Brands Experiment with Weibo, China’s Answer to Twitter

Fashion 2.0 | Shanghai

Screenshot of Gucci on Weibo | Source: Gucci

SHANGHAI, China — In the parallel internet universe behind China’s “Great Firewall,” where search engine Baidu is Google, etailer Dangdang is Amazon, and video sharing site Youku is YouTube, the microblogging service Weibo (pronounced Way-Bwah, literally microblog) — launched in August 2009 by online media giant Sina Corp — has emerged as the country’s answer to Twitter. According to brokerage and investment group CLSA Asia-Pacific

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Colin’s Column | What is Wrong with Haute Couture and Fashion Today

Colins Column | Opinion | Paris

Mona Bismarck wedding dress by Cristobal Balenciaga | Source: monabismarck.org

Today we are honoured to welcome Colin McDowell to our team of contributing editors at The Business of Fashion. In his regular column, we will hear his personal stories, reflections, and insights from over thirty years working in fashion as a designer, educator, critic and commentator. PARIS, France — In the wake of the couture shows in Paris, I have been thinking about what is wrong with current couture and, indeed, fashion

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CEO Talk | Matteo Marzotto, Chairman, Vionnet

CEO Talk | Milan

Matteo Marzotto, CEO Vionnet | Source: BoF

MILAN, Italy — When Matteo Marzotto, stylish scion of the Italian fashion dynasty announced in February 2009 that he was acquiring the storied House of Vionnet, owned at the time by Arnaud de Lummen who had already had a go at reviving the sleeping beauty himself, the response from the fashion industry was simultaneously one of intrigue and distaste. On the one hand, a swarm of journalists and buyers packed into Marzotto’s Milan

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Proenza Schouler says Social Media has an Extraordinary Impact on the Business

International | New York

  • Imran Amed interviews Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez | Photo: Dustin Fenstermacher
  • Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough at IFB Conference | Photo: Dustin Fenstermacher
  • Imran Amed, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez | Photo: Dustin Fenstermacher
  • The Crowd Looks on at IFB Conference | Photo: Dustin Fenstermacher

“Blogs posting things about us, going viral, spreading throughout the internet… it has an extraordinary impact on the business.” Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough, speaking to BoF Founder Imran Amed at the Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference at New York Fashion Week during a wide-ranging conversation about the power and influence of social media on their budding business

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From Brazil, 5 Emerging Talents to Watch

Intelligence | Sao Paulo

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — “I didn’t even know international trade fairs existed when I set up my business in 2003,” admitted Alessandra Migani, founder of Brazilian designer label Alessa. “I got a phone call from ABIT (the Brazilian clothing and textile association) telling me they wanted to show my collection at trade show Simm in Madrid,” she told BoF from her stand at womenswear show Who’s Next in Paris earlier this month, where she

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