Amazon is pushing Shopbop brands onto the platform to build its fashion credibility - Glossy |
- Amazon is pushing Shopbop brands onto the platform to build its fashion credibility - Glossy
- Is Immersive Technology The Darling Of The Fashion World? - Forbes
- 2020 Fall Fashion Trends for Women - Cosmopolitan
- Fashion’s new sustainability play: More brands are turning to made-to-order production - Glossy
| Amazon is pushing Shopbop brands onto the platform to build its fashion credibility - Glossy Posted: 18 Feb 2020 09:01 PM PST  Amazon continues to explore ways to win over fashion shoppers, and that includes looking to Shopbop to be its link to big-name brands. Amazon acquired Shopbop in 2006. Since then, the companies have largely operated independently of one another, according to the company's president, Shira Suveyke. In a previous interview with Glossy, Suveyke said while they do remain independent, Amazon provides access to fulfillment and Prime shipping for existing Prime customers (including free two-day shipping, free returns and discounts on next-day shipping). Over time though, more brands that have partnered with the online retailer are also popping up on Amazon, whether they choose to be there or not. This strategy is no doubt aimed at helping Amazon build credibility in the fashion and apparel space, and convincing more high-end brands to sell through the platform. "Amazon is not going to stop until they get this right," said Shelly Socol, co-founder of e-commence agency One Rockwell. "By building confidence in brands through a relationship with Shopbop, it likely helps brands make the jump to Amazon." Naadam started selling on Shopbop about four years ago. Matthew Scanlan, CEO and co-founder of Naadam said the biggest benefit to working with the retailer so far has been the brand awareness that has come with the partnership. Naadam typically presents 100 styles at a time to the Shopbop merchandising team, and, on average, 15 to 20 of those end up on the retailer's website. In addition, some Naadam products wind up on Amazon, as well. Most of the products are different across the two platforms, with 25 currently on Shopbop and 37 on Amazon. "We don't really see [the sales results] because [Shopbop] is listing on Amazon, not us; we don't see those numbers. There are some brands that create restrictions. It's almost a negotiating point; you can negotiate to not let them [sell your brand on Amazon], but we didn't see anything wrong with being on Amazon," Scanlan said. Scanlan declined to share specifics around sales through either platform, but he did say selling on both has helped the brand grow and reach new customers. Cleobella is another brand that sold on Amazon years ago, according to founder and creative director Angela O'Brien. Today the company does not sell directly to Amazon, but a partnership with Shopbop means that product is selling through both channels. A president of an advanced contemporary fashion company recently told Glossy that the brand wasn't forced to sell on Amazon after partnering with Shopbop but felt there was some pressure put on the brand to do so. While Amazon does not break out its fashion sales, both Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley estimated the company would reach $30 billion in apparel sales by the end of 2018. Shopbop declined to comment for this story. According to a January 2020 report from Coresight Research, there are currently more than 849,000 apparel product across 2,633 brands being sold on Amazon. Third-party sellers make up about 87% of all apparel listings, as of September 2019, up from 84% in February 2017. In other words, apparel brands, for the most part, aren't yet going all in by setting up their own shops on Amazon. According to a report by WWD in January, Amazon is getting set to add a luxury platform to its growing fashion business. The platform is expected to have 12 luxury brands at time of launch; however, Amazon did not confirm those statements. Currently, when customers visit Amazon Fashion, they can find all of the e-commerce giant's fashion programs, which include The Shop by Shopbop, which is essentially a storefront for the retailer on Amazon. The store features styles by contemporary brands including like Vince, Theory, BB Dakota, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Equipment and Paige. Syama Meagher, CEO and founder of consulting firm Scaling Retail, said Amazon is taking the wrong approach by focusing too much on big name brands, rather than up-and-coming designers. "Shopbop was such a pioneer in cultivating and taking risks in new designers, and I don't see that translating on the Amazon platform. The brands they are curating and getting onto the platform are not new, unique, emerging designers but rather mass-market brands," said Meagher. While the presence on Amazon can be another big awareness play for emerging brands, there is the question of access to customer data. Late last year, Nike pulled its products from Amazon in a move to better control the customer experience. "Data is king. The more information you have to target the customer, the better to understand the buying behavior. When you don't have that 360-degree information and data, that is where the brand will run a risk," said Socol.  |
