🇳🇿 New Zealand Fashion Week’s future in doubt after cancellation. Just one month after announcing the cancellation of the 2024 edition, the annual event’s general manager Yasmin Farry has indicated that she cannot yet confirm plans for a 2025 edition. “Without a good number of New Zealand designers able to show, it simply wasn’t viable as we didn’t have a compelling programme, befitting of the world-class event that fashion week is,” she said, despite moving to a biennial cadence. “Brands and retailers are facing some pretty tough headwinds right now in New Zealand. The cost-of-living crisis has meant a decrease in consumer spending across most retail, smaller brands are closing down and one of our iconic department stores is closing its doors after 144 years (Auckland’s Smith and Caughey’s). Pretty sobering stuff.” According to Australian trade media Ragtrader, local brands that have recently shuttered or plan to do so include Carly Harris Design, Kate Sylvester, Maaike and Hej Hej. Founded in 2001 by Pieter Stewart, New Zealand Fashion Week was acquired by Feroz Ali’s Aligroup Ltd. in 2021 as it embarked on a three-year hiatus during the pandemic before making a return in 2023. [Ragtrader, 1News]

🇮🇳 Indian beauty major Good Glamm Group appoints international president. The Mumbai-based group has appointed Lauren Bloomer, a US-based industry veteran who served in executive roles at Becca Cosmetics, Estée Lauder and Clinique, to lead its international growth and expansion efforts. The content-to-commerce unicorn that began as DTC makeup brand MyGlamm before acquiring a stable of beauty, personal care and media brands struck a joint venture in April with Serena Williams to launch the tennis star’s cosmetics brand Wyn Beauty in the US. [Economic Times]

🇨🇳 Diesel seizes large haul of counterfeits in China. The OTB Group-owned Italian denim brand has confiscated over 40,000 handbags in Wuqia, Xinjiang province, under the supervision of Chinese customs. In January, Diesel revealed that a total of 80,000 counterfeit goods has been seized since the beginning of 2023, mainly from China, Turkey and Kosovo. [Sourcing Journal]

🇲🇽 TJX Companies to ink joint venture with Mexico’s Grupo Axo. The American off-price fashion retailer with over 4,900 stores across nine countries, including chains TJ Maxx, Marshalls and TK Maxx has partnered with Axo, a major multi-brand and multi-channel retailer of brands sold through more than 6,900 points of sale in Latin American markets such as Mexico, Chile, Peru and Uruguay. The transaction, which would see the joint business comprising Axo’s existing off-price network in Mexico including Promoda, Reduced and Urban Store banners, is expected to close later this year. [BusinessWire]

🇹🇲 Turkmenistan considers ways to reduce forced labour in cotton harvest. The Central Asian nation is said to be reviewing recommendations by the International Labour Organization that would see it adopt a roadmap of “priority actions” aimed at preventing state employees from being compelled into local cotton fields. If adopted, the new system would allow for hired labourers to lodge complaints about coercion and extortion and set a minimum wage. Over 100 brands and retailers previously signed a Cotton Campaign coalition pledge to boycott cotton from the world’s 10th-largest producer of the fibre while forced labour is in use. [Fibre2Fashion, BoF]

🇨🇳 More European clothing companies diversify away from China. Despite longer lead times and higher costs, a larger share of garment production is going to India, Bangladesh and Vietnam, according to Naveen Jha, who runs The Sourcing Place in China. However, China’s overall export volume across many categories is not being impacted too severely as Chinese exporters find new markets beyond Europe and the US and more Chinese-built factories crop up in overseas manufacturing hubs like Vietnam and Mexico. “How many shoes are produced in China is still pretty much the same as it was a couple of years ago [in this] musical chair type scenario,” said Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc. [Financial Times]

🇹🇷 Turkey’s apparel exports decline 11.1% in Jan-Apr 2024. The total value of exports during the period reached $5.6 billion. The knitted and crocheted clothing category fell by 8.9 percent, and non-knitted apparel category fell by 13.7 percent. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇮🇳 Indian skincare start-up Chosen raises $1.2 million in seed funding. The round, which secured investment from undisclosed friends and family members, follows an equity-free grant of $100,000 from Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA). “Our goal is to secure pre-series funding of $10 to $20 million later this year,” said Dr. Renita Rajan, founder of the Chennai-based formulations- and IoT solutions-focused brand.

