Fashion gloom, Lakshmi Menon, Online sales drop, Saks’ new investor, Ferragamo reports loss

| Daily Digest

The Meatpacking district in the 1970's, courtesy of the Bowery Boys

Fashion in Dark Times (The Atlantic) “During the fashion boom that began in the 1980s, the relationship between fashion and its customers was the same as the one between art and its rich, often unlovely patrons: all that money sloshing around led to excessive consumption, but it also created a fertile soil in which works of beauty and integrity could develop.” This year’s model: How Lakshmi Menon put India in

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Russians in Milan, GAP hires students, Shopping and ethics, Saks Fifth Avenue’s giant loss

| Daily Digest

Milan

Russians top Milan’s list of shoppers (IHT) “Russians are Milan’s largest national group of fashion shoppers, commanding 38 percent of the tax-free pie in 2008, despite their own economic woes back home,” reports IHT. The GAP Hires Students (Fashionista) Gap taps RISD students to design cardigans. Now that the pricing dam has burst (IHT) “Shopping is becoming a matter of ethics.” Battling the

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Saks’ pricing, Runway change, Indian retail squeeze, Show must go on in New York

| Daily Digest

From left to right: Sean Connery in a Louis Vuitton ad; Hunter wellies; a model at Prada's recent menswear show; a Coach bag; a sketch from Rebecca Taylor's fall 2009 collection, Photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal

Saks Upends Luxury Market With Strategy to Slash Prices (WSJ) Saks’ deep discounting before the holiday season will have a long-term effect on the consumer psychology. Fashion Walks a Fine Line (WSJ) During New York Fashion week, you’ll see dour and spunky on the runways, the magic blend that will court customers. Retailers feel credit squeeze in India (FT) “India’s biggest discount retailer said that

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