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Category: Fashion

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Fashion news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Blancpain opens its largest store in China

    Blancpain opens its largest store in China

    Timepiece brand Blancpain has opened its largest store yet in China in Beijing.

    The 380sqm two-level street front showroom, located at China World Mall near Beijing’s CBD, features an interior that reflects the brand’s heritage, inspired by the Blancpain’s centuries-old farmhouse production facility in Le Brassus, Switzerland

    Polished cherry woodwork and streamlined furniture are placed to conjure up the ambiance of the traditional watchmakers, alongside comfortable seating, a lounge bar, a VIP suite and a sweeping staircase.

    The store offers a customer service center that offers watches servicing as well as product and maintenance advice.

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  • Superdry licensing deal signed with IMG

    Superdry licensing deal signed with IMG

    British fashion brand Superdry has appointed IMG to develop a strategic licensing program to extend the brand into select new product and lifestyle categories.

    The Superdry licensing deal will see IMG negotiating partnerships which broaden its product portfolio into such items as luggage and travel-related goods, personal accessories, consumer electronics and sporting goods, in accordance with Superdry’s brand ethos.

    “We look forward to working with IMG and partnering with other brands as Superdry enters the next stage of its growth,” said Superdry CEO and founder Julian Dunkerton. “IMG’s extensive licensing experience with fashion brands makes it the ideal partner and we are excited to explore creative opportunities that best resonate with Superdry’s brand.”

    Superdry is known for its distinctive designs blending vintage Americana with Japanese-inspired graphics. It is a fast-growing brand with a geographically and demographically diverse customer base.

    “With an instantly recognisable identity and a powerful brand personality that embodies fun and individual empowerment,” said IMG’s SVP of licensing Matthew Primack, “we see many opportunities to apply the Superdry style and philosophy to products of relevance and we are delighted to be working with the Superdry team.”

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  • Clot opens Juice store at K11 Musea

    Clot opens Juice store at K11 Musea

    Fashion label Clot has opened a Juice store at K11 Musea mall in Tsim Sha Tsui.

    The store opened on Tuesday, featuring a curated selection of brands – including exclusive in-house labels Clot and Clottee, alongside a range of top-tier names such as Fear of God, Alyx, A-Cold-Wall*, 99%is, Needles, White Mountaineering and Ambush.

    The new store will also carry signature streetwear imprints from the likes of Pleasures, Wacko Maria, and P.A.M, as well as lifestyle items from Kuumba and Medicom Toy, amongst others.

    Juice K11 Musea will also feature a sneaker wall with styles from Nike, Adidas, Converse and Vans as well as more niche footwear labels including Hoka and Salomon.

    With a modern design that still incorporates elements from its other local boutiques, the Juice store at K11 Musea will display a rotating selection of modern art and regularly host exclusive events and special releases.

  • Panerai opens pop-up store in China

    Panerai opens pop-up store in China

    Florentine high-end sports-watch brand Panerai has opened its first pop-up store in Greater China in Hong Kong’s Harbour City Ocean Centre.

    The 75sqm store follows a new ad-hoc design concept developed by Panerai’s creative director Alvaro Maggini. Guests are plunged into the “new Panerai universe” at the store through VR glasses, engaging in a multi-sensory installation that features dangerous sea creatures in an aquatic habitat of rocks, sand and shells.

    The store is showcasing its latest novelties for the very first time in Hong Kong, focusing on the brand’s Luminor Due blue dial titanium watches.

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  • Uniqlo Billionaire Founder Seeks Woman for Successor

    Uniqlo Billionaire Founder Seeks Woman for Successor

    70-year old Japanese billionaire founder of Uniqlo, Yanai Tadashi, said he prefers to be succeeded by a woman, in a move he foresees will bode better for the region’s largest retailer.

    The job is more suitable for a woman,» said Yanai Tadashi, president and founder of Fast Retailing, which owns Uniqlo as one of its subsidiaries, in a report. «They are persevering, detailed oriented and have an aesthetic sense.

