Daily LInks
1. Apple accused of monopolizing smartphone markets in US antitrust lawsuit. The U.S. Department of Justice and 15 states on Thursday sued Apple as the government cracks down on Big Tech, alleging the iPhone maker monopolized the smartphone market, hurt smaller rivals and drove up prices. – Read More on Reuters
2. Who’s the Aspirational Luxury Consumer? Many Different People. The cohort has different tastes, financial resources, purchasing habits, inclination to become a true luxury consumer and different ages and backgrounds. – Read More on Yahoo
3. What France’s crackdown on Shein and Temu means for global ultra-fast fashion. “Hopefully, [it] helps become a model or move other regulatory bodies to consider these issues and consider what the role of regulation is in addressing the challenges we’re seeing in the industry.” – Read More on the BBC
4. Shein to Market Its Unique Supply-Chain Tech to Global Brands. Under the plan, Shein would make its supply-chain infrastructure and tech available to outside brands and designers to test out new fashion items in small batches and track how popular they are with consumers. – Read More on the WSJ
5. Should Amazon be afraid of Temu? More than a third of the U.S. e-commerce market flows through Amazon. Now Temu wants to undercut its U.S. rival, delivering impossibly cheap stuff to Americans straight from factories in China. – Hear More on the Economist
1. Location (Data) Is Everything for Retailers Opening Stores. Untuckit leaned heavily on cellphone and other data from technology company Placer.ai in choosing its store locations. – Read More on the WSJ
2. Nordstrom, Macy’s deals could put private ownership back in vogue for US retailers. In its new bid to take Nordstrom private, the Nordstrom founding family wants to keep control of the chain but doesn’t want the pressure of having to release quarterly performance as it’s trying to figure out its strategy. – Read More on Reuters
3. Google fined €250m in France for breaching intellectual property deal. France’s competition watchdog is fining the US tech company for breaches linked to IP rules related to news media publishers. The regulator also cited concerns about Google’s AI service. – Read More on the Guardian
4. How People Are Really Using GenAI. Six top-level themes give an immediate sense of what generative AI is being used for: Tech Assistance & Troubleshooting (23%), Content Creation & Editing (22%), Personal & Professional Support (17%), Learning & Education (15%), Creativity & Recreation (13%), Research, Analysis & Decision Making (10%). – Read More on HBR
5. CVC-Backed Perfume Retailer Douglas’s IPO Raises $967M. German perfume retailer Douglas AG priced its €890 million ($967 million) initial public offering at €26 a share, the bottom of a marketed range. – Read More on Bloomberg
6. RELATED READ: A Running Tracker of Fashion/Retail Industry Initial Public Offerings. Against the background of an evolving market, we have compiled a tracker that aims to provide a broad overview of recent retail and luxury-focused initial public offerings. – Read More on TFL
1. U.S. Lawmaker Demands LVMH’s Loro Piana Answer for ‘Exploitation’ in Peru. A US lawmaker wants Loro Piana to answer for what he sees as the “exploitation” of Indigenous workers providing raw materials for the Italian fashion house’s trademark luxury sweaters. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. RELATED READ: You can find the letter that U.S. Congressman Robert Garcia sent to Loro Piana – in which he requests a written response to questions in connection with the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement – right here.
3. Tesco loses appeal it infringed Lidl’s trademark with discount scheme logo. Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco lost an appeal against a ruling that it infringed German discount supermarket Lidl’s trademark over the use of a yellow circle on a square blue background. – Read More on Nasdaq
4. Big Tech says AI watermarks could curb misinformation, but they’re easy to sidestep. The technologies are only in their infancy and in a limited state of deployment but, already, watermarking has proven to be easy to bypass. – Read More on NBC
5. Gucci owner Kering issues rare luxury sector profit warning. “The bad news on Kering is company specific, but is also a good reminder that consumer confidence and discretionary spend in China is soft.” – Read More on the FT
6. Speaking of China … Demand for Rolex and Tag Heuer watches slump as demand in China falls. Sales in the U.S., Japan, Singapore, the UAE, and France remained on a positive course in February, but it was not enough to offset the sharp decline in demand for Rolex and other watches in mainland China and Hong Kong. – Read More on Yahoo Finance
1. Can the Fashion Industry Kick Its Plastic Addiction? Each year, the industry uses 342 million barrels of petroleum to produce plastic-based fibers such as polyester, nylon or acrylic. – Read More on Wired
2. Salesforce Survey: 36% of Retail Employees Already Using Generative AI. The survey, of 1,390 retail decision-makers from Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Australia, reported that 81% of respondents already have a dedicated AI budget, with an average of 50% assigned to generative AI. – Read More on Retail TouchPoints
3. Watered down in ‘horse trading,’ EU supply chain law approved by member states. Activist law group ClientEarth said the bill can potentially improve international business practices but the reduction in scope leaves much on the table. Only a third of the companies covered in the initial version will need to comply under the final version, the group said. – Read More on S&P Global
4. RELATED READ: A Snapshot of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. European Parliament announced that they reached “a provisional deal” on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which aims to “enhance the protection of the environment and human rights in the EU and globally.” – Read More on TFL
5. Retailers are cutting SKUs to improve margin. During boom times, the philosophy of many brands has been to offer people the luxury of choice. But as inflation has driven up the cost of manufacturing, having a broad assortment can be a bad thing. – Read More on Modern Retail
6. EU AI Act: Tech experts say the world’s first AI law is “historic” but “bittersweet.” There are “significant loopholes for public authorities” and “relatively weak regulation of the largest foundation models that pose the greatest harm.” – Read More on EuroNews
1. Fast fashion: the French are bringing Shein and Temu to heel. Can Britain follow suit? Escalating tariffs on every piece of throwaway clothing contrast with Jeremy Hunt’s eagerness to host a multibillion-pound Chinese IPO. – Read More in the Guardian
2. Prada’s vision for the future of fashion? AI helpers and metaverse handbags. Over the past two and a half years, Prada’s head of tech Christiano Agostini has worked to transform Prada’s systems, often in ways that aren’t visible to the customer but make a noticeable impact on their shopping experience. – Read More on Fast Co.
