Daily LInks
1. How Brands Can Sell to Environmentally Conscious Nonconsumers: New research into how consumer attitudes about climate change affect their behavior and purchasing habits find that the largest segment is “Conscious Non-consumers” — that is, people who have changed their behavior to help the environment, but are not purchasing environmentally friendly products. – Read More on HBR
2. How Australian fashion fell to pieces: Even the largest and most established players are suffering. Australia’s prestige department store, David Jones, was bought by a private equity fund for just $100m at the end of 2022, a steep plummet from its 2014 purchase price of $2.1bn. – Read More on the Guardian
3. Binance and Coinbase Show Knives Out for Crypto: US regulators have made it clear that the knives are out for the entire crypto sector, with intent to inflict death by a thousand cuts. – Read More on Bloomberg
*You can find the SEC’s complaint against Coinbase right here.
4. Zara owner Inditex faces margin test: “The consumer is remaining a bit more resilient than we would have expected last year,” said Ciaran Callaghan, head of European equity research at Amundi, Europe’s biggest asset manager. – Read More on Reuters
5. US corporate bankruptcies tick up in May: S&P Global Market Intelligence recorded 54 corporate bankruptcy filings during May, a slight rise from 52 April. In the first five months of the year, 2023 has recorded more filings than any comparable period since 2010. – Read More on S&P Global
6. Dua Lipa wins dismissal of ‘Levitating’ copyright lawsuit: U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes said Artikal Sound System failed to argue that the writers of “Levitating” ever had access to the group’s 2017 song “Live Your Life.” – Read More on Reuters
1. The SEC charged Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao, with a variety of securities law violations on Monday. It charged Coinbase, Inc. with operating its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency and for failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program. – Read More from the SEC
2. Chief executives cannot shut up about AI: So far in the latest quarterly results season, executives at a record 110 companies in the S&P 500 index have brought up ai in their earnings calls. – Read More on the Economist
3. Fast fashion giant with ties to China tries to shake forced labor claims: Shein has hired Washington lobbyists for the first time and is talking up its new status as a Singapore-based company after relocating its headquarters there from Nanjing. – Read More on Politico
4. RELATED READ: As Shein Looks to Lobbying, What is Driving Corporate Political Strategy? “Corporations spend when they are worried about negative media coverage prompting what they perceive to be potentially harmful regulations.” – Read More on TFL
5. A man wants to trademark ‘Trump too small’ for T-shirts. Now the Supreme Court will hear the case. Government officials said the phrase “Trump too small” could still be used, just not registered as a TM because Trump had not consented to its use. But a federal appeals court said refusing registration violated free speech rights. – Read More on AP
6. AI generated content should be labelled, EU Commissioner Jourova says: Companies deploying generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Bard with the potential to generate disinformation should label such content as part of their efforts to combat fake news, European Commission deputy head Vera Jourova said. – Read More on Reuters
7. The AI Hype Cycle Is Distracting Companies: When you unpack the meaning of “AI,” you discover just how overblown a buzzword it is. If it doesn’t mean artificial general intelligence, a grandiose goal for technology, then it just doesn’t mean anything at all. – Read More on HBR
1. Is the luxury sector recession-proof? Part of the reason for the wait for Birkin bags is constrained supply, which Hermès manages with the precision worthy of its stitching. But another part is booming demand for all manner of luxury goodies. – Read More on the Economist
2. We need to keep CEOs away from AI regulation. Executives are trying to get ahead and set the tone, by arguing that they are best placed to regulate the very technologies they produce. – Read More on the FT
3. Urban Dictionary Definition Inadmissible in Trademark Case. Stay You, LLC claims that H&M’s use of the phrase “Stay True Stay You” infringes its trademark “Stay You,” and H&M is arguing (among other things) that “the Urban Dictionary definition of ‘Stay You” is strong evidence that the phrase is in common usage and therefore also diminishes the strength of the mark.” – Read More on Reason
