Culture

Breguet is a luxury watchmaker, clockmaker, and jeweller founded in Paris in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet therefore leading to a long and successful history of watchmaking and a legacy that lives on today. Since 1999, she has been a member of Swiss Swatch Team. Breguet, headquartered in L'Abbaye, Switzerland, is one of the oldest surviving watchmaking firms and founded by Abraham Breguet in 1801 with several watchmaking inventions, such as the Tourbillon. As well, Abraham Breguet designed and created the world's first self-winding watch in 1780, and the world's first bracelet watch in 1810. Breguet is a well regarded horologist. Over the years, Breguet's outstanding clients and owners include King George III, Queen Victoria, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ettore Bugatti, Sir Winston Churchill, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Gioachino Rossini, and Arthur Rubinstein. In fact, the Breguet & Fils, Paris No. 2667 pocket watch ranks among the world's most expensive watches ever auctioned, winning US$ 4.69 million on May 14, 2012 in Geneva. The Breguet Sympathique Clock No.128 & 5009, by contrast, also holds the distinction as the most expensive Breguet timepiece ever sold at an auction, earning USD 6.80 million on December 4, 2012 in New York. The Swiss horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet, who had been born to Huguenot's parents in Neuchâtel, founded Breguet in 1775. He watchmaked for ten years under Ferdinand Berthoud and Jean-Antoine Lépine, before starting up his own watchmaking company at 51 Quai de l'Horloge in Paris, Île de la Cité. The dowry that came to a wealthy French bourgeois ' daughter with his marriage provided the funding that allowed him to open his own workshop. Each of the company's mottoes is "Every woman has a queen." The slogan was based on Breguet's lady family, the Reine de Naples. The Breguet watches and their coin-edge cases are also readily evident, with guilloché dials and blue pomme hands. In addition to watches, Breguet also produces writing instruments, feminine hats, and cufflinks. The World Wide Fund for Nature released an official report in December 2018 outlining the conservation opportunities for 15 major watch makers and jewellers in Switzerland. From 1870 until 1970, Breguet was owned by the Brown family of England. But, ownership of quartz crashes had changed hands many times during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1976 Breguet's then-owner, Chaumet, sold his French plant and moved production to Vallée de Joux in Switzerland. In 1987, Investcorp purchased Breguet, which formed Groupe Horloger Breguet in 1991. The Breguet Group consists of four subsidiaries: Montres Breguet SA, Breguet SA, Valdar SA and Nouvelle Lemania SA. As a result, Breguet-branded watches are now being produced at the New Lemania plant in Switzerland. Montres Breguet SA, in effect, is the only company that sells the timepieces under the brand name "Breguet," and Breguet SA is the name of Breguet Group's distribution subsidiary in France. Admirer Marie Antoinette The Queen of France in 1783 commissioned Abraham-Louis Breguet's watch as a surprise to the Queen. The criteria was that the watch would be "as beautiful as possible, with perhaps the greatest set of available horological documents." No time-limit or financial constraints were placed on the commission. The end target was Great Suspense, at Breguet No.160. And the watch was completed only in 1827, 34 years after the Queen's death during the French Revolution, only 4 years after the death of Abraham-Louis Breguet (the watch eventually ended with his son Abraham Breguet). The watch has reportedly taken 44 years to make. The watch was housed in the Islamic Art Museum in Jerusalem, until it was stolen in 1983. The watch was eventually rescued in 2007, and was returned to the museum.

