Daily LInks
1. NFTs and Fashion: Collectors Pay Big Money for Virtual Sneakers. A recent $3.1 million sale of some NFT sneakers has speculators wondering about the future of digital fashion. Each time the NFT is resold, Rtfkt receives a cut. This is a common practice in the market and makes NFTs even more enticing because on paper, creators can make money in perpetuity. – Read More on the WSJ
2. RELATED READ: NFTs Explained. What They Are and Why They Are Selling for Millions of Dollars. NFTs are digital certificates that authenticate a claim of ownership to an asset and allow it to be transferred or sold. The certificates are secured with blockchain technology similar to what underpins Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. – Read More on TFL
3. Fashion brands urged to fix ‘broken industry’ with pledge on workers’ pay: The #PayYourWorkers campaign said brands and retailers that made a profit in 2020 – like Nike, Amazon and Next – could stop garment workers “going hungry” and set up a severance fund by paying manufacturers the equivalent of $0.10 more per t-shirt. – Read More on Reuters
4. Richemont vs. LVMH: Which International Luxury Conglomerate Reigns Supreme? The insatiable LVMH has claimed yet another high-profile luxury brand. This time it’s Tiffany & Co.—for $15.8 billion—and if you’re Richemont, that might sound like a threat. – Read More on Robb Report
5. Hermès’s iconic Birkin bags may soon be made from mushrooms: Hermès spent three years collaborating with MycoWorks to create a high-end sustainable leather alternative. By the end of 2021, Hermès will incorporate the material into its “Victoria” travel bag. – Read More on Fast Co.
1. Canada Goose is Solving the Big, Puffy One-Product Problem: Designer collabs are another page out of the Nike playbook. They give brand loyalists a somewhat special version of the standard product — another excuse to buy. At the same time, it brings new customers into the brand. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. Cult Fashion Items That Stand the Test of Time: From Cartier’s Trinity ring (and I would argue, its Love Bracelet, too) to Prada’s Nylon Vela Backpack, “The most iconic fashion pieces have a narrative, a story that people want to be a part of and to embellish.” Priciness is not their main claim to fame; their relative timelessness helps them to survive the spin cycle of passing trends. – Read More on the WSJ
3. From iPhones to Baby Yodas: Target ramps up store-within-a-store concept. Target runs the mini stores in its stores, and generates revenue from products sold within the shops, as well as sales of those products purchased on dedicated landing pages on Target’s website. Analysts say the move is designed not only to increase sales online and fend off competition from Amazon.com Inc. but also to drive shoppers back to brick-and-mortar locations. – Read More on S&P Global
4. Tracing a garment: The apparel industry looks to shine light on its blind spots. New technologies aim to make fashion’s supply chains more transparent in a push for green and labor reform. – Read More on the FT
5. From job cuts to online commerce, virus reshaped US economy: U.S. e-commerce sales have grown 22.5% faster than overall retail sales since the pandemic, according to Retail Metrics Inc. That’s up from 6% in the decade before the coronavirus. Experts say traffic to stores and restaurants won’t likely fully return. – Read More on AP
6. RETRO READ: The Gucci wife and the hitman … fashion’s darkest tale. When Patrizia Reggiani married Maurizio Gucci, they became one of Italy’s first celebrity power couples. But then he left her – and she had him murdered. Abigail Haworth unpicks an incredible tale of glamour, sex, betrayal, death and prison in the dizzying world of high fashion. – Read More on the Guardian
1. Marketers Are Underpaying Black Influencers While Pushing Black Lives Matter: White social media stars consistently make far more than their Black counterparts, even in cases where Black influencers have more followers or are doing more of the creative work. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. ‘Relevance is key’: Why Nordstrom has gone all-in on DTC brands. As more digitally native retailers make their public debut on the stock market, and reveal their financial information that was once private, it’s become clear how difficult it is to sell goods exclusively online and make a profit. – Read More on Retail Dive
3. Europe is dragging down the global fashion recovery: As China and the U.S. rebound, in Europe, the picture doesn’t look very rosy. “Our outlook for 2021 is particularly downbeat in Europe,” McKinsey & Co. and fashion trade publication BoF stated in a recent report, which predicts sales in Europe could remain 12% to 24% below their 2019 levels. – Read More on Quartz
4. Farfetch and the Business of Luxury E-Tailing: Jose Neves created this entirely novel idea of what’s called distributed stock, where basically a particular item can be ordered, shipped, and delivered to a customer in another country or continent without Farfetch actually holding or owning too much of that centralized inventory. – Hear More on Motley Fool
