Taylor Momsen for New Look Spring/Summer 2010 | Source: Nitrolicious

New Look to raise £650m in IPO as it takes on high street old guard (Telegraph)
“New Look aims to raise £650m by returning to the stock market, giving it the funds to repay debt and keep taking business from high street stalwarts Marks & Spencer and Next.”

Valentino Sales Rebound May Signal More Openings, Chief Says (Business Week)
“Retailing revenue rose at a ‘double-digit’ pace in the last two months, Valentino Fashion Group Chief Executive Officer Stefano Sassi said in an interview in Paris. The performance would indicate ‘we can grow more’ this year.”

Uniqlo sales mark first fall in 6 months in January (Reuters)
“Japan’s Fast Retailing said sales at its Uniqlo casual-clothing chain fell 7.2 percent in January, the first year-on-year decline in six months, blaming a shortage of inventory after robust sales the previous month.”

CFDA Chooses 12 Designers for Fashion Incubator (Style List)
“Half-off rent in the Big Apple? Sounds too good to be true, but twelve designers heard the improbable news from the CFDA and New York Economic Development Corporation today.”

The ‘Luxury Prime’: How Luxury Changes People (HBS Working Knowledge)
“Are people who travel in town cars and on corporate jets different—on a psychological level—from you and me? Does the availability of luxury goods “prime” individuals to be less concerned about or considerate toward others? The answer from new research seems to be yes.”

The colours of Uniqlo | Source: Uniqlo

TOKYO, Japan — For the last two years, the inverted black triangle — Japan’s version of the minus sign — has infected monthly earnings reports at most of the nation’s retail chains. The global recession has been almost universally bad for the apparel market. Japanese customers are just not spending on fashion like they used to.

There’s one exception, of course: Uniqlo. 

For the fiscal year ending in August 2009, Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing posted a ¥108.6 billion profit with ¥685 billion sales — outperforming initial projections. The brand’s comparable store sales for September 2009 were up 31.6 percent. In October, they were up 35.7 percent.

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Yohji Yamamoto

Designer Yamamoto files for bankruptcy protection (AP)
“Japanese fashion design house Yohji Yamamoto said Friday it has filed for bankruptcy protection, citing slumping sales amid a global downturn.”

Bulgari CEO Says Sales Are Improving, Led by Asia, Handbags (Bloomberg)
“Bulgari SpA, the world’s third- largest jeweler, said sales improved in the second part of the year, led by gains in Asia, its biggest market, and higher demand for handbags.”

US retailers in first monthly sales gain since 2008 financial collapse (FT)
“Leading US retailers yesterday reported their first monthly sales gain since the financial collapse of September 2008, although most still saw lower sales than a year ago as shoppers remained focused on bargain hunting.”

Fast Retailing sees record profit on Uniqlo boom (Forbes)
“Japan’s Fast Retailing forecast a 10.5 percent rise in operating profit this financial year as its Uniqlo casual clothing chain draws cost-conscious consumers away from rivals and it aggressively opens new stores in China.”

Gulf investor bids for fashion house Lacroix (Reuters)
“Gulf investor Hassan bin Ali al-Nuaimi, a nephew of the ruler of Ajman, part of the United Arab Emirates, submitted an offer for Christian Lacroix on Thursday, the administrator for the French fashion house said.”

Versace A/W 09 ad campaign | Source: Versace

Versace to Close Japan Stores, Will Review Strategy (Bloomberg)
“Gianni Versace SpA will close its Japanese stores and review its entire business strategy, as demand for luxury goods declines in the world’s second-largest economy.”

Developing their fashion sense (Globe and Mail)
“New York Fashion Week, a semi-annual sea of runways under tents in that city’s Bryant Park, is one of the last places you’d expect to see lawyers from a Bay Street firm. Yet that’s exactly where Len Glickman and his team from Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP make a point of mingling with the world’s fashion heavyweights.”

