British designer Stella McCartney was among the winners at this year’s Green Carpet Fashion Awards, Italia, which recognised the commitment of individuals and Italian fashion houses to sustainability.

The awards, now in its third year, closed Milan Fashion Week and saw McCartney awarded with the ‘Groundbreaker Award’ by her friend Amber Valletta, while Francois Henri-Pinault, chairman and chief executive of Kering Group, received the ‘Visionary Award’ and Flavia La Rocca, took home the Franca Sozzani ‘GCC Award for Best Emerging Designer’.

In addition, Valentino received the ‘GCFA Legacy Award’, the ‘Social Media Changemaker Award’ was presented to model Doutzen Kroes, and ‘CNMI Award in Recognition of Sustainability’ went to Elia Maramotti of Max Mara and to Ermenegildo Zegna Group’s Alessandro Sartori and Gildo Zegna.

There was also a special ‘Eco-Stewardship Award’ to the Venetian Gondoliers for their use of responsibly sourced Australian merino wool in their iconic uniform, after joining forces with renowned Venetian design house, Emilio Ceccato in 2017 and returning to use the natural fibre after nearly a 100-year hiatus.

Actress Shailene Woodley, who presented the award, said: “This year’s Eco-Stewardship award links the outfits of 400 gondoliers in Venice with Australia’s finest merino herds thanks to a brilliant project re-connecting a centuries-old-tradition with a centuries-old-fibre.”

Carlo Capasa, Chairman, CNMI, added: “The Green Carpet Fashion Awards, Italia celebrates the beating heart of the Italian luxury fashion industry. The Gondoliers have used their extraordinary exposure to international tourists to highlight the use of responsible fabrics.

“These are the values of the Awards, of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI). We are delighted to be honouring the Gondoliers at third the Green Carpet Fashion Awards, Italia continuing an incredible legacy of outstanding icons.”

Images: courtesy of Green Carpet Fashion Awards

Matthew Moellering has been promoted to president American fashion brand Express. The role had previously been held by David Kornberg, who left the company in January.

Moellering has been with Express since 2006. He served as executive vice president and chief operating officer since 2011, and will continue to serve as chief operating officer. The executive also served as interim president and interim chief executive officer since Kornberg's departure earlier this year, until Tim Baxter was named chief executive officer in May.

“Elevating Matt’s role to president reflects my immense confidence in his leadership as well as his importance to the future of Express,” Baxter said in a statement Executive Officer. “I’d like to personally thank him for being my trusted partner and ensuring a seamless transition of leadership over the past three months."

Prior to joining Express, Moellering held various positions with Limited Brands and Procter & Gamble. He also serves on the L.L. Bean board of directors.

Baxter also noted, “Our executive leadership team reflects a balance of seasoned Express executives and those with fresh outside perspective, and this balance will better position us for the future as we focus on the four pillars of our corporate strategy: product, brand, customer and execution.”

London - As competition intensifies in global apparel and footwear, market leaders are moving away from traditional business models and mature developed markets; seeking new kinds of growth from new sources. Ethical fashion is thus to grow into one of several mainstream tools that rivals use to stand out from a growing crowd of increasingly agile competitors. As ethical fashion moves out of a niche product segment, innovative ethically and sustainably produced brands will see far greater opportunities for growth than at any point previously.

Growing demand for fashion globally

The world’s second largest consumer goods industry, apparel and footwear, recorded retail sales values of 1,786 billion US dollars in 2018. Despite its maturity and sheer size, rising global demand for fashion saw the industry record 1.8 percent in retail value growth in 2018, up from 1.4 percent in 2017. Global retail value sales are forecast to expand at a 2 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2018 and 2023, to reach a value of 1,983 billion US dollars by 2023.

Asia Pacific driving global sales of apparel and footwear

Asia Pacific remained the largest regional market in the world by a significant margin. Regional sales were valued at 653 billion US dollars in 2018, representing 37 percent of global apparel and footwear sales. Asia Pacific also recorded the fastest growth of any region, as its retail values expanded by 4 percent in 2018. The region is expected to continue to lead the way, with a value CAGR of 3 percent over 2018-2023. Led by India and China, rising populations and a rapidly expanding base of increasingly wealthy and fashion-conscious middle-class consumers will continue to support apparel and footwear sales in the region.

Ranked by the size of their value growth between 2018 and 2023, the top 10 apparel and footwear markets, with combined sales of 1,039 million US dollars, accounted for 58 percent of global sales in 2018. After outpacing the US to become the world’s largest single market for apparel and footwear, China is forecast to continue driving global sales. China is projected to grow by 65 billion US dollars over 2018-2023, compared with growth in the US at 29 billion US dollars. Following China and the US, India has expanded into a markedly more attractive market for apparel and footwear businesses. India is expected to grow by 36 billion US dollars over 2018-2023. This market will record the fastest forecast growth at a 9 percent CAGR, overtaking Germany, Japan and the UK to become the world’s third largest apparel and footwear market by 2023.

Competition to intensify in fragmented global apparel

While several overarching global trends shape the direction and size of apparel consumption, the industry is also defined by a vast array of diverse consumer lifestyles, preferences and attitudes to fashion across markets. This has allowed space for a multitude of brands to cater to different consumer segments and niches. As a result, across all regions the market for apparel and footwear remained highly fragmented: no single company accounted for more than 3 percent of retail sales value in 2018. With the sales of the top five ranked companies accounting for just 8 percent of the market, Asia Pacific was home to the highest degree of this market fragmentation in 2018.

The largest players in the industry tended to be those with a leading market position in a specific product category like sportswear or jeans or a business model such as ‘fast-fashion’. Nike Inc maintained its top ranking by value sales over 2013-2018, followed by the Adidas Group. As the world’s most recognisable sportswear players, both companies had recorded significant growth on the back of rising popular interest in more casual sports-inspired apparel and footwear among fashion-conscious shoppers. Following this were Inditex owner, Industria de Diseño Textil SA, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB and Uniqlo brand owner Fast Retailing; accounting for a combined 4 percent of global apparel and footwear sales in 2018.

While rising global demand for fashion will continue to create new growth opportunities, competition for shoppers’ attention is expected to intensify markedly over the forecast period. The world’s leading fast-fashion players have faced a more competitive environment as competitors have adopted their more agile business model of multiple ‘mini-cycles’ in a year, moving away from the traditional two-season cycle of sales.

In Asia Pacific in particular, domestic players have become increasingly credible threats to the efforts of international brands to expand their presence in the region in order to offset weaker growth in mature markets like Western Europe. As a result, companies such as Anta, HLA Corp, Semir Group, and Li Ning ranked within the top 10 fastest-growing companies over 2013-2018. For example, Uniqlo brand owner Fast Retailing Inc has faced increasingly stiff competition for market share in China, where the company has sought to offset flagging growth in its home market of Japan. After rising in global sales rankings from seventh to fifth over 2013-2018, the company’s performance has been restrained by pressure from agile domestic rivals like Me&City and Peacebird which have begun to outpace the Japanese retailer in terms of both store expansion and adaptation to local trends.

