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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.

  • Michael Kors to join wearable tech movement

    Michael Kors to join wearable tech movement

    Fashion-savvy fans of wearable tech will need to keep their eyes peeled over the next few months.

    On Michael Kors’ fiscal third-quarter earnings call on Thursday, CEO John Idol told analysts and investors that the affordable luxury brand “will be in wearables,” and expects to deliver announcements on that front in coming months.

    “That is coming from Michael Kors,” Idol said, adding that the brand is not interested in being first to the market. Instead, he wants to take the time to develop a product that’s viable for shoppers’ everyday lives.

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  • Zara Australia to maintain prices as Australian dollar falls

    Zara Australia to maintain prices as Australian dollar falls

    Zara Australia has turned up the heat on domestic retailers by vowing to maintain prices despite a 17 percent fall in the dollar in the past five months.

    Zara’s plan to keep Australian prices on hold will limit the ability of domestic suppliers and retailers to raise prices across the board to recoup the cost of importing stock from countries such as China, India, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

    As reported in The Australian Financial Review last week, suppliers have warned retailers that prices for fashion clothing, underwear and basic apparel will rise significantly in the second half of calendar 2015 as currency hedges roll off and new ­season stock comes into stores.

  • Selfridges to launch gender-neutral shopping experience

    Selfridges to launch gender-neutral shopping experience

    The line between menswear and womenswear has become increasingly blurred: girls are stealing from the boys, men’s designers are showing cinched waists, and unisex lines are on the rise. So what better time than now to create a gender-neutral shopping experience?

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  • Kate Spade targets 100 stores in Greater China

    Kate Spade targets 100 stores in Greater China

    Kate Spade is to buy out its Chinese joint venture partner in favour of a new partnership with Lane Crawford Group.

    Walton Brown, the brand wholesaling and retailing subsidiary of Hong Kong-based department store operator Lane Crawford, will team with Kate Spade in a major expansion of the New York brand into mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in a new joint venture announced overnight, targeting 100 stores long term.
    The newly formed partnership will leverage the expertise of Walton Brown, and the global demand for Kate Spade & Company products, to establish a strategic network of stores in key cities, enhanced by a robust organisational and marketing platform across China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

    Kate Spade’s current Chinese JV partner is E-Land Fashion China Holdings which owns 60 per cent of KS China Co Ltd. Next month, Kate Spade will pay US$36 million to buy out E-Land’s 60 per cent share in KSC.

    The new partnership will align Kate Spade & Company’s existing businesses in China and Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan under one combined structure, owned 50-50 by the two parties. Kate Spade & Company and Walton Brown will actively manage the business together. The partnership will have an initial term of 10 years.
    Kate Spade CEO Craig A Leavitt said the new partnership is a pivotal next step as Kate Spade continues to advance a key axis of its growth strategy – geographic expansion.

    “Walton Brown is the right strategic partner as we position Kate Spade & Company for sustainable growth, allowing us to take a holistic approach to expansion, influence consumers and leverage resources across the Greater China region. Walton Brown’s relationships, operations and marketing expertise will help us create a cohesive foundation of stores surrounded by a vibrant ecosystem to help deepen our connection with consumers in Asia.”
    Walton Brown president Thomson Cheng said Kate Spade already has strong appeal in the market, with strong growth potential.

    “Together, we will build upon this momentum to establish a broader foundation and fuel Kate Spade & Company’s scale in the region. Drawing upon our best-in-class expertise and network, we look forward to partnering with Kate Spade & Company to enhance its global presence during this exciting time in the company’s transformation.”
    Kate Spade’s distribution agreements with Valiram in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia and with AT Luxury in Thailand are not affected by these transactions.

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  • Now consumers can ‘print’ clothes at home…

    Now consumers can ‘print’ clothes at home…

    A European entrepreneur has created a portable device that allows consumers to automatically create custom clothes from a digital file. Even at home.

    Springwise.com reports that the ‘makers movement’ has come to prominence in the past few years as new technologies such as 3D printing and DIY computers have given consumers better tools to create and produce their own designs and gadgets. Even the fashion industry has received a boost from such innovation, and we’ve already seen sneakers made with a 3D printer.

    Now the OpenKnit project has created a device that’s able to automatically create custom clothes from a digital file.

