Gucci store Bicester Village | Source: Thread

Luxury shoppers travel to UK for bargains (FT)
“The changing appetites of Asian shoppers have driven share prices of luxury groups up and down during the course of 2011… Angela Ahrendts, Burberry’s chief executive, has coined the term ‘Travelling Luxury Consumer’ or TLC to describe its key customer group, arguing this is a more powerful force than the Chinese market alone.”

A leg up for Condé Nast (China Daily)
“Cao Weiming, managing director of Condé Nast China, the publisher of the Chinese edition of Vogue and other lifestyle magazines, says behind the glossy cover of Vogue are years of hard work and perseverance. He says one major hindrance for foreign media companies is a lack of understanding of the local culture, regulations and how things operate in China.”

Stars, stripes and selling clothes (FT)
“It’s not only blogs about celebrities that are having an impact. Bloggers writing about everything from watches to their own lives are becoming more influential. As Martin Raymond, co-founder of the Future Laboratory, a London-based trends consultancy, puts it: ‘The influenced are influencing.’ And when it comes to moving product, fashion bloggers are increasingly pulling our strings.”

InStyle Takes Editorial to Retail (WWD)
“The line between fashion magazine editorial and advertising? Getting blurrier by the day… Next up: taking a fashion magazine, combining it with a digital experience… InStyle will take over a 19-by-42-foot storefront… Collages, in a similar vein to Polyvore’s model, can be created and instantly sent as a digital postcard to smartphones. Essentially, these cards provide a detailed shopping list, with special offers and a photo stamp.”

‘Black is perfect, you can fill it with any emotion’ (Independent)
“Ann Demeulemeester’s influence is evident in every pair of wide-leg, drop-from-the-hip trousers on the high street, every starched and mannish white shirt, every boxy blazer and androgynous model. With a return to Nineties grunge tailoring on the cards, her signature ascetism is more relevant than ever.”

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.”

Exiting Louis Vuitton CEO, Yves Carcelle | Source: Fashion Windows

Louis Vuitton picks Constans as new chief (FT)
“Yves Carcelle, chief executive of Louis Vuitton, will stand aside at the end of the next year to be replaced by Jordi Constans, a senior executive of Danone, the French yoghurt group. The move, announced by Louis Vuitton’s parent company LVMH on Wednesday, reflects a trend among luxury goods groups to hire senior executives from the consumer goods industry as their rapid expansion into emerging markets mirrors that of Danone.”

Fashion Week’s Split Personality (NY Times)
“In a matter of a few seasons, the Friday and Saturday shows have eclipsed the others in excitement and energy, so much so that, by Sunday, it seemed to many that spring 2012 Fashion Week had peaked and that the remaining days, far from being a slalom, were a slog… Beyond energy, though, what do all of these young people bring to the communal fashion table, and what, specifically, do they give to designers?”

Hermès shares suspended ahead of court ruling (Reuters)
“LVMH, the maker of Louis Vuitton handbags and Celine dresses, officially claims it does not wish to take control of Hermès but the group has been steadily increasing its stake in Hermès from 17 percent in October last year to nearly 22 percent.”

Japan’s Uniqlo revving up store openings worldwide (Washington Post)
“The head of Fast Retailing Co. said… His company will sharply accelerate overseas expansion of its Uniqlo stores in a bid to become the world’s top apparel manufacturer and retailer. Unveiling a new global business strategy, chief executive and founder Tadashi Yanai said Japanese companies are doomed if they don’t go global… Fast Retailing aims to open 200 to 300 stores worldwide each year with a heavy focus on rapidly growing Asia.”

Vogue publisher Condé Nast to open fashion and design college (BBC News)
“The publisher of Vogue magazine, Condé Nast, is to open a college of fashion and design in London. The college will open next September and the principal will be magazine editor Susie Forbes… The company says it will offer a year-long Vogue fashion foundation course, as well as short courses. It also plans interior design and decoration course.”

Vanity Fair’s June 2011 iPad Issue | Source: Vanity Fair

NEW YORK, United States — The iPad is one of the fastest growing consumer electronics devices in history. According to figures released by Apple, the number of units shipped in the first three quarters since launch left the company’s highly successful sibling products, the iPod and iPhone, in the dust when compared to the three quarters following their respective launches. And although recently reported component shortages and production problems may limit sales figures over the coming quarters, analysts have estimated that Apple could move 45 million iPads in 2011, on top of the 15 million they sold last year. To put that figure in perspective, this would make the iPad the second best selling album of all time following Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which sold 110 million copies, despite the fact that even an entry level iPad costs almost 50 times more than the average record.

