Daily LInks
1. Gap says Russia deliveries stopped in March. But its clothing kept coming: Russian customs records reviewed by Reuters show that between March 11 and July 16, Gap’s franchisee in Moscow received 1,585 clothing shipments with a declared value of $5.2 million. – Read More on Reuters
2. Ralph Lauren to Launch Fortnite Fashion Line With First Polo Logo Mashup: The clothing features a mashup of the Polo logo with its iconic jockey riding the Fortnite llama. This marks the first time in Ralph Lauren’s 55-year history that the logo has been redesigned. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. India’s Luxury Market Is Booming as Consumers Spend on High-End Goods and Travel: There has been an 11 percent increase in people with incomes above $30 million since 2011. That number is expected to climb to 39 percent by 2026. – Read More on Yahoo
4. The Creative Director Who Drove Saint Laurent to a Nearly $3 Billion Brand: With sales reaching $2.8 billion in 2021, and consistently increasing, CEO Francesca Bellettini aims to get to $5 billion by 2026, a radical goal for a brand that hadn’t even reached $1 billion in annual sales when she arrived nine years ago. – Read More on the WSJ
5. LVMH-backed L Catterton aims to raise 2 billion yuan in first yuan-denominated fund: The new fund has received capital from unidentified local Chinese government body and international and overseas companies in the consumer sector. – Read More on Reuters
1. How the Pandemic Changed E-Commerce—and Where It Goes Now: “Coming out the other side of it, it’s not as much of a slowdown in e-commerce as much as a reorientation or a distribution across all of the channels.” – Read More on the WSJ
3. European retailers are on investors’ naughty lists this Christmas: Investors and strategists expect retailers’ margins to be squeezed well into next year as cost pressures are further exacerbated by weakening currencies and collapsing consumer demand. – Read More on Reuters
3. Amazon warns of weak holiday sales as e-commerce, cloud service growth slows: Online store sales grew 7%, an improvement from the first half of the year when Amazon’s online sales fell. However, e-commerce sales will be softer in Q4 as consumers spend more on so-called “revenge travel.” – Read More on S&P Global
4. Adidas’ Initial Silence on Kanye West Is a Cautionary Tale for Other Brands: What role do large companies play in countering hate? How responsible are companies for the hate their brand ambassadors, partners, employees, or—in the case of social media companies—even their users espouse? – Read More on Time
5. Two Insiders Debate the Metaverse: “People don’t want immersion most of the time. That’s why most of us spend most of our time in the least immersive devices possible—our phones instead of sitting in front of big TVs.” – Read More on the WSJ
1. Transforming the EU retail and wholesale sector: The sector needs to play its part in decarbonizing the economy to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement. It contributes about 40% of overall EU greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. – Read More on McKinsey
2. Shein’s Latest Scandal Won’t Deter Fast Fashion Giant’s Success: Shein is, quite simply, an anomaly. The Chinese fast fashion company has managed to gain international visibility (and profitability to match) and eclipse all global rivals including Primark and Amazon in just a few years. – Read More on Jing
3. The Consumer Economy Is Starting to Crack Under Inflation: Unilever has seen consumers trade down to private labels, buy more from discounters and cut back altogether in more discretionary categories. – Read More on the Washington Post
4. Japan’s cross-border e-commerce booms on cheaper yen: Advances in IT have also lowered hurdles for smaller companies to enter the cross-border business. Previously, if they wanted to sell overseas, they had to deal with the complexities of translating product descriptions, communicating with customers, and filing delivery and customs documentation. – Read More on Nikkei Asia
5. Shopify shares pop 18% on smaller-than-expected loss: Gross merchandise volume, or the total value of merchandise sold on the platform, rose 11% to $46.2 billion in the third quarter. – Read More on CNBC
1. Ye’s Adidas Breakup Scrambles the Sneaker Resale Market: On Wednesday morning, the StockX sales price of the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 model in salt (a grayish hue) climbed to $307, up from $215 one week ago. – Read More on the WSJ
2. This obscure shopping app is now America’s most downloaded: Temu shot up to the top spot in app store charts, beating out Amazon, Walmart, and its Chinese competitor Shein, but it has a long way to go before it can replicate the e-commerce success it’s seen in China. – Read more on MIT Tech Review