🇦🇺 Australia Institute recommends sin tax-style penalty on fast fashion. The Canberra-based think tank has proposed several measures that it believes the Australian government should pursue, including a fast fashion tax on unsustainable, “problematic” products similar to the bill currently going through the French parliament. [Sourcing Journal]

🇱🇷 TLG Capital invests in Liberian-Burkinabe brand Liberty & Justice. The London- based Africa-focused alternative asset management firm founded by Zain Latif has injected an undisclosed amount in the swimsuit brand founded by Burkina Faso native Georgie Badiel Liberty and her husband, Liberia-born Chid Liberty. Also, “our factory in Liberia is getting an injection from a potential acquisition that we hope to close which will source product from Liberia,” said Liberty, who currently produces in Morocco and sells in over 250 Target stores in the US. [Semafor, BoF Inbox]

🇨🇳 Zara is expanding its Chinese live commerce model to the US and Europe. The Spanish high street brand has employed digital catwalks, fitting room tours, and “behind-the-scenes” content for its livestream e-commerce sessions on local TikTok counterpart Douyin since November, using a Shanghai-based team of around 70 people for the China-based broadcasts. [Jing Daily]

🇦🇺 Australian jeweller Lovisa names John Cheston as chief executive. The Sydney-based Australian listed company founded by billionaire Brett Blundy in 2010 that currently has a retail footprint of 854 stores across more than 40 countries and territories has appointed the boss of local stationery and accessories chain Smiggle, to replace Victor Herrero who will leave the company in May next year. [Australian Financial Review]

🇮🇳 India’s Hindustan Unilever Limited promotes Arun Neelakantan. The Mumbai-based beauty and personal care giant, whose portfolio includes brands like Lakmé, Glow & Lovely, Dove and Pond’s, has named its former chief digital officer as executive director, customer development, replacing Kedar Lele. [Economic Times]

🇯🇵 Japan’s Kosé opens a standalone store in the US. Kosé Corporation, one of the country’s largest beauty conglomerates with a portfolio of 37 brands such as Decorté, Sekkisei, Addiction and Tarte sold across 68 countries and regions, has opened a Maison Kosé store in Los Angeles. Until now the company’s Japanese brands have only been available in the US through department stores and other multi-brand channels. [Morningstar]

🇺🇾 Brazil’s O Boticario enters Uruguay with partner Grupo AJ Vierci. The Brazilian cosmetics and skincare giant has opened two stores in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo through a partnership with the Paraguay-based regional firm. The brand’s Curitiba-based parent company Grupo Boticario has over 4,000 stores in Brazil, including mono-brand outlets and multi-brand chain Beauty Box, and operations in more than 15 countries. [FashionNetwork]

🇨🇳 Anta names China’s Fan Zhendong as brand ambassador. The Chinese activewear brand has added the Olympic table tennis champion to its endorsement roster, which includes Zhang Jike and Ma Long. [Jing Daily]

India’s fashion retailers were in a fluster earlier this year when local media suggested that one of the country’s largest conglomerates was about to bring a game-changing new competitor to the market. The alleged deal between Reliance Industries and Primark has since been denied by both companies but it is only a matter of time before lower-priced chains turn their focus to the country. Just last month, Reliance’s retail unit secured a local partnership with Asos, another mass market player popular in the UK.

Indian consumers have had a decade or more to get acquainted with global fast fashion and high street giants like Zara and H&M, though Uniqlo and others touched down more recently. Now, most big names in this price bracket are in expansion mode across the country. In April, Inditex confirmed it will bring Bershka to India “in the coming months.” The Spanish group’s flagship brand Zara has been in the market since 2010, through a partnership with Trent Limited, part of the Tata Group.

Zara’s early entry served as a litmus test for the feasibility of the Indian market, and the brand now has a footprint of 23 stores. Its main rival H&M followed in 2015 but has demonstrated a more rapid pace of expansion. The Swedish brand counts 62 stores across 29 Indian cities today.

“India is a priority market for us, and we’re focused on expanding both physically and digitally here in a big way. We’ve already opened four new stores this year, with more to come,” said Amit Kothari, head of customer activation and marketing at H&M India.

With India’s luxury and accessible luxury markets in the spotlight, it only follows that the country’s mass fashion sector is poised for substantial growth, presenting ample opportunities to both overseas and local companies.

India’s mass fashion segment was worth €16 billion ($17 billion) in 2023, according to Bain & Company.

“The Indian [mass] market proved to be very dynamic in recent years, solidly rebounding post-Covid,” said the consultancy’s senior partner Federica Levato, noting a compound annual growth rate of 15 percent between 2020 and 2023, twice that of the global market. “The market is expected to keep its dynamism going forward and post a low-double-digit growth rate to 2028 versus the mid-single digit expected for the global market.”

