Daily LInks
1. Amazon Agrees to Change Some Business Practices in EU Settlement: The agreement may foreshadow changes at Apple, Google and Meta, which are also facing EU antitrust investigations and are racing to comply with new European laws that target the tech sector and take effect by 2024. – Read More on the New York Times
2. Jack Daniel’s, Dior Cry ‘Dilution’ as Toys, Porn Star Copy Marks: Some attorneys argue the separate cause of action is a combination of superfluousness—most dilution claims come alongside infringement claims—and overreach. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. LVMH to build new workshop making Louis Vuitton bags in Italy: The workshop will be the largest in Italy entirely dedicated to making these products for Louis Vuitton, said the region, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with LVMH. – Read More on Reuters
4. Why Some Lawmakers Want to Ban TikTok: China’s control over the social-media app TikTok is getting new attention, as the Senate passes a bill to ban it on government devices. Meantime, Sen. Marco Rubio wants to stop TikTok from operating in the U.S. entirely. – Read More on the WSJ
5. November US retail sales fall more than expected: Retail and food services fell 0.6%, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Dec. 15. Economists expected that figure to fall just 0.2%, according to a consensus estimate compiled by Econoday. – Read More on S&P Global
1. Lanvin Group to open stores, hunt buys after U.S. SPAC listing: Chinese luxury fashion conglomerate Lanvin Group, owner of the eponymous French fashion brand, said it is scouting for buys and will open new stores, after a New York SPAC listing on Thursday that raised $150 million and valued it at $1.31 billion. – Read More on Reuters
2. Chemists Are Figuring Out How to Recycle Our Clothes: Globally, only 13% of the material that goes into making clothing is recycled. Most textile waste—an estimated 92 million tons from the fashion industry alone—produced each year winds up buried or incinerated. – Read More on Scientific American
3. The Demise of E-Commerce is Greatly Exaggerated: “What we see now is the mix reverting to roughly where pre-Covid data would have suggested it should be at this point. Still growing steadily, but it wasn’t a meaningful 5-year leap ahead.” – Read More on Forbes
4. China’s retail, factory output slump as COVID curbs hit growth: China’s economy lost more steam in November as factory output slowed and retail sales extended declines, both missing forecasts and clocking their worst readings in six months, hobbled by surging COVID-19 cases and widespread virus curbs. – Read More on Al Jazeera
5. H&M Sales Rise but Lag Behind Rival as Growth Slows: H&M said sales in the three months to Nov. 30 had increased 10% on-year, a slowdown that analysts said would disappoint investors. H&M’s shares fell around 4% in early trading Thursday. – Read More on the WSJ
1. A quarter of clothes in UK wardrobes have not been worn for a year: The UN says the fashion industry produces up to 8% of global carbon emissions and that textile workers are often poorly paid and forced to work long hours. – Read More on WE Forum
2. Inditex profit jumps as Zara owner lifts prices: The world’s biggest fashion retailer’s store and online sales rose 19% from a year ago, slightly faster than analysts had expected. Price rises of 5% or more across some ranges since the spring helped drive sales, analysts said. – Read More on Reuters
3. Supply-Chain Shortfalls Targeted by New Bill: Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Ro Khanna introduced legislation on Tues. that would force leaders at cabinet-level agencies to identify weaknesses in U.S. supply chains that could hurt national security and domestic manufacturing growth. – Read More on the WSJ
4. RELATED READ: The Big Challenges for Supply Chains in 2022. First – and probably the most obvious to many of us – was the unprecedented pressures on global supply chains created by the COVID pandemic, and the subsequent series of lockdowns and restrictions, which varied in their timing and severity from country to country. – Read More on TFL
5. FTX committed ‘old fashioned embezzlement,’ CEO tells lawmakers in hearing: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the SDNY charged disgraced crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried with eight criminal counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, individual charges of securities fraud and wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations. – Read More on CNBC
1. Why Chanel is now showing its collections twice: It’s an example of a growing trend among luxury brands, where they’ll essentially re-do a runway closer to when the collection arrives in retail. It’s not quite see-now-buy-now, but it’s close. – Read More on Yahoo
2. Musk Loses World’s Richest Title to Arnault With Tesla Unwinding: Musk has seen his fortune tumble by more than $100B since January to $168.5B, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As of 10:20 a.m. EST, that’s less than the $172.9B net worth of Arnault, whose wealth largely derives from his 48% ownership of LVMH. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. RELATED READ: LVMH – A Timeline Behind the Building of the World’s Most Valuable Luxury Goods Conglomerate. “In the 90s, I had the idea of a luxury group and at the time I was very much criticized for it. I remember people telling me it doesn’t make sense to put together so many brands.” – Read More on TFL