Ethical and sustainable fashion to take on rising competitive influence

As competition in apparel and footwear has intensified, players have been drawn into a particularly fierce spiral of competition to bring products to market faster and at lower cost than rivals. The ongoing decline in unit prices that has characterised the fashion industry for over 10 years, has hampered the profitability of even the most efficient and agile players. Recognising this, brands across the globe have sought to reintroduce products at previously neglected mid-range price points; reducing the emphasis on price-competition and more towards a differentiated product and service offerings. As evidence of this, after years of consecutive contraction, average prices per unit of both apparel and footwear are forecast to stabilise through to 2023.

More fierce competition for growth has also encouraged changes in procurement and production as major players move to shorten traditionally long and dispersed supply chains. From leading fast-fashion brands such as Zara to UK multibrand retailer ASOS and UK luxury brand Burberry, a growing number of players have moved to locate production in domestic or ‘near-shore’ sites closer to the markets they serve. This has been driven in equal parts by a need to become more responsive to consumer preferences, reduce turnaround times and exert greater control over quality in order to remain competitive. With memories of the 2013 Rana plaza garment factory collapse, companies have also sought to mitigate against potential reputational risk from long and hard to monitor supply chains.

More accommodating competitive landscape for ethical fashion

These trends coincide with growing consumer awareness of the impact of their ever-expanding fashion consumption. In 2019, 64 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “I try to have a positive impact on the environment through my everyday actions”. This has seen consumers and regulators place mounting pressure on fashion’s leaders to address the industry’s effect on people and the environment. Thus, as competition shifts away from a focus on price, players are increasingly likely to promote the origins, ethics and environmental impact of their sourcing in order to differentiate themselves from equally agile and responsive rivals in the eyes of consumers. As leading players seek to wean consumers off continually falling prices, smaller ethically-minded brands may face gradually reduced pressure from the market to cut costs themselves.

Combined, these dynamics are likely to produce a competitive landscape that is much more favourable to brands with strong ethical and sustainability credentials. Notably, as globally recognisable brands compete more open with claims of ethical and sustainable production, an initial benefit will be the general growth in consumer education and awareness brought to these issues. With greater public scrutiny on ethical and sustainable production, brands that can claim to add tangible benefits to the communities and environments they source from will stand in stark contrast to those only seeking to reduce reputational risk. Smaller players like US sportswear, jeans and footwear manufacturer Origin USA, which produce domestically with strong claims to investment in the development of the local area and its craftspeople, are thus likely to attract new consumer interest.

There is further potential that as more companies seek to move away from production concentrated in traditional outsourcing markets like China and Bangladesh and closer to local markets, the supply of high-quality suppliers with transparent production processes will rise to meet the growing demand. As this develops, ethical brands may be able to choose from a greater number of suppliers at closer proximity and at lower cost than has been the case historically.

New challenges and opportunities shaping ethical fashion

As ethical and sustainable production takes on a greater role in the competitive landscape of apparel and footwear, smaller ethical brands seeking to exploit these trends will need to remain wary of new threats to their growth. Chief among these is that there is little evidence to suggest that most consumers will significantly change their spending based on claims of sustainable production alone. In Euromonitor’s 2017 lifestyles survey, when asked which apparel product features they would be willing to pay more for, 42 percent of consumers cited “Comfortable” followed by 33 percent of respondents citing “High Quality”. “Sustainably produced” came in markedly lower at 6 percent of respondents. This suggests that despite rising attention being paid to ethical fashion, unsurprisingly most consumers are unwilling to compromise on the core features that have traditionally attracted them to apparel and footwear brands in the first place.

Tangible Consumer Value

Thus, players seeking to capitalise on the growing influence of ethical and sustainable fashion must continue the core task of innovation to combine aesthetic appeal and function in the clothing and footwear they produce, with promotion of the ethics of their supply chain coming in second. Consumers have shown far greater willingness to make practical changes to their spending where ethical or sustainable production also has a tangible impact on their experience of the product. For example, ethically produced jeans made by skilled local craftsmen, or trainers made from a recycled material that produces a distinct look or added durability. As a result, ethical players operating in technical categories, such as sportswear, outerwear, jeans and footwear where quality differences are more clearly visible to the consumer are likely to perform better.

Tell the total sourcing story

Additionally, in promoting the ethics and sustainability of their production, many ethical fashion brands have failed to tell a detailed and compelling story of the work they do to bring products to market. Commonly, brands in this space seek to promote an abstract idea of ethics and sustainability. This sees brands missing out on the opportunity to draw consumers into a brand identity or a mission they can readily be a part of with their purchases. Beyond just ensuring good practices in sourcing and production, ethical players would do well to highlight the individual stories and motivations of their suppliers, their facilities and even the local communities from which they source. Origin USA for example, provides a compelling narrative of their mission to revitalise manufacturing in the United States going into detail on every aspect of their production using new digital media such as podcasts to involve consumers at every level.

A particularly innovative example of a total sourcing story comes from Dutch online pre-order service Unrobed. Offering capsule collections available for pre-order for 30 days, the brand uses organic materials, and ethical suppliers. This direct to consumer service provides a detailed breakdown of the price of every aspect of each garment’s production including raw materials, labour costs and transport. Consumers are then kept up to date on the progress of their order with regular updates throughout the production process leading up to a home delivery. This level of detail not only educates consumers on how much work goes into their garments, and provides a compelling, tangible story they can buy into.

While the challenges of standing out amongst the vast range of apparel and footwear brands shows no signs of easing, the changes occurring in the competitive landscape suggest that as ethical fashion moves out of a niche product segment into the mainstream, ethically and sustainably produced brands with an innovative proposition may tap into far greater opportunities for growth than were previously open to them.

This article was written for FashionUnited by Miles Agbanrin, senior analyst in Euromonitor International’s fashion industries research team. Euromonitor is a global market research company providing strategic intelligence on industries, companies, economies and consumers around the world. Euromonitor is scheduled to release an update to its apparel and footwear market data on January 2020.

Miles Agbanrin joined Euromonitor International in 2015. A 2014 Edinburgh university business school graduate, he has an academic and professional focus on corporate strategy, microeconomics, and competitive analysis.

For more insight on the strategies behind becoming a more sustainable brand check out Euromonitor’s Whitepaper: How to become a sustainable brand

Images: Homepage photo courtesy of Unsplash; All graphs courtesy of Euromonitor; Waterless jeans label courtesy of Levi Strauss & Co.

XYXX Apparels, based in Surat, plans to ramp up its presence in multi-brand outlets, hire more people, expand its sales and marketing efforts, introduce an exciting pipeline of new product and category launches, and open up new geographies in India as well as new channels.

