LONDON, United Kingdom — Could FASHION PIONEERS get any better? We started our signature live interview series earlier this year with Jefferson Hack, co-founder and editorial director of Dazed Group in April and moved swiftly onto Natalie Massenet, founder an executive chairman of the groundbreaking e-commerce website Net-a-Porter, securing a global exclusive on the brand new Net-a-Porter iPad application.

Today, completing a veritable holy trinity of London’s digital fashion forces, we are honoured to announce that our next Fashion Pioneer will be Nick Knight, fashion photographer, founder and director of SHOWstudio.com, the pioneering website which first ushered fashion imagery and editorial into the digital era 10 years ago. Tickets available now!

On the very eve of SHOWstudio.com’s 10th anniversary, Nick Knight will sit down for a rare, in-depth, one-on-one conversation with BoF founder and editor Imran Amed on 26 November, 2010 at London’s Hospital Club to reflect on a remarkable career, the first ten years of SHOWstudio.com, and the future of fashion communication in this era of digital disruption and innovation.

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FashionStake Screenshot | Source: FashionStake

The FashionStake Diaries is a four-part series that gives BoF readers a behind the scenes look at the crucial first months of a crowdfunding fashion startup, seen through the eyes of its founders. Today, in the final diary entry, they reflect on the crucial first weeks following launch: what worked, what did not, lessons learned and plans for the future.

NEW YORK, United States —On the day of “go live” for any startup, planning is quickly overtaken by the reality of operational work. For us, September 1st was a memorable launch day. Months of pre-launch strategising, building, debating and recruiting was replaced with the business of actually running the company: answering customer calls, shipping our first items and managing our online merchandising.

We’d like to share our first month in business with you and, since this is our final post in the FashionStake Diaries, thank you for reading and commenting on our entries.

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Digital IQ Ranking 2010 | Source: LuxuryLab

NEW YORK, United States — Last year BoF reported on the first ever ranking of luxury brands’ digital competence, and today the second ranking, published by New York-based LuxuryLab, was released first to a small number of global media outlets, including BoF.

The adoption of digital media has been explosive. Longtime readers from the very beginnings of BoF may recall our first ever post on Fashion 2.0 back in April 2007 when CEOs, Creative Directors and Managing Directors insisted to me that they would never use such tools as Facebook to engage their fans and customers. How things have changed in three short years!

According to Scott Galloway, founder of Luxury Lab, the “combination of the economic crisis, the emergence of a more digitally native Gen Y consumer, and several brands  getting huge ROI — sales and press — due to digital leadership, inspired a massive investment in both human and financial capital in digital in 2010.”

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Coach Kristin Leather Hobo Bag | Source: Coach

TOKYO, Japan — In the United States, the Coach Kristin Leather Hobo bag retails for $298. In Japan, the same bag costs $711 (¥59,850).

This disparity in pricing is not unique to Coach. Premium and luxury fashion brands based outside Japan have long charged Japanese consumers a significantly higher price than in other markets for the same goods. But today, due to a strong yen and greater visibility of global pricing thanks to the internet, Japanese consumers are growing weary of this systematic markup.

As Mariko Sanchanta notes in a recent Wall Street Journal piece entitled “Web-Bargain Luxury Comes to Japan,” Japanese consumers are becoming accustomed to “discounts” at outlet malls and online sales, which, ironically, make prices equivalent to what much of the world pays at standard retail.

So why is it that premium and luxury brands have been able to charge nearly double for their products in Japan — a practice which on the face of it looks like price gouging?

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NEW YORK, United States — “I want to own this whole thing,” Philip Crangi says of his popular jewellery brand. “I’d rather own 100 percent of something small that 10 percent of something huge.” The 2008 CFDA Swarovski Award for Accessories winner — whose jewellery is both intensely popular with editors and intensely personal to those who wear it — takes as much pride in forging his business as he does each golden amulet. “It’s more than a job,” he says. “It’s my baby. I want control over it. I believe in control.”

Growing up in Boca Raton, Florida, Crangi developed a fascination with the talismanic nature of jewellery, charms and trinkets. “I wanted to find the buried treasure in flea markets or in the attic,” he says. “I never did, so I have to make it myself.”

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