolce & Gabbana was due to a public outcry about an advertising campaign and racist marks supposedly made by Stefano Gabbana on Instagram. The designer claimed his account was hacked.
December
Ted Baker’s CEO took a leave of absence following a petition against launched by employees of the company. London-based Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy was accused of equally appalling behavior, with screenshots of supposed leaking on the Internet. Meanwhile, Prada was and insensitivity due to an animal charm made to look like a monkey with large lips. Consumers said the piece looked very similar to blackface imagery.
Stan Smith scored with Adidas, while Chanel joined the ever-growing list of brands . Similarly to Burberry and Celine, Balmain launched a new, .
Farfetch streetwear marketplace Stadium Goods. Rumors took the fashion world by storm about Raf Simons leaving Calvin Klein, following an earnings call in which the PVH CEO Emanuel Chirico said he was because the investments made on the label did not deliver the results he expected. L Brands (Victoria’s Secret) announced the sale of intimates brand to an affiliate of Regent LP, a global private equity firm, while VF finally announced the name of its separate jeanswear business: .
Laura Ashley, which went two times into administration in just three years, announced the in the UK. Speaking of stores closing, French retailers struggled in December as “yellow vest” protesters forced them to for several weekends in a row. Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Accord came to a .
Fashion giants such as H&M, Inditex and Burberry sign .
Homepage image: courtesy of Nike; Courtesy of Michael Kors; Fashion Nova Facebook; Pixabay; Victoria Beckham Facebook;
Yves Saint Laurent Facebook
Other photos: Nicole Kidman – Hubert Boesl / DPA; Hedi Slimane – courtesy of LVMH; Carolina Herrera AW18/ Catwalkpictures; GDPR – Pixabay; Royal wedding – Andrew Matthews / POOL / AFP; Kate Spade website; Burberry Facebook; Wrangler by Peter Max; Courtesy of Michael Kors; Amazon newsroom; Diet Prada Instagram screenshot; Adidas.com