This is a premium range of innerwear and loungewear brand for men with trunks, briefs, boxers, jockstraps, vests, pyjamas and T-shirts. The company largely retails on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart but considering marketplaces challenges it is now focusing more on brick and mortar stores. So, multi-brand outlets are seen as the way of reaching the maximum number of consumers. So XYXX will be present strongly in multi-brand outlets and large formats such as Central.

As of now the brand is in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Delhi through 800 multi-brand outlets, with a plan to add 200 such stores every month. The plan is to be present in the top 50 cities in the next six to nine months.

The startup has gone in for a round of funding. The innerwear maker expects the fresh capital to increase monthly sales to around Rs 3 crores. As of now it is clocking Rs 1.5 crores in net sales a month.

Max Fashion has partnered NGOs to run a clothing donation initiative. The brand will encourage customers to donate clothing which will be passed along to those who need it. For this initiative Max Fashion has collaborated with organisations including Hope Foundation, Rotary Club, and Voice of World.

Max Fashion has around 300 brick-and-mortar stores across India in over 100 cities. Max Fashion aims at having 500 stores by 2022. The Middle Eastern fashion business first entered India in 2006 and recently launched online in India with Amazon with over 5,000 styles. This will be a dedicated Max store on Amazon Fashion India. Max Fashion started its digital transformation journey 18 months ago and has crossed 13 million app downloads. Digital sales contribute to under five per cent of its revenue. The brand has launched an Onam collection, featuring occasion wear for the upcoming winter/festive season as well as casual ethnic day wear. Women’s ethnic wear include kurtas, saris, dupattas and tops, among other items. The brand hopes to sell 100 million units of apparel this fiscal and wants to be India’s first billion-dollar brand by 2022. The brand offers trendy products at affordable prices. Thirty percent of Max Fashion’s revenue accrues from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

RESALE TUESDAYSThe stigma against second hand apparel and footwear is quickly becoming a thing of the past: according to a recent report by resale platform ThredUp, the market has grown 21 times faster than first hand fashion retail over the past three years and is expected to grow from 24 billion US dollars to 51 billion US dollars in the next five years, in the United States alone. That means the secondhand market will be 1.5 times bigger than fast fashion by 2028, when previously-owned items are forecasted to account for an average of 13 percent of American closets.

The market is so promising startups working in this space have been receiving significant investments. StockX, an online platform where second hand sneakers, watches, handbags and streetwear are treated as stocks, became the latest unicorn (startup valued at 1 billion US dollars) in the fashion industry in June, after securing 110 million US dollars in a series C funding round. Earlier that same month, another fashion resale platform, The RealReal, raised 300 million US dollars in its initial public offering. Competitor ThredUp raised 175 million US dollars in August.

Looking to get a piece of the pie, traditional retailers are dipping their toes in the resale model as well. JC Penney and Macy’s have both partnered up with ThredUp, while H&M has announced an ecommerce trial of second hand sales for its & Other Stories Brand. Neiman Marcus acquired a minority stake in Fashionphile, a resale website for luxury handbags, accessories and jewelry, while Zalando, the European fashion marketplace, opened a pop-up store in Berlin selling used fashion items that were purchased from customers of Zalando Wardrobe. Farfetch, the British company behind the luxury marketplace of the same name, is perhaps one of the most active fashion players expanding to resale. Following the acquisition of sneaker reseller Stadium Goods in 2018, Farfetch launched a resale platform for designer bags in May.

Why is the second hand market growing so fast? Blame Millennials and Generation Z. Affected by the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis and plagued by student debt, young adults are the “thriftiest” of generations. Additionally, resale offers an extra source of income. “Personal closets transform into a revenue stream and shopping decisions are made by looking at investment potential. Clothes are seen as tradable assets. Platforms such as The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective allow us to know how much those pieces can be worth and therefore can be traded upon season after season”, explains Ana Roncha, Course Leader of the master’s degree in Strategic Fashion Marketing at the London College of Fashion, in an email to FashionUnited.

Also working to the resale market’s advantage is the fact that consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impact of the fashion industry. A recent report by British NGO Fashion Revolution revealed that one in three European consumers take sustainability into account when shopping for clothes. Although less concerned about environmental issues than their European counterparts, 34 percent of American consumers declared themselves to be concerned with how the clothes they wear affect the environment, according to a recent survey by the Changing Markets Foundation and the Clean Clothes Campaign. “We’re seeing more and more consumers make a conscious choice of moving away from fast fashion. With the above comes an awareness that the lifecycle of our clothes needs to be extended and therefore our purchases need to be based on quality,” says Roncha.

FashionUnited has interviewed some of the most prominent players in fashion resale to get a behind-the-scenes view on the segment. Make sure to drop by our website every Tuesday. We’re starting with Charles Gorra, founder and CEO of Rebag, an online platform for second hand luxury handbags launched in 2014 in the United States, shipping worldwide. Having raised over 50 million US dollars so far, Rebag currently operates seven physical stores across the US: three in New York City, three in Los Angeles and one in Miami. The goal is to expand the retail footprint to 30 locations across the country, including both standalone stores and presence in luxury malls. International expansion is also part of the company’s plans.

What challenges did you face when founding Rebag in 2014?

Four years ago the resale market wasn’t as popular as it is today, so there was definitely a little bit of convincing in the investor side of things. I think the main challenge for us was that we are buyers of inventory. Rebag is not a peer-to-peer marketplace, it’s not a consignment store, we’re actually buying products. We’re taking inventory risk, which for the sellers is very valuable, but from a business perspective is pretty challenging.

What are you most proud of as an entrepreneur?

We’re now with 110 people in this company, and several of our first employees are still with us today, including employees number 1, 2 and 3. For me, that’s very important. I’m very proud of our employee retention rate, and that the people who joined us early on are still around.

You just mentioned that fashion resale wasn’t mainstream five years ago. Since then, the market has grown considerably and is expected to grow even more in the years to come. In your view, what are the factors contributing to this growth?

I think this is the reflection of a much bigger trend that goes far beyond the resale space. Number one factor is the drive towards sustainability. Several years ago, companies used to burn product, now that’s not acceptable anymore. Brands are issuing press releases pledging to never do that again, because there has been so much uproar about it on social media. Everyone is focused on reducing their footprint, especially in the fashion industry, which is one of the greatest contributors of waste in general, so resale is growing because it expands the product life cycle and creates more circularity.

Secondly, I would mention the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. Everyone is looking for a good deal, regardless of how big their wallet is. Resale is an affordable way to access luxury goods. I think the desire to be on trend without spending a lot of money has, to some extent, boosted our market.

Finally, I would mention the trend towards less ownership. Companies like Uber and Airbnb have created new ways to look at ownership, leading consumers -- the younger generations in particular -- to move toward less assets and more experiences. Our parents were collectors, it was about showing off the products you could buy, whereas for the younger generations, it’s about being photographed with a certain product on Instagram but they don’t necessarily need to own it forever. We’ve changed our mindset to short-term ownership.

