Wall Street Journal: In West L.A, A Homeless Man Inspires New Brand
Back in August when the BoF touched down in L.A. to poke around the lively local fashion scene, I witnessed a very interesting character twirling  down Robertson Boulevard in an outrageous outfit. Today, I read this article in the Wall Street Journal about the same gentlemen, who has inspired a range of t-shirts that are all the rage in the City of Angels.

Fashion Inc: Web 2.0 at the Luxury Briefing Conference
I had the full intention of attending all three of the London conferences this Autumn dedicated to the web 2.0 and luxury. Unfortunately, I am home-bound due to a nasty bout of Shingles (yes, really), and so was happy to see Lauren’s as-it-happens report from today’s conference.

WWD: What’s Next for Fashion Networks (subscription required)
Even WWD is getting in on the social networking act, though they don’t necessarily seem to "get it" just yet. They begin the article by saying it remains to be seen whether niche sites could grow as big as MySpace and Facebook. So, quick answer: Not likely at all. The most interesting insight was that Forrester Research says "16% of adults online belong to social networks and predicts that social media will increase in effectiveness in the next three years: In 2007, marketers spent $600m on social media and that figure is expected to more than double to $1.5b next year and rise to $6.9b by 2012.

Crazy Robertson photos courtesy of WSJ.com

At a wedding I attended in Karachi last year, all of the guests received a parting gift from the bride’s family. For the men, it was a beautiful dark brown wool satchel, festooned with colourful embroidery and handwork by talented Pakistani artisans. No two bags were alike so each guest received a one-of-a-kind gift which was rooted in symbolism and meaning.

All around the world, in the West and in the East, artists work away in cottage industries and small businesses rooted in the passion of making of beautiful things. And yet, it seems so many consumers’ lives are dominated by just the opposite of this. We live in a world where global megabrands at the high-end and on the high street drown out the quiet beauty of products by independent artists and designers. Up until now, it has been a challenge for them to reach a global audience, due to their small scale and geographic constraints. And so the victory march of the big brands has continued on.

Enter revolutionary web 2.0 sites like Etsy.com and threadless.com, which could alter the way consumers think about luxury and exclusivity, thereby changing the design process as we know it. This forces us to ask ourselves a few questions.

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Cathy Horyn recently asserted that that London’s fashion renaissance might be linked to the fact that the city is awash with cash. From Russian oligarchs to Arab princes to Indian billionaires, it’s true that that London has become a playground for the world’s rich and famous. Perhaps this is also why there are no less than three luxury conferences taking place in London over the next few months, each with some focus on the opportunity that web 2.0 technologies presents for the industry.

Next week, The Walpole Group hosts Tech Luxe: Web 2.0 and Beyond, a half day seminar to help companies learn how they can "reharness the creative power of technology." Speakers will include Nick Robertson of the innovative online fashion retailer asos.com.

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When Malcolm Harris, one of the designers behind the Katsumi & Malcolm label which was once financially backed by Madonna, wanted to launch a new brand, he knew he needed to do something singularly different.

Harris is the man behind Cut, Sew & Blog which has got young fashion insiders and the blogosphere buzzing and is already spawning internet spoofs. By turning to web 2.0 technologies and using sites like Myspace and Youtube to promote his new label, Malcolm may be the first fashion designer ever to build his entire business strategy around the use of the Internet, as opposed to treating it as a cosmetic afterthought. He recently answered a few questions from the Business of Fashion to explain the rationale behind this strategy.

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Every week there are reports of new online fashion retailers, but some of the biggest names in the UK are noticeably absent from the space. Selfridges and Harvey Nichols have essentially no online fashion businesses to speak of, while the venerable Harrods is selling a heavily edited mix of its lower-priced collections, with an emphasis on accessories, knitwear and outerwear only.

All of this is even more surprising when you consider that many of the major American department stores, with similarly large profiles, have made heavy (and successful) pushes into the online space. Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Barney’s all have online sites with a large fashion assortment for sale. What’s more, many of the world’s best known luxury brands say that their rapidly growing online boutiques are their number one or two retail sales generators, even more than their flagship stores in the world’s fashion capitals.

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