HAVE YOU GOT ID? Your next Mugler purse won’t just carry your identification — it can have its own.

The brand has teamed up with French blockchain specialist Arianee to roll out digital product passports within the Spiral Curve 01 and Spiral Curve 02 bags, starting with the purses available in shops and on the brand’s e-commerce site from September.

Along with authentification and traceability, the digital passports will likely be “digital engagement platforms” that give users access to behind-the-scenes content, event invitation and early access sales, in accordance with Mugler.

Owners can scan a QR code to begin the registration process for his or her bags, and the digital record will provide ownership validation, historical tracking and follow the purse should it go to a recent owner.

“We imagine digital product passport technology offers infinite opportunities to construct a more direct, interactive, and truly personalized relationship with our clients,” said Mugler managing director Adrian Corsin.

For Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel, Arianee’s cofounder and chief executive officer, the project was a fantastic solution to showcase the chances of digital product passports, which he expects to be instrumental to “circularity, compliance and engagement strategies.”

In his opinion, they “can push the boundaries of innovation and construct recent ways to interact with clients and create business opportunities beyond the constraint of regulation.”

Digital passports carrying product composition, origin and other information similar to repair, maintenance and recycling instructions are amongst the necessities outlined by the European Commission within the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles set out in 2022.

The necessities for the digital product passport are expected to be rolled out from 2026. — LILY TEMPLETON

TRUNK SHOW: Claridge’s is preparing for Christmas on the road with Louis Vuitton this 12 months, tapping the French brand to create the annual tree for the hotel lobby. This 12 months’s theme will likely be the “art of travel” and Louis Vuitton will unveil its design on Nov. 23.

Claridge’s general manager Paul Jackson said it was an honor to welcome “such a legendary house to design our Christmas tree this 12 months. Christmas is essentially the most magical time of 12 months for us here on the hotel and we stay up for seeing guests and visitors immerse themselves in Louis Vuitton’s world.”

The hotel and the brand have much in common. Each were founded in 1854, and had strong ties to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. Monsieur Louis Vuitton was the non-public “layetier” to the empress, the person chargeable for creating her arsenal of bags, and packing the luggage.

The French royal made Claridge’s her winter residence, and she or he received so many visits from Queen Victoria that the hotel got here to be often called the “annex” to Buckingham Palace.

Vuitton would have packed the empress’s trunks himself for her Claridge’s stays, in accordance with the corporate. 

Louis Vuitton’s first London store opened in 1885 across the corner from Claridge’s, and its signature trunks have crossed the Mayfair hotel’s threshold hundreds of times over the past century.

That is the thirteenth 12 months that Claridge’s has invited a top fashion house or designer to reinterpret the tree in its own distinctive style. 

Last 12 months, Jimmy Choo’s creative director Sandra Choi designed the festive tree, which she called The Diamond, a nod to the brand’s twinkling accessories. It was finished with a bow at the highest, a motif that ran through the brand’s winter 2022 collection.

In 2021, the hotel invited Dior’s Kim Jones to design the tree, and he paid tribute to craftsmanship and couture. The tree was unveiled shortly before Jones staged his men’s pre-fall fashion show within the British capital. 

Named “The Celestial Snow Globe,” the tree featured holographic projections and white toile meant to recall the couturier’s studio.

Previously, Claridge’s has tapped designers including Christian Louboutin, Christopher Bailey, Karl Lagerfeld and Diane von Furstenberg to deck the halls. — SAMANTHA CONTI

MOTORING AHEAD: It’s been a busy 12 months for the Hinduja family, which has been making its mark on London in myriad ways, first with the opening of Raffles London on the OWO, or Old War Office constructing, and with a recent clothing brand called An-Y1.

The family will be the same, but the companies are different. While Sanjay Hinduja helps to run his family’s eponymous multibillion-dollar conglomerate, his wife Anu Hinduja has returned to her old flame, fashion, launching a brand called An-Y1, pronounced “anyone.”

Before launching the brand new line, Anu Hinduja, a graduate of London’s Inchbald School of Design, had shops in Knightsbridge and Notting Hill that specialized in embroidered Indian designs.

She eventually shut them, but she never gave up on fashion. She has now teamed along with her sister, Nandita Mahtani, Bollywood’s go-to designer for resortwear, on the brand new collection, which Hinduja describes as “contemporary sports luxe.”

The season-less collection debuted with clothing inspired by the colours of the Gulf Oil logo and the gear worn by the British Formula One team, which Gulf sponsors.

The collaboration was all within the family as Sanjay Hinduja is the long-standing chairman of Gulf Oil International, a division of Hinduja Group, which has an unlimited portfolio that ranges from media, entertainment and communications to specialty chemicals, energy, real estate and health care.

In an interview, Anu Hinduja said that in the approaching months she plans to introduce knitwear and denim to the gathering, which already features leather and silk.

The debut Monaco Collection includes leather minidresses, silk or canvas jumpsuits, and fabric bombers with logos in a palette inspired by Gulf Oil’s signature colours of duck egg blue, orange and ecru.

The patterns and logos on the pieces have been drawn from vintage racing jackets, and have an oversized fit.

The gathering, which is manufactured within the U.K. and India, will drop in curated edits all year long.

Prices range from 300 kilos for a silk top to 850 kilos for a leather jacket. The most costly piece on offer is the racing leather bomber jacket, which costs 1,050 kilos.

