Ahead of the most anticipated runway show this season, Louis Vuitton has revealed a bit about what we can expect from its new menswear director Virgil Abloh’s debut. While Abloh’s die-hard fans will not be surprised to learn that the Off-White director has tapped Christine Centenera (and it seems, one of Yeezy's go-to photographers, Jackie Nickerson) to consult on and style Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2019 menswear collection, the Vogue Australia fashion director and stylist’s name may be unfamiliar to some, although that is increasingly unlikely.

Imagine for just a minute that Chanel’s quilted bags did not have a double “C” logo placed right at the center. Consider a Goyard tote that was not covered in the interlocking Y’s of its signature Goyardine print. And, of course, try to think of a Louis Vuitton Speedy or Neverfull bag without the brand’s 100-plus year old Toile Monogram. Would the average consumer pay just as much for these logo-less bags? Probably not.

Stuart Weitzman is responding to the headline-making sexual harassment lawsuit that it was hit with last month with a lawsuit of its own - one that is being called "retaliatory" and "irresponsible." On Monday, Stuart Weitzman’s parent company Tapestry, Inc. filed a strongly-worded complaint in New York state court, alleging that its former VP of product development and production of footwear Thomas Gibb is on the hook for failing to “truthfully disclose any potential conflicts of interests he had with Tapestry” and for stealing Tapestry’s “confidential information for his own personal [benefit].”

Unilever is cutting ties with influencers that buy followers. The London-based company – which owns brands including Dermalogica, Dove, Pond’s, and Magnum ice cream (which recently rolled out a collaboration created by Alexander Wang and fronted by Bella Hadid), among over 100 others – said on Monday that going forward, it will not work with influencers who buy followers and will “prioritize social media platforms that take action to stamp out fraud and increase transparency.”

Robots are making $650 Gucci sneakers. That is right; a patent-protected robot – which is housed in Gucci’s ArtLab prototype factory on the outskirts of Florence and referred to as “Reingenious,” according to the Financial Times – assembles shoes, with Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri estimating that as much as 30 to 35 percent of Gucci’s production can be completely automated in the not-too-distant future.

The fashion media has been abuzz since a top European Union court sided with Christian Louboutin in its ongoing and very global fight for registered protection for its red shoe sole trademark. The decision from the Court of Justice of the European Union – which means Louboutin is one step closer to maintaining its exclusive rights in its red soles in Benelux, where the legal battle at hand was initiated and where Louboutin maintains a registered trademark (the validity of which was up for debate in this case) – has been deemed “a win for fashion brands.”

If we really care about protecting the people who make the things we wear and use, we need to raise wages for workers in supply chains to above the poverty line. Our research shows that this only requires a 20-cent increase in the retail price for a T-shirt made in India. This small increase can lift wages by up to 225 percent in India, closing the living wage gap for the most vulnerable workers in the supply chain, such as cotton farmers. The living wage gap is the difference between a living wage and current wages.

Supreme sent heavily branded puffer jackets, red and white logo-ed hoodies and other sportswear, as well as an array of soon-to-be sold-out accessories, down the runway this week in an elaborate show to debut its “Winter 2018” collaboration with Chinese streetwear brand OXN. The collection – with its strong references to Supreme’s earlier collab with Louis Vuitton – is the result of what Guangzhou-based OXN is calling a “strategic partnership” with Supreme.

Political fashion – whether it be Barak Obama-themed dresses in 2008, anti-Muslim ban wares, or t-shirts speaking to American immigration policies – has been trending on the runway. Meanwhile, in D.C., the Supreme Court’s nine justices took on a case early this year that centers on the legality of wearing politically-charged garments and accessories to the polls, after the Minnesota Voters Alliance challenged a law banning voters from wearing a “political badge, political button, or other political insignia” inside a polling place on Election Day. 

PART III – Upon learning of LVMH’s quiet 17.1 percent stake in the closely-held Hermès, the French financial services watchdog, Autorité des marchés financiers ("AMF") initiated an investigation of LVMH's investment in November 2007. The following year was occupied largely by a formal investigation by the AMF, as well as strongly-worded legal battles initiated by both LVMH and Hermès. In July 2012, Hermès – which called LVMH’s acquisition “the largest fraud in the history of the French stock market” – filed a criminal complaint against LVMH in a French court, accusing the luxury conglomerate of insider trading, collusion and manipulating stock prices.