Reece Yeboah Talks Cos, a Sale of Uncommon Hermes Luggage, Keys’ Cognac Adverts – WWD

YEBOAH’S COS: When Reece Yeboah was younger he traveled from his house in London to Accra and again once more a number of years later. The journey was the making of him as a person, and as a designer.

His debut collaboration with Cos is ready to hit store flooring this week and he’s referred to as it “Metamorphosis” after his coming-of-age experiences in Ghana.

In an interview, the designer mentioned that when he was 11, his mom handed him a one-way ticket to Accra to “straighten me out” as a result of he was messing round and underperforming in school.

She saved for months to buy the ticket, he mentioned, and was satisfied that life in Africa with prolonged household would assist him develop up.

She was proper. The years he spent in Accra reworked him and he returned to London with renewed goal.

Residing in Africa, he mentioned, “gave me a way of how necessary household is” and a way of perspective, too.

“I realized what it’s to battle — and never complain. I took freezing chilly bucket baths, carried water on my head and walked miles to highschool. I missed the luxuries of London,” mentioned the designer, who returned to the U.Okay. a number of years later.

He studied style design, styling and founding the streetwear label Saint London Ltd., which had a pop-up at Selfridges in 2018. He labored as a stylist and later launched his signature assortment, which blends streetwear with mushy tailoring. 

Yeboah mentioned his assortment for Cos, a division of H&M Group, is a tribute to his mom’s spirit and her ambitions for him.

He’s blended darkish hues with the intense yellow of Ghana’s flag and his jackets and shirts embrace butterfly and pinstripe designs. The gathering options caps, beanies, knitted hoodies, a varsity jacket, and structured jackets in wool verify materials.

Yeboah mentioned that whereas he might have began by designing a males’s assortment, the result’s extra gender fluid, with silhouettes primarily based on the Cos signature shapes.

His favourite elements of the method, he mentioned, had been sample-making, idea constructing and “seeing that creation come alive from the sketch.”

His ambitions are large. “9 figures in six years,” he mentioned. “That’s what’s on my bed room wall. It’s not concerning the cash. I wish to be about to say ‘I’ve completed that,’” mentioned Yeboah, and he’s definitely off to an excellent begin.

Final week, Yeboah and Cos staged a style present in London with a few of the new seems to be and sitting entrance row had been three high-profile cheerleaders: Riccardo Tisci, Naomi Campbell and Edward Enninful.

Costs for the Cos collaboration vary from 35 euros for the 100% natural cotton Rising Star T-shirt to 350 euros for the wool-blend verify coat.

The limited-edition assortment shall be out there solely at Cos shops internationally and on the web site from Wednesday. — SAMANTHA CONTI

HERMES RARITIES: Joseph Lau, one in all Hong Kong’s most outstanding property builders, is promoting his uncommon purse assortment by way of Sotheby’s by way of a web-based public sale from Monday to Feb. 9. It is going to be adopted by a second installment of baggage in July.

The primary batch of 77 uncommon baggage, which Lau acquired over the previous twenty years, is valued at 16.3 million Hong Kong {dollars}, or $2 million. A part of the sale proceeds will go to charity, Sotheby’s revealed.

Touted as the biggest single-owner purse sale in Asia, the lot features a shearling Teddy Kelly 35 and a So Black Kelly 35, each from the Jean-Paul Gaultier period at Hermès, circa 2004 to 2010.

There’s additionally a uncommon bespoke multicolored Fringe Birkin 35 in crimson leather-based, in addition to six diamond Birkins of assorted sizes in blue jean, matte, electrical blue, crimson, violet and fuchsia.

The blue jean shiny croc Bikin 25 with 18-karat white gold and diamond {hardware} is valued between 1 million and a couple of million Hong Kong {dollars}, or $127,000 to $254,800, and is the priciest merchandise on provide. The remainder of the diamond Birkins are valued between 400,000 and 700,000 Hong Kong {dollars}, or $50,960 to $89,180.

Different prized items within the public sale embrace a Rose Bonbon mini Kelly 20, an Orange Kelly Doll and a Bronze Metallic Kelly 25, which in line with Sotheby’s was solely in manufacturing between 2004 to 2005. The colour of the bag was impressed by the window shows designed by Leïla Menchari for the Hermès flagship retailer at Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. The Metallic Kelly bag is valued between 400,000 to 600,000 Hong Kong {dollars}, or $50,960 to $76,440.

Morgane Halimi, world head of purses and equipment, mentioned, “The limited-edition items which have made and formed the historical past of purses previously twenty years can all be discovered on this assortment.”

With a web price of $13.6 billion, in line with Forbes, Lau is the previous chairman of property developer Chinese language Estates. He’s finest recognized by the general public in Hong Kong for amorous affairs with a number of high-profile actresses previously twenty years, which frequently concerned gifting uncommon baggage and excessive jewellery as proof of affection.

He has been married to former showbiz journalist Kimbee Chan since 2016. They’ve two youngsters.

In 2017, Lau transferred 75 p.c of his shares in Chinese language Estates to Chan and their son, citing severe well being points. — TIANWEI ZHANG

KEYS’ COGNAC: Alicia Keys is the face of Hennessy Paradis in a brand new world marketing campaign for the French cognac producer. The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and classically educated pianist is Hennessy’s first feminine companion.

“Man, I truthfully suppose that’s no higher time than now,” she mentioned of listening to the information. “It’s the age of girls. It’s the age and time of actually uplifting and understanding the facility of girls — the facility that now we have to create, the facility that now we have to be the bosses of our companies, the heads of our tables, the heads of boardrooms, the heads of corporations, the heads of our households, the heads of the federal government and planning and altering the world as we all know that it’s best for the course to go in a constructive means. It’s all about honoring girls, and I really feel like we can steadiness out a lot after we actually honor the facility of girls.”