Future growth will be fuelled by India’s economic development, its swelling middle class population with growing purchasing power, and a ‘youth bulge’ that will become a demographic dividend in the years to come. Around 66 percent of India’s total population — more than 808 million people — is below the age of 35, according to the International Labour Organization.

However, the mass market is increasingly competitive. India is already home to several international players, such as Mango, Bestseller Group’s Vero Moda, Forever21 and Gap to name a few. These players have domestic counterparts in popular local brands such as Westside, Fabindia, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons and Reliance Trends alongside e-commerce offerings from the likes of Myntra, Nykaa Fashion, Ajio and Amazon India.

This organised cohort of local and international brands sits alongside a fragmented group of homegrown direct-to-consumer labels, Instagram-only shops, shopping arcade sellers, informal street markets, mom-and-pop-shops, and export surplus stores (stores which sell branded stock sourced from garment manufacturers that are rejected for not passing final quality checks).

But what makes Indian consumers choose one fashion item over another in this unique and rapidly changing segment of the market?

Into the psyche of the Indian consumer

Homegrown online fashion e-tailer Myntra, a key player with 2.3 million styles to choose from, has been able to track the evolution of Indian consumers by studying the company’s more than 55 million active monthly users.

Jayanti Ganguly, VP of business at Myntra (whose parent Flipkart Group was acquired by Walmart in 2018), explains that “Indian consumers [in the age bracket of 18 to 42] used to be largely brand-driven, but in the last few years we’ve seen a shift towards a trend-first approach. The Indian high-street consumer is seeking trends before anything else now.”

Umashan Naidoo, head of customer and beauty at Westside (also part of Tata Group’s Trent Limited), one of India’s leading homegrown fashion and lifestyle retailers going back to 1998, emphasises the importance of agility and speed to draw in the trend-conscious Indian consumer.

“It’s really about, ‘What’s new? How fast can we get it? And what’s after that?’ So, we have over a hundred new SKUs every Friday. And over 500 new SKUs every fourth Friday,” he said. Westside sells 25 in-house brands across categories of western wear, lingerie, loungewear, traditional Indian wear, beauty and more.

Ganguly echoes the importance of speed. “It’s all very real-time. If Kim Kardashian is wearing a dress, there will be instant searches on that style,” she said, noting that many trends are now global. Last year, for example, Myntra saw a 550 percent increase in keyword searches such as ‘hot pink’ and ‘barbie-core’ around the release of the movie “Barbie.”

But it is often local superstars and influencers who have sway over many trends and consumption patterns. Myntra, for example, saw demand surge for their Bollywood-inspired looks during the latest festive season, with saris being a favourite.

And while there is a case to be made for luxury brands going beyond predictable celebrity marketing tactics, in the case of high street brands, Bollywood promises desired eyeballs among the masses. Many famous faces have been roped in to do just that: Katrina Kaif for Uniqlo, Kiara Advani for Mango, Ananya Panday for Only and Amazon Fashion, Shanaya Kapoor for Madame, and Athiya Shetty for H&M’s 2023 Diwali campaign to name a few.

Some celebrities have also launched their own high street brands, Salman Khan’s Being Human was an early example. Virat Kohli has menswear brand Wrogn, Hrithik Roshan’s HRX is focused on activewear, and Saif Ali Khan’s House of Pataudi does Indian wear drawing on the actor’s royal lineage. Alia Bhatt’s kids and maternity wear brand Ed-a-Mamma got the backing of Reliance last year.

“Partnering with a celebrity helps with the top of the funnel, that is awareness. But it cannot guarantee success. Actual conversions boil down to so many other attributes, including your actual product,” said Preeta Sukhtankar, who founded direct-to-consumer label The Label Life back in 2015, with celebrities Malaika Arora, Bipasha Basu and Sussanne Khan as ‘style editors’ for its various verticals.

“The associations need to run deeper, and brands need to think beyond lazy marketing,” added Sukhtankar, who exited the company in 2022 when Goat Brand Labs bought a 90 percent stake.

Brands must also ensure that new launches do not lag behind those in other markets. H&M, for example, releases collections in India aligned with their global calendar, and this includes designer collaborations such as those with Rabanne, Giambattista Valli and Simone Rocha. “The Indian customer doesn’t want to go like, ‘Oh I saw this during my vacation in Paris a few months ago and it’s only come to Indian stores now’,” conceded H&M’s Kothari.