4. The Gap beats shareholder lawsuit over commitment to diversity. The Gap Inc on Thursday beat a shareholder lawsuit claiming the company’s directors breached their duties by making misleading statements in securities filings about the retailer’s commitment to racial diversity in its leadership ranks. – Read More on Reuters
5. Erik Nordstrom Should Unleash His Inner Bernard Arnault: There’s a ton of risk in chasing the aspiring rich. For one, the discount space has become more crowded and competitive in the last few years. Resale companies have consistently outperformed the overall luxury segment even as they too see affluent shoppers squeezed. – Read More on Bloomberg
6. Europe’s new success stories are built on high luxury, not high tech. The top European brands now account for a third of global sales, up from a quarter in 2010. Europe’s top four luxury companies, by market cap, are all French: LVMH, L’Oréal, Hermès, and Christian Dior (which is owned by LVMH). – Read More on the FT
1. Firms are bringing production back home because of the Ukraine war, China’s slowdown — and TikTok: Mentions of “re-shoring” in S&P 500 earnings transcripts were up 128% in the first quarter against the same time a year ago, according to Bank of America — seeing higher growth than mentions of “AI”. – Read More on CNBC
2. Getty asks London court to stop UK sales of Stability AI system: Stock photo provider Getty Images has asked London’s High Court for an injunction to prevent artificial intelligence company Stability AI from selling its AI image-generation system in Britain, court filings show. – Read More on Reuters
3. How — and When — Should Companies Engage in the Political Process? A new set of principles from the Erb Institute of the University of Michigan suggests some guidelines based around responsibility, legitimacy, accountability, and transparency. – Read More on HBR
4. A slew of countries are asking fashion companies to pay for recycling programs as clothing waste becomes overwhelming: Regulators in the US and Europe are waking up to the mounting clothing waste problem that’s clogging local landfills and overwhelming countries such as Ghana and Chile. Increasingly, they’re asking brands to pay for it. – Read More on Fortune
5. eBay Deepens Luxury Push With Streetwear Authentication: The program will start with brands including Aimé Leon Dore, Bape, Fear of God, Kith, Off-White, Palace, Stone Island, Supreme and Vetements. The company plans to add brands such as Adidas, Balenciaga, Burberry, Dior, Gucci, Prada and Nike by the end of September, according to the release. – Read More on PYMNTS
6. Redesigning apparel manufacturing in Asia: A pattern for resilience: Given the hyperinflation in Europe and the United States, big fashion brands have seen a drop in margins of between two to five percentage points in the last year. – Read More on McKinsey
7. Luxury spending focus shifts to travel, savings: 57% of Millennial respondents plan to spend the same or more on luxury in the next three months, down from 64% in the January survey. – Read More on Yahoo
1. Stop dumping your cast-offs on us, Ghanaian clothes traders tell EU: With 100 tons of clothing from the west discarded every day in Accra, ‘fast fashion’ brands must be forced to help pay for the choking textile waste they create, environmentalists say. – Read More on the Guardian
2. EU tech chief sees draft voluntary AI code within weeks: Vestager said the U.S. and European Union should push a voluntary code of conduct to provide safeguards while new laws are developed. – Read More on Reuters
3. I Asked AI Chatbots to Help Me Shop. They All Failed: “Without the input of real humans writing about using real gear, generative AI will increasingly generate bad recommendations.” – Read More on Wired
4. Greenhushing & Metawashing: How Fast Fashion Obscures the Web3 Carbon Footprint. The buzzword “metawashing” – coined last year by Simon Whitehouse, former CEO of sustainable consultancy Eco-Age – defines the process by which a brand spends more time puffing up its virtual product marketing and metaverse projects than minimizing its sustainability impact. – Read More on Jing
5. The fashion industry has timidly approached circularity, individually investing in, exploring, and executing relatively small-volume plans, rather than establishing formal collaborations aimed at bringing meaningful levels of scale and efficiency to circular initiatives. – Read More on SSIR
6. Diddy Accuses Diageo of Abandoning His Tequila: Diddy alleges that the spirits company has neglected the DeLeón tequila brand it co-owns with the music mogul, while poured resources into two other tequilas, including Casamigos, the George Clooney-backed brand. – Read More on the WSJ