Can you tell us more about Rebag’s authentication process? How does the company prevent counterfeiting?

This is a huge deal for us, as counterfeits are everywhere. We can give you a quote based on the pictures you send us digitally, but then you have to send us the bag. We only pay you after we review the bag physically because authentication is essentially a human skill. So, over the years, we’ve accumulated a lot of learnings about that, we’ve hired many authenticators to have a very thorough review process.

The resale market is sometimes accused of harming luxury brands’ image of scarcity and exclusivity. Hermès’ Birkin bag, for example, used to be extremely exclusive and now it can easily be purchased at Rebag and other resale platforms. What do you think about that? Will luxury brands need to review their branding strategy as the resale market grows?

You are right that many brands are nervous about the resale market, and I understand their concern, but you have to look at both sides of the equation. We think of ourselves as a financing tool -- by that I mean that people who sell their bags to us are getting paid. What do you think they’ll do with those dollars? Most probably, they’ll use them to upgrade to a new bag. So, in our opinion, having a liquid resale market actually creates more demand for the first hand market.

Luxury bags are very expensive. If you know there is a tool with which you can sell your bag later on, that makes you more inclined to make that purchase. A bag for which you would pay 2,000 dollars ten years ago costs about 4,000 dollars in the resale market now.

Rebag has a service called ‘Rebag Infinity’ in which customers who buy a bag are guaranteed to get at least 70 percent of the purchase price in store credit, if they resell the bag to Rebag within six months. How many of Rebag’s customers make use of it?

We launched Infinity just over 6 months ago. Basically, if you buy a bag for 1,000 dollars today, you can wear it for up to six months, and you’ll get back 700 dollars in Rebag credit. So, you’ll only be spending 300 dollars, which reduces the bar to entry significantly, and you’ll always be on trend. You can buy a bag for the summer and return it in the winter. It’s a quasi-rental model, if you will.

It’s getting a lot of traction. We’re trying to make it the main way to use Rebag, we don’t want it to be just a feature. We can compare it to Rent the Runway. When they first started, they used to do one-off rentals, for weddings or parties. Ten years later, subscriptions form the majority of their business. That’s what we’re trying to achieve with Rebag Infinity. It’s a behavioral change, so it takes a bit of time.

Another change in Rebag’s business strategy is the transition from clicks to bricks. The company has been opening physical stores across the United States amidst the so-called ‘retail apocalypse’. Why?

We were inspired by other digitally-native brands which have made a similar transition, such as Caspers and UntuckIt. As all things startup, we started experimenting, so we did a pop-up in December 2017 in SoHo (NY) which worked extremely well for us. We then expanded to Madison Avenue in April 2018, which went even better. Next thing we know, we’re opening a new store every six to ten weeks.

We noticed that the sale of higher-end bags works really well at physical stores, so we have the Birkin wall, with 30 to 40 Birkin bags per store, amongst other bags, which is pretty unique. Many customers also want to see the higher-ticket items before deciding on their purchase, so the brick and mortar stores allow us to do that for them. The reality is 91 percent of our luxury purchases take place in the US, so that was our way to start connecting with those customers.

Additionally, the stores operate as product intake. Our stores have what we call the “Rebag bar”: you can go to any of our stores, seven days a week, no appointment, so we can have a look at your bag, evaluate its price, authenticate it and buy it. The whole process lasts one hour, so you can sell your luxury bag almost immediately.

You just mentioned most of Rebag’s customers are located in the US, but the website ships internationally. Does Rebag intend to open physical stores in any other countries?

Wherever there is a thriving luxury ecosystem, there is a place for Rebag. Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America… I think it all makes sense and it will all happen at some point. It’s very likely you’ll see is in other markets five years from now.

Currently we’re resource-constrained, so to say. We did raise 25 million US dollars earlier this year but we are still in our infancy in terms of fulfilling the US market, so that’s our main focus at the moment.

What are Rebag’s plans for the future, besides opening more stores in the US and expanding internationally?

There are so many plans! We’re currently developing our executive team to help the organization scale: we’ve brought in a lot of senior leaders with a tremendous amount of experience. We’re also working in building our technology, as we’re big believers in technology in the resale space. We’ve developed a lot in terms of IT and software over the years, largely around prices. What’s really difficult in what we do is the pricing science because, again, we’re taking inventory risk and that’s really hard to do at a large scale. So, we’ve developed very powerful data sets internally to enhance our pricing capabilities.

A lot of what we’re working on for later this year and next year is about sharing our knowledge. Over the past five years we’ve developed pretty unique expertise about the resale segment, so we want to share that with the world. You’re going to see a lot more content [on our website], we’ve launched a magazine section recently, not to mention our efforts in terms of library and resources. We really want Rebag to be an authority in all things luxury and resale.

Long term, we’re always looking at category expansion. Right now we want to be experts at what we do, but it’s quite likely that we’ll expand to adjacent categories in the next few years.

Pictures: courtesy of Rebag, Rebag website screenshot, Rebag Facebook

British fashion e-tailer Boohoo has appointed Missguided’s Samantha Helligsø as CEO of its subsidiary brand MissPap which it acquired earlier this year

Helligsø began her career in the marketing department of Boohoo 12 years ago, before moving to British streetwear brand Bench in 2011 and joining Missguided the following year. She worked there as creative manager before moving to her current role of brand director.

Commenting on the appointment in a statement, group CEO John Lyttle, said: “MissPap has great potential and represents an exciting opportunity as we extend our multi- brand platform. Samantha is an outstanding and highly-regarded talent, and we are extremely pleased that she is returning to the group to lead MissPap.”

Helligsø commented: “I see MissPap as an incredibly exciting business with huge potential. My aim will be to create a thriving culture of passionate people empowered to do what they’re good at.”

Hellingsø will be in charge of the young womenswear brand MissPap, which Boohoo acquired back in March. In recent years, Boohoo has made a number of considerable acquisition as the online giant continues to grow.

Misspap gets new CEO

In August, it bought the online business and all associated intellectual property rights of British brands Karen Millen and Coast for 18.2 million pounds in a pre-pack administration deal. The two brands will continue to trade through their 32 stores and 177 concessions across the country for a short period as the administration process continues. Further back in 2017, it acquired Nasty Gal for 16 million pounds, while in 2016 it acquired a majority stake in Pretty Little Thing for 3.3 million pounds.

Earlier this month, Boohoo announced that trading for the first half of its financial year has been ahead of expectations with strong revenue growth driving operating leverage across key brands. The company’s board now anticipates that results for the current financial year will be beat previous guidance, with group sales growth now expected to be between 33 percent and 38 percent against previous guidance of 25 percent to 30 percent.

The company, launched in 2006 by former wholesalers Mahmud Kamani, and Carol Kane, is expected to exceed a turnover of one billion pounds.

