Fashion
Eastpak appoints Marie Gras as vice president, global brand
Published
December 1, 2025
A running specialist is all set to drive growth in Eastpak‘s bags business. VF Corp’s luggage brand, a major player in the backpack market in France and across Europe, has appointed a new global brand vice president. Marie Gras, who has served as vice president for running at the French sporting-goods giant Decathlon for nearly two and a half years, is leaving Hauts-de-France to join VF Corp’s Antwerp offices. From Belgium, the group operates Eastpak as well as Kipling (led by Domitille Parent, who previously headed Eastpak).
For Marie Gras, a first challenge looms with last weekend’s reopening of an Eastpak flagship on London’s Carnaby Street. The store is located at 35 Carnaby Street and spans two floors. The brand opened its first-ever store on the London thoroughfare in 2008, in a 170-square-metre space.
Marie Gras helped implement Decathlon’s recent running strategy, in one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. Through its dedicated running brand, Kiprun, Decathlon has launched a running app and, notably, formed agreements with partners in new territories to develop Kiprun spaces beyond its own Decathlon stores. Previously, the executive spent almost eight years at Adidas, most recently overseeing the brand’s activities and events in Paris, one of the key cities in the brand’s global visibility strategy.
Eastpak is one of the luggage brands owned by the VF Corp group, which is currently streamlining its operations. The group also owns Kipling, to which it has given fresh momentum in recent months, as well as JanSport, focused on the US market. Eastpak, which benefits from numerous collaborations with designers and mass-market licences, such as Diesel and Gremlins, was founded in 1952 under the name Eastern Canvas Products. In France and Western Europe, it holds a key position among lower- and upper-secondary students. However, across the functional backpack category as a whole (excluding hiking backpacks), the French brand Cabaïa has gained market share in recent years and now claims category leadership in France.
For Eastpak, the challenges are therefore to scale up its entire bags and luggage range and to strengthen its competitiveness against emerging European players in various markets, such as Rains, Ucon Acrobatics, Qwstion, Kapten & Son, Tucano, Ferrino, Ecoalf, Lefrik, and Sandqvist.
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Economic momentum remained strong at the end of 2025, with real GDP expanding 8.4 per cent year on year (YoY) in the fourth quarter, the fastest pace in several years. Growth was driven by robust export-oriented industrial production. Credit growth surged to 19.4 per cent YoY by December, well above deposit growth of 14 per cent, SBV said in a release.
Vietnam’s interbank rates, which rose sharply in late 2025, are expected to ease in 2026 as credit growth and economic momentum cool.
GDP expanded 8.4 per cent year on year in Q4, while credit growth of 19.4 per cent outpaced deposits.
Despite a strong 2025, US tariff risks remain.
The SBV is likely to keep rates steady while targeting slower credit growth.
While Vietnam enters 2026 on a positive footing after achieving an estimated 8 per cent growth in 2025, external risks remain significant for the export-driven economy. Goods exports to the US, which account for around 30 per cent of the total, face the lagged impact of 20 per cent reciprocal tariffs, uncertainty over transshipment duties, and the risk of additional sectoral measures, including possible semiconductor levies.
Monetary authorities have signalled a cautious policy stance for 2026 despite an official GDP growth target of 10 per cent, which analysts view as difficult to achieve. Growth is expected to moderate to around 6.5 per cent, while the SBV has set a lower credit growth target of 15 per cent to limit overheating and resource misallocation risks.
The refinancing rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.50 per cent, though the possibility of an unexpected rate hike cannot be ruled out if liquidity strains persist.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)
Published
January 16, 2026
Moncler and Rick Owens have unveiled their first-ever summer collection, expanding their ongoing collaboration with a warm-weather offering inspired by Berlin’s brutalist architecture and Moncler’s outdoor expertise.
Designed as a lightweight, warm-weather uniform, the collection reflects Rick Owens’ vision of where nature and city meet, described by Owens’ as “brucolic.”
Notably, as part of the Spring/Summer 2026 lineup, kilt-style shorts and slinky, asymmetric jersey skirts are paired with tonal hiking socks and Trailgrip Megalace sneakers, reinforcing the collection’s emphasis on movement and adaptability. The color palette is characterized by black, dark dust, vintage olive, and a bold carnelian red, which appears for the first time in this season’s collaboration.
Other collection highlights include quilting and graphic embroidery, lightweight outerwear in leather and nylon, as well as summery windbreakers and relaxed jerseys that play with proportion and silhouette. Consistent with the designer’s ethos, the collection embraces gender-neutral styling across relaxed bombers and nipped-in, cropped styles, with exaggerated shoulders. Completing the collection are accessories including sunglasses, quilted bucket hats, caps, and waistbags.
The collection launches with a series of intimate images shot by Juergen Teller, featuring Rick Owens and his wife and longtime muse Michèle Lamy, alongside Teller himself and his wife and creative partner Dovile Drizyte. The candid photographs capture moments of affection, reinforcing themes of love, passion, and human connection.
The collection is now available online, as well as in selected Moncler boutiques, Rick Owens flagship stores, and select retailers worldwide.
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