Pricing is a key consideration for the local mass market. Levato says that Indian fast fashion consumers are “typically more price-sensitive compared to other nationalities.”

Aparna Rajagopalan, design research director at Bengaluru-based consultancy Icarus Design, agrees. “In most cases, consumers are likely to go for the cheaper option, but one that still suits their style.”

Sukhtankar likens it to the mindset showcased in Amazon’s previous ‘Aur Dikhao’ (meaning ‘show me more’ in Hindi) campaign. “The consumer, especially the younger ones, can just keep going, and going, and flirt with every brand, until they find the best thing for the best price.”

Naidoo thinks that the consumer psychology is more nuanced, though. He labels Indian consumers, no matter the income group they belong to, as value seekers. “So yes, they are very price sensitive, but brands don’t need to throw it in their face by having a big board saying ‘now 399 rupees’. Let them be inspired by the garment, and then wowed by the price too.”

“At Westside, if something doesn’t work, we take it off the shop floor, but don’t discount it. The first price is always the right price for us,” Naidoo added.

And then there is the case of the ‘non-metro’ consumers, which is a very important market to tap. Myntra says 65 percent of its new customers came from these smaller cities last year. One of H&M’s most recent store openings was in tier-two city Siliguri, and stores are available in many others including Dehradun, Aurangabad, Bhopal and Mangaluru. Of Westside’s 233 stores across 86 cities, 78 are in tier-two and tier-three cities.

Even so, Sukhtankar feels there is a large gap in communication with this segment. “You can divide the consumer into India and Bharat — urban and non-urban — but brands are only speaking to the former.” Most brands, whether Indian or international, are stuck in the loop of speaking to the limited cohort living in posh districts of Mumbai and Delhi, not actively thinking of shoppers in cities like Hyderabad or Indore, despite their spending power, suggests Sukhtankar.

Challenged by the ‘India only’ wardrobe

Unlike other global markets, traditional wear is still an integral part of business in India, with numerous domestic brands dedicated to selling kurtas, churidars and saris for daily wear.

“The so-called ‘staples’ many brands are trying to sell in India are all wrong. They are often chosen by looking at what’s happening abroad. Take a white shirt, for example. It’s not as relevant in India as it is in western markets,” said Sukhtankar. “Because the truth is most of India is still shopping for co-ord sets and Lucknowi kurtas,” she adds.

This is the sweet spot where brands like Zudio, Style Union and Westside manage to find success, suggests Sukhtankar, as they offer both categories, and at attractive prices. Other brands have found their niche in uniquely Indian womenswear staples — like GoColors’s focus on coloured leggings and churidars.

To compete against smaller local players, deep-pocketed international brands have the option of scaling their offering to provide variety but in a market like India localisation is key.

International brands do try to localise their offerings around key festivities, especially Diwali and the wedding season but in most cases these are curations from within existing collections. H&M’s collaboration with Sabyasachi in 2021 iss a rare example of a customised collection that featured a sari and kurta sets.

To further contextualise their collections for a local audience, mass market brands can work with guest curators such as tastemakers, celebrities or even local designers. Indian companies have pursued such pairings for some time but recent examples include Dhruv Kapoor for Ajio Luxe, and more recently, Jodi Life for Nykd by Nykaa.

In India, sizing is another pain point in mass produced collections from international brands which follow standardised metrics more suited to European and American body types. This is where the hack-loving Indian consumer uses easy and cost-effective access to neighbourhood tailors to their benefit. Either they alter mass market pieces that don’t fit well or have the designs replicated at a cheaper price.

“They also get innovative to tweak styles they’ve already purchased to fit within the framework of socio-cultural restrictions and their definitions of modesty,” said Rajagopalan, adding that they may “add sleeves to a strappy outfit, take a plunging neckline higher or lower a slit when the styles are considered inappropriate or too revealing.”

Another segment of the mass market where international brands struggle to compete is the ‘Indo-western’ or ‘fusion’ aesthetic. Brands like Fabindia and Anokhi are emblematic of this style intersection. “It’s very unique to our culture where you could have western silhouettes with Indian fabrics, style a crop top with a sari or wear a western outfit with Indian jewellery. And this kind of mashup is not going anywhere,” said Rajagopalan.

“[Western] fast fashion brands don’t have deep enough insights into Indian culture and can benefit from a more nuanced understanding of the diversity of this market,” she added.