Photo credit: Misspap, Facebook

INTERVIEW Ahead of London Fashion Week if you had to pick out one show that would bring the party it would have been Ashish, known for his high-tempo catwalk collections, however, when the invite arrived, a packet of wildflower seeds, it suggested that the British designer was about to take us all in a different direction.

Set in the large sports hall of the Seymour Leisure Centre, Ashish greeted his guests with a meditative beats from musicians, Candida Valentino and Michael Ormiston, who played with gongs, wind chimes, and a singing bowl, adding a calm to the storm of fashion week, as the sun set through the skylights.

For spring/summer 2020, Ashish was inspired by the Netflix documentary series, Wild, Wild Country, which tells the story of the Rajneeshpuram ashram cult in Oregon, the designer told FashionUnited backstage following his show: “I became kind of obsessed with Ma Anand Sheela’s character, I was thinking she’s kind of amazing, she is such an anti-hero and you don’t want to mess with her - she is such a strong character.

“Then I was kind of inspired by the situation, about being in an ashram, away from everything, it is like a magical space where it is like free love and everybody’s like really chill and just away from all the horribleness that is happening.

“It is kind of like escapism, just beauty, magic and escapism.”

Ashish has a spiritual awakening for spring/summer 2020

This was a spiritual awakening of sorts, there were still sparkles, sequins, bright colours and clashing patterns, everything we expect from Ashish, yet it seemed a little more subdued, if not reflective and mesmerising.

Gone were the overtly obvious tongue-in-cheek slogans, well except for one black sweatshirt that featured 19 sexual expletives on the back, all of which began with ‘fuck’, this collection was more reflection, quite literally, as traditional shisha mirror embroidery covered full tracksuits, denim, shirting, slip dresses and full-skirted dresses.

As well as spring/summer ready-to-wear, the catwalk showcase also featured resort-style pieces from swim shorts and polos for men, and bikinis for women, which were mixed in alongside sportswear, which Ashish stated added “contrast” to the collection.

As with most London Fashion Week designers, sustainability was on Ashish’s mind, following on from previous collections dedication to slow fashion, the designer added: “A lot of the fabric was actually vintage that I literally found sack loads of, I’ve then joined them all together to make my own fabric.

“Also, all the denim is sustainable, as it is all old jeans that have been cut up and joined back together.”

The looks were also all styled with handmade jewellery, featuring discarded wood blocks that Ashish said he had “found” about the place, which really added to the hippy-vibe of the colourful collection.

The show notes concluded with a quote from controversial Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho from the documentary Wild Wild Country, saying: “A little foolishness, enough to enjoy life, and a little wisdom to avoid errors, that will do.”

If this was Ashish starting his own cult, a cult filled with a kaleidoscope of sequins, sparkles and mirrors, where do we sign up.

Images: courtesy of Ashish

Kering has announced an ambitious plan to make its entire group carbon neutral within its own operations and across the entire supply chain, just weeks after it announced that Gucci had become carbon neutral.

To achieve this goal, the French luxury conglomerate will offset the group’s annual Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from 2018, after first trying to avoid and reduce them, “as a next step in its long-term commitment to sustainability.”

“When it comes to climate change, we can no longer wait to take real action. We all need to step up as businesses and account for the GHG emissions that we generate in total,” François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering, said in a statement. “Kering is committing to become completely carbon neutral as a Group across all our operations and supply chains. While we focus on avoiding and reducing our GHG emissions to meet our Science-Based Target, we will offset all our remaining emissions and support the conservation of vital forests and biodiversity around the world.”

Kering commits to carbon neutrality

The new commitment is an extension of Kering’s annual offsetting approach which was established in 2011 and initially incorporated Scopes 1 and 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Since then, Kering has been leveraging its pioneering Environmental Profit and Loss (EP&L) accounting to analyze the Group’s GHG emissions, allowing it to “put in place customized supply chain initiatives and efficiency programs to effectively avoid and reduce its emissions.”

Kering has also set a Science-Based Target (approved by the SBT initiative) to reduce all its GHG emissions related to its own operations and supply chain by 50 percent by 2025 (from a 2015 baseline). These targets have seen the reduction of 30 percent carbon intensity in the group’s stores since 2015.

It is also aiming to increase its conversion to renewable energy to meet its 100 percent commitment for the group, whereby 100 percent of the energy consumption is renewable in over seven countries, 77 percent in Europe and 67 percent covered overall for the Group currently in Scopes 1 and 2 of the GHG Protocol.

Photo credit: Gucci, Facebook

After a bumpy few years, luxury brands are re-committing to China's market as a weaker yuan and the US trade war funnel more Chinese high-end spending, Tiffany & Co CEO Alessandro Bogliolo said in an interview.

China's luxury market has been on a roller-coaster since President Xi Jinping launched an anti-corruption campaign in 2012 that curbed extravagant gift-giving among officials and business figures, and weighed on the broader luxury sector.

But New York-based Tiffany's sales grew more than 25 percent in mainland China in the second quarter of this year -- in stark contrast to a three-percent drop in the company's global turnover in the same period.

"This strong double-digit growth has been consistent now for several quarters," Bogliolo told AFP in an interview while in Shanghai to launch Tiffany's largest-ever product exhibition.

"I think this is partially because of the general trend in the industry due to currencies and also to the efforts of the (Chinese) government to increase local consumption."

China's yuan has steadily declined against the US dollar -- a trend hastened lately by trade-war uncertainty.

A significant portion of luxury retailers' sales comes from spending by Chinese tourists overseas, but the weaker currency curbs such buying.

Political protests this year in Hong Kong, where many mainlanders shop for luxury, have also hit sales there.

"Consumption by Chinese tourists in the US and in Hong Kong, because of currency fluctuations, have been decreasing in the last few months," Bogliolo said.

Luxury brands coming home

But much of that spending is coming home to mainland China, and the profile of the typical Chinese luxury shopper is changing.

The sort of extravagant spending targeted by the government's anti-graft drive "has essentially disappeared", said Bruno Lannes, who heads up China consumer products and retail for management consultancy Bain & Company.

Today, he said, "it's people like you and me buying for our own pleasure and our friends and family. There is no reason why the government should be concerned by that".

Chinese shoppers accounted for one-third of global luxury spending in 2018, Bain reported in March. Of total Chinese purchases around the world, 50 percent are expected to be made within mainland China by 2025, up from 27 percent last year, the company said.

Lower Chinese import duties and a narrowing gap between prices in domestic and overseas markets are also contributing factors.

In response, luxury brands are offering additional purchasing channels in China and ramping up marketing.

Tiffany, with 35 shops in mainland China, will open a new one in Beijing's international airport within weeks, and expand its China flagship stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

It recently also launched its own online shop in China.

By the end of this year, its Shanghai store also will include a Blue Box Cafe, the iconic restaurant in its flagship New York outlet on Fifth Avenue.

Earlier this year in Shanghai, French fashion house Chloe organised its first catwalk show outside France, and Italian label Prada staged its first menswear show outside Milan.

