Posts tagged with 'retail':

As customers become "more value conscious and averse to conspicuous consumption," affordable brands will be getting a healthy kick start. (WWD)

Vera Wang will opt out of a pricey New York runway production this February to stage a low key show at its new Soho boutique. (WSJ)  read more »

LVMH has scrapped plans to open a Louis Vuitton Tokyo flagship store, which would have been its largest in the world. (Reuters)

To fete Barbie's 50th anniversary, Christian Louboutin is designing pumps — in Barbie Pantone 219 Pink — to debut at Mattel's special New York fashion week runway show. (WWD)  read more »

Stella Mccartney was in Tokyo to celebrate the opening of her new Aoyama boutique (to complement her recent Ginza stand-alone shop) last Monday, and topped it off with a bash at the infamous Trump Room with a select group of revelers. They waited patiently while sipping on champagne, and being treated to a pole dance performance (all the rage at parties in Tokyo nowadays) until the Queen of the night finally made her appearance. It was then that the crowd swarmed around Stella, phone cameras and official snaps flashing in unison.  read more »

While the various faiths and races composing India's melting pot are often at odds, fashion designer Perveez Aggarwal seeks national unity through her clothing venture My Beautiful Embroideries. Aggarwal, a member of the small and wealthy Parsee community, helps India's underclass by employing rural Muslim craftsmen "to recreate ancient Persian designs on embroidered clothing she sells worldwide," AFP reports.  read more »

According to the Telegraph, women's hemlines do — and should — show an inverse relationship to the economy. (Telegraph)

Neiman Marcus has reported an 84 percent slide in profits for its fiscal first quarter, with little hope to come in the gloomy luxury market. (WSJ)  read more »

Apparently, Wal Mart isn't the only retailer beating the sales slump this season. There are a few others — none of them discounters — making strides in the bleak economy. "If you're selling something unique or something that consumers perceive to have value for them, they will still buy," retail analyst Marshal Cohen told CNN Money. Interestingly enough, it's the stores that play up to younger and teenage shoppers like Hot Topic, Buckle and American Apparel — and, they are all American retailers.  read more »

Once the deep-discount honeymoon is over, retailers are going to have to find otherworldly ways of getting people to shop at full price. (WWD)

Sergio Rossi announced it will close all of its U.S. stores by early 2009, and plans to focus on wholesale for further North American expansion. (New York Magazine)  read more »

In a post-grad break from music, Kanye West decides he wants to be a design intern — yes, intern — for Raf Simons or Louis Vuitton. (New York Times)

This week's surprisingly busy Cyber Monday went down as the second most-shopped day in online history, after 2007's Green Monday. (WWD)  read more »

French designer Thierry Mugler will collaborate with Beyoncè Knowles for her upcoming world tour, overseeing everything from costumes to lighting and coreography as Knowles's "creative designer." (WWD)  read more »

According to a Reuters analysts poll, despite certain stores' efforts to lure in customers with deep discounts on Black Friday, the retail winners were hot products "that don't necessarily need discounts to sell, such as iPods and UGG boots." (Reuters)

When it comes to luxury, brick-and-mortar retail slumps further while online sales are surprisingly soaring. (WWD)  read more »