Bill Blass

>> Anna Wintour's words may have mended things for a few months, but ultimately, Peter Som has still decided to part ways with Bill Blass.

Som left the brand after his contract expired a week and a half ago to focus on his own label, and Prabal Gurung, longtime second-ranking design director at Bill Blass, will be working with the existing team to produce the Fall 2009 Blass collection.

As previously reported, Som was unhappy with NexCen, the owners of Bill Blass, because he felt they couldn't financially support his creative vision; The Spring 2009 show was scrapped in favor of a retailer presentation, fabric vendors and embroiderers weren't being paid in a timely manner, and according to an industry source, NexCen "knew very little about how to run a luxury brand, much less rebrand one."

NexCen is still trying to sell Blass, a process that is taking longer than expected — just one more reason Som left.  The delay in sale also caused some retailers to pass on the Spring 2009 Blass collection, due to all the uncertainty.  For a brand that could use the money, that can't be good.
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Peter Som officially parted ways with Bill Blass, owned by NexCen Brands Inc, and there are horror stories about embroiderers not getting paid to prove it. NexCen scraped Som's Spring 09 runway show, which was when the news leaked that Som would be leaving. 

Today we learned ten reasons why we should be shopping again and, more importantly, that Net-a-Porter is opening an "outlet and sample sale priced sister site" called theoutnet.com. This is bigger than Topshop. 

Moschino celebrates their 25th and Rossella Jardini, the low-profile Creative Director behind the brand, talks about her approach to fashion. Moschino; known for its playful style, and Jardini; who is not impressed with the so-called glamorous life, are a match made in heaven. Unless you call luxury price points glamorous. 

Karl Lagerfeld sounds off at the FGI Night of Stars and there are bullet points to prove it. Check out excerpts from his speech here and a photo gallery from the event here.

»Gareth Pugh was asked to do a range for Topshop, but turned it down because he "hate[s] the idea of being in Grazia" [Dazed Digital]

»Roberto Cavalli compares models to "pieces of wood" [The Cut]

»Vanessa Traina appears out and about in Balmain boots with Nicole Richie [PopSugar]

»Karl Lagerfeld, dressed in white with blue striped bib, and Amanda Harlech, spotted in Saint Tropez [Jezebel]

»Did Ralph Lauren's Olympic opening ceremony uniforms embarrass America? [Gawker]

»A recent Bill Blass alum is about to go solo [Style File]

»Anna Selezneva is the Spring 2009 girl to watch [TI]

»Charlotte Ronson, re-imagined as Eli Cash from The Royal Tenenbaums [FabSugar]

»Rodarte among finalists for prestigious Swiss Textiles Award [FWD]

»According to Richie Rich, Heatherette is just taking a breather [The Cut]
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>> The Peter Som-Bill Blass situation is rather turning into a Nina Garcia and Elle-like saga. The latest? Despite Peter submitting his resignation last week, he is now back in talks with Blass owners NexCen about the Spring 2009 collection, thanks to the orchestrative abilities of Anna Wintour.

She coaxed him back on board, "for the sake of the label," which is currently on the selling block, and is much more valuable with Peter Som at the company. A new retention deal was reportedly struck last Thursday; but Som can get out of his contract at any time.

The basis for all the unrest seems to be Nexcen's financial constraints: The company can't support what Som envisioned for Blass. However, the prospect of a Spring 2009 collection shown to retailers only is being tossed around, and if Blass is bought by a company that can lend better financial support, Som is said to be willing to stay.
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>> It's that time again. Right after news of upset at Halston come more shakeups.

Peter Som has submitted his resignation at Bill Blass because he "was unhappy with the control Blass' management tried to execute over his creative aesthetic" and has "been fighting with them since he got there." Emilio Pucci, meanwhile, is rumored to have approached a few design assistants about succeeding Matthew Williamson as creative director.

Peter Som spent one year at Blass garnering positive reviews, and is said to be driven to resignation by Bill Blass’ decision to scrap the September fashion show due to financial woes, while Matthew Williamson has spent three years at Pucci, and is looking to focus more on growing his namesake brand.

UPDATE: According to FWD, Peter Som is contractually obliged to present a Spring 2009 collection for Bill Blass during fashion week, but he is "working furiously" to find a way out of the contract.
*image: source