1. Met Costume Institute Embraces ‘Camp’ for 2019 Blockbuster Show: The exhibition, which will be underwritten by Gucci, is a play on Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay “Notes on ‘Camp,’” the 58-point treatise that arguably brought the concept into the mainstream and helped make Sontag a literary celebrity. As for the annual Gala’s co-chairs: Anna Wintour will be joined by Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Serena Williams, and Gucci creative director Alessandro Michelle. – Read More on NY Times
2. Has Fashion’s Licensing of Art Gone Too Far? From Grateful Dead cufflinks to Andy Warhol socks and Jean-Michel Basquiat t-shirts, fashion brands and art foundations have been partnering with increasing frequency on artful clothing collections. – Read More on WSJ
3. RETRO READ: What is the State of Luxury’s Hundred Million Dollar Licensing Deals? Thanks to a handful of highly lucrative licensing deals, which see brands trade off the right to use their names and logos in certain goods categories in exchange for oft-hefty royalties, Coty has the right to sell cosmetics bearing the Burberry, Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Miu Miu, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Jil Sander, among others, branding and log the sales of these branded scents and beauty goods to its own books. – Read More on TFL
4. Growing Africa’s fashion industry: Africa's fashion industry is buzzing. Export opportunities for African garments to rest of the world are vast. And the weak rand could. – See More on CNBC
5. Why You’re Buying Products From Companies You’ve Never Heard Of: Everywhere you look, and especially on Instagram and Facebook, there is an explosion of different “microbrands.” Some, like Casper Mattresses and Kylie Cosmetics, have become overnight successes. What’s made this possible is a combination of new technologies and techniques. Marketers can test an audience with a mockup or a prototype before a product even exists, then turn to overseas factories for rapid manufacturing, while outsourcing everything from payments to shipping. This trend is changing who launches products, how they’re funded, manufactured, advertised—even how they are conceived in the first place. – Read More on WSJ
In response to the WSJ’s article, strategist Ana Andjelic states, “It's easy to fall into trap of thinking that it *only* takes Instagram to launch a brand: the truth is, it requires a lot of work and a lot of business thinking - neither of which this article mentions.” In regards to Kylie Cosmetics, which is cited in the WSJ article, she notes, “It is completely misleading. Kylie Cosmetics is built on a massive awareness and celebrity of its founder built - guess what - on the mass medium of TV. There's nothing micro about that.”
6. How CEO Remo Ruffini Is Reinventing Moncler for a Faster Fashion World: With billions on the line, Ruffini will focus on a rotating cast of designers and frequent drops. – Read More on WSJ