Retail News CRM

Tag: Fashion

  • Tiffany & Co sales soars, China shines

    Tiffany & Co sales soars, China shines

    Tiffany & Co sales grew 10 per cent worldwide in the third quarter, with China performing strongly. Management of the luxury American jewellery retailer attributed sales growth to higher spending by local customers in all regions, partly offset by lower spending attributed to foreign tourists, primarily Chinese, in some markets. Worldwide net sales rose 10 per cent to US$3.1 billion, due to increased sales in all regions and product categories.

    Tiffany & Co sales in Asia-Pacific rose 4 per cent to $294 million in the third quarter, highlighted by strong sales growth in Mainland China.

    CEO Alessandro Bogliolo noted that third-quarter sales attributed to local customers (as opposed to tourists) continued to grow at a strong rate worldwide and were positive in every region, with particularly strong growth in Mainland China.

    “Jewellery volumes also increased in the quarter and year to date. This resulted in mid to single digit net sales growth in the quarter and even higher growth year to date, despite lower-than-expected spending in the third quarter attributed to Chinese tourists in the US and Hong Kong and lower wholesale travel-retail sales in Korea.”

    The increase in sales was counterbalanced by a drop in operating income of 22.9 per cent over the past year, attributed to higher spending on marketing, and investment in technology and its new digital channel.

    Neil Saunders, MD of GlobalData Retail, said his company’s consumer tracking shows that Tiffany’s brand recognition and affinity has increased sharply among consumers aged 35 and under.

    “A few years ago, this group was largely apathetic to Tiffany, viewing the brand as old-fashioned and irrelevant to their needs and tastes. In a relatively short space of time, Tiffany has started to shift that perception and demonstrate that it has something fresh to offer to younger consumers.”

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  • Marks & Spencer concept store opens in VivoCity Singapore

    Marks & Spencer concept store opens in VivoCity Singapore

    Marks & Spencer Singapore has opened a full-scale concept store in VivoCity bringing a vast array of its own-brand fresh foods and beverages to the city, some for the first time. The 15,500sqft store offers a broader range of fashion, a new food hall and fresh zone similar to the style of larger Marks & Spencer Hong Kong stores, a broader range of wines and the chain’s third coffee-to-go cafe in the city.

    The foodhall features nearly 3000 products selected from the UK department store’s range building on what the retailer describes as a growing demand in Singapore for M&S’s convenience food.

    Marks & Spencer Singapore has added a range of chilled foods and beverages, including perishables. The new store sells fruits, vegetables, yogurts, a selection of cheeses, fresh milk and ready-made salads and meals. Some products are new-to-market for the brand, including raw meat and pre-packed sandwiches, all air freighted from the UK daily.

     

    The coffee-to-go cafe offers speciality coffee and beverages along with patisserie foods including cakes and fresh pastry. An in-store bakery produces a selection of breads, scones and cookies daily.

    Fashion has not been left out in the VivoCity store’s revamp. Each fashion label is now clearly segmented, with distinct identities that allow customers to see which label best meets their personal style preferences. The brands are identified by different branding, visual merchandising and props. The VivoCity store will also be the sixth Marks & Spencer Singapore outlet to stock a kidswear range.

    “Customers are at the heart of everything we do at Marks & Spencer and we’re delighted to be bringing our exciting new shopping experience to customers in Singapore,” said Christine Choi, CEO at Marks & Spencer Asia.

    “Combining the best of our latest collections, together with our inspiring store environment and exceptional customer service, our store at VivoCity is truly special.”

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  • Luk Fook sales soar despite challenges ahead

    Luk Fook sales soar despite challenges ahead

    Thanks to positive Hong Kong market sentiment and lower gold prices, Luk Fook Holdings has reported a 25.1 per cent boost in sales in the September half year. The company says sales totalled HK$7.859 billion (US$1 billion) compared with $6.283 billion in the same period last year. Profit attributable to shareholders soared 27.9 per cent to $665.4 million.

