China

After drawing the ire of Chinese consumers with a line of products bearing the slogan "Free Tibet," Marc Jacobs says designers should be cautious when mixing their products with political messages.

"I guess politics and fashion, you've always got to be a bit careful because somebody's going to get offended or somebody's going to feel it isn't right," Jacobs said at a recent restaging of his Fall 2012 show for Louis Vuitton in Shanghai. "I don't want to sound stupid or ignorant or anything, but I spend my time in the studio choosing fabric and colors and trying to figure out what we're going to make . . . If you want to avoid controversy, you just don't do [political] things like that."

A series of Marc by Marc Jacobs bags and t-shirts in support of the Tibetan Freedom Coalition prompted users of Facebook and Weibo — China's answer to Twitter — to boycott Jacobs's products. "John Galliano was fired by Dior because of his anti-semitic comments," said one Facebook group that backed the boycott. "We Chinese should also unite to let MJ to apologize and withdraw all the bags and T-shirts with 'Free Tibet' prints." Jacobs said the offending products are no longer in production.

In the past, Jacobs's products haven't shied away from political statements. He's made t-shirts and other items showing support for gay marriage and for President Obama's reelection campaign. In 2006, the Marc by Marc Jacobs store in San Francisco put up a window display that read "Worst President Ever!" referring to then-commander-in-chief George W. Bush.

Diane von Furstenberg — who has opened three stores in China in the last five years — said in a recent interview that regardless of nationality, all the women she dresses are fundamentally similar.

"You would be surprised: Whether she is Russian or Brazilian or French or American, my consumer is the same," she said. "But it is great to design for Chinese women, because they have great bodies. They are slim and have tiny waists, so it's nice."

The designer was quick to point out that more than their figures, she admires women for their strength — and that empowering women has always been a central tenant of her work.

"What I like about women is always strength," the designer explained. "All women are the same really: They are strong, but they are afraid of their own strength."

One such strong woman was von Furstenberg's mother, a German prisoner of war. "She went to the death camps and survived. She weighed 49 pounds, so she wasn't supposed to survive," von Furstenberg said. "She always told me that God made her survive so that she could give me life. So my birth was a miracle, and therefore I carry her flag."

And it seems von Furstenberg will continue to carry that flag wherever she goes. "I think I will be DVF till the end. I don't want to retire from life. I am too engaged, I am too curious, too interested, and I still think I can make an impact. And in this part of my life, I want to make an impact."

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Barneys unveiled elements of its website redesign on Thursday and will launch the new site's full features on Monday. Next week, customers will be able to "favorite" products — similar to "liking" a page on Facebook — and share their favorites through social media channels. "We are not changing the DNA of Barneys but reviving the way we communicate with customers," said Barneys' chief merchant Daniella Vitale. [Barneys]
  

• Rodarte has partnered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to create costumes for an upcoming production of Don Giovanni. "The costumes are the kind of thing that you want to lift the music — you don't want to compete or kill it," said Kate Mulleavy. [Styleite]
  

• Istituto Marangoni, the Milanese fashion school where Domenico Dolce learned his craft, is planning to open an outpost in Shanghai. "We are proud to accompany the developing process of the fashion system in China," said the new school's director, Tim Borgmann. [Material World]
  

• A California judge granted class action status to a lawsuit against L'Oreal in which plaintiffs complain the brand didn't warn consumers that its Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti-Frizz Serum is flammable. Almost 10 million units of the serum have been sold in the United States since February 2008. [Fashion Etc.]
  

• Net-a-Porter has turned out to be a good investment for Richemont, the luxury conglomerate that owns Cartier, Chloé, and Alaia. The brand's sales helped boost Richemont's profits by 43 percent to $1.9 billion in 2011. [Vogue UK]
  

• St. John is looking for a new owner. The American brand, which is known for its suits and which has counted Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet among its spokeswomen in recent years, has been owned by Vestar Capital Partners since 1999. [WWD]

Photo: Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet during London Fashion Week Fall 2012.

Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Fairchild Fashion Media, the company that owns WWD and Style.com, announced today that it has acquired Fashion Networks International LLC, which owns NowManifest. The site plays host to blogs written by Bryanboy, Anna Dello Russo, Elin Kling, and Derek Blasberg, among others. [Fashion Etc.]
  

• Kristen Stewart wears both men's and women's clothing in the June issue of Elle. In one photo, she plays both a man in a tailored Balenciaga suit and a woman in a Tom Ford crocodile bustier. [Elle]
  

• Jean Paul Gaultier took his first trip to China this week for a presentation of his Fall 2012 ready-to-wear and couture collections. The show drew a crowd of almost a thousand people. Gaultier joins Dior, Chanel, Burberry, and other European brands that have presented special shows or exhibitions in China, Taiwan, and Japan. [WWD]
  

• Indonesia's national police have canceled Lady Gaga's June 3 concert in Jakarta after religious groups and conservative lawmakers protested against her sometimes racy choreography and stage costumes. The police said they decided to deny a permit because they couldn't guarantee security at the concert, which would have hosted the largest audience of Gaga's "Born This Way" tour in Asia. [The Cut]
  

• Tyra Banks wrote an open letter to aspiring models in light of Vogue's new Health Initiative, encouraging women all over the world to embrace their flaws. "Vogue has the power to make and break—whether it's fashion trends, designers, models, and yes, even industry practices," Banks writes. "Their bold stance means that others will follow." [The Daily Beast]
  

• Rachel Roy has revealed the details of how she and her date Solange Knowles got ready for the Met Gala. In between getting her makeup done and a final dress fitting, Roy squeezed in a "quick phone call to the office" and "a little negotiation on some fabric prices." [Stylelist]

>> Those stories and more in our daily news roundup.

• Toni Garrn has just been anointed as Victoria's Secret's newest Angel. Garrn's first official assignment was appearing in the new ads for the Dream Angels underwear collection alongside veterans Erin Heatherton and Lindsay Ellingson, but she's walked the Victoria's Secret fashion show runway in the past. While we don't know much about her yet, she has admitted she has an addiction problem — "Sweets are really my problem," she laughed. "I could just eat sweets all day, ice cream and chocolate." [Fashion Etc.]
  

• Fashion Week organizers in New York and London have set show dates through September 2014 in the hopes of resolving the scheduling disagreement among the four major fashion capitals. The plan allows New York, London, Milan, and Paris to "successfully plan for the long term" — or at least it will if Paris and Milan cooperate with the new dates. [The Cut]
  

• What was the best fashion film of this season? Victoria by Victoria Beckham, Prada, Lanvin, and Edun, among others, all made inventive and imaginative films to advertise their Spring wares. [Business of Fashion]
  

• Liya Kebede dyed her hair red for the May cover of Harper's Bazaar Spain — or at least she put on a red wig. The model donned head-to-toe Gucci for the cover, which also promises stories about Elsa Schiaparelli and Oscar-nominated actress Berenice Bejo. [Styleite]
  

• An environmental group in Beijing released a report blaming China's manufacturing industry for some "2.5 billion metric tons of sewage in 2010," which makes it the third biggest polluter of water in the country. The report names Burberry, Levi's, Guess, Zara, and Ralph Lauren as companies who have hired "textile companies that violate [China's] environmental laws." [Refinery29]

From functionally extinct oysters to shark fin cruelty, recent environmental news has suggested a doom-and-gloom future for global aquaculture. A new report, from The WorldFish Center and Conservation International, takes the notion of the world's bleak seafood system a step further, with a chart that illustrates how the mercy of the world's fish supply lies almost entirely in the hands of one country: China.

China accounted for 61.5 percent of global aquaculture in 2008 and is now the single largest exporter of seafood to the United States, thanks to America's taste for shrimp and catfish. But given the country's rash of recent food safety scandals, and the fact that the FDA has only inspected 1.5 percent of processing facilities in China, this statistic has perilous implications for the future of seafood.

Overfished seafood and overfishing have both been hot topics as of late, but there needs to be a greater conversation not only about how fish are disappearing, but also who the world's seafood suppliers have turned to. Are you concerned about the provenance of your seafood for health and safety reasons?

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