“I really like creating, and I had this concept in my head for some time,” said Hinduja. Her aim is to show An-Y1 into a way of life brand with a full rtw collection. She desires to preserve the sporty vintage feel of the debut capsule, and leverage Mahtani’s Indian embroidery expertise.

The sisters will eventually add bags and luggage to the offer, but Hinduja said she doesn’t need to “bombard the market. I would like this to grow organically.”

The road is currently selling direct-to-consumer on the web site, and Hinduja said the plan is so as to add wholesale distribution once she and her sister are in a position to construct an even bigger profile for An-Y1. — S.C.

NEW GIG: The cowboys on “Yellowstone” have learned it’s not smart to cross Rip Wheeler in the event that they don’t need to risk a beating.

And now, the actor that plays the foreboding ranch foreman on the Paramount Network series has a recent gig: the face of two brands within the Authentic Brands Group stable.

Cole Hauser will turn out to be the face of each The Frye Company and Lucky Brand as their recent ambassador and will likely be featured in global campaigns for each. He may also take part in collaborations and brand activations for the 2 corporations starting this holiday season.

“I actually have all the time admired the authenticity and quality that Frye and Lucky Brand bring to their products,” Hauser said. “I’m excited to be related to these two brands whose legacies span a long time and proceed to represent the true spirit of American craftsmanship.”

Frye, a boot brand, was established in 1863, and Lucky Brand is best known for its denim.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Cole Hauser to the Authentic family,” said Stefani Fleurant, senior vice chairman of promoting — lifestyle at Authentic. “Cole’s authenticity and timeless appeal align perfectly with the values of those brands. We imagine that as the brand new face of Frye and Lucky Brand, Cole will bring a recent level of pleasure and energy to our consumers and introduce our brands to a broader audience.”

Before “Yellowstone,” Hauser was featured in quite a lot of movies, including “Dazed and Confused,” “Good Will Hunting,” “The Break-Up” and “Tigerland,” the latter of which led to a nomination for Best Supporting Male on the Independent Spirit Awards.

Hauser will likely be featured in Lucky Brand’s holiday campaign followed by Frye’s spring 2024 campaign. — JEAN E. PALMIERI

GROWING BUSINESS: Puig has expanded its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, and opened a second tower.

“With this recent addition, we double the surface of our HQ as a logo of our global growth and momentum, while we reaffirm our values and sustainability commitments and maintain our roots in town that saw our birth in 1914,” Marc Puig, chairman and chief executive officer of Puig, said in a press release Monday. “Our operations teams have just began a phased move that may proceed until the top of the 12 months to make sure a smooth transition for our employees.”

The constructing stands next to the Spanish beauty and fashion company’s first tower within the Plaza Europa business area and comprises the group’s operations hub with an innovation center. The location, which is to accommodate around 485 employees, will likely be officially inaugurated in the primary quarter of 2024.

The brand new constructing, with 20 floors and spanning 226,040 square feet, was designed by GCA Architects. It’s designed to appear to be 4 stacked cubes with a glazed surface. Within the structure are six intelligent elevators and a three-story parking area with chargers for electric vehicles.

“Its flexible interior design also provides a variety of space solutions and cutting-edge technologies, giving solution to a set of dynamic and collaborative work environments for workers to foster creativity and innovation in the present hybrid model of working,” the corporate said within the statement.

This constructing has quite a few other sustainable features, similar to on-site photovoltaic and solar thermal energy production systems, which may offset by 25 percent the constructing’s operational carbon footprint.

The waste created by the constructing’s construction has been sent to authorized waste-management facilities for treatment and recovery. The tower has received a LEED Gold certification, with a 71/100 rating rating.

Puig’s first tower opened in 2014 and houses about 500 employees from the corporate’s corporate office, headquarters and support functions, brands and perfumery center.

Family-owned Puig registered net sales of three.62 billion euros in 2022. Marc Puig said recently that the corporate is assessing all strategic alternatives for the corporate’s future, including possibly opening its capital to 3rd parties through an IPO. — JENNIFER WEIL

NEW PARTNERSHIPS: Haein Dorin has been named to global head of partnerships at Ssense, a recent post on the Montreal-based e-commerce multibrand retailer.

Dorin, who will likely be based in Recent York, will oversee global brand partnerships and lead global community growth and strategic relations with key parters inside the creative, fashion and business communities.

She reports to Christine Sio, vice chairman of customer experience, and started Monday.

“I’ve been a longtime admirer of Ssense’s buying direction and distinct standpoint, and I’m excited to construct on that foundation to grow the brand’s community across partnerships, talent and influencers at a worldwide scale,” said Dorin.

Dorin was most recently with Highsnobiety for five years, serving as general manager, and before that, senior vice chairman, operations. Before that, she was with GQ magazine as director, brand marketing and activations, and earlier worked in direct response and performance marketing at Pandora and corporate partnerships at Condé Nast.

She sits on the board of Comme Si, a luxury sock and loungewear brand.

As reported, Ssense has been celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and had a digital anniversary campaign last month featuring a guerilla-style activation at Ssense Montreal, the brand’s five-story, 13,000-square-foot flagship at 418 Rue Saint Sulpice, in Montreal’s Old Port. The complete facade was wrapped in canvas that served as a screen for projected content. The multilevel flagship is Ssense’s only store. — LISA LOCKWOOD