Fashion
Daveed Baptiste wins 2025 Empowered Vision Award
Published
December 14, 2025
Designer Daveed Baptiste has been named the recipient of the 2025 Empowered Vision Award, presented by The Andréa W. and Kenneth C. Frazier Family Foundation in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
The announcement was made Thursday evening at a cocktail reception at the W Union Square in New York City, where artistic director and cultural advocate Edward Buchanan and supermodel Imaan Hammam revealed Baptiste as this year’s honouree. The event drew members of the fashion industry, media, and design community to celebrate the award’s mission of supporting and elevating Black designers.
“Daveed Baptiste ultimately distinguished themselves through clear, thoughtful storytelling and a disciplined, vulnerable approach to building and strengthening their tools to lead a business,” said Milton Dixon III, program director of the Empowered Vision Award.
“We’re proud to support a designer whose work speaks to the future of fashion, and we’re excited to move forward with them over the next year of mentorship and continued investment.”
The Empowered Vision Award includes a $100,000 financial grant, along with a year-long mentorship program valued at an additional $100,000. The initiative is designed to provide emerging Black designers with critical funding, industry guidance, and strategic support to help scale their businesses and build a global presence
Copyright © 2025 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Fashion
Gauthier Borsarello announces his departure from Fursac
Published
December 15, 2025
Under Gauthier Borsarello’s creative direction, Fursac joined the Paris Fashion Week calendar. Over five years at the creative helm of the French menswear brand, the designer remained faithful to the label’s formal roots while setting a new tone.
Under the leadership of the vintage specialist and co-founder of L’étiquette magazine, the brand, which was still called De Fursac when he arrived and had just been taken over by the SMCP group, staged its first presentation for the spring/ summer 2023 season. Last January, Borsarello staged a catwalk show to present his vision for autumn/ winter 2025-2026. In mid-December, he announced his departure via his Instagram account.
“I would like to sincerely thank Daniel Lalonde, Elina Kousourna, Alix Le Naour, Evelyne Chetrite, and Judith Milgrom for the opportunity to work at Fursac five years ago as creative director. This chapter has been meaningful, both creatively and professionally. I am grateful for the trust, the exchanges, and the freedom to contribute to the evolution of the brand,” he says in a message dated December 12.
“I am particularly proud of the studio, design, image, and communications, and of what we have achieved together: bringing the brand onto the official Fashion Week calendar after just one season, and continuing this journey through to the Paris Fashion Week show in January 2025. Thank you for the experience, perspective, and relationships built along the way. I will carry them with me on my journey.”
In five years, the designer has introduced modernised silhouettes and strengthened Fursac’s casual wardrobe, with a heightened focus on fabric choices. He has also broadened his references, from inspirations drawn from football and surfing to a more cutting-edge creative universe centred on music and the arts, as in his SS25 presentation through work with artist Lionel Estève, whose work is exhibited at the Musée Picasso in Paris.
The group confirmed this decision to FashionNetwork.com. “The group’s studio teams have taken over and are currently working on finalising the FW 2026 collection,” notes Isabelle Guichot, SMCP’s chief executive.
The brand welcomed Louise Bousquet-Andreani as its managing director at the beginning of the year. For the time being, activity at its historic premises and boutique on the corner of Richelieu-Drouot, on the Grands Boulevards in Paris, has been put on hold, FashionNetwork observed.
“The Fursac teams at the rue Richelieu boutique have been temporarily redeployed to the brand’s other Parisian stores, notably for the end-of-year sales period. SMCP hopes to reopen the rue Richelieu boutique at the beginning of 2026”, explains Isabelle Guichot, who adds that “as part of the change of ownership of the building, SMCP has decided to bring Fursac’s head office teams into its offices in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.”
Along with Claudie Pierlot, Fursac is reported under the group’s Other Brands segment in SMCP’s published results. After revenue reached €167 million in 2023, this division declined to €148 million in 2024. In the first nine months of 2025, sales were stable compared with the previous year at €108 million, on group revenue of €895 million.
Following the completion of legal proceedings regarding the actions of its former shareholder, the group’s current majority shareholders announced their intention to sell their shares on November 27.
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Copyright © 2025 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Fashion
Higher festive spend is due to inflation, clothing among first to be cut for budgeters – Deloitte survey
Published
December 15, 2025
On the face of it, around a third of UK consumers planning to spend more this Christmas can only be positive, right? Alas, many are blaming higher prices for the decision, according to new Deloitte research.
If it’s any consolation, this is higher than the rest of Europe, where just 23% plan to spend more. And at least in the UK, consumers aged 18-34 are nearly twice as likely to spend more this Christmas compared with older age groups while almost half (44%) agree they have enough money “to create a joyful Christmas for themselves and their family this year”.
And while a third of those spending more are blaming higher prices, 23% say it’s a deliberate choice to allocate more budget to Christmas while 20% say they’re spending more because their financial situation has improved.
On the downside, 18% of UK consumers plan to spend less this Christmas compared with last year with around half (48%) blaming the cost of living, while 37% say it is because their financial situation has worsened.
Unfortunately, when asked about what they will cut back on if budgets becomes too constrained, the top things consumers stated were “experiences (restaurants or attending events)… and clothing. At least fewer are likely to cut back on gift vouchers, it noted.
Cande Cooper, retail partner at Deloitte UK, said: “While there is a strong desire among many UK consumers to create and spread joy this Christmas, shoppers are demonstrating a pragmatic approach, carefully balancing their budgets with their festive aspirations.
“High costs continue to squeeze many consumers’ spend, and so retailers will look to target consumers with promotions, whilst also catering to those looking for quality products and shopping experiences. Retailers should also take note of evolving consumer behaviours, particularly the increasing influence and adoption of GenAI in the shopping process.”
Copyright © 2025 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Fashion
Steady, slower growth in US transportation in 2026: S&P Global Ratings
The rating agency believes US gross domestic product (GDP) growth, projected at 2 per cent for 2026 and 1.9 per cent for 2027, will provide a solid foundation for steady activity across most domestic transportation infrastructure asset classes, including maritime container volumes, tolled transactions, and mass transit ridership.
US transportation activity growth will be steady in 2026 and 2027, but slower than the post-pandemic recovery years, except for US port operators, which are expected to see volumes decline in 2026, according to S&P Global Ratings.
Port container volumes are likely to decline slightly in 2025 and 2026, based on data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, before resuming a growth trend in 2027.
Mass transit ridership remains below pre-pandemic levels with a full recovery unlikely in the next two-to-three years, it noted.
It estimates average growth rates in 2026 and 2027 at 4.5 per cent for transit ridership, 2.4 per cent for port container traffic and 3 per cent for tolled transactions.
For its 2026 activity estimates, it assumes that toll roads will continue to attract and benefit from passenger and commercial vehicle growth trends.
Port container volumes, measured by twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), are likely to decline slightly in 2025 and 2026, based on data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, before resuming a growth trend in 2027.
US import duties are in place for the foreseeable future, but a series of lightweight trade deals based on tariff concessions in return for purchase and investment commitments will provide an offset.
Although port volumes generally move in line with the broader U.S. economy, tariffs on foreign goods are dampening demand. S&P Global Ratings’ economists forecast slower, but still positive, consumer spending growth over the near term. It expects this will lead to spillover in the form of reduced throughput at US container ports.
Ports could be stressed on both sides, as US consumers reduce demand for imports and as other countries implement retaliatory trade policies in response to higher US tariffs.
However, if the administration’s tariff policies are overturned by the US Supreme Court, another period of front-running ahead of changing trade policy and an associated uptick in port container volumes could be witnessed.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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