GQ and Park & Bond pop-up shop, NYC | Source: Selectism

When mags merge with bags (FT)
“GQ is not the only media operation to embrace a more overt commercial role. More and more publications have been trying to establish ecommerce operations in an effort to extend their brands beyond the printed page, and find new sources of revenue in a tough advertising market.”

Mulberry enjoys strong festive season, sales up (Reuters)
“Luxury fashion company Mulberry Group Plc expects 2012 financial year results to exceed its earlier forecast, led by strong Christmas and New Year sales, putting it firmly in the festive winners’ camp in the UK.”

Asos Third-Quarter Sales Rise on Retail Growth Outside U.K. (Bloomberg)
“Asos Plc, the U.K.’s second-largest online clothing retailer, reported a 46 percent increase in third-quarter retail sales because of growth abroad, and said it’s confident of meeting analysts’ full-year profit estimates.”

Chinese haute-couture steps up at HK Fashion Week (Reuters)
“China at one time may have been better known for fashion knockoffs than catwalk creations, but Chinese haute-couture is now finding its feet on the international stage — even as it grows ever more popular with customers at home.”

Marc Jacobs: “I don’t know what the key to happiness is” (The Talk)
“I don’t know, I don’t know what the key to happiness is. Happy is just a feeling like every other feeling. I certainly feel happy some days and in general I am pretty happy, but I have all the other feelings as well. So I don’t know if there is a key.”

Hermès Canton Road | Source: B on brand

Behind the brands (China Daily)
“A survey confirms China’s luxury goods buyers are young and keen on pampering themselves.Gan Tian reports… The focus of this year’s survey is in line with China’s luxury industry profile, where the majorityof buyers are aged between 20 and 30 – significantly younger than their counterparts inWestern countries or nearby Japan.”

Mulberry profits boosted by overseas growth (Reuters)
“British luxury fashion brand Mulberry said its first-half profit more than trebled, boosted by global expansion, and said it was cautiously optimistic about the future while acknowledging the challenging macroeconomic climate. The company, which designs, manufactures and sells leather goods and accessories, posted pretax profit of 15.6 million pounds in the six months to Sept 30, up 231 percent.”

The CFDA Refuses to Shorten New York Fashion Week (The Cut)
“The CFDA has agreed to move New York Fashion Week back a week for September 2012 (to run from September 6 to September 13), and also start on the second Thursday in September in 2013 and 2014, as Milan requested. However, it rejected Milan’s demand to shorten New York Fashion Week.”

Facebook Fashion Index Ranks Brands by ‘Likes’ (WWD)
“When it comes to getting ‘likes’ on Facebook, Converse is a pro. In November, Converse continued to hold the number-one spot among fashion brands in Facebook “likes,” at 20,985,796, up 0.38 percent from October. Coming in at number two was Adidas, which had 11,397,425 “likes,” up 0.86 percent from October, according to a survey on Stylophane.com.”

Ohne Titel Stands Alone (Interview)
“Flora Gill and Alexa Adams of Ecco Domani Award-winning womenswear line Ohne Titel have always wanted to showcase their structured high-impact garments in an environment that echoes their strong look. Hence their excitement when New York-based arts and culture nonprofit BOFFO selected them to participate in its second annual Building Fashion Project. “

Hermes Autumn/Winter 2011 | Source: Hermes

Luxury Market Surges While the Rest of the Economy Sputters (Atlantic Wire)
“Economic news these days is pretty bleak: job growth is anemic, retail sales are stagnating, and consumer confidence is plummeting. But the luxury goods market is another story… According to Reuters, investors are now pouring money into luxury stocks.”

UK brands: retro in new markets (FT)
“Clamour for British brands among emerging market consumers has been the making of luxury brands like Burberry and Mulberry… Appetite for retro British brands is sure to continue in the Bric economies – although there’s only so much tomorrow’s consumers can stomach.”

Topshop Rolls the Retail Dice in Las Vegas (Forbes)
“Sir Philip Green… Is gambling that Topshop’s latest collection, Dress Up, will have him in the chips when the retail chain’s flagship store opens… The Las Vegas location is just one part of a larger expansion plan for the chain that includes Toronto… Chicago… Another outpost in New York City and a new shop in Miami.”

Gilt Groupe’s Richardson Discusses Online Retail (Bloomberg)
“Nate Richardson, vice president of Gilt Groupe Inc, discusses the opening of four new markets of the online luxury retailer.”

Inside a Pending Deal for a Stake in It-Label Proenza Schouler (Thread NY)
“Enter Andrew Rosen, who is said to have started eyeing Permira’s stake in Proenza Schouler late last year. His acquisition of the brand will be separate from his role as co-founder and CEO of Theory and related to an investment group that he is leading.”

The gospel according to Forever 21 (Guardian)
“This is the American fashion chain run as a family business, the chain that, thanks to its “pile very high, sell very cheap” operation, has been a phenomenal success, with profits (in 2008) of $135m despite the fact that nothing it sells costs more than $65.”