    Sales in the Hong Kong market, the company’s key source of revenue, rose 31.2 per cent as mainland Chinese visitor numbers continued to grow and retail sentiment improved.

    Sales in Macau rose 19.9 per cent.

    However the company has warned that the US-China trade war and the depreciation of the Renminbi are starting to impact on sales in the second half.

    “Same-store sales growth in the Hong Kong and Macau markets … started to see a decline since the second half of October and recorded a single-digit drop for the period from October to [the] first three weeks of November,” the company said. “In Mainland China there was a double-digit drop.

    “Therefore, the group remains prudent about its business development in the second half of the financial year. Nevertheless, with the anticipated considerable growth of the middle-class population in Mainland China, the group remains optimistic about the mid- to long-term business prospects.”

    Luk Fook said that during the coming year, it will focus on enriching its product offer, expanding its footprint in Mainland China and adopting market-oriented strategies to penetrate into the mass market, covering the middle-class, wedding couples as well as kids.

    “The group’s target for net shop addition in Mainland China for this financial year will maintain at not less than 120 shops. The group is also committed to further developing its e-commerce business and strengthening cooperation with e-commerce platforms in Mainland China.”

    Targeting younger shoppers

    In light of the enormous spending potential of young consumers on online sales platforms, the company plans to step up its efforts to promote the sales of affordable-luxury jewellery products to expand its footprint in the young consumer market.

    “By understanding customers’ spending habits, the group will adopt holistic approach to penetrate into the markets for the middle-class, wedding couples and kids. It will also continue to attract customers and encourage local consumption by visual merchandising enhancement, cross-selling boosting and VIP promotional activities, so as to improve sales and profits. Given the importance of social media in product promotion, the group will continue to showcase and promote its products on mobile applications and social media platforms such as Facebook and WeChat.”

    During the first half of the financial year, Luk Fook added a net 94 stores to its ever-growing network, including 90 in Mainland China, where is closed six self-operated stores and opened 96 licensed stores. Two company-owned stores opened in Hong Kong, one in Macau, and one in Malaysia, with a new licensed shop opening in the Philippines, However, one licensed store closed in South Korea.

    The group now boasts a global network of 1725 Lukfook shops spanning Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines and the US.

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  • L’Occitane might be an interest for Advent

    L’Occitane might be an interest for Advent

    Hong Kong-listed beauty products retailer L’Occitane may be taken private after at least one expression of interest in the business from a private equity investor. London-based private equity group Advent International has reportedly enquired about acquiring the company, which has an estimated US$2.7 billion market value.

    L’Occitane’s appeal has grown since listing on the HKSE eight years ago in a move to pursue Asian customers. While none of the parties involved have commented, sources close to L’Occitane have confirmed to European business media that “a number of potential buyers” are showing signs of interest.

    L’Occitane is thought to be well-positioned to take advantage of a fast-growing cosmetics and skincare market in the region, brought on by the expansion of the middle class and the Chinese tourism boom.

    L’Occitane’s is chaired by Austrian investor Reinold Geiger, who has overseen its growth internationally to 1555 outlets in 90 countries. The firm is experiencing sales growth in Hong Kong and China, as well as the US.

    It recently unveiled new concept stores in Canada and New York showing its future direction.

  • Korean fashion firm Handsome unveils AI-designed clothes

    Korean fashion firm Handsome unveils AI-designed clothes

    South Korean fashion label Handsome says it will release the country’s first clothes designed with artificial intelligence technology. Handsome, an affiliate of Hyundai Department Store Group, said it joined forces with Designovel to create new patterns for clothes released under the SJYP brand. Designovel is a startup specialising in AI fashion technology.

    The fashion company said the first product, dubbed Dino Hood Tee, is printed with an image of a dinosaur and toy blocks designed by Designovel’s program, Style AI.

    The graphic was based on 330,000 images, including characters and logos, provided by Handsome.

