Daily LInks
1. AI is Fashion Executives’ Top Priority in 2024. Executives aim to integrate AI into various aspects of their businesses, especially in design and product development. – Read More on CCN
2. Britain says it will regulate ESG ratings later in 2024. Britain’s finance ministry said on Wednesday it will introduce regulation for providers of environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings on companies to improve “clarity and trust” in benchmarks widely used to steer investments, but gave no specific timeline. – Read More on Reuters
3. Champagne era for luxury industry prices starts to go flat. Analysts and investors expect price increases to moderate for most luxury companies with the only meaningful increases likely to come from foreign exchange shifts, particularly in Asia where the yen and renminbi are weak but might rally. – Read More on the FT
4. The trendy second-hand clothing market is huge and still growing – yet nobody is turning a profit. The problem is one of economics. With the rise of ultra-fast, ultra-cheap fashion brands, the volume of clothing produced and shipped globally continues to explode, and consumers are offloading more of it after just a few wears. – Read More on the BBC
5. Why retail has lost its sparkle for private equity firms. The pandemic disrupted supply chains all the over the world in 2020 and the consumer goods industry has struggled to regain its footing. Market volatility and high interest rates over the past two years further compounded the woes of consumer goods businesses. – Read More on Reuters
6. Temu, Nearly Unheard of a Year Ago, Is Redefining E-Commerce in the U.S. In just over a year, Temu, a Chinese-founded e-commerce company, became the most-downloaded app in the U.S. Its continued growth could redefine online retail, just like Amazon’s speedy delivery did. – See More on the WSJ
1. H&M and Northvolt investor fund startup to cut fashion industry emissions. H&M has teamed up with private equity group TPG and the investor that started battery group Northvolt to roll out factories designed to reduce fast-fashion’s carbon emissions. – Read More on the FT
2. Amazon loses trademark appeal over ‘targeting’ UK shoppers. Amazon lost an appeal against a ruling that it had infringed UK trademarks by targeting British consumers on its U.S. website, in a potentially significant judgment for other online retailers. – Read More on Yahoo
3. Asia’s E-Commerce Battlefield Is Expanding Fast. Rapidly growing scale, ambitious logistics investments and Korea’s population density are all big tailwinds for Coupang, which has ambitions to become Korea’s Amazon, and perhaps eventually a growth sensation like Temu. But it will have to fight off the competition first. – Read More on the WSJ
4. Luxury’s Latest Popularity Won’t Stay in Fashion Long. With the US luxury market still to recover and Chinese consumers yet to travel to Europe in meaningful numbers, investors face a repeat of last year’s boom and bust — when share prices surged on expectations of Chinese demand, only to fall back sharply when this failed to materialize. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. Music publishers’ copyright lawsuit against X can proceed, judge rules. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger said in a Tuesday ruling in Nashville, Tennessee, that the “ultimate questions presented” by the 17 music publishers in this case remained: “whether and to what extent X Corp. may be liable for the infringing acts of users on its platform.” – Read More on Axios
1. Sri Lanka cultivates sustainable fashion for an economic revival. Many are convinced that greener manufacturing and a commitment to sustainability hold the key to making Sri Lanka’s garment industry more competitive. – Read More on Nikkei
2. Snap can take USPTO to trial in ‘Spectacles’ trademark fight, court says. U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim rejected the USPTO’s request to find that the term cannot receive trademark protection, citing competing evidence from both sides that precluded him from making a decision before trial. – Read More on Reuters
3. A generative AI reset: Rewiring to turn potential into value in 2024. The broad excitement around gen AI and its relative ease of use has led to a burst of experimentation across organizations. Most of these initiatives, however, won’t generate a competitive advantage. – Read More on McKinsey
4. How Shein’s US IPO Became Endangered by China Rift. With the first $1-billion-plus IPO in New York by a Chinese-owned company post-Didi safely in the books as of Feb., investors are watching to see if Shein can also break through the impasse — and what it means for Chinese IPOs in the US if they fail. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. Three lessons from the bankruptcy of circular fashion-maker Renewcell. Some fear the flop marks a hard stop for textile recycling. It is notoriously difficult to reuse cotton because older fibers are short and difficult to spin into the longer threads needed for quality garments. – Read More on Greenbiz
1. France mulls penalties to rein in ultra-fast fashion brands. Fashion brands with ultra-fast product turnover such as China’s Shein should be subject to penalties of up to 50% of their garments’ selling price to offset their environmental impact, French ruling-majority MPs have proposed in a new bill. – Read More on Reuters
2. Why Prices of the World’s Most Expensive Handbags Keep Rising. Not limited to Hermès’ raising the cost of a basic Birkin 25-centimeter handbag in its U.S. stores by 10% to $11,400, eye-watering price increases on luxury brands’ benchmark products are a wider trend. – Read More on the WSJ
3. The Gen Z and millennial rebellion against full-price luxury is hurting Burberry and Kering but propping up secondhand marketplaces. Vestiaire reported 7% growth in the group’s high-end sales last year, in contrast to sluggish sales across much of luxury. Once seen as a niche segment, Bain & Co valued the high-end secondhand market at €43 billion in 2022. – Read More on Fortune
4. Why we’re willing to spend more on beauty products than ever before. For many buyers, a Chanel jacket or dress—which cost thousands of dollars—might be out of reach, but a lipstick from the brand, priced between $42 and $100, might feel like an affordable splurge. – Read More on Fast Co.