The aesthetically appealing iPad has also found particular resonance with both fashion consumers and industry insiders. “Pictures and videos look amazing on the tablet,” said founder and editorial director of Dazed Group, Jefferson Hack. “Photographers, stylists, art directors and designers are all showing their ideas, inspirations and finished work on [Apple] tablets.”

But in stark contrast to the overwhelming success of Apple’s tablet, iPad magazines have yet to take off. Indeed, for many of the world’s largest publishers, who have poured millions into developing digital editions for a device that has often been declared “the saviour of magazines,” iPad apps still account for a tiny percentage of total circulation.“In the long run, it is certain that tablet ownership and readership of magazines on tablets will expand,” Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and president of Condé Nast International, told BoF. But figures released a few months back by the Audit Bureau of Circulation in the US show that despite rising iPad sales, average monthly downloads of iPad magazines slumped towards the end of 2010 after an initial surge of interest, indicating that consumers are giving the magazine app experience, as currently conceived, a collective thumbs down.

What went wrong?

The absence of digital subscriptions — meaning users had to manually purchase individual magazines, at costs that were far above normal subscription rates — has often been cited as the primary reason for this failure. But with a series of recent deals between Apple and major publishers like Condé Nast and Hearst allowing consumers to sign up for digital subscriptions inside magazine apps (publications like Esquire, O, Allure, Glamour, and Vanity Fair already, or will soon, offer in-app subscriptions), this theory is about to be put to the test.

“I think the real problem is that people just aren’t interested in these apps,” said Khoi Vinh, former design director of NYTimes.com. That’s because most iPad magazines are nothing more than delivery mechanisms for print content — what Condé Nast calls “digital replica editions” — built on the false premise the what works in print will work in digital, with slight modifications.

“Many publishers would probably agree that this is a broken premise,” said Vinh. “But I think what’s happening with a lot of these apps is that publishers have convinced themselves that what they’re doing is not just a regurgitation of print and that they’ve added enough bells and whistles to these apps to somehow make them different,” he continued. “In spite of all the added video and three-dimensional rotations and other nonsense, the core thinking behind a lot of these apps is still very, very print-centric.” As such, they are fundamentally out of sync with the way people engage online.

“Pretty much all of the major publishers are creating what I call ‘paper for the screen,’” said Remi Paringaux, creative director of the experimental iPad-only fashion magazine POST. But the internet is completely different to the print medium which preceded it. While print is a monologue to a passive audience, digital is a conversation that’s inherently active and social.

“Publishers should not rest on the assumption that readers want to be merely readers,” said Jeff Jarvis, highly respected media thinker, journalism professor and author of What Would Google Do? who spent ten years as president and creative director of Advance.net, the online arm of Advance Publications, which owns Condé Nast. “They have proven a will to create and share,” he continued. “What makes the tablet special is that one can interact with content and with fellow readers — just presenting content is lazy.”

The iPad provides tremendous opportunity for publishers to experiment with new interactive experiences. But today, the most interesting magazine apps are personalised, social magazines like Flipboard — compiled in realtime from a user’s favourite websites and the things their friends are sharing on services like Facebook and Twitter — and useful services like Net-a-Porter’s iPad magazine, which closes the gap between editorial inspiration and retail.

At major media companies, rather than saving magazines, the iPad may actually be deluding publishers into believing that they can somehow avoid rethinking their products and business models in the face of a digital reality that presents fundamental challenges to both. “I think editors and publishers are fooling themselves into believing that the iPad returns to them the control over the experience, content, brand and business models that the web took away,” said Mr. Jarvis. “Sorry, but there is no going back.”

But there are signs that change is afoot, and magazine companies are beginning to think more creatively about how to use the iPad. “I believe there will be a strong market for these magazine ‘replicas,’ which will be a tablet version of the print product with added interactive features, like video,” said Mr. Newhouse. “But at the same time, publishers will produce a lot of completely new branded products for iPads, along with other tablet devices and smartphones.”

In order to earn a presence in the lives of today’s digital consumers, for whom the internet makes content abundantly available, these new products may have to be very different from magazines as we currently know them. “The best thing to do on tablets is to experiment: with form, with user interface, and with thinking of readers in new roles in new places and times,” continued Mr. Jarvis. “The tablet and the smartphone will merge and diverge in ways we can’t predict now.”

The iPad magazines of the future may look at lot less like the print-centric products we’re used to seeing and more like branded services that let users not just read about, but actively experience a stylistic point of view. Could a location-aware W app offer curated recommendations on nearby fashion and art? What might a Vogue shopping service look like? The possibilities are endless. But to seize this future, publishers will need to innovate in ways that may not be easy to accomplish from within.

