Daily Links

1. European fashion industry faces scrutiny over Uyghur labor. A “substantial volume” of clothing coming into the European Union likely contains materials sourced from Uyghur forced labor, according to a new report. – Read More on Yahoo

2. Brands are blaming Temu & Shein for poor business performance. In August, Gap’s EVP mentioned that Shein was one of several competitors “gaining share” and “compet[ing] with our customer. We have a lot to do there to keep winning in that space.” – Read More on Modern Retail

3. EU’s AI Act could exclude open-source models from regulation. The European Union’s landmark AI Act may exempt open-source models – i.e., the free and open sharing of software code, allowing anyone to contribute to upgrading it or resolving bugs – from strict regulation. – Read More on Reuters

4. Shopping for Luxury Online Has Fallen Out of Fashion. Muted e-commerce sales aren’t necessarily a bad thing for luxury brands. They still prefer customers to come to their fancy stores, which double as a marketing tool. – Read More on the WSJ

5. Shein IPO: What it could mean for the fashion industry. “When I talk about regulations, I think I’m more interested in directional positioning. For example, pushing recycling products so that recycling capabilities are more available to customers.” – Read More on Fast Co.

6. You Need a Generative AI Strategy. “The more you can start getting your organizations ready now, then you’ll be ready for the next transformation. Right now, there’s a very specific set of technology that AI is based on. That will almost certainly be different in 5-10 years.” – Hear More on HBR

1. Sustainable Raw Materials Will Drive Profitability for Fashion and Apparel Brands. Brands that act now to secure a preferred-raw-materials supply for the future can, on average, see a 6% profit uplift after five years. – Read More on BCG

2. Return of rich tourists and weak yen helps Japan escape luxury downturn. For LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group and owner of Louis Vuitton, Japan is the fastest-growing region across its 75 brands, reporting sales growth of 31% in the country in the first nine months of the year. – Read More on FT

3. Disputed landmark AI rules face crunch EU talks. If agreed, the EU’s first-of-a-kind AI Act, which was proposed by the European Commission two years ago, could serve as the benchmark for countries seeking an alternative to the United States’ light-touch approach and China’s interim rules. – Read More on Reuters

4. RELATED READ: Global AI Regulations: What to Expect From the U.S., Europe & China. The U.S. and China are vying for a foothold in the regulatory arena. President Biden, for instance, issued an executive order requiring AI manufacturers to provide the federal government with an assessment of their applications’ vulnerability to cyber-attacks, the data used to train and test the AI and its’ performance measurements. – Read More on TFL

5. Amazon Targets Shein With Fee Cuts for Cheap Apparel Sellers. Amazon.com Inc. is sharply cutting fees for merchants selling clothing priced below $20, a sign it’s hunkering down for a price war with Chinese fast-fashion upstart Shein. – Read More on Bloomberg

6. New lawsuit against university alleges NIL inequities under Title IX. The lawsuit could provide the first ruling on whether NIL activities — including funding from collectives — are subject to the federal statute requiring gender equity in college sports. It’s one of the biggest unanswered questions in the NIL era. – Read More on MarketWatch

1. The Rise of Temu’s Chinese Parent Will Reshape E-Commerce. At a time when Chinese consumers are more price-sensitive, PDD’s hybrid model gives it more direct sway over pricing—a key advantage in China. – Read More on the WSJ

2. Lawmakers ramp up scrutiny of Shein, call for proof it doesn’t use forced labor after retailer files for IPO. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., says that Shein “warrants extreme caution from regulators, customers and investors” as the fast-fashion powerhouse sets the stage to start trading on U.S. exchanges. – Read More on CNBC

3. Apparel brands finally shift to deeper supplier relationships. Brands recognize the value of partnering with suppliers but have been slow to act. Our latest survey finds that brands are finally shifting to transform the apparel industry. – Read More on McKinsey

4. X Corp calls ‘X’ trademark lawsuit a ‘shakedown’ in dismissal bid. X told the court that its rebrand would not cause confusion with X Social Media, arguing that it has “peacefully coexisted for years with hundreds of other registered X-formative trademarks” and that no trademark owner has “exclusive rights” to the letter. – Read More on Reuters

5. Talent Management in the Age of AI: The smartest companies today are starting to redefine jobs as a collection of skills and tasks — instead of just titles — and are considering how those skills and tasks will evolve as AI advances. – Read More on HBR

1. How green hushing is leaving companies vulnerable to deep fakes. These convincing fabrications extend far beyond political mischief into the corporate world, where realistic video forgeries of corporate executives can do serious damage to their own and their company’s reputations and businesses. – Read More on Reuters

2. Breaking record after record: The stellar figures of the ‘premium’ market. Experts are not denying that there may be a slowdown, and that the party is over. “The industry is well positioned for the long term.” – Read More on El Pais

3. Europe’s world-leading artificial intelligence rules are facing a do-or-die moment. The process has been bogged down by a last-minute battle over how to govern systems that underpin general purpose AI services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbot. – Read More on ABC

4. Can an AI chatbot be convicted of an illegal wiretap? Old Navy is facing a lawsuit in the Central District of California alleging that its AI chatbot participates in illegal wiretapping by logging, recording and storing conversations. – Read More on CNBC

5. RELATED READ: Court Refuses to Toss Out Chatbot-Centric Wiretapping Lawsuit Against Old Navy. Old Navy cannot escape a lawsuit accusing it of running afoul of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) by way of its use of a sophisticated chatbot feature on its e-commerce site. – Read More on TFL

6. McDonald’s Crocs Merch Shows the Value of Brands With Cultural Cachet. Crocs, T-shirts, necklaces, dolls — you name it. If a company has the cool factor, consumers will buy their branded merchandise. – Read More on Bloomberg

1. Stella McCartney: We Need Policy Change in Fashion Industry. McCartney discusses sustainable fashion, collaborating with other designers to inform people to consume less and needing incentives in the future, a policy change in the industry to help it become cleaner. – See More on Bloomberg

2. Fashion’s New Look for Stores: Bigger, Better, Fewer. “Now it’s about engaging with consumers and giving them an experience,” said Henrik Nordvall, manager of H&M’s U.K. business. – Read More on the WSJ

3. Shopify, online payment platforms get free pass on jurisdiction from appeals court. If an online retailer delivers physical products to CA, AZ, NV or other states in the 9th Circuit, the business can be sued in that state, even if the online seller is not incorporated or headquartered on the West Coast. – Read More on Reuters

4. Shein Faces an Uphill Battle to Sustain Growth. The company plans to offer faster shipping and a broader range of merchandise, putting it in more direct competition with Amazon. – Read More on the Information

5. There’s a gap between AI talk and businesses actually using it. America’s biggest companies can’t stop hyping artificial intelligence to investors, but new data shows few businesses are putting the technology to actual use. – Read More on NBC

6. Neiman Marcus Rejects $3B Takeover Bid by Saks. Neiman rejected Saks’s most recent takeover offer, which valued the upscale chain at close to $3B, objecting to the deal’s structure, a significant portion of which wasn’t in cash. – Read More on the WSJ