"Weekend Reading" is a weekly rundown of our favorite stories from around the web.
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Fans of Philo-Era Céline Turn Heartbreak Into Profit
"Philo-designed bags and garb became instant collectors’ items as soon as Hedi Slimane’s radical reimagining of the brand walked down the Paris runway. Luxury resale sites say prices have spiked as much as 30 percent on some items."

via: Business of Fashion

Hermès CEO: "People Still Want Things That Not a Lot of People Can Get"
"According to Hermès’ president and CEO for the Americas Robert Chavez, this is largely tied to the 181-year old luxury stalwart’s retail and distribution strategy. Chavez, speaking at Skift’s Global Forum last month, attributed no shortage of Hermès’ success to its “very limited distribution strategy.” To be exact, Hermès operates only about 300 stores in the world, with just over 30 brick-and-mortar outposts in the U.S., and its shoppable website."

via: The Fashion Law

Everlane's ReNew Collection: Good Clothes for a Good Cause
"The brand's commitment to clearing virgin plastic from its pipeline starts with smart fall staples made from 3 million recycled plastic bottles."

via: GQ

Some Viewers Think Netflix Is Targeting Them by Race. Here’s What to Know.
"It’s not exactly news that different Netflix users see different images when they scroll through the streaming service’s titles. In a June article from New York magazine, Todd Yellin, Netflix’s vice president of product, described how the company offered over a dozen posters—or “row art”—for its women’s wrestling series “GLOW.” One poster shows a picture of two cats fighting; another features an image of the show’s principal male lead, Marc Maron; another depicts Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin, duking it out in the ring. But now Netflix is facing a backlash after users have claimed that in some instances, the practice amounts to racial targeting. Confused? Here’s what you need to know:"

via: The New York Times

Warhol & I
"Raf Simons, the chief creative officer of Calvin Klein, on art, fashion and admiring “people who have an opinion, even if it’s against me.”"

via: The New York Times

Prince's Estate is Seeking Federal Trademark Protection for His Purple Pantone Hue
*"As Pantone noted that summer in conjunction with the late singer’s estate, “Prince’s association with the color purple was galvanized in 1984 with the release of the film Purple Rain, along with its Academy Award-winning soundtrack featuring the eponymous song. While the spectrum of the color purple will still be used in respect to the ‘Purple One,’ Love Symbol #2, will be the official color across the brand he left behind.”

Now, Prince’s estate and Paisley Park Enterprises, the late star’s main business company, want to legally claim the color as their own (in addition, of course, to any common law rights they already maintain in the color as a result of Prince’s use of it since the 1980’s; remember, trademark rights in the U.S. are borne by way of use of the mark and not simply by being the first to register it). To be exact, the Prince-affiliated parties filed an application for registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) this month for “the color purple” for use on “musical sound [and] musical video recordings,” “motion picture films featuring music and musical entertainment,” and “entertainment services, namely, live performances,” “operating a museum and providing guided tours of the museum,” among other things.

Yes, a Prince museum might be coming! (A follow up to the Brooklyn Museum’s David Bowie exhibition, maybe?)

The trademark application – which notes that the “mark consists of the color purple alone, which is the approximate equivalent of Pantone Matching System color identified as Love Symbol #2” – comes as the protectability of colors has been a recurring topic of interest for brands for some time, including since the Supreme Court held in the mid-1990's in Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co. that color can, in fact, be registered, as long as it identifies the source of the products. Interest was spurred again in the wake of the 2013 decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that Christian Louboutin does, in fact, have a valid trademark in “Chinese red” for use on the soles of shoes (as long as those shoes are not monochrome red).

More recently, the European Union’s highest court sided with Louboutin in its latest battle over the red sole, holding that the red shoe sole is not incapable of enjoying trademark protection, as it does not fall within the absolute grounds for refusal.

Brands’ attempts to gain – and enforce – federal protection for color serve to highlight the importance that color has in a brand’s enduring identity and its marketing strategy. In much the same way as a trademark acts as an immediate indicator of the source of a product or service for consumers, color can play an important source-identifying function. And unsurprisingly, just as many brands have been able to monetize the recognizability and appeal of their trademarks, no shortage are looking to color for the very same benefits.

As for Prince’s estate, its mark will be examined by a USPTO attorney (to ensure that it is not confusing similar to any existing marks) and then published in the USPTO’s weekly publication, thereby giving other parties that believe they will be damaged by the registration of the mark an opportunity to oppose it.

It is worth noting that prior to Prince’s death in April 2016, his management company appeared to potentially had plans for a clothing collection of sorts (or a tour merchandise-type of venture), as Paisley Park Enterprises filed to federally register the musician’s name in a couple of classes of goods, including Class 25, which covers clothing. The current application for the color purple, however, does not claim clothing or accessories."*

via: The Fashion Law

You’re Probably Buying Stores’ In-House Brands, Whether You Know It or Not
"Every clothing retailer out there seems to be launching its own private label. Big box stores such as Target and Walmart are launching them. Online fashion retailer Asos has several. Revolve has a whopping 19, and Yoox is currently gearing up to introduce (paywall) its own collection of private brands. Never one to be left out, Amazon is practically building an army of its own secret labels."

via: Quartz

Canada Has Nearly Run Out of Weed After Legalizing It
"The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), the body which grants licenses for businesses to sell marijuana, has a website which businesses can buy stock from. Multiple reports say business owners have been unable to buy from the site due to lack of product. Other customers say they aren’t receiving the full amount of stock they first ordered, and even more stores remain totally unopened."

via: Dazed

Contemporary Japanese Photography in All its Alluring Diversity
"A new tome by art historian Lena Fritsch, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Ashmolean Museum, is one of the first overviews of contemporary Japanese photography to be published in English. Ravens & Red Lipstick takes its title from two particular works presented in the book – Fukase Masahisa’s melancholic black and white photographs of ravens and Ishiuchi Miyako’s photographs of the lipsticks that her mother left behind after her death – in a bid to exemplify the diversity and scope of the medium’s heritage in Japan. It’s an overarching aim of the whole book, in which this vast and luscious collection serves to dismantle the typically oversimplified representation of the country’s photographic output as documented in the West."

via: AnOther

Palace Officially Announces First Tokyo Store
"Shortly after teasing its upcoming collaboration with Polo Ralph Lauren via three mysterious billboards in Tokyo, Palace has officially revealed it will be opening a store in the Japanese capital."

via: Highsnobiety

Tags: weekend-reading