5. Manhattan’s Blighted Soho District Showing New Signs of Life: Pinko’s yearlong sublease with options to extend is for $30,000 a month or 15% of sales, whichever is greater. This allows the tenant some downside protection and offers the landlord the chance to get paid more if business is good. It works out to a yearly rate of $73 a square foot. – Read More on the WSJ
6. RELATED READ: From Malls to Madison Avenue, Real Estate is Getting a COVID Makeover. Among the most immediate results of that shift in power? Shorter lease terms and the adoption of turnover-based leases, ones in which a link exists between the revenue a company brings in from the space it leases and the rent it pays (a trend that has adopted with increasing frequency in recent years), as well as the adoption of COVID-19 clauses aimed at specifically addressing and mitigating new risks. – Read More on TFL
1. Ten Truths About Marketing After the Pandemic: Even before COVID, direct-to-consumer companies (like Glossier or Parachute) were already conditioning us to expect a level of hyper-personalization since they were particularly adept with our personal data. Now, COVID has sent consumer expectations skyrocketing in terms of what companies could do for them with a more digital experience. – Read More on HBR
2. Saks CEO: People will spend on luxury goods. Consumer spending on apparel and accessories do appear to be picking up as people plan for post-vaccine trips this spring and summer. Spending on luxury goods are likely beginning to head in the right direction given their more affluent customer demographic, too. – Read More on Yahoo
3. Is sex the best way to sell suits when we’re still social distancing? The chatter seems to have worked: according to digitaloft.co.uk, searches for Suitsupply have increased by 41 percent in the week since the advert launched online. But for many the sex-centric campaign feels like too much, too soon. – Read More on the Guardian
4. Inditex’s 2020 net profit falls 70% as pandemic keeps many shops closed: Zara owner Inditex reported on Wednesday its net profit fell 70% in 2020 to 1.1 billion euros ($1.31 billion), a steeper drop than expected, after a year of global lockdowns and dampened demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. – Read More on CNBC
5. Italian Luxury Retailer Moncler is Getting a Boost from China and Edgier Customers. That Will Boost the Stock. Luxury puffer jacket maker Moncler already has a rich valuation but could still be poised for growth, thanks to a focus on China and a push for younger customers. – Read More on Barron’s
6. How AI Could Help Fashion E-Tailers Reduce Retail Returns: In our modern “convenience culture,” brands are complicit in this economic (and environmental) waste. But given the state of online commerce, it would be hard to imagine a world in which retailers decided to roll back their return policies. – Read More on Rolling Stone
1. How Hermès conquered the luxury industry. Between 2010 and 2019, Hermès tripled its revenues to $7.7 billion, with operating margins of 34%, the best in the industry, which comes down to its skill at winning over a new generation of consumers, not by reinventing itself, but by hewing closely to its original mission of selling handmade goods, designed to last forever. – Read More on Fast Co.
2. RELATED READ: With Q4 Results, Hermès Continues to Weather COVID Better Than its Peers. “Hermès benefits from top desirability across borders, and long waiting lists on its iconic products,” according to Bernstein analyst Luca Solca, who cautions, however, that a potential “failure to convincingly innovate could push Hermès in a ‘classic corner,’ out of synch with younger global luxury consumers,” and that “higher leather goods volumes – as silk declines – could reduce ‘rarity effect,’ perceived exclusivity, and – ultimately – brand desirability long-term.” – Read More on TFL
3. What Does Kering’s Deal with Vestiaire Collective Mean for Secondhand Fashion—and the Entire Industry? The investment was made at the “brand level,” meaning Kering’s houses are under no obligation to partner with Vestiaire or engage with resale at all. However, it’s unlikely they’d ignore the movement. – Read More on Vogue
4. Fashion giant H&M pauses placing new orders in Myanmar: Sweden’s H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said that it was shocked by the use of deadly force against protesters in Myanmar and that it had paused placing orders in the country. – Read More on Reuters
5. Ferrari’s Formula One pulls up on fashion lane with Armani clothing deal: Ferrari’s Formula One team has signed a multi-year agreement with Giorgio Armani, which will supply branded clothing for all the racing team’s off-track duties, Scuderia Ferrari and the Italian fashion house said on Tuesday. – Read More on Nasdaq
6. RETRO READ: What a Decision Over Ferrari’s “Testarossa” Trademarks Means for Luxury Brands in the Resale Economy. A December 2020 decision from the Court of Justice of the European Union provided a win for Ferrari that could have significant implications for other luxury brands, including those in the fashion space. – Read More on TFL