    Style AI uses a convolutional neural network, which is an image processing technology to modify patterns.

    Handsome said it will review whether the AI technology can be applied in other areas of its fashion business.

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  • Atelier Cologne opens first pop-up in Kuala Lumpur airport

    Atelier Cologne opens first pop-up in Kuala Lumpur airport

    Atelier Cologne Travel Retail Asia Pacific announced the Southeast Asia airport debut of its pop-up concept at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). In collaboration with Malaysia Airports and Colours & Fragrances (C&F) under DR Group, the pop-up is now officially open till end February 2019 for arriving and departing passengers through the Satellite Building at KLIA.

    For the launch of the pop-up, cologners could enjoy a personalised fragrance profiling session to discover their very own scent.

    The background of the pop-up was also dressed up as a Parisian rooftop featuring a skyline of the elegant Paris, cobbled flooring and a rustic swing. This set-up will be available till end of December 2018.

    A gift and engraving workshop is offered to customers, allowing them to personalise the leather case of their perfume bottles with a name, initials or even a message.

    According to Nazli Aziz, Senior General Manager for Commercial Services, Malaysia Airports, the duty-free sales in the Asia Pacific region is growing significantly, largely driven by perfumes and cosmetics with a market value of USD 14 billion in 2017.

    As for KLIA, overall sales per passenger recorded a double-digit growth of 13 per cent in 2017.

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  • Esprit revamp to sacrifice staffs, stores

    Esprit revamp to sacrifice staffs, stores

    Esprit plans to axe 40 per cent of its non-store workforce as part of a radical restructure repositioning the brand for future growth. The embattled Hong Kong-listed fashion retailer is set to incur up to US$217 million in one-off charges as it shutters stores, revamps its stock range and embarks on a new marketing campaign, with a heavy accent on social media.

    The bold Esprit revamp plans were laid out in an investor presentation which revealed a new positioning statement for the company. It has trademarked the phrase “radical positivity” but describes it as “a mindset, not a slogan”.

    Senior management has led by example, the executive team already culled from 13 to just six, although the company is recruiting two more: a chief product officer and a CEO for Europe and the Americas.

    Those remaining executives, including Group CEO Anders Kristiansen, executive chairman Raymond Or, head of marketing Simon Heckscher and CEO for Asia Jan Olsen told investors that Esprit plans to eliminate overlapping functions and reduce hierarchy to become more lean and efficient and allow faster decision making. It will merge five offices at headquarters into one and reduce the size of the office in Hong Kong.

    The Esprit revamp will come at a cost with breakeven expected only in two to three years. But the result of running a leaner and more customer-focused business will drive profitable top-line growth in three to five years. The company is targeting an EBIT margin of between 5 per cent and 7 per cent, starting year five.

    In the current year, Esprit forecasts a further decline in sales in the “low double digits” resulting from store closures and a continuing decline in customer traffic. It forecasts a one-off bill of HK$1.5 to 1.7 billion in one-off restructuring costs.

    Next year it anticipates a return to revenue growth. “We have a clear plan with bold changes. We will return to sustainable growth and profitability,” the management team said.

    Store closures

    The current store portfolio is being reviewed to evaluate which will be closed, in a phased approach which has already begun and will continue into next year. The company has already shuttered 18 stores in Asia and another 28 in Europe have been closed, downsized or had their rents renegotiated.

    From mid-next year the company will start opening new outlets, targeting 220 in China by 2023 and another 78 stores in other Asian markets.

    The company wants to reduce personnel costs from 20 per cent of store operating expenses now to between 12 and 14 per cent, and occupancy costs from 37 per cent to between 25 and 27 per cent.

    Online, the company wants to reduce its dependency on Tmall by opening on other marketplaces around Asia and revamping its own e-commerce site.

    Elsewhere in Asia, the company wants to focus on India (where it opened its first brick and mortar store on November 16), Thailand and the Philippines.