“Maybe the best advice I can offer publishers is to disabuse themselves of the notion that a print staff can seamlessly start building successful digital products,” said Vinh. “As with the success or failure of any technology, it’s really about the people.”

Indeed, seizing the digital opportunity means completely rethinking the process of creating magazine content from the ground up, which requires a serious re-examination of the types of people a magazine needs, from the very bottom to the very top of the organisation. Perhaps more than anything, publishers need to seriously engage the start-up community, actively recruit from technology companies and search for new talent at forward-thinking university programs like New York’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) and Stockholm’s Hyper Island.

Earlier this year, it was encouraging to see Andrew Siegal, senior vice president of strategy at Advance Publications, actively engaging the digital community at South by Southwest Interactive during a session called “Conde Nast in Start Up Mode.” But publishers need to do more.

Nobody knows what the ideal digital magazine experience looks like — or whether such a thing will even exist. But as publishers face the challenge of imagining the future and making up for lost mindshare, one thing seems clear. The iPad will not save magazines as they are. It’s magazines that must innovate in order to save themselves.

Vikram Alexei Kansara is Managing Editor of The Business of Fashion.

Hermès belt detail | Source: Hollyscoop

LVMH `Playing a Waiting Game’ for Hermès Takeover (Bloomberg)
“[LVMH said] it doesn’t intend to launch a tender offer, take control or seek board representation at the maker of Birkin bags after announcing it owns 14.2 percent of Paris-based Hermès, with the option to increase the stake to 17.1 percent.”

Conde Nast Digital Loses Style.com (WSJ)
“Conde Nast executives say the move is a natural pairing of two properties whose audiences increasingly overlap. The Internet has empowered shoppers to influence tastes and set trends, blurring the line between consumers and professionals.”

How the Fashion Industry Is Using Digital Tools to Increase ROI (Mashable)
“[The industry is] increasing efficiency and providing much needed data analysis and tracking components. Instead of relying on people to analyze, project and improve, fashion brands now have the digital technologies to meet these needs in a much faster way.”

Gucci, Burberry dominate luxury fashion sector for Web traffic (Luxury Daily)
“Gucci and Burberry have generated more Web site traffic than any other luxury fashion brand surveyed in PM Digital’s latest online trend report.”

Michelle Obama: The three billion dollar woman (Independent)
“Professor of Finance David Yermack cites 189 public appearances between November 2008 and December 2009 in which Mrs Obama wore pieces by 29 listed companies… He estimates that a single appearance by the First Lady can generate up to $14 million alone.”

Nordstrom.com's new look | Source: Nordstrom

Nordstrom Links Online Inventory to Real World (NY Times)
“The company wove in individual stores’ inventory to the Web site, so that essentially all of the stores were also acting as warehouses for online. Results were immediate… It also means that inventory is moving faster, and often at higher prices.”

The Demand for Emerging Fashion: Part I (Huffington Post)
“[The first trend] noticed was brand exhaustion with regard to the majors in the fashion industry… the rise of discount shopping for the masses through sites like Gilt Group has been disastrous to consumer’s mentality on luxury goods… But how do emerging designers benefit from this?”

American Apparel receives possible delisting note (Bloomberg)
“Struggling retailer American Apparel Inc. said Monday it has received a letter from the New York Stock Exchange Amex LLC saying it could be delisted if it does not file its second-quarter results in a timely matter.”

For social success, think content (Biz Report)
“The survey of 457 corporate management and marketing/sales management professionals revealed the vast majority (85%) thought original content to be the key to the success of any social media campaign.”

Condé Nast in push to court India’s affluent (FT)
“The plan for the group’s flagship travel publication comes as Condé Nast is also poised to open a Vogue Café restaurant in Mumbai next year and is considering the launch of up to six other magazine titles over the next three years.”

Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman of Condé Nast International | Source: Condé Nast

LONDON, United Kingdom — At the recent FT Business of Luxury Summit in Los Angeles, business leaders from the luxury sector and beyond gathered to discuss the official theme ‘The Medium and the Message.” But in truth, the official content is inevitably a mixed bag, even if there are always some great nuggets to take away as well.

Some of the best exchanges and learnings happen off-piste. This year I was fortunate to meet Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman of Condé Nast International. Unlike some industry leaders who are standoffish or aloof or totally inaccessible, Jonathan sat down and joined some of us — a group of people he didn’t know — for lunch, engaging us in a spontaneous round-table discussion about the future of magazines and the impact of social media.

