Daily LInks
1. Why American luxury fashion doesn’t sell in China – an ‘ordinary’ image, weak marketing, and few social media influencers: “European brands enjoy the advantage of their historic heritage, and being perceived as iconic,” but Chinese consumers see U.S. fashion brands like Michael Kors as lacking cachet, and because their marketing is not tailored to the China market, they struggle to project the right image. – Read More on SCMP
2. People are buying luxury goods again: Sales in China — the only major economy expected to grow this year — have experienced a rebound, but can’t carry the entire business. Sales of luxury goods are also closely tied to international tourism, which LVMH Chief Financial Officer Jean Jacques Guiony said is poised to remain muted until there’s a Covid-19 vaccine. – Read More on CNN
3. The sustainable sneaker start-up Allbirds is launching a t-shirt, sweater, and puffer jacket: “Does the world really need another T-shirt?” co-founder Tim Brown asked during an interview. “The fashion industry doesn’t need another T-shirt unless it’s better.” Allbirds last month landed $100 million in a Series E funding round, valuing the start-up at $1.7 billion. – Read More on CNBC
4. Influencers Are the Retailers of the 2020s: We want to hear from people, not corporations. A person who will tell you exactly what they love about a sweater—the softness of the cashmere, the length of the sleeve, the drape of the body—and show you (hopefully a few) ways to wear it. Unless you happen to like the way a retailer has styled that sweater on its website, likely on a headless model, all you’ll get is a brief product description and fabric breakdown. It’s almost entirely transactional. – Read More on Vogue
5. Life after liquidation: Why some brands thrive after closing shop and others don’t. Customer data alone could help propel the reborn brand. “It’s that data that is so powerful to these advanced modern digital marketers. The more data they have, the more understanding of what you buy, where you buy it, at what promotional level you are incented to buy — the more they have, the more effective they can be to get you to buy stuff.” – Read More on Retail Dive
6. RELATED READ: From Addresses to Purchase Histories, Customer Data is Driving Retail Bankruptcy Acquisitions: Real estate and IP is only part of the draw. A driving force that is enticing bidders to put up cash for ailing businesses goes beyond that. In many of these big bankruptcy sales, a significant asset that changes hands is a slew of customer data points – from shoppers’ addresses to things like demographic characteristics and their purchase histories with that particular company. That is what experts say is at stake in a lot of these headline-making acquisitions. – Read More on TFL
