Karl´s Verdict On See-Now, Buy-Now

Karl Lagerfeld has spoken for the first time about the debate currently raging in the fashion industry about whether brands should switch to a see-now, buy-now format - where items would be shown on the catwalk just as they become available in stores - or whether to remain as things are - with brands showing new pieces around six months before they are available to buy. Unsurprisingly, Lagerfeld has strong opinions on the matter.

"It's a mess," he said backstage at Fendi, the Financial Times reports. "The reality is that you have to give people the time to make their choice, to order the clothes or handbags, and to produce them beautifully so that editors can photograph them. If not, that's the end of everything."

Lagerfeld isn't the only one who's rejecting the new in-season fashion-week model, many of the world's biggest luxury houses - including Dior, Chanel, Chloé, Isabel Marant, Balenciaga and Lanvin - have already opted out of the new system, with Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault asserting that the immediacy of see-now, buy-now "negates the dream of luxury".

"This way is chaos," Lagerfeld went on. "People who have 300 shops like Fendi can do it, but then you have to make it already six months before, show it to the editors and somebody will see it anyway. That's impossible. And people who have no retail shops, well, they don't know what to do."

Lagerfeld did reveal, however, that he already creates one collection per year that lands in the company's retail stores without being shown to buyers.

"The world is changing - not always for the best - but we have to follow the changes and the internet, but there is a way of doing it, you know? It's not just about talking bullshit," he said. "Chanel makes six collections per year, but I make already one - the capsule - that is not shown to the press, to nobody. The day it comes out is the day the stores get a document. Now I want to do something else - perhaps it's too early to talk about it - to make a special collection only for the internet. Fifteen things, you buy them and you get them immediately."

Next Top Model Seeks New Host

America´s Next Top Model  is coming back to television screens, it was confirmed today, just months after creator and executive producer Tyra Banks announced its demise after 22 seasons. The modelling reality show - which has never been hosted by anyone other than Banks, although other members of the judging panel have changed throughout the years - is now on the lookout for a new host ahead of its launch on a new channel, VH1.

"After creating an incredible, global brand, I am beyond excited to have the show reborn," Banks told Deadline. "I will continue as executive producer, but must turn my attention to new business endeavours, so I want to find a new host. I'm pumped to identify that person and bring back the show. Top Model fans, you demanded that the show come back, and VH1 answered the call. Get ready for a fierce-a-fied rebirth!"

Banks had another birth to celebrate recently - as she welcomed her first child, son York, via a surrogate - and as she turns her attention to developments both business and personal, thoughts turn to who could take up the hosting reins. The channel has asserted that the show will be "reinvented for a new generation", meaning that one of Banks's supermodel-era contemporaries is unlikely.

As one of the world's most in-demand models in the Nineties, Banks's shoes will not be easy to fill, but Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner would certainly fit the bill - and both have a the captive social-media audience that the show needs to thrive. Victoria's Secret Angels Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima - who stepped into Banks's role as two of the top, and now the longest-serving Angels, following her departure in 2005 - would both be big enough names to carry the show; and if secured as a double act would be even better.

Banks worked alongside fellow model Chrissy Teigen on The FabLife, the now-cancelled chat show, and the Sports Illustrated model has an accessibility that would work well on ANTM. British model Jourdan Dunn could be another good option since she has emulated Banks's career - crossing between high-end catwalk and editorial and more commercial projects with ease. She is also similarly outspoken, having shared her views on everything from racism in the industry to being dropped by Victoria's Secret, which no-holds-barred Banks is sure to admire - and has also earned her stripes as a presenter already, helming her own YouTube cookery show, Well Dunn.

Gucci's Surprising Hire

The autumn/winter 2016 Gucci show in Milan yesterday witnessed something of a creative coup for the label's creative directorAlesssandro Michele. Alongside the "bourgeois Renaissance"-inspired clothes, came bags that were made in collaboration with the graffiti artist GucciGhost (real name Trevor Andrew), who Michele brought on board as an official member of the Gucci design team after seeing his unsolicited interpretation of the double G logo on the street.

"I saw the way Trevor was using the symbol of the company and I thought it was quite genius," Michele told WWD. "It's completely different than the idea of copying. It's the idea that you try to take to the street, through language like graffiti, the symbols of the company."

Michele's inclusive, laissez-faire attitude once again sets him apart from his contemporaries, many of whom would have no hesitation in pursuing a trademark infringement case resulting in lengthy court costs and unwelcome press. The designer revealed that he also had no trouble getting his bosses on board with the idea, going so far as to say that CEO Marco Bizzarri "was quite in love" with the idea. For his part, Andrew says that although he felt "a little intimidated" by the process, it gave him "validation for my craziness".

"Alessandro takes risks, I take risks. He really gave me the freedom to create and be comfortable," enthused Andrew who designed the dripping prints that feature throughout the collection from his own studio set up by Gucci. "I just had music on, and was painting bags and painting jackets and painting material and drawing stuff and making my own mock-ups of prints and giving them my whole - just giving them a whole bunch of ideas."

