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.
Fitbit Pay Arrives in the UK (The Daily Telegraph)
"Fitbit's rival to Apple Pay is launching in the UK, initially available to customers of Starling Bank. The payments system links the user's wearable smartwatch to their account, allowing them to pay with contactless on their wrist. It is available on the company's first smartwatch — the Fitbit Ionic."
Nike Is Using Its New Digital Studio to Build a Community of Sneakerheads (TechCrunch)
"A year after acquiring Virgin Mega, Nike reveals its experiments with AI. It has created digital studio s23NYC, which has taken over Nike's SNKRS app, launching geotargeted campaigns with a variety of features to unlock promotions, enabling users to buy limited edition sneakers from the app."
Stitch Fix Files For IPO (The Business of Fashion)
"The personal styling service that uses a mix of algorithms and human touch to send customers boxes of 'handpicked' fashion items filed for an IPO. In its fiscal year ending July 29, 2017, Stitch Fix generated $977.1 million in net revenue, up 33.8 percent, and had nearly 2.2 million active clients."
Robot Women in Asia Now Have Human Stylists (Quartz)
"As 'humanoids' become commonplace, developers of robots are thinking: What should a robot wear in the 21st century? Robots in Asia now have teams of stylists to choose appropriate outfits for public appearances — often draped robes, as they require the least modification to fit the robot frame."
L'Oréal to Collaborate With Paris-Based Beauty Start-Ups (Reuters)
"L'Oréal has opened a beauty workshop, where it will develop new tech products like sensory hairbrushes with 10 start-up brands. While it has rolled out services such as a phone app for virtual make-up tests, it looks to develop artificial intelligence software, as well as new beauty products."
The nature of livestream transactions makes it hard to identify and weed out counterfeits and fakes despite growth of new technologies aimed at detecting infringement.
The extraordinary expectations placed on the technology have set it up for the inevitable comedown. But that’s when the real work of seeing whether it can be truly transformative begins.
Successful social media acquisitions require keeping both talent and technology in place. Neither is likely to happen in a deal for the Chinese app, writes Dave Lee.
TikTok’s first time sponsoring the glitzy event comes just as the US effectively deemed the company a national security threat under its current ownership, raising complications for Condé Nast and the gala’s other organisers.