Daily LInks
1. Shein denies that it’s under Chinese cybersecurity review. Fast fashion giant Shein is disputing a Wall Street Journal report that it’s being investigated by Chinese cybersecurity regulators. – Read More on Axios
2. Clothing brands failing to eradicate forced labor risk in supply chains, research finds. “They remain largely reactive to human rights violations, rather than evidencing robust, embedded human rights and environmental due diligence practices designed to prevent them.” – Read More on CNBC
3. Should Amazon Be Responsible for Everything It Sells and Ships? The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is preparing an order that could classify Amazon’s online retail business as a distributor of goods, which could give Amazon the same responsibilities as traditional retailers and potentially open it up to lawsuits and extensive recalls. – Read More on the WSJ
4. Ferrari burst closes gap with luxury king Hermes. Scarcity is working in Ferrari’s favour. Its sold-out order book of cars like the 488 Pista which can cost over $400,000 stretches several years. – Read More on Reuters
5. The fight against greenwashing starts with AI. Ambiguity around ESG ratings exists for a number of reasons. Siloed and overlapping data, incomplete and exaggerated self-reporting, the lack of measurement standards, and bona fide greenwashing are all culprits. – Read More on Fortune
6. Over a third of EU firms adopt AI, bringing digital goals in reach. In 2022, however, only a quarter of EU businesses had adopted AI and a report last year estimated the European Union was at risk of falling behind its Digital Decade goals by ten years unless the governments focused on bridging the skills gap. – Read More on Reuters
1. One-third of fashion brands ‘fully circular’ by 2027. 12% of c-suite fashion professionals expect their company to be ‘fully circular’ within the next year or two. This increases to 34% in two-three years, and 31% for three to four years. One-fifth predict they will reach the goal by 2029. – Read More on Environmental Journal
2. Fashion Brands Seek Stronger Sustainable Marketing Guardrails. US laws and government guidance are lagging far behind the speed at which the apparel industry and consumers are evolving on environmental efforts. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. RELATED READ: Comments on the Green Guides Shed Light on Demand for Clarity. Commenters agree that the FTC Green Guides are in need of revisions in light of current shortcomings, including “vagueness” that the FDRA says has facilitated rampant greenwashing by companies. – Read More on TFL
4. New H&M boss Daniel Ervér faces pricing dilemma in fight to win back customers. The new boss of H&M faces a thorny dilemma: increase prices and lose more ground to budget online fast-fashion rival Shein or cut prices and risk profit margins falling short of target. – Read More on Reuters
5. Adidas won’t write off remaining Yeezy inventory, plans to sell ‘at least’ at cost. “Our consumer, retail and trade research has shown that we can sell this remaining inventory in 2024 for at least the cost price. This is why we have only written off inventory that was either damaged or very broken in sizes.” – Read More on CNBC
6. AI Is Helping Pick What You’ll Wear in Two Years. The more accurately retailers and brands call trends, the more money they’ll make—and in the US, retail is already a $540 billion a year industry. – Read More on Bloomberg
1. How ‘quiet luxury’ is subtly taking over investor portfolios. Quiet luxury was one of last year’s biggest viral fashion trends, but unlike other short-lived fads on TikTok or Instagram, this one has made its way into investor portfolios and shown sizable returns. – Read More on CNBC
2. RELATED READ: What Does Quiet Luxury Mean from a Trademark Perspective? If the current trend of consumers eschewing ubiquitous logos plays out in a meaningful way, other elements of branding will take on a new level of importance/relevance. –Read More on TFL
3. Marketing for ‘pre- and post-luxury’ consumers. Luxury branding should not, therefore, focus on what the product can provide, but rather on the story behind that product. What is the purpose of a specific luxury item? How will it impact society, or your life? What type of emotion does it evoke? Is it sustainable? – Read More on the Drum
4. ESG: A lawyer’s dream (or nightmare). “In the U.S., you actually have political paralysis at the state level with conflicting regulations saying, ‘You’re going to do this,’ and the other side saying, ‘If you do that, you’re in trouble.’” – Read More on Politico
5. Taylor Swift and No AI Fraud Act: How Congress plans to fight back against AI deepfakes. A bipartisan group of U.S. House lawmakers introduced the No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas and Unauthorized Duplications Act to create a federal, baseline protection against AI abuse and uphold Americans’ First Amendment rights online. – Read More on ABC
6. AI, cross-border e-commerce are bright spots for Chinese internet firms in 2024, UBS says. China’s e-commerce platforms, facing intense domestic competition with new rivals and short-video app operators, are ramping up overseas expansion. – Read More on SCMP
1. What happens when a brand offering lifetime guarantees closes? She says that “if the brand no longer sold clothes one day” they always intended to keep instructions for the circularity of each garment available for customers to access. – Read More on the Guardian
2. Shein rejects Amazon ‘clone’ talk ahead of closely watched U.S. listing. “Our product categories vary across these markets. But the core point is that being receptive and responsive to Generation Z, younger Millennial shoppers, is something that leads to growth.” – Read More on CNBC
