1. Even a Tiffany Discount Comes with a Cost: Renegotiate the price of LVMH’s pre-COVID deal to acquire Tiffany might not be worth the reputational damage, particularly if there is a lengthy court battle between the two sides. Shares in LVMH have taken the developments in their stride so far. But for some investors, if they believe he really doesn’t want the deal at all, Arnault’s move might be read as a worrying signal about the strength of LVMH and the future of luxury. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. Lululemon’s Sales Rise as Athleisure Demand Persists: The company’s online business increased by 157% in the period, accounting for 61% of overall sales compared with 25% in last year’s second quarter. Even as steep declines in bricks-and-mortar traffic continue to batter retailers, Lululemon has benefited from the shift to online shopping given its focus on activewear and loungewear as well as its developed e-commerce business. – Read More on the Wall Street Journal
3. Can luxury brands meet the needs of the new consumer? 60% of Gen Z & Millennials say collaborations increase their willingness to buy a product. Luxury brands have also adapted their pricing strategy to capitalize on young consumers behaviors, by releasing more readily-accessible products, such as the Gucci ‘Instagram-ready’ £90 socks, or £170 phone cases. – Read More on the Drum
4. Would you spend $10,000 on a virtual dress? Gucci is betting on it: “The virtual world is creating its own economy. Virtual items have value because of their own scarcity, and because they can be sold and shared.” (To wit: Someone recently dropped $2,400 on a pair of virtual sneakers on a mobile game called Aglet; another spent $9,500 on a digital dress that only exists on Instagram.) – Read More on Fast Co.
5. RETRO READ: With the Video Game Market on Track to Reach $300 Billion, Luxury Brands Want to Make Real Money from Virtual Clothes. The video game segment is estimated to reach a whopping $300 billion by 2025 with a portion of those revenues inevitably coming from sales of video game-related “downloadable content and micro-transactions,” i.e., ones where players purchase virtual goods, such as clothing – or in gamer-speak, skins – for their characters. – Read More on TFL