Keys doesn’t stand alone within the challenge, nevertheless; shot within the Utah desert, she’s joined by Chinese language pianist Lang Lang.

“He’s already been a companion with Paradis for a short while,” defined Keys. “And so, I feel he was the one who steered there could possibly be a good looking partnership with each of us. I cherished the thought, particularly with each of us as classically educated pianists and artists, however from two totally different sides of the world and simply actually representing the variety and fantastic thing about music concord, you realize, excellence and in craft.”

Created in 1979, Paradis blends greater than 200 totally different cognacs which have been aged for as much as over a century. At present the model is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Diageo.

Keys first tried the brandy about three years in the past, she went on: “I used to be launched to Paradis almost certainly by my husband, who at all times is aware of the perfect of the perfect. And he was like, ‘I feel you’ll love this.’ I do love a clean, stylish, elegant drink.”

On the heels of her forty second birthday — and releasing her ninth studio and first Christmas album, “Santa Child,” independently on Apple Music — Keys is trying ahead to the 12 months forward.

“I’m engaged on so many wonderful issues,” she mentioned. “Oh my gosh, I imply, we simply completed an unimaginable world tour. And we’re additionally going to proceed to tour extra in 2023. I’m tremendous enthusiastic about some initiatives that I’ve been creating which are coming to life this 12 months that I simply suppose are probably the most thrilling issues I’ve ever completed. And musically, I’m simply in a greater, extra inventive, extra unimaginable place than ever earlier than. There’s simply no limits and no stopping.”

Any New 12 months’s resolutions?

“To proceed to be open to abundance — abundance of well being, abundance of kindness, abundance of affection, abundance of creativity, abundance of progress, abundance of evolution, abundance of creating issues and creating issues I’ve by no means even imagined earlier than. My New 12 months’s decision is to proceed to be open to an considerable life with no concern in any means.” — RYMA CHIKHOUNE

NEW SIGNING: Spanish actress Ester Expósito has signed with IMG Fashions.

This marks the 23-year-old’s first modeling contract. Greatest recognized for her starring function within the Netflix teen drama sequence “Elite,” Expósito rose to recognition from the hit present, gaining greater than 28 million followers on Instagram.

“Ever since I met the IMG crew, I knew we’d get alongside,” Expósito informed WWD in an unique assertion. “We share a typical imaginative and prescient and I imagine we’ll do nice issues collectively.”

She has additionally been seen within the streaming service’s thriller “Somebody Has to Die,” HBO drama “Veneno” and Jaume Balagueró’s Spanish horror movie “Venus.” Notably, she collaborated on Lydia Cacho’s docuseries “Peace Peace Now Now,” which tells tales of girls taking a stand towards armed conflicts in Latin America.

Off display, Expósito was on the September 2022 cowl of Harper’s Bazaar Spain, and he or she has labored with manufacturers that embrace Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana and Bulgari.

With IMG Fashions, the main focus shall be on increasing her world footprint “throughout the style, magnificence, digital and editorial arenas,” in line with the company. Expósito joins a roster of purchasers that features Gigi and Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, Lori Harvey, Lori Harvey, Valuable Lee, Paloma Elsesser, Alton Mason, Eileen Gu, Diana Silvers and Richie Shazam. — R.C.

TIE UP: Pinterest and Condé Nast Leisure are forging a brand new content material partnership, WWD has realized.

The deal, the most recent step in a video and content material technique that Pinterest rolled out two years in the past, will channel 160 unique movies produced by Vogue and Architectural Digest pegged to featured seasonal and cultural moments, together with “Trend Month,” “Wedding ceremony Season,” “Summer season” and “Again to College.”

“Video’s means to take customers from inspiration to motion is plain,” Nadine Zylstra, Pinterest’s world head of programming and originals, informed WWD. “Throughout Pinterest, now we have seen its energy in serving to folks create the life they love, whether or not serving to them reimagine a favourite style look or reinvent their yard.”

The partnership kicks off with style week — first in New York, then shifting on to the reveals in London, Milan and Paris. Vogue programming will provide backstage entry and runway developments in a sequence of authentic episodes out there on its Pinterest profile.

In April, the corporate will launch a profile for Vogue Weddings with content material curated by editors and marriage ceremony planners, from checklists to desk settings, robes, bridesmaid seems to be and extra. They may even create distinctive boards for the most important weddings of the 12 months. Magnificence may even get a highlight, with content material from Vogue’s movie star video sequence, “Magnificence Secrets and techniques,” within the works for the platform.

Architectural Digest will spotlight its 2023 AD100 checklist of prime designs and design expertise, plus develop episodes with themes like small residing and find out how to create the proper yard for summer season.

In accordance with Pinterest, Condé Nast has greater than 40 account profiles which have garnered as many as tens of hundreds of thousands of views. In the meantime, movies generally have turn into a rising precedence, having prolonged to each commercials and the natural Concept Pins that customers save or share. The tech firm’s inner knowledge, which tracks worldwide viewing and different site visitors, clocked a threefold soar within the variety of Concept Pins that includes video between the third quarter of 2021 and 2022.

It’s not clear precisely how large a slice that’s in comparison with its general figures, however with greater than 390 billion pins and greater than 400 million month-to-month energetic customers, even a modest proportion would quantity to a bit of enterprise — which might assist clarify Pinterest’s ongoing funding in video.

For Zylstra, the Condé Nast partnership issues as a result of it’s “serving to us meet [what users] want and showcasing Pinterest as a house for nice video content material.” — ADRIANA LEE