Technology is always evolving, and fashion brands know they have a shot at boosting sales if they can leverage the latest innovations to create new customer experiences. The result is a lot of ambitious in-store experimentation in technologies like 3D body scanning and virtual changing rooms.
Brands such as Nike and Adidas have long offered a range of customization options for their sneakers. Adidas even lets you 3D print a midsole to guarantee your sneakers fit right. But luxury sneakers, which use high-end materials and are designed to match your pricey jeans rather than improve your workout, haven’t kept pace, even as the market for them has boomed.
Is the activewear bubble about to burst? Between a booming general trend toward fitness and healthy living, and a clothing trend called athleisure (wherein people dress like they’re going to the gym to do pretty much anything) sneakers and stretchy leggings have become so popular that some are starting to wonder how long activewear’s vertiginous rise in the apparel industry can continue.
After a garment factory collapse at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh killed 1,133 people in 2013, H&M was among the first of many international clothing brands that agreed to sign the binding Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, to prevent such a tragedy happening again.
Not that long ago, Facebook was just a popular social network. Today, it’s on its way to becoming an interface for the entire internet, so much so that many Facebook users in developing countries have little experience of the internet outside of it.
After just a year and a half, Marissa Webb is leaving her position as creative director at Banana Republic. The company broke the news yesterday (Oct. 8). The same day, parent company Gap announced that Banana Republic’s same-store sales were down 10% in September.
When you look at pictures of the NBA from the 1970s, one of the first things you notice is the socks: big white tube socks ringed at the top in bright colors. But in the decades since, socks became strictly black or white and faded into the background.
There are a lot of ways shoppers can customize their sneakers these days, but they’re focused almost entirely on superficial elements, such as the sneaker’s color scheme. Adidas wants to go a step further and let you customize the way your sneakers fit.
Each season, seemingly without fail, Phoebe Philo’s latest collection for French brand Céline receives the same praise. This, the critics say, is clothing women actually want to wear. Which begs the question: What is everyone else designing?
Just a few days ago, on Oct. 2, Alexander Wang showed his final collection for Balenciaga. The news had emerged in late July that Wang would step down as the label’s creative director, leaving the question of who would take his spot.
In theory, 3D printing offers a future where you could easily print just about anything you want. So far, it’s failed to be the miracle consumers were promised, but there’s one believer who’s worth paying attention to.
For $96,000, you’d think it might really be made of gold.
Stephon Marbury, the former NBA star and now possibly China’s most famous basketball player, grew up poor in Coney Island, New York. His upbringing is what inspired him in 2006 to launch a line of “NBA quality” sneakers that cost just $14.98, called the Starbury One. Nearly anyone could afford them, but after a few years the line folded, as did Marbury’s NBA career.
Factory fires pose one of the greatest dangers to Bangladesh’s garment workers.
If you’ve ever found yourself buying clothes just because they’re cheap, or if shopping itself has become a form of entertainment for you, I’ve got a proposal: The next time you buy something, spend a whole lot on it. Enough that it makes you sweat a little.
Models on high-fashion runways are expected to maintain a level of stone-faced composure. Some uncomfortable footwear or restrictive clothing aside, it’s often not too difficult. But designer Rick Owens was determined to test his cast’s sangfroid with his latest show.
Most people may not know the name André Courrèges these days, but they know his work. The French fashion designer created fantastically futuristic, youth-obsessed clothing that was some of the most iconic of the 1960s—think the women’s clothes in Austin Powers. In fact, Courrèges arguably invented the miniskirt, though there’s some debate over who deserves the credit, he or designer Mary Quant.
When you shell out a lot of cash for a pair of expensive running sneakers, the hope is that the extra cost will pay off in higher satisfaction. Unfortunately a new study suggests it won’t.
Suits are conservative almost by definition these days. Women might wear them to staid offices or a job interview—maybe to brunch at the country club if that’s their lifestyle—and almost nowhere else.
As the weather turns chillier in the US, many people’s thoughts turn to pumpkin flavoring, fall foliage, sweaters, and coats—and duck boots.
Ralph Lauren, the American designer who in 1967 started his brand designing ties and built it into a $12 billion lifestyle empire, is stepping back from his role as CEO.
Gigi Hadid is one of the most successful models in fashion right now, so much so that “super” is starting to be attached to her job title. She’s the face of major campaigns from Topshop and H&M, and she has walked some of the biggest runways in the business, including those of Chanel and Marc Jacobs. She was even picked to lead the bikini-clad finale at Tommy Hilfiger’s island-inspired show for New York Fashion Week.
As Gucci’s runway show made clear again yesterday (Sept. 23), Alessandro Michele, the brand’s new creative director, is the undisputed king of the pussy bow blouse.
In the moving acceptance speech she delivered after winning the Emmy for the lead role in a drama, Viola Davis succinctly summed up the problem facing women of color in the television industry. “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” she said. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”
