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!

1. The Business of Blogging

Scott Schuman | Photo: Garance Doré

Bloggers’ businesses have been garnering headlines in the mainstream media in recent months, but BoF has been exploring the business models emerging from the fashion blogosphere since 2007. This year, we launched a series of in-depth interviews with some of the world’s leading fashion bloggers, revealing that there is as much variety in their approaches to business as there is in the ways they express themselves online. The Business of Blogging series was by far the most shared and discussed content on BoF this year. Our interview with The Sartorialist Scott Schuman alone has been viewed more than 80,000 times.

The Business of Blogging | The Sartorialist

The Business of Blogging | Elin King

The Business of Blogging | Susie Bubble

The Business of Blogging | Tommy Ton

The Business of Blogging | Bag Snob

2. Trouble with iPad Magazines

Vanity Fair’s June 2011 iPad Issue | Source: Vanity Fair

Magazines have jumped into the iPad fray with gusto, but how are they succeeding in creating a digital magazine experience that is genuinely new? Our managing editor Vikram Kansara investigates.

3. Fashion PR in the Digital Age

YSL Tweet Denying Pilati Rumours | Source: Twitter

In the speedy new world of fashion communication, PR’s operate in an ‘always-on’ viral world where rumours can spread faster than ever before and new fashion communities are springing up everyday. BoF talks to the fashion industry’s leading PR agencies about their strategies for managing communication in the digital age.

4. Finding the Luxury in Mass Customisation 

Prada SS11 Lace-Up Project | Source: Prada

Could new technologies help to revive one of the original tenets of luxury? The rise of a new mode of production called “mass customisation” promises to restore individuality to the product design process, bringing a variety of new personalised product experiences to consumers.

5. Social Curation Start-ups Target Fashion Industry

Lyst Screenshot | Source: Lyst

Filtering content through recommendations from our friends and colleagues has become an important way of sorting through all the noise. Now, a gr0up of innovative social curation startups are providing a new way to discover and enjoy content, and are attracting investor attention. Since our report in April, Pinterest raised $37m in funding with a valuation greater than $200m, and The Fancy, received a $10m investment from PPR, valuing the business at $100m.

6. The French Contemporary Wave That’s Reshaping Ready-To-Wear

Couples from The Kooples ad campaigns | Source: The Kooples

Over the past couple of years, a slew of French contemporary brands including Sandro, Maje, The Kooples and Zadig & Voltaire have attempted to conquer London and New York, two of the most competitive retail landscapes on the planet. Is contemporary pricing the future of a failing ready-to-wear model that’s increasingly out of sync with consumer expectations and budgets?

7. How Commercial Content is Changing Editorial

Mr Porter Screenshot | Source: Mr Porter

It seems that there are almost weekly reports announcing that yet another magazine veteran has fled a traditional publishing company to take up a position at a brand or retailer. BoF guest contributor Ken Miller explores the implications of  the content-meets-commerce fashion fusion.

8. The Long View | How Realtime Data is Reshaping the Fashion Business

Julia Fowler and Geoff Watts | Source: Editd

EDITd is the London-based start-up whose real-time analytics of social data serve up predictions on trends, colours and silhouettes in the seasons to come. BoF sat down with founders Julia Fowler and Geoff Watts to learn more.

9. BoF Exclusive | Style.com to Launch Magazine and ‘Dip Toes’ in E-Commerce

Dirk Standen, Editor-in-Chief, Style.com | Photo: Style.com/Lexie Moreland

We’ve all seen print media go digital, but when digital goes print, you know something interesting is happening in fashion media. I spoke to Dirk Standen, editor-in-chief of Style.com, in a BoF Exclusive on the launch of Style.com Print magazine.

10. Introducing the Calgary bag and Crowdsourcing Experiment with Bill Amberg

The Calgary bag panorama | Photo: Bill Amberg

And last but not least, the Calgary bag, a collaboration and crowd-sourcing project with leather goods craftsman Bill Amberg, sparked a huge reaction amongst the BoF community, with people from all over the world weighing in on the merits (and demerits) of fashion crowdsourcing, and revealing some interesting results in the process. The Calgary bag has now sold out twice on BillAmberg.com and more are due in early next year.

Imran Amed is founder and editor-in-chief of The Business of Fashion

“I feel like they’re adding a real dose of freshness and reality to the fashion world online.”

Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast, amongst several other bloggers, speaking to Net-a-Porter TV as part of Net-a-Porter’s special bloggers issue, which includes their first ever Blog Power List, ranking Tommy Ton at Number 1, Susie Bubble at Number 5, and The Business of Fashion at Number 7.

Dion Lee S/S 2012 at Sydney Opera House | Photo: BoF

SYDNEY, Australia — Australian fashion has an image problem. When I mentioned to friends that I was thinking of attending Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in Sydney, the reaction ranged from raised eyebrows to incredulous laughter. Others quipped that the sum total of Australia’s contribution to global fashion could be distilled down to Ugg boots and swimwear.

“Surely you’d only be going to take some time in the Australian sun?” they asked. But as my schedule only allowed for three days in the Australian fashion capital, there would be little time to sit on the beach and anyway, the summer sun in Sydney had already given way to crisp Autumn evenings and intermittent rain showers.

It was an email exchange with Tommy Ton and Susie Bubble that finally convinced me to get on the 24 hour flight from London to spend a few days immersed in Sydney’s fashion scene. Both Tommy and Susie were planning to go back for their second season, and highly recommended that I come along too.

In Susie’s words, there is “plenty to see that’s interesting…it’s good to see a developed fashion week outside of the big four and definitely worth going to just to see how Southern hemisphere fashion works!”

Indeed, that turned out to be the most interesting question of all, and it was well worth the time to get there.

In multiple ways, it seems the cards are stacked against the Australian fashion industry. Apart from the fact that Sydney is more than 20 hours away by plane from all of the major fashion capitals, the value of the Australian dollar has increased by over 100 percent in the last ten years, from 53 to 106 Australian cents to the US dollar. This has made products exported from Australia very expensive, though raw materials and services from abroad have also therefore become much cheaper, an important consideration in a country where local apparel manufacturing is scarce.

But, the complexities continue. Unlike other secondary fashion markets like Brazil, India and China which have huge local populations, Australia has only 23 million people. To build a sizeable fashion business therefore, international growth is imperative. However, the fact that Australia is seasonally opposite means that in order for designers to build global businesses, they have to find some way of catering to both their local market at home, as well as the large Northern hemisphere markets in Europe, North America, China and Japan.

THE POWER OF TRANSEASONAL PRODUCTS

With all of these challenges, I began to wonder if it was possible for any Australian fashion designer to build a global business. All it took was one conversation with Nicky Zimmermann to prove me wrong.

More than twenty years ago, Zimmermann and her sister began designing swimwear, and shortly thereafter began showing at fashion week in Australia. Unlike the straightforward swimsuits which are ubiquitous in a country where the lifestyle is built around beach culture, Ms. Zimmermann has specifically sought to associate her product with fashion, and has built a global following for a core product that is “transeasonal.”

“We sell swimwear pretty much the whole year round,” she said to me as we sat down for lunch in the chi chi food court of the brand new Westfield shopping mall, where the brand has opened its latest Australian store. “We knew from the very first season that we would have a seasonal issue, but we always linked it to fashion which has now enabled us to add our own ready-to-wear line,” she explained. Zimmermann and other Australian brands like LOVER also split their collections, targeting part to the local market and part to the markets in the Northern hemisphere.

The strategy has worked wonders. Zimermann now has more than A$25 million in annual sales, 14 stores across Australia, and plans to open its first international outpost on Los Angeles’ Robertson Boulevard later this year.

YOUNG CREATIVE GENIUSES

But lest you think that fashion down under is restricted to swimwear, make sure you have a look at the collections by Dion Lee.

Aged only 24, Lee is Sydney’s design wunderkind. Unlike many of his peers who seemed content to draw liberally and unashamedly from the collections shown in London, Paris and Milan only a couple of months ago, Lee showcased an aesthetic and approach all his own. Layers of tailored pleats and folds, with soft abstract prints and deconstructed, asymmetrical silhouettes made for inspired viewing, even in the landmark setting of the Sydney Opera House, which could have distracted from a collection by a lesser talent. The expectations placed on this young man were formidable, and by all accounts he more than lived up to them.

At the end of that sunny Sydney day, Mr. Lee breathed a sigh of relief as he collapsed in a heap at the Blue Bar and told me about the challenges faced by fashion designers in Australia — a virtually non-existent local manufacturing base, a small local fashion market, the soaring Australian dollar — in addition to those other difficulties that young designers face the world over. Operating an emerging fashion business in Australia is not for the faint of heart.

