This Week in Fashion Technology
Trump an early Christmas Gift?
- Trump won the US presidential election
- FarFetch planning IPO in 2-3 years (Reuters)
- Burberry reported downbeat results (Burberry)
- Styleintelligence new service offering: 360 interiors (link)
- Superdry reported positive results (FT.com)
- Primark reported £6bn revenues (Internal)
- H&M released its Kenzo collaboration (Our Report [in Korean], Guardian)
- John Lewis launched its Christmas advert (The Independent)
How can Trump's win be turned into an advantage?
If your name is Ivanka Trump and you have your own clothing label, perhaps your windfall some sooner than for others. However, we can see immediate advantages on a national level for other countries to connect with the likes of Mexico, China, and any other countries that Trump so derided in his many campaign speeches.
What the election means to exporters to the US remains to be seen. Burberry generates 20% of its revenues in the US for example.
Farfetch setting up for an IPO?
The company that connects luxury independents with a growing global customer base hired Stephanie Phair, previously at Net-A-Porter, this week as CSO (Chief Strategy Officer) to oversee M&A, driving innovation, and measuring the impact of new lines.
Farfetch acquired the eponymous store Browns Fashion (London) in 2015 and have also taken a page out of Yoox's strategy of renting out its platform to other brands to generate revenues. Earlier this year the company registered a company by the name "FarFetch Store of The Future Ltd".
In its latest set of accounts, the company reported gross sales of £302.1m with actual revenues of £87.1m and a pre-tax loss of £28.7m.
Publicly available information show that the company has raised $304.5m in six rounds. Their latest round in May 2016 raised $110m. Investors include Vitruvian Partners, Felix Capital, IDG Capital Partners, e.ventures, Conde Nast, Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Temasek Holdings, and others.
Burberry's problems continue, 24% drop in profits
Burberry is not the only company in the luxury sector suffering headaches as a result of having added significant overheads in the early Chinese boom. However, allowing its Creative Director to step into Angela Ahrendts was, in hindsight, a spectacularly bad move by the board. Ms Ahrendts was appointed in 2006 and left to join Apple in 2014. During these eight years, she created a phenomenal organisation.
Christian Bailey joined Burberry in 2001 as Design Director and quickly became the darling of the board. After 13 years of service, he was appointed in the dual role of CEO and Chief Creative Officer. What was Burberry thinking?
Burberry ended up in a position where Bailey underperformed, possibly not as a result of his own making with the China situation crystallising during his shift. But, how to you get rid of a CEO with such a wide influence? The company only realised they had shot themselves in the foot after shareholders started making loud noises calling for a new pair of shoes.
Burberry's interim 6-month report to Sep 30, 2016 shows an underlying decline in revenues of 4% stripping out currency wins. Adjusted underlying profits before tax were £146m, down 24%.
Styleintelligence new product development - 360 images
The company has taken delivery of a 360 wide angle camera and will be producing interior and exterior coverage of the London fashion and retail scene. Users with VR headsets will be able to view stores as if they were there. Smartphone viewing also offers an intuitive window for users. View our interior coverage of Primark here.
Superdry posting positive H2-16 results
SuperGroup Plc posted its interim six-month results this week with a 31.1% increase in revenues compared to the same period in 2015. The result was boosted by favourable currency movements in the period. Own retail revenues grew 25% and wholesale orders increased by 43.8%.
The company issued a statement indicating FY profits in the range £20-£22m.
Primark on path to become the leading fashion retailer in the UK
This week the company reported revenues within touching distance of £6bn with profits in excess of £600m. With 315 stores in 11 countries, the company is definitely taking a piece of the fast fashion cake.
Read more on this story here.
H&M released its long-awaited collaboration with Kenzo
We visited the opening on Oxford Street and recognised the queues. H&M have learned from their early collaboration releases and there is now a very organised system with time slots and armbands for people queuing. You can now get an armband with a specific time and go for a coffee or do some errands and come back when your time slot starts. Very good planning!
Read our report here (in Korean).
John Lewis released their Christmas advert
The John Lewis Christmas advert has become a bit of an institution in the UK with its own group of followers. Normally these adverts gather a lot of media attention and have proven very useful for the company's revenues.
What do you think?
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