A Marriage of Economic Convenience (NY Times)
“More than a decade since Target first popularized collaborations between high-end designers and mass retailers, and seven years since H&M introduced a collection with Karl Lagerfeld, there is still allure in the concept of cheap and chic… Such collaborations are proving to be both a reliable business model for retailers and a business in themselves.”

Marc Jacobs’s Entire Spring / Summer 2012 Collection Stolen (The Daily Beast)
“Call it the case of the missing dresses. Marc Jacobs’ entire Spring/Summer 2012 collection has been stolen from a train en route from Paris to London for the brand’s European press day, the company has announced. According to the e-mail circulated to press on Wednesday morning, the PR team wrote ‘our press day tomorrow in the Marc Jacobs store is cancelled, due to the theft of the spring/ summer 2012 collections during its transfer from Paris.’”

PPR to follow PUMA’s green accounting lead (Business Green)
“The parent company of some of the world’s biggest luxury and sporting brands, including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and PUMA, is to embark on one of the world’s most ambitious green accounting programmes, after announcing it will create a group-wide environmental profit and loss statement (EP&L)… By placing an economic value on its environmental impact, the company hopes to improve its reporting of a wide range of green metrics.”

Missed profit forecasts hurt Abercrombie (FT)
“Shares in Abercrombie & Fitch plunged more than 13 per cent as the US teen fashion retailer missed Wall Street profit forecasts and was put on the defensive over its strategy in Europe. Abercrombie executives were grilled by analysts over falling sales at its international flagship stores after it reported a 1.8 per cent rise in net income to $50.9m, or 57 cents per share, which fell short of market expectations of 72 cents a share.”

Benetton Retries Provocation (WSJ)
“Italian clothing chain Benetton is trying to drum up attention for its flagging brand with ads showing global leaders kissing… Now, after having lost ground over the last decade to competitors such as Inditex SA’s Zara and Hennes & Mauritz AB’s H&M, Benetton is trying for publicity.”

Queue outside Gucci store | Source: Info Seek China

Taxing luxury goods becomes a hot issue (China Daily)
“International luxury brands competing to expand their presence in China have to face the fact that Chinese consumers prefer to buy premium goods abroad instead of domestically.  The World Luxury Association released a report revealing the Chinese spent nearly $50 billion in Europe, four times what they spent on luxury goods in 2010 on the Chinese mainland.”

Anya Hindmarch profits leap (FT)
“Anya Hindmarch, the luxury leather accessories group, more than doubled pre-tax profits in 2010 according to accounts filed with Companies House on Monday, but is rethinking its international expansion strategy. The privately owned designer, which is one of Britain’s fastest-growing smaller luxury goods companies, reported pre-tax profits of £830,000 ($1.3m) on revenues up 12 per cent to £20m in the year to December 31.”

Puma plays catch-up in U.S. as Q3 meets targets (Reuters)
“German sporting goods maker Puma said it had more work to do to attract customers in the United States after sales there fell in the third quarter… After rising initially, shares in the group, controlled by French luxury goods group PPR , turned negative and were down 2.5 percent at 229.85 euros.”

Bringing Haute Couture to Singapore (WSJ)
“Frank Cintamani’s business card carries seven logos, identifying him as everything from founder of an interior design firm to magazine publisher…For the past year though, it is what the 38-year-old has done for Singapore’s fashion scene that has drawn attention…Mr. Cintamani also heads Women’s Fashion’s Week, which includes an haute couture component that will be the first one to take place outside Paris.”

The enduring appeal of trainers (Guardian)
“Fortunately, in the absurdly cyclical nature of fashion, the past always comes back screaming… The spring/summer 2012 shows in New York and London suggest that sportswear is back. Take your pick from BMX, surf, ski or, on a subversive level, wide boy. I am enamoured of young Canadian designer Thomas Tait’s show in London, for which he had Nike trainers customised to go with his sleek cocoon coats and loose separates.”