Local brands like Zudio, however, serve this segment naturally, suggests Naidoo. “We’re saying: listen, you want to wear a kurta with jeans? I have it for you. You want to wear a flippy dress or wide-leg jeans? I have that too for you. There is a certain elasticity in the offering.”

To cater to a country like India — which has “many Indias within India,” as industry insiders often like to say — there is no one-size-fits-all formula to success. But deeper penetration is possible for international brands through India-exclusive collections, collaborations with local designers, targeted strategies for different regions, and a greater understanding of local retail culture.

Summer’s most standard sandal is getting a fashion-forward upgrade.

This week, Havaianas, the Brazilian brand that’s made $20 rubber flip-flops for over 60 years, is rolling out a collaboration with Italian luxury label Dolce & Gabbana. The collection features four classic Havaianas’ flip-flops done in classically D&G maximalist prints, including leopard, zebra and bright, illustrated florals. At $138, they’re priced over six times higher than a standard pair of Havaianas, and will be sold at luxury retailers like Selfridges and Galeries Lafayette, as well as on both brands’ direct-to-consumer websites.

It’s all part of Havaianas’ plan to harness this current moment, where its flagship shoe is on the upswing.

The brand, which saw its first-quarter profits increase nearly 9 percent and sales go up 3 percent from 2023 to 2024, is focussing on getting in front of consumers. D&G is its third collaboration this year, following team-ups with fellow Brazilian-born label Farm Rio in March and lifestyle label Maison Kitsuné in April. Last fall, it rolled out a new brand campaign, and this summer, it will further lean into out-of-home advertising and in-store display to maximise its busiest season.

“Being part of people’s lives again is a must for us,” said Maria Fernanda Albuquerque, vice president of global marketing at Havaianas’ parent company Alpargatas SA. “Flip-flops are super on trend, so we need to ride this wave.”

It’s a good time for the sandal seller to align itself with a luxury label (even if it’s one with a controversial past). The luxury market can’t seem to get enough flip-flops. Major brands, including Chanel, Loewe, Prada, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Tory Burch and Louis Vuitton, are all selling pairs, plus fashion favourites like Jil Sander, Toteme and Khaite.

Nostalgia is, of course, a driving factor. (Even the Millennial favourite squishy “Floaties” flip-flops are back; a made-for-2024 version is available at Free People and Amazon.) But the flip-flop’s coming resurgence is proof that even in the age of TikTok micro-fads, the standard playbook for driving trends is alive and well: It’s trickled through the upper echelons of the fashion industry, and now is poised to break through to the masses.

Sales haven’t yet seen an uptick, according to market research company Circana, but it’s still early on in the trends’ lifespan. Nikolas Minoglou, co-founder and CEO of footwear seller Ancient Greek Sandals, said the brand didn’t see much wholesale interest nine months ago, which he attributed to caution around an unproven trend. On its DTC channels, however, its seen flip-flop sales increase threefold this year. Minoglou added that he believes the increase could have been four or five as much if the company had the stock. (Ancient Greek Sandals is currently producing more of its flip-flop styles to meet demand.)

This wave of flip-flops and thong sandals are better suited to a dinner out than a day at the pool. The Row kicked it off with the debut of its Ginza sandal — a $990 flip-flop with a leather or suede upper and a one-inch platform — in 2019; by the Spring 2024 season, elevated takes on the flip-flop were appearing on the runway at Chanel, Staud, Ferragamo, Proenza Schouler and more. Now, Madewell and Gap are selling more thong-inspired sandals, as well as direct-to-consumer players like Rothy’s (which is owned by the same parent company as Havaianas) and Reformation.

“I used to only wear flip flops home from pedicures, it wasn’t something that I’d walk around in all day,” said Rachel Cohen Smolyar, a content creator and a former buyer for Bergdorf Goodman. “But obviously when big brands like The Row are pushing a shoe, people are going to buy them.”

Fashion’s Take on Flip-Flops

In some ways, today’s flip-flops are different from the ones that came before; in others, they’re eerily familiar.

Styles that were aughts staples, like Havaianas, are making their way back into the fashion conversation, as are platform flip-flops, which saw searches increase 255 percent this spring, according to analytics platform Trendalytics. But there’s also more unique twists, from versions that extend to wrap around the wearers’ ankle (think Miu Miu’s popular Riviere cord and leather sandals) to more dressed-up styles with a kitten heel — Trendalytics found that searches for kitten heel flip flops increased 700 percent in April.