5. The RealReal May Have Turned the Corner to Profits in Luxury Resale. The company has built greater efficiencies in its backend operations that are tasked with processing over one million unique SKUs every month. It now uses AI technology in the authentication process and in pricing. – Read More on Forbes
1. Is Zara the New Face of Luxury? If the $699 Camel Coat Fits. But as designer labels pushed up prices and the premium fashion sector got squeezed by the pandemic, mainstream stores have rushed in to fill the middle-tier void — and Zara’s leading the charge. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. LVMH Doesn’t Have the Luxury of Pulling Back From China. A former economic adviser to Beijing warned Arnault and his team that China’s aging demographics presented a serious problem for LVMH. – Read More on the WSJ
3. AAA sues film studio A24 in trademark case over ‘AAA24’ program. The American Automobile Association (AAA) filed a lawsuit against A24 that accuses the movie and television studio’s “AAA24” film-buff discount program of violating its trademark rights. – Read More on Reuters
4. Metaverse funding evaporates. Funding rounds involving metaverse companies raised just $530 million in 2023, down 87% from $4.09 billion in 2022, according to Market Intelligence data. – Read More on S&P Global
5. Softening luxury market could be revived by younger generations and international travelers. With fewer financial commitments, and growing disposable income, Gen Z are also willing to cut back on other areas of spending, such as more expensive travel options, to afford luxury goods. – Read More on RIN
6. New legal AI venture promises to show how judges think. A new venture by a legal technology entrepreneur and a former Kirkland & Ellis partner says it can use AI to help lawyers understand how individual judges think, allowing them to tailor their arguments and improve their courtroom results. – Read More on Reuters
1. Luxury retail is about “emotions, not transactions.” It’s increasingly clear that brands cannot acquire customers affordably online. The direct-to-consumer model has not made anyone any money. – Read More on McKinsey
2. Generative AI Is Challenging a 234-Year-Old Law. Companies such as OpenAI and Meta have argued that their language models “learn” from books and produce “transformative” original work, just like humans. Therefore, they claim, no copies are being made, and the training is legal. – Read More on the Atlantic
3. Rolex Sales Top $10 Billion as Luxury Watchmaker Gains Ground, Morgan Stanley Says. The dominant Swiss luxury watch brand produced 1.24 million timepieces in 2023 with sales of 10.1 billion Swiss francs ($11.5 billion). That’s a gain of 11% from 2022. – Read More on Bloomberg
4. What Is It with the Price of Clothes? “Are these brands just pushing the limit to see how much I will spend? Even when funds are unlimited, there comes a point where people are like, ‘How many things do I want to buy when I could redo my bathroom for the same price?’” – Read More on Vogue
5. South Korea’s Coupang eyes luxury goods after earning first profit. After snagging its first ever operating profit last year, Coupang is aiming to extend its reach in the domestic market beyond food and daily necessities to luxury goods, leveraging a recent acquisition of high-end U.K.-based platform Farfetch. – Read More on Nikkei
6. Saks Survey: Consumer Optimism Not Lifting Luxury Sales. “Luxury consumers are significantly more optimistic about the economy and about their own personal finances, but it takes a while for feelings of optimism to translate into plans to spend on luxury.” – Read More on Yahoo
1. Amazon’s Big Secret. The FTC contends that Amazon’s e-commerce business is, in fact, “enormously profitable.” The resolution is likely to figure heavily in whether the judge finds that Amazon is merely a benevolent retail giant or a destructive monopoly. – Read More on the Atlantic
2. Hermès, Chanel, LV hike prices in China despite economic headwinds. “In certain categories we are still seeing consumers pursuing so-called ‘consumption upgrades.” This is when consumers are willing to spend more when product quality is a top purchasing consideration. – Read More on Jing
3. RETRO READ: Inflation, Positioning & China: A Dive into Luxury Brands’ Price Increases. The enduring price differentials between China and other markets could lead to potential issues down the road, as Chinese consumers have significantly boosted their spending on the mainland. – Read More on TFL
4. UK Fashion Boom: Over £73 Billion Spent on Clothing and Footwear in 2022. The United Kingdom’s expenditure on clothing and footwear surged to over 73 billion British pounds in 2022, highlighting significant market size and trends. – Read More on BNN
5. Facebook, Free Speech and the Supreme Court. Can states tell Facebook and other social sites which posts to take down and which ones to leave up. The Supreme Court hears nearly four hours of arguments on that question. – Read More on the WSJ
6. Google hit with €2.1B lawsuit from more than 30 European media companies. “Without Google’s abuse of its dominant position, the media companies would have received significantly higher revenues from advertising and paid lower fees for ad tech services.” – Read More on Politico
