Gap cautious on full-year sales outlook (Reuters)
“Gap Inc Chief Executive Glenn Murphy said on Thursday that consumer sentiment may deteriorate in the second half of 2011 and was cautious about future sales growth at the apparel retailer… Gap has lost about a quarter of its market value this year as investors questioned the company’s ability to grow sales after several quarters of losing market share.”

Zara accused in Brazil sweatshop inquiry (Guardian)
“Retail fashion chain Zara is under investigation by Brazil’s ministry of labour after a contractor in São Paulo was found to be using employees in sweatshop conditions to make garments for the Spanish company… Zara is a family business founded in 1975 in La Coruña, north-west Spain by Amancio Ortega… According to Forbes magazine, half of production remains in Spain, with 26% per cent in Europe and the remainder spread around the world.”

Caution on Main Street: retailers fret ahead of key sales season (Reuters)
“Caution is the watchword for apparel executives heading into the all-important holiday season and their lack of confidence is scaring investors. Wary of talk of a double-dip recession, consumers are waiting on bargains, leaving retailers in the dark over how sales trends will turn out in the key year-end shopping season.”

Louis Vuitton’s “Big Store Strategy” Spreads (Jing Daily)
“Luxury giant Louis Vuitton has spent the last several years in China ramping up its inland expansion and rethinking its strategy in top-tier cities… A new LV store might not seem like big news, considering the brand is expanding perhaps more quickly than any other luxury brand in China, but in second- and third-tier markets, the arrival of Louis Vuitton means they’ve reached a certain level.”

Fashion; red in tooth and claw? (FT)
“The story so far: in 2008 Louboutin trademarked a lacquered red sole on footwear ( Pantone No. 18-1663 TP, or “Chinese Red,” FYI). In April this year Louboutin filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in New York saying that YSL had breached its copyright by using the red sole… Potentially worse for Christian Louboutin, who has another hearing in the case scheduled this Friday, the judge also implied that his 2008 trademark could be cancelled.”

Diego Della Valle | Source: Marie Claire

Lunch with the FT: Diego Della Valle (FT)
“Tod’s is a success story that continues to show impressive growth: half-year results of the €800m company released this week show sales up by 16.4 per cent from the corresponding period last year and net income up by 26.7 per cent… Tod’s is nothing if not a global concern and, as with most luxury goods companies, eyes are looking hungrily eastwards.”

Luxury retailers worry that shoppers may pull back on spending (LA Times)
“The luxury sector has been a consistent bright spot in the retail industry this year, posting robust sales month after month as wealthy shoppers spent freely on designer handbags, shoes and jewelry…But luxury shopping is tied closely to stock market performance. Analysts said rich shoppers could pull back again if their portfolios take a big enough hit and if they sense long-term volatility.”

Ben Sherman poaches Burberry director as part of makeover (Independent)
“Ben Sherman, one of Britain’s oldest menswear brands, has poached Burberry merchandising chief Adrian Ward-Rees as part of a makeover for the 48-year-old business… The brand, famous for its 1960s Mod associations, wants to do a “Burberry” or a “Mini” and reinvent itself as a top global menswear brand.”

Artistic licence: The most influential make-up artist in the world (Independent)
“As the global creative director for Chanel beauty– creating looks for that company’s runway shows, beauty advertising campaigns and the product itself, from nail polish to lipstick, worn by millions, if not billions, of women – he is the most influential of his profession by far… Among many other beauty moments, it was Philips who created the extraordinary underwater alien look for Alexander McQueen’s final show, Plato’s Atlantis.”

Fight On (Vogue UK)
“Christian Louboutin’s lawyer says the shoe designer plans to “fight like hell” against YSL’s attempt to overturn his re-sole trademark – and plans to file an appeal against the judge’s denial of his requested injunction… Last week the judge ruled that Yves Saint Laurent could continue to produce the shoes in the meantime and hinted that Louboutin’s monopoly on the colour could be set to end.”

YSL Tweet Denying Pilati Rumours | Source: Twitter

LONDON, United Kingdom — Though they may have been slow off the mark — and indeed much slower than many of their clients might have liked — it is quickly dawning upon the fashion industry’s most respected public relations firms that their once cushy domain is being rapidly disrupted by digital media.