1. Fast Fashion’s Curious Comeback: While Shein’s tech-enabled test-and-scale model is compelling, it probably doesn’t work for higher-quality apparel that takes longer to make. But its biggest advantage so far might be its nonpublic status, which means less scrutiny on both its profitability and business practices. – Read More on the WSJ
2. Further Reflections on Fashion’s Circularity Reckoning: Circularity has emerged as the latest corporate win-win strategy, and, with an industry that is all about the latest trend, it was but a matter of time before fashion brands capitalized upon it to appeal to environmentally conscientious consumers. – Read More SSIR
3. Delta Air Lines faces proposed U.S. class action over carbon neutral claims: The complaint, filed on behalf of a California resident who bought Delta tickets to engage in “more ecologically conscious air travel,” alleges violations of state consumer protection laws and laws prohibiting unfair and fraudulent business practices. – Read More on Reuters
4. Unlocking Luxury: Prada’s Exclusive NFT-Backed Tank Tops. Each exquisite piece of clothing will be accompanied by an exclusive non-fungible token (NFT), granting holders privileged access to the esteemed Prada Crypted community on Discord. – Read More on NFT Culture
5. News execs weigh deals with AI companies: “I don’t think there’s going to be any real regulation of AI anytime soon,” News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson told a group of news executives. – Read More on Axios
6. A lawyer used ChatGPT to cite bogus cases. What are the ethics? Perlman envisions duty of competence rules eventually requiring some level of proficiency in artificial intelligence technology. AI could revolutionize legal practice so significantly that someday not using it could be akin to not using computers for research. – Read More on Reuters
1. Adidas After Yeezy: Millions of pairs of unsold Yeezys are sitting in purgatory, stacked in warehouses from the US to China. Sneakers that once would’ve sold out in limited-edition drops, often flipped for much more on StockX and Goat, now await their fate 7 months after one of the biggest corporate meltdowns in history. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. Here’s What Happens When Your Lawyer Uses ChatGPT: The lawyer who created the brief threw himself on the mercy of the court on Thursday, saying in an affidavit that he had used the artificial intelligence program to do his legal research — “a source that has revealed itself to be unreliable.” – Read More on the New York Times
3. Luxury Brands Don’t Just Sell to the Superrich: The top 5% of wealthiest shoppers drive around 40% of global luxury sales, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group. The rest comes from affluent consumers who spend up to €2,000 a year on luxury goods, equivalent to $2,147 at current exchange rates. – Read More on the WSJ
4. Startups, prepare for your AI due diligence: As investors are becoming increasingly aware of the legal, reputational & other risks associated with the use of AI, they understand that the manner in which a company handles such risks, and in turn, its potential exposure to costly legal complications, can impact the value of the company. – Read More on CTech
5. RELATED READ: How Does AI Fit in Companies’ ESG Frameworks? A Look at “Ethical” AI. Business use of AI poses substantial risks, and the companies know it. AI ethics managers expressed concerns about privacy, manipulation, bias, opacity, inequality, and labor displacement. – Read More on TFL
6. E-Commerce Companies Seek a Backdoor Into AI Responses: When search was king, companies could turn to SEO—and paid ads—to land atop search results. ChatGPT has thrown a wrench into that arrangement. – Read More on the Information
1. A Circle That Isn’t Easily Squared: While circularity is appealing in theory, discrete, brand-specific initiatives in the fashion industry have no chance to upend the established linear system. – Read More on SSIR
2. EU top court finds holes in Swiss cheese’s trademark request: The Swiss Emmental cheese, famous for its numerous holes, cannot be trademarked in the European Union, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled Wednesday. – Read More on Politico
3. The guy behind ‘Balenciaga Pope’ wants people to stop stealing his AI-generated images. Besides ensuring he gets credit for his labor, Pablo believes that linking his name to the images will help people identify that they’re fake—an ever-increasing concern. – Read More on Fast Co.