1. Apple sues to win trademarks for augmented-reality software. Apple has filed a lawsuit in Virginia federal court challenging the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s refusal to grant trademarks covering the company’s augmented-reality software development tools “Reality Composer” and “Reality Converter.” – Read More on Reuters
2. Shein May Face More Scrutiny Listing in London. Shein Group Ltd. is considering switching its initial public offering to London from New York because of the hurdles of listing in the US. But the company shouldn’t expect an easy ride in London either. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. The Lingering Cost of Instant Fashion. While there’s clearly demand for these products, consumers and policy makers also need to be aware that the business model comes with side effects — particularly the privatization of profit and the socialization of costs, including social and environmental harm. – Read More on HBR
4. LVMH, Prada, Richemont join Web3’s Paris takeover. Accelerated by looming EU legislation on product traceability, brands have become more accepting digital product passports as an answer to circularity, but remain hesitant to admit that it’s powered by the blockchain. – Read More on Jing
5. How AI Is Already Transforming the News Business. AI is already writing headlines, managing paywalls to increase subscriptions, performing transcriptions, turning stories in audio feeds, discovering emerging stories, fact checking, copy editing and more. – Read More on Politico
1. Coaxing Sustainable Fashion Investors This Side of the Atlantic. With so many points along the fashion supply chain and product lifecycle in need of improvement from an ESG standpoint, new businesses are emerging. For investors, an opportunity is on the horizon, as fashion brands and innovators drive progress and profits. – Read More on Middle Market Growth
2. How Hermès became the ultimate status symbol. Hermès “had been very prudent increasing prices” from 2020 to 2022. Between that and the company’s attention to craftsmanship, the wealthy don’t feel like they are being taken advantage of when inflation does cause price increases. – Read More on BI
3. RELATED READ: Breaking Down the Building of an “It” Bag. We take a dive into some of the claims that Hermès made about its $10,000-plus Birkin bag (particularly from a trademark/branding perspective), which essentially provides an overview of how an “iconic” handbag comes to be. – Read More on TFL
4. Moncler’s main shareholder will hold 16% after reshuffle. Moncler’s CEO and main shareholder will be left with roughly 16% of the luxury group once the Rivetti family exits the holding company in a move making the company more accessible for potential bidders, analysts said. – Read More on Reuters
5. Conversational AI revolutionizes the customer experience landscape. Creating the most optimized customer experiences takes walking the fine line between the automation that enables convenience and the human touch that builds relationships. – Read More on MIT Tech Review
6. External Data & AI Are Making Each Other More Valuable. Firms are invested in using external data sources often referred to as “alternative data,” or info sourced from outside a company’s internal systems, including social media chatter, news feeds, government reports, industry databases, anonymized credit card transactions, and satellite imagery. – Read More on HBR
1. The latest industry upset with the use of AI: Fashion. “As models, our image, our measurements, our posture, our body shape is our brand. In many cases, somebody takes ownership of that brand without our knowledge and without our compensation. We’re literally competing against ourselves in the market.” – Read More on Al Jazeera
2. Van Cleef’s Alhambra Clovers Are the New Cartier Love Bangle on TikTok. Jewelry is no longer the preserve of the 1%. Young women and men are taking to TikTok to show off the jewelry, which contains five clover motifs — and costs around $5k each. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. Tod’s CEO says he has no plans to sell “family business.” Diego Della Valle currently holds 64.5% of the group together with his brother Andrea. Under the deal, he will tender his personal 10.45% stake to L Catterton, while retaining 54% with his brother. LVMH will keep its current 10% stake. – Read More on Reuters
4. Tod’s delisting reflects luxury’s appetite for private ownership: Tod’s Group’s shift to private ownership under L Catterton’s auspices underscores a trend of luxury brands seeking greater autonomy to navigate market volatility. – Read More on Jing
5. Bifurcation between luxury brands is growing, says former LVMH exec. “The reality is there is some shift going on in terms of experiences versus goods, and what is a really interesting trend which I’m going to continue to watch are the bigger luxury brands going into hospitality.” – Read More on Yahoo
6. How a Well-Executed Social Initiative Strengthens Your Brand. The effectiveness of social programs hinges on their alignment with a company’s identity and their ability to resonate with societal challenges, create a strong brand identity, generate excitement, and be scalable. – Read More on HBR