Why is there a lack of excitement when Millennials visit Department Stores?

February 12, 2018

The Bird´s Cage Strategy is over. Millennials are running away from Department Stores. A day in the life of a Millennial visiting a Department Store Last week, I had (and say HAD/must) to visit a department store in Barcelona because I needed to change a Xmast gift. Department store´s business model is explained in many business … More Why is there a lack of excitement when Millennials visit Department Stores?

Is Data killing creativity in Fashion?

January 29, 2018

ANALYTICS IS KILLING CREATIVITY The Fashion Industry is evolving as retail landscape is also in reconstruction. Big data, machine learning and technology 4.0 are leadind the change and users are accelerating it thru e-commerce and the online arena. All the steps and participants along the fashion value chain are impacted and evolution is a need … More Is Data killing creativity in Fashion?

A few words with a Master in Fashion Operations

January 23, 2018

When people hear about fashion, they expect a guru or a designer wearing funny clothing. This is part of it, but some would argue that the main competitive advantage of international retailers, such as Zara, is Operations. In fact, Zara doesn´t have a best-in-class designer like Gucci has Alessandro Michele. Inditex best-in-class business model is … More A few words with a Master in Fashion Operations

Sustainable Fashion

January 8, 2018

Patagonia´s famous ad in 2011. Don´t buy it if you don´t need it. Millennials are driving companies to sustainable practices even their business model is based on volume. An example is The Social and Labour Converge Project signed by leading fashion companies such as H&M, Gap, Nike, Adidas, Levi Strauss, amongst others. Also Primark joined … More Sustainable Fashion

Strategic Acquisitions: Amazon vs Walmart

November 13, 2017

M&A is one of the main strategic options for companies that want to ensure their success in a very competitive and globalized market. Even more, in a hyper-connected society and customer centric economy. The retail industry is not any more about increasing the number of macrostores in order to have more efficient economies of scale, … More Strategic Acquisitions: Amazon vs Walmart

Niche fashion is the new black for investors

October 23, 2017

Who says retail is dead? It´s the retail apocalypse for many department stores or fashion retailers in USA that couldn´t manage their different channels and pricing…but Supreme is the example of retail excellence in the Millenials era. An era where niche players have the power as I wrote in the Fashion retail long tail. According … More Niche fashion is the new black for investors

A few words with a Kids Accessories Manager at Mango

October 9, 2017

A day in the life of Carlota, Kids Accessories Manager at Mango. Carlota Casals. Mango Kids Accessories Manager. 30 years old. Married and mother of a boy. Fashion fan. Enjoys traveling, exploring new restaurants and visiting fashion stores. The Fashion Retailer: Could you define what is Mango? Carlota Casals: Punto Fa S.L., trading as MANGO, … More A few words with a Kids Accessories Manager at Mango

Uniqlo, the fashtech retailer, opens in Barcelona

September 25, 2017

Uniqlo, the fashtech (fashion technology) japanese retailer opens its first store in Barcelona, next Zara and H&M flagship stores. “For all major companies, starting point has to be Barcelona. We want to grow with this city of art”, has secured this Tuesday, founder of Uniqlo Tadashi Yanai (source: Turkey Telegraph). Therefore, the japanese retailer is positioned … More Uniqlo, the fashtech retailer, opens in Barcelona

Sports and Fashion in the ironman era

September 18, 2017

Sports, Fashion and Society: A sociological approach Sport is as old as humanity. Cave paintings have been found in the Lascaux caves in France that have been suggested to depict sprinting and wrestling in the Upper Paleolithic around 15,300 years ago. Later on, it was predictably in Greece that sports were first instituted formally, with the first Olympic Games recorded in 776 BCE in … More Sports and Fashion in the ironman era

Amazon opens shop-in-shop inside Kohl´s deparment stores

September 7, 2017

Everybody is expecting to see pure players going offline with experimental point of sales or pop-up stores. This was the recent case of Everlane going offline. Amazon opening stores inside Kohl´s is a surprise: the biggest long tailer and market place is getting into department stores! This is a great alternative to regular expansion based … More Amazon opens shop-in-shop inside Kohl´s deparment stores

The Fashion Retail Value Chain Revolution

September 5, 2017

The Evolution of Supply Chain in the Fashion Industry Traditional Supply Chains are based on made-to-stock model, economies of scale and mass-production. This model is unidirectional and sequential. Companies have a concept, then design, plan, produce, stock, stock, stock, distribute….and somewhere you will find the customer. Nowadays, Supply Chain has totally changed into a platform, … More The Fashion Retail Value Chain Revolution