| Is Immersive Technology The Darling Of The Fashion World? - Forbes Posted: 19 Feb 2020 01:46 AM PST The fashion industry has always been a hotbed for new trends, and technology is no exception. Immersive technology—virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)—has the potential to transform the way the fashion industry creates, presents, and retails its products.  Guests wear VR glasses at the Arzu Kaprol show during Mercedes-Benz Istanbul Fashion Week in ... [+] Getty Images for IMGHere are just some of the ways that the fashion world has embraced immersive technology. The Catwalk Fashion brands, plus other brands wanting to get involved with fashion, can stand out and get noticed through their use of new technology on the catwalk. Back in 2014, Topshop staged the world's first virtual catwalk. Four lucky winners sat in the window of the flagship Oxford Circus store and donned bespoke virtual reality headsets and headphones that played the show live from the Tate Modern. The winners were not only able to see the models walk directly past them but look up to the Tate Modern ceiling, to the celebrities sat virtually next to them. They were also kept updated with a moving Twitter feed. More recently, just last week, in fact, British telecommunications and internet service provider, Three, partnered with London Fashion Week to announce its wider 5G rollout with an MA Fashion Central Saint Martins show. The event fused fashion with the latest technology, including spatial audio, haptic feedback, a 46-meter projection for the runway and an array of aromas. The show forms part of Three's long-term collaboration with Central Saint Martins. The partnership also produced the world's first 5G mixed-reality catwalk in Feb 2019.  Three's 5G removed limitations and facilitated a next-gen immersive experience during London Fashion ... [+] REWINDTry Before You Buy Offering a digital 'try-before-you-buy' allows retailers to close the gap between online and offline channels. A customer can try-on the product on a screen and see how it looks, or how makeup suits them, etc. Last year, many brands embraced try-before-you-buy AR tech with 100 million people using it. For example, Dior used augmented reality to allow consumers to try on sunglasses using their smartphones. Via a new filter on Instagram, users could add the DiorSoLight sunglasses onto their faces in the image. These AR filters offer practical benefits to consumers, but as they are designed to go viral, they also offer huge growth opportunities for brands. According to International Data Corporation, the retail sector is expected to spend $1.5 billion on augmented reality and virtual reality technology in 2020. We've already seen brands utilize the tech this year—ASOS kicked off the year with the launch of 'see My Fit'. The AR tool allows you to view an outfit on 16 different body shapes to give shoppers an idea of what the clothes would look like on themselves. "With this trial of See My Fit, we're using the latest AR technology to put the power in our customers' hands, so they can choose to view a dress on the model that they most identify with, in a way that wouldn't be possible using traditional model-shooting techniques," Tim Carey, senior content manager at ASOS Studios, said in a statement.  ASOS The In-store Experience Everyone is talking about the death of the High Street, could technology help shops survive? XR can certainly be used as a differentiator and a reason for people to visit a physical store, rather than buy online. In fact, many retailers are already embracing immersive technology. For example, Zara used augmented reality to bring virtual models to life in-store. The two-week initiative was rolled out across 120 stores globally. It allowed customers who downloaded the Zara AR app to hold up their phone to certain store windows or a sensor within the store and see models come to life on their screens—walking and talking—wearing selected items from the Zara range, which they could click through and buy. Zara is not the first brand to use AR. Brands such as Burberry and Gap have also dabbled.  ZARA Smart mirrors can enhance the shopping experience in a useful way by allowing customers to try on different colors and styles easily. MemoMi promises to re-invent the experience of luxury shopping with "trying on without taking off". This high-fidelity, digital imaging software platform delivers live color change to what you are wearing or allows you to try on clothes, add accessories, plus change patterns and colors without actually trying on a single item. Patented technology precisely maps and analyzes data to provide accurate, personalized recommendations in real-time. The Oak Mirror is another product that aims to transform the in-store experience, focusing on the fitting room. Acting as both a mirror and touch screen, shoppers can use the interactive surface to change the lighting of a fitting room, or contact sales associates to request additional colors or sizes or 'complete the look' with accessories.  |
