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