Tag: accessories

Tough Teen Retail Environment Among Reasons Blamed for Latest Abercrombie & Fitch Decline; New Hollister Storefronts to Roll-out

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On May 29, Thursday, Abercombie & Fitch released their Q1 financials and things looked grim. Results reflected a GAAP net loss of $23.7 million compared to a GAAP net loss of $7.2 million the year before. Mike Jeffries, Chief Executive Officer, said, “In what remains a difficult teen retail environment, we are pleased that earnings […]

A Story Of Disruption by Oakley, Narrated By Kevin Spacey, Illustrates Future Importance of StoryTelling in Branding

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More smart brands today are realizing that the intersection of new media, technology, and storytelling are vital towards reaching future markets. Branding, marketing, and advertising have are all being revolutionized by the art of unique storytelling skills and platforms. The FoST Conference, which stands for Future of StoryTelling, which takes place in NYC October 1-2, […]

David Beckham X H&M Launch Swimwear Collection Including Board Shorts; Plus April Sales Up 17%

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Ever since David Beckham’s Bodywear launch for H&M in 2012, there’s been increased demand for more from the collaboration. Now, going head-to-head with other swimwear brands, and board short manufacturers, H&M has announced the debut of the David Beckham swimwear collection scheduled to hit stores on Thursday, May 22, 2014. For the kick-off, David Beckham […]

Swimwear Fabrics Moving Sustainable: LYCRA Introduces Bio-Derived Spandex

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Good news for swimwear manufacturers and brands that create anything with LYCRA as owner INVISTA announced last week the launch of a bio-derived spandex. The spandex fiber will come from a renewable source, dextrose, which comes from corn. According to Sustainable Brands, INVISTA, which also produces the COOLMAX®, CORDURA®, STAINMASTER®, ANTRON®, THERMOCOOL® and THERMOLITE® brands, […]

Fashion Industry Rallies for Fashion Revolution Day Calling for People to Wear Their Clothes Inside-Out and Ask, “Who Made Your Clothes?”

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Ethical Fashion topics were a key part of the Sustainatopia conference in Miami, Florida, last week, bringing to the forefront pioneers in the ethical fashion industry including Matt Reynolds from Indigenous, Marci Zaroff from Under the Canopy, Howard Brown from Stewart + Brown, along with a score of other leaders. It was an honor for […]

Fashion Brands Invade Coachella Music & Arts Festival with Competing Pool Parties, After-Hour DJ Sessions

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Photos by Label Networks With the first weekend kick-off of Coachella Music & Arts Festival taking place this weekend April 11, 2014, we take a look at how it’s become the unofficial festival fashion forecaster for the summer. Each year, Coachella not only showcases top bands usually putting out new albums of the year, and […]

H & M Up 9% and Reports Strong Response to &Other Brands, Sportswear Collection, and U.S. Online Sales

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Fast-fashion retailer and brand H&M, based out of Sweden has released their year-end financials which show a strong response to several different factors. First, H&M’s Group sales were up by 9% during the financial year and 356 new stores were added, predominately in China and the USA. As our youth culture studies show, H&M is […]

Wearable Technologies and Youth Culture Markets = New Crossover Platform for Fashion and Tech

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While earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the main talk was how brands like Intel are now finally moving into the realm of wearable technologies, the focus has often been on pieces and ideas that are not actually youth culture focused. And yet, it is the youth marketplace of today that are […]

Nasty Gal Moves from Online to Brick ‘n Mortar with Store Opening in LA

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In a completely subtle, yet intriguing method, Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso announced the launch of their first store via Twitter. While many brick ’n mortar retailers  are trying to ramp-up ecommerce platforms, Nasty Gal has the advantage of going in the opposite direction. In 2006, Amoruso launched Nasty Gal, a completely cool vintage/new-designer store […]

Etsy’s New Policies Open Doors for Small Business Growth, But Pisses-off Some Online Artisans, and Revives Question “What Is Handmade?”

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Etsy.com has always been among the leaders when it comes to attracting a community of online artisanal handmade crafters and vintage collectors. But last month, their new policy shifts have raised questions about what exactly, qualifies for being “handmade”—a pre-requisite to host a storefront on their site—and pissed-off the hardcore artists that felt Esty was […]