3. Labor abuse is rampant in fashion. Here’s how three brands are trying to change the narrative. A handful of brands have shown improvement is possible, without sacrificing profits. Lululemon, Adidas and Puma topped the benchmark – scoring 63%, 58% and 55% respectively, while also reporting strong financial results to shareholders. – Read More on Reuters
4. Judge orders Oregon newspaper not to publish documents linked to Nike lawsuit. “The Court is aware that certain documents marked ‘Confidential’ and ‘Attorneys’ Eyes Only’ have been inadvertently disclosed by plaintiff’s counsel to the Oregonian via e-mail.” – Read More on Yahoo
5. ICYMI: What is fast fashion? One way fashion companies, fast and otherwise, are preparing for the sustainability challenges ahead is by restructuring their C-suites. The C-suite teams at almost all of Europe’s 25 biggest fashion companies include at least one executive with ESG experience. – Read More on McKinsey
6. China’s luxury market is bouncing back. Analysts say these are new areas of opportunity. “Regarding the size of stores in China … there are twice as many Chinese customers as in 2019,” Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, said on an earnings call. – Read More on CNBC
1. Luxury goods stocks propel France’s Cac 40 to record high. LVMH’s upbeat results also sparked strong gains for its peers and rivals, including Kering and Hermes, which both gained 6.6 per cent. The Stoxx Luxury 10 index gained 6.7 percent. – Read More on the FT
2. Inside the Competition for the World’s Richest Shoppers. Companies say it is less expensive to get existing customers to spend more than to acquire new ones, as online customer-acquisition costs have skyrocketed due to rising competition and new restrictions on the use of cookies. – Read More on the WSJ
3. When Louis Vuitton tries to make you change your brand name. A small garden supply business called L V Bespoke recently won its fight to keep its name against Louis Vuitton. Experts say such cases have increased “hugely” in the past 18 months as major brands seek to protect their IP. – Read More on the BBC
4. We asked AI to create the Joker. It generated a copyrighted image. A.I. companies said they had established guardrails that could prevent their A.I. systems from producing material that violates copyright. – Read More on the New York Times
5. RELATED READ: AI Trained on Copyrighted Works: When Is It Fair Use? A leading AI research company OpenAI contends that including copyrighted material in datasets for machine learning is fair use because it is “non-expressive intermediate copying.” According to OpenAI, the purpose and character of the use are transformative. – Read More on TFL
6. Forget the Term ‘ESG.’ But Don’t Ignore the Power of the Concept. “Doing the right thing has absolutely resonated with our employees and made them feel proud.” It has also “led to the spirit of innovation,” which has opened up new markets. – Read More on the WSJ
1. Shein investors selling stock at 30% discount. Shein’s investors are trying to sell shares in the private market at prices that value the Chinese online retailer as low as $45 billion, or a discount of around 30% to its valuation about a month back. – Read More on Reuters
2. Fashion resale gives brands sustainability and revenue boost. Consumers win, too. For brands that make high-quality, long-lasting apparel and other goods, in-house resale programs give them an opportunity to sell items twice, or even multiple times, while also keeping garments in circulation longer. – Read More on CBS
3. Post-Pandemic Sales Growth Slows at Luxury Giant LVMH. The growth in sales, while solid, is slower than recent years when LVMH benefited from a post-pandemic binge on Champagne, handbags and luxury jewelry—a trend luxury consumers called “revenge shopping.” – Read More on WSJ
4. FTC opens inquiry into Big Tech AI investments. The FTC said in a statement that it “will scrutinize corporate partnerships and investments with AI providers to build a better internal understanding of these relationships and their impact on the competitive landscape.” – Read More on Axios
5. X can’t stop spread of explicit, fake AI Taylor Swift images. Explicit, fake AI-generated images sexualizing Taylor Swift began circulating online this week, quickly sparking mass outrage that may finally force a mainstream reckoning with harms caused by spreading non-consensual deepfake porn. – Read More on ArsTechnica
6. China’s luxury goods market posts ‘robust rebound’, but post-Covid uncertainties remain. “As the market transitions to a post-Covid growth phase, uncertainties remain regarding the speed at which consumer confidence will resume and how overseas luxury shopping will evolve.” – Read More on SCMP
1. Vestiaire Collective launches crowdfunding, eyes IPO in 2025. Second-hand fashion marketplace Vestiaire Collective launched a crowdfunding campaign on Tuesday to raise at least one million euros from individual investors as the Kering-backed business aims to become profitable by year-end and potentially go public. – Read More on Reuters
2. £3,000 bracelets vs £400 sneakers: the diverging fortunes of the luxury market. Luxury’s biggest groups, such as Richemont, LVMH and Hermès, are expected to widen their lead on weaker competitors. – Read More on the FT
3. Shein’s marketplace is littered with gray-market products from top brands like Hoka. Visitors to Shein may assume that all name-brand goods are sold by authorized retailers. But, in the case of Hoka and Paul Smith, they are sold by third-party sellers that do not have a relationship with the brands or manufacturers themselves. – Read More on Modern Retail
