CLOTHES CALL: Longchamp’s next campaign shines the spotlight on the leather goods house’s burgeoning women’s ready-to-wear line — along with its bags. Shot in Los Angeles by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, the photo series features Kate Moss and Sasha Pivovarova against a retro green wall, dressed in pieces from its 12-piece spring collection. Focused on outerwear, the line ranges from a silk and cotton blouse to a sporty linen trench in the house’s iconic LM horse print. “The idea is to create key items you can mix with everything,” said Sophie Delafontaine, Longchamp’s artistic director. Codes from the house’s leather goods lines surface across the designs, distributed in Longchamp’s 100 doors worldwide, such as bamboo toggles and leather trims.
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While some previous campaigns have shown Moss in her birthday suit, with only a large Longchamp for modesty, the spring ads resemble classic fashion editorial. “Today, handbags have become so much a part of the fashion world,” said managing director Jean Cassegrain. “It’s important we have a line of ready-to-wear to express our fashion personality.” He said, however, that clothing represents less than 5 percent of its business. The campaign breaks in a range of February glossies, with no change in budgets versus the first half of 2007. “We are lucky to be a fully family-owned business. When we talk of a time line it’s not in terms of the next quarter, but [rather] a long-term view,” said Cassegrain. Coming in January is a “making of” movie about the campaign for the Longchamp Web site, which receives more than 300,000 monthly hits.
— Katya Foreman
COSMO’S APOLOGY: British Cosmopolitan has issued an apology to Scarlett Johansson after the title published comments it attributed to the actress about her marriage to actor Ryan Reynolds, quotes her publicist later described as “wholly fabricated.”
“Cosmopolitan would like to apologize to our readers and Scarlett Johansson for inaccuracies in our January issue, where we said she talked about her marriage and her relationship with her husband,” the magazine said on its Web site Friday. “We now understand Ms. Johansson has not commented publicly on her married life and did not do so on this occasion.” The apology will also appear in British Cosmo’s February issue.
Johansson’s p.r. rep said Friday that it hadn’t yet been decided whether the actress would take further legal action against the title, which is published by Natmag, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Magazines.
As reported, while part of the story that appeared in British Cosmopolitan was taken from an interview with Johansson that U.S. Cosmopolitan published in August, the additional quotes in which the actress allegedly discussed her marriage were attributed to an agency journalist, Francesca Williams. Johansson’s p.r. said that “Francesca Williams” later turned out to be a pseudonym.
— Nina Jones
WEAVING A WEB: Dolce & Gabbana went online last week with its own magazine, Swide.com, focusing on fashion as well as luxury, art, music, food, beauty and lifestyle. The company promises “original concepts with a journalistic edge,” blogs and an unconventional tone. The English-language magazine is put together by an independent editorial office and the main categories linked to the home page are: Style, a focus on collections and styling suggestions, such as Look of the day and Must-haves; Faces, on music, contemporary artists and celebrities, such as Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and her early modeling days remembered by Stefano Gabbana; Life, on beauty, design, travel, home and food, and History, on the landmarks of Dolce & Gabbana’s style. But don’t reach for the dictionary: Swide is a made-up, “short, immediate word,” and “irrelevant to the language of fashion.” Also, “Wide” is associated with “opening, completeness and broad-mindedness; the presence of the “s” in front not only adds nonsense to the meaning, but also gives the word a more incisive and edgy sound.” The goal of the magazine is to help build “a direct relationship with the new media public, bloggers’ universe, social networks and digital communities,” said the company.
— Luisa Zargani