What’s the point of a fashion magazine now?
In a world that continues to be ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, fashion magazines are being forced to deal with reality. Monthly magazines with a large readership base are usually produced a few months before hitting newsstands, so most magazines hitting shelves now will have no mention of coronavirus. InStyle editor Laura Brown didn’t want to wait two months to address Covid-19, so she published a digital copy online. Brown told The New York Times, “Offering some escapism and glamour is still important, but I’m less paranoid now about getting this celebrity for thatcover, or a product exclusive…readers are saying they want to see the everyday women currently doing extraordinary things being celebrated. We need to show that we are listening to them.” {The New York Times}
How 5 very different brands are handling e-commerce
With coronavirus cutting off all cash flow from physical retail, brands are being forced to make the most of their only remaining source of revenue, e-commerce. Business of Fashion spoke to five different types of businesses — multi-brand, jewellery, direct-to-consumer, independent and luxury — to see how they are handling the change. {Business of Fashion}
Circular fashion’s timely opportunity
Sustainability efforts are quick to be forgotten in the midst of a global crisis, but some brands are using this window of time as an opportunity to focus on their waste-reducing plans. Lifestyle brand Outerknown has set a goal to be entirely circular by 2030, meaning all the materials in a garment are reused and never end up as waste. Francois Souchet, lead of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular initiative, told Vogue Business, “There’s a lot that individual brands can do in terms of business models. But in order to create a circular economy at scale, you need some partnership and collaboration across the industry…it’s really positive for a brand to take that type of ambition. They’ve involved quite a number of stakeholders to make sure it was properly informed.” {Vogue Business}
Beauty booms in the Zoom era
Beauty brands and retailers like Ulta and Sephora are seeing a boom in online sales, even as the economy crashes and millions of people are unemployed. This is known as ‘the lipstick effect,’ when customers spend more on small luxuries in times of recession. {Business of Fashion}
Kering CEO to take pay cut
Kering chairman and chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault has joined a growing list of executives who are reducing their pay because of the economical impact of coronavirus. Pinault will cut his fixed salary by 25% from April until the end of the year, reducing it from 1.2 million euros to 960,000 euros. {WWD}
Fenty launches ‘Social Club’ live music event
Rihanna’s eponymous fashion house Fenty is hosting a live music event on Fenty’s Instagram this Friday at 3:00 p.m. PT. Rihanna will be co-hosting the ‘Social Club,’ which will feature performances from Kitty Ca$h, DJ Pedro and British rapper Octavian. {Fashionista Inbox}
Christian Siriano is the face of a fashion industry that didn’t take him seriously
Project Runway alum Christian Siriano has become the face of a fashion industry that failed to take him seriously before. After replying to a tweet from Governor Andrew Cuomo, Siriano and his team of 10 seamstresses now produce 500-600 masks a day. Siriano has long been an atypical designer and happily made clothes for plus-size women and non-sample-size actors before inclusivity became a fashion buzzword. {The Washington Post}