Daily LInks
1. Gucci, Burberry Join Booming Secondhand Luxury Trade: Preowned luxury is growing in popularity, especially among young consumers, partly because in many cases it offers a chance to buy products that cost less than firsthand equivalents. – Read More on the WSJ
2. The Wrath of Kanye Threatens Sneaker Maker Adidas: Adidas AG faces a problem. Its decade-long deal with Kanye West and his Yeezy fashion label is being unwound by the musician, who is also ditching his partnership with Gap.” – Read More on Bloomberg
3. Designing an Inclusive Metaverse: Companies planning to participate in the metaverse have an opportunity to remedy some of the mistakes of Web 2.0 and a responsibility to shape an inclusive space where everyone feels represented and that they belong. – Read More on HBR
4. Fiat Chrysler gets new chance in Jeep trademark case: Fiat Chrysler received a second chance to permanently block U.S. sales of redesigned Roxor off-road vehicles made by Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, which is fighting claims that it copied the Jeep design. – Read More on Reuters
5. Could Telfar’s policy of accessibility spell doom for its popular bags? There are plenty of other Telfar products that are still exclusive. The Rainbow drop only offers the shopping bag in all sizes and colors, but no other items or bags will be available. – Read More on the Guardian
6. Beating Inflation Is Easy Online—Except for Sellers: Digital retailers initially used low prices to lure shoppers from bricks-and-mortar competitors with great success. Now there is intense competition among online players themselves to offer bargains. – Read More on the WSJ
1. Chief Metaverse Officers Are Getting Million-Dollar Paydays. Do you need one? Disney, P&G, LVMH and other big names have invested in chief metaverse officers to plot a course through the next chapter of the internet. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. Walmart’s Social Commerce Shift Lowers Walls Between Physical, Digital Retail: The shift to social is deeply rooted in connectivity and experiences that engage consumers, inspire them to be a part of something bigger and ultimately get them to buy — either in the moment online, or later on in-store after a digital inspiration. – Read More on PYMNTS
3. The top three retail and e-commerce trends set to shape 2023: Shoppers expect e-retailers to provide a sophisticated, personalized shopping experience. In contrast, personalization is not as big a deal offline. – Read More on the Drum
4. Fashion Workers Act would mandate labor protections for models, fashion industry: If signed into law, the legislation would mandate companies accept legal responsibility to act in the best interests of their hired talent, provide proper notifications about contract renewals, copies of agreements and would require agencies cap commission fees to 20% of a model’s pay. – Read More on Spectrum News
5. E-commerce is booming in B2B. But some brands in that space remain reticent to jump in fully: Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Forrester estimated the US B2B e-commerce market could reach $1.1tn, accounting for more than 12% of B2B sales by 2020. – Read More on the Drum
1. Luxury Brands’ Record Year Was More Luck Than Skill: Household wealth in China and North America swelled by 15.1% and 15.5% respectively, according to Credit Suisse. Of the 5.2 million new millionaires created around the world last year, almost half were in the U.S. and a fifth were in China. – Read More on the WSJ
2. Retail to see more bankruptcies in H2: “If consumers pull back before the holidays and really cut their spending, retailers that have expanded or brought in too much inventory are really going to feel it.” – Read More on Axios
3. India’s Reliance Retail in talks for rights of beauty retailer Sephora: Reliance Retail, run by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd is in advanced talks to get the rights for beauty retailer Sephora in India. – Read More on Reuters
4. The ‘good news is they will be regulated,’ Harvard fellow says of watchdog crackdown on BNPL lenders: The CFPB identified “several areas of risk of consumer harm” and said the industry will be subject to the same oversight as credit card companies. – Read More on CNBC
5. How TikTok became an e-commerce juggernaut in China: Since it requires livestream e-commerce transactions to be completed on the platform, this all forms a “closed loop,” where the user never strays from the app. It’s the ideal flywheel, and the envy of platform companies everywhere. – Read More on Rest of World
1. Chinese Mogul’s $3 Billion Fashion Bet Is Unraveling: For his vision of transforming a small textile maker called Shandong Ruyi into China’s own LVMH, Qiu Yafu spent $3 billion on a wardrobe that ultimately didn’t fit. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. The Metaverse is becoming a platform to unite fashion communities: While Vogue Singapore’s New World enables a more engaging way for users to view and read content, it also allows brands and communities to build better experiences. – Read More on CoinTelegraph
3. Thriving or surviving? The Evolution of E-commerce: Among those facing the biggest post-pandemic challenges are retail subscription brands, which were among those that saw profits skyrocket during the pandemic’s e-commerce boom. – Read More on the Drum