Mulberry Tops Fashion Retailers on Sales Boom (Bloomberg)
“The 40-year-old British luxury-handbag maker, is the world’s best-performing fashion retail stock over the past year… Investors are betting Mulberry…will join the likes of Burberry Group Plc as an iconic luxury brand.”

Designs on Doha (FT)
“Muslimah dress restrictions have paved the way for an accessories boom in the Middle East. For affluent young women here, however, designer accessories are not symbolic of money or aspiration but are simply the norm. So they increasingly seek out unfamiliar territory in the form of emerging designers.”

Sitting in the lap of luxury (China Daily)
“While consumers in Japan, the United States and Europe are scrimping on luxury goods, the swelling ranks of big spenders in China are taking in whatever the “haute” houses in Paris or Milan can serve up… Luxury brands feel no constraint in boosting their prices to cover rising costs and foreign exchange losses.”

Designers Revisit Copyright Protection (On the Runway)
“…Five years into a campaign by the Council of Fashion Designers of America to enact some sort of protection for original designs…One of the biggest differences in the new bill is that designers would have to prove that a copy is “substantially identical” to their originals, rather than “substantially similar.”

Kris Van Assche by Paolo Roversi | Source: Interiew Magazine

Kris Van Assche By Rick Owens (Interview)
“The last two years have marked a subtle turning point for the 35-year-old Van Assche, who has weathered the early storms, turned back the critics, and started to carve out his own territory. But as he confesses to Rick Owens, beneath his organized, controlled surface lies a quiet intensity that continues to fuel his work.”

The height of fashion (Marketing Week)
“‘If you bought the first Harry Potter film, then you are probably going to buy the next one… But if you’ve bought a pair of red shoes there’s no certainty over what you are going to buy after that.. It’s more about understanding a customer’s preferred brands, styles and price point, then engineering that to a point where the product served to them is relevant.’”

Madewell, but Remade How Well? (NY Times)
“Around the turn of this millennium, Mr. Drexler… presciently intuited a groundswell of consumer yearning for traditional American dry goods and bought the rights to, though not the physical remains of, Madewell, a brave little workwear manufacturer in New Bedford, Mass.”

Mulberry profits surge as fashion group expands (BBC)
“Luxury fashion group Mulberry has reported a sharp rise in profits as the boom in luxury goods continues to defy the economic gloom. Pre-tax profit for the year to March jumped to £23.3m from £5.1m a year ago… ‘Strong demand in all markets has continued into the new financial year and the outlook for the Mulberry brand is positive.’”

The Sound of Style | Tim Blanks (AnOther)
“‘I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing for such a long time, but people don’t really know that much about me,’… Blanks rose to prominence celebrating and disseminating shows on video for Canada’s Fashion File, an international cult that gave thousands of viewers an insight to the world’s most vibrant catwalks, opening a closed-door culture.”

Tom Ford's Spring/Summer 2011 presentation | Source: Nitrolicious

‘Less Is More’ Is Mattering Most (NY Times)
“‘Why would you want to spend hundreds of thousands on a show when everybody’s on their BlackBerry and the clothes seem secondary… Intimacy, exclusivity and a chance to see the clothes: those are our priorities. We like exposure, but we want a more controlled exposure.’”

Mulberry designer Emma Hill has men’s accessories in the bag (The Australian)
“After a decade-long obsession with women’s ‘it’ bags, could men’s bags become the next powerhouse sellers for luxury brands? The likes of Brioni, Tom Ford and Zegna have recognised… an emerging market for men’s accessories.”

Leading China’s voguish revolution (Telegraph)
“China is shaping commerce, but Asia as a whole is inspiring aesthetics. There has been an ongoing East/West dialogue in fashion since Poiret in the Twenties, but it is again taking hold of the imagination in a manner not seen since the late Eighties.”

Supergroup’s rapid expansion boosts sales (FT)
“The ever-growing popularity of Superdry branded T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts and jackets helped Supergroup nearly double its retail sales in the third quarter. Supergroup, which owns the Superdry… said sales at its retail division grew by 92 per cent to £61.4m.”

Anya Hindmarch announces record year (Telegraph)
“Anya Hindmarch, Britain’s ‘handbag queen’ and one of the Prime Minister’s business ambassadors, has announced record 2010 results for her luxury own name brand, and further growth and expansion in 2011.”

Rick Owens Autumn 2011 Runway | Source: GQ.com

Paris Men’s: Fashion Hams and the Home Front (NY Times)
“Despite some of Mr. Helbers’s knowing design details, especially in the mix of textures, the dark clothes were plain enough to make you seem invisible, one more dude in the lonely crowd. But if you can afford Louis Vuitton, would you want that distinction?”