But this is one determined young man with eyes on taking his business global. Already, Net-a-Porter has snapped up his collection. And, with help from his mentor Nicky Zimmermann, he is plotting his next moves. Watch this space.

I was also struck by the aesthetic sensibilities of another young Australian, 28 year old Chris Kyvetos, creative director of the venerable Australian menswear store Harrolds, which opened a huge 1000 square metre emporium in Westfield Sydney in December 2010 to great fanfare and early commercial success.

Kyvetos has curated an enviable selection of globally recognised men’s fashion brands — Thom Browne, Comme des Garcons, and Kiton, and soon, Tom Ford and Rick Owens — in a setting that is truly world-class. But what was even more special was discovering niche brands from all over the world, including Naked & Famous denim from Montreal, Gold Bunny leather jackets from Milan, t-shirts by Deerdana from New York, and Song for the Mute, a local Australian label.

THE ARRIVAL OF INTERNATIONAL FAST FASHION

But many other local retailers are having a tough time of it. Earlier this year, the denim brand Sass & Bide, (another globally successful Australian business with a core transeasonal product) received a cash injection of A$42.25 million from Myer, one of country’s leading department stores.

Like many of its peers, Myer has been struggling to compete with the arrival of international chains, and its net profit is expected to decline by 5 percent this year compared to 2010. According to Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes, the department store took a 65 percent stake in Sass & Bide as part of its efforts to introduce “new product categories, brands, concepts and concessions.”

To put the retail challenge in perspective, consider the hullabaloo in April when the country’s first Zara store opened in the new Westfield shopping centre, upending the stodgy local retail scene, previously sheltered from international chains that move at the pace of global fast fashion.

Australian editors spoke breathlessly about Zara’s grand opening event that had queues of VIPs forming around the block. Within three minutes of opening, more than 80 percent of the stock was snapped up leaving local Zara executives to proclaim that it was the one of the most successful Zara openings ever and underlining the insatiable appetite Australians seem to have for international fashion.

Unlike some luxury fashion brands which insist on selling the same product in the Australian winter that is being sold during the Northern hemisphere summer, Zara is tailoring its product offering to fit with local tastes and seasons. Zara spokesman Jesús Echevarría told Jess Blanch, editor in chief of Australia’s Russh Magazine, that “eighty-five per cent of Zara’s Australian merchandise has been either adapted for or tailored specifically to the Australian market.”

It’s an approach that more international labels may want to consider as the buying power of other Southern hemisphere markets in South America, the Middle East and South East Asia continues to grow.

AN ONLINE DISCONNECT

Balenciaga Gladiator Sandals at RAFW | Source: Jak and Jil

But perhaps the biggest threat to Australia’s domestic fashion industry is a virtual one. As Mary Henderson of Australia’s Marketing magazine wrote last year, “the choice for purchasing is now both international and virtual and no longer physical and domestic.”

Outside the shows, it was hard to distinguish the Australian editors’ streetstyle from that of their international counterparts at the shows in Paris and New York. Tommy Ton and Phil Oh were having a field day. It was obvious that consumers in Australia are very aware of international fashion trends, and want access to the same products and collections as their peers in other parts of the world. But consumers repeatedly complained that they weren’t able to find what they were looking for at home, online or off.

In the pre-internet era, Australian retailers were artificially protected from international competition due to the sheer distance from the rest of the world, but the internet has blown this wide open. Armed with a strong Australian dollar that makes shopping abroad a relative bargain, they are flocking online to buy the latest trends from American and European etailers like Shopbop, Net-a-Porter and Topshop, who can deliver orders to their doors in a matter of days. Australia is now the third or fourth most important market for many international fashion e-tailers, a ranking that is disproportionate to the country’s relatively small population.

For the most part, Australian retailers have been very slow to move online, citing complications with logistics and complaining about the unfair tax advantages given to international retailers, who are exempt from collecting sales tax on purchases less than 1000 Australian dollars. If Shopbop can get the goods to all the way from America to Australia without issue, it’s surprising that local retailers cannot even organise themselves to deliver domestically.

Thanks again to IMG for continuing to invite me to their international fashion events. It’s a great experience to meet so many new people and understand the ever-changing dynamics of our global industry.