4. Facebook, Beware: The Metaverse Is Flat. While Facebook has sold about 14 million VR headsets to date, millions more have visited the metaverse through regular 2D screens like the one you’re looking at right now, via apps like Roblox and Epic Games Inc.’s Fortnite. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. In Sotheby’s New Luxury Strategy, Pateks Could Catch Up with Picassos: “Today, luxury is approximately a quarter of [Sotheby’s] business. In 5 years, would it surprise me if the luxury business is twice as large? No, it would not.” – Read More on Bloomberg
1. Clothing retailers set for discount battle to clear inventory glut: US apparel retailers are preparing steep markdowns to clear shelves ahead of the holiday season, as inflation pushes consumers to pull back on discretionary spending and wait for deals. “I hesitate to call it a bloodbath, but it’s going to be ugly,” said Urban Outfitters CEO. – Read More on the FT
2. Kanye West Isn’t Alone as Big Stars Seek More Say in the Brands They Back: “We’re seeing that a lot of celebrities are like, ‘Yeah, I don’t need you because I have a big enough brand that I can do it on my own.’ And they do.” – Read More on the WSJ
3. Ralph Lauren Sees Faster Growth on Pricing, New Customers: The New York-based apparel company is targeting revenue growth in the mid-to-high single digits in each of the next three fiscal years, including the current one. – Read More on Bloomberg
4. Traceability Can Enable Circularity in the Fashion Industry: Traceability can help supply chains locate inefficiencies, sort production or post-consumer waste and mitigate financial and reputational risks. It also ensures credibility and compliance. – Read More on Forbes
5. What the ‘Amazon of South Korea’ is doing in Seattle: Coupang built its own “last-mile” delivery service to cover the final leg to a customer’s doorstep that is often handled by mail carriers, making it easier for customers because “the same truck bringing me my shoes is also bringing me my lettuce, carrots and milk.” – Read More on Seattle Times
1. Big fashion can’t align its climate goals with its business model: “The concept of degrowth and alternative business models, or alternative models to growth, can be words that make [business] people uncomfortable.” – Read More on Fortune
2. China NFT and metaverse marketing requires Tiffany, other global luxury brands, to tread lightly and be creative: Unlike the rest of the world, China does not allow metaverse activities that involve crypto or trading in NFTs. Yet brands are still finding ways to be creative in the developing arena. – Read More on SCMP
3. How fast fashion can cut its staggering environmental impact: The industry needs to focus on making things that last, and so encouraging reuse; and more rapidly expanding the technologies for sustainable manufacturing processes, especially recycling. – Read More on Nature
4. ETFs are capitalizing on the luxury goods boom: “The wealthy have been little affected by the pullback in the markets — they keep buying, and luxury brands overseas are less expensive for U.S. buyers as the USD has been on a roll.” – Read More on Yahoo
5. China’s retail sales, industrial production beat expectations in August: Retail sales grew by 5.4% in August from a year ago, topping a Reuters forecast for 3.5% growth. – Read More on CNBC
6. U.S. Retail Sales Rose 0.3% in August, Showing Resilience in Face of Inflation: Consumer prices rose 0.1% in August from July and 8.3% from August last year, the Labor Department reported. After excluding volatile food and energy prices, underlying inflation pressures were broadening and building. – Read More on WSJ
1. Appraisers appreciated as worries over faux luxury items rise: The market for authenticating luxury goods has been growing in recent years due to the diversification of purchasing channels such as department stores, boutiques and outlets making use of online platforms and secondhand transactions. – Read More on Korea JoongAng
2. Mytheresa CEO on luxury spending: Customers are buying “even more luxury items, more timeless luxury items. So, the types of items they buy are at a higher price point.” – Read More on Yahoo
3. Riding Hermès to Record Revenue: Leather is still king, and given the enduring passion for Birkins and Kellys, Hermès works at capacity. Waiting lists for the products are not a function of artificial scarcity, but actual scarcity. – Read More on the WSJ
4. How ‘Dupe’ Culture Took Over Online Fashion: Influencers have an incentive to post and promote popular dupes: through Amazon’s influencer program, creators get a small percentage of sales when people purchase items with their links. – Read More on Rolling Stone
5. Fast-Fashion Giant Shein Plans U.S. Expansion as Sales Climb: Shein’s long fulfillment times have frustrated some shoppers and could become a hurdle as the company tries to sell more higher-price products with fatter profit margins. – Read More on the WSJ
6. H&M Sales Miss Estimates as Retailer Falls Behind Rival Zara: Hennes & Mauritz AB sales declined more than expected over the summer as the Swedish retailer fell further behind rival Zara amid a growing cost-of-living crisis across Europe. – Read More on Bloomberg
1. Why fast fashion is the next Big Tobacco: While faced with incriminating data points that prove every stage of its lifecycle causes devastation to our planet, fast fashion has few regulations, thus enabling behemoths like Shein to become so popular it has more U.S. app downloads than Amazon. – Read More on Fast Co.
