Horyn and Menkes beg to differ on designer appointments, Vuitton’s boom, Eco-friendly factories, Luxury Titanic?

Christophe Lemaire, new Director of Womens, Hermès Source: Adah

Three Separate Challenges (NY Times)
“With a number of companies now being run by equity-market managers, you can bet your bottom dollar that they would love to get their hands on an experienced design maestro — if more were available.”

A New Pragmatism Behind the Catwalk (IHT)
“A post-recession strategy likely to define luxury brand management for the early 21st century has emerged from a week packed with designer changes at European fashion houses… the era of the star designer… is over.”

Louis Vuitton: Where the boom never ends (Independent)
“‘We have a wider range of product – ready-to-wear, watches, jewellery – than we did 30 or 40 years ago…but the spirit is the same. In each product we have an extraordinary mix of tradition and innovation.’”

Cambodian Factories Seek Eco-Friendly Power Alternatives (IHT)
“The majority of the country’s garment factories — making clothes for brand names in the U.S. and European markets — use firewood to heat old-fashioned boilers that produce hot water for dying fabrics and steam for ironing.”

Are Luxury Brands Just Shuffling Deck Chairs on the Titanic? (Nathan Branch)
“The brand leaders appear to know that something needs to be changed, but as they’re charging forward with their lists of decisions… there’s little to no public attention being paid to the water pouring into the forward compartments below.”