J.Crew, Loft, Mango and even Old Navy, synonymous with rubber flip-flops, have introduced leather (or faux) versions, many unmistakably inspired by The Row’s Ginza or its City or Beach styles. Havaianas, too, has introduced a more stylish square-toed version of its rubber flip-flop, plus a number of new silhouettes inspired by the thong shape or introducing design details like chains and buckles to the rubber silhouette.

Giving a utilitarian sandal a fashion upgrade is a playbook that’s worked in the past. Look at Birkenstock, which has collaborated with the likes of Jil Sander and Rick Owens, and seen its stock rise by over 60 percent since its October 2023 IPO.

Likewise, these updates will help consumers consider flip-flops for a different setting, beyond the pool.

“What the industry is really struggling with lately is consumers pulling back on their buying, newness and innovation becomes more important.” said Beth Goldstein, executive director and footwear industry analyst at Circana. “It’s not necessarily recreating the wheel but evolving it. So people are like, ‘I had this but now it’s something new that I don’t have in my closet, so I’m going to go for it.’”

Behind the Rise of the Flip-Flop

The flip-flop’s current prevalence is also a reminder that despite how much TikTok dominates the conversation, with its rapid-fire, hyper-specific trends like “mob wife” and “coastal grandmother,” it’s still possible for the old rules of trends to apply, particularly when thinking about the rise of an overall product category.

“Nowadays sometimes we see trends on TikTok, in the masses first,” said Kendall Becker, director of trend and editorial strategy for analytics platform Trendalytics. “This was hands down sparked by runways and luxury.”

Goldstein attributes the lack of a sales bump so far to the fact that seasonal footwear generally is softer than more year-round styles like loafers and sneakers. According to Becker, it may be because people may be seeking out specific shoes, like The Row’s Ginza.

There’s reason to believe that shift will begin this summer. According to Trendalytics, searches for thong sandals were up 12 percent in May; as temperatures rise, more people will reevaluate their sandal collection. The options are certainly available, and as influencers further embrace the style, consumers are likely to follow.

“For some reason the flip flops make you look cooler, like wearing an evening dress and flip flops,” said Christina Martini, the co-founder and designer of Ancient Greek Sandals. “We’ve seen that a lot lately, that creates an appetite for it.”

Last week, designer Marc Jacobs made plain a position he said he’s held since 2018: his brand doesn’t work with, use or sell fur, and it won’t in the future either.

The statement posted on Instagram followed aggressive campaigning by activists that not only targeted Marc Jacobs stores, but also the homes of the brand’s leadership, with protests the designer described as “bullying.”

To be clear, The Humane Society of the United States — the animal welfare advocacy organisation where I work — doesn’t support such tactics. We believe they can alienate people and cut off chances for dialogue. Instead, it’s better long-term to build positive relationships with brands and retailers.

But in our efforts to build such bridges, we’ve observed a different brand of bullying quietly but relentlessly exerted by the owner of the Marc Jacobs brand, LVMH.

For instance, in 2018 we worked with Claire Waight Keller, then creative director for LVMH’s Givenchy brand, to announce a fur-free policy. The only problem was, LVMH wouldn’t allow it, insiders told me at the time. Still, Keller was determined to dissociate herself and Givenchy from fur, and went public with her position in an interview with InStyle editor-in-chief Laura Brown. In a similar fashion, LVMH’s Celine hasn’t used fur since its Spring/Summer 2019 womenswear collection, quietly slipping a formal fur ban into its communications in late 2022.

Marc Jacobs first came on our radar in 2012, when we discovered that multiple Marc by Marc Jacobs jackets advertised as containing “faux fur” were actually made with animal fur. After further testing, we determined that the fur came from a raccoon dog, a species in the same family as domestic dogs. Our investigation landed on the front page of a New York tabloid with the headline, “Bark Jacobs.”

Raccoon dogs have been skinned alive for their fur and we reached out to Marc Jacobs then, and several more times in the following years, to see if it would be open to a conversation about moving away from animal fur — or even just raccoon dog fur. At the very least, we hoped to work with the company to understand federal law and label its fur products correctly, so consumers wouldn’t be duped into buying something they would rather avoid. No one from the company responded.

Eventually Marc Jacobs did stop using fur in 2018 (though the designer declined to officially declare his brand fur free at the time). Yet five years later, the company teamed up with LVMH fur and leather goods giant Fendi and sent fox fur hats down the runway at New York Fashion Week. Though the brands said the fur used in the collection was “upcycled,” it sparked the protests that ultimately culminated in this week’s statement.