Parisians Waiting in Rain to Fuel Uniqlo’s Growth (Bloomberg)
“While celebrities watched models strut down catwalks during fashion week in Paris, dozens of people queued in the rain to buy 40-euro cashmere sweaters at the newly opened Uniqlo store in the city’s Opera district.”

High street brands accused of exploiting Asian workers (Guardian)
“High street British brands are being accused of exploiting factory garment workers in Asia by failing to pay them enough to live off in a report published today.”

Clothing and footwear deflation increases to 5.7% (Drapers)
“Shop prices have fallen on a year ago and were deflationary for the second consecutive month, according to the British Retail Consortium-Nielsen Shop Price Index.”

Missoni A/W 2010 ad campaign | Source: Missoni

Italy’s Fashion Houses See No Early Recovery From Sales Slump (Bloomberg)
“Italy’s fashion industry will take years to recover after the biggest sales decline in at least two decades, according to the country’s designers, who criticized the government for not doing enough to assist them.”

Valentino Owners Say Company Will Survive Recession (New York Times)
“The finances of the Valentino fashion house will withstand the economic crisis, according to a partner in Permira, the private equity fund that owns the group. But current market conditions mean the investor will be sticking around longer than planned.”

Future Looks A Little Brighter For The Luxury Goods Sector (Financier Worldwide)
“Earlier this year, consultancy firm Bain & Company reported that the luxury goods sector was facing a decline of 10 percent, estimating that by 2010 the sector’s value could shrink to €153bn from its 2008 level of €170bn. In response, a new report by KPMG has recommended steps that the sector should take in order to survive the global recession.”

Gilt Groupe’s Jetsetter takes off (CNN Money)
“Jetsetter tells Fortune Brainstorm Tech exclusively that it aims to bring high-end travel online by adopting the model of its parent company, Gilt Groupe, a members-only shopping site featuring daily deals, or ‘flash-sales,’ on limited quantities of designer goods.”

Fast Fashion | +J at Uniqlo (The Moment)
“At 9 a.m., the line outside Uniqlo in SoHo was already stretching toward Dean & Deluca. By 10, it was around the block. Stores in London and Paris had already sold out.”

Jil Sander for Uniqlo, courtesy of Uniqlo

Jil Sander’s new range for Uniqlo (Guardian)
“Jil Sander has been off the fashion scene for a while, but now the queen of understatement is taking on a new project – high-class design for the masses – with the Japanese brand Uniqlo.”

China Inc: Not just a maker but new owner of fashion (Reuters)
“After decades of Made-in-China garments, China’s fashion industry is keen to move on from being just a mass manufacturer of clothes — it wants to own western brands and to sell them to China’s 1.3 billion consumers.”

The A-Word: Fashion Embraces Accessibility (WSJ)
“During the boom time, it was considered somewhat shameful to create a ‘commercial’ collection that had practical elements (sleeves, for instance) that made them widely wearable. Now, many designers are creating more casual clothing — known in the industry as ‘contemporary’ — with an emphasis on luxury-quality sportswear.”

Back in fashion – Burberry’s CFO (Accountancy Age)
“In short, Thomson Reuters has delisted, leaving room for another company to enter the FTSE 100. Next in line is Burberry, the luxury fashion brand, and that brings Cartwright, the company’s CFO, into the top flight.”

Luxury Retailers Rush To Adapt: Chic Goes Cheap (Time)
“As fashion editors, department store buyers and couture afficionadoes congregate along the catwalks for New York’s Fashion Week shows, luxury retailers and designers may be looking upon beauty but their thoughts are likely on the ugly economy.”

Uniqlo S/S 2009 ad campaign, courtesy of Uniqlo

Uniqlo’s July sales falls 4.2 pct, hurt by weather (Reuters)
“Fast Retailing said on Tuesday same-store sales at its Uniqlo casual-clothing chain in Japan fell 4.2 percent in July, the first drop in nine months, hit by unseasonably rainy weather.”

One-Third of Russia’s Clothiers Are Going Bust, Exporters Say (Bloomberg)
“A third of Russia’s 42,000 clothing retailers will close by the end of this year after the economic crisis hurt local spending, according to the head of the European Fashion and Textile Export Council.”