    The machine looks much like a traditional loom, except that it’s hooked up to a robot and computer. Users can either download or create their own design files for printing a garment. After uploading the file to the machine and loading the thread, a carriage moves from side to side to weave the item together using similar technology to a sewing machine.

    A sensor on the top keeps track of the needles and the position of the carriage to ensure the threads don’t get tangled. Using the system, a sweatshirt can be produced on the fly in roughly one hour. The OpenKnit machine is an open source design, and it costs under EUR 550 to build.

    “Since personalization is a key facet of fashion design, it’s easy to see how the possibility of consumers printing their own styles is an enticing one,” explains Springwise.com.

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  • Parkson in China food foray

    Malaysia’s Parkson has entered into a joint venture to develop a food retailing business in China as it transforms its department store portfolio into lifestyle centres.

    The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Grand Parkson has teamed with fellow Malaysian company AUM Hospitality (AUMH) which it majority owns, to create Lion Food & Beverage Ventures Limited. Parkson will own 91 per cent of the business, AUMH the balance.

    In a stock exchange announcement, Parkson said the group is undergoing a business transformation in China from a traditional department store model into a lifestyle concept retail business.

    “Our aim is to enhance our customer experience by offering a quality shopping, catering and entertainment experience that encourages repeat customer patronage.

    “F&B is an important component to the shopping experience that the group is offering to its customers. Developing the F&B sector will provide synergies with the group’s existing retail business.”

    The partnership will allow Parkson to leverage AUMH’s expertise and brand resources in the F&B sector.

    “Introducing F&B services will be a major strategic move for the group.”

    AUMH operates restaurant chains in Malaysia under 12 self-owned and franchised brands, including Johnny Rockets, Quiznos and The Library Coffee Bar. It is 60 per cent owned by a subsidiary of Parkson.

    The company has 60 department stores in 36 cities in China.

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  • Fifty shades of lingerie to light up retail this year

    Fifty shades of lingerie to light up retail this year

    Retail experts are tipping women’s intimate apparel as one of the hot spots for the sector this year with the release of the steamy movie Fifty Shades of Grey expected to trigger a rise in sales of lingerie and related “items”.

    Being billed as the “movie event of 2015”, it is the adaption of the best-selling book and lingerie retailers can’t wait for its release.

    Although a discretionary category, lingerie sales have been higher in the past year, as consumers look to spoil themselves with a one-off purchase. This demand, which has also been out-pacing even jewellery sales, has led to the opening of more stores, including the overseas-based Victoria’s Secret outlets and the Agent Provocateur, both of which are on the hunt for more stand-alone stores across Australia.

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  • Kathmandu names Xavier Simonet new CEO

    Kathmandu names Xavier Simonet new CEO

    New Zealand-based outdoor clothing retailer Kathmandu on Friday announced the appointment of Xavier Simonet as the new CEO of the company.

    Simonet is currently the CEO of Radley, a London-based brand with a product range covering women’s handbags, luggage and a wide range of accessories. Simonet will relocate to Melbourne to take up the role after working out his notice period with Radley.

    Prior to joining Radley, Simonet was Vice President & General Manager, International for apparel & underwear group DB Apparel and prior to that he was the International Director of Seafolly Group based in Sydney.

    Simonet began his career with LVHM where he worked for 11 years in France, Scandinavia, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and the UK and Ireland before returning to Australia to join Seafolly.

    “We have undertaken a comprehensive international search to fill the role and we are delighted Xavier has agreed to join Kathmandu as our new Chief Executive Officer,” said David Kirk, the Chairman of Kathmandu.

    “Xavier has wide experience in retailing and brand development in Australia and in many international markets. He has a proven track record building brands and developing successful retail businesses in fashion, apparel, accessories and related products,” Kirk added.

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  • Esprit warns of profit decline

    Esprit warns of profit decline

    Apparel chain Esprit has wanted shareholders its half year profit to December 31 is likely to be between HK$40 million and $50 million – half the $95 million of the same period a year earlier.

    The company said based on preliminary accounting figures, the expected lower net profit is based on falling turnover. This was due to a combination of prolonged unusually warm weather in Europe for majority part of the period, resulting in much lower than expected sales of its autumn and winter products together with special return agreements in China to address aged inventory in the wholesale channel. Although these returns were completed in the first quarter, it impacted on top line performance in the half year.

