29 July, 2010 by BoF Team

BoF Daily Digest | US retailers track the nation, Hermès’ Shang Xia, Mobile commerce trends, Twitter fails to click, Japan-India exchange

J.Crew Summer 2010 | Source: J Crew

Fashion Nation: What Retailers Know About Us (WSJ)
“By tracking customers’ spending habits, retailers get a bird’s-eye view of tastes as they ebb and flow. Online retailers, in particular, see every click we make. They know which brands we’ve peeked at, how long we pondered, and what we actually purchased.”

5 Things We Know About Hèrmes’ New China Brand, Shang Xia (Jing Daily)
“Everything from the design to the materials, manufacture, marketing and management will be local… It is a Chinese brand, developed in China with the Chinese team, based on Chinese craftsmanship and broadly made in China.”

Top 5 Mobile Commerce Trends for 2010 (Mashable)
“Mobile commerce, or m-commerce, is simply the ability to conduct business transactions through a mobile device. With smartphone sales rising 49% in the first quarter of 2010, never before has it been so easy to shop, anywhere, anytime from the palm of your hand.”

Twitter Fails to Click with Brand Marketers (Brand Channel)
“Twitter, which feels like it’s been around for eons but is only four years old, boasts more than 100 million registered users and 65 million tweets daily… despite its growth and all the buzz, it’s not yet clicking with brand marketers.”

Japanese Designers Head to India (WWD)
“Earlier this month, the designers behind three Tokyo-based labels- Matohu, Somarta and Motonari Ono- traveled to the country on a research trip. The five designers will be returning to India for the inaugural edition of India International Jewellery Week.”

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28 July, 2010 by BoF Team

BoF Daily Digest | Chinese JVs on the rise, Affluent consumer species, Wealthy Web 2.0, Social media lessons, Hats off to Jane Taylor

Shoppers in Shanghai | Source: ChinaLuxCultureBiz

Global Luxury Brands Abandon Chinese Partners (Business China)
“In addition to taking direct control of stores in China, luxury brands are hoping to boost profits by tailoring new product lines to the meet local consumer tastes, and moving their manufacturing bases to China or other Asian countries with low labor costs.”

The Four Species of Wealthy Consumers (WSJ)
“A doctoral student and two professors have been studying luxury goods and their “brand prominence”–how noticeable a brand or logo is on a product. They tried to figure out what types of consumers want.”

Wealthy Web 2.0: Social Media’s Richest Audiences (Signature 9)
“When it comes to social sites, where are the wealthy spending time? On Facebook and YouTube primarily, but also reading blogs, tweeting or on the professional network LinkedIn.”

Social media failure should be embraced not feared (Biz Report)
“Social media marketing is still in an experimentation phase, with success and failures. Marketers should embrace the failures, as well as the successes, in order to learn what drives the best results and to formulate future campaigns.”

Hats Off (Vogue.com)
“Jane Taylor is the millinery world’s latest star… Taylor’s timeless and flattering pieces fuse her love of classic shapes with innovative, new millinery techniques.”

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27 July, 2010 by BoF Team

BoF Daily Digest | Exploitation vs experience, Balderton on investing, LVMH beats estimates, Armani odd man out, Denim’s appeal

Alexander McQueen Autumn/Winter 2010 | Source: Alexander McQueen

Fashion industry internships: exploitation or experience? (Guardian)
“The haute couture world may be glamorous, but some interns at the gritty end of the business are being exploited in their quest to gain industry experience.”

Balderton Capital on its Investment Strategy (The Next Woman)
“As we’re seeing lots of companies from different sectors, it gives us a useful vantage point for spotting broader trends, which can sometimes be helpful… challenges that businesses face have parallels in other companies, and different industries.”

LVMH Profit Beats Estimates on Rising Fashion Sales (Bloomberg)
“LVMH… the world’s largest maker of luxury goods, reported first-half profit that beat analysts’ estimates as sales of fashion and leather goods accelerated in the second quarter.”

Armani Is Luxury’s `Odd One Out’ as Second-Quarter Sales Falter (Bloomberg)
“Giorgio Armani struggled to win customers in the past quarter, contrasting with a surge in sales at luxury goods companies Hermes International and Burberry Group.”

Into the blue: Why denim never goes out of fashion (Independent)
“It’s among the most versatile and practical fabrics, beloved in its time by soldiers, railway workers and, of course, since the mid-1950s, by any fashion follower worth his or her credentials.”

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26 July, 2010 by Vikram Alexei Kansara

Fashion 2.0 | What Fashion Brands Can Learn from Nike

NEW YORK, United States — Fashion brands are finally getting serious about digital media. But so far, their strategies have mostly focused on marketing and communications initiatives like interactive advertising campaigns, fashion films and live-streamed runway shows. Integrating digital technology into the core product offering remains a largely unexploited area of opportunity. Here, fashion companies can learn a lot from one of the world’s most digitally innovative brands: global sportswear giant Nike.

