STREET SHOTS: The upcoming book “Have I Met You Before? London Street Style From Fashion Week 2001-2018” provides a historical record of how showgoers dressed over the past twenty years through the lens of the London-based Japanese photographer Kumi Saito, who passed away in December 2020 from cancer.

Published by Parsnips Archive, the book is edited by Saito’s longtime friend and fashion journalist Mina Wakatski, who also runs London’s famed Japanese-style French pastry shop Lanka on Finchley Road.

Being published on Nov. 23, the book features greater than 200 images of 111 fashion editors, buyers, models, bloggers and influencers, including Susie Lau, Sarah Harris, Rebecca Lowthorpe, Alexa Chung, Edie Campbell and Cara Delevingne, in addition to comments from the journalists whom Saito worked with during that point.

The book was named after probably the most common sentence Saito heard from showgoers when she was capturing them outside of the show venues. It served as an efficient icebreaker for her and her subjects.

Wakatski said she spearheaded this project because Saito was certainly one of her best friends and collaborators for greater than 25 years.

“She left an enormous archive, but her husband said: ‘I even have nothing to point out her work to others. I need a photograph book.’ So the journalists, graphic designers and coordinators who’ve worked along with her got together to supply a series of her archival photo books. This book is the primary one. Because she desired to hold a photograph exhibition of street style from London Fashion Week under this title,” she explained.

Considered a gatekeeper to all of the British fashion brands wishing to be featured within the Japanese media before the digital era, Wakatski spent the past 30 years covering shows and he or she remembered almost every certainly one of them vividly.

“So after I sorted through the tens of hundreds of photos this time, the shows that were held on the venues got here back to life along with the individuals who appeared there. This book is a record of memories not just for Saito, but additionally for the journalists whom she teamed up with in addition to the style professionals who appear within the book, and even the individuals who watched the shows on the time,” she said.

“I feel it’s like an album for comrades who’ve been involved with London Fashion Week for the last 20 years — a record of the LFW community,” Wakatski added.

Born in Yamagata, a city in northern Japan, Saito studied photography at Tokyo’s Kuwasawa Design School while working as an assistant for Minsei Tominaga and Studio Ebis. She moved to London in 1994 and started to contribute to Japanese magazines, fashion brands, department shops and a wide selection of media. — TIANWEI ZHANG

JOINING GAP: Richard Dickson, president and chief operating officer of Mattel, has been elected to the Gap Inc. board of directors.

Dickson, a veteran of Bloomingdale’s, The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. and the previous Jones Group, brings experience across fashion, beauty, toys and collectibles. On the El Segundo, California-based Mattel, he leads a portfolio of brands overseeing innovation, strategy, design and development.

Under his leadership the corporate launched Mattel Playbook, a brand-building approach that has been instrumental in driving the expansion of Barbie and Hot Wheels.

He also launched Mattel Creations, a latest division to develop limited edition co-branded product and capsule collections with fashion designers, entertainment properties and artists. The brand has collaborated with Gucci, The A whole lot, Herschel, “The Shining” and plenty of more. On Oct. 19 Mattel Creations released the Masters of the Universe c/o Virgil Abloh “Toy.”

“Richard’s a few years of experience growing, acquiring and reinvigorating well-known brands will add invaluable perspective to the board as we glance to strengthen Gap Inc’s purpose-led portfolio and return our brands to consistent, sustainable growth,” Bobby Martin, interim chief executive officer and executive chairman of Gap Inc., said in a press release.

“I’m thrilled to have a job in writing the following chapter of Gap Inc. as a member of its board of directors and to play a component in unlocking the tremendous potential of their portfolio of iconic brands,” added Dickson.

Gap Inc. has been navigating rocky waters in recent months, with the departure of president and CEO Sonia Syngal, the collapse of its Yeezy Gap strategy, and the elimination of 500 jobs at its corporate headquarters. The speciality retailer fell into the red within the second quarter and is as a result of report third quarter results Nov. 17. — BOOTH MOORE

FSF HONORS: The Fashion Scholarship Fund is gearing up for its upcoming gala that may rejoice two honorees.

