After Brexit, which way for fashion? The impact of Brexit on the fashion industry is daunting, brain-scrambling and multi-levelled. The industry directly contributed £28bn to the UK’s economy in 2015 and employs 880,000 in roles from manufacturing to retail. For many British designers and stores, there will be an immediate hit on costs and margins. Sample the FT’s top stories for a week You select the topic, we deliver the news. During the campaign the British Fashion Council (BFC) reported that of the near-500 designers it polled, 90 per cent planned to vote for Remain. In the short term, some in the industry are happy. Luca Solca, head of luxury goods at Exane BNP Paribas, calls this positive effect “margin tailwind”. Buyers and retailers are nervous about speaking openly — they want consumers to continue shopping as if nothing has happened. Currency volatility is a huge worry. Meanwhile, the only way many young British designers can afford to make their products is by having them manufactured abroad.
The Blonde Salad Ups the Ante | Intelligence | BoF LOS ANGELES, United States — Chiara Ferragni’s stream of selfies has drawn more than 6.5 million followers to her personal Instagram account. But the super-influencer has transformed her digital property The Blonde Salad, which she launched as a personal blog back in 2009 that now attracts an average of 500,000 unique visitors each month, into a full-fledged magazine that relies on plenty more than her outfit photos. “When I started back then, I just wanted a personal space,” says Ferragni, whose movie-star looks and playfully bold Italian style have earned her adoring fans the world over. “But for the last three years, we haven’t been a blog. Now, the Los Angeles-based Ferragni is taking The Blonde Salad further, launching e-commerce at Shop.theblondesalad.com on September 6. Of course, Ferragni has learned a few things about retail from launching her shoe collection, which started out as a licensing deal in 2010. For the last three years, we haven’t been a blog. Related Articles:
Burberry teams up with Harrods for 2016 Christmas Windows London department store Harrods is working with fashion house Burberry to tell “A Very British Fairy Tale.” The retailer’s effort for holiday 2016 will kick off in November when its window displays facing Brompton Road are unveiled. Holiday windows attract crowds of shoppers and passersby, allowing the retail host to become part of consumers' traditions. A British wonderlandHarrods’ holiday windows will see the creation of a snow covered landscape and two small children as its protagonists. The children will be shown, window by window, traveling to an English country home, but with an imaginative twist. The window panes will include wintery scenes with flying cars, floating bathtubs and secret trails. As part of A Very British Fairy Tale, Burberry will provide an exclusively designed capsule collection. Burberry launched a similar effort in its Regent Street flagship for the month of June, giving consumers a close-up view of artisan hand embossing and monogramming.
LVMH Vice President Delphine Arnault: "IT IS HARD TO REJECT FASHION" - 032c Workshop This article originally appeared in 032c Issue #30: “NO FEAR”, released in May 2016. It is available now. If industry wisdom is now crowd-sourced, who makes the decisions in fashion? The power-center once called “the establishment” has become an amorphous blob that dilates and contracts with the flux of trending topics. In this context, LOTTA VOLKOVA and DELPHINE ARNAULT are two opposite yet equally powerful sources of gravity. In this first instalment of the The Lotta-Delphine Complex, 032c talks to Delphine Arnault. Avenue Montaigne in Paris’s 8th Arrodissement is clean and sparkly at all hours of the day. Delphine Arnault, daughter of LVMH founder Bernard Arnault, leads this most profitable department, overseeing brands such as Céline, Christian Dior, Loewe, and Louis Vuitton, to name just a few. The eight finalists of the prize – who will face a jury featuring J.W. When I meet Arnault, I notice she is tall and striking, almost intimidating in her glossy appearance. Yes, it is. No.
Vogue BBC Two Documentary Screening Air Date Picture credit: Linda Brownlee 24 August 2016 Scarlett Conlon FILMING has wrapped, production has finished, and the air date for the BBC Two documentary series depicting life at British Vogue, Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue, has been confirmed. The first of two episodes will air on Thursday, September 8 at 9pm. Documentary filmmaker Richard Macer was given unprecedented access to life at Vogue for nine months as it prepared for - and started celebrating - its centenary year. Related Gallery "At Vogue we are more used to being behind the lens than in front of it," said Shulman. Episode one picks up from the end of the spring/summer 2017 fashion shows in September 2015 and follows Shulman, fashion director Lucinda Chambers, creative director Jaime Perlman, fashion features director Sarah Harris, editor-at-large Fiona Golfar, and the wider Vogue team. Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue, BBC Two, Thursday, September 8, 9pm.
Fendi in China Karl Lagerfeld, looking very 1940s Berlin in his toggle-front, contrast-collar Kris Van Assche jacket, is on the Great Wall of China, curled up on a suede club chair. Spread over his lap is an expanse of knitted Russian sable that is worth as much as several years’ wages for most of China’s citizens. The scale and historical import of what he was about to do—stage a Fendi runway show on a more than 2,000-year-old, 4,500-mile-long structure visible from space—was hardly lost on the indefatigable designer. “After this, where can you go?” he asks. Where, indeed. Karl Lagerfeld strikes a pose, surrounded by models in his designs for Fendi “China will become, within 25 years from now, the greatest economic power in the world,” predicts LVMH kingpin Bernard Arnault. Some might consider traveling the world to put on such an extravagant fashion show a not-so-shabby feat, though it’s one Lagerfeld shrugs at. That won’t be the case when this video runs.