    In addition to succeeding the throne, Yanai also highlighted ambitions to increase the female ratio of senior executives to more than half after reaching 30 percent of management positions last year.

    On the prospects of Maki Akida, an 18-year female veteran powerhouse that managed stores in Japan and China, becoming the successor, Yanai said It’s a possibility.

    Yanai’s expresses his commitments to not only more females in senior positions but also the development of youth and supporting workers in emerging markets. Yet despite the ESG-oriented nature of these remarks, he does not wax lyrical about Fast Retailing’s ethical superiority but rather how such moves are aligned to business needs.

    We’re in the business of selling clothes – it’s not so good that we’re old, he said, on youth.

    And on worker support, the firm will invest $1.8 million in a partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a United Nations arm, to support factory workers in Indonesia. The ILO will continue exploring ways for Fast Retailing to improve worker protection in other countries where it has contract factories.

    If we expand in a place where incomes are not growing, we cannot sell clothes, Yanai said, highlighting Southeast Asia as a key growth market for the firm.

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  • Karen Millen stores closing down

    Karen Millen stores closing down

    Administrators have been appointed to wind down the Australian arm of Karen Millen, after the business fell into administration in Britain last month.

    The UK fashion brand, which turned over approximately $19 million in Australia last year, operates seven independent stores and eight concessions in David Jones and Myer department stores.

    Deloitte partners Richard Hughes, Tim Norman and Michael Billingsley, who have been appointed joint and several administrators, said they would conduct a controlled wind-down of the business in the coming weeks.

    Approximately 80 employees, many of them casuals, will be impacted by the closure.

    “If quick, shoppers can expect some bargains with discounted stock being sold from stores and online until the end of this month,” administrators said in a statement.

    The local shut-down follows the collapse of Karen Millen in the UK last month. Administrators there are in the process of closing more than 200 bricks-and-mortar stores, putting at risk more than 11000 jobs. Head office staff have already been made redundant.

    Karen Millen’s online business was bought by global e-commerce fashion giant Boohoo for £18 million, a move that left some scratching their heads.

    “I don’t get it,” the CEO of an upmarket fashion retailer said, contrasting Karen Millen’s relatively high-priced garments with the £5 fast fashion items sold by Boohoo.

    Boohoo has a local online presence in Australia. It is unclear whether it will launch a local online presence for Karen Millen going forward.

    Karen Millen has stores in:

    • DFO South Wharf, VIC
    • Emporium, VIC
    • Chadstone, VIC
    • Doncaster, VIC
    • QVB, NSW
    • Chatswood Chase, NSW
    • Burnside Village, SA
    • David Jones concessions in Sydney and Melbourne CBDs
    • Myer concessions in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane CBDs, Bondi, Chadstone and Perth

    Customers holding gift cards or who are members of loyalty programs will have their benefits honored. Administrators advise those consumers to refer to the Customer FAQ section of the Karen Millen website for further details.

  • Zara in defense mode after IFC mall store closure

    Zara in defense mode after IFC mall store closure

    Fashion retailer Zara has reassured customers that its decision to close its IFC mall store in Hong Kong on Monday was not related to protests currently taking place in the city.

    The statement emerged after social media users in Mainland China speculated that the store closures were a show of support for the demonstrators and to allow staff to participate.

    “Zara has never made any comments or undertaken any actions related to a strike in Hong Kong,” read the firm’s statement on its Weibo account. “Zara does not back a strike and supports ‘one country, two systems’.”

    The controversy was sparked after an image of a sign posted on the IFC mall store’s shutters was circulated online, apparently going viral.

    Major businesses have come under close scrutiny for their actual or suspected support of the protestors, including Cathay Pacific, HSBC and PWC.

    The protests have been held in the city over the past three months, and have become seen as a challenge to Beijing’s sovereignty over the territory.

    Zara has declined to offer any explanation as to why the majority of its Hong Kong island stores were closed during the time in question.

