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.

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Orla Kiely | Source: MEN Media

The Pluck of the Irish (WSJ)
“Orla Kiely, the Irish designer known for her quirky, signature, retro stem prints, still gets excited when she sees someone wearing her brand. ‘It is nice that people like it enough to buy it,’ she says, sipping black coffee at her London store in Covent Garden, the first one to open in Europe in 2005.”

Neiman Marcus CEO: High end shopping with confidence (Reuters)
“Neiman Marcus Group Inc reported a higher quarterly profit on Monday as high-end shoppers proved more willing to pay full price for the luxury retailer’s expensive designer dresses, shoes and handbags. Despite the gyrations in the financial markets in recent months that has threatened well-heeled shoppers’ net worth, Chief Executive Karen Katz has not seen any pullback.”

Cyber Monday: Marketing Hype No More (Forbes)
“When Cyber Monday was invented in 2005–and make no mistake, it was invented wholesale by the National Retail Federation’s online Shop.org unit–it was little more than marketing hype… Now all that has changed. According to comScore, Cyber Monday is now the busiest shopping day online.”

The BFA Winners (Vogue)
“Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen won the prestigious Designer of the Year accolade at the 2011 British Fashion Awards, which took place at London’s Savoy Hotel this evening… Victoria Beckham took home the Best Designer Brand prize, beating off competition from Tom Ford, Stella McCartney and Burberry.”

Marni For H&M Collaboration For Spring 2012 (Forbes)
“Less than a month after its widely successful collaboration with Versace, H&M has announced that it’s next designer team up is with Marni… Marni’s colorful aesthetic and collage-like use of prints, Marni for H&M is reported to have the same color blocking and print-on-print vibe. There will be a women’s and men’s collection plus accessories.”

Akris Punto Spring 2011 at Neiman Marcus | Source: Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus Opens Customer Door Wider (WSJ)
“With its extravagant Christmas catalog and the wealthiest customer base in American retailing, Neiman Marcus Group has, for more than a century, earned its snob appeal. But after a recession that cost the company $1 billion in annual revenue, the new chief executive officer, Karen Katz, is on a mission to make the chain a bit more inclusive.”

More Than Meets the iPhone Lens (NY Times)
“Like media and entertainment, fashion now unfolds across several platforms… [presentations] drew top retailers but also a throng of enthusiastic young people, many of whom look at the clothes through their cameras or cellphones with a concentration seldom warranted by ’70s-style sportswear with an English twist.”

U.S. luxury sector getting ready for more deals (Reuters)
“Wall Street bankers, the ultra wealthy and even upper middle class shoppers are once again snapping up diamond rings, $10,000 handbags and designer gowns, priming the U.S. luxury sector for more deals.”

The ’40s Footwear Fashionista (WSJ)
“Her sky-high, colorful creations have made Ms. Dellal’s brand, Charlotte Olympia, a current favorite with fashion folk… her company, which bears Ms. Dellal’s first and middle names, is growing: sales doubled this autumn/winter season from the summer season before.”

60 Seconds With: Rosita Missoni (WSJ)
“At 79, the matriarch of the Missoni clan, Rosita Missoni, is a force to be reckoned with. Though she stepped down in 1997 as head of the iconic knitwear line that she started with her husband Ottavio (Tai) over half a century ago, placing her daughter Angela at the helm, she couldn’t stay idle for long.”

Shang Xia Cashmere | Source: Shang Xia

China’s homegrown luxury: Talking with Jiang Qiong Er (CIB)
“What does it mean to create a Chinese luxury brand from scratch? Jiang, artistic director and CEO of Shang Xia… does not bat an eye as she returns her answer: ‘I had a dream to bring about a renaissance of traditional Chinese craftsmanship.’”

New Luxury Frontier: A $5,600 Lotus Jacket (WSJ)
“Lotus jackets could further burnish the brand, which stresses textile innovation. As it competes with lower-cost production of wool and cashmere from China, Loro Piana has introduced other superluxury natural textiles, such as vicuña and so-called baby cashmere.”

Neiman Marcus Joins Borrowers Tapping Rally to Extend Loans (Bloomberg)
“Neiman Marcus Group Inc., the luxury retailer owned by private-equity firms, is offering to pay lenders more interest to extend maturities by three years on a term loan as it works to refinance $2.88 billion of debt.”

How luxury brands can move the needle with social marketing (Luxury Daily)
“No one-size-fits-all solution exists, but brand marketers need to sit down and think seriously about overall marketing strategies and which social media platforms would be the best complements.”

Katrantzou’s Crown (Vogue UK)
“[Mary Katrantzou was] named the winner of this year’s Swiss Textiles Award. The Greek-born designer… beat off stiff competition from fellow designers Jason Wu, Duro Olowu, Adam Kimmel, Juun J and Damir Doma.”

Primark Fall 2010 Lookbook | Source: Hey Crazy

Primark is the best summer seller (Independent)
“Love it or loathe it, you can’t avoid it – at least not anymore. As we report… Primark became Britain’s biggest clothes retailer by sales volumes over the summer. That is a position that has traditionally been occupied by Marks and Spencer.”

How Bergdorf Goodman understands the new luxury purchase funnel (Luxury Daily)
“Upscale department store Bergdorf Goodman has adjusted to consumer fragmentation across communication channels by tightly integrating its print, direct mail, online and mobile strategies to push its fall 2010 collections.”

Neiman Marcus gives fashion bargain hunters a final shot (Internet Retailer)
“Known as Last Call, the brand, which Neiman Marcus launched online and with a retail… features [goods] that were previously sold in Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores, at discounts of 30% to 65%.”

Coach’s Profit Increases 34%, Beating Analysts’ Estimates (Bloomberg)
“Chief Executive Officer Lew Frankfort cited ‘Resiliency’ in handbags and accessories in North America for the gains… The company also cut average prices to spur spending.”

Britain’s prisoners sew their way to a better future (Independent)
“The thought of finding hardened criminals bent industriously over their embroidery, counting stitches and arguing over patchwork might seem far-fetched, but… this unlikely scenario is not only a reality, but a highlight of their daily prison life.”