4. RELATED READ: Watermarks Could Help Prove Provenance, Address AI Deepfakes. Watermarks can be baked into the generative AI systems by marking all the training data, after which the generated content will contain the same watermark. – Read More on TFL
5. Consumer wariness constrains earnings for retailers Dick’s, e.l.f. Beauty and Williams-Sonoma: Inflation is weighing on Americans across income levels, and some pandemic changes in consumer behavior are expected to be long-lasting. – Read More on the WSJ
6. TikTok tests AI chatbot in the Philippines: Social media platform TikTok said it is in the early stages of exploring a chatbot called “Tako” that can converse with users about short videos and help them discover content, and is conducting tests with select users in the Philippines. – Read More on Reuters
1. Beyond Saving: In China, Young Shoppers Are Locked Out of Luxury. Over a period of four years, the price of luxury goods has almost doubled. But with their salaries stagnant, young consumers are now forced to decide between indulgence and financial stability. – Read More on Sixth Tone
2. Still Game whisky wins Jack Daniel’s trademark battle. The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) found in favour of Jack and Victor and said the trademark could proceed to registration. – Read More on the BBC
3. AI in retail: Smarter stores, smarter product design. Analysts say the retail sector’s spending on AI in 2023 will outpace all others except banking. A 40% adoption rate is projected to double by 2025, making retail the industry most heavily invested in intelligent technology. –Read More on Venture Beat
4. A.I. Needs an International Watchdog, ChatGPT Creators Say. Tech companies have spent billions of dollars on A.I., amid the rising concerns about its potential to match human reasoning and destroy jobs. Goldman Sachs estimated recently that A.I. could expose 300M full-time jobs to automation. – Read More on the New York Times
5. A timeline of Amazon’s efforts to curb counterfeit selling: An important part of Amazon’s strategy is expanding the work they do with brands, other third-parties and different coalitions through initiatives like the Anti-Counterfeiting Exchange announced last month. – Read More on Modern Retail
6. Nike CEO John Donahoe says breaking up with China would be ‘disastrous’ amid rising geopolitical tensions: Donahoe said China – the sneaker giant’s third-biggest market by revenue – is vital to Nike. He added it is important to adhere to the country’s local standards, while not violating any “global rules,” such as human rights violations. – Read More on CNBC
1. Prada ‘optimistic’ of Milan listing, heir of fashion group says: “The biggest risk to luxury is too much social tension between rich and poor,” he said of China as well as western markets. – Read More on the FT
2. Luxury goods boom: why prices are rising. Global economic and political factors are driving price rises but there’s another reason: brands know they can get away with it because post-Covid revenge spending continues unabated. – Read More on Spear’s
3. After Nike’s virtual sneaker drop, NFT cynicism is making way for intrigue among marketers: Nike is reaching out to self-identified fans with token-gated content and exclusive experiences in NFT form. It is not “selling a jpeg” or appealing to speculators. – Read More on Modern Retail
4. Luxury brands are using blockchain to enhance the buying process. Cartier uses Aura’s blockchain technology to confirm repair transactions and share the condition of its pieces with owners. – Read More on Retail Insight
5. New Zealand Honey Producers Fail to Secure Manuka Trade Mark. New Zealand’s Intellectual Property Office has declined an application to register “Manuka Honey” as a trade mark, delivering a legal victory to Australian producers who have argued the product is not unique to New Zealand. – Read More on Bloomberg
6. RETRO READ: Pricey Beauty Products, Organized Crime & a Global Legal Battle: The $220M+ Manuka Honey Industry. Like Champagne, Porto wine, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, which are covered by Protected Geographical Status laws, Manuka honey should be subject to protected status, they argue. – Read More on TFL