In defence of Marc Jacobs, it’s not clear how much say he had over his label’s fur policy given the experience we’ve observed with other LVMH brands, which appear to have been guided away from public statements on their fur policies (the group did not respond to a request for comment).

The French luxury giant’s quiet pressure extends beyond its own maisons as well. Just last month, LVMH sent a delegation to Brussels to try to dissuade members of the European Commission from moving forward with an EU ban on fur production, according to investigative media Glitz, even though opinion polls show most Europeans support such a step and 20 EU countries have already introduced their own bans.

The approach taken by LVMH rival Kering, which has proclaimed its opposition to fur loudly, cuts a stark contrast. To be sure, the Gucci owner always had a smaller fur business with little bearing on its brands’ heritage or luxury positioning. And its leadership was early to grasp that granting its brands the autonomy to publicly quit fur would boost their cultural relevance and market positioning, with little damage to the bottom line.

When Gucci went fur-free in 2017, saying the material was “outdated” and not “modern,” the calculus was a game-changer for the fur market, and the brand continues to benefit from the marketing halo created by its stance. After Gucci, several other Kering brands went fur-free, including Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Saint Laurent. And in 2021, Kering announced an across-the-board fur-free policy, saying it had “no place in luxury.”

Self-interested though they may be, policies like these have encouraged more innovation in developing fur alternatives. Increasingly, options are coming to market that are not only animal-free, but plastic-free as well, putting further pressure on the fur trade.

Marc Jacobs may feel a bit aggrieved at the moment, but his fur-free announcement is something to celebrate, and we are confident he will feel better about his decision soon enough. We hope fashion fans around the globe will show the brand some love. And who knows, maybe LVMH will stumble out of the fog to join the rest of the industry in seeing self-interest in a more compassionate path.

PJ Smith is the director of fashion policy for the Humane Society of the United States.

The views expressed in Op-Ed pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Business of Fashion.

How to submit an Op-Ed: The Business of Fashion accepts opinion articles on a wide range of topics. The suggested length is 700-1000 words, but submissions of any length within reason will be considered. All submissions must be original and exclusive to BoF. Submissions may be sent to opinion@businessoffashion.com. Please include ‘Op-Ed’ in the subject line and be sure to substantiate all assertions. Given the volume of submissions we receive, we regret that we are unable to respond in the event that an article is not selected for publication.

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Generation Z, or Gen-Z — those born roughly between 1995 and 2009 — today account for more than two billion people, or about 30 percent, of the global population, according to the World Economic Forum. Next year, Gen-Z is estimated to make up 27 percent of the global workforce and have a spending power of $450 billion, according to the BBC in 2023.

“Reinventing Influence: The Gen Z Impact on Fashion Marketing” is the latest report by software, data and insights company Launchmetrics, offering expert analysis and insights on its global data on brand and influencers’ media impact value (MIV): a proprietary algorithm created and trademarked by Launchmetrics to measure and benchmark the impact of all media placements and mentions across different voices and channels in the fashion, lifestyle and beauty industries.

Ranking fashion and lifestyle brands and retailers across the luxury, premium and mass-market segments, assessing their market position according to MIV and those generating the greatest growth, the Launchmetrics report assesses the most impactful brands and case studies on leading examples in each category.

Below, BoF shares extracts from the report, spotlighting which fashion and retail brands are currently performing well in terms of MIV.

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Luxury Brands Insight: Building a Brand on Viral-Worthy Content Moments

BoF: After more than a decade of rapid growth in the luxury segment, brands are experiencing a challenge in maintaining momentum today. However, growth at Prada’s Miu Miu label is far outpacing the wider luxury market, with retail sales up 58 percent in 2023. A key part of the strategy is about generating media mentions to telegraph the brand to a bigger potential audience — its micro-mini skirt for Spring/Summer 2022, for example, caused a media sensation. Critically, you didn’t need to buy the skirt to participate in the conversation — young audiences would slash skirts at home and still feel part of the moment.

Launchmetrics Report: Overall, there has been tremendous growth in the luxury industry since the pandemic. The top 20 brands alone represent an average of 69 percent growth in MIV in just 3 years, with Dior, Chanel and Louis Vuitton taking the top 3 places. Loewe, Celine, Miu Miu and Valentino all saw significant hikes in their MIV.

Miu Miu has always been known as the younger sister of Prada, but staying young and relevant is just as hefty a task as it is for any other brand. The Italian luxury brand knows it’s not just down to mastering the product – collaborating with the right Voices is key. For the debut of the SS24 collection, Sydney Sweeney, Emma Chamberlain, Zaya Wade and Alix Earle all attended the show and boosted buzz for the brand across socials.