    “Notwithstanding the anticipated lower net profit in the first half of the financial year, the group has continued to devote maximum efforts to significantly improve our products, particularly in terms of design, quality, and value for money, by implementing faster and more cost efficient product development and supply chain processes as part of a vertical business model (New Business Model).

    “The New Business Model has been in place since the beginning of this financial year, in July 2014. The Spring/Summer 2015 collections, the first that have been entirely developed under the New Business Model, will arrive at stores from February onward. The products developed under the New Business Model have thus far received a positive response from our wholesale partners.

    “While the end consumer response can only be fully tested once the products reach the shop floors, we remain confident of the progress made in our product development,” the company said.

    The company will announce its interim results for the six months to December 31 in February.

  • Protests squeeze Clarks profits

    Protests squeeze Clarks profits

    Hong Kong distributors of shoe label Clarks has blamed the Occupy Central protests for a 45 per cent profit slump in the year to December.

    S.Culture has the exclusive distribution rights for a number of international lifestyle comfort footwear brands, including Clarks, Josef Seibel, The Flexx and Yokono. It has retail outlets in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan trading  under the brands S.Culture, Shoe Mart and Scoops as well as sole brand stores for Clarks, Clarks Originals and Josef Seibel.

    “The board believes the significant decrease in the unaudited consolidated net profit is mainly attributable to an unexpected deterioration of the general atmosphere of the consumer market in Hong Kong commencing in the third quarter of 2014 leading up to the Occupy Central event and its negative lingering effect until the fourth quarter of 2014.”

    However, there was a rosier side to its profit warning lodgement. It said the addition of 10 stores had taken its retail network to 122 as at December. Due to the protests and downturn in spending by Chinese mainland tourists, these new stores had yet to break even and had incurred costs in leasing, staff recruitment, stock and other overheads

    Despite the significant decrease in the unaudited consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of 2014, the group recorded a same store sales growth of approximately 1.3 per cent.

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  • Want to buy a Rolex?

    Want to buy a Rolex?

    Rolex sales are soaring in Singapore, and other Asian cities as the Swiss franc’s value rises rapidly.

    Staff of Singapore’s highest profile luxury watch chain The Hour Glass told AFP sales of Swiss brands have risen markedly in recent days, especially of Rolexes.

    Most of its stores along Orchard Rd sold 25 to 30 Rolexes each day last weekend – far more than the usual five or six. Most sales were of ‘entry level’ models, costing S$10,000 upwards.

    Some stores are running out of stock as shoppers snap up the luxury watches before an inevitable price rise fuelled by a 20 per cent increase in the value of the Swiss Franc relative to the US dollar and the euro.

    Another luxury watch retailer sold 20 Franck Muller watches over the weekend compared to the usual one or two a day.

    “The buyers are aware that retailers would soon raise the prices of our Swiss models,” a spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

    “About half of our customers enquire when it will happen and many are willing to make purchases in anticipation of this price rise.”

  • H&M extends Beckham deal

    H&M extends Beckham deal

    H&M has extended its global branding collaboration with football star David Beckham, with a whole new menswear collection for Spring 2015.

    Beckham will choose his favourite menswear pieces from the Modern Essentials collection at H&M, to create ‘Modern Essentials selected by David Beckham’. This new collaboration is a natural evolution of David’s relationship with H&M, following the unprecedented success of David Beckham Bodywear, and will allow men around the world to share in David’s globally recognised sense of style.

    Beckham is especially popular in Asia where following football is a regional pastime and his Bodywear ranges sold out in many of H&M Asian markets.

    Modern Essentials selected by David Beckham will be celebrated with a campaign shot by the famous film director Marc Forster.

    Beckham has also created a new bodywear spring collection for H&M. Both collections will be launched in stores and online worldwide on March 5.

    “I am thrilled to continue and extend my collaboration with H&M by selecting my favourite pieces from this spring’s Modern Essentials collection. Each piece is a new wardrobe classic that will update every man’s spring wardrobe with great style. Marc Forster is one of my favourite directors – I can’t wait to reveal the new campaign with H&M,” said Beckham.

