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

Gap store in China | Source: Juncture Mag

Gap plans store closures in US, while opening new locations in China (Washington Post)
“The struggling retailer, which runs the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, detailed plans on Thursday to close 189 locations, or 21 percent of its namesake Gap stores in the U.S., by the end of 2013. At the same time, the largest U.S. clothing chain said it plans to triple the number of Gap stores in China from about 15 by the end of the year to roughly 45 by the end of next year.”

eBay’s New Retail Platform Is Mostly Free, So What’s the Catch? (All Things Digital)
“The platform, called X.commerce, was unveiled yesterday at the company’s developer conference in San Francisco and is designed to help any size retailer, ranging from family-owned stores to Toys “R” Us, keep up to date as shopping goes online and mobile.”

Female Founders Of Snapette Not Your Typical Geek Entrepreneurs (Forbes)
“The founders of Snapette are not your prototypical start-up entrepreneurs. At least in the minds of some Silicon Valley venture capitalists… While there are many shopping and style websites, Snapette is different because it focuses on actual products in the real world connected to location.”

Prada and Schiaparelli at the Met (On the Runway)
“Elsa Schiaparelli may share a birthday with Karl Lagerfeld (Sept. 10), but Miuccia Prada is unquestionably her sister in soul. Putting these two nimble minds together makes sense, and not simply because both are educated Italian women who enjoy a good fashion joke. The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that the spring 2012 exhibit at the Costume Institute will be ‘Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion.’ It will open May 10 and run through Aug. 19, with the gala on May 7.”

The woman who built a wardrobe with doors all over the world (Guardian)
“While the British high street struggles in the face of the economic downturn, My-wardrobe saw 68% sales growth in the first half of this year. Sales doubled in the 12 months to May after Curran introduced more upmarket brands such as Missoni and Phillip Lim. More than 900,000 shoppers visit the site each month to view collections from 180 designers, spending an average of £260.”

Hermès sari collection | Source: Luxpresso

Hermès sees sari as way in to India (FT)
“It’s perhaps not surprising that the first offer of a sari from a western company comes from Hermès, which last year launched a bespoke Chinese brand, aimed at winning more Chinese customers while resuscitating China’s craft tradition… India’s luxury market has recently captured the attention of European and American fashion houses, as the increasingly affluent elite shrug off years of socialist-inspired austerity.”

Battle of the catwalks update: Milan and Paris refuse to budge (Telegraph)
“So, as things now stand, New York fashion week will begin on September 13 next year, followed by Milan on September 19, London on September 21 and finally Paris on September 25. Milan decided to go ahead with its controversial calendar (that sees it run concurrently with two days of New York and four days of London fashion weeks) despite a last minute plea from its British and American counterparts.”

eBay VP Steve Yankovich: En Route To $4B In Gross Mobile Sales (TechCrunch)
“eBay is on its way to process around $4 billion in mobile sales (= gross merchandise volume, not revenue) in 2011, double the number it logged last year. The company’s mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, WP7… Have been downloaded over 50 million times, and its Marketplace app alone has seen about 20 million downloads. Furthermore, three purchases are made through eBay’s mobile applications every second.”

From Rags to Riches (T Magazine)
“With big-name museums increasingly relying on fashion, it was only a matter of time before corporate brands saw the advantage of creating their own exhibitions and ‘museums,’ where they could set their focus without any intervention from pedantic historians and where they could make or break their own rules… But with so many more museum exhibitions scheduled to open and an audience that adores fashion displays, no one would dare to dismiss a heritage piece as ‘this old thing.’”

LVMH: In the lap of Luxury (Telegraph)
“If you have ever wondered how big the Moët & Chandon cellars are, what the inside of the Christian Dior haute couture house looks like or how long it takes to make a bespoke Chaumet tiara, then you are in luck. Next weekend the luxury group LVMH – whose portfolio also includes Louis Vuitton, Givenchy Couture, Dom Pérignon and Glenmorangie – is opening the doors of some of its private inner sanctums.”

Burberry Spring/Summer 2012 | Source: Design Scene

Burberry launches 2012 collection on Twitter (Guardian)
For the first time, the label “live tweeted” the show on Monday from backstage, posting photographs of each look on Twitter moments before the model stepped on to the catwalk… When you consider that it was not long ago that high street stores smuggled spies into catwalk shows in order to glean clues as to what might be in stores in six months’ time, this is quite a turnaround.”

Tom ‘God’ Ford has off day. Fashion world in denial (Guardian)
“This man redefined the parameters of what a fashion brand could be during his time at Gucci. He made the world rethink what it means to be sexy, replacing heroin chic with a slick, glossy aesthetic…His comeback show in New York was one of the highlights of my decade as a fashion editor: a gorgeous, glorious, life-affirming celebration… But even godlike geniuses have off days.”

eBay says Boo to the runway (FT)
“Some of the world may be obsessed with fashion that hasn’t yet happened – or the stuff now appearing on runways from London to Paris, which won’t be in-store until late February of 2012 – but the folks at eBay are much more interested in the profit potential of immediate gratification.”

London Fashion Week crisis after Gucci summon models to Milan (Telegraph)
“London Fashion Week has been thrown into crisis after heavyweight Italian fashion brand Gucci, who will show their spring/summer 2012 collection in Milan on Wednesday, ordered countless models to fly to Milan early to begin fittings for their show.”

Miuccia Prada Sitting Pretty (Because London)
“Miuccia earned her stripes slowly and after years of being regarded with skepticism from critics and fashion insiders. Untrained in design and lacking an apprenticeship in the conventional sense, she earned a Ph.D. in politics, then became a mime artist before eventually taking over the family business. 
At that point in the late ’70s, Prada was a small Milanese leather goods manufacturer.”

Hussein Chalayan photographed by Chris Moore | Source: Vogue Paris

Chalayan and McQueen exhibitions: cultural landmarks of the year (Telegraph)
“It is the intellectual and imaginative stature of these two former peers – the fact that they drove fashion to reflect difficult realities and push the boundaries of technology – which make their shows a different kettle of fish from the usual lifeless way clothes appear in museums.”

LVMH Pledges Gender Balance In Europe (Forbes)
“LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton voluntarily committed to increase women’s representation at the highest corporate level by signing the Women on the Board Pledge for Europe, which aims to increase women’s board membership to 30% by 2015 and 40% by 2020.”

Global Demand Buoys Burberry (WSJ)
“Luxury retailer Burberry PLC reported a 34% rise in first-quarter sales, boosted by new store openings and continued global demand for its iconic trenchcoats and designer handbags… Luxury groups enjoy renewed demand and the company’s growth strategy continues to deliver strong profits.”

U.S. Retailers Shop for Space in Europe (WSJ)
“The weak U.S. economy and worries about jobs have consumers spending less and are causing some of the biggest U.S. retailers to look abroad for growth… American retailers are finding it easier to experiment and try new strategies in new markets than to revamp worn models at home.”

eBay liable for counterfeits sold on its site (Telegraph)
“eBay has tried to claim exemption from liability for counterfeit goods sold on its site, but the European Court of Justice… Ruled that brand owners will be able to initiate legal proceedings if the likes of eBay and other online marketplaces allow counterfeit goods to be sold.”