"China is the fastest-growing market, so we have a lot of expectations from this market and a lot of investments," said Bogliolo.

Channeling the mind of the millennials

China's new rich pounced on diamonds and other showy luxury goods when brands entered the market in the late 1990s, aiming to flaunt their wealth and status.

But that's changing.
"Luxury in the past was about being ostentatious. Now it's about being yourself," Bogliolo said.

Market analysts say today's younger, well-travelled and digitally savvy Chinese place more value on craftmanship, understatement, or fun than just pure bling.

"I think Tiffany has gotten the message and has come up with youthful products," said Wang Rui, a popular Chinese fashion influencer, pointing to the pendant of two simple crosses she bought herself.

"They have noticed that young people are more casual and living more freely nowadays, unlike before when everyone had to 'be a lady'," said Wang, 24, in long purple hairbraids, an oversized jacket and Balenciaga trainers.

Bogliolo said 182-year-old Tiffany is branding itself to be more "in tune" with the "much more educated and also sceptical" millennial.

"Luxury in the past was all about being exclusive, nowadays it's all about being inclusive," said Bogliolo.

"Luxury is an expression of society and culture. So there is a continuous revolution."(AFP)

Photo: Tiffany & Co Facebook

International Jewellery London Prize’s Bright Young Gems award is in its 14th consecutive year, selecting the brightest and most talented designers who are recent graduates or current students of jewellery schools in the UK. Bright Young Gems 2019 is IJL’s hunt to find the best new talent in UK-based jewellery design. On August 20th, four winners were chosen by leading names and brands. These stellar designers were granted the unique opportunity to have their work exhibited at IJL, a premier jewellery industry show and to gain important insight on how to navigate the industry from dedicated mentors and experts before and during the event.

The winners of Bright Young Gems 2019 combine an eclectic taste in jewellery-making with a deep understanding and sharp eye for jewels in mood, pattern, colour and expression. The winning designers of this year include Isla Gilham, whose playful collection experiments with a relationship between ‘bites’ of gemstones and the display of Michelin-star delicacies.

Eloise Kramer, a designer with a contemporary approach for the poetic and whimsical, as translated through her jewellery collection with elements of art and nature.

Lingjun Sun, an expert opal cutter whose collection: ‘Crosscut Cabouchon’ brings a fresh, ground-breaking vision of the gemstone.

Wen-Ju Tseng, a designer whose statement collection: ‘How Valuable Are You?’ serves as political dialogue to highlight and debunk toxic standards in society with everyday objects as the basis for her jewellery.

This year’s panel of judges comprised of established and award-winning designers Dinny Hall and Bobby White; alongside industry consultant Nyasha Pitt; Charlie Miller, Executive Fashion & Jewellery Director at Porter; and Katerina Perez, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of KaterinaPerez.com and IJL Blog Award winner 2018.

The four winning designers won the chance to exhibit at IJL in September, as well as attend a one-day mentoring workshop with leading jewellery experts in June. This workshop helped the winners maximise their IJL experience, reaping the benefits of exhibiting at the UK’s premier jewellery industry show.

Photos: Bright Young Gems 2019, IJL

Austrian fibre producer Lenzing Group announced plans today to enter the footwear segment in India, introducing Tencel for Footwear, its unique and globally acclaimed concept of the botanic shoe, in the country for sustainable options in footwear. The launch comes at a time when the Indian government has committed to ending the use of single-use plastic in the coming years.

“With 24.2 billion pairs of shoes created globally in 2018 alone, there’s an urgent need for sustainable alternatives with performance features to the current ones available in the market,” said the company in a press release today.

Globally, Lenzing has partnered with brands such as UGG, Converse, Native, Gant, TOMS, Allbirds, Alceste, Veja, H&M, Soludos and Leguano for sustainable footwear by substituting multiple components of the shoe with Tencel fibers.

“Consumers today are extremely conscious. They are aware of the implications their purchases will have on the environment and are open to making an informed decision. Today's youth are looking at alternatives, whether it’s for apparel, accessories or even beauty. Keeping this trend in mind and with the government of India’s push for green solutions, we believe it’s an extremely important time for us to be in India and partner with footwear brands that are looking for sustainable solutions with strong performance features,” said Pranesh Shridharan, head of business innovation, AMEA - Lenzing, commenting on the launch.

In particular, the raw material - wood - stems from responsibly managed forests and undergoes an environmentally friendly production process. The end product aims for compostability at the end of its life cycle. In terms of comfort, the fibres aid breathability and are smooth to the skin. In addition, moisture management helps reduce bacteria growth.

“The possibilities range from the textile fiber in the upper material, as a filling material or a nonwovens fleece in the inner sole through to Lenzing Lyocell powder in the outer sole or the padding. Likewise, shoelaces and the supporting material for zippers are possible. The more shoe components are made of Tencel Lyocell/modal fibers, the closer we are getting to the vision of a biodegradable shoe,“ added Shridharan.

Photos: Lenzing

The London Fashion Week spring/summer 2020 schedule was as packed as ever, with more than 60 on-schedule brands taking part, and for some designers the way to stand out from the crowd is to showcase their new collection in a presentation environment, allowing them to focus on the inspiration and allow close-up inspection of their incredible designs.

This season FashionUnited was wowed by a number of presentations that we decided to do a round-up of our favourites:

Caroline Hu - SS20 Impressions of Love

Shenzhen-born Caroline Hu, a BA womenswear graduate from Central Saint Martins in London and a MFA fashion design and society graduate from Parsons School of Design in New York, made her London Fashion Week debut for SS20 after winning the BoF China Prize in partnership with Yu Holdings.

Her ‘Impressions of Love’ spring/summer 2020 collection was presented at the Serpentine Gallery set amidst a forest-like setting with real plants, which beautifully framed her collection full of romance, femininity and craftsmanship.

“I want to convey my most intimate and romantic feelings,” said Caroline Hu in the show notes. “All too often these are hidden in our minds, and I wanted to bring these to the forefront for a really dramatic, personal story.”

The collection juxtaposes soft chiffon and appliquéd lace with architectural detailing shown in the ruffles and embroidery and beautiful muted colour palette. Each piece delicate, romantic and a call for care-free summers in the countryside, beautifully showcased within the explosion of textures, fine detailing and intertwining 3D flowers.

Images: by Danielle Wightman-Stone

DB Berdan - SS20 Self Love Club

London-based, hyper streetwear brand DB Berdan, from Turkish designers Beg Berdan and Deniz Berdan made their on-schedule debut at London Fashion Week with their spring/summer 2020 collection that paid tribute to the LGBTQ+ people in the sports industry such as Greg Louganis and Stella Walsh.

Entitled the ‘Self-Love Club’ collection, DB Berdan presented silhouettes inspired by the late 80's and early 90's hip hop and rave cultures, with bold colours, oversized tie-dye denim hoodies, and joggers that turn into shorts, which was all showcased in a chaotic, high-energy presentation with models sporting their personalities with customised underground footwear, fans and sports gear, enhanced with Olympic rings and pan inspired spiked up hair sculptures.