    “Most of us are familiar with David’s innate sense of style and design, however it was his acute eye for cinematic storytelling that struck me during the filming of this campaign. He doesn’t make H&M clothing look good, he makes it look great,” said Forster known for directing the films Monster’s Ball, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace, and World War Z.

    Modern Essentials selected by David Beckham focuses on the important key pieces of the season, each updating a men’s classic in fresh fabrics, colours and fits for spring 2015. Key pieces include a linen bomber jacket; a white chalk-washed denim jacket; a car coat; a sharp linen blazer; a city-slick polo shirt and the perfect poplin white shirt.

    Meanwhile, Beckham’s new Bodywear collection includes loungewear pieces; Henleys, raglan-sleeved shirts, crewnecks and a jersey vest. The collection is centred around navy blue, grey melange and broken white, with accents of orange red. Stripes appear as either trims or across whole garments to add a new classic twist.

    The collection is supported by a brand new print campaign, featuring the star wearing selected looks from the David Beckham Bodywear collection, exclusively available at H&M.

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  • Van Heusen to target women

    Van Heusen to target women

    The Indian business of Van Heusen is planning a network of stores targeting solely women.

    Van Heusen, owned by Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, also plans to focus on repositioning its essentially denim-based youth fashion range Vdot.

    Brand head Vinay A Bhopatkar says the company will open up to 25 stores annually exclusively for women. It also plans another 50 stores annually for its menswear collection as it moves to target tier 2 and 3 cities, currently underserved and home to people with growing spending power.

    The company says womenswear accounts for about 10 per cent of its sales now but is the fastest growing segment of its business and projects it to grow by 50 per cent in the next three to four years.

    The Vdot retail network will also be expanded by 15-20 stores annually from the current network of 10. Currently a clubwear brand, the Vdot range will be expanded to provide clothing for more casual occasions as well.

    Van Heusen’s clothing is  sold through about 2000 points of sale, including 250 exclusive stores and 200 department stores.

  • How Roger Dubuis’ video campaign achieved low cost per view, per action

    How Roger Dubuis’ video campaign achieved low cost per view, per action

    This was the tagline of one of the videos published by Swiss luxury watchmaker Roger Dubuis under its innovative #GoodbyeCuckoo; #HelloExtraordinary marketing campaign.

    At around this time last year, the watch brand unveiled 30 films, each 50 seconds long showing various ways how o destroy 30 cuckoo clocks. The videos were posted on YouTube for over 30 days as a teaser to mark the countdown for Roger Dubuis’ main event for the year.

    The videos, according to Alvaro Maggini, Creative Director, Roger Dubuis, in a YouTube video testimonial, is very important for the brand because it is a means of conveying emotion. “There is a lot of humour, there is a lot of mystery, there are a lot of references that call to mind Fritz Lang, which gives a bit of a surrealist side,” he said in a video testimonial.

    So how do you destroy a cuckoo clock? In the video series, it was axed, set on fire, batted by a golf ball, submerged in water, blasted to smithereens, tied to a tree branch and chainsawed, bulldozed, microwaved.

    Highlighting the concept “undoing the past to create the future,” the taglines for each video were more powerful and aligned to the concept. Take this one: “Crushed to pieces, rebuilt into a masterpiece.”

    Alessandro Marcolin, Head of Media & Event, Roger Dubuis, said in an email interview, that the concept is about ripping apart established codes to better reinterpret them.

    “Ring out the old, ring in the new.” This is the essence of what Roger Dubuis does in Haute-Horlogerie, a contemporary reinterpretation of this secular art, with a total respect of the traditions. It was also to celebrate the rebirth our Hommage collection, and announce our incredible booth at the Salon International de la Haute-Horlogerie (SIHH) fair: a giant cuckoo clock. Everything is linked and makes sense when you see it under this angle,” he explained.

    Video, according to Marcolin, encapsulates a lot of messages and it is an impactful immersive visual medium. “People tend to read less and watch more videos, hence the trend towards video as marketing vehicle,” he said.

    Roger Dubuis has an in-house creative center and the filmography and communication visuals – including the “GoodbyeCuckoo; #HelloExtraordinary” campaign – are created internally.

    “We love to communicate with video, and we strive to be always innovators in this marketing channel,” Marconi said.