Imran Amed is Founder and Editor of The Business of Fashion

Tommy Ton in Parrot Cay | Source: Jak & Jil

Tavi Gevinson | Source: Style Rookie

NEW YORK, United States — Ever since the dynamic and erudite young fashion blogger Tavi appeared at the runway shows in New York this past September, the fashion industry has partaken in a veritable social media orgy. Article after article rightfully declared the 13 year-old blogger and her talented fashion blogger brothers and sisters — BryanBoy, Susie Bubble and others — the new fashion stars.

During New York Fashion Week in September, The New York Times Technology section exclaimed: “Young bloggers Have Ear of Fashion Heavyweights.” Then, Women’s Wear Daily declared: “Everyone’s doing it: Brands take on Social Media,” and followed with  “Bricks Versus Clicks: Front Row at D&G,” ranking the front row presence of bloggers at D&G in Milan as a “Defining Moment” of the Spring/Summer 2010 collections.

But it didn’t there. The Independent in London showcased the “New Kids on the Blog,” Metro News in Toronto said “Style bloggers bring fashion to the masses,” the Irish Independent said fashion blogs are “Writing with Style,” the Financial Times revealed that “Style bloggers take centre stage” and the International Herald Tribune chimed in, saying that we are moving “From Couture — to Conversation.”

And while nothing delights us more than to see bloggers finally getting the attention and respect they deserve, the time has come for a bit of a social media reality check.

Fashion blog web traffic | Source: Alexa

According to some quick research on Alexa, the recent attention has propelled traffic of these fashion blogs to record highs, and for a short period, tiny Tavi’s traffic even eclipsed that of the superblogger Scott Schuman. All the while, brands were chasing the “new front row” for attention and approval, an international luxury conference was convened in Berlin to explore how social media is revolutionising the fashion industry, and the star bloggers were trying to make sense of their overnight fame and newfound industry influence.

But what happens next? It’s time to take stock to assess how each of the constituent players in this rapidly developing online fashion eco-system can develop over the long-term. For everyone involved, this will require not only a change of media, but also a change of mindset.

BRANDS: Develop long-term, reciprocal relationships with bloggers. Don’t just create PR stunts to get attention.

At that now infamous D&G show in Milan, where bloggers were prominently placed in the front row for all to see, laptops were also set up in front of their seats. The objective, it appears, was to make it look like they were “live” blogging and tweeting during the show, even though none of the selected photobloggers (Scott Schuman, Tommy Ton, and Garance Doré) work in this way. Rather, the photobloggers take hundreds of photos over the course of a day and then edit their photos down before publishing only the best ones. In reality, only Bryanboy is a regular Twitter user and the only one who might be considered a “live” blogger.

As a PR stunt, the illusion of live blogging may have done wonders for D&G as press photos of the bloggers appeared in major publications around the world. Conjuring up images of young people streaming their ideas live from the front row made for a great story, but it probably made the bloggers themselves feel uncomfortable. D&G apparently wanted to be seen as the first to truly embrace media, even though other brands have been doing so for several seasons now, albeit in a quieter manner.

It’s not enough to be seen to embrace social media. Brands and retailers must also build real long-term symbiotic relationships with bloggers, not short-term exploitative ones. Excellent examples of this are Lane Crawford, who from the start have supported and worked with Tommy Ton on their ad campaigns, and Burberry and DKNY who hired Mr. Schuman for his photography skills to appear on their website and in their advertisements, respectively.

Finally, consider the point made by Yuli Ziv, a New York-based fashion blogger who said to brands last week: “If you are looking for sales, make sure to provide [bloggers] the detailed product info, pricing and availability, if  SEO optimization is your top goal – make sure you use the right keywords in your pitch, if publicity buzz is what makes you satisfied – give them juicy stories, and if you simply want love – give them the reasons to love you.” It’s as simple as that.

BLOGGERS: Operate with the highest-levels of integrity and don’t lose your independent voice and point-of-view.

In his book “Watching the Watchdog: Bloggers As the Fifth Estate,” author Stephen D. Cooper argues that bloggers can hold companies and the mainstream media accountable for their actions. But in order to do so, bloggers must simultaneously maintain healthy, positive relationships with the brands with whom they work, while also fiercely protecting their independence.

Even though we don’t necessarily agree with the recent FTC ruling holding bloggers to a different level of accountability than the mainstream press, the underlying principles are sensible. Don’t allow your praise to be bought. Accept gifts like everyone else in the industry, but be transparent when you have been given something to review or been flown in to cover an event. And, most of all, say what you think! After all, this is why your audience comes to you in the first place. The minute bloggers become part of the easily-manipulated fashion media machinery, they lose their unique selling proposition.