    However, the store reopened yesterday with new interior design to coincide with the opening of the Sephora store in a space carved out of Zara’s previous footprint in the mall.

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  • Uniqlo hitted by South Korean consumer boycott

    Uniqlo hitted by South Korean consumer boycott

    Fast-fashion chain Uniqlo is suffering from the South Korean consumer boycott of Japanese goods.

    “We can confirm that there has been an impact on the sales in Korea,” a spokeswoman for Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing told Reuters. She declined to release any figures, however.

    The two countries are involved in a diplomatic row relating to disagreements over the compensation for forced laborers during Japan’s occupation of Korea during the second world war. That dispute has spilled over into the populations with Japanese products in South Korea being boycotted by shoppers as a form of protest.

    Uniqlo has nearly 200 stores in South Korea, selling around US$1.3 billion worth of clothing annually, equal to about 6.6 percent of its total sales. The South Korean consumer boycott may lead to delays in new stores opening if it continues

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  • Fenty Beauty by Rihanna launched in Hong Kong

    Fenty Beauty by Rihanna launched in Hong Kong

    Luxury travel retailer DFS will debut cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty by Rihanna in downtown T Galleria locations in Hong Kong and Macau today.

    DFS will stock Fenty Beauty by Rihanna exclusively in Macau and be one of the first retailers in Hong Kong to introduce the brand.

    Singer Rihanna developed her global makeup line in partnership with Kendo Brands, an LVMH-owned beauty developer, in 2017. Now the company has created a full Maison for Fenty.

    The range of artistry-quality products are inspired by Rihanna’s vision of ensuring people everywhere feel included, with a focus on skin tones that have been traditionally underrepresented in the beauty industry.

    “I created Fenty Beauty because I wanted to make a beauty brand that is inclusive for people everywhere,” said Rihanna. “I want everyone to feel beautiful, recognized and empowered, no matter their ethnicity, culture, skin tone or style.”

    DFS Group chairman and CEO Ed Brennan described Rihanna as a “multi-talented entrepreneur who embraces diversity, applauds curiosity and instills playfulness – qualities that we at DFS also value and promote”.

  • Issey Miyake Osaka news store openening in Semba

    Issey Miyake Osaka news store openening in Semba

    Fashion and fragrances label Issey Miyake has opened a new store in Japan, its design influenced by water.

    The new Issey Miyake Osaka store is located in the Semba district that once prospered as an important waypoint for ships and boats.

    The outlet’s basement floor features a creative space where people, objects and ideas related to Osaka and various other regions can interact. It will serve as a venue to showcase an array of experimental projects, including exhibits and events.

    At an event to commemorate the store’s opening, the basement space will showcase artist Seitaro Kuroda’s open studio under its “fount of creativity” theme.

    Kuroda will be freely inspired by the venue, creating an impromptu space with installations and paintings.

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  • H&M Foundation opens Global Change Award for innovation

    H&M Foundation opens Global Change Award for innovation

    Non-profit H&M Foundation has opened the fifth round of its innovation challenge Global Change Award.

    The award is an attempt to move the needle in a space where global consumption of textiles and shoes are on track to increase by 65 percent on 2015 levels by 2030. Organizers believe that creativity and innovation can flip the numbers in the planet’s favor and help enable great transformations in the fashion industry.

    The Global Change Award was initiated in 2015 by the H&M Foundation in collaboration with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. It has received more than 14,000 entries from 182 countries. Named the Nobel Prize of fashion, it aims to reduce fashion’s impact on the planet and our living conditions by helping groundbreaking ideas move from tissue-sketch to market.

    Several of the previous winners have on-going co-operations and pilot projects with the industry, and some are already on the market.

    “In its fifth year, the Global Change Award has proven a great gateway for innovators to enter the fashion industry and transform it from the inside,” said H&M Foundation board member and H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB CEO Karl-Johan Persson.

    “We’ve seen previous winners move from sketching table to market – but more importantly, inspiring a new generation of creatives, scientists and entrepreneurs to reduce the planetary impact of the fashion industry through innovation. The next big idea that will change the game can come from anyone anywhere. So, if you have an idea you believe in this is the place to go.”