Pretty, posh and profitable (FT)
“Even though Jack Wills is a rapidly expanding global business… you could be forgiven for never having come across it before. [The company targets] teens with money… It prides itself on its stealth marketing and its very direct relationship with its consumers.”

Three decades later, Michael Kors’ shows no signs of slowing down (Globe and Mail)
“Optimism is in the spring air, at least as far as the fashion world is concerned. And few manage to encapsulate the current zeitgeist as well as American designer Michael Kors, who’s currently celebrating three successful decades in the business.”

Puma steps into designer sports-gear market (SF Gate)
“PPR is determined to help Puma get a second wind… Rather than focusing on athletic gear targeted at serious sports enthusiasts, the French company envisions a broader universe of consumer goods and apparel that can evoke the sporting lifestyle without all the sweating.”

Anya Hindmarch bags new chief executive (FT)
“Anya Hindmarch, the upmarket British handbag and accessories company that is expanding amid buoyant consumer demand, will on Monday appoint James McArthur, formerly of Gucci and Harrods, as its new chief executive.”

Gathering Photos of Kate Moss (On the Runway)
“Ms. Moss does indeed occupy a unique if not privileged place in the world of model muses… To say that she has endured is not really saying anything about her particular and maybe ultimately elusive quality.”

L-R Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Theyskens’ Theory | Source: Style.com

On the Straight and Narrow (IHT)
“It is back to the straight and narrow in New York Fashion Week. No more loose and sloppy casual clothes, easy sportswear or girlish frills. Women — grown-up women — are being asked to smarten up.”

Who Buys These Clothes? They Do (WSJ)
“Many of the runway styles are actually purchased by a small group of customers, not all of them from the isle of Manhattan. And unlike celebrities and socialites, who often get designer clothes at no charge in exchange for publicity, these customers pay full price.”

Puma feels pinch of higher wage, commodity costs (Reuters)
“German sportswear maker Puma joined rivals Adidas and Nike in warning of price rises for its products as a result of rising commodity and wage costs… the rising costs meant net profit would not grow as fast as sales in 2011, and margins would be lower.”

Sally Singer Talks T (WWD)
“‘For me, it’s what I want from The New York Times on a weekend… I want a good, sexy, neurotic story about New York literary life in the Seventies. I want the New York Review of Book parties. I want a little Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. You have that literary dream of New York.’”

Anna Wintour talks exclusively to Telegraph TV (Telegraph)
“Anna Wintour… talks about Alexander McQueen’s legacy and her favourites memories of his shows. She expalins why Rodarte, the avant-garde American label has the potential to be another ‘McQueen’ or ‘Galliano’ and reveals why she loves London’s street style.”

Olivier Theyskens | Source: Frillr

Olivier Theyskens Is Theory’s New Artistic Director (The Cut)
“Theyskens previously signed a deal to design the Theyskens Theory label for the brand, which debuts for spring 2011, but will take over design for the entire label as artistic director beginning with the fall 2011 season.”

French regulator to examine LVMH swoop on Hermes (Reuters)
“French luxury goods company LVMH’s surprise acquisition of 17.1 percent of rival Hermes at a major discount to recent market levels will be investigated by the local market regulator.”

Puma increases annual forecast, takes full control of Chinese JV (Bloomberg)
“Puma… aims to boost annual revenue to 4 billion euros by 2015 from 2.46 billion euros last year. As part of that plan, the sporting-goods maker said it will take full control of its Chinese retail joint venture in January by acquiring the 49 percent minority stake.”

Why Content And Commerce Is A Marriage Made In Heaven (Paid Content)
“The internet has disrupted both the media and the retail industries. Now, new business models are emerging that blend the two together, offering publishers a much-needed new revenue line.”

Leith Clark’s Lula (Dazed Digital)
“Clark didn`t mean to start a magazine, exactly. She says she just wanted something to show her grandkids. But Lula took on a life—and an ever-growing, never-growing-up audience—of its own. This year it turned five. It`s been a happy birthday.”