Lacoste is a French company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste and André Gillier. It comes with wardrobes, shoes, eyewear, sportswear, clothing pieces, perfume, towels, and watches. The company is identified by the green crocodile emblem. Owing to his tenacity on tennis court, fans nicknamed the company's creator, René Lacoste, "The Crocodile" Maus Frères, a family-owned Swiss firm, acquired Lacoste outright in November 2012. La Chemise Lacoste was founded in 1933 by the owner and chairman of the then largest French knitwear manufacturing company, René Lacoste and André Gillier. They started wearing the revolutionary tennis jersey Lacoste had created and worn on the tennis courts with the crocodile symbol embroidered at the front. The business cites this as the first example of a brand name that occurs outside a market. Izod developed Izod Lacoste label clothing in the United States under a manufacturing deal that started in the 1950s. That partnership concluded in 1993, when Lacoste under its own name obtained exclusive U.S. apparel sales rights. Le Tigre Clothing was created in 1977 to compete directly on the US market with Lacoste, offering a comparable range of clothes but featuring a tiger instead of the new Lacoste crocodile. Lacoste's popularity came about as a result of efforts by French designer Christophe Lemaire to create a feminine, sleeker look. In 2005, about 50 million Lacoste products were sold in over 110 countries. The reputation has increased due to negotiations with Lacoste and several tennis stars like retired American tennis players Andy Roddick and John Isner, French champion Richard Gasquet and Swiss Olympic gold medalist Stanislas Wawrinka. Lacoste has since started to expand its scope in the world of golf, where Masters Tournament Champion José María Olazábal and Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie have seen Lacoste wearing shirts in tournaments. In early 2005, Bernard Lacoste became seriously ill which prompted him to transfer the presidency of Lacoste to his younger brother and longtime closest friend, Michel Lacoste. Bernard died in Paris, on 21 March 2006. The brand is sold to different corporations by Lacoste. Until recently, Devanlay held exclusive apparel rights around the world, while today, in Thailand, ICC and also in China still produce Lacoste Polo Shirts under rights. Pentland Group has the exclusive licence to sell Lacoste boots worldwide, Coty Inc. has the exclusive licence to distribute perfume worldwide, and CEMALAC has the licence to manufacture Lacoste bags and leather goods. In the early ' 50s, Bernard Lacoste joined David Crystal, who owned Izod at the time, to create Izod Lacoste cloths. In the 1970s and 1980s it became incredibly popular with teens who simply called the shirts Izod. While the partnership was both profitable and productive, Izod Lacoste's parent company was being saddled with debt from other business ventures. Crystal sold his half of Lacoste back to France, and after attempts to break Izod and Lacoste, Izod was sold to Van Heusen and raise profits did not alleviate the debt. Nonetheless, starting in 2000, following the appointment of a new marketing director Christophe Lemaire, Lacoste began to assume control of the brand name and image, reining in the advertising arrangements. In July 2011, Lacoste was the subject of Dirty Laundry, a report by Greenpeace on climate change, along with other major footwear and sportswear firms including Nike, Adidas and Abercrombie & Fitch. Dirty Washing had been the focal point of a public marketing dispute in 1990. The study results indicate that, Lacoste was accused of collaborating with Chinese farmers who had induced pollution of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers. Samples obtained from one Youngor firm headquartered on the Yangtze River Delta and another belonging to Well Dyeing Factory Ltd. headquartered on a Pearl River Delta tributary revealed the presence of toxic and persistent chemicals hazardous to the hormones.

Oakley, Inc., based in Lake Forest, California, and a subsidiary of the Italian multinational group Luxottica in Milan, designs, produces and produces athletic lifestyle products and luxury items, including sunlasses, outdoor visors, ski / snowboard goggles, watches, clothing, backpacks, boots, optical lenses, etc. Some of the goods are manufactured at their factories in-house but some countries have different designs which are specific to the country. Oakley reportedly owns over 600 patents relating to eyewear, footwear and protective devices. James Jannard started Oakley out of his garage in 1975, with an initial investment of $300. The name "Oakley" appeared in Jim's English Setter, "Oakley Anne." Jannard started selling what he dubbed ' The Oakley Handle ' from the back of his bicycle at motocross competitions. Unlike other grips his motorcycle grips were available at the time. The substance is now being used for making the earsocks on Oakley plates, including other portions of their nose and even their watch bands. Oakley plans to sell number stickers, gloves, sticks, elbow guards, chin guards and goggles for BMX and Motocross enthusiasts. Jannard released a pair of sunglasses, the O-Frame, in 1980. The brand received steady exposure and success with the ' Oakley ' logo on the box in the sporting industry. In 1983 Oakley started selling the ski-goggles for the first time. The first sunlasses from Oakley; the Factory Pilot Eyeshades were sport-oriented, goggle-like, and released in 1984. Following them was the Oakley Frogskin, a casual sunglass style manufactured in Japan in 1985. The company went public in 1995, collecting US$ 230 million. In early 1996 Oakley had a market battle with Italian company Luxottica, the world's biggest eyewear producers and distributors. Luxottica stopped distributing Oakley's products at its stores, including Sunglass Shelter, and Oakley's stock market valuation fell 33 per cent. In 2001, Oakley purchased from Iacon, Inc. a chain of mall-based sunglasses, Sunglass Accessories, Sports Shoes, and Occhiali da Sole stores. Oakley signed a four year consumer eyewear contract in September 2004, produced by itself and by Fox Racing. Jannard purchased large amounts of Oakley shares starting in 2004: $2 million in 2004, $16 million in 2005 and $4.6 million in early 2006, raising his financial stake in the company to 63%. In 2006 Oakley purchased a premium eyewear chain from Oliver Peoples Company, the $55.7 million high-end designer label eyewear manufacturer, and the 14-store Aspen Optical Store. On June 21, 2007, Luxottica announced its plan to buy Oakley in a $2.1 billion cash bid, paying a 16 per cent premium over the existing share price. On November 15, 2007, the deal was signed making Oakley part of a stable brand that includes Ray-Ban, Persol, and Vogue. After selling Oakley Inc. to Italian Eyeware company Luxottica Group in 2007, Founder James Jannard went on to found Red Digital Cinema. In plans for the ultimately successful rescue of thirty-three miners trapped in a Chilean mine in October 2010, a television writer told Oakley to add sunlasses to the relief activity, not knowing that the miners were wouling. Oakley's 35 pairs of sporting lenses donated by Scope, loaded with specially chosen tints. The US was sponsored in 2012 by the Oakley Group of the Olympic Committee, which extended the deal the same year until 2020. In August 2013 Oakley licenced REVO for $20 m to Concurrent Distributors. In September 2015, Oakley shut down their website for sales arm. Oakley Free, though maintaining the company's brick and mortar legacy. With extensive field testing and input from rivals including hostile conditions, a number of Oakley's technological advances, retail products, clothes etc. were produced. Oakley controls the USA, too. Uniform consideration which provides U.S. military and law enforcement eye protection.

