Chloe Spring/Summer 2012 show at Jardins des Tuileries, Paris | Photo: BoF

LONDON, United Kingdom — It’s hard to believe 2011 is coming to a close. It’s been an action packed year in the business of fashion. From the rise of digital to the fall of Galliano, and everything in between, BoF has found itself exploring the heart of an ever-changing fashion ecosystem, fuelled by creativity, digital innovation and globalisation.

We are grateful to all of the fashion visionaries, entrepreneurs and professionals who have shared their stories with us over the past year, offering us lessons from fashion’s front-lines. Their insights have sparked conversations here on BoF, across the social web, and in boardrooms, classrooms and studios all over the world. Thank you to everyone for your continued support and interest in BoF.

As the year comes to a close, it’s time for us to take a break. The BoF team will be off until 3 January, 2012. Until then, to whet your appetites for 2012, we look back the defining BoF stories in 2011.

Happy holidays to everyone!

… Continue Reading

Scott Schuman | Photo: Garance Doré

Scott Schuman’s rise to international blogging fame is well known, but until now he has never discussed his business model in detail. In our latest instalment of The Business of Blogging, BoF gets the exclusive on how The Sartorialist makes bank

PARIS, France — With high-profile campaigns for Burberry and DKNY Jeans, a best-selling book, and a place on TIME magazine’s 2007 list of Top 100 Design Influencers, Scott Schuman is the streetstyle blogger that paved the way for hundreds of others who have followed in his trailblazing footsteps. For the fashion flock, being shot for The Sartorialist website is still the ultimate badge of honour.

But Mr. Schuman’s influence is felt far beyond the blogosphere. His beautifully framed photos, which feature fashion insiders and football fans alike, now appear on mood boards in design studios around the world. His photographic style has inspired countless advertising campaigns and editorials.

This week, as he celebrates his blog’s sixth anniversary, traffic numbers are spiking. The Sartorialist had around 13 million page views last month, a 44 percent increase over the same month last year, something Schuman attributes to a recent site redesign for which he manually re-tagged more than five years of posts himself, enabling visitors to more easily search his growing archive.

This could turn out to be a particularly savvy investment of time and money. If current traffic levels are sustained and significant portion of the advertising inventory on The Sartorialist is sold, it could theoretically make Scott Schuman fashion’s first million dollar a year blogger.

… Continue Reading

Joyce 40th anniversary multi-sensory exhibition | Source: Dazed Digital

The Joys of Joyce (Dazed Digital)
“Joyce was a pioneer which was the first to bring international designers such as Givenchy, Lanvin, Margiela, and Fendi, amongst other luxury names, to Asia. To celebrate their 40th anniversary, Joyce has specially commissioned works of over 50 designers.”

5000th Zara store: Inditex embraces eco-fashion (Fashion United)
“Showing off its real aim to embrace the latest eco-trends from top to bottom… Inditex has just opened its 5000th Zara store as the flagship of its 2011-2015 Sustainable Inditex Plan.”

Giovanni Bedin Revitalizes a Heritage Brand (WSJ)
“Charged with meeting the lofty standard set by the brand’s legendary founder, Charles Frederick Worth, Mr. Bedin is simultaneously determined to pursue the modern.”

Finding Inspiration with The Sartorialist (NY Times)
“Regularly visiting The Sartorialist, a picture blog created by Scott Schuman, is akin to a serendipiter’s journey with a guide whose eye for detail, gift for framing and hopeful outlook help you see how many beautiful people there are.”

Sci-fashion (FT)
“The fusion of fashion and science as [serves] to expose science to more worldly thinking outside the lab, while at the same time allowing fashion to stop relying on ‘periods of history’ and look forward instead.”

Vogue editor Wintour critiques Letterman’s socks (AP)
“Wintour, making her first appearance on CBS’ “Late Show,” made light of her image as an imperious and tough boss, but acknowledged that she is direct with her staff. “Well, I’m very decisive and I try and give very clear direction to the people that I’m working with, and sometimes, unfortunately, they don’t hear the answer that they would like to hear,” Wintour said.”

Online sales soar during July (Drapers)
“Online sales surged to £4.2bn in July as shoppers showed signs of renewed confidence. According to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, July recorded around 15.7% more online sales than June, a 16.8% year-on-year rise.”

Prada quashes speculation it is seeking a partner (Drapers)
“A spokesman for the Italian fashion house said “there are no talks with anyone” following speculation Prada’s banks were seeking a partner to take a 30% slice of the group.”

Where the streets have no shame (Salon.com)
“The Sartorialist blog is an ever-evolving pictorial essay on the distinction between personal style and mere fashion. The former is a living, breathing element; the rest is just clothes. At last a selection of Schuman’s best images have been collected in one place, a book called, simply enough, The Sartorialist.”

NEW YORK, United States – Openly spreading the latest fashion gospel to an uninitiated crowd has always been anathema to the fashion elite. Until recently, this required fashion media to work a delicate balance between informing the mass public of the latest trends without being too direct as to make those new trends over-exposed and passé.

The internet — web 2.0 media and blogs, in particular — has been kicking down doors and fostering greater inclusion in most cultural fields. With fashion, the net has created unprecedented opportunities for fashion pedagogy, making old media look decidedly old-school.

So what’s an old media brand to do in this new environment? Men’s fashion bible GQ has responded with a web-offshoot called GQ Rules, possibly the greatest experiment in mass fashion teaching ever attempted.

… Continue Reading