Coach Spring/Summer 2009 Featuring Ali Michael | Source: Coach

Coach Doubles Dividend as Earnings Top Estimates (BusinessWeek)
“Coach Inc., the largest U.S. maker of luxury leather handbags, doubled its dividend and announced an expansion in Europe … The company said it planned to open at least 14 stores in France … with Printemps, the French department-store chain. Coach has also agreed in principle to create a joint venture with Hackett Ltd. to open stores in the U.K., Spain, Portugal and Ireland.”

High street retailers show their resilience (Independent)
“Burberry, the fashion giant, said its sales had risen by 6 per cent during the first half of its year, adding that profits were now likely to come in above previous expectations of around £200m. Meanwhile, Primark, said it was also seeing strong demand continuing, with profits up 18 per cent during the first half to £144m.”

Estrella Out (Vogue)
“The Ungaro plot grows thicker today with the announcement that head designer Estrella Archs has left her position at the French house.”

Asos aims for £1bn global operation (Times)
“The online fashion retailer reported a sales rise of 38 per cent in the year to the end of March, a slower rate than previously, but insisted that its international expansion meant that it could quadruple in size by 2015.”

What’s in a Label? Say It in French (NY Times)
“The environment of Ms. Marant’s new SoHo store is reflective of the finished-yet-unpolished look of her clothing: artsy structures in raw wood; acoustic French folk music.”

Nick Knight: Techno King (IHT)
“What makes this glossy magazine photo session different is not just that it takes place in a London museum… It’s that there are thousands, maybe millions, of other viewers out there in cyberspace following the live stream, watching the hairdresser flicking Natalia’s Mohawk or sending tweets about her luminous beauty.”

Mariella Burani mulls strategic investor (Reuters)
“Debt-laden Mariella Burani Fashion Group is weighing taking on a strategic investor after it failed to close a debt restucturing accord ahead of a Monday deadline, the luxury goods company said.”

H&M: October sales drop but Jimmy Choo range is a success (Drapers)
“Total sales across the group grew 7% in October compared to the same month the previous year. The results came as H&M opened its doors to its latest designer collaboration, this time with Jimmy Choo which drew crowds across the country this weekend.”

Asos enjoys overseas sales boost (BBC)
“A big push into new international markets has boosted sales at online fashion retailer Asos. International sales grew by 112% in the six months to 30 September. Asos added 56 countries to its reach and now trades in 114 places.”

Iman: The model entrepreneur (CNN)
“One of the most recognized models of the 1970s and ’80s, Iman has used her entrepreneurial skills to great effect in the fashion industry, with her own cosmetics business and in her charitable fund-raising work.”

El Palacio de Hierro luxury department store, Mexico City | Source: iluminet.com

Ferragamo Chief Norsa Says Mexico Is Strongest Luxury Market (Bloomberg)
“Salvatore Ferragamo SpA Chief Executive Officer Michele Norsa said the Italian fashion brand’s strongest sales growth among major economies this year has been in Mexico, where the wealthy spent more at home as the peso fell.”

Asos benefits from overseas sales (FT)
“In a statement ahead of its annual shareholder meeting, Asos said trading was in line with expectations for the six months to September 30. The fashion site said it had 1.2m active customers in the period, up from 890,000 a year ago, with 5.6m visitors a month.”

U.K. Retail Sales Index Rises to Highest Since April, CBI Says (Bloomberg)
“Retailers saying sales increased from a year earlier outnumbered those reporting declines by 3 percentage points, compared with a reading of minus 16 points in August, the biggest U.K. business lobby said in a statement in London today.”

M&S Sales Improving, Cautious On Outlook (WSJ)
“U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer Group PLC Wednesday reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter sales, driven by the introduction of more affordable food and revamped clothing and homeware ranges, but cautioned that trading conditions will remain difficult well into next year due to the economic downturn.”

Random Thoughts Before the Train to Paris (New York Times)
Cathy Horyn collects her thoughts before her arrival in Paris.

Lanvin, Dior, and Paul Smith S/S 10, courtesy of men.style.com

Paris menswear week winds down with Dior, Lanvin (AP)
“The French capital’s spring-summer 2010 menswear displays wound down Sunday with a harder-than-usual silhouette from romantic label Lanvin, a retro rocker at British dandy Paul Smith and a sheer, shorn look at Dior Homme.”

ASOS says trading robust as profit doubles (Reuters)
“British Internet fashion retailer ASOS Plc posted an expected 93 percent rise in year profit and said current trading was robust, boosted by strong demand for jumpsuits, boyfriend blazers and marble wash denim.”

Why retailers are launching retro collections (FT)
“While fashion has been plundering its own history for years, these days it’s not just the designers who are having a renaissance. Designs of long-ago are, too.”

Ready to Wear: Is it fair to lambast such an innovative designer? (Guardian)
“Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière has once again came under scrutiny online as bloggers point out that a patchwork leather jacket from his 2010 resort collection shown in New York earlier this month bears an uncanny resemblance to a ‘parrot’ jacket, courtesy of East West Musical Instruments that operated in San Francisco during the Sixties and Seventies.”

Escada S/S 09 ad campaign, courtesy of Escada

Escada seen up on report of unit sale (Reuters)
Could there finally be a way out of the red for beleaguered Escada? Shares in the German luxury-fashion company rose, “8.3 percent in pre-bourse trade making them one of the few German pre-market gainers after a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung says the company is in advanced talks with one suitor to sell its Primera subsidiary, which offers mid- to upper-market brands.”

Asos sees sales more than double (BBC)
Online sales continue their explosive growth. At ASOS, “sales for the 12 months to end of March came in at £165m, which was a rise of 104% from the previous year.”

China Govt: To Keep Raising Export-Tax Rebate On Textiles (WSJ)
“China will continue to increase export-tax rebates on textiles to stabilize the share of the world market held by domestic companies, and is aiming to keep textile export growth at an average of 8% each year through the end of 2011, the State Council, or Cabinet, said Friday.”

Stocks Rally for Seventh-Straight Week (WWD)
“Retail stocks rose 2.7 percent Friday, cementing the sector’s seventh-straight week on the rise despite continued concerns about shoppers and sales.” (Subscription required)