1. Hermès and LVMH Stocks Are as Trendy as Their Handbags: Fractional shares of designer stocks can be a far cheaper way to get “pride of ownership” than a luxury handbag. (On Stockpile, one can buy a gift card of fractional stock such as Hermès for as little as $5, while the most coveted luxury handbags easily top $10,000.) – Read More on the WSJ
2. Making Ethical, Sustainable Clothing Choices: “One of the things that we are looking at this year is regulatory and legal reform in the fashion industry. For example, we are supporting California’s Garment Worker Protection Act, which will, for the first time in decades hold fashion brands legally and financially accountable for what happens in their garment factories.” – Hear More on NPR
3. Next round of stimulus checks could further lift US e-commerce sales: U.S. e-commerce sales in 2020 hit an estimated $791.7 billion, accounting for 14% of total retail sales that year, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. That is up from 11% of total sales in 2019 and 9.7% in 2018. – Read More on S&P Global
4. Debranding Is the New Branding: As much as brands aspire to be sui generis, branding has fashions that ebb and flow like skirt lengths or collar widths. So, what is the future of debranding (or blanding)? Either the debranding trend proves ever more pervasive and, driven by digital, beds in for the long-haul; or it provokes a backlash of pent-up creativity inspiring flamboyant counter-cultures like Dada, psychedelia and punk. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. RETRO READ: How Can You Protect Branding That Barely Even Exists? Since so much of a company’s value is directly tied to the strength of its intellectual property, how is it that companies have managed to maintain or achieve brand recognition when so many of the branding elements are stripped back? Well, minimal branding does not mean non-distinctive branding. – Read More on TFL
6. Walmart beats data breach lawsuit, in test of California privacy law’s scope: A California federal judge has agreed to dismiss a lawsuit over an alleged data breach affecting Walmart Inc customers, finding California’s privacy law can’t be applied retroactively and the plaintiff doesn’t claim the breach came after the law took effect in January 2020. – Read More on Reuters
1. Can the Death of Skinny Jeans Save Retail? Skinny jeans account for 35% of women’s denim sales in the U.S., but they have lost their place as the gravitational center of women’s wardrobes. They are no longer the default. Wider styles are gaining market share, including one known as the “mom jean.” – Read More on Bloomberg
2. RELATED READ: Fred Segal Turned Jeans into Hot Fashion in the Early 1960s. While working as a sales director for the H.I.S sportswear brand in the early 1960s, Fred Segal had a vision: Blue jeans didn’t have to be just sturdy work pants costing a few dollars; they could be recast as a fashion item and priced at $19.95. – Read More on the WSJ
3. MyTheresa is E-Commerce for Luxury. The Stock Might Be the Cheapest Thing it Sells. The overall luxury market is growing by about 7% annually. The tailwinds put Mytheresa in an enviable position, and the company should get a further boost from its expansion in the U.S. and China, which are currently just 10% of sales each. – Read More on Barron’s
4. So long, sweatpants. Americans show signs they’re ready to get dressed up again: It’s time for retailers to pivot — again. That won’t come easily, though. Businesses continue to face congested U.S. ports and container shortages, backlogging merchandise, which will make stocking shelves with fresh outfits all the more complicated. – Read More on CNBC
5. Yeezy Gap collection is coming in the first half of 2021: Announced in June 2020, Gap Chief Executive Sonia Syngal said on the late Thursday earnings call that the timing of the collection’s arrival is “the number one question” she’s asked. – Read More on MarketWatch
6. RETRO READ: Gap, Telfar and Contract-Making in the Age of COVID-19. “While the basic premise under U.S. law is that contracts must generally be kept and performed, an extraordinary circumstance may make performance so vitally different from what was reasonably expected [that it may] relieve performance.” – Read More on TFL
1. Is the Fashion World Changing? Brands pointed to European anti-discrimination laws to avoid answering question about diversity. In France, a controversial 1978 law regarding “data files, processing and individual liberties” prohibits the collection and processing of personal data that reveals, directly or indirectly, the racial and ethnic origins, or religion, of any persons. – Read More on the NY Times
2. Why Go to Paris When You Can Buy Hermes in Hangzhou? The share of Chinese consumers’ high-end purchases made in mainland China more than doubled from 32% in 2019 to over 70% in 2020. All the big fashion houses will need to adapt. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. RELATED READ: How a Decline in Chinese Tourists Around the World Has Hit the Luxury Sector. Most of this overseas shopping is done by women between the ages of 19 and 29, according to a 2018 survey of over 750 million Chinese people. It seems clear that as the Chinese economy recovers from coronavirus they will return to spending. Where they are able to travel and spend will have a big impact on economic recoveries from the pandemic. – Read More on TFL
