What's old is new again...and again

I remember SO DISTINCTLY reading the Teen Vogue that featured this little tween Ferragamo intern. Her description of the experience was particularly memorable:

"On my last day, they asked me to do a presentation about my generation's view on brands...It went on for nearly an hour longer than it was supposed to because they had so many questions. I almost started crying afterward."

She almost started crying, y'all! In all seriousness though, this was genius PR for Ferragamie, as there's truly a sexy old-meets-new quality when you have a little tween saying, "I'm obsessed with the Varina flats. I wear them with Earnest Sewn skinny jeans/Philip Lim/the rest of my Gossip Girl-inspired wardrobe."

In France, the "rajeunissement de la marque" (interpreted literally, the re-youngification of the brand) seems like an even more vital part of business. Kinda makes sense that this phenomenon is French. Parisians have both a tremendous sense of pride in tradition and an obsession with the new, so reconciling the two seems like an appropriate preoccupation. Fashion houses like Chanel and Dior are considered to be genius at pushing their brands back into consciousness in a way that resonates as iconic/fresh. As with anything, there's probably a whole science behind doing this -- it's not difficult, for example, to I.D. the tastemaker components behind having Sofia Coppola direct a perfume commercial (I found this pretty WHIMSICAL, I must admit):



Truly one of the most interesting rajeunissement projects is credited to Ramdane Touhami, the mastermind behind CIRE TRUDON. He turned the world's oldest surviving candle works (former clients include Louis XIV and MARIE ANTOINETTE) into an amazing concept store and a line of scents inspired by places (the moon, cloisters, Versailles, Indian apothecary, etc.). All while being quoted saying cryptic things like: “Cire Trudon does not make perfumes, but creates smells.” Tres jeune!