The style-oriented education nonprofit will host its 86th annual gala on April 3 at The Glasshouse in Latest York City, which is able to honor Condé Nast chief content officer and Vogue global editorial director Anna Wintour, and Good American cofounder and chief executive officer Emma Grede. 

In line with the fund, it’s honoring Wintour for “her long-standing commitment to supporting and fostering the following generation of fashion talent” and Grede for “her advocacy of diversity and inclusive representation within the industry and her work with The Fifteen Percent Pledge.” 

The gala coincides with the Fashion Scholarship Fund awarding greater than $1 million in scholarships to 125 students across the country, all of whom will attend the April gala and have their work showcased. In line with the fund, this was a record yr for applicants, as 52 percent are Black, Indigenous and folks of color. The fund provides students with scholarships, mentorships and internships with firms corresponding to Skims, Neiman Marcus, Milk Makeup, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and more. 

“The FSF is so pleased to be honoring Anna and Emma for his or her many contributions to the industry,” said Peter Arnold, executive director of the Fashion Scholarship Fund. “Anna unwaveringly supports, mentors and shines the highlight on young talent. As an entrepreneur and a philanthropist, Emma is opening doors for underrepresented talent. We’re also so pleased that this yr the FSF received a record variety of scholarship applicants, of whom 52 percent are BIPOC, validating the FSF’s long-standing commitment to identifying probably the most talented college students from diverse backgrounds.” 

The Fashion Scholarship Fund has launched into several other charitable initiatives this yr. This fall, the nonprofit teamed with sportswear designer Eric Emanuel to launch a $500,000 scholarship and teamed with True Religion to supply one Los Angeles-based student from an underrepresented community the means to pursue a profession in fashion. — LAYLA ILCHI

AN APPLE A DAY: Luca Nichetto is dipping his toes into fashion accessories.

The furniture designer, known for his serial approach to collaborations, has linked with Latest York-based accessories brand Angela Roi to design a tote bag crafted from apple skin leather.

This marks the primary time the handbag label, founded by the South Korea-born Roi in 2012, has ventured right into a collaboration.

“We embrace sustainability values leveraging high-equality and eco-friendly materials. Plant-based [leather] alternatives…are the brand new frontier of green fashion tapping into our clients’ demand for items benefiting the planet,” said Roi, who has designed cacti faux leather handbags up to now.

Named Malala, the bag nods to Nichetto’s functional approach to design tinged with pop references. It features 4 structured inward-looking pockets shaped as fast food French fry boxes.

Nichetto’s desire to design a bag stemmed from his quest to use functionality to a latest product category, the bag’s eco-credentials an added value that designers cannot overlook, he said.

“Shape is dictated by function…hence the pockets, which help rationalize and organize all of the objects in a girl’s bag. I didn’t need to approach leather goods from an aesthetic standpoint, but somewhat have functionality determine the stylistic blueprint of the item,” the designer said.

Available in three colorways — beige, black and dark red — the bag retails at 1,050 euros, debuting on Tuesday on Angela Roi’s e-commerce site.

Nichetto has a track record as a serial collaborator, having linked with Wien-based furniture company Wittmann; Hermès; homeware and porcelain brand Ginori 1735; Swedish furniture design company Offecct, in addition to U.S.-based piano manufacturing company Steinway & Sons, amongst others.

A latest piano under the latter partnership is bowing this week, called Gran Nichetto and inspired by the shell of Venetian gondolas. It’s produced as a limited edition.

Nichetto Studio was established in 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden. Earlier this yr, Nichetto left his role as art director of French furniture and fashion company La Manufacture, which he helped establish as a full-fledged design business since taking on its creative lead in 2018. — MARTINO CARRERA