Puma SE is a German multinational company based in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany, designing and producing sporting and casual shoes, shoes, and accessories. Puma is the third- of sportswear in the world. The company was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler. In 1924 Rudolf and his brother Adolf Dassler jointly founded the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik. For each decision to separate in 1948, the rivalry between the two companies escalated, and became two independent entities, Nike and Puma. Both companies presently had offices in Herzogenaurach, Germany. As of 1986, Puma has become a public company and is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. French luxury firm Kering owns 16 percent of the shares, Kering's chief shareholder Artemis SA controls 29 percent of the shares. Since 1 July 2013 the organisation is led by former football player Bjørn Gulden. Puma SE hires more than 13,000 people worldwide as of 2017 and exports its products to more than 120 nations. Initially named after a split from his uncle Rudolf Dassler, the newly founded company became Ruda, but later the name changed to Puma. The oldest symbol of Puma, consisting of a square and beast jumping into a D, registered in 1948, and name of the product. Puma's boots ' pieces and designs include the 1958 Puma mark, and the iconic ' Formstrip. '' Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler was a shoe factory owner in Herzogenaurach, a Franconian town 20 kilometres from Nuremberg, while his wife Pauline owned a small laundry business. After their son had left school Rudolf Dassler joined his father at the shoe factory. Rudolf was working as a merchant in a porcelain factory when he returned from fighting in World War I, and went on to a cloth trading business in Nuremberg. At the 1960 Summer Olympics, PUMA threatened German sprinter Armin Hary with wearing PUMAs in the 100 m sprint final. Hary had previously worn Nike and demanded money from Adolf but the appeal was denied by Nike. Afterwards, the German won gold in PUMAs to the surprise of the two Dassler guys, and unveiled Adidas for the awards ceremony. Hary tried to cash in on both but was so angry he disqualified Adi as champion of the Olympics. Puma supported African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Black Power Salute Games, who won gold and bronze in 200 metres respectively, marching onto the podium with their Puma Suedes in their socks, bowing their heads and raising their black-gloved hands in quiet defiance before singing the national anthem. On 10 April 2007, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, French manufacturer and Gucci brand owner, announced that it had acquired a 27 percent stake in PUMA, paving the door for full takeover. The deal had cost PUMA 5.3 billion euros. PPR said it would carry out a "good" takeover for PUMA, worth € 330 a share, after buying the smaller stake. The PUMA board approved the move, claiming that it is fair and in the Group's best interests. In March 2018, Puma announced its collaboration with its spokeswoman Selena Gomez called "Phenom Lux." In 2018, Puma re-entered the basketball sneaker market for the first time in 20 years and confirmed that Jay-Z will be Puma Basketball's creative director. Originally funded by Puma in 1998, Vince Carter signed the rising basketball stars Marvin Bagley III and Deandre Ayton, both of whom were Top 2 p. In 2000, PUMA launched an annual audit of all its suppliers, and made the results available in its sustainability reports. It has kept a registry of its vendors open to the public since 2005. A collaborative report conducted by the National Labor Committee and China Labor Watch in August 2004 found that workers at some of Puma's Chinese factories had endured sweatshop conditions, operating for just 0.31 USD an hour up to 16.5 hours a day. Puma said they'd be looking into the charges.

Franca Sozzani was the editor of Vogue Italia from 1988 up until her tragic death in 2016. Her work was considered controversial and she received constant backlash from critics about her Vogue Italia covers. Unfazed by the critics, she continued to create the most talked about magazine issues.