Collection highlights included cotton 80's bat sleeved button-up shirts, and basketball shorts that turn into skirts, all incorporating authentic environmentally friendly prints created by DB Berdan, as well as the brand’s collaboration with Smiley, which saw the iconic smiley face emblazoned on sweatshirts and T-shirts.

Images: courtesy of DB Berdan

Best presentations from London Fashion Week spring/summer 2020

Alice Archer

The magical romance of Alice Archer takes inspiration from watercolour paintings of Charles Rennie Mackintosh for spring/summer 2020. This collection sees Archer creating embroideries that feel like watercolours, using techniques including embroidered line drawings, painted prints sublimated onto embroideries of luscious peonies and delicate sweet peas, jewel-like sequin work and layered tulle to form textures which are rich and fluid.

As with all of Archer’s collection there is a romance to her signature style that is decorative and beautiful which has been given a renewed clarity in the shape and simplicity of the silhouette of the floral embroidered gowns.

“These pieces are made to be treasured,” explains Archer in the show notes. “Slow fashion that exudes the care with which it has been made.”

Images: courtesy of Alice Archer / group shot by Danielle Wightman-Stone

16Arlington - Forte Forte Forte

British luxury brand 16Arlington, founded by design duo Marco Capaldo and Kikka Cavenati, created a 1960s party feel for their spring/summer 2020 collection, delving into the world of the show girl with high octane, feel-good glamour.

The collection played heavily with volume and movement, with fully cocooned dresses featuring hand-sewn struzzo feathers that had been dip-dyed in ombre pink to red and lilac to yellow, while other looks featured hand-dyed chiffon drapes that hung long and loose and were tied effortlessly around the neck, and movement was further explored through beaded fringing, with heavily embroidered evening gowns and jumpsuits.

There was also a nod to Emilio Pucci, with psychedelic prints appearing in lame 3-piece trouser suits, which the brand expressed “encapsulates the brand’s notion of igniting the party girl in everyone”.

Images: by Danielle Wightman-Stone

Temperley London SS20

The “evocative of travel and escapism to warm new climes” was at the heart of Temperley London’s spring/summer 2020 collection inspired by byzantine tilework, Venetian palazzos and beautifully curated gardens.

While opulent eveningwear is a given for the British brand, with gowns featuring shimmering sequins in varied sizes to create a 3D effect and depth, with beautiful overlay satin stitch, encrusted lattices and embellished star clusters, this collection belong to the daywear, with new denim styles, matching suit options, and an array of long, billowing, off-the-shoulder summer dresses.

The idea of the collection is to take the Temperley woman from “Hotel Boudoir, French Riviera, Peggy’s Venice and Botanical Retreat” offering daywear featuring high waisted denim paper bag style shorts to explore, while for evenings spent al fresco there were long line smoking jackets worn with matching wide-leg trousers, and crisp cotton, line and cotton silk checks in short dresses in a soft colour palette of rosewater pink, cantaloupe, pastel jade green and seashell contrasted with the stronger orange, plum and vibrant tigerlily.

A key highlight was the denim, with styles including Capri, wide-leg with sailor button front detailing as well as a button-through skirt with matching bodice top and jacket in French blue, dark washed denim and white. Additional versions were adorned with Matisse inspired graphic leaf prints in sugary pink with white and black with copper orange motifs.

Images: courtesy of Temperley London

For spring/summer 2020, Edeline Lee continued to use her on-schedule slot to showcase an immersive presentation, in previous seasons we’ve had dancers, feminist speeches, and this season a combination of theatre and catwalk, with models weaving between scripted performances.

“There are so many parallels between the performance of life in the theatre and the everyday performance of feminine identity through clothing and press,” explains Lee in the show notes. “There is a wonderful juxtaposition between the catwalk models performing the ‘real world’ and the actors performing another version of the ‘real world’ in this piece.”

The performance scripted by actor, writer and producer Sharon Horgan lasted 15 minutes, repeating on a loop over the two-hour presentations with the audience able to eavesdrop on domestic scenarios played between the actors in duologues, each exchange depicting a “bitter-sweet human moment” from loneliness to suicide, and a break up.

Both models and actors wore Edeline Lee SS20, which featured a colour palette that graduated between navy, blue, green, yellow and red, alongside pieces in a colourful zebra print and raffia floral jacquard that added texture to the collection.

Images: courtesy of Edeline Lee

Zalando has shared the first positive results following a new pilot delivery service operated by private persons.

The German fashion giant has been piloting private pickup and drop-off points in Denmark (Aarhus and Copenhagen), which see members of the public sign up to be ‘Din Nabo’ (or ‘your neighbor’ in Danish) and receive packages for others to collect, effectively acting as pick up points. They also earn a commission for their service, dependent on the number of packages they handle.

The service aims to be a more sustainable alternative to traditional delivery methods, as it reduces the number of deliveries made by providing a single drop-off or pickup point. Zalando has been trialling the service with Dutch partner Homerr since July and said customers using the service have experienced “excellent service”.

“The test has shown very positive results. Ninety-five percent of the Zalando customers say that they received an ‘excellent service’ when collecting or returning their package,” said Remko Bakker, lead logistics platform services at Zalando, in a statement. “The majority of the customers say that they would highly recommend the service to friends and that they will use the service again themselves in the future. It’s great to see that market research is confirmed by actual results.”

According to Zalando’s market research, 72 percent of Danish customers say they are “highly likely” to use pickup points in the near future knowing that they are more environmentally friendly.

The pilot test indicated that the concept will function even better in rural areas of Denmark because the number of stores is smaller and opening hours shorter, which means there’s a need for more convenient pickup and drop off options. Additionally, in rural areas more private people live in houses or the ground floor of apartment buildings, which increases the convenience of the concept for both the “Din Nabo” and the customer.

Photo credit: Homerr

New York – Olivela, a luxury apparel e-commerce platform based in the U.S. has recently completed a fundraising round. Led by Morgan Stanley, it secured 35 million dollars in Series A funding.

The retailer plans to use the new funds to expand its business “both digitally and physically,” says CEO and founder Stacey Boyd. “We are building our internal product team to continually evolve the product offering to ensure that it’s best in class, while also expanding our retail footprint in the U.S. and internationally,” she said in a corporate release.

The e-tailer launched online in June 2017 after Boyd took a trip in 2016 with activist Malala Yousafzai where she visited girls in refugee camps in Kenya and Rwanda. As she carried around her designer bag, Boyd realised she could send the girls she met to school for a year for a fraction of her bag’s cost. When she returned home, Boyd called several luxury brands and told them about her experience. Soon after, she launched Olivela with 12 luxury brands, including Valentino, Stella McCartney and Dolce & Gabbana. Now, it stocks more than 400 luxury brands.