Footwear firms demand action from Brazilian suppliers (Drapers)
“Footwear giants Clarks, Adidas, Nike and Timberland are demanding assurances from their leather suppliers in Brazil that their production is not destroying the Amazon rainforest.”

Lane Bryant Launches Plus-Sized Social Community (Media Post)
“Lane Bryant, the company that wrote the book on plus-sized clothing for women, is hoping that an online community can help reverse its shrinking sales trends.”

Autumn trends: Power craze (Independent)
“Big shoulders, boots and leather – the key autumn/winter trends are not for the shy and retiring. Susannah Frankel introduces eight looks that make an impact.”

Prada store on Rodeo Drive, Los Angeles

Luxe Redux (Reuters)
“Lavish. Silent. Undisturbed. Visiting luxury boutiques these days can seem like stepping into a time capsule, and in a sense, you are, as retail and marketing plans and products conceived during the bully days of early 2008 are still on display and feel, in this post-luxury age, as anachronistic and appealing as Zeppelin travel after the Hindenburg disaster.”

Let crisis inspire haute couture, says Gaultier (Reuters)
“Fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier said on Wednesday tough times were triggers to think out of the box and that way haute couture will weather the world financial crisis.”

Uniqlo reveals details of Jil Sander sub-brand (Drapers)
“Jil Sander’s debut collection for Uniqlo this autumn will be called +J. The collection will feature around 40 pieces for men and 100 pieces for women. Price information and an actual launch date have not yet been released.”

Retailers focus on standout items to spur spending (AP)
“At luxury merchant Neiman Marcus, employees are explicitly asking shoppers about what their wardrobes already include, instead of just helping them stuff their closets with new things. But persuading financially squeezed shoppers to open their wallets without dangling fat discounts continues to be challenging.”

Missoni S/S 09 ad campaign, courtesy of Missoni

Stars in their stripes: Missoni a fashion powerhouse (Independent)
“For 50 years, it has dressed the stylish in its striped and zig-zag knits. Missoni is a fashion powerhouse, a family business and, a new exhibition argues, an Italian national treasure.”

Fast Retailing Lives Up to Name With Global Gains (WSJ)
“Despite the economic gloom brought on by Japan’s shrinking domestic consumption, Fast Retailing Co. has had no trouble living up to its name: domestic same-store sales in May of its Uniqlo chain shot up 18.3%, extending on-year gains to seven consecutive months.”

From South Korea, Innovation in Menswear (New York Times)
“South Korea is shaping up as the next hotbed of innovative menswear, with three of its most prominent designers creating tailoring with a twist for an international audience just as Seoul itself is becoming something of a fashion center.”

Liberty to sell Sloane Street standalone (Drapers)
“Iconic department store Liberty has closed its standalone Liberty of London shop on Sloane Street 12 months after it opened, after receiving an offer for the lease.”

Glimmer of hope for fashion (Business World)
“After a ‘frosty’ start to the year – when there were fewer shows at the January Autumn/Winter 2009-2010 menswear fashion week – there are some positive signals emerging, according to Italy’s National Chamber of Fashion.”

Uniqlo visual merchandising

LONDON, United Kingdom — “Men’s and women’s polo t-shirts in 25 colours from £12.99!” Ads announcing this Uniqlo promotion have been plastered alongside London buses this month, as well as being featured front-and-centre in Uniqlo shops everywhere. Same-store sales rose 18.3 percent in May 2009 over last year for the Japanese retailer, and the company’s stock hit five-year record highs.

Over at American Apparel, which uses a similar merchandising approach, total retail sales increased 16.5 percent to $78 million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. It would seem that both American Apparel and Uniqlo have managed to accurately address the mood of the market, hitting a sweet spot in an otherwise suffering sector. Although many factors play into these high street success stories, it is worth having a closer look at the merchandising strategy shared by both, offering a functional item in a variety of colours and encouraging the purchase of multiple units.

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