| 2020 Fall Fashion Trends for Women - Cosmopolitan Posted: 18 Feb 2020 01:44 PM PST  Guys, we are in the midst of Fashion Month (aka when all the designers show their upcoming collections in New York, London, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, and more), which means, fashion trends for fall and winter 2020 are starting to EMERGE. If you're mildly interested in what all the cool kids will be wearing once the weather cools down again this time next year (and, hey, why not get in on this action early?) then scroll on for all the ruffles, crazy colors, new styling, and kinds of clothes you can expect. Time to take notes!  |
| Fashion’s new sustainability play: More brands are turning to made-to-order production - Glossy Posted: 18 Feb 2020 09:01 PM PST  More companies are becoming sold on the idea that made-to-order production is the solution to fashion's waste problem. Brands like Ultracor and Alton Lane are focusing on made-to-order as a way to take more direct control of their inventory and reduce the problem of overproduction that is common among fashion brands. And they're making strides in scaling the model. Ultracor has debuted new collaborations with SoulCycle, Carbon38 and most recently Bandier to bring its custom clothes to an even larger audience. And, this year, Alton Lane is planning to launch made-to-order in several new categories, including denim and sweaters. Through a focus on in-house manufacturing and smarter applications of technology, these brands are able to make made-to-order fashion faster and more accessible. "We don't have any inventory sitting on a shelf, because that's dollars sitting there that you might have to throw away," said Michael Ball, founder of Ultracor, a made-to-order activewear brand launched in 2014. "I know what inventory can do to a company, both in their financials and to the environment. So much pollution comes from what we wear. Making pieces to order can help that." But, Ball said, the made-to-order model comes with some big challenges. Namely, it's expensive and hard to scale, especially if brands don't own the manufacturing process and have to rely on outside factories. All of Ultracor's products are manufacture at the company's headquarters in Los Angeles. Owning all equipment and manufacturing technology meant a expensive up-front cost, but Ball said it's proven worth it, thanks to now having the freedom to experiment — the company can produce samples in less than a day — and being in control of all inventory. He said about 20% of the company's budget goes to researching, developing and maintaining the manufacturing side of the business. Ultracor pulled in about $2.6 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019. "It makes you leaner and more agile," said Ball. "If Bandier wants to [buy from] us, we can have it in their stores in a few months. But that does have its downsides: When retailers learn you can make stuff so quickly, they become designers and start asking you for all these super specific things, which can be frustrating." While bigger players in fashion like Nike and H&M have recently pledged to use recycled materials to reduce their environmental impact, Ball said a made-to-order model can really have an impact on how much waste brands create. Brands that don't own their own manufacturing processes are also finding ways to make made-to-order a realistic offering, at scale. Aton Lane, a bespoke men's suit brand launched in 2009, created an iPad interface for customers to use when ordering suits that syncs with what fabrics its suppliers have in stock; unlike many made-to-order companies, it doesn't buy materials ahead of time, in anticipation of what customers will order. This keeps turnaround times fast. "We've scaled up and gotten more efficient," said co-founder Colin Hunter. "At our scale, we source fabrics and get really good pricing for it. We can even beat J. Crew on some of their prices for things like linen and flannel." One of the main drawbacks of made-to-order is turnaround time, but both Hunter and Ball said it's possible to split the difference between timeliness and quality. Ultracor can produce most products in around a week, while Alton Lane can get a suit into customers' hands in as little as eight days after a fitting, where it was once four to six weeks. "The biggest factor of turnaround is materials," Hunter said. "We offer 3,000 fabrics so we do not hold stock. For the really, really popular stuff, like linen, we buy some just so we have it on hand, and that cuts down on turnaround. There's been a lot of strides made in bespoke fashion, but eight days is probably the absolutely minimum for a suit."  |
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