Cavalli Settles Two Cases Out Of Court

Roberto Cavalli has brought two high-profile lawsuits to a close, settling them both out of court, according to reports this morning.

The first case refers to the trademark-infringement suit that the MTO Shahmaghsoudi School filed against the fashion house for allegedly copying its sacred emblem for Just Cavalli's Just Gold fragrance campaign. After filing the lawsuit, which stated that the apparent use of the emblem on promotional material showing it tattooed onto semi-clothed models was "completely opposing the MTO's beliefs and goodwill symbolised by the sacred emblem", reports The Fashion Law.

The second case was brought by a group of Northern California-based graffiti artists known as Revok, Reyes and Steel, who claimed that the Just Cavalli label had infringed their copyrights by copying a piece of work they did in San Francisco's Mission district in a clothing and accessories collection. They also stated that the brand had added further insult by adding "what appears to be a signature, creating the false impression that Roberto Cavalli himself was the artist."

Roberto Cavalli strenuously denied any wrongdoing throughout both cases. According to court papers, Revok, Reyes, and Steel and the MTO Shahmaghsoudi School both filed to voluntarily dismiss their cases, although specific details were not disclosed.

Paris Fashion Week Says No To New Shows Model

The governing body of Paris Fashion Week - the Fédération Française de la Couture du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode - has announced that it intends to stand by the current system of showing collections six months in advance of them being available to purchase. The announcement directly opposes the recent moves made by brands including Burberry, Tom Ford, and Tommy Hilfiger which have revealed that they plan to show "in season" and make their collections available immediately.

The Federation is said to have consulted its governing body to explore the idea off the back of the CFDA hiring Boston Consulting Group to investigate the potential of consumer-facing shows at New York Fashion Week, reportsWWD. "There is not one person who said it was a problem," said federation president Ralph Toledano of the current system. "Our clientele is educated and informed on how the system works."

Toledano cited multiple reasons for the decision, including: the designer's process ("You cannot ask them to finish the collection and freeze it to show in four months' time"); the trouble of buyers and press viewing collections under embargo and images leaking ("Instead of us controlling our image, our image would be in the hands of pirates"); the complicated supply chain ("It takes several weeks to produce fabrics. It takes some weeks to sew and embellish the garments"); the importance of delayed gratification in the luxury arena ("Desire and dreams are part of the buying process"); and the fact that the French fashion industry is thriving as it is.

Currently, the brands that have agreed to maintain showing spring/summer in October and autumn/winter in March are Dior, Chanel, Chloé, Hermes, Nina Ricci, Agnes B, Issey Miyake, Isabel Marant, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Sonia Rykiel, Dries Van Noten, Leonard, Paul Smith, Maison Margiela and Kenzo.

Toledano did, however, acknowledge that for smaller "lifestyle" and "marketing-driven" brands for whom product is not the sole focus, consumer-facing, in-season shows are a useful promotional tool, although asserted that these aren't brands that show on the PFW schedule anyway, due to its strict selection process which centres on "creativity, craftsmanship and innovation", according to WWD.

Instead, Toledano blamed the current elongated sale periods, calling them "detrimental" to the seasonal supply chain, and revealed the board's intention to curtail the lengthy pre-collections season to a week at most, to reduce the impact it has (as well as the attention it deflects) from the ready-to-wear shows.

Will California Follow French Model-Health Law?

Models who try to gain work in the state of California will have to obtain a health certificate from their doctor, if new legislation is passed. The law, proposed by California state assembly member Marc Levine, aims to fight eating disorders among fashion models in a similar way to laws recently passed in France.

The bill decrees that California's Department of Public Health and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board must "adopt rules for the health of fashion models that would include periodic health check-ups, nutrition consultations and medical testing", The Fashion Law reports - but it's not clear how an individual's health will determined, or whether BMI measurements will be used, as in France. It would also - similarly to the French bill - carry penalties for any companies flouting the rules by hiring models who have not been certified fit to work by a health professional.

"The evidence of eating disorders in the modelling industry is alarming," Levine said, while former model-turned-advocate Nikki DuBose supported the legislation with a statement, asserting: "As a former fashion model and an eating-disorder survivor, I know that this legislation is critically needed."

Only France and Israel currently have legal requirements for model health, while other countries - including Italy and Spain - operate a system of self-regulation from within the industry.

Milan Fashion Week Begins

Milan Fashion Week the penultimate destination on the autumn/winter 2017 shows circuit, starts today with all eyes on Gucci this afternoon as Alessandro Michele unveils his third ready-to-wear collection for the house, no doubt buoyed by last week's announcement that profits are up since his arrival.

This season the showcase - which will be officially opened for the first time with a lunch thrown by the country's prime minister, Matteo Renzi - sees the city's major fashion houses, Versace, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino andGiorgio Armani included, take centre stage alongside up-and-coming names including Stella Jean; Marco De Vincenzo; Fausto Puglisi; and MGSM and Pucci creative director, Massimo Giorgetti.

On Monday evening, the last day of shows before the action moves on to Paris, a special mention will go to sustainable fashion with a cocktail party aiming to raise awareness of the ethical and environmental impact the industry has and ways to make a conscious effort to improve.