Daily LInks
1. Chinese demand for quality goods to see luxury industry spending rise by 30 percent as retail therapy takes hold: While the surge in luxury shopping on the mainland was initially chalked up to Chinese consumers being unable to travel overseas due to containment measures, it’s now clear that the strong demand is driven by more than a transfer of spending back home. – Read More on SCMP
2. Sneaker Platform Goat Group Raises $100 Million to Fund Expansion Plans: Goat Group, best known for its online marketplace for sneakerheads, has raised $100 million in a Series E funding round to further its expansion into new apparel and product categories, as well as its efforts to work with more brands to sell their products directly on its platform. – Read More on the WSJ
3. Fenty Fashion Has a New Managing Director: Bastien Renard, who worked for 19 years at Nike and Converse in Europe and in the U.S, “quietly joined the Paris-based fashion start-up in recent months.” Sources suggested Renard, a dynamic and agile executive adroit at all things digital and cutting-edge, could tweak the positioning of Rihanna’s luxury maison. Rihanna maintains the titles of founder, chief executive officer and artistic director of Fenty. – Read More on WWD
4. Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière Predicts the Future of Fashion: His creative confidence comes in part from his strong position at the helm of a European house, where the business of a brand is as important as its more artistic endeavors. The shift at Louis Vuitton, he says, is coming “more in the organization of things—meaning we’re not going to do big, huge collections anymore. We are going to do smaller collections that are dropped with a different rhythm.” – Read More on Vanity Fair
5. Many of Covid’s Biggest Retail Winners Don’t Sell Online: General discount stores will do well thanks to their “low prices and good value.” Cheap fashion retailer Primark, for instance, has increased its market share since Covid, despite not selling online. The Dublin-based retailer has a website that it uses just to showcase new arrivals and engage with consumers. – Read More on Bloomberg
6. Is the New Guards Group the New Guard of Fashion? “These people have a vision and know how to build communities and a dialogue with their audience. They create the conversation, then we transform those conversations into products, from streetwear to elsewhere.” But whether the group’s trend-focused cutting edge brands will have as much longevity in a severe recession as some market rivals who have survived for generations on a foundation of timelessness and tradition like Hermès and Chanel is unclear. – Read More on the New York Times
7. Amazon launches climate-friendly program to help shop for sustainable products: Customers will now see more than 25,000 products ranging from grocery, household, fashion, beauty and personal electronics with a ‘Climate Pledge Friendly’ label, Amazon said in a statement. – Read More on Reuters