Within this segment, the celebrity voice saw significant growth over the past few years, more than quadrupling its value, from $1.7B to $7.6B (+347 percent hike, the most across all voices across all segments). The voice with the second highest growth was influencers (+177 percent).

Discover more insights in the report, including Schiaparelli’s immense growth in MIV since the pandemic and the strategy behind it, from Kylie Jenner’s lion dress look and Doja Cat’s head-to-toe red crystal-studded look on the front row at the SS23 Haute Couture show.

Premium Brands Insight: Tapping into Topics that Matter to Gen-Z

BoF: Premium brands have benefitted from well-timed celebrity campaigns, from Skims’ casting of “The White Lotus” actors Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Grannò for its Valentine’s Day 2023 campaign and Calvin Klein’s Spring 2024 campaign with “The Bear” actor Jeremy Allen White, resulting in a 30 percent year-over-year increase in underwear sales. Consumers are increasingly gravitating towards relatable and authentic influencers than other attributes such as an aspirational lifestyle or celebrity status, according to the BoF-McKinsey consumer survey for The State of Fashion 2024.

Launchmetrics: Kim Kardashian’s brand, Skims, went from not even appearing in top 20 in the year of the pandemic, to topping the charts with an MIV of $638M in 2023 (+407% since 2020).

Founded in 2019, Skims is now reportedly worth $4B and is the ultimate example of influencer marketing success. Not only did Kim Kardashian propel the brand’s Media Impact Value through her own fame, but also through collaborations with a wide array of celebrities (such as Cardi B, Sza or Brazilian soccer player Neymar da Silva Santos Junior).

By addressing an untapped niche of shapewear and loungewear for people of all colors and sizes, Skims has cultivated a distinct lifestyle and community that resonates with the value of inclusivity and the needs of the newest generation of shoppers.

American brands hold dominance in the top 10 premium brands (Skims, Calvin Klein, Coach, Levi’s, Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger). The average growth in MIV among the top 20 brands over the years is +114 percent (compared to 69 percent for luxury).

For premium brands, the influencer voice has seen an incredible hike of 214 percent from $2.1B in MIV to $6.6B. However, the celebrity voice is the one that has seen the biggest growth, at 262 percent.

Discover more insights in the report, including Levi’s strategy to connect with the younger, eco-minded generation, tapping influencer Emma Chamberlain.

Sportswear and Mass Market Brands Insight: Focus on Comfort and Cultural Moments

BoF: Sportswear continues to be a stand-out category in 2024 and Nike continues to dominate the segment by a wide margin, continuing to tap high-profile athletes to create bold ad campaigns, aligning the brand with cultural moments and social causes in doing so. This approach typically resonates with Gen-Z, who like to align themselves with brands that share their values around issues like sustainability. However, their consumer and social media behaviour does not always follow suit.

Launchmetrics: The mass market fashion and sportswear segment saw the lowest growth compared to premium and luxury, at an average of +62 percent growth in MIV across the top 20 brands, but only slightly behind luxury (+69 percent). Nike, Adidas and Zara continue to hold the top 3 positions, proving mastery in staying relevant among younger consumers.

Shein’s growth is the most noteworthy amongst the top 20 mass market brands, perhaps unsurprisingly as this Chinese behemoth has been highlighted as one of Gen Z’s favorite brands across several studies, including Piper & Sandler’s Gen Z analysis of favorite brands.

In 2023 alone, Shein’s MIV jumped by 41% year on year with 305K placements. Although the brand has focused mainly on amplifying their impact through Owned Media and Influencers (representing 35% and 41% of their Voice split in 2023 respectively), the brand also leverages celebrities to garner buzz.

Shein’s top placement in 2023 was thanks to their partnership with Brazilian Gen Z celebrity, Virginia Fonseca Serrão Costa, generating $853K with just one Instagram post.

The influencer voice has seen the most growth since 2020 in this segment, at +90 percent, with the MIV value nearly doubling from $3.7B to $7B. The celebrity voice has almost doubled in value with a +74 percent growth, but holds a lower share of value than for premium and luxury brands.

Discover more insights in the report, including a case study on Crocs, tapping into Gen-Z’s desire for unique and constantly-changing fashion trends and the footwear company’s varying collaborations with brands like MSCHF, Balenciaga and Barbie.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Launchmetrics as part of a BoF partnership.