Full Spectrum, Less Spectacle (NY Times)
“Don’t be fooled by the giant lion at Chanel… Most of the remaining half-dozen or so houses that show haute couture scaled down their presentations… a nip here, a tuck there and a P.R. man explaining in a hushed tone that the designer wanted to ‘return to couture’s roots.’”

Luxury shoppers pull back in June (Bloomberg)
“MasterCard Advisor’s SpendingPulse reported late Wednesday that luxury spending dropped 3.9 percent in June from a year earlier, the first decline since November.”

Primark’s sales boosted by £12 dresses and £10 shoes (Guardian)
“Its £12 floral dresses and court shoes for a tenner pulled in shoppers, with analysts estimating like-for-like sales increased 7% in the 16 weeks to 19 June. That is just shy of the 8% figure reported for the first six months and better than high street rivals.”

Tesco to make its West End fashion debut (Telegraph)
“The supermarket… has already looked at potential sites on Oxford Street and High Street Kensington. The store would be branded F&F after Tesco’s own-label clothing range, previously called Florence & Fred.”

In Fashion, Lifestyle, Not Age, Defines a Consumer Group (Forbes India)
“Renzo Rosso looks every bit the rebel. His graying curls peep out of a baseball cap and tattoos pop out from under his T-shirt as he animatedly talks about the denim brand he started fresh out of college and his fashion philosophy.”

Adidas Y3 Spring/Summer 2010 | Source: Adidas

Adidas Net Profit Drops 65 percent (WSJ)
“Adidas reported a sharper-than-expected 65% fall in quarterly net profit Wednesday, but said it expects a rise in 2010 sales and earnings.”

H&M plans two-for-one stock split (Reuters)
“The world’s third largest fashion chain by sales said on Wednesday its board would propose the split at its annual shareholders’ meeting on April 29 and it would take effect between May 20 and June 18.”

Tesco launches recycled clothing collection (Guardian)
“The news that Tesco have collaborated with an ethical fashion label to create a line of recycled clothing for the Florence & Fred label may raise a few eyebrows.”

Christian Lacroix eyeing comeback (Independent)
“Lacroix’s ready-to-wear and haute couture might be things of the past… but the label will be branching out into stationery, sunglasses, and home decoration.”

Fashion is still a feminist issue (Times)
“Did Miuccia Prada really say after last week’s show in Milan that she was a former feminist? I lent in closer.  Yes, that’s what she’d said all right. ‘Feminism?’ she sighed, ‘it doesn’t really exist anymore does it?”