When there’s a $1 trillion market opportunity, Amazon will find a way. | | | | | Not exactly the Louis Vuitton monogram. (Marco Antonio Islas Cruz) | | | | |  | “When there’s a $1 trillion market opportunity, Amazon will find a way.”
|
| |
| | rantnrave:// Will AMAZON ever become a destination for luxury apparel and accessories? I don't think it's as unlikely as it might seem. The knock on AMAZON is that it doesn't look or feel like luxury -- it's not aspirational, and it doesn't make you feel special. I wonder how much those things will matter to millennials, to Generation Z, and to the yet-to-be-named cohorts to follow. The retailer has historically been a key player in establishing brand position, but is that what consumers are really looking for in an age where they can communicate directly with labels? Are we looking for that typical luxury experience, or are we looking for a facilitator that can get us the goods we already know we want with minimal friction? Of course, AMAZON FASHION doesn't need the highest of high-end to make a ton of money. REDEF boss JASON HIRSCHHORN loves the middle when it comes to the movie industry, and there's a lot of money to made there in fashion, too. As SARAH LACY points out at PANDO, AMAZON is already moving a ton of apparel -- $16 billion worth in 2015. Customers are only getting more comfortable with online clothes shopping, and AMAZON's fulfillment infrastructure is only getting smoother. So, show of hands: who wants to bet against AMAZON FASHION? Mine are folded neatly on my desk... AMAZON's got another issue, though: counterfeits in its marketplace... The CFDA has done an excellent job building the infrastructure of NEW YORK FASHION WEEK: MEN'S, but it still needs talent. Too many ho-hum collections to attract the international media presence that will turn it into a major destination. Lots of highly competent work, very little that makes you wish you'd seen it in person. I agree with ROBIN GIVHAN's assessment of RIO URIBE's GYPSY SPORT, but at least it's searching for something... Didn't much care for WOOD HOUSE's debut collection, but I love the story behind it. Designer JULIAN WOODHOUSE is a first lieutenant in the UNITED STATES ARMY, currently stationed in SOUTH KOREA, and he's using his leave time to come show in NEW YORK. Traditional KOREAN garb inspired his collection, but it doesn't quite match up to the OGs... Today in possibly apocryphal news: French president FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE spends €10,000 per month on haircuts, making KANYE WEST seem frugal by comparison. | | | - Adam Wray, curator |
|
|
 | Pando |
| Image Credit: Hallie Bateman for Pando From The Disruption Desk Yesterday was Amazon's Prime Day, and according to several research reports way more of you than I would have expected bought.... Clothes. One of the few debates that Kevin Kelleher and I have ever had was about a big Amazon Fashion push a few years ago... | | |
|
 | The New York Times |
| Topping off the clear liquid in his plastic drinking cup, Michael Kors signaled that it was time to get started. “I’ve refilled my vodka, so I’m ready to roll,” the designer said. It was at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday and Mr. Kors was joking. I think. | | |
|
 | Racked |
| Customers tell us why the OG beauty subscription box company is struggling. | | |
|
 | T Magazine |
| There's war in the Middle East. Financial markets are faltering. A Clinton may be on the cusp of entering the White House. Madonna's touring. Skinny models are dressed in skinny dresses, suspended from skinny straps. Fashion imagery is raw and markedly unretouched. Calvin Klein just released a provocative campaign to a global furor. | | |
|
 | EDITED |
| This time two years ago, things weren't looking quite so hot for Adidas. The sportswear giant shocked the industry in July 2014 with a profit warning that sent its share prices tumbling 15%. Currency woes, overspend on Olympic marketing and dwindling interest in golf all shouldered the blame publicly. | | |
|
| The New York Times |
| They waited three hours, sometimes in driving rain, to ascend to the fifth floor of a parking garage in Miami Beach. It was the Fourth of July weekend, but the lines went down the block. The promised land was a glass box aerie filled with Justin Bieber-branded T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats. | | |
|
 | Luxury Daily |
| British fashion label Burberry's terminated experiment of having Christopher Bailey serving as both chief creative and CEO holds lessons for others in the luxury sector. | | |
|
 | New York Magazine |
| When the Belgian designer and fashion darling Tim Coppens announced his new gig heading up the "premium" line Under Armour Sportswear, it made more sense than many indie-creator-and-mass-brand pairings. Coppens's work has long been influenced by athleisure, and his résumé includes performancewear design at Adidas and Ralph Lauren. | | |
|
 | The Conversation |
| Chemical waste, mass production and consumerism are all byproducts of an industrialized global economy. The fashion industry is no different. Technology has helped the industry meet growing demand by making production more efficient. | | |
|
 | Slam Jam Socialism News |
| Building a reputation and keeping it up is no simple feat in an ever-changing scene, like fashion. Matthew Williams, sees it all very differently. | | |
|
 | Great Big Story |
| Franco Bompieri owns Antica Barbieria Colla, the last of the traditional barber shops in Milan. There, they cut hair with candles. Why? It makes the hair fuller, and according to Franco, stops it from falling out. Franco admits he is from a different era, but still believes the old ways are the best. | | |
|
 | i-D Magazine |
| Paris, fashion’s current epicenter of change, isn’t just launching new brands but reviving old ones too. Meet Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer, the designers behind the relaunch of Courrèges. | | |
|
 | The Talks |
| Artist Tom Sachs on consumerism, luxury parodies, and success. | | |
|
 | WGSN |
| At WGSN, on the main subscriber site, we like to profile icons in key reports. These icons can come from anywhere, they can be new Tumblr stars, they can be 81-year-models, or they can be plus-size fashion stars. The common thread when we write about them is to think, is this person extraordinary, are they more than clotheshorses? | | |
|
 | Grailed |
| Streetwear through the 1990s was a regional phenomenon. The success of a label was determined through its ability to proliferate amongst a local scene. Brands of the time found an audience through adjacent subcultures like BMX, skateboarding, punk and hip-hop to push their products. | | |
|
 | via YouTube. |
| | | | | | |
|
|
| © Copyright 2016, The REDEF Group |
|
|
