Saks has agreed to implement new faux-fur labeling as a result of an out of court settlement. Nearly a year ago, Saks and others had been sued for improperly mislabeling many of their faux-fur products.

Though the products were labeled as faux-fur, they actually contained raccoon-dog fur. Other companies that had been involved in similar lawsuits include, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and Macy’s.

The result of the settlement will enforce Saks to be more careful about fur labeling and to endorse federal legislation to end the sale of fur-trimmed products that carry mislabeled faux-fur products.

Earlier this week, the New York Times had posted an article on how H&M destroyed and threw out garments that have never been worn. According to the report, someone had slashed most of the items with razors in order for them not to be worn.

This was going on on bags that were found from H&M and Wal-Mart on 35th Street on Manhattan. Nicole Christie, a spokeswoman for H&M in New York stated that, “It will not happen again. We are committed 100 percent to make sure this practice is not happening anywhere else, s it is not our standard practice.”

Christie went on to state that H&M’s policy is to donate unworn clothing to charitable groups. Hopefully, this is a good lesson for both Wal-Mart and H&M so they could prevent such behavior in their other locations.

Source: The Cut

Macy’s has announced that they will be closing five of their stores due to poor store performance. The location for these stores are located n Waterford, MI, St. Ann, MO, Missoula, MT, Burlington, NJ, and Boise, ID.

Terry Lundgren, Chairman of Macy’s, said in a statement release, “We are committed to maintaining a healthy portfolio of stores, which requires us to make the difficult decision to close some stores that no longer meet our performance requirements.”

This comes from news that Macy’s Inc will be opening a Bloomingdales in Santa Monica, CA and in Dubai, which will be their first international location. The victims will be the consumers who will have to look for alternatives.

Source: StyleList

Lord & Taylor has agreed to stop selling misleading faux-fur that turned out to be racoon-dog fur. Certain items that weren’t labeled properly may have been sold in Neiman Marcus, Saks, and Macys to name a few.

The Humane Society had sued Lord & Taylor about a year ago for mislabeling. They would label garments as faux-fur, raccoon, or coyote, when it was raccoon-dog fur all along. The problem is that these poor animals are known to be skinned alive for their fur. The problem is that skinning these poor innocent creatures for fur is far more cheaper to produce than faux-fur. Unfortunately, because faux-fur is popular because people feel like if it is the “right thing” to buy, that is why labels like Lord & Taylor do these things.

Source: The Cut

It looks like Z Spoke for Zac Posen isn’t the only remedy to get him a boost in the economic prices. It appears that designer Posen will also be designing a collection for Target.

This is also a move that other designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen have taken. Posen’s Target collection will debut on April 25th.

Source: The Cut

WWD has announced that young designer Zac Posen has launched “Z Spoke”, his bridge collection. This comes right after rumors had developed that there might be more layoffs at the Zac Posen house.

Posen’s new collection will have prices starting at $78 and up. This is quite affordable compared to his label which starts at $900. Z Spoke will exclusively launch at Saks.

Z Spoke will have a neutral palette with green, pink, and reds, which will give the collection a retro look. Or as Posen describes it, it will have an “urban hipster quality.”

Source: The Cut

A new site called Rent The Runway is adopting a Netflixesque dresses renting system that has much potential. In the days of Yore, women would only be able to enjoy designer clothes that cost thousands of dollars through photographs in magazines, but now wearing designer clothes is as easy as renting one via mail.

Some notable designers that are availbable are Diane Von Furstenberg, Herve Leger, and Proenza Schouler. The rentals vary from $50 to $200 dollars for a four-night loan. Since the service is new, you could currently rent dresses by invitation only.

Source NY Times

Design label Prada is shortening temp suspensions for workers by three weeks due to exceeded expectations by 10 percent. “The company is extremely pleased to identify the first signs of the market’s recovery that allow it to schedule a speedy return to full production,” ecstatic designer Miuccia Prada stated to the workers at the Valdamo plant in Tuscany on Monday.

A week ago, Miuccia Prada had signed an agreement with union workers to place 250 workers from a 3,000 into “cassa integrazione,” or sent home with partial pay, but may continue at a later date. That is good news for Prada, the workers, and the economy.

In this hurting economy, Gian Giacomo, Versace’s new CEO has taken bold measures to stop the label from losing money by restructuring the house. It appears that Giacomo may be getting along much better with Donatella Versace compared to the feudal relationship she had with Versace’s former CEO, Giancarlo Di Risio.

Unfortunately, restructuring the label consists of cutting 350 positions, which is a total of 26 percent of the house’s workforce. The Financial Times considered the cuts as “the most dramatic by any leading designer during the current downturn.”

In this year alone, Versace is believed to lose $44 million. If all goes well, Versace may break even in 2010 and see profits as soon as 2011.

Ricadro Tisci, the creative director or Givenchy, is currently designing on “an upcoming show in 2011.” Tisci shared with The Cut that he is working on costumes which will be a combination of music and opera. Interestingly enough, his story coincides with Lady Gaga’s “Fame Monster” Tour which will consist of pop-electro opera.

In the same interview, Tisci mentioned that he has no plans to do a diffusion line for stores such as H&M. He currently is excited for Givenchy’s Capsule diffusion collection.

source the cut