    Perhaps more important than the €1 million grant, the five winners will embark on a one-year Innovation Accelerator Program taking them to Stockholm, New York, and Hong Kong. In the accelerator, H&M Foundation, Accenture and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology support the winners in taking their ideas to the next level, with guidance on how to scale up quickly and maximize their impact on the industry.

    “This year, we are especially looking for innovations that make it easier for us as consumers to act more sustainably, ideas that use technology and data that make the fashion industry smarter and solutions that facilitate design with a circular intention,” said H&M Foundation innovation lead Erik Bang.

    To win, the innovation should have the potential to make fashion circular and to scale. Other criteria are a novelty, that the idea is economically sustainable, and that the innovation team is committed to making a difference. H&M Foundation initiated the challenge to find innovations that allow major change for the entire industry, and the winner can collaborate with whoever they want. Neither the non-profit H&M Foundation nor H&M Group takes any equity or intellectual property rights in the innovations.

    Submission deadline is October 16, and the five winners are crowned at the Grand Award Ceremony in Stockholm City Hall in April 2020.

    The H&M Foundation was set up by Persson and his family as an independent organization. While it bears the H&M name it is not part of H&M.

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  • Sephora Hong Kong after being away for 10-years

    Sephora Hong Kong after being away for 10-years

    Sephora Hong Kong returns after a 10-year absence today, opening a 4200sqft store at IFC mall.

    The LVMH-owned global beauty retailer promises shoppers 40 brands new or exclusive to Hong Kong, along with the new Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, also an LVMH subsidiary which is simultaneously being launched by DFS Group’s T Galleria stores today.

    “We believe the new Sephora Hong Kong will be the ultimate one-stop beauty destination in the region that consumers will find joy in exploring the countless products and services on offer,” said Benjamin Vuchot, Asia president at Sephora.

    “We are really proud of the exciting brand portfolio for our new store.”

    Sephora Hong Kong has confirmed plans to open eight stores in its return to brick-and-mortar retailing in the territory. A second store is under construction at Windsor House in Causeway Bay, scheduled to open prior to Christmas. Six more stores will follow over a three-year timeframe, their locations as yet not revealed.

    The new IFC mall store features new customer services, including Virtual Artist, a beauty app designed to offer customers an opportunity to try on and compare different products digitally.

    Vuchot believes the technology will engage customers in-store and create a unique omnichannel model dedicated to offering an “unparalleled shopping experience in-store and online through its upgraded e-commerce platform”.

    Among the brands making their Hong Kong debut today are Drunk Elephant, Sunday Riley, Huda Beauty, Anastasia Beverly Hills, and Fenty Beauty; and niche fragrance labels including Clean Reserve, Kayali, Bon Parfumeur and Maison Margiela.

    Sephora Hong Kong will also introduce new beauty and fragrance brands that are making their debut in the market such as Loewe, Tarte, IT Cosmetics and Jack Black.

    More brands will be added later in the year – both instore and online – to provide customers with “endless new discoveries” across different categories.

  • New leader appointed in APAC for Abercrombie & Fitch

    New leader appointed in APAC for Abercrombie & Fitch

    Abercrombie & Fitch has hired two key senior staff to lead its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions.

    Olga Wu will oversee Abercrombie & Fitch Asia-Pacific and Daniel Le Vesconte will manage the company’s EMEA regional operations. Both have been appointed group VPs.

    They will report to global brands president Kristin Scott and are responsible for executing the company’s brand strategies to drive growth in their respective local markets.

    In conjunction with these appointments, the company continues to build its international presence and has selected the London and Shanghai offices as its regional EMEA and APAC headquarters respectively.

    Le Vesconte, 50, joins the company most recently from footwear and clothing brand Dr. Martens, where he served as president, EMEA. Wu, 54, joins the company from VF Corporation, where she most recently served as GM of Timberland in China.