Simply put, no longer is it enough for PR firms to court editors of monthly magazines for editorial coverage over long boozy lunches and manage guest lists for fashion shows and events. Today’s high-powered fashion publicists are coming down from their ivory towers to help clients manage the new, constantly changing paradigm of digital fashion communication, while continuing their focus on personal relationships, which, it turns out, are more important than ever before.

Today, in exclusive conversations with the industry’s leading publicists, BoF examines how new media has transformed the PR landscape and how the sector’s top agencies are adapting to life in the digital age.

Reputation management in an always-on communication cycle

“We now think in terms of information streams,” said Brian Phillips, president and chief executive officer of Black Frame, the elite New York agency that works with some of the industry’s most sought after emerging brands, including Rodarte, Nicholas Kirkwood and Band of Outsiders.

“Temporal boundaries on news no longer exist because of the possibility to feed and fill websites, blogs and Twitter with information at all times. We determine with clients what comprises their stream and these decisions are happening around the clock,” explained Mr. Phillips.

Daniel Marks, the highly-respected director of London-based The Communications Store (TCS) — which counts Net-a-Porter and Christopher Kane on its client roster — agreed. “The resource that the digital revolution created is extraordinary — allowing anyone to find information about a brand, a magazine or a personality,” he said. “Part of our job is to ensure that that information is correct.”

The importance of rapid response reputation management cannot be overstated. In the digital world, unsubstantiated rumours can run wild based on little more than a casual conversation, captured in an out-of-context tweet, ultimately reaching hundreds of thousands of people and feeding further speculation on quick-fire fashion news websites.

The most recent example of this came with speculation about potential successors to John Galliano as creative director of Dior, but Galliano is not alone. In recent seasons, everyone from Alber Elbaz to Karl Lagerfeld to Stefano Pilati has been dogged by rumours which have been turbo-charged by social media.

More publicists are intervening directly in the social conversation to nip false information in the bud. Indeed, it was a tweet from the official YSL account which finally put to rest the persistent rumours of Pilati’s impending dismissal, saying simply “Pilati busy working on the next collection. All the rumors unfounded – he is here to stay.”

Then there are those rumours that are true, but get leaked early. Mr. Marks of TCS recalls one such recent situation. “We were waiting until after fashion week to announce a new collaboration between J Brand and Christopher Kane,” he explained. “A very high profile editor-in-chief, who was privy to the information, gave an interview to an online video crew and mentioned the new collaboration. The editor was unaware that the information was embargoed as the designer had not told her.”

Sensing an opportunity out of the editor’s unintended scoop spreading online, TCS issued a release announcing the new collaboration slightly ahead of time. “Online means you have to be nimble as a PR,” asserted Mr. Marks. “Reaction times have to be quicker and more efficient.”

Relationships — not numbers — count most in blogger engagement

Of all the social media phenomena surrounding the fashion industry, possibly none has received more attention than the rise of the fashion blogger. Fashion publicists are the first to acknowledge the growing importance of this new breed of fashion influencer, but emphasise that relationships drive decisions about which bloggers to work with.

“We can see very directly who helps sell products or who has the greatest influence and number of followers,” said Mr Marks. “Some of the selection process is based on numbers, but much of it is based on good personal relationships.”

Relationship-building with bloggers reached new levels during the New York Fashion Week just past, when PR Consulting founder Pierre Rougier encouraged his clients, Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, to speak at the Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB) Conference, just days before they debuted their critically acclaimed Autumn/Winter 2011 collection.

This kind of active blogger engagement strategy may have appeared as an abrupt volte-face for Mr. Rougier, who like many other fashion publicists had been reluctant to engage with the blogosphere at first. But at the IFB Conference, evidence of his change of heart (and mind) couldn’t have been more clear. “Our goal is to maximise our clients’ place on the web and to enhance visibility for all that they do, in addition to promoting and driving users to all their social media channels,” he said.

But agencies are still exercising caution when it comes to blogger engagement. “Sites such as Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and The Business of Fashion are now institutional publishing organisations that follow journalistic codes. We tend not to work with self-published blogs, unless we have long term relationships built with the individuals behind them,” said Mr. Phillips of Black Frame.

Monitoring, amplifying and measuring social buzz

But as KCD senior vice president of public relations Rachna Shah points out, social media engagement transcends the fashion blogosphere.

“The digital revolution has given a voice and a relevance to a much larger, more diverse group,” she said. “The ascent of bloggers has certainly been a buzz topic for the media, but it’s really the interactive role of the public and the consumers that have produced the most significant shift.”