A few words with a Merchandiser at Foot Locker

August 29, 2017

Kristina Buivydaite is strategy consultant at Accenture. Previously worked at Foot Locker European headquarters as a Merchandiser. Lithuanian, 28 years old, bachelor´s in Economics and master in Business and Economics. Travel fan, has lived in different countries such as the Netherlands, Mexico, South Africa and Spain. The Fashion Retailer: What Foot Locker is? Kristina Buivydaite: … More A few words with a Merchandiser at Foot Locker

Louis Vuitton, World of experiences

August 2, 2017

Louis Vuitton is one of the most prestigious luxury fashion houses in the World. In a previous post, I analysed diversification and segmentation in the fashion retail industry. Armani and Inditex are fashion retailers that have grown thru different diversification strategies. Armani is closing some of its brands due to some inconsistencies between brand, value … More Louis Vuitton, World of experiences

Everlane goes Offline

July 25, 2017

Everlane is a brand built upon an awareness of a new kind of consumer. The kind of person who cares where her coffee and chickens come from, and also her clothes. -TheFader Everlane was founded in 2010 in San Francisco, California, USA, as a pure player with the aim of selling its own designed, affordable … More Everlane goes Offline

H&M invests in supply chain as fashion rivalry intensifies

July 10, 2017

Cost controls helped H&M (HMb.ST) to limit a drop in quarterly pretax profit but the fashion chain said it was increasing investments this year as it tries to keep pace with its larger rival, Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC). H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion company, said conditions remained very tough in key European markets and in … More H&M invests in supply chain as fashion rivalry intensifies

A few words with Brownie´s Head of Operations

June 26, 2017

Cecilia Cano is Operations Manager at Brownie. 31, degree in Business Administration, fitness fan, fashion retail and cooking passionate. Cecilia started her professional career at Deloitte Audit Services, in finance, but switched to fashion retail and found her path. She spent 7 years at Oysho, Inditex, as a Buyer and Project & Product Manager for … More A few words with Brownie´s Head of Operations

Le Tote, fashion based on customer data

June 22, 2017

Millenials are prioritizing experiences over tangible products. More than 75% of Millenials would choose to spend money on an experience over buying a product (Harris Group study – 2016). More than that, the experience is not based on onwnership, but on NOwnership.  They (we) want to feel the adrenaline but without ties, and sharing economy is already … More Le Tote, fashion based on customer data

Fast Fashion, the art of liquidity

June 19, 2017

The Fashion disruption Polish-born sociologist Zigmunt Bauman described our modern life as “liquid modernity“, where change is occurring more and more rapidly. Social entities are flexible, plastic. “Each new structure which replaces the previous one as soon as it is declared old-fashioned and past its use-by date is only another momentary settlement – acknowledged as temporary … More Fast Fashion, the art of liquidity

Future proofing: Inside LVMH’s under-the-radar beauty brand incubator

June 7, 2017

Do you know what Kendo is? Based in San Francisco, Kendo creates or acquires beauty brands and focuses on developing them into global powerhouses. The portfolio today consists of Kat Von D Beauty, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Formula X Nail, OleHenriksen and Bite Beauty. The name KENDO is a play on the phrase “can do.”  What … More Future proofing: Inside LVMH’s under-the-radar beauty brand incubator

Michael Kors to shutter up to 125 stores in next 2 years

June 5, 2017

Is Michael Kors a luxury brand any more? As I mentioned in a previous article about the luxury fashion pyramid , Michael Kors is located in the aspirational luxury segment. But after their uncontrolled growth strategy, betting for every channel, we can argue about it. If you see the same bag many times in your daily … More Michael Kors to shutter up to 125 stores in next 2 years

Diversification and Segmentation in Fashion retail

June 1, 2017

Many brands have evolved into groups that focus on different customer profiles. On the one hand, we have companies such as GAP, H&M, Inditex, Mango, Armani…that are focus on many segments in order to respond to different income, gender, style (e.g. COS vs H&M), size (e.g. Violeta by Mango) or categories (e.g. beauty, homewear) profiles. … More Diversification and Segmentation in Fashion retail

A few words with a Marketing Manager at Birchbox

May 29, 2017

Albert Botet is Marketing Manager at Birchbox Spain. 33, Casual, cool Millenial, degree in Business Administration, Advertising & PR, Master in Internet Business and IESE Executive MBA candidate 2018. Outdoor sports fan, good skier, marathon runner and ironman. The Fashion Retailer: Could you define what Birchbox is?  Albert Botet: Birchbox is a monthly subscription beauty … More A few words with a Marketing Manager at Birchbox