4. RETRO READ: Unauthorized Sales of iPhone Cases at Center of New Decision, Amid Fashion’s Gray Market Fight. The court’s decision is certainly a striking one in light of fashion and luxury brands’ enduring efforts to crack down on the sale of goods outside of their networks of authorized sellers and in particular, in conditions that do not meet the ones that they and their authorized retailers observe. – Read More on TFL
5. Gucci, Prada deals on Fifth Ave. suggest a major pivot for a retail mogul. Gucci’s move this week to snap up a major retail berth on Fifth Avenue in Midtown for nearly $1 billion was the latest effort by a high-end fashion house to control its own storefront. – Read More on Crain’s
6. Italy tightens charity giving rules after influencer scandal. Italy’s cabinet is set to approve a bill demanding greater clarity from companies that link product sales to charity donations after top fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni came under fire for misleading posts about a Christmas cake. – Read More on Reuters
1. How IKEA Evolved Its Strategy While Keeping Its Culture Constant. Among other things, the company reworked its franchise agreements to ensure consistency among its global stores, and balanced global growth with localization, developing all-new supply chains. – Hear More on HBR
2. Is second-hand luxury’s new growth driver? Better than traditional luxury craft houses, resale platforms have mastered the codes of social networks and the digital language of the younger generation. Collector Square now boasts 65% to 70% of its sales online, reversing the initial trend. – Read More on Market Screener
3. RELATED READ: Rolex – Owning the Luxury Resale Opportunity. Brands want in on one of the biggest results of their strategy of consistently limiting the supply of their goods: a robust secondary market. – Read More on TFL
4. Investors Poured Millions into Her Fashion Brand. Then It All Fell Apart. Like many digital startups, Something Navy burned through cash in pursuit of growth. The company opened stores and invested in digital marketing. – Read More on the WSJ
5. Is a lack of diversity holding back the fashion industry? The inaugural Fashion Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) report found that only 9% of executive and 11% of so-called power roles, which include chief executive, chief financial officer, chair and creative director positions, are held by people of color. – Read More on the Guardian
6. How Abercrombie went from America’s most hated retailer to a Gen Z favorite. The new Abercrombie is focused on an older demographic: The twenty-something. “The brand is growing up with its customer.” – Read More on Fast Co.
1. Chinese people spend over 1 trillion yuan on luxury goods in 2023. China’s luxury goods market witnessed 11 percent growth in 2023, reaching 607.7 billion yuan, accounting for about 22 percent of the global luxury goods market. – Read More on China Daily
2. Why AI Keeps Getting Better at Making Fake Images. “We went from these glitchy deepfakes, from 5, 6, 7 years ago, to full-time, real-time, almost at frame rate, running on my laptop, superimposing somebody’s face on mine at high-res. That is incredible.” – Hear More on the WSJ
3. Is It Time to Break Up Luxury Behemoth LVMH? LVMH is being penalized by shareholders for its disparate collection of businesses. Breaking up the behemoth could release significant value for investors, and might, incidentally, help solve the looming succession issue. – Read More on Bloomberg
4. Gildan Activewear says Browning West’s share purchase was “illegal.” Activist fund Browning West’s purchase of Gildan shares last month violated the U.S. anti-trust laws. Gildan has alleged the move was an “illegal” attempt by the U.S.-based fund to reappoint former CEO Glenn Chamandy and eventually take control of the company’s board. – Read More on Reuters
5. Four Questions to Assess the Trustworthiness of Your Company’s GenAI. Because the technology is evolving so quickly, problems reveal themselves during deployment while cultural norms around what it means to use gen AI ethically are still being debated. – Read More on HBR
6. Temu is using its lawsuit against Shein as a PR engine. The intent, it seems, was to get publications to tie in the lawsuit with its upcoming advertising plans. Indeed, publications like AdAge took the bait, publishing news stories about the contents of the suit that confirmed the advertising plans. – Read More on Modern Retail
1. China’s Scrutiny of Shein IPO Plan Shows Regulator’s Reach Widening. Shein still subject to review despite selling nothing in China. Process revives memories of Didi probe that forced delisting. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. Red Sea conflict plunges Bangladesh garment makers into the red. Bangladesh’s garment industry faces surging freight rates, longer lead times and container shortages as spillover effects from fighting in the Red Sea, just months after the sector was roiled by protests over wages and subsequent factory closures. – Read More on Nikkei
3. At Davos, ESG begins a quiet rebranding—here’s what that looks like. The WEF published a report on an initiative it’s launched to address one of the loudest attacks leveled against ESG: Those letters stand for everything, and therefore nothing, which makes it nearly impossible to establish fair, universal metrics. – Read More on Fast Co.
4. Cartier-owner Richemont’s earnings may show the bright spot that luxury companies have been waiting for—demand from Chinese shoppers. “There are macroeconomic problems … but mainland China was double digit positive,” Richemont CFO Burkhart Grund said. – Read More on Fortune
5. Las Vegas Show ‘MJ Live’ Sues Michael Jackson Estate Over Trademark Dispute. The suit claims that estate sent cease-and-desist letters to six venues across California, Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin, and refers to them as “intentional and wrongful interference” that was “intended to harm Plaintiff.” – Read More on THR