3. How can fashion’s net-zero future be paid for fairly? Big brands must pay their share of green investments to shrink the industry’s carbon footprint, Global South garment makers say. – Read More on Context
4. SXSW Tried to Silence Critics with Bogus Trademark and Copyright Claims. Amid heavy criticism for its ties to weapons manufacturers supplying Israel, South by Southwest—the organizer of an annual conference and music festival in Austin—has been on the defensive. – Read More on EFF
5. FTC conducting inquiry into Reddit’s AI data-licensing practices ahead of IPO. “On March 14, 2024, we received a letter from the FTC advising us that the FTC’s staff is conducting a non-public inquiry focused on our sale, licensing, or sharing of user-generated content with third parties to train AI models,” Reddit said. – Read More on CNBC
6. Fashion Accountability Report Slams Brands Such as Temu, Fashion Nova and Skims for Environmental Impacts. Remake, a U.S.-based nonprofit, has released its annual Fashion Accountability Report for 2024, with brands including Temu, Fashion Nova, Missguided and Skims scoring zero points out of a possible 150 for factors like transparency and environmental justice. – Read More on EcoWatch
1. The Vicuñas and the $9,000 Sweater. Despite thirty years of providing the world’s finest wool to the fashion house, LVMH-owned Loro Piana has done almost nothing for the Indigenous people of the Peruvian Andes. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. The Rise of Quiet Sustainability. While some brands and retailers have been working together to lower their environmental impact, high-profile cases accusing brands of greenwashing are on the rise and have resulted in industry–wide caution when sharing environmental efforts. – Read More on Yahoo
3. RELATED READ: The Risks of Green Marketing. A Snapshot of Greenwashing Litigation. While companies’ climate claims and other “green” marketing may have been met with relatively lax regulation in the past, that may not prove to be the case going forward in light of rising attention to and scrutiny of such ESG and climate-related marketing by a growing pool of investors, regulators, and lawmakers. – Read More on TFL
4. Snap Inc. Bid to Trademark ‘Spectacles’ Hinges on Smart Tech. Snap Inc.’s bid to trademark the word “spectacles” for its smart glasses faced a federal judge, who will decide whether the term is a generic word for computer hardware worn on the face. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. Danish Superligaen wins EU lawsuit forbidding Super League to register name as trademark. A possible future European Super League will not be able to register “Super League” as a trademark in the EU after a ruling in favor of the Danish Superligaen, a trademark jointly owned by Danish clubs, the league said. – Read More on Reuters
6. Aura Blockchain Consortium’s CEO on bringing luxury onto the blockchain. “We’re in close contact with the EU and are trying to get all the information needed to help brands navigate the regulations.” – Read More on Jing Daily
1. An economist’s guide to the luxury-handbag market. A robust resale market provides an additional reason to buy a luxury bag. Whereas a white t-shirt is a pure consumption good, likely to be used until worn out and discarded, a fine handbag is closer to buying a car: the product is an asset that depreciates over time, yet still holds value. – Read More on the Economist
2. Why Adopting GenAI Is So Difficult. Traceability enables users to know the original source of data, which bolsters reliability and trustworthiness of the GenAI output, thereby creating a stronger foundation for informed decision-making. – Read More on HBR
3. Zara Owner Inditex Sharpens Its Look to Fend off Shein and H&M. The company said it will incur an additional 900 million euros per year of capital expenditures per year in 2024 and 2025 to increase its logistics capacity, including the build-out of distribution centers in Spain and the Netherlands. – Read More on the WSJ
4. How stolen goods from organized retail crime wind up being resold. In a CNBC investigation, the California Highway Patrol shows how they target organized retail crime rings that steal merchandise – from sneakers to cosmetics – and sell it online. – See More on CNBC
5. RETRO READ: How Will Resale Sites Respond to an Expected Flood of Looted Luxury Goods? Firm statements by resale companies are assuring, but how easy is it really for these companies to separate the legitimate from the stolen? – Read More on TFL
6. Mango adapts as climate change makes fashion less seasonal. Spanish retailer Mango is honing in on adaptable clothing to help customers adjust to wild swings in temperature as climate change makes fashion less seasonal, per CEO Toni Ruiz. – Read More on Reuters
1. Why traceability is the key to a sustainable fashion industry. Greater visibility gives policymakers a clearer sense of where interventions are most necessary and companies can more easily identify their supply-side risks and take proactive steps to mitigate them. – Read More on WE Forum
