Daily LInks
1. Italian Diesel Jeans Billionaire Looks to Stitch Together Fashion Front: Building digital platforms will also be costly. Luca Solca, senior luxury goods analyst at Bernstein Research, said in a recent report that a lack of scale compared with international rivals has left Italian companies far behind in the digital transformation. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. RELATED READ: Amid a Flurry of Italian M&A, OTB’s Acquisition of Jil Sander Proves an Interesting Move. More broadly, the Jil Sander deal comes amid a flurry of activity in the Italian fashion segment, in particular, with fellow Italian group Moncler snapping up Stone Island for €1.15 billion in December, and Made in Italy Fund acquiring Milan-based fashion brand Dondup from fellow private equity firm L Catterton in March. – Read More on TFL
3. China Faces Tougher Rules on Its European Deals Spree: The European Union unveiled draft rules on Wednesday aimed at cracking down on state-subsidized foreign companies in Europe, a move that could allow regulators to pursue big Chinese companies in much the same way they have targeted U.S. multinationals such as Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. – Read More on the WSJ
4. A leaked Walmart memo highlights the daunting challenges facing the world’s largest retailer: Among a competitor set that included Amazon, J.C. Penney, Target, and several other retailers, the document shows Walmart and Walmart.com sporting some of the lowest satisfaction shopper scores for quality and selection in the apparel category. Still, a company mission is to “establish Walmart as a credible apparel destination.” – Read More on Vox
5. The Evolution of Walmart & its Quest to Become an E-Commerce (and Fashion) Destination: Walmart is seemingly trying to make a name of its own in the online retail space, where new generations of consumers are already accustomed to looking for everything from food to footwear. In this way, Walmart is not merely looking to keep pace with Amazon, it is looking to stay in stride with digitally-connected consumers, all while endeavoring to amass a larger piece of the mainstream apparel market. – Read More on TFL
6. Adidas CEO Sees Sneakers and T-Shirts in Back-to-Office Fashion: Rorsted is predicting that the world’s back-to-the-office trend — however big it becomes — will only accelerate the acceptance of more casual clothing in the corporate world. That could sustain the boom in demand for sneakers and sports apparel that’s benefited Adidas and rivals including Nike Inc. and Puma SE over the past year. – Read More on Bloomberg