And who better to chat with about one of BoF’s favourite topics? Newhouse publishes more than 100 magazines and operates more than 70 websites in 23 countries outside the US. But more important than the scale of Condé Nast is the power of its magazine brands, which include Vogue, Glamour, Wired, Gentlemen’s Quarterly and Vanity Fair.

So how is Condé Nast leveraging these brands in the digital space? The conventional thinking is that all the big magazine companies were caught sleeping during the digital revolution and are now playing a desperate game of catch-up. Jonathan’s presentation challenged that notion right from the start, describing the meteoric rise of Paris Vogue under the leadership of Carine Roitfeld and going on to discuss the GQ’s successful iPad application and Condé Nast’s integrated media business in Taiwan.

There may have been some early strategic errors along the way, but one thing is clear: Condé Nast has its eyes firmly set on the digital space and is forging ahead. Jonathan kindly agreed to share the content of his speech with us here on BoF, a perfect contribution to our ongoing discussion on the future of fashion magazines.

On the media revolution…

It is true that consumer attention is broadly moving toward new media, with consumers spending more time on internet, mobile devices, texting, e-commercing, gaming and social networking. But within this general movement there is tremendous variation. Some established media brands like Vogue continue to thrive and grow. While newspapers are feeling advertising pressure, their readership when combined with their online products is higher than ever. And if you believe network TV is over, how do you explain the success of shows like American Idol?

On who will win: traditional media or new media…

The health of a medium is determined by the strength of the brand and the power of the product to create a meaningful, relevant experience for the user no matter if the medium is old or new. In the new media age, some traditional media and some new media will survive and grow while weaker products will fall by the wayside. The key word is selectivity, determined by the user’s experience with the brand and the product.

On the impact of the iPad…

The most important development affecting magazines will be their delivery on electronic screens, such as Apple’s iPhone and the iPad. An electronically delivered product can take the already rich experience of a magazine and enhance it. Imagine seeing the image of a fashion runway show. Touch it with your finger and the photo comes alive, turning into a video with striding models and music. A magazine glowing with electronic colour, video and sound.

How Conde Nast is capturing this opportunity..

American GQ was the first magazine to place its entire printed product on a mobile device and to charge a price. It is selling 20 thousand copies without any promotional support. GQ is now also for sale on the iPad, as are Vanity Fair and Wired. IPad versions of Vogue and GQ have already appeared in Japan and more electronically delivered magazines are being prepared in the US and in Europe. Experience shows readers will pay for these electronic products, which will count toward paid circulation.

With the ability to buy electronic magazines on mobile devices a whole population of new readers, many of them digital natives, will discover magazines and get hooked. Circulation of iPhone and iPad delivered magazines will parallel sales of these devices, and overall circulation can be expected to increase.

What Condé Nast has learned from its experience in Taiwan…

Condé Nast Taiwan offers offers luxury advertisers a true 360 degree media platform. Vogue and GQ magazines dominate the luxury field. There are five websites, including one devoted purely to video reportage and another to blogs with a total of 330 thousand unique users, which is proportionate in the US to 5 million. Condé Nast has a TV division, Vogue TV, which produces a programme that appears online as well as in public place venues. The Vogue TV programme is also aired on cable TV on the mainland. Vogue and GQ content is accessible through mobile phone, an iPhone app, a digital shopping mall, and Conde Nast is in the process of adapting GQ entirely to iPhone. There is also a public relations arm and a contract publishing division, capable of producing a branded magazine or organizing a glamorous event. Truly a one stop media venue.

On luxury, social media, and democratisation…

Historically exclusivity has been an important value, even a defining value, for luxury. The Luxury Lab says exclusivity is now “debatable”. Really….does the rise of new media mean that the underlying principles of the luxury business no longer apply? What happens to a luxury brand that forgoes exclusivity in favour of availability to the broad masses? In the short run, brand awareness will increase and so will sales, especially of lower priced merchandise. But what will happen in the long run? What will happen to the image and prestige of a brand when it is no longer exclusive? Will not broader availability impact its capacity to charge high prices and command a high profit margin? These are questions which the luxury industry has yet to squarely confront.

On the role of the media in the luxury industry

The role of the media is to be the dream weaver, to animate [luxury] products and to make them desirable. We in the media employ creativity and taste, imagery and words, and a trusted relationship with readers – your customers – to drive your business. The authority and credibility of the established media give it a unique power to support your brands as a full partner. Why, some of our editors actually personify the industry as living icons who contribute to the environment which nourishes your values. The role of media brands like Vogue goes beyond technology or whether the message is delivered on paper or online.