Ms. Shah’s point is a critical one. With the rise of social media and user-generated content, the balance of power between fashion companies and end consumers, in terms of who shapes overall brand perception, has shifted dramatically. In fact, communal consumer conversations are already drowning out official brand communications.

Mesh Chhibber, managing partner of Relative MO, agreed. “The official agenda is no longer set by newspapers of record,” he said. “We can now see how Twitter can drive the communications agenda. It changes everything.”

Indeed, when they find the right opportunities, many PRs — including Relative MO, PR Consulting, Starworks, and more recently, KCD — are using their own Twitter accounts to amplify positive conversations about their clients. “We have a Twitter account that acts synergistically with what our clients are doing online already, and further enhances the scope of reach for everything we work on,” explained Mr. Rougier. But Mr. Marks of TCS — which does not have an agency-level Twitter account — sees things somewhat differently. “We are here to amplify our clients’ voices — not our own,” he said.

To track, measure and understand consumer sentiment and opinions, PR firms are also beginning to use social media monitoring tools like Topsy.com and Radian 6, as well as analytics tools like Google Analytics, Quantcast and Klout to measure online influence.

“We definitely take advantage of online tools to report on web analytics and monitor and quantify social buzz,” said Ms Shah. “As we move forward, Twitter and other social mentions will become widely accepted as legitimate PR value, so we’ll continue to research tools that give us more accurate figures in terms of social reach as these only strengthen and diversify our impact as publicists.”

Streamlining traditional PR processes with digital tools

But Digital PR is not restricted to communications alone. For several seasons now, fashion PRs have been integrating digital tools into their operational processes, particularly those that involve complex logistics such as event planning, inventory management, and sample tracking. More recently, they have been ditching their trademark clipboards and brandishing snazzy new iPad guest lists instead.

Much of this new technology is powered by Fashion GPS, an emerging leader in developing technology tools designed for the fashion PR industry. “I wanted to digitise and streamline the entire process including reporting, which was the most apparent requirement at the time,” explained Fashion GPS founder and chief executive Eddie Mullon. “Initially, I developed a very primitive version of Fashion GPS just for KCD’s sample tracking, but the underlying spirit and incentives carried over to all areas of the fashion process.”

Today, Fashion GPS’ tools and technologies have been implemented by more than 80 clients, including KCD, Starworks Group, Arcadia Group and Louis Vuitton, and more than 1 million samples have been trafficked worldwide.

But while new tools and technologies are an important part of PR in the digital era, these can never replace real insider knowledge. “Nothing beats recognising an editor in person to show them to their seat at a show and knowing their deadlines, filing days, what inspires them,” cautioned Daniel Marks. “No amount of technology can teach a PR that.”

Building digital expertise from inside — and out

Most of the PR agencies admitted that they are still learning how to exploit the potential of social media in favour of their clients, and many are seeking external advice or hiring experts from non-fashion agencies to bolster their digital media expertise. KCD and Starworks are going one step further, building out entire divisions focused on digital PR.

“Previously KCD had two main divisions, PR and Production (handling fashion show and events), but KCD Digital will marry digital elements of both divisions and apply our fashion expertise to not only clients within the fashion industry but also to digital or technology brands seeking fashion industry access,” explained Ms. Shah, whose team was behind Nicola Formichetti’s first Mugler fashion show, the social media event of the season.

Starworks Group founder and chief executive James Grant has also prioritised the digital agenda, hiring individuals across all disciplines of digital marketing to be led by Rob Holzer, the newly-named global director of digital and integrated services for Starworks, serving clients including Loewe, Kate Spade and SHOWstudio.

“His keen business perspective and creative expertise in this area has already invigorated an impressive roster of fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands and will serve as a vital asset to the agency as we look to grow and expand our portfolio,” said Mr. Grant in a press release. Prior to setting its sights on digital PR, Starworks had already been moving from its core celebrity placement and casting business into fashion PR.

What’s clear is that Mr. Grant and his counterparts see digital PR as a huge opportunity for their clients, and a significant opportunity for their own agency growth and survival in the digital age.

“If brands can fully understand how to leverage their messaging and assets across digital platforms and engage with an active audience,” he said, “they can utilise the most powerful communications and sales tool that has ever existed in fashion.”

