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.
THE CHEAT SHEET
Stella McCartney Makes Her LVMH Debut at Paris Fashion Week
Stella McCartney Autumn/Winter 2017 campaign | Source: Courtesy
The Bottom Line: LVMH likely expects McCartney's sustainability message to perform double duty, helping to grow the brand's sales globally while burnishing the conglomerate's reputation.
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Dover Street Market Branches Into Beauty
A Comme des Garçons installation at Dover Street Market New York | Source: Instagram/@doverstreetmarketnewyork
It's not enough to merely be a retailer these days, and Dover Street Market is the latest wholesaler looking to expand its horizons. The mini-chain of luxury multi-brand boutiques is applying its strength as a curator of high-end products to a new market, stocking a new Paris shop with ultra-trendy fragrances and beauty lines from the likes of Edward Bess and Gucci Westman, as well as exclusive products. To curate its assortment, the retailer hired Sarah Andelman, former creative director of Colette, the Parisian concept store renowned for its selection and displays, which closed in 2017. The luxury beauty business is booming, and so are retailers like Dover Street Market that can convince consumers they are "destinations" and brand platforms of their own rather than mere stores.
The Bottom Line: Retailers need to build their reputations as curators and brand builders as the appeal of the wholesale model wanes. A similar goal drove Farfetch's $675 million acquisition of New Guards Group earlier this year, bringing the incubator behind Off-White and Heron Preston in house.
-Laure Guilbault contributed to this report
Meet the New BoF 500
Chika Oranika | Photo by Catherine Servel for BoF
The fashion industry has spent much of the last year lurching from PR crisis to PR crisis, whether it's Gucci's "blackface" balaclava sweater or Nike's Betsy Ross flag sneakers. The common thread tying these incidents together is inclusivity - or lack thereof. After each misstep, brands have acknowledged their lack of internal diversity, which has in turn hampered their ability to communicate to an increasingly diverse customer base. But there's more to it than that: inclusivity is also good for innovation. This year, our BoF 500 special print issue takes a close look at the industry's track record when it comes to inclusivity, as well as the innovators, artists and businesspeople who are moving the conversation forward. The issue will be released, along with new additions to our BoF 500 community, at a gala event at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris this Monday night.
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The Bottom Line: The fashion industry is slowing waking up to the fact that inclusivity is not just a matter of being politically correct and avoiding PR scandals; it's also good for business.
SUNDAY READING
Professional Exclusives You May Have Missed:
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The industry needs to ditch its reliance on fossil-fuel-based materials like polyester in order to meet climate targets, according to a new report from Textile Exchange.
Cotton linked to environmental and human rights abuses in Brazil is leaking into the supply chains of major fashion brands, a new investigation has found, prompting Zara-owner Inditex to send a scathing rebuke to the industry’s biggest sustainable cotton certifier.
Over the last few years, the run-up to Earth Day has become a marketing frenzy. But a crackdown on greenwashing may be changing the way brands approach their communications strategies.
This week, Sephora announced plans to double down on ‘green’ and ‘clean’ product labels, leaning into an increasingly risky marketing tactic even as a greenwashing crackdown has prompted other brands to pull back.