    It also plans to revamp its wholesaling business with a new ‘best-in-class’ business model in place by next September.

    New model for the future

    Esprit says it is building “a new model for the future” – a powerful organisation with a restructured cost base and the executive team has delivered a detailed outline of how it will reconnect with customers.

    They were honest about the current state of the business: “Esprit has changed – maybe too much. Our brand identity is inconsistent and we don’t know what we stand for. We’ve lost touch with our audience due to lack of customer focus. Our product, quality and fitting must be improved. Bold changes are needed to return to sustainable growth and profitability.”

    But they said there are positive sides to the story: according to a Brand Health Tracker survey in July, Esprit enjoys 87 per cent brand awareness in Germany, one of its core markets, and it is the third favourite fashion retailer there.

    And they say the brand knows what it stands for. “We are not fast fashion and we are not a discounter.

    We are a brand with a purpose. We will know our consumers by heart, provide clear brand value and strong product proposition and shape a consistent end-to-end consumer experience. We stand for radical positivity, loving our customer and quality, always. This is about more than branding. This is about changing our entire mindset. This is about who we are. .. what we do … how we do it.

    “There will always be a customer base that wants well-designed, good-quality and affordable clothes, that last beyond one season.”

    The Esprit shopping experience

    The company plans to change the Esprit shopping experience online, on app and in store. The online store will be updated and enriched with storytelling and live streaming. It will improve packaging and by the end of this year, promises 90 per cent of EU online orders will be shipped using services which are carbon neutral or commit to reduced emission programs.

    A new store concept launched in August features improved customer service, visual merchandising that elevates the product, and “music that lifts the spirit”. Merchandising will be simple, surprising, fresh and playful and storytelling will employed with signage such as “These jeans will change your life. You won’t have to change.”

    Esprit also plans a heavy focus on Instagram where it currently has 313,000 followers. Social branding will increase featuring real-time content and happenings in the world. The target is to grow followers to 1 million within 18 months.

    Range revamp

    Meanwhile, the company has already started revamping its range, addressing fabric quality, fit and the balance of products.

    It will reduce the number of SKUs, reduce so-called ‘kick colours’ and strengthen neutrals.

    “We looked at sell-through rates and consumer data per colour. Our market survey shows our competitors offer 30-40 per cent black, while Esprit has 15 per cent,” the team explained. So Esprit will strengthen its offer of neutrals like black, white, grey and beige.

    From June next year the number of stock options will be reduced by between 20 and 30 per cent. The company believes having too many items leads to higher development costs and complex stock management, which dilutes the brand message.

    It will change the balance of basic, core and highlight lines from a dominance of highlight to a more even disbursement, as shown below.

    Esprit management has identified the rise of quality basic brands, body diversity, athleisure, casualisation and conspicuous consumption as among trends shaping the fashion industry and driving consumer preferences. In response, it plans to offer a more commercial assortment of clothing, improve the quality and fit, develop signature product classes and establish “a unique Esprit handwriting”.

    Quality will be enhanced through innovation, functionality, collaboration – such as a winter range featuring 3M insulation – and by looking for opportunities for storytelling online and in stores. The company believes this will boost the sell-through rate to 75 per cent at full price. It will use sustainable denim made from organic cotton and recycled, fibres.

    Pants, t-shirts and sweaters comprise more than 50 per cent of Esprit’s current range and those are the staples it wants to be known for in the future.

    At the heart of the “handwriting” Esprit refers to is a hub of internal designers which has been created to establish guidelines and directions. It will use information gathered from market trends, competitors and data from its Esprit Friends client base to shape future designs and collections. That work is already starting and will influence collections set for release in fall next year.

    China potential

    With plans for more than 220 new stores in China over the next five years, Esprit is mindful of first addressing shortcomings in that market.

