The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Hello BoF Professionals, welcome to our latest members-only briefing: The Week Ahead. Think of it as your "cheat sheet" to what everyone will be talking about on Monday.
THE CHEAT SHEET
J.Crew Changes Course Yet Again
J.Crew store | Source: J.Crew
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Retail’s Endless Black Friday
Source: Shutterstock
Retail Bloodbath Reaches the Mall
An Urban Outfitters store | Source: Shutterstock
Consumer spending is up, and so are profits. So what explains the decline in retail stocks, indiscriminately hitting both perennial under-performers like J.C. Penney and high-fliers like Abercrombie & Fitch? A similar dynamic already played out among luxury brands last month, when fears of a slowing Chinese luxury market sent Kering and Prada tumbling. Macy's and Gap rely on China for manufacturing rather than consumption (and didn't have as far to fall after weathering years of doubts about their futures). But economic fears are going global, and cheery forecasts for holiday sales can't drown out mounting concern that the retail sector's best days may be in the past. A raft of earnings this week should help clarify the overall picture.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
Source: Instagram/@revolve
"This is why you need an empowered diverse workforce in HQ as well. It would've taken a black woman two seconds to notice this and if she felt like her voice would be heard, she would've spoken up in time to fix it. Now, this campaign got talked about for all the wrong reasons and even worse, it alienated potential customers."
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-@daisy_mer0llin, on how Revolve might have avoided its #RevolveSoWhite controversy. She was commenting on "The Case for Seeking Out More Diverse Influencers."
SUNDAY READING
Professional Exclusives You May Have Missed:
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