    The videos became a YouTube case study because of the record low cost per view and has appeared in the “Limitless Creativity” film showcased at the YouTube Brandcast Paris last September. It was received an award in the “Brand Content” category at the Grand Prix Stratégies /Amaury Médias du Luxe 2014 in France.

    Sequel: The Asian thrillers

    In September last year, the #GoodbyeCuckoo campaign was back. Seven new videos were uploaded on Facebook as part of the countdown to the second edition of Asia’s finest Haute Horlogerie Watches & Wonders Exhibition held in Hong Kong.

    The first video, entitled “Don’t mess with the Ming,” showed two swinging Ming vases crushing the Cuckoo clock. The second video, “Don’t tickle the dragon,” showed a dragon breathing fire to the Cuckoo. The other videos include a chef preparing a dimsum chopping the Cuckoo, while another was set on fire; the ashes used as an ink for calligraphy.

    Marcolin said Facebook was already used during the first campaign. The company used twice the same set-up: Youtube, Facebook and video seeding in blogs (through Ebuzzing and Unruly).

    “The first campaign had a record low cost per view, hence the Youtube case study, and the second campaign had a record low cost per action on Facebook,” he said. “But both campaigns performed extremely well on all three platforms.

    Marcolin disclosed that the two campaigns reached around 1.2 million views among all the platforms and 200,000 actions (clicks, shares) if the the Watches and Wonders and SIHH campaigns were integrated.

    In both campaigns, the target audience was a mix of opinion leaders in the world of fashion, design, creation and luxury/watch lovers. “The main objective was to create buzz around the presence of Roger Dubuis at the SIHH in Geneva and Watches and Wonders in Hong Kong, highlighting the differentiation of Roger Dubuis,” Marconi said. “We are an unconventional fine watchmaking brand and we communicate also in an unconventional manner.

    Following these successes, the company is now broadcasting a new thrilling digital countdown for the SIHH 2015, dubbed “The Astral Gateway”.

    Roger Dubuis has a strong presence in Asia and Marcolin said the company will continue to establish the brand through retail and communication, while it also develops other markets such as Middle-East or the Americas.

    Video marketing on Facebook

    According to Facebook, the number of video posts per person has increased 75 percent globally and 94 percent in the US over the past year. Globally, the amount of video from people and brands in News Feed has increased 3.6 times year-over-year.

    In Hong Kong, more than 50 percent of people who come back to Facebook in Hong Kong watch a video every day. Meanwhile, a TNS survey of Facebook users in Hong Kong revealed that 42 percent have posted videos or links to videos.

    “Facebook today is not just a social media platform. It is a mass media with over 4.5 million Hong Kongers accessing it monthly, and about 89 percent accessing via their mobile devices. Brands today can use Facebook to reach people they want to target anytime, any day,” said Anita Lam, Head of FMCG & Retail, Greater China at Facebook.

    Business used to be personal, Lam added, but then the coming of media made brands less personal though it was wonderful for scaling brands.

    “We are at the beginning of a big marketing shift. We now have the opportunity to do both – Facebook as a platform can help make marketing personal again,” she explained.

    Improved video metrics will help you understand the success of each video, to help guide your content strategy on Facebook.

    Metrics include: video views, unique video views, the average duration of the video view and audience retention. People will be able to see how many views your video on Facebook has received. Views will be shown on all public videos from people and Pages, to help people discover new, popular videos.

    “The Cuckoo is Dead. Long Live the Cuckoo.”

  • Worst yet to come for Myer and David Jones

    Worst yet to come for Myer and David Jones

    If the endless influx of global retailers is hitting David Jones and Myer where it hurts, it is just the beginning, a retail expert says.

    Retail Doctor founder and chief executive Brian Walker points to Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailingreport, which said that of the top 250 ­retailers, just 15 percent had a presence in Australia. “That means there’s a lot more to come,” he said.

    Nearly five years after cult denim retailer Gap opened its first Australian store in Melbourne, a steady stream of international retailers have invested in Australian bricks and mortar. The long list includes Sephora, H&M, Uniqlo, Zara, Topshop, Pottery Barn with Williams Sonoma, and Victoria’s Secret.

    Walker said the success of the international brands reflected Australian and New Zealander’s love of travel and awareness of these brands, as well as the online presence the stores had before launching. “Australian retailing is not facing a cyclical change but a large structural change,” he said.

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