Culture - How Warhol’s work influenced our wardrobes LVMH, Boosting Women | Intelligence | BoF PARIS, France — Boardroom culture. We all know the cliché. A group of white, aging men who don’t see their families much. In fashion, more women rise to leadership positions — but not by much. Indeed, pervasive gender stereotypes still hinder women’s progress to the top of many industries. “We are developing and creating dreams, very often dreams for women,” said Chantal Gaemperlé, executive vice president of human resources and synergies of LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury conglomerate. In 2009, an internal study at LVMH revealed that while a majority of its workforce was composed of women, they often had trouble ascending the ranks and were seriously under-represented in senior management positions, meaning the company was failing to adequately harness the kind of female talent which could give it a competitive advantage. “The talent pool in luxury is key because you don’t do business without the right people. So is it working?
Meet the Female CEOs Running Fashion's Biggest Brands Although women account for two-thirds of clothing sales around the world, it's men who occupy the top positions at fashion companies — both on the creative side and, perhaps less surprisingly, on the financial. Of the 12 people on the executive committee of LVMH, fashion's biggest luxury conglomerate, only one is a woman — Chantal Gaemperle, head of human resources and synergies. And among its 15 fashion and leather goods houses — Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Kenzo, Berluti, Loewe, Fendi, Loro Piana, Celine, Emilio Pucci, Givenchy, Donna Karan, Thomas Pink, Marc Jacobs, Nicholas Kirkwood and Edun — only Donna Karan and Loewe have female CEOs. LVMH's chief rival, Kering, has long been similarly positioned, although its recent endeavors to place more women in executive roles have borne fruit. At U.S. fashion houses, the ratio is even worse. Without further ado, here are 20 female CEOs in fashion to follow. Maureen Chiquet, Global CEO, Chanel Maureen Chiquet, a 52-year-old St.
Only 1.4% of models over a size 12: The truth about diversity in fashion now Clothing retailer H&M launches ‘World Recycle Week’ - letsrecycle.com Clothing retailer H&M has today (18 April) begun its ‘World Recycle Week’ campaign and is aiming to collect 1,000 tonnes of old clothing from customers across its 3,600 stores worldwide. During the campaign, running from 18– 24 April, shoppers will receive a 30% discount in-store in exchange for the unwanted or worn out clothes they bring in – an increase on the normal 15% discount for shoppers donating unwanted clothing. H&M’s Oxford Circus store is one of the branches taking part in the company’s ‘World Recycle Week’ (Picture: letsrecycle.com) In 2013, the Swedish fashion brand launched a global garment collection initiative – meaning participating customers could exchange a bag of their unwanted clothing for a £5 voucher to spend in store. According to H&M once delivered in-store customers’ unwanted garments are shipped to one of seven sorting plants worldwide. As well as H&M, retail partners of I:CO include Levi’s, The North Face and Forever 21. Positive ‘Close the Loop’
Dress Made From 72 Flags Carries A Powerful Message About LGBT Lives Luxury Brands Must Develop Their Customer Experience To Survive Luxury retailers must focus on providing a rounded customer experience, rather than simply flogging goods, if they are to survive the ongoing recession. According to a new report by The Future Laboratory, commissioned by the property company Grosvenor, has found there are five key areas luxury brands must improve to keep their customers happy. 1) Providing one-on-one experiences 2) Micro-events that are highly tailored to suit VIP shoppers, larger community moments that are shared via digital tools and clever event management. 3) The creation of luxury villages where familiarity and conviviality are key - providing a healthy mix of amenities such as coffee shops on retail streets 4) The evolution of luxury maisons towards a future of luxury temples - creating the ‘at home’ experience, featuring lounges, libraries, fine art and private apartments for entertainment all under one branded roof, is evolving. Burberry Regent Street Store “A personalised experience is the ultimate in luxury.
Luxury brands must redefine the way they do business | Media Network There were times when China was the holy grail for global retailers. Logo-obsessed Chinese buyers seeking opulence were armed with cash fresh from the economic boom. Luxury retail brands flocked to the new market, with the result of 35% of sales for brands such as Omega, Harry Winston and Balmain coming from Greater China, according to estimates by Exane BNP Paribas. The strategy of growth by opening stores in emerging and existing markets is neither new nor unique to luxury retail. The logic of this is that if consumers aren’t buying your stuff, create more stuff. From 2008 to 2011, there was a 42% spike in the number of luxury retail stores in Asia, compared with a 28% rise in Europe and 5% rise in North America, according to Lux Redux report by Boston Consulting Group. Overexposure is a bad strategy. Exactly how dangerous, luxury retailers are only about to find out. They can be solved by amplifying the stores and inventory companies already have through digital business models.