This expansion of its business also will help Olivela find and partner with more charitable organisations in the U.S. and around the world, Boyd says. Additionally, the retailer plans to open additional boutiques this year with the fresh funding, accelerating their holidays’ focus. On this note, Olivela claims it registered 90 times the number of transactions in December 2018 than in January 2019.

Technology put at the service of the greater good

Olivela uses technology in some of its stores across the U.S. to show off every purchase’s “Olivela Effect.” Within 11 seconds of completing a purchase, a customer sees the impact of their purchase displayed on the wall. For example, it might say: “Thank you, Ashley, you just sent a girl to school for 53 days.” Olivela developed their own technology that connects with its point-of-sale system to do this.

As explained by company sources, Olivela’s mission is providing girls in underdeveloped countries with the opportunity to go to school. 20 percent of every purchase made at Olivela goes to benefit educating girls around the world through one of its three partner charitable organisations: Malala Fund, CARE and Too Young to Wed.

"It's exciting to be reinventing luxury retail with purpose. For every Olivela purchase, we donate 20 percent to causes our customers care about through partnering with non-profit organisations and luxury designer brands," said in a corporate announcement Kristen Sosa, Olivela Chief Merchant.

As of mid-September 2019, sales from Olivela have provided more than 161,000 days of school to girls worldwide, according to the retailer.

Image: Official website, Olivela

Balmain is making its way into the cosmetics world. The French fashion house, led by creative director Olivier Rousteing, has partnered with makeup mogul Kylie Jenner to create the latest collection for her namesake cosmetics line.

Jenner announced the collaboration in a post on her Instagram account with a simple caption saying, “KYLIE X BALMAIN…see you in Paris,” suggesting that the collection will debut at the fashion brand’s ready-to-wear presentation on Sept. 27 at the Opera Garnier. To add to the excitement, this collaboration will be available for sale on the cosmetic brand’s website after the show.

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KYLIE X BALMAIN 9.27 KylieCosmetics.com see you in Paris @olivier_rousteing @balmain #PFW #ParisFashionWeek

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According to a report by WWD, Rousteing tapped Jenner to be the artistic director for make in the label’s Paris Fashion Week show. The Kylie x Balmain capsule collection—which will range from 16 USD to 75 USD—includes lip color, eyeshadow, and accessories.

For its first quarter to August 31, 2019, Nike, Inc. said, revenue increased to 10.7 billion dollars, up 7 percent on a reported basis and 10 percent on a currency-neutral basis, driven by growth across all geographies. The company added that diluted earnings per share for the quarter were 86 cents, an increase of 28 percent driven primarily by strong revenue growth and gross margin expansion.

“Our strong start to FY20 highlighted the depth and balance of Nike’s complete offense,” said Mark Parker, Chairman, President and CEO, of Nike in a statement, adding, “NIKE’s strong product innovation, combined with our industry-leading digital experiences, continue to deepen our consumer relationships around the world.”

Review of Nike’s first quarter income statement

The company said, revenues for the Nike brand were 10.1 billion dollars, up 10 percent on a currency-neutral basis driven by growth across Nike Direct and wholesale, key categories including sportswear and the Jordan brand, and continued growth across footwear and apparel.

Revenues for Converse were 555 million dollars, up 8 percent on a currency-neutral basis, mainly driven by double-digit growth in Asia and through digital globally, which was partially offset by declines in the US.

Gross margin increased 150 basis points to 45.7 percent. Net income increased 25 percent to 1.4 billion dollars driven primarily by strong revenue growth and gross margin expansion while diluted earnings per share increased 28 percent to 86 cents reflecting a 2 percent decline in the weighted average diluted common shares outstanding.

Picture:Nike News

Gap Inc. has announced the appointment of Mary Beth Laughton as President and Chief Executive Officer of Athleta. Laughton, the company said, will begin her new role in late October and will serve on Gap Inc.’s senior leadership team reporting to President and CEO Art Peck.

“Mary Beth brings a strong background in digital operations, a keen understanding of customers and an ability to deliver innovative experiences,” said Peck in a statement, adding, “She is the right leader for Athleta, with a proven track record in driving consistent results in multiple growth markets, including performance apparel and beauty.”

Laughton, the company added, is a retail and digital executive with over 20 years of strong background in driving omni-channel growth through innovative experiences at companies, including Sephora and Nike. Most recently, she was EVP of omni retail for Sephora US, leading both the e-commerce and stores channels. Prior to that, Laughton spent nine years at Nike, in a variety of roles including general manager of e-commerce for Europe and the director of e-commerce for Nike subsidiaries, including Cole Haan, Converse and Hurley. She has been a board member of REI since 2017. Laughton began her career at McKinsey & Company, focusing on the retail and digital sectors.

“Athleta is a powerful brand that empowers women and girls through its inclusive, inspirational community and I am excited about the significant opportunity ahead for us,” added Laughton.

Picture:Facebook/Athleta

High Street Essentials (HSE) recently launched its 12th Indya store and this one in New Town, Kolkata. It is the brand’s first store in the city. Spread across 750 sq. ft., the store houses an exciting and extensive range of fusion separates – tunics that span from traditional kurtas to new-age draped designs, pants and skirts with classic cuts along with fashion-forward styles with attached sari drapes and tops to suit every mood and occasion.

The store also marks the launch of Indya’s Autumn/Winter ’19 collection – Shades of Autumn. The collection employs contemporary detailing in a tapestry of bold, autumnal hues. Classic, elegant, edgy and bohemian, this collection serves effortlessly stylish designs to take you from morning to night.

Indya, an omnichannel fast fashion brand, was born out of a thought to re-look at ethnic fashion and design by considering the lifestyle and aesthetics of the modern Indian woman. The brand emphasises on new-age silhouettes that incorporate traditional embroideries, prints and motifs. Apart from a thriving online store, the brand currently has over 200 offline retail touchpoints, including EBOs and MBOs.

Reliance Industries is pivoting from an oil-led conglomerate into a more consumer-facing company. With this in view Reliance is looking to buy fashion and child-focused retailers abroad and partner global sports and beauty brands as a part of its expansion into consumer markets. The company is also seeking to partner brands in two segments where it so far does not have a presence: beauty and athletic lifestyle wear. Multi-brand sports, wellness and fitness are the categories of interest for the company. Women's and men’s beauty products are also the target areas. The company is also seeking to partner with brands in two segments where it so far does not have a presence: beauty and athletic lifestyle wear.

Reliance Brands already runs high-end stores in India with some 40 foreign partners, including British label Burberry, shoemaker Steve Madden and New York-based Iconix Brand Group, through joint ventures and franchises. It also has brought Hamleys to India, the world's oldest toy retailer.

Reliance is already India’s biggest brick-and-mortar retailer in terms of revenue and number of stores and is also scaling up its grocery and wholesale businesses. Reliance Brands’ products are available at 788 locations spread across exclusive brand outlets, shopping malls and airports. The company is planning to open around 120 stores in India in the fiscal year to March 2020.