The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The World's First Digital Supermodel Has Arrived (Highsnobiety)
"Shudu, the model behind the page @shudu.gram is being called one of the most beautiful models on Instagram. Although new on to the scene, Shudu has caused a fair amount of controversy, hinging around the fact that she's not actually real, but a project from a photographer."
Apple Sails Past Fitbit and Xiaomi to Take Commanding Lead in Wearables Sales (Gadgets and Wearables)
"Thanks to an uptick in Apple Watch sales — the company moved 8 million units in the holiday quarter — up an incredible 57.5 percent from the year before. The late-year push separated Apple from the pack to become the overall leader in wearables sales for the full year."
Voice Shopping Sales Could Reach $40 Billion by 2022 (USA Today)
"Purchases made through devices such as Google Home and Amazon's Echo are projected to leap from $2 billion to $40 billion by 2022 as technology improves, US consumers become more comfortable and the speakers become nearly as commonplace in homes as a flat-screen TV."
Why Retail's Artificial Intelligence Bet is All Wrong (Quartz)
"Most of what the retail industry refers to as artificial intelligence isn't AI. Using the 'AI' that worked online in physical stores risks making physical stores look increasingly like websites amid a larger trend towards automation and reducing human presence in stores."
Stitch Fix Customers, New and Existing, Are Spending Less (Fast Company)
"Customers who use Stitch Fix for two years spend less the second year than they do during the first year. New users reportedly spend less overall: Customers who joined in Q1 2017 spent $172 on average, $6 less than users who joined in Q1 2016."
The nature of livestream transactions makes it hard to identify and weed out counterfeits and fakes despite growth of new technologies aimed at detecting infringement.
The extraordinary expectations placed on the technology have set it up for the inevitable comedown. But that’s when the real work of seeing whether it can be truly transformative begins.
Successful social media acquisitions require keeping both talent and technology in place. Neither is likely to happen in a deal for the Chinese app, writes Dave Lee.
TikTok’s first time sponsoring the glitzy event comes just as the US effectively deemed the company a national security threat under its current ownership, raising complications for Condé Nast and the gala’s other organisers.