2. Luxury Brands Spend More on Marketing, Defying Economic Uncertainty: A number of brands attracted by the luxury sector’s profit margins have also begun attempting to move into the category, leading some more established luxury names to try to move even higher up the ladder. – Read More on WSJ
3. In new era, Ray-Ban owner extends partnership with Armani: The partnership dates back to 1988 when the parties teamed up to bring Armani-branded glasses to a global market. The move is widely seen as driving a revolution that helped to turn glasses into a fashion accessory. – Read More on Reuters
4. How the apparel industry can ADAPT to inflation: The ADAPT model offers a five-component approach to reset margin structures with bold, deliberate actions that could yield competitive advantages in a persistently inflationary environment. – Read More on McKinsey
5. What would it look like to truly transform the fashion industry from the ground up? “The entire clothing system is based on cutting down labor [costs to] as little as possible. We’re going up against so much.” – Read More on Yahoo
1. Zara’s US Clothing Sales Help Swell Top Line as Dollar Surges: The Spanish clothing giant affirmed in June that the American market was the second-largest contributor to revenue. The US is expected to account for 10% of sales in 2022, up from 8% in 2021. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. Where Walmart, Amazon and Target are spending billions in a slowing economy: Investments made by big-spending leaders are likely to result in taking customers from weaker rivals next year, when consumer discretionary cash flow is forecast to rebound from a year-long 2022 drought and revive shopping after spending on goods actually shrank early this year. – Read More on CNBC
3. Luxury Brands Prepare for “Millennial Domination.” Plans revolve around the changing styles and increasing buying power of millennials and Gen Z customers, with Tapestry coining the term “expressive luxury” to describe the new direction for Coach. – Read More on PYMNTS
4. Rent the Runway shares sink as inflation-weary subscribers hit pause: Soaring prices of gasoline and groceries have forced shoppers to curb spending on apparel and other discretionary items, bruising sales of clothing companies that were just beginning to recover. – Read More on Reuters
5. Kanye West Is Done With Corporate America: There are obstacles to a clean break. Foremost are his high-profile, long-term arrangement with adidas to produce sneakers like the Yeezy Boost 350, which expires in 2026, and an agreement with Gap that ends in 2030. – Read More on Bloomberg
1. On Running co-CEOs look to expand in retail in “a long-term, durable way.” The Swiss-based athletic shoe and apparel maker, plans to maintain a steady pace on the road to expansion, including via resale efforts for its own products. – Read More on Yahoo
2. Versace is the latest luxury brand to increase prices: “We think we have the right product. We think we have the right brand heat, and we know that many of our competitors are at substantially higher prices than us.” – Read More on Quartz
3. RELATED READ: Resale is Helping Capri’s Brands Boost Prices Without Consumer Pushback. “Interestingly enough, the resale market has created a comfort level with people in the luxury world that they can not only purchase and enjoy, but they can – they see value in the ability to be able to resell product,” Idol said. – Read More on TFL
4. Roblox’s metaverse future remains murky, Cowen says: It’s too soon to determine whether Roblox is a winner in the metaverse, according to Cowen, which says that it’s overvalued for a distant metaverse future. – Read More on CNBC
5. Global venture capital investments fall more than half in August: The technology, media and telecommunications sector accounted for the largest share of the capital raised in August at 44.4%, followed by the healthcare and industrial sectors at 16.6% and 13.9%, respectively. – Read More on S&P Global