An Exclusive Sit-Down with Alexandre Plokhov (MANual)
“Like pretty much everyone else who follows menswear, we’ve been anticipating this week’s launch of Alexandre Plokhov’s namesake collection in Paris—which is why we were thrilled when the…designer invited us to his Flatiron District studio.”

Christian Lacroix Designing for Desigual (The Cut)
“The line has to be called Monseiur Lacroix since he can’t use his name on his designs anymore, and the first collection for fall 2011, presented this week at Barcelona Fashion Week, includes 30 pieces.”

Mulberry shrugs off retail gloom to ride the luxury boom (Telegraph)
“Mulberry’s strong performance is in marked contrast with most high street fashion retailers, who in general had a difficult Christmas trading period due to the snow and consumers’ concerns about the economy.”

The blurring lines of fashion (Telegraph)
“Everyone in fashion is turning their hand to another discipline as stylists become designers, bloggers go mainstream and editors become creative consultants… the way fashion exists now, that means anyone in the industry can turn their hand to a new role.”

Salvatore Ferragamo | Source: Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

Florence Reasserts Craftsmanship (JC Report)
“Gone are the days that glossy surface advertising alone meant stellar profits, and even designers such as Tom Ford, who helped accelerate the previous generation of luxury sales, are now reverting to more authentic brand propositions.”

Mulberry bags huge profits rise (Evening Standard)
“The fashion retailer — which beat Burberry, Pringle of Scotland and Victoria Beckham to win ‘Designer Brand of the Year’ at the British Fashion Awards…posted pre-tax profits of £4.7 million for the six months to the end of September, compared with £1.5 million a year earlier.”

Lululemon customers and investors walk path of devotion (Globe and Mail)
“Amid the high expectations around Lululemon, executives sprint to spot customers’ needs by keeping in close touch with them through free yoga classes and focus groups. They hire staff who are themselves active… and then offering their own feedback on products.”

On the front lines in the vintage clothing war (Toronto Star)
“This war has been fuelled not only by an explosion of vintage stores in the past five years, but also by Toronto’s emergence as a major hub on the vintage-clothing distribution pipeline.”

You Can’t Look Away (Style.com)
“Lady Gaga, James Franco, Anna Dello Russo—the year’s newsmakers seemed to turn every moment of their waking lives into a spectacle, part deadly serious, part put-on. Backstage, too, the players and the moves they made were full of bravado.”

Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2011 RTW Runway | Source: Style.com

Spring, Fashion’s Operatic Season (NY Times)
“The season was the powerful game changer that retailers and editors have been hoping for — if only to give customers a new reason to shop. The longer skirt lengths and more forgiving jacket cuts with looser shoulders.. are easier to wear, and sell.”

How Facebook Can Become Bigger Than Google (Tech Crunch)
“Facebook’s alleged revenue has grown from $275 million in 2008 to $635 million in 2009 to a rumored $2 billion this year… Facebook is allegedly already earning double the revenues Google reported when it filed to go public.”

Mulberry rises 17 percent as consumers snap up its luxury handbags (Guardian)
“Consumers may be worried about spending cuts and the gloomy economic outlook, but that has not stopped them splashing out on Mulberry’s trademark leather handbags. The company said sales over the past ten weeks [are] up 57% in its UK shops.”

Gap Rebrands Itself Into Oblivion (Brand Channel)
“After dominating the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gap has dropped its iconic logo in favor of something that looks like it cost $17 from an old Microsoft Word clipart gallery.”

The 8 Most Influential Chinese Designers (Red Luxury)
“China is booming and so is its high street. Chinese designers are vying for a place in China’s evolving fashion landscape. Some are winning international awards in the process. Here are eight of the most influential designers in China.”

Prabal Gurung Spring/Summer 2011 Runway | Source: Style.com

Stores Cheer Versatile Designs (WSJ)
“Nearly two years after the bottom fell out of the luxury business, retailers are selectively increasing their spending budgets, targeting fashions their core customers will splurge on and key pieces that the still-wary aspirational consumers will find compelling to buy.”

Louis Vuitton tops fashion brand rankings (Just Style)
“The LVMH-owned label maintained its 16th place in the 11th annual rankings of the Best Global Brands, increasing its value by 4% to US$21.9bn.”

Dolce Mentoring (Vogue UK)
“Dolce & Gabbana is launching a new platform highlighting the collections of emerging designers. Opening in Milan this weekend is Spiga2 – a new retail outlet that will house the work of the [designers'] favourite up-and-coming talents.”

A New Location That’s All in How You Use It (NY Times)
“The tents are larger and certainly cleaner than those in Bryant Park, but they don’t necessarily improve the presentations. If [the]smallest, most intimate space at Lincoln Center can’t help the audience engage in the clothes, what hope is there… for American fashion?”

Emma Hill, the Mulberry designer (Guardian)
“Mulberry is a high end but also a quintessentially British brand. Hill herself, though, has spent most of her working in life in New York, designing bags for the likes of Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein.”