Michael Kors Autumn/Winter 2013 Campaign | Source: Michael Kors For the first quarter ended June 29, 2013, Michael Kors total revenue increased 54.5 percent compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Retail net sales increased 51.5 percent. Gross profit increased 58.3 percent and as a percentage of total revenue increased to 62 percent compared to 60.5 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2013.Income from operations was 30.8 percent of total revenue as compared to 27 percent of total rev

British fashion house Alexander McQueen has been forced to apologise after an advert for a long-term unpaid internship was issued by mistake for a fashion student to work at their London studio. The advert, which was emailed to various fashion and design colleges in London, requested a “talented knitwear student” to work for the fashion house, full time, for up to 11 months, adding that only travel expenses would be paid as well as 60 pound per month in lunch vouchers. The fashion house was fo

Luxury swimwear and resort brand Orlebar Brown has received an 8 million pound investment from private equity firm Piper, to help “expand its presence in the US and Europe”. The upmarket swimwear retailer, best known for its menswear designs worn by celebrities including Hugh Jackman, has sold off a “significant” minority stake to the investment firm, which has backed and helped turn around brands including clothing retailer Boden. The 8 million pound growth capital will be used to help the Bri

French fashion house Givenchy announced yesterday that it has opened a flagship store in Shanghai. Though the luxury brand already has stores in two other locations in Shanghai at Citic Square and Nanjing Road, the flagship store in the new IAPM luxury mall is the largest and offers the latest ready-to-wear collections for men and women along with luxury bags and accessories. The 205 square meter store is modelled after the Paris flagship store at 28 Faubourg Saint-Honoré. In the style of the b

Ink, a concept store in the Dongcheng district of Beijing | Source: Ink Concept store Ink opened earlier this year in a “hutong,” or alleyway, in the Dongcheng district of Beijing. When this reporter visited the shop, at dusk, the matte black door was barely visible in the dimly lit passage. Nearby, workers were fixing a pipe; residents were returning from work on foot and bicycle; and between the electric scooters and the caged birds, Lilliputian grandmothers in black twill pants and flowere

Safilo Group, a multinational company dedicated to the production and distribution of sunglasses and high-end view, closed the first half of the year with a net profit of 20.08 million euros, 6.7 percent less, compared to the 21.52 million euros in the previous year, the company said in a statement. The Italian company also suffered a 2.4 percent decline in sales in this quarter, to 598.4 million euros, compared with 613.2 million euros the previous year. The decline in group sales was due to t

Tommy Hilfiger has canceled its men's spring summer '14 runway show during New York fashion week. The company stated it would focus solely on its womenswear, and stage its show on 9 September during NYFW. "We've made a strategic decision to focus our attention during New York Fashion Week on our women's business," Avery Baker, Hilfiger's press and marketing director, told WWD. "Menswear remains at the heart of the Tommy Hilfiger brand, and we will continue to develop innovative ways to present

Market sentiment has turned back in favour of the luxury sector, driven by solid second quarter results, reports Pierre Mallevays of Savigny Partners. The Savigny Luxury Index (“SLI”) gained 4.5 percent in July, overperforming the MSCI World Index (“MSCI”) by over two percentage points. Market sentiment has turned back in favour of the sector, driven by solid second quarter results, and all SLI constituents have gone up. Big news ? Growth in tourismspending in Europe accelerated

Orange Hermes Birkin | Source: Hermes From shoes to handbags to ready-to-wear, the price of designer fashion has increased precipitously over the last decade. What's driving the rising prices? And how high can they go? It's easy to find a nice-looking pair of shoes for $40 these days, and even easier to find a trendy $40 dress. But while "fast fashion" prices are so light on the wallet they almost feel as though they’re going to disappear altogether, the cost of luxury goods continues to r

American Apparel has announced its first acquisition: New York City based Oak. Oak will operate as a separate division under the guidance of its founders and current top executives. The independent fashion boutique’s total sales are currently at circa 5 million dollars. “I’m excited by this because I saw an opportunity to build Oak without a lot of extra costs. They can leverage our manufacturing capabilities, our POS [point-of-sale] and RFID [radio frequency identification] systems, our warehou