Raf in Revolt
After showing his new collection at New York Men’s Fashion Week, Raf Simons used the spotlight to speak out against Donald Trump. “I feel I need to do something. It doesn’t even matter if you reach out to 10 people or to 100,000 people or millions of people, when you have a voice, you should use it now,” said the designer, who recently moved to New York from Paris.
[Financial Times]
Immigrant Artists Recognized
Jamaican-born, New York-based artist Nari Ward has won a $100,000 Vilcek Prize, an award given to immigrant artists. Under the shadow of Trump’s recent travel ban, Vilcek Foundation vice chairman Marica Vilcek offered a positive view of immigrants. “These immigrant artists are explorers and philosophers,” she said. “They seek answers to questions about the nature of power, politics, and the relationship between the individual and the collective, and they do so with originality, imagination, and a strong sense of justice.”
[Artnews]
Museum for a Monument
The winning design for New York’s new Statue of Liberty Museum has been announced. Designed by Jungwoo Ji of EUS+ Architects, Bosuk Hur of Folio, and Iowa State University student Suk Lee, the architecture is inspired by Korean candlelight marches against injustice.
[Archdaily]
Dore Ashton (1928-2017)
Celebrated art historian Dore Ashton died on Jan. 30. Ashton was widely respected in the academic community, as well as by artists themselves. Robert Motherwell once praised her as “an incomparable guide, whose scholarship and personal testimony must not be ignored.”
[Artforum]
French Exit
Amid speculation that he is heading to Versace, Riccardo Tisci will leave Givenchy after 12 years at the brand. As a result, Givenchy will not have a runway show during the upcoming Paris Fashion Week.
[WWD]
Building After Brexit
Plans have been unveiled for a $1.25 billion building in London, designed by Santiago Calatrava. “This investment in key infrastructure in the capital is a vote of confidence post-Brexit, and shows that London is open to business, trade, and attracting the greatest talent from around the world,” said London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
[Evening Standard]
Leaving Lauren
Ralph Lauren’s CEO, Stefan Larsson, is departing the company over internal strategy disagreements. Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm Global Data Retail, worries that the brand’s founder is to blame. “As much as Ralph Lauren should be respected for his significant achievements … we are concerned by the orthodoxy of his leadership, under which questioning and fresh thinking are relatively rare. This, in our view, is not the way to reinvent a brand that has clearly lost its way,” he said.
[Business of Fashion]