If bloggers want to be taken seriously, they must operate like professionals. Indeed, it is the most professional of bloggers — those who work hard, operate with integrity, and maintain good relationships — who are having the most financial success, attracting advertising, sponsorship and even consulting and employment opportunities.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Engage with bloggers as professionals and consider making them your new colleagues.

The rise of fashion bloggers does not necessarily mean the death of fashion editors. There is more than enough room for everyone to take part in the ever-growing sphere of fashion writing and communication.

However, more than just writing about bloggers (over and over again), the mainstream media may want to consider engaging with them as fellow professionals. Prior to last week’s IHT conference in Berlin, Suzy Menkes agreed to have the tables turned on her, participating in an interview with Mary Scherpe on her blog, Quite Contrary. While many other journalists were interviewing bloggers, Suzy was letting a blogger interview her. Suzy also made an effort to meet with bloggers in Berlin who were (really) blogging and tweeting from the front rows.

Dazed Digital and Vogue web traffic | Source: Alexa

Jefferson Hack, Editorial Director of Dazed Group, has taken this one step further. When hiring for Dazed Digital a few years back, he did not look to traditional editors or photographers to lead his new digital team. Rather, he turned to the internet’s burgeoning fashion talents, hiring photographer Alistair Allan as Digital Director and prodigious fashion blogger Susie Bubble as Commissioning Editor. Long before much of the mainstream media was even paying attention to bloggers, Jefferson was already learning from them.

The results have been impressive. Independently-owned Dazed Digital now receives about 2 million pageviews per month, placing it in the leagues of Conde Nast-owned Vogue.co.uk, according to Alexa.

Still, I regularly hear reports of major online fashion properties who “can’t find the budgets” to hire young digital natives to help them amp up their online content. This is pennywise, pound foolish, especially as these young talents can be hired for a fraction of the cost of major photo shoot or big-time editor.

If the mainstream media are to keep up with all of the new developments, technologies and tools of online media, they might as well turn to the experts. Bloggers are at the forefront of content innovation on the internet and have the know-how to use social media effectively. In today’s internet world, it is innovative content attracts viral attention and fosters relationships with readers, which are also the most important drivers of traffic and loyalty.

Imran Amed is Editor of The Business of Fashion

Christian Louboutin Laceups, courtesy of Jak and Jil

NEW YORK, United States — In seasons past, industry-watchers have spoken of the growing presence of bloggers at the New York shows, but this is the first season where bloggers have come to New York from all over the world, gaining backstage access, front-row seats and even juicy scoops, in a full-on, international blogger invasion. Bryanboy is here from Manila. Susie Bubble is here from London. And Julia and Jessie from Les Mads are here from Germany.

What’s more, at many of the shows, bloggers and web editors have been seated together, allowing for some spontaneous exchange and an opportunity to meet the faces behind some of the finest fashion websites around. Already I have met the super-smart Tommye Fitzpatrick of Fashionologie, the stylish Christene Barberich of Refinery29 and streetstyle maven Phil Oh of Streetpeeper.

But most of all, I was delighted to meet Tommy Ton, the man behind Jak and Jil, which recently won the public vote for the best fashion blog in the Dazed Digital RAW Blog awards. If there was one blog to which BoF was happy to lose, it was to Jak and Jil’s genius photography, editing and fashion moments, as captured by this humble, soft-spoken young man.

I missed Tommy on my recent trip to Toronto, but he introduced himself in the pouring rain outside the Preen show. Truly dedicated to his craft, I subsequently spotted Tommy at show after show, snapping his trademark shots of serious fashion week style — a pair of Louboutin heels here, a feather vest there, in the midst of the New York downpour — before rushing in to catch the shows himself.

In just one year, Tommy has managed to use his blog to build his own offline business as well. Apart from shooting campaigns for Lane Crawford, the venerable Hong Kong department store, he also hosts a blog on the Lane Crawford website and works with hot young designers like Rad Hourani on photo shoots and look books. Based on this kind of trajectory, you can be sure that this is only the beginning for the talented Mr. Tommy Ton.

As for his trademark style of photography which fixates on standout accessories, runway pieces and shoes, Tommy says “I like to think of myself as an editor, more than a photographer,” focusing his attention on the editors, it-girls and models, off the runway.

Imran Amed is Editor of The Business of Fashion