2. Japan’s revered outdoor brands face down PFAS challenge. Now, as regulators worldwide move toward tightening regulations on PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, the fashion industry is facing pressure to change. – Read More on Japan Times
3. RELATED READ: What the EPA’s New PFAS Rule Means for Retail. The PFAS reporting rule applies to anyone that has manufactured, for “a commercial purpose,” a chemical substance or mixture containing a chemical substance defined as PFAS at any time since January 1, 2011. – Read More on TFL
4. Perfume retailer Douglas seeks up to 30 euros per share in Frankfurt IPO. German perfume retailer Douglas said Monday it would sell shares at 26 to 30 euros ($32.8) in of one Europe’s first major initial public offerings this year. – Read More on Reuters
5. Prada Adds Nearly $3 Billion in Market Value After Jump in Sales, Profit. Prada’s performance comes after other European luxury-goods giants—particularly those most exposed to high-end consumers—also said they are seeing improving trends following months of slowing sales across the industry. – Read More on the WSJ
6. Express delisted from NYSE; retailer appears unlikely to appeal. The NYSE said it would seek to delist Express as it didn’t comply with a requirement to maintain an average global market capitalization of at least $15M over 30 consecutive trading days. – Read More on MarketWatch
1. Alarming amount of unsold goods: 4.7 billion in the warehouses of LVMH and Kering. According to the financial statements 2023, LVMH had 3.2 billion euro of unsold goods in warehouses: they were 2.7 billion in 2022. – Read More on La Conceria
2. The Influencers Getting Paid to Promote Designer Knockoffs From China. A wave of social media influencers serves as the public face of an elaborate new counterfeiting economy that connects Western buyers to fast-growing Chinese sites that act as a go-between for shopping marketplaces stuffed with fakes usually sold only inside China. – Read More on Wired
3. RELATED READ: A Growing Problem on Social Media? The Rise of the “Dupe Influencer.” A growing number of influencers are using their social media accounts to promote counterfeits online, with these self-proclaimed “dupe influencers” generating millions of views, likes, and shares by way of content that facilitates the advertisement and sale of counterfeits. – Read More on TFL
4. Fast Fashion Shop Shein Set to Face EU Scrutiny Under Digital Content Rules. Shein will soon be designated under the EU’s Digital Services Act, which requires online marketplaces trace the sellers on their platform, add methods for customers to flag illegal content and randomly test for illegal products. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. After earnings blow out, CEO explains how Gap is “reigniting” its brand. “We’re using music, we’re using fashion as entertainment, and we’re taking basic product—linen, denim, wovens, pants—and we’re amplifying the narrative around these categories and driving share growth.” – Read More on CNBC
6. Investors push Zara owner Inditex to publish full supply chain. Inditex is an outlier among big clothing retailers in not publishing which factories it sources from. Regulators and investors want greater transparency and better disclosure from companies. – Read More on Reuters
1. China Luxury Goods Market: A Year of Recovery and Transition. All luxury categories rebounded—beauty, fashion, jewelry, and leather goods saw strong growth in 2034, while watches continue to lag other categories. – Read More on Bain
2. Macy’s isn’t facing a retail apocalypse. It’s facing a shrinking middle class. Meanwhile, luxury and discount retailers are growing alongside the ranks of lower- and upper-income Americans. – Read More on Marketplace
3. South Korea probes consumer data practices of Chinese e-commerce platforms AliExpress, Temu. It is checking the appropriateness of their personal information processing policies, overseas transfers, and safety measures. – Read More on SCMP
4. Republican States Launch Lawsuit to Block New SEC Climate Disclosure Rules. A coalition of ten Republican states announced the launch of a lawsuit in the U.S. federal appeals court, aimed at blocking the implementation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new climate-related disclosure rules. – Read More on ESG Today
5. RETRO READ: As the SEC Considers Climate Disclosure Rules, it May Face Legal Challenges. Some critics of climate disclosures, including several Republican state attorneys general, suggest that the SEC has no authority to require disclosures that are not financially material. – Read More on TFL
6. What U.S. Members Think About Regulating AI. The majority of U.S. IEEE members express that the current regulatory approach to managing artificial intelligence (AI) systems is inadequate. They also say that prioritizing AI governance should be a matter of public policy. – Read More on IEEE