    It admits Chinese consumers perceive Esprit as in line with lower-positioned brands and that they find stores tired and uninteresting. It acknowledges it is missing “basic retail operational focus” in China, has a complicated business structure there with too many layers and its sales associate incentive schemes are not aligned with normal market practice.

    Esprit says to recover ground in China it needs to refine the fit of its clothes for Asians, improve quality, adjust deliveries to seasons, improve colour proportions and reduce product options to suit store sizes.

    In future, about 70 per cent of the brand’s mainline international collection will be adapted for Asia with amended fitting and 30 per cent will be designed specifically for Asia.

    The company plans to launch a two-phase strategic marketing approach starting in January. First, discounting will be reduced, but a “deal feel” will remain in stores and staff will be incentivised to push full-price sales. In phase 2, starting September, markdowns will be restricted, targeted discounts will be offered via email and WeChat notifications, and a new marketing campaign launched to attract new customers.

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  • Kering’s new digital strategy revealed

    Kering’s new digital strategy revealed

    Customers draw inspiration from today’s hyperconnected world and they engage with luxury brands through the digital tools they use every day. In a fast-changing environment, the success of luxury houses depends upon their ability to offer creative propositions, and a consistent customer experience across all distribution channels and devices.

    In December 2017, Kering appointed Grégory Boutté as Chief Client and Digital Officer with the mission to carry out Kering’s digital transformation and to take the lead on e-commerce, CRM, data science and innovation for the Group. Since then, e-commerce has been the fastest growing channel for all Kering’s brands and represents 6% of the Group’s total retail sales for the first half of 2018.

    “Digital can be many different things at once – a distribution channel; a platform for offering seamless omni-channel services to clients; a driver of brand image and visibility; and a tool for engaging with customers in a personalized way. Digital technology, data science and innovation provide a way of offering our customers the best possible experience – on every touchpoint”, declared Grégory Boutté.

    Drawing upon his vision, Kering’s digital approach is based on the following objectives:

    • to provide the Group and its Houses with a real-time 360-degree view of their customers, and to deliver rich and personalized experiences;
    • to offer clients high levels of service, from initial transaction to after-sales;
    • to enable Kering’s Houses to develop close relationships with their clients and to adapt their offerings in order to meet specific needs.

    Today, Kering is announcing new milestones on its digital journey.

    The following initiatives will strengthen Kering’s focus on enhancing the Group’s omni-channel capabilities and further developing its Houses’ digital activities.

    In-store customer experience

    Kering is working on a suite of apps in partnership with Apple to be used by Houses staff in store, the first of which is a store experience app that enables sales associates in-store to access stock levels in real time to provide their customers with a fully personalized service.

    Via the app, sales associates know instantly if a specific size or color is available in-store or if it can be ordered from other stores; they can also give customized styling recommendations.

    Client service

    Kering developed a new approach to customer service with centralized teams in Europe and the US focused on addressing customers’ requests.

    Gucci, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta have dedicated teams, while other brands grouped their efforts under a single customer service unit, operated by Kering on their behalf.

    CRM and Communication

    Kering has launched several pilot projects using data science techniques to deliver personalized messages and experiences to customers, based on their profile and purchasing history.

    All Kering Houses have launched or are launching WeChat mini-programs in order to build as close a relationship as possible with their Chinese customers and to offer social commerce.

    E-commerce 

    Kering will leverage its in-house technology and operations team to fully internalize the e-commerce activities currently handled through the joint venture with YNAP.

    Following a highly successful and fruitful seven-year partnership with YNAP, these e-commerce activities will transition to Kering in the first half of 2020.

    Coordinated efforts and shared expertise with YNAP have enabled Kering Houses to enhance the level of service of their e-commerce websites. Most of them now offer services such as check availability, reserve in store, make store appointment, pick-up in store, return in store, exchange in store, and buy online in store.

    Kering will continue to develop partnerships with third-party e-commerce platforms when relevant.

    Digital capabilities

    A data science team has been created at Group level to improve the service provided to the clients of Kering’s Houses by making the best use of the available data.

