The Buzz
 Image: WENN Nasty Gal’s board of directors just got a high-profile new member. Ron Johnson, former Apple exec, has made a $16 million investment in the retailer. It is some much-needed good news for the company, which has been struggling with layoffs this year and the recent announcement that founder Sophia Amoruso was handing over the company‘s CEO title to Sheree Waterson.
The investment is significantly less than the $40 million boost it got back in 2012, but the #GirlBoss says that’s because she is taking things slowly this time, saying the retailer doesn’t have “an aggressive rollout” planned. A new store is expected to open next month, but beyond that, it depends on how this second store performs. “We want to get another one open, learn a lot and then hopefully destroy everyone.”
It seems wise for Amoruso to proceed with caution into brick-and-mortar. As we’ve learned with brands like American Apparel and C. Wonder, when you open up too many stores too quickly, it can be more of a burden than a boon.
[via Re/code]
 Photo: YouTube Margot Robbie’s makeout sesh with Will Smith wasn’t her only beneficiary while filming Focus. The Australian actress got to wear a mix of high-end designers on-set, and loved every minute of dabbling in pieces from Gucci to Givenchy.
By now you might’ve seen the trailer, or the film if you’re in a country where it’s been released already, and probably spent the entire duration drooling over Margot’s, or rather her character Jess’, chic, expensive wardrobe. (more…)
In case you’ve been living under a rock, there’s a dress that stopped the world today. People can’t figure out whether it’s blue and black, or white and gold, and the divided views have sent the world wide web into an absolute meltdown. People are stressing out, and, we’ll be honest, so are we.
If Kim Kardashian’s butt broke the internet, than we don’t even know what the little black/blue/white/gold dress is capable of. All we know is that people are going to bed tonight angry, confused and frustrated. Families are bickering, friends are fed up with one another, and boyfriends are destined for the couch. Cray.
As always, the reactions on the internet are hilarious, terrifying and outrageous. Ellen DeGeneres is suggesting this dress could start World War III. Memes are spreading like wildfire. Scroll through below to see our favourites. (more…)
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 Photo: Billabong Billabong is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The Australian-founded company has made its way back to profitability for the first time in three years, following a turnaround strategy implemented in December 2013.
Ragtrader reports that Billabong International Limited, which owns brands Billabong, RVCA, Element, Von Zipper, Honolua Surf Company, Kustom, Palmers Surf, Xcel, Sector 9 and Tigerlilly, made a profit of $25.7 million for the six months to December 31, 2014. This is in comparison to a loss of $126.3 million in the same period the year earlier.
Sales were up 9.5% in the US, which is the group’s biggest market, but sales in the Asia Pacific region were down 4.5% partly because of a weak Christmas trading period. Neil Fiske, Billabong’s CEO, said, “It’s encouraging to see the group return to profitability,” but it now needs to see “universal progress”. (more…)
Parisian fashion blogger, noted fashion-film buff and scent-lover Diane Pernet is using her beauty and style koalifications to whip up a new koala-inspired perfume.
Why? Because she’s freakin’ fond of koalas, you guys, and she even had one of those touristy koala-hugging pencils back in the day. “I am so in love with koalas! I’ve always had a thing for them,” Diane, who runs the blog A Shaded View of Fashion, affirmed to WWD. “Growing up, I had a friend from Sydney, and we would all have toy koalas on the end of our pencils.”
Later on, maybe around the time she got her pen license, Diane was given the chance to visit the sunny and picturesque Perth, but would only go on one condition. She said, “I’d only go if I could hold a koala because it’s been a dream since childhood.” She held a cutesy creature named Sunshine, and, from what we can gather, didn’t try to steal it in her croquembouche-esque hair on the way back home. (more…)
 Image: Getty The Supreme Court is simmering on a case brought by Samantha Elauf, a Muslim applicant to the Abercrombie company, who said she was denied a job because she wore a hijab in her interview. Abercrombie claims the scarf violated its look policy at the time. At the heart of the case lies the question, did Abercrombie think that Elauf was wearing a fashion item, or did it fail to hire her because of her religion?
It seems some Supreme Court justices are leaning toward the latter. Abercrombie says it turned Elauf down because the company’s look policy doesn’t include hats or scarves. According to USA Today, “The woman conducting the interview assumed she was wearing the headscarf for religious reasons – but did not ask. She was found to be qualified, but a supervisor later ordered that Elauf be turned down.” As Justice Samuel Alito said, “The reason that she was rejected was because you assumed she was going to do this every day, and the only reason why she would do it every day is because she had a religious reason.”
Another big issue in this case is whether or not employers should ask these types of questions regarding religious accommodations during the interview at all, as it could seem as if they are discriminating against prospective workers.
What do you think? Was it religious discrimination that caused Abercrombie to reject Elauf, or was it the fact that her attire at the time didn’t fit the dress code? Does Abercrombie have the right to reject people if their religious attire is out of line with its policies?
[via USA Today]
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