4. Elon Musk Doesn’t Care About Patents. Should You? HBO tolerates theft of its core product. SpaceX forgoes patents. Knowing its software would be pirated, Microsoft followed the same strategy to build its presence in China. – Read More on HBR
5. Gap Inc. CEO Predicts Apparel Rebound as Consumers Emerge From Covid-19 Pandemic. Gap CEO Sonia Syngal has laid out a plan to revive the long-struggling company by closing hundreds of Gap and Banana Republic stores, cutting the number of items it sells and pushing executives to take more creative risks with the flagship brand. – Read More on the WSJ
6. The Absurd Nike Scandal That Has Sneakerheads Losing Their Minds: It’s unclear to what extent Ann Hebert was directly involved in her son’s lucrative endeavors, but it appears to have been enough to end her Nike career. – Read More on Slate
1. The curious appeal of Birkenstocks: These proudly orthopaedic sandals (and a recently-announced buyout by LVMH-affiliated L Catterton, which reportedly put a $4 billion-plus valuation on Birkenstock) have demonstrated that anything — anything — can become chic under the right circumstances. – Read More on the FT
2. How Supreme-Style Merch Drops Took Over Corporate America: Merch isn’t new. What’s changed is the brashness with which companies are evolving their swag game into a merch play, embracing the hype model of limited drops, big-name collabs, and higher price tags, as everyone from giant consumer brands to up-and-coming TikTokers tries to mimic Supreme, the upscale streetwear brand acquired in November by VF Corporation for $2.1 billion. – Read More on Marker
3. Can Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s The Row survive the pandemic? The problems started with Barneys going bust in the summer of 2019. At the time, The Row was Barneys’ single-largest vendor creditor, to the tune of $3.7 million, a sum eclipsed only by some of its landlords. In the wake of that debacle, The Row’s then president, David Schulte, left the company that fall. (He is now suing the company, its parent company, and the Olsens, in their personal capacities.) – Read More on The Cut
4. Off-Price Retail Is Fully Priced: The long-term picture for off-price retailers undoubtedly looks good; they have a track record of performing well during and after economic downturns. And TJX and Ross Stores have been steadily gaining market share from department stores. – Read More on the WSJ
5. Can fashion be sustainable? Yes, says Gabriela Hearst at Chloé: Hearst’s arrival at Chloé, where she will work in partnership with sustainably minded new CEO, Riccardo Bellini, points to a radical shift in strategy among mainstream luxury brands who believe that values, rather than aesthetics, are the key to an aspirational image which, in turn, will drive customer loyalty. – Read More on the Guardian
6. RETRO READ: Can the Fashion Industry Ever Really Be Sustainable? An alternative, radical approach may be to recognize that humans have always used fashion to satisfy emotional, egoistical desires. So, the challenge should be shifted from trying to control these primeval, irrational behaviors to finding a systemic and ethical approach to embrace them. – Read More on TFL
1. Women-Led Startups Received Just 2.3 percent of VC Funding in 2020: This wasn’t just part of an overall decrease in VC funding. In 2019, 2.8 percent of funding went to women-led startups; in 2020, that fell to 2.3 percent, Crunchbase figures show. This comes after years of increases. The 2.8 percent figure, while paltry, was an all-time high. – Read More on HBR
2. Target thinks the future of e-commerce is its stores: Target, whose sales grew by more than $15 billion for the fiscal year ending January 30, has focused on making stores the cornerstone of its digital sales, using them as the fulfillment centers for shipping items, or where customers could pick up their online orders if they chose. – Read More on Qz
3. These Are the Retail Trends in Ecommerce for This Year: “Omnichannel as a number one point, having to attend to all channels and have a very clear strategy for marketplaces of physical stores, department stores, ecommerce for different brands and for this we have to work a lot.” – Read More on Entrepreneur
4. Can Buy Now, Pay Later Save Physical Retail? The payment form factor is rapidly on the rise, as some 48 percent of consumers now report they would not shop with a merchant that did not offer credit or some form of BNPL at the point of sale. – Read More on PYMNTS
5. RELATED READ: As Buy Now, Pay Later Services Gain Steam, Regulators Are Paying Attention. Technically speaking, Afterpay (and other similar companies) “skirt the definition of a loan under some U.S. laws,” meaning that it is not subject to the same regulation. However, regardless of how it defines its operations, “the more successful Afterpay becomes, the more likely it will attract regulatory scrutiny.” – Read More on TFL