    A China-based Client & Digital team is currently being formed. It will be responsible for adapting digital practices to the Chinese market, along with identifying and promoting innovations from China to other markets.

    Kering’s Group Innovation team has been tasked with two missions: to instill an internal culture of innovation (test-and-learn approach, quick sharing of discoveries, scouting business trends), and to work on disruptive technologies to further improve the client experience in the future in terms of business or environmental matters.

    Kering’s Chief Client & Digital Officer Grégory Boutté added: “These exciting new initiatives have been designed to meet – and exceed – the needs of our Houses’ customers and to ensure we continue to offer them an exceptional experience across all channels in a fast-changing global market. These opportunities have been made possible by the experience and know-how that Kering has gained over the years, notably through its successful joint venture with YNAP. We will continue to work with them post-transition and to enjoy a fruitful relationship.”

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  • Taiwan’s boutique Invincible coming to Shanghai

    Taiwan’s boutique Invincible coming to Shanghai

    Taiwanese streetwear boutique Invincible has opened a new store in Shanghai. The opening was marked by a brand collaboration with Japanese label Wacko Maria in the form of a capsule collection, which is on display within an in-store pop-up installation.

    The pop up’s striking-pink print wall and industrial rack set off the store’s otherwise understated design with untreated wood displays.

    The store is located at Soho Fuxing Plaza on Madang Road.

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  • Lanvin creative director departs the company

    Lanvin creative director departs the company

    Lanvin has announced the departure of its menswear creative director, Lucas Ossendrijver, adding to a turbulent few years for the French label. Appointed under the mentorship of former creative director Alber Elbaz, Dutch designer Ossendrijver served as the creative chief of the 129-year-old brand’s menswear department for 14 years.

    Elbaz, creative director of Lanvin’s women’s wear since 2001, left the house in October 2015 after falling out with majority shareholder Shaw-Lan Wang over the direction of the brand.

    In February this year, Wang sold the title to Chinese conglomerate Fosun International.

    French designer Bouchra Jarrar, who was Elbaz’s replacement, left Lanvin after just 16 months before her successor, Olivier Lapidus, stepped down after only eight months.

    Bruno Sialelli, former head of Loewe menswear, is reported to the front runner to replace Ossendrijver.

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  • Lush opens Tokyo tech-concept store

    Lush opens Tokyo tech-concept store

    After opening two concept stores in Milan and Berlin earlier in the year, British cosmetics retailer Lush has opened a third global concept store in Tokyo. While the Italian and German locations opened with a focus on packaging-free cosmetics, the Japanese retail outlet, which kicked off trade on November 22, will specialise in selling Lush’s bath bombs.

    Located in Harajuku, the tech-focused store will promote Lush’s best-selling bath bombs, as well as those new editions, and those known to be seasonal.

    Across two floors, Lush will also add limited-edition bath bombs sold exclusively in the new shop.

    Inspired by Japanese culture, the bath products reflect the style of the district’s Harajuku fashionistas “with their vivid colours and imaginative outfits to mythical creatures such as nine-tailed foxes,” according to a press release from Lush.

    Under the umbrella of Lush Labs, the new Tokyo store will serve as a retail experiment for future Lush stores, by incorporating online and offline retail experiences in the same setting.

    In doing so, consumers will enter a store void of signing and pricing, and even sinks typically used to demonstrate the product.

    Instead, shoppers will be encourage to shop online via the Lush Labs app, and view demonstrations and products digitally, as well as gaining ingredient detail, simply by scanning the naked bath bombs directly from their phone. In this vein, packaging is done away with too.

    “With Lush’s long term commitment to removing packaging from cosmetics, the Lush Lens feature uses the phone’s camera and Artificial Intelligence to support the customer in shopping packaging-free with ease and ensures they get all the important product information they require in a fun and environmentally-conscious way,” said Lush in a statement.