4. Inflation’s Cold Case: Core prices were 0.5% higher in November than September, which was the smallest two-month gain since September of last year. – Read More on the WSJ
5. Secretive Shein Founders Build $40 Billion Fortune in Rapid Fashion: The fast-fashion behemoth produces clothes quicker and cheaper than rivals, leading to a more than 2000% return for early backer Tiger Global. – Read More on Bloomberg
1. Fast-Fashion Giant Shein Explores Becoming Online Marketplace: “The marketplace platform makes available a range of additional merchandise and shipping options, and we expect it to result in increased customer engagement and satisfaction.” – Read More on the WSJ
2. From Hermès to Chanel, restorations and repairs are being embraced by luxury brands: Many fashion houses now offer repairs on leather goods, which is not only great in terms of longevity but is ‘incredible’ when it comes to building brand value. – Read More on SCMP
3. RELATED READ: Luxury Brands Boast Warranties, Repair Services Amid Price Hikes, Circularity Push. The growing emphasis on product warranties and lifespan-extending services by luxury brands – which have traditionally been viewed as potential impediments to the volume-based model maintained by most brands, including ones in the “luxury” sphere – is being driven by a confluence of critical factors. – Read More on TFL
4. Young Adults Living with Parents Fuel Luxury Boom, Morgan Stanley Says: Recent US Census data shows that nearly half of all young adults ages 18 to 29 are living with their parents — the highest level since 1940. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. Chinese consumers wary of splurging after COVID strictures fall: Analysts don’t expect a quick, broad rebound in spending in the world’s second largest economy, as the glee that greeted the abrupt relaxations was tempered with uncertainty for consumers and businesses. – Read More on Reuters
6. Americans Flock to Europe for Holiday Shopping Binge: Spending by American tourists in the EU rose more than 40% during the week of Black Friday compared with the same period in 2019. The average transaction amount by U.S. tourists in European stores this year was 1,244 euros ($1,313). – Read More on the WSJ
1. Fashion factory: Mango brings production closer to home in rethink on China. Beijing’s policies and global supply chain chaos prompt sourcing reforms at clothing chain. – Read More on the FT
2. Amazon to roll out TikTok-like shopping experience in social commerce push: The move comes as shopping activity slows in response to an uncertain economy and decades-high inflation. The feature is also geared at enticing young audience who respond to formats like short videos. – Read More on Reuters
3. FTC’s block of Microsoft’s Activision acquisition could thwart other tech deals: “This is the most important instance to date where the FTC has sought to fulfill its promise to enforce merger policy more aggressively. This is the biggest test to date of their efforts.” – Read More on S&P Global
4. Tod’s founder abandons plan to delist company: Tod’s founder and Chairman Diego Della Valle and his brother Andrea had offered to buy out other investors at 40 euros a share but that failed to gain the requisite 90% support. They had the option to try to de-list the company via a merger with DeVa Finance as an alternative. – Read More on Reuters
5. SHEIN and Walmart Share Top Spot Among Shopping Apps Rankings: SHEIN, this time around, is sharing the No. 1 spot with Walmart, both with a score of 95, one point higher than before. Runner-up at No. 2 We have Amazon scoring at 94, two points ahead of last time. – Read More on PYMNTS
6. The rise of the luxury exhibition: “It’s to elevate their business and products to art, which gives it more cultural value … that it has a long legacy and that you at the end, hopefully, want to buy its products.” – Read More on the Guardian
1. In China, Luxury Shopping Faces Ongoing Headwinds: Many companies are holding off on new stores or large-scale offline events and adopting a “wait-and-see” approach in the short term, with few expecting any recovery until at least the middle of 2023. – Read More on the New York Times
2. Rent the Runway’s Revenues Rise as Consumers Embrace Borrowed Fashion: The company said its revenue for the quarter rose 31% year-over-year, while its active user base increased, with subscribers beginning to use the fashion rental and retail service for more than just special events. – Read More on PYMNTS
3. Meta battles U.S. antitrust agency over future of virtual reality: On Thursday, a high-profile trial kicks off in which the FTC will try to prevent Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc from buying virtual reality app developer Within Inc. – Read More on Reuters
4. Big Spenders Plan to Go All ‘White Lotus’ and Travel More in 2023, a New Report Says: Findings from the survey showed that nearly 60 percent plan on spending more on travel in 2023 compared to 10 percent of respondents who say that they would cut back. – Read More on Robb Report