Imran Amed is founder and editor of The Business of Fashion

Carré Hermès | Source: Hermès

Jean-Louis Dumas, Chief of Hermès, Dies at 72 (NY Times)
“Jean-Louis Dumas, who revived the flagging fortunes of Hermès in the late 1970s and in his nearly 30 years as the company’s chief executive transformed it into one of the world’s most successful luxury brands, died Saturday at his home in Paris.”

Louis Vuitton Tops Hermes, Gucci as Most Valuable Luxury Brand (Bloomberg)
“Louis Vuitton, the French fashion brand known for its monogrammed luggage, topped Millward Brown Optimor’s 2010 BrandZ ranking of the most valuable luxury labels for the fifth straight year.”

Costumes On Display at the Met (WSJ)
“There are really no other evenings in New York like the Costume Institute Gala, which falls on the first Monday in May and is hosted, as it has been for years, by Vogue. This is partly because there’s a great element of surprise.”

YSL’s Stefano Pilati (South China Morning Post)
“‘More or less I have done everything I have had in mind so far – in terms of collections, playing with the heritage but not too much and preserving the runway as something directional yet true to what I feel. Sales, for me, show I have done a good job.’”

The Collector: Jason Wu (WSJ)
“In 2008, he was a finalist for the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund award, a prestigious prize for emerging designers. But when the inauguration gown went viral in the multimedia world, he became a household name overnight.”

YSL and a Naked Screen (IHT)
“With social networking the subject of the moment, Yves Saint Laurent made a bold decision to link its men’s wear to a new generation…But viewers won’t be getting even a glimpse of the perfectly cut coats, the jackets with a tendency to be rounded up at the base of the spine or even the drop-crotch pants that are a favorite of the designer, Stefano Pilati.”

Ready to Spend, but Not to Boast (NY Times)
“The Wall Street crowd is shaking off what one luxury retailer called its ‘frugal fatigue.’ Unlike earlier spending sprees, however, the consumption will be a lot less conspicuous.”

Fashion label Escada back on the catwalk (DW-World)
“After struggling with declining sales for years, Escada… is back. The Munich-based company recently presented its first collection under its new owner, Megha Mittal.”

Ralph Lauren is 2009 Mobile Marketer of the Year (Mobile Marketer)
“Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. took first place as 2009 Mobile Marketer of the Year… Ralph Lauren serves as a role model for outstanding use of mobile advertising and marketing.”

Heritage: Shake It, Break It or Fake It? (IHT)
“The Paris men’s season, which closed Sunday, was all about handling the heritage. Should you shake it, break it or fake the style of the past?”

J.Crew A/W 09, courtesy of J Crew

Despite Fourth-Quarter Loss, J. Crew Sees Room to Grow (WWD)
“Tightfisted consumers and rising costs may have pushed J. Crew Group Inc. to a $13.5 million loss in the fourth quarter, but the retailer still has cautious expansion.” (Subscription required)

Has spring sprung for US retailers? (Just-Style)
Though February sales have improved, this is an unlikely sign of a total recovery.

Simon Fuller to launch fashion retail portal (Drapers)
“Pop mogul Simon Fuller and Sojin Lee, formerly Net-a-Porter.com, are to launch a fashion style website which will be affiliated with brands and retailers via pop-up shops and advertising.”

Stefano Pilati Gets The Season’s Shoulder Just Right at YSL (WSJ)
The power shoulder is one of the biggest trends this season, but Stefano Pilati at YSL, offerred the “2009 version of 1985.”

John Lewis profits fall 27% (Drapers)
“John Lewis saw operating profit fall back 26.8% to £146 million for the year ended January 31, but sales were flat at £2.81 billion.”

YSL Autumn/Winter 1966-1967 and Yves Saint Laurent with Betty Catroux and Loulou de la Falaise, courtesy of YSL

In the Black, YSL Plots Ambitious Growth (WWD)
“While the global economic crisis has thrown many high-flying luxury brands into a tailspin, operating under trying circumstances is old hat for the folks at Yves Saint.” (Subscription required)

Rumors Swirl: Is Fall 2009 Olivier Theyskens’ Last Collection for Nina Ricci? (WSJ)
“Since Mr. Theyskens arrived at Nina Ricci in 2006, he has been hailed as a genius by critics. But perhaps in these tough economic times, genius isn’t enough.”

February retail sales crash (Drapers)
In the UK, “like-for-like fashion sales fell by 9.7% in February according to BDO Stoy Hayward’s Like-for-Like Club.”

Retail Sales Show Signs of Life (WSJ)
Americans have started spending again – at discount stores like Wal-Mart.