3. The Curious Case of the Alexander McQueen Graffiti Skirt: The lookalike skirt has become the latest example of a much deeper problem in fashion, an industry that has long played fast and loose with its source material and how it defines, or even begins to footnote, inspiration. – Read More on the New York Times
4. Gagosian Denies Rumors That it is Being Acquired by Luxury Goods Conglomerate LVMH: “There is absolutely no truth to the rumor and the company is not for sale,” the Gagosian spokesperson said in an email. – Read More on ArtNews
5. 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
6. Tapestry deepens push into China, undeterred by luxury market slump: Tapestry’s planned expansion in China is unusual, both for the company’s willingness to tap lower-tier cities where most Western competitors are reluctant to tread, as well as for its timing. – Read More on Reuters
1. Can’t afford Gucci? Eat at its restaurant instead: Global luxury brands from Gucci to Louis Vuitton are targeting young, trend-savvy consumers by entering the restaurant business, which offers consumers a lower barrier to entry than buying a handbag. – Read More on SCMP
2. Metaverse Executives Debate Virtual Worlds for an Audience Beyond Gamers: “It’s like the early internet,” Mr. Narula said. “To dismiss the metaverse is the same as saying like sports, fashion, culture, all of that stuff is a waste of time.” – Read More on the WSJ
3. Retailers Tesco and Lidl fight over logo’s trademark in UK court: Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco tried to revive part of its lawsuit against discount supermarket Lidl on Tuesday, telling a London court that its German-owned rival had applied for trademarks for a yellow circle against a blue background in “bad faith.” – Read More on Reuters
4. How Fashion Brands Can Protect Their IP in the Recommerce Market: Digital passports may help to combat counterfeits in the resale market, which in turn may help to prevent brand dilution and increase consumer trust. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. E-commerce retailers are bullish on brick and mortar: Seeing consumers getting dressed for work once again last year, companies are attention to formulating new brick-and-mortar strategies. – Read More on Crain’s
1. Kanye West’s Offensive Behavior Makes Corporate Partners Squirm: As his music career has stumbled, Ye’s work in fashion has taken on new importance. The most lucrative corner of his empire appears to be Yeezy’s partnership with Adidas. – Read More on the New York Times
2. How Brands Can Embrace the Sustainable Fashion Opportunity: About 15% of global fashion consumers are already highly concerned about sustainability and consistently make purchasing decisions to lower their impact. That percentage could increase to more than 50%. – Read More on Bain
3. EU Remains Resilient as VAT U-Turn Threatens UK Luxury Retail Revenue: London’s high-end retail sector, for example, will be disproportionately affected by the VAT rules, which will make the city one of the few international shopping destinations in Europe where tourists aren’t eligible for tax refunds. – Read More on PYMNTS
4. Warby Parker, once online-only eyeglasses retailer, plans hundreds of more stores: “As we talk to our customers and ask them why they’re not shopping with Warby Parker, the dual highest responses are one, that there’s not a store near me, and the second is that I don’t have a current prescription.” – Read More on CNBC
5. A Singles Day without livestream superhosts leaves Alibaba in a quandary: Last year, they pre-sold a combined 18.9 billion yuan ($2.61 billion) worth of products on opening day, accounting for about 3.5% of the entire event’s takings of 540.3 billion yuan. – Read More on Reuters
1. Ebay pins hopes on second-hand luxuries and collectibles: Ebay’s strategy means tapping into a luxury clothing resale scene that is estimated to grow to $37bn by 2025, up from $27bn in 2020. Meanwhile, the used sneaker market is set to become a $30bn industry by 2030, and resold luxury watches would make up a third of all global watch sales by 2025. – Read More on the FT
2. Adidas Says Consumers Are Struggling. In Reality, They Are Getting Selective: Consumers could be getting choosier where they spend rather than cutting back altogether. Demand for Nike’s goods still looks strong. – Read More on the WSJ
3. Sustainable Fashion in China: An Emerging Trend in the Apparel Industry: While the sustainable fashion industry makes up only a small portion of the fashion and apparel industry overall, numerous indicators suggest there is growing market potential. – Read More on China Briefing