    “As we seek to drive global growth and adapt our playbooks for markets around the world, we’re investing in our international teams to drive further closeness to our customers in every region,” said Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Fran Horowitz. “We are pleased to welcome Dan and Olga to our A&F team; they each bring deep experience and understanding of consumer behavior and brand leadership across their respective regions. Their insights and leadership will help support our goal of consistently bringing relevant products and brand experiences to our customers around the world.”

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  • ‘Sporting idol experience’ unveiled inside Puma NYC flagship

    ‘Sporting idol experience’ unveiled inside Puma NYC flagship

    A “unique and immersive” retail experience awaits visitors to the new Puma NYC flagship store unveiled on Fifth Avenue.

    The athletic footwear and apparel brand have opened a two-story store which features an industry-first multi-sport, multi-sensory Skill Cube, designed and developed by human experience design studio Green Room.

    The creative platform integrates global Puma brand ambassadors into an immersive experience, positioning them as virtual training buddies – an approach established, through behavioral research, as key to better engaging the lifestyle traits of Puma’s Gen Z target audience.

    Respected for their training regimes and prowess, athletes Lewis Hamilton, Antoine Griezmann and Romelu Lukaku host coaching sessions that transport customers either to a virtual football stadium or a disused warehouse; an experience specifically designed to deliver the best authentic footwear trial whilst still in store.

    “Facilitating unique and immersive experiences is central to our long-term commercial strategy and the Skill Cube New York delivers on this in every way,” said Puma’s global head of commercial marketing Jason Isenberg. “This is truly a one-of-a-kind experience, and we are confident that our shoppers in the Puma NYC flagship store will find it extremely engaging and compelling.”

    Once inside the Skill Cube, visitors are immersed in a multi-sensory environment incorporating 270° floor to ceiling LCD content screens, graphic projection, motion sensing devices, dynamic lighting and surround sound. The floor covering is a high-quality, multi-sport, synthetic turf, designed to bring the footwear benefits to the fore by simulating authentic trial conditions, further enhancing a life-like experience.

    Converging analog and digital worlds, the Teamsport experience kicks off in a virtual Puma locker room with footballers Griezmann or Lukaku; trialists are transported to a CGI replica of a capacity-filled San Siro Stadium. Reconstructed to a superior level of detail and adaptability – featuring an impressive 5 million individual blades of grass – the virtual environment offers full flexibility and control over 152 lights, independent movement of all 80,000 football fans in the crowd and updatable sponsorship boards, TV screens and pitch patterns.

    Visitors to the Puma NYC flagship’s Skill Cube are scored on their performance and at the end of the experience, the stadium comes alive with confetti cannons, fireworks, and a cheering crowd. The training experience then transports participants into a warehouse to train with Lewis Hamilton, who takes them through three trials; ladder, jab and jump.

    “Our approach was to encourage engagement and disrupt ‘autopilot customer’ browsing,” said digital experience director Martyn Palmer. “By introducing a highly curated approach to the experience zone, we have succeeded in creating a harmonious customer journey that mixes physical and digital interactions to elevate a positive product experience.”

  • Tiffany to open Blue Box Cafe in Hong Kong

    Tiffany to open Blue Box Cafe in Hong Kong

    Luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co is set to open its largest flagship store in Asia at One Peking Road – and with it the first Blue Box Cafe in Hong Kong.

    The flagship and cafe – the first in Asia –  will soft open early this month and mid next month respectively. Both outlets have been designed to offer new experiences for long-time patrons of the firm, with One Peking Road displaying the full range of the house’s products and the cafe bringing a slice of New York City to tropical Hong Kong.

    The cafe features the brand’s own crockery and utensils to complement the cultured ritual of afternoon tea, reflective of the artistry and craftsmanship of the house.

    In anticipation of The Tiffany Blue Box Cafe in Hong Kong opening, reservations for seating are being taken through the firm’s online platform, allowing online users the chance to be the first to experience something which has, until now, only been available in Tiffany & Co’s flagship store in New York City.

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