5. Can Fashion Be Profitable Without Growth? “You can have responsible and sustainable growth. Growth doesn’t mean more products always. It could be product that is better quality with better material, better design, which also means better prices.” – Read More on the New York Times
1. Revamping Africa’s fashion industry: Clothing donations have created a booming but problematic industry valued at $1.84 billion in 2021, up 28% from the previous year. More than 40% of the world’s used clothing exports come from three countries – China (17%), the U.S. (16%), and the UK (8%). – Read More on Quartz
2. You’re not going to stop shopping for new clothes. Here’s what to do instead: “‘Just stop buying stuff’ is a very lazy response and does not reflect the complexity of fashion and its positive impacts for workers.” – Read More on Washington Post
3. Activist investor calls for BlackRock CEO Fink to step down over ESG “hypocrisy.” Bluebell — an activist fund with around $250 million in assets under management that holds a tiny stake in BlackRock — has previously targeted the likes of Richemont and Solvay. – Read More on CNBC
4. Luxury stocks rise after China eases zero-COVID restrictions: With China’s economy on the road to recovery, this has sent positive signals to global luxury companies since China has become the world’s second-largest luxury consumer market, which explains the massive boost to stocks. – Read More on DAO Insights
5. Fashion Brand Vince Explores Options Including a Sale: The company is working with an adviser on the process, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. No final decision has been made and Vince could opt to remain independent, the people said. – Read More on Bloomberg
6. As its fashion empire booms, Shein wants an ESG makeover: Shein is trying to elevate its business practice to global standards by hiring a clutch of industry veterans. One of the major allegations against the fashion giant is labor exploitation. – Read More on TechCrunch
1. Fragrance Industry Is a Luxury Standout as Demand Keeps Roaring: High-end perfumes and home scents show few signs of slowing as consumers stick with a habit that emerged in the pandemic. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. How Remo Ruffini is Future-Proofing Moncler: Although Ruffini says that the strategy has always been to appeal to all generations, he calls Genius the turning point for attracting young customers. They’re now responsible for 30% of the Moncler Group’s sales, which amounted to $916 million in the H1 2022, up 48% from the previous year. – Read More on the WSJ
3. Argentine e-commerce firm MercadoLibre files complaints against Apple for “anti-competitive practices.” In the complaint, the South American company criticized the tech giant for requiring developers who offer digital goods or services within apps to use Apple’s own payment system and stopping them from redirecting buyers to their websites. – Read More on the Economic Times
4. Lord & Taylor Continues Digital Comeback with Launch of Retail Media Network: Lord & Taylor’s new digital advertising platform joins a growing slate of retail media networks designed to aid product discovery for customers and offer additional monetization solutions for retailers. – Read More on Retail TouchPoints
5. Prada hires former Luxottica chief Andrea Guerra as new CEO: Current CEO Patrizio Bertelli, 76, will be appointed chairman of the luxury company at annual shareholder meeting next spring. He will replace Paolo Zannoni who will be recommended for the role of executive deputy chairman of the group and chairman of its parent company Prada Holding. – Read More on Yahoo
6. November brings megadeal resurgence with 5 $10B+ global M&A deals: There were five $10 billion-plus M&A deals worldwide in November, snapping a streak of five-straight months featuring two or fewer such deals. – Read More on S&P Global
1. How Qatar props up the world of global luxury: From Harrods to Claridge’s and the fashion house Valentino, the Gulf state owns some of Europe’s most iconic brands. – Read More on the Telegraph
2. Shein will spend $15 million on ‘improving standards’ at factories after a report found labor violations: Shein says it will upgrade hundreds of its suppliers’ factories and increase audits and training. The e-commerce platform was valued at $100 billion earlier this year. – Read More on the Verge
3. ‘Tis The Season for Retail Tech to Shine: Self-service is only one part of the long-term shift towards the full digitalization of the retail store. By rethinking the entire shopping journey from browse to purchase, retailers are looking to integrate their online and offline channels at scale, something that’s historically been difficult to achieve in practice. – Read More on Forbes
4. Guns N’ Roses Sues Online Gun Shop for Trademark Infringement: Guns N’ Roses filed a lawsuit on Friday against an online artillery shop for infringement of the Guns N’ Roses trademark and claims the shop’s name, Texas Guns and Roses, associates the band with the store. – Read More on Gizmodo
5. What does the promotional climate mean for off-pricers and resale? “What we’re seeing is a combination of demand pullback at a time when retail inventories are overflowing with apparel, and this is resulting in significant price compression in the apparel market.” – Read More on RetailWire