On the role of traditional media in the context of the rise of social media, including blogs

The rise of new media has brought about a seemingly infinite array of choices – literally tens of thousands of websites, blogs, twitter feeds, online retailers, network algorithm-placed advertising along with powerful traditional media like magazines and TV. It’s an exciting, vibrant universe full of new possibilities and connections.

Amidst this fantastic cornucopia of choices, the authority and credibility of established, trusted luxury brands like Vogue count more than ever. Magazines like Vogue have always played a fundamental role in building the luxury business by conveying the prestige, excellence, exclusivity and desirability of your products and brands. We do so in print magazines and today extend our know-how and marketing skill to the internet and mobile devices like the iPad. The media is changing with technology, but the dream of luxury remains something magic and timeless.

Taken from a speech by the chairman of Condé Nast International at the FT Business of Luxury Conference in Los Angeles.

Jimmy Choo for H&M, courtesy of H&M

H&M August sales disappoint (FT)
“Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s third-biggest clothing retailer by sales, on Thursday announced a 4 per cent increase in third-quarter earnings but August sales were worse than expected.”

Eye on London: Fashion Week at a Turning Point (WSJ)
“A three-year, $6.9 million funding package from the London Development Agency has helped fund the British Fashion Council’s efforts to raise the city’s profile, which include a showroom in Paris and programs to support emerging designers. But the package runs out next year, and while the agency plans to put forward another proposal, some doubt that the funding will be as generous.”

Condé Nast Execs Expected to Cut Budgets by 25% (Ad Age)
“Condé Nast is inching closer to slashing costs at its magazines, as editors and publishers begin preparing their 2010 budgets following meetings with Chief Operating Officer John Bellando.”

Annie Leibovitz to design for Louis Vuitton (ELLE UK)
“Iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz and British artist Damien Hirst are just two guest designers creating their ultimate piece of Louis Vuitton luggage for charity.”

Time for luxury to engage (Brand-e.Biz)
“Luxury brands are facing something of a dilemma when it comes to social media. On the one hand, everyone else seems to be at it, and they certainly don’t want to miss out. On the other, they’re all about luxury – and that means maintaining a certain distance from the consumer.”

Annie Leibovitz, courtesty of Seattle Arts and Lectures

How Could This Happen to Annie Leibovitz? (New York Magazine)
Annie Leibovitz’s “debts now total a staggering $24 million, consolidated with one lender with whom she is engaged in a lawsuit and due in September.”

Murjanis seen recasting fashion assets in India (Economic Times)
“The Murjanis have decided to exit the luxury space and stay focused on the super-premium segment after bearing the brunt of the downturn. They exited Jimmy Choo and Bottega Venetta stores and ceded the rights of La Perla.”

No more easy living for Condé Nast (Guardian)
“The advertising downturn is forcing even the world’s most prestigious publisher to tighten its belt. James Robinson on the emergency strategies being taken at the home of Vogue, Tatler and GQ.”

Prada turns avant garde on its head (The Australian)
“Every once in a while, an art, photographic or multimedia exhibition rushes through the international media like a minor bushfire. More often than not, this is sparked by a) its “shocking” content, or b) its once-in-a-lifetime tour around the galleries of the globe. Less often it’s because it offers a real glimpse into the future, which is why an exhibition that opened in Seoul on the weekend, by an up-and-coming artist from Sweden, has drawn hundreds of journalists from across the world.”

H&M same-store sales -3 pct in July (Reuters)
“Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz reported on Monday a bigger-than-expected 3 percent drop in year-on-year sales at established stores in July.”

men.style.com

Conde Nast Says Goodbye to Men.Style.com, Hello to GQ.com, Details.com (Ad Age)
“Conde Nast will shut down one of its web-only brands, Men.Style.com, when it gives two of its titles, GQ and Details, their own websites in October.”

September Ad-Page Tallies Plunge (Ad Age)
“Is September now the cruelest month? It may very well be for fashion and beauty titles this year. The final tallies for those crucial issues are emerging — and for almost every one of the titles, results are terrible.”

Retailers to discount through to 2010 (Drapers)
“UK retailers are likely to continue discounting right through to the first half of 2010, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.”

Designers divided on copyright law (Canada.com)
“A proposed new law that would extend copyright protection to clothing has designers in an uproar and threatens to widen a rift in the American fashion industry.”

Escada plans rights issue rescue (Drapers)
“Escada, the German luxury womenswear group, has launched plans to raise €29 million (£25.1m) in a rights issue in a bid to stave off insolvency.”