    Lush is increasingly experimenting its online retail in the offline world and will use “community feedback” from the Harajuku store as a source of research and ultimately reason to open more across the globe.

    “Customers are being invited into the R&D process once again, only this time to feedback on the retail experience as a whole, rather than just the product,” concluded Lush.

    “Each comment, reaction and critique sent back will help shape the future of the shop and each area of innovation launching within it.”

     

     

  • H&M announces closure of Cheap Monday

    H&M announces closure of Cheap Monday

    H&M is to close its Cheap Monday brand business to refocus on “core activities”. “Cheap Monday has a traditional wholesale business model, which is a model that has faced major challenges due to the shift in the industry,” H&M said in a statement announcing the closure.

    “There has been a negative trend in the Cheap Monday’s sales and profits for a long time.”

    The progressive closure process will start immediately, with the aim of being complete by June 30. The Cheap Monday retail store in London and Cheap Monday’s online store will close on December 31.

    “We need to constantly develop our business and what we choose to invest in,” said Anna Attemark, head of new business at H&M.

    “We see very good opportunities and great potential for all of the other brands within the new business [division], which all are developing positively both digitally as well as through physical stores,” she concluded.

    About 80 employees will be affected, however many are expected to be encouraged to apply for other positions within the group.

    H&M acquired Cheap Monday in 2008 from Swedish apparel company Fabric Scandinavien, a second hand store for high fashion and exclusive denim. The brand was originally founded to offer customers a more affordable denim option for customers and soon grew into a wholesale brand.

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  • Celine and Givenchy joins Paris menswear show schedule

    Celine and Givenchy joins Paris menswear show schedule

    After Hedi Slimane premiered Celine menswear via a co-ed catwalk show on September 28, the brand has announced that it will join the Paris menswear calendar in January 2019. Celine is currently negotiating a show date with the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, and it is not yet known whether the brand will present solely menswear, or whether Slimane will pepper the offering with womenswear as per his debut.

    The move is indicative of the fact that Celine’s parent company LVMH has got its sights set on the burgeoning menswear market.

    When Slimane took the helm in February 2018, it was made clear that the new category will be a key sales driver, along with leather goods, accessories and fragrances.

    “The objective with him is to reach at least two billion to three billion euros, and perhaps more, within five years,” LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said of Slimane’s appointment.

    In the last year, LVMH has appointed new head designers at Berluti, as well as the menswear divisions of Louis Vuitton and Dior. And, just weeks ago, Givenchy, another brand within the French conglomerate’s stable, announced that it will rejoin the menswear calendar for the autumn/winter 2019 season.

    As a growing number of brands, including Maison Margiela, Stella McCartney, Balenciaga, Haider Ackermann and Sonia Rykiel, merge their menswear and womenswear for the sake of presentations, LVMH is making great strides to make a splash on both schedules and to take a hold of both markets.

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  • Cover Story to launch accessories line soon

    Cover Story to launch accessories line soon

    Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail launched fast fashion brand Cover Story almost two-and-half years back with an aim to take international brands like Zara and H&M head on. The company then proceeded to set up a design house based out of London to develop cutting edge fast fashion. This design house was dubbed Future Style Lab, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Group, which developed and procured styles for Cover Story. And since then there has been no looking back.

    According to Manjula Tiwari, CEO, Future Style Lab, a fantastic growth has been seen for the brand, in terms of its popularity with customers and retailers alike. “Being just a 2.5 year old brand, Cover Story has established itself as a formidable competitor in the fast fashion space to international players. The brand is among one of the very few Indian brands to be present on ground floor locations across the leading malls in India, a great indication of the journey so far.”

    “We place customers in the centre of all that we do. Our product is a blend of latest trends and suitability in the Indian context and that has struck the right chord with our customers,” she adds.

    Target Audience

    The target audience of the fast-fashion brand is the 23 to 40 year old, financially independent woman with a rising disposable income which she loves to splurge on frequent shopping trips.

