Britain’s vote to exit the European Union has sent financial markets reeling, and could have wide-ranging consequences for the global economy. What might those be? Nobody quite knows for sure, and that’s a problem for Europe’s large luxury goods and fashion industries.
The department store, and cosmetics retailers such as Sephora, are where most Americans do their fragrance shopping. It’s an experience weighted with nostalgia, but it’s not always a particularly pleasant one. You dodge sample sprayers, and sniff a nose-bewildering array of scents on those little strips of paper. Amid a chaotic, overwhelming cloud of perfumes, you try to decide in a few minutes what smell you think you’d enjoy wearing for a whole day.
Christian Dior, a house known for the way it has shaped femininity in fashion over the last 70 years, has never had a female creative director. But that looks set to change.
The internet had a field day when Under Armour revealed the latest sneaker in its signature line for NBA star Stephen Curry, the Curry 2 “Chef.” “Middle-aged white dad shoes,” “Air Brunch,” and the “ugliest basketball shoes of all time” were a few of the kinder comments amid the explosion of mockery and memes.
Soccer kits today are highly regulated. Manufacturers for FIFA World Cup teams, for example, have to adhere to a 92-page style guide when designing uniforms.
More than anyone else, LeBron James was responsible for lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Golden State Warriors, bringing Cleveland its first-ever NBA championship last night (June 19) and its first major sports title since 1964. The unanimous MVP of the finals also grew up in Northeastern Ohio, making the win extra emotional. When it was all over and the Cavaliers had their victory, he broke down in tears—and the internet pounced.
The designer Raf Simons is a well-known lover of art. He has put references to Rothko, Picasso, and contemporary artist Brian Calvin in his work, and collaborated on a full collection with the multimedia artist Sterling Ruby. He’s also regarded as one of the top fashion designers in the world at the moment, so it makes sense that the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation—established by the photographer himself to protect his work before he died of complications due to AIDS in 1989—reached out to him for a collaboration.
Pornhub, where millions go each day to watch videos of adults having sex, is now bringing porn to your ears. On Wednesday (June 15), the company announced the launch of “Described Video,” a series of videos that include spoken narration for the visually impaired.
New visa requirements have made it harder for Chinese travelers to visit Europe, and Europe’s own luxury brands are paying the price.
At Alibaba’s first-ever investor day since going public in 2014, Jack Ma, the Chinese e-commerce giant’s founder and CEO, addressed his company’s counterfeit problem—or sort of did. He shifted blame away from Alibaba as the platform for selling those goods by arguing the real issue is that fakes are now as good or better than the genuine article, Bloomberg reports.
People in the West hear of the conditions endured by garment workers making clothes in Asian factories, but they rarely see them. A short documentary by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), a group of trade unions and labor rights activists, offers a glimpse of people at work in India, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
The internet is not kind when it sniffs out someone trying to be cool—and failing. This week, Under Armour released a new hospital-white version of its Curry 2 sneaker, part of its signature line for NBA star Stephen Curry. Jokes quickly began circulating about the dad-friendly design, and snowballed yesterday (June 9) into an epic roast.
A strong fashion sense, or at least the willingness to make some bold clothing choices, often goes hand-in-hand with NBA stardom these days.
Hours after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) banned Maria Sharapova for two years after she tested positive for Meldonium, Nike said it will continue to sponsor the tennis star.
When Irish fashion chain Primark made its US debut in Boston last September, America’s clothing retailers must have shuddered. Primark sells trendy clothes in Europe that are shockingly cheap, even by the standards of fast-fashion specialists such as H&M.
As the US Senate debates a massive new defense policy bill this week, one provision in it causing some disagreement has little to do with national security. It’s about sneakers, and which brand servicewomen and servicemen will wear.
For every problem, someone is trying to sell a solution. No matter is too trivial to be monetized, even folding laundry.
On June 28, 1969, police raided New York’s Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, sparking riots among members of the gay community who were fed up with routine harassment and mistreatment. It was the birth of the modern gay-rights movement, which first declared June a month to celebrate LGBT pride back in 1980.
Over the past few decades, the “Aloha Friday!” of the 1960s became casual Friday, which then turned into the dress code for everyday. In a survey by research firm NPD Group, half of respondents said what they wear for work is the same as what they wear off the job.
In real life, there’s no rule that says a man can’t wear a dress. Plenty do—just look at Iggy Pop. In video games, though, such rules often do exist. Create an avatar with a man’s face, and chances are you won’t find an option to put him in a dress.
Under Armour is on a mission to compete with Nike and Adidas. And while it has undeniably done a great job of doing that recently, it hasn’t yet developed one important ingredient that’s long helped fuel the success of those companies: Its cool.
Michael Kors is in good spirits. The seller of relatively affordable luxury clothes and handbags reported today (June 1) that its total sales for the year rose 7.8% to $4.7 billion. Long a mall and department store staple, the brand is thriving even as those US retail institutions suffer.
Last June, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released the gruesome details of an investigation into farms in the US and Zimbabwe that were cutting crocodiles and alligators open while still alive to harvest their highly valued skins. Those skins, it says, were destined for French luxury house Hermès. (The brand didn’t deny the charges, but called it an “isolated irregularity” missed by audits designed to prevent such practices.)
H&M, Gap, and Walmart are three of the largest sellers of cheap clothes in the world. Like many other companies in the global garment industry, they make much of that clothing in Asian countries with low wages and little regulatory oversight, leading to widespread accounts of worker abuses.