Last month, to coincide with the start of the FIFA World Cup, Nike launched a three-minute film called “Write the Future”, featuring football superstars like Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba. According to web video analytics company Visible Measures “Write the Future” clocked a record 7.8 million online views in its debut week, underscoring the power of creating compelling digital content that consumers will voluntarily seek out and share with others.

Luxury fashion brands like Chanel have followed a similar strategy, creating their own digital content to earn attention and free media, and learning to think more like publishers in the process. But for all the recent buzz around “Write the Future,” Nike’s long-term digital strategy has focused less on marketing and communications initiatives and more on developing digital product and service platforms.

… Continue Reading

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26 July, 2010 by BoF Team

BoF Daily Digest | Pringle set for success, Aurora returns to profit, Digital control, Valentino wins case, Hat fit for a Queen

Tilda Swinton for Pringle | Source: Pringle

Pringle boss reveals blueprint (Daily Record)
“Pringle boss Mary-Adair Macaire has revealed her plans to turn the knitwear brand into Scotland’s answer to Chanel… she’s confident that Pringle… will soon win a place among luxury brands from around the world.”

Beleaguered fashion chain returns to profit (Guardian)
“The fashion chains Oasis, Karen Millen, Coast and Warehouse, which became entangled in the failure of Icelandic group Baugur, have reported improving sales under their new owner.”

Does Digital Mean the End of Control? (Fashion’s Collective)
“With now 500 million people on Facebook, and the number of internet users growing exponentially across the world, brands need to figure out how to participate in online communication, but does this mean losing control?”

Valentino Wins 16-Year Trademark Case (Fashionista)
“For the past sixteen years, Valentino has been engaged in litigation with a company called Florence Fashions over the use of the Valentino trademark.”

A Hat Fit for a Queen (WSJ)
“In Via Dei Piatti, a narrow one-way street in the rabbit’s warren of roads around the Duomo in downtown Milan… master hat maker Lorenzo Borghi has labored for almost 60 years.”

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23 July, 2010 by Imran Amed, Editor

BoF Exclusive | Natalie Massenet shows us how Net-a-Porter works its magic

LONDON, United Kingdom — Natalie Massenet wowed them. Thousands of people tuned in for our second FASHION PIONEERS event — literally from all corners of the earth — joining the 200 strong sell-out crowd packed tightly into the stadium seating theatre in Net-a-Porter’s 44,000 square foot headquarters in West London. Throughout the evening and afterwards, questions and commentary came in quickly via our hashtag #BoFLive, reflecting on all of the inspiring things Ms. Massenet had to say.

The discussion touched on all the hot topics from the Net-a-Porter hive and beyond, including Mr Porter, the Richemont acquisition, bloggers vs. editors, the outdated fashion cycle, and more. But the undoubted highlight of the evening was the unveiling of the Net-a-Porter iPad application — a global BoF exclusive — via a 3 minute film screened to both livestream viewers and the live audience. As the announcement of the iPad application’s launch was made, a few enterprising audience members were already downloading the application, which had just been added to Apple’s iTunes store.

As for the BoF editorial team, we are still in reflective mode — there was a lot to take in from the rich discussion. So while we compile the edited highlights of the 60 minute conversation with Natalie (thank you for your patience!) and compose our thoughts on the key takeaways, we wanted to share an exclusive video which was screened at the beginning of the night’s festivities, providing a sneak peek behind-the-scenes to see exactly how Net-a-Porter works its magic, in the voice of its inspiring founder. (Email and RSS Subscribers, you can see the video here.)

We will be posting a video with the highlights of the interview next week, so stay tuned! And thanks again to our wonderful streaming partners who helped to make the event a global one, the amazing team at Net-a-Porter, and of course, Natalie Massenet.

Fashion Pioneers was brought to you exclusively by The Business of Fashion and was filmed by Pundersons Gardens

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23 July, 2010 by BoF Team

BoF Daily Digest | Chic clicks, Indian luxury stalls, Harvey Nichols boost, Aquascutum push, Growing a McQueen garden

Prada Autumn/Winter 2010 | Source: Prada

Prada Autumn/Winter 2010 | Source: Prada

The chic learn to click (Economist)
“Luxury firms may at last be waking up to the internet, but they have a long way to catch up… It is odd that an industry that would not be seen dead in last season’s colour is wedded to the last century’s technology.”

India’s luxury market remains underdeveloped (CPP Luxury)
“The lack of upscale retail space, high taxes and red tape are the main factors which have been hampering the development of the Indian luxury market. Luxury spending in India… was less than a tenth of that in China last year.”

Harvey Nichols profits up (Retail Week)
“Harvey Nichols… has revealed that the luxury department store will return to record pre-recession profit levels in its current financial year but has warned of a drop in shopper spend in 2011.”