4. US consumers cut back on buying luxury goods before the holiday season: Spending cuts on luxury goods were sharpest among middle-income Americans with yearly incomes of $50,000 to $125,000, and those with yearly incomes of less than $50,000 a year. – Read More on the National
5. Amazon earnings: “The good news is the consumer is still spending. The bad news is they’re not spending on e-commerce.” Analyst anxiety is largely based on perceived waning demand for online purchases as customers save for travel and concerts, or for grocery and gas bills amid decades-high inflation. – Read More on MarketWatch
1. Amazon faces $1 billion class action lawsuit in the UK over alleged antitrust breach: Amazon harms its customers by directing them to its “featured offer,” resulting in better-value deals being hidden and consumers ending up paying more for products, according to the suit, which is expected to be filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal. – Read More on CNBC
2. U.S. retailers fill store shelves with leftover inventory: Retailers are betting that shoppers won’t mind picking through 2021’s discounted decor and styles, but there’s a chance that shoppers will lose interest when they feel that some of last year’s on-trend merchandise is “no longer relevant.” – Read More on Reuters
3. L’Oreal Sales Rise as Lower-Priced Cosmetics Gain Ground: In a reversal of roles, performance at the company’s mass-market consumer-products arm, which sells Maybelline New York mascara and Garnier shampoos, outperformed its luxury arm. – Read More on Bloomberg
4. Sales Rise at Hermès, Gucci-Owner Kering, Defying Price Increases: “We end up selling to affluent people who have a behavior on their own, which isn’t necessarily totally aligned with economics or GDPs ups and downs. Our client base reacts to different stimuli.” – Read More on the WSJ
5. Kering says still paying rents, employees in Russia: “We have to protect our brand and our trademark in the country, and to do that you have to be there,” CFO Jean-Marc Duplaix told analysts on a conference call. – Read More on Reuters
1. London’s Luxury Brands Suffer Tax-Free Shopping “Hammer Blow.” London’s luxury emporiums were up in arms after new Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt scrapped his predecessor’s decision to let foreign visitors claim back value-added tax. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. ASOS sees big loss as shoppers cut back on fashion: The firm saw a loss of nearly £32m in the 12 months to August, compared with a profit of £177m last year. The firm expects shoppers to cut back further this year as living costs soar. – Read More on BBC
3. The Once-Hot Market for Metaverse Land Is Attracting Risky Bets: Virtual property, such as that on Decentraland, has become an investment strategy for some, even as values have tumbled alongside crypto prices. – Read More on Bloomberg
4. Japanese luxury shoppers are embracing omnichannel: In Japan, where online shopping prior to the pandemic was not as popular as it was in the United States, Europe, and China, the jump in digital activity is noteworthy. – Read More on McKinsey
5. Gen Z fast fashion comes at an inhumane cost to Shein workers: Shein is no stranger to criticism; in the past, the company has been accused of mismanaging customer data, ripping off designers, and producing products containing harmful toxins. – Read More on Fast Co.
1. Fashion Industry Gets Torn by Europe’s Soaring Energy Bills: Thousands of small factories and workshops that supply brands like Gucci and H&M have watched their business models unravel amid the surge in natural-gas and electricity prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. – Read More on the WSJ
2. Report finds ‘horrific’ working conditions at Shein: In two factories, employees were working up to 18-hour days and were given only one day off a month. The working conditions and reported hours directly violate China’s labor laws. – Read More on Yahoo
3. Controversy Persists Over Amazon’s Use of Data to Favor its Knockoffs: “They copied the general shape, they copied the access points, they copied the charcoal color, and they copied the trapezoidal logo badge.” – Read More on Forbes
4. Most Metaverse users don’t even make it a month: Meta is struggling to keep users engaged with glitchy features and empty worlds. Even employees appear not to enjoy the platform, saying there is a “quality” problem. – Read More on Business Insider
5. Retailers, Brands and Tech Platforms Bet Big on Live-Streamed Shopping in the U.S.: Some U.S. marketers see live shopping as a critical way to build awareness and trust among young consumers, attract new customers and collect data on shoppers, including their behavior online before making a purchase. – Read More on the WSJ