    “She thrives on social media, is a traveller in spirit and embraces new experiences. She frequently seeks to refresh her wardrobe. Feminine and eclectic, she switches effortlessly between Indian and western wear. Dressing up for her is a form of self-expression. She is modern but rooted,” says Tiwari.

    Store Design

    All Cover Story outlets are designed to recreate the intimate boutique and provide a comfortable shopping experience. The layout is layers of transparency with opacity, which encourages a sense of discovery while shopping.

    “A warm and neutral palette has been chosen for the store as well as all the equipment in it. Colours such as Rose Gold have been opted for, to give the place a feminine touch, to help women identify with the store,” states Tiwari.

    The display panels in the store are designed to look like magazine editorials. Exclusive fashion clusters display merchandise as if they were stories, luring women into reading them.

    Visual merchandising is done by and premium in-store windows are designed by London stylists on the lines of international luxury brands. The cash counter mimics a woman’s vanity bag, while changing rooms have seating for the comfort of waiting friends and family.

    “Customers can browse tablets with fashion content and styling tips. Cover Story’s in-store ‘selfie booths’ are bound to create brand excitement. Consumers can browse through stores and merchandise, share their personal information, and then have their shopping home delivered,” asserts Tiwari.

    Shoppers can even make a request for sizes not currently available at the store. A personal shopper then locates the size from other outlets and delivers it to consumer.

    Product Category

    The brand offers around 450 SKUs per season under the categories like dresses, tops, tees, trousers, skirts, shorts, jackets and sweaters.

    “We also do footwear and bags and are planning to launch a jewellery and accessories line,” reveals Tiwari.

    “Dresses and tops are our fastest moving categories because we provide a wide variety in both categories for all occasions. Also these categories are generally the most sought after categories by women in general,” she adds.

    Marketing Strategy

    The marketing strategy of the brand is a healthy mix of generating brand awareness and driving traffic to the stores to convert to sales.

    According to Tiwari, “We ensure our campaign imagery is of high quality and for that we shoot internationally to bring forth the true image of the brand, being designed in London. Locally, we rely on heavy mall activations and branding to steer the customer to our stores. We also turn to Instagram as a great tool to highlight our fashion authority in the market along with a lot of support from celebs and influencers.”

    “We believe the future of consumer engagement is to get personal – create a connect with the consumer through great experiences. We intend to bring our customers a connect to our London designers with regular events and interaction, and to create constant content around international fashion and style to establish Cover Story as a go to fashion authority for the Indian consumer,” she adds.

    Future Plans

    The brand, which has 23 EBOs, 61 SIS across the country and presence on 5 online channels, will cross 100 doors by the end of this year.

    “We have been more than doubling the turnover every year and same store sales growth has been in the health double digits. Currently online contributes 5 percent to the overall revenue and we see it growing significantly in the times to come,” concludes Tiwari.

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  • Luxury footwear label A.Testoni bought by Hong Kongese group Sitoy

    Luxury footwear label A.Testoni bought by Hong Kongese group Sitoy

    Hong Kong leather goods manufacturer Sitoy Group has acquired Italian luxury brand A.Testoni. Sitoy’s investment allows A.Testoni to maintain its brand identity and maximise on its artisanal heritage in a long-term strategy to drive the brand’s ongoing development.

    Sitoy’s chairman Michael Yeung Wah Keung said: “We are very pleased to welcome A.Testoni as a part of the Sitoy Group and work together to realise the full potential of the brand. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary this year, the acquisition marks an important milestone in the transformation of our retail and brand management business into a global dimension.”

    CEO of A.Testoni Bruno Fantechi said the acquisition comes after many years of fruitful partnership in Mainland China, where Sitoy has been a key partner in developing the brand’s distribution.

    “It recognises the inherent value in the brand’s unique levels of quality, craftsmanship and innovation which will drive significant future growth and development.”