Aquascutum fights to turn things around (Independent)
“The fashion brand Aquascutum is working with a debt advisory firm to raise capital to drive its turnaround, following its acquisition by the owner of Jaeger last September.”

Grow Your Own McQueen Garden With the New Visionaire (QS)
“The nicest touch: it turns into flowers. The issue will include images inspired by McQueen, printed on paper embedded with wildflower seeds. When you plant the pages, water and sun them, they’ll eventually blossom.”

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22 July, 2010 by BoF Team

BoF Daily Digest | Seeking male shoppers, Chinese consumers value CSR, Luxe apparel spending lags, Green sneakers, Sewa success

Jack Spade Clothing and Accessories on Gilt | Source: Gilt Groupe

Jack Spade Clothing and Accessories on Gilt | Source: Gilt Groupe

Wanted: Guy Shoppers for Fashion Sites (WSJ)
“Online fashion shopping sites like Gilt Groupe and Rue La La have been a hit with women since launching over the last three years. A new push to get men to shop in these web boutiques is proving more difficult.”

Foreign luxury companies take note: Chinese consumers favour CSR (FT)
“A new study points to a more powerful tool: promoting corporate social responsibility. More than two-thirds of Chinese consumers said a luxury brand’s CSR would affect their decision to purchase decision.”

Luxe Spending Rises, but Apparel Lags (WWD)
“The country’s richest consumers will drive luxury spending up between 6 and 8 percent this year… but apparel is unlikely to benefit. Apparel spending by these consumers has recovered somewhat, but continues to slide.”

How Green Is My Sneaker? (WSJ)
“A group of roughly 100 well-known apparel brands and retailers have developed a software tool to help them measure the environmental impact of their apparel and footwear, from raw material to garbage dump.”

From Untouchable to Businesswoman (NY Times)
“Ms. Parmar’s moment of liberation came roughly 20 years ago, when the not-for-profit Sewa Project formed a unit in her village to help preserve endangered handicrafts and, equally, to provide the people who make them a form of alternative employment.”

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22 July, 2010 by Imran Amed, Editor

BoF LIVE | Fashion Pioneers with Natalie Massenet at 7:30pm London time today

LONDON, United Kingdom — The day has arrived. Tune in today at 7.30pm London time (that’s 8.30pm Paris and Berlin and 2.30pm New York) for our second installment of FASHION PIONEERS to hear the inspirational, entrepreneurial story of Net-a-Porter’s Natalie Massenet.

We have teamed up with fashion blogs and websites around the world to bring FASHION PIONEERS straight to your computer screens. A big thank you to our coalition of style blogs for streaming the interview with us:

United States: Tavi Gevinson | Fashionista.com | JC Report

United Kingdom: Style Bubble | Fashion156 | Style Salvage

France: A Shaded View on Fashion | Luxury Society

Germany: Les Mads

Spain: Kate Loves Me

We invite you all to tune in. And while you are watching, please send questions for Natalie Massenet to our Twitter account @_BoF_ using the hashtag #BoFLive

Fashion Pioneers is brought to you exclusively by The Business of Fashion and will be filmed by Pundersons Gardens

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21 July, 2010 by BoF Team

BoF Daily Digest | Magazines’ digital future, Luxe spending holds steady, Rich recovery stalls, Digital discovery, Luxottica Palace

Interactive Shopping: In Style Boutique | Source: Mashable

Interactive Shopping: In Style Boutique | Source: Mashable

How the Fashion Magazine Industry Plans to Profit from Digital This Fall (Mashable)
“Fashion magazines are poised to make a big comeback in ad sales in 2010 — but the recovered revenue may not come from print sales. Instead, the publishers of major U.S. fashion magazines are ramping up their digital and mobile offerings.”

Spending on luxury goods holds up (FT)
“Half of all respondents expected to see a decline in their sales in 2009, and yet 38 per cent saw volume increases. This year, nearly 90 per cent of research participants are expecting sales to rise, and one in three is forecasting growth of 10 per cent or more.”

Recovery Stalls for the Rich (WSJ)
“The number of millionaire investors who plan net decreases in their investments rose to the highest point since June 2009. Nearly two-thirds plan no changes. They are keeping more than a third of their fortunes in cash, and they are reducing their holdings of stocks, bonds, mutual funds.”

The Digital Exploration of Luxury Brands (Fashion’s Collective)
“When a consumer has an amazing experience with a brand, this facilitates the emotional connection that leads to loyal customers, high customer retention and high referral rates.”

Eyewear, With a Bit of Disney and a Touch of Apple (NY Times)
“A wind tunnel. A concierge. A store that’s shaped like an eyeball. It doesn’t exactly sound like an eyeglasses retailer, but then, it’s not supposed to… Luxottica, the $6.6 billion eyewear company… is experimenting with a concept store.”

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