Daily LInks
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
1. Why branding is having a Wile E. Coyote moment. “There’s a sense that the industry hasn’t fully come to grips with the fact that people inherently do not trust companies anymore.” – Read More on Fast Co.
2. Douyin joins low-price competition against e-commerce peers. The platform will give more traffic to low-priced items in its “marketplace” channel and short video feeds, while livestreaming will continue to serve as a major way for promoting brand-focused and high-unit-price goods. – Read More on TechNode
3. The Blockchain & Digital Twins Duo: Revamping Retail and E-Commerce. By using blockchain, retail businesses stand to acquire better visibility of the entire supply chain cycle of a particular product and be able to track its entire journey and see who, where and when it was interacted with. – Read More on Forbes
4. RELATED READ: As Digital Twins Gain Steam, A Look at Some Key Legal Considerations. Given that digital twins can offer powerful insights for companies and perks for consumers, including token-gated benefits and loyalty/rewards-related offerings, chances are, more brands – in the fashion/retail industries and beyond – will follow suit. – Read More on TFL
5. LVMH launches entertainment venture. The move comes as the fashion industry becomes increasingly linked to the entertainment industry, with the presence of stars adding buzz to fashion shows and LVMH label Louis Vuitton bringing in Pharrell Williams to head menswear designs. – Read More on Yahoo
6. France’s fast-fashion ‘kill bill’: Green move or penalty for the poor? In a bid to combat the “fast-fashion” and “ultra-fast-fashion” brands that have taken France by storm, a young lawmaker has proposed slapping an extra €5 on every fast-fashion purchase. – Read More on France24
1. Rise of fast-fashion Shein, Temu roils global air cargo industry. The rapid rise of fast-fashion e-commerce retailers such as Shein and Temu is upending the global air cargo industry, as they increasingly vie for limited air-cargo space to woo consumers with rapid transit times, more than ten industry sources said. – Read More on Reuters
2. The music labels are still suing the internet companies. That’s a warning for the AI industry. The AI boom has been accompanied by AI lawsuits filed by content owners, which has led people to think about the parallels between the current moment and the Napster era, when digital disruption ran smack into the court system. – Read More on BI
3. California lawmakers say they expect to set the pace for AI rules. California often takes the lead with legislation to regulate tech. California lawmakers say they expect to set the pace once again on artificial intelligence. – Hear More on NPR
4. ICYMI: Digital reinvention fuels a fast-growing luxury sector. Competition to win customers may intensify if economic growth slows in 2024 (as we expect it will) and aspirational luxury consumers reduce their spending. The likely outcome: The strongest luxury brands will get even stronger. – Read More on JP Morgan
5. Customers sue Stanley, say the company failed to disclose presence of lead in tumblers. The proposed class action lawsuits, filed in Washington state come weeks after Stanley confirmed that the “sealing material” they use to secure the vacuum insulation at the base of their products contains “some lead.” – Read More on USA Today
6. RELATED READ: Stanley Cup-Maker Named in False Advertising, Fraud Lawsuit Over Lead. The plaintiffs contend that PMI “took care not to reveal its practice of using lead while continuing to market its products as safe, pure, and ideal for busy professionals to use at home and elsewhere.” – Read More on TFL
1. The British ‘King of Trainers’ Takes on the Land of Sneakers. With a fashion-first approach that the company says sets it apart from its rivals, JD Sports is doubling down on American sports retail, opening hundreds of U.S. stores even as incumbents contend with disengaged consumers. – Read More on the WSJ
2. $387 Billion Luxury Market Remains Turbulent, but There Are Bright Spots. “Advanced digital marketing, rooted in personalization, optimization and targeted outreach, stand as critical tools for connection with potential luxury buyers in meaningful ways.” – Read More on Forbes
3. Fast Fashion Is Thwarting the Resale Industry’s Dream of Circularity. Branded resale grew by 450% between 2021 and 2023. Still, the complex logistics of online resale presents both sustainability and profitability challenges. – Read More on AdWeek
4. How IP laws can be reimagined to stimulate innovation. There needs to be a paradigm shift in how intellectual property ownership is viewed and shared, to achieve this. At the moment, what IP laws do best is help large companies fence off competition. Good for the bottom line, but not for evening the playing field and innovation. – Read More on WEForum
5. Retailers demand more action from EU to resolve Red Sea crisis. European retail industry body Eurocommerce called on European Union institutions and member states to resolve the Red Sea crisis that has disrupted trade, saying in a letter to Belgium’s foreign minister that it has already had “massive impacts” on businesses. – Read More on Reuters
1. Fashion rentals find favor but platforms struggle to thrive. “That’s why we see so many different [players] popping up in the market. There is clearly some money to be made, but it has to be pitched just right.” – Read More on the FT
2. Some video game actors are letting AI clone their voices. They just don’t want it to replace them. As video game worlds get more expansive, some game studios are experimenting with AI tools to give voice to a potentially unlimited number of characters and conversations. It also saves time and money. – Read More on AP News
3. AI Briefing: How Priceline and other e-commerce companies are approaching generative AI. 50% of businesses on Amazon have used AI to manage e-commerce channels. Around 34% are using AI to help with writing and optimizing listings, 14% use it for creating marketing and social content and 7% are using it for helping with keyword and SEO research. – Read More on Digiday
4. Are Fashion Brands Finally Catering to Women Over 50? “It’s not a coincidence that as women in their 50s and 60s step into more fashion-CEO and executive-adviser roles, the companies they run want to acknowledge their power.” – Read More on the WSJ
5. RELATED READ: By Focusing Almost Exclusively on Millennials and Gen Z, Fashion is Ignoring a $15 Billion Market. By 2040, ILC projects that individuals aged 50 and over will be the fashion sector’s “key consumer base.” – Read More on TFL
6. The Future of Marketing Is Intergenerational. Demographics suggest that Americans over the age of 60 will soon become a larger consumer group in terms of income than 20-to-34-year-olds, yet companies still position their brands as if the bulk of the market is people under the age of 40. – Read More on HBR
1. Digitalization: The Key to Reducing Material Waste in the Fashion Industry. For large volumes, the slightest additional percentage of fabric used represents much less waste. It is therefore essential to adopt the right technologies, with software and equipment that enable material savings to be made throughout the workflow. – Read More on Supply Chain Brain
2. How luxury lost its meaning. “Anyone can declare themselves a luxury product. But people know true luxury when they experience it. It’s personalized and exclusive, with scrupulous attention to detail.” – Read More on Telegraph
3. RELATED READING: What Are Luxury Brands Really Selling? While there are points to be made in at least some cases about the level of quality, and attention to detail and craftsmanship, and the consumer experience elements associated with high fashion and luxury goods, a non-negligible amount of this is storytelling. – Read More on TFL
4. Amazon joins companies arguing US labor board is unconstitutional. Amazon has joined rocket maker SpaceX and grocery chain Trader Joe’s in claiming that a U.S. labor agency’s in-house enforcement proceedings violate the Constitution, as the retail giant faces scores of cases claiming it interfered with workers’ rights to organize. – Read More on Reuters
5. True Religion explores a sale as maximalist, Y2K-era styles make a comeback. The company, known for its stitching and horseshoe logo, has made inroads with an entirely new customer base, and a survey conducted by the company says it has high customer loyalty. – Read More on CNBC
6. George Santos sues late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for tricking him into making videos to ridicule him. Santos, who was expelled from the House of Representatives last year after being charged with multiple counts of fraud and stealing from donors, is suing over alleged copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment. – Read More on AP News