Fab.com Screenshot | Source: Fab.com

Yesterday, BoF was first to bring you the news of the recent $18 million investment in Farfetch.com. Today, we continue a week focused on e-commerce by examining the historical challenges faced by online retailers and how recent innovations and infrastructural advances have fundamentally improved the economics of e-commerce, setting the stage for a renaissance in online retail.

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Following the burst of the dot-com bubble in early 1999, e-commerce suffered from a lack of venture capital investment. The unrealised, over-hyped expectations for e-commerce — at a time when the market, consumer technology and infrastructure were less evolved — and the subsequent burns left venture firms with a nasty aftertaste. Perhaps the most spectacular fashion e-commerce failure was that of Boo.com, which launched in the Autumn of 1999, burned through $135 million in venture capital in just 18 months and was liquidated in 2000.

But on closer inspection, e-commerce has also faced additional complexities and capital inefficiencies that, for years, continued to push investors away.

… Continue Reading

Fern Mallis and Calvin Klein by John Calabrese | Source: WWD

The House That Calvin Klein Built (WWD)
“Omnipresent as Calvin Klein is throughout the world, the man behind the brand has a reputation for being anything but that… Yet during a rare public tête-à-tête with Fern Mallis Monday night, the designer opened up… No subject seemed to be too personal for the 68-year-old Klein, who appeared relaxed and affable throughout the interview — his first at 92Y in 12 years.”

Flash sales pioneer Vente-Privee targets U.S. (Reuters)
“Vente-Privee, the French start-up that pioneered the now much-imitated model of on-line flash sales, plans to launch its U.S. website by mid-November in partnership with American Express and aims to reach $500 million in sales in the ultra-competitive market in the next five years.”

A Site for Do-Gooders Who Want to Look Good, Too (WSJ)
“Move over, Gilt and Net-A-Porter. These innovators in selling high fashion online are being joined today by Community Collection – a new web company that is marrying several post-financial-crisis cultural phenomenon into one url:  People who want to donate to good causes, can do so by buying fashion online.”

Luxury retailers eye “bleak to chic” east London (Reuters)
“Shoreditch is set to be home to a “mini Bond Street” as luxury fashion houses Christian Louboutin, Ralph Lauren and Vivienne Westwood home in on London’s east end, setting the stage for a possible doubling of rents over five years. The three fashion houses, which have sites in high-end areas of London’s traditional West End shopping district, are among luxury retailers targeting the once down-at-heel Shoreditch to capitalise on its edgy image, lower rents and increasingly affluent population”

Birth of a Salesman (WSJ)
“In the summer of 1994, Mr. Bezos quit his job in New York as a vice president at the financial-services firm D.E. Shaw… Moved to Seattle to take advantage of the explosive growth of the Internet and to start Amazon… Mr. Bezos’s unusual management style began to develop. He’s not always a “nice” CEO. He can inspire and cajole but also irritate and berate. He can see the big picture—and micromanage to distraction. He’s quirky, brilliant and demanding.”

Chanel boutique Hong Kong | Source: Peace Love Chanel

Highest Quality, Lowest Prices in Hong Kong (Bloomberg)
“Hong Kong retail sales, boosted by mainland Chinese tourists, surged 26 percent to HK$264 billion ($34 billion) in the eight months through August… Zhang Zuoru said it was worth waiting in line in the Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district of the former British colony. She bought a bag in the Chanel store on Canton Road for 33,000 yuan ($5,190), at least 20 percent less than she would pay in mainland China, she said.”

TV and Film, From Condé Nast (NY Times)
“Condé Nast, intensely focused of late on reducing its reliance on advertising (or at least finding ways to give current advertisers more value), plans to announce the creation of a full-fledged entertainment division… Developing television and online programming based on Condé Nast personalities, articles and general brands is the first priority, although movies are also a focus.”

Amazon Lets You Manage Your Print Magazine Subscriptions (Mashable)
“Further insinuating itself as a middle man between publishers and consumers, Amazon has introduced a service that lets consumers manage their print subscriptions. The program, the Amazon Print Subscription Manager, lets subscribers update their address, track expiration dates, cancel, renew or report a problem for all their print magazine subscriptions.”

All that glitters (FT)
“They’ve been sweating the small stuff in Paris. When the world at large lurches from one extreme to another, you focus on what you can control. On the catwalks, designers displayed an obsession with classic couture detailing, be it fluted sleeves, peplums, the curving back of a sac shape or the generous tent of the trapeze. Off the catwalks, however, this took another form: surface technique. Which is not the same thing as superficial.”

Bollywood Takes Some Style Cues (NY Times)
“Bagwati’s cinematic appearance is part of a Bollywood revolution. Traditionally a medium where vibrant color and sparkle always trumped taste, costume and art direction in the country’s movies are starting to reflect the growth of fashion consciousness across urban India. ‘We’ve gone from no information, no aesthetic, no awareness of fashion to a place where we thrive on fashion,’ said Karan Johar, one of the most successful producer-directors in Hindi cinema.”

H&M flags discounts, Q2 profit in line, shares dip (Reuters)
“Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz said a two-month sales dip brought on by cold weather could force it to make deeper discounts for the next three months as it met forcasts for second-quarter profit.”

Why Amazon Needs to Stay Out of Fashion Retail (BNET)
“Do we really need another place to buy clothes online? Amazon is apparently so encouraged by double-digit growth in women’s retail it’s re-launching its clothing and shoe business with a focus on haute looks that will compete directly with such established high fashion destinations as Net-A-Porter.”

Gap plans four China stores this year (Reuters)
“Gap Inc will open its first four owned and operated China stores in Beijing and Shanghai later this year and simultaneously launch an online shopping site for the key consumer market. China, as the third largest clothing market in the world, has a growing middle class with an interest in America’s casual style.”

Wanted: Social Media Policy, Strategy and Resources (Brandchannel)
“It’s fairly well established that social media is a channel that businesses must participate in, leaving CEOs with the new challenge of planning and implementing brand aligned initiatives enterprise-wide. This leaves the majority of organizations exposed to problems arising from employees saying the wrong things in the wrong ways to the wrong people at the wrong time.”

25 Years of Inez and Vinoodh (WWD)
“If you have opened a fashion magazine, or any magazine for that matter, over the last decade or so, you’ve seen the work of Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, known in the industry simply as Inez and Vinoodh. The Dutch photographers (partners in work and life) are the creative eyes behind such contemporary imagery as the Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Lanvin, Yohji Yamamoto and Chloé ad campaigns.”

Esteban Cortazar

Cortazar Leaves Ungaro (Vogue.com)
“Following a lengthy period of less than emphatic denials and weak shows of unity between Ungaro and the label’s ceo, Mounir Moufarrige, the decision has been taken to dissolve the relationship, WWD reports. It is expected to be formerly announced later today that the separation is by mutual agreement.”

Amazon to buy Zappos (Drapers)
“Amazon is set to buy US footwear website Zappos.com for around $927 million (£561.6m).”

Italian luxury consumption seen stable in summer (Forbes)
“Consumption of Italian luxury goods is seen stabilising in July and August from falls in the two previous months as the crisis sapped demand for jewellery, accessories and designer goods, an association said.”

Fashion Rio and the casual lifestyle (The Japan Times)
“While there are some bumps to get over, interest in Japan seems to be readily increasing for some in the Brazilian fashion industry.”