Puma to post strong recovery in Q2 sales and profit, raises FY21 outlook

Image: Puma media gallery According to preliminary report, Puma’s currency-adjusted sales increased by approximately 96 percent to 1,589 million euros and the operating result (EBIT) increased to approximately 109 million euros in the second quarter 2021. The company said that the results were driven by continued brand momentum, successful product launches with high sell-throughs and strong growth across all regions, especially in North America. In light of the strong second-quarter growth in sales and profitability but also taking into consideration the continued uncertainties related to the Covid-19 pandemic, political tensions in key markets and supply chain constraints due to container shortages and port congestion, Puma now expects the currency-adjusted sales to increase by at least 20 percent from previous outlook of mid-teens currency-adjusted sales growth in the financial year 2021. The company added that operating result (EBIT) is now anticipated to come in between 400 million euros and 500 million euros from previous outlook of significant improvement and net earnings are still expected to improve significantly in 2021.
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Richemont reports strong Q1 trading performance

Image: Richemont media centre Richemont sales increased 129 percent to 4,397 million euros against 2020 and 22 percent versus 2019. The company said the increase in sales was led by the jewellery maisons and specialist watchmakers with growth of 142 percent and 143 percent to 2,515 million euros and 849 million euros, respectively. The other business area, mostly composed of fashion & accessories maisons, also performed strongly, recording 124 percent sales growth to 440 million euros. The Americas generated the strongest regional performance, with sales increasing by 276 percent to 955 million euros driven by strong local demand, followed by the Middle East and Africa with sales up by 154 percent to 364 million euros. Wholesale and retail led channel growth, with sales progression of 178 percent and 138 percent to 1,167 million euros and 2,421 million euros, respectively. Review of trading in the three-month period in 2021 versus 2019 In the period under review, sales exceeded pre-Covid levels. The company said sales growth of 22 percent was driven by strong double-digit increases in the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa. Sales in Europe contracted by 15 percent, while in Asia Pacific, sales increased by 40 percent, with good momentum across most markets, particularly in mainland China, Macau SAR (China) and South Korea. In the Americas, sales rose by 47 percent, while sales in Japan declined by 14 percent. The Middle East and Africa posted the strongest regional performance with 55 percent sales growth, reflecting domestic and tourist spending, notably in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Retail sales rose 35 percent supported by double-digit growth at the jewellery maisons and specialist watchmakers. Retail sales were particularly strong in the US, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Online retail sales rose by 29 percent, while sales in the wholesale channel grew 3 percent. Sales grew 43 percent at the jewellery maisons, while the specialist watchmakers’ sales increased by 6 percent. At the Online Distributors, sales grew by 8 percent, and GMV increased by 9 percent. The group’s other business area recorded a 7 percent decline in sales. Richemont announces changes to the executive committee Richemont has announced that Cyrille Vigneron, president & chief executive of Cartier, and Nicolas Bos, president & chief executive of Van Cleef & Arpels, will step down from the senior executive committee and will not seek re-election to the board of directors at the group’s annual general meeting on September 8, 2021. They will continue to report directly to chairman Johann Rupert. Philippe Fortunato, CEO of fashion and accessories, Emmanuel Perrin, head of specialist watchmakers distribution, and Frank Vivier, chief transformation officer will step down from the senior executive committee. They will continue to report to Jérôme Lambert, group chief executive officer. Johann Rupert, Jérôme Lambert and Burkhart Grund, chief finance officer, will remain on the senior executive committee and will stand for re-election to the board of directors at the AGM. In addition, Alan Quasha, non-executive director of the company and its predecessor companies since the group’s foundation in 1988, will not seek re-election to the board in September. Commenting on the proposals, Johann Rupert, Richemont chairman, said: “While the enlarged SEC structure proved effective in the early stages of our transformation journey and in navigating one of the most trying times in recent history, the time is ripe for a more streamlined structure as we embark on the next stage of our development.”
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About You x Kendall Jenner collection will be available for just 72 hours

In Pictures Image: Kendall for About You by Zoey Grossman German e-tailer About You has linked with Kendall Jenner for the first time to launch a summer capsule collection that will be on sale for just 72 hours. Launching on July 25, the 11-piece capsule includes “cool essentials with an elevated touch”, comprising a mix of shirts, tops, shorts, cropped jumpers, a slip dress and a bikini. The designs reflect the personal style of 25-year-old Jenner - who has an Instagram following of 175 million - and each has a special code that includes her birthday: 11/03. “I love basics. You can combine every piece in the collection as a mix and match. And the pieces are numbered according to my birthday," said Jenner at the LA photoshoot of the collection. The capsule will be available across all 23 of About You’s markets, marking the company’s first international capsule collection. Sizes range from 34 to 44 or XS-XXL, with prices from 39.90 euros to 79.90 euros. It is the first of two planned capsule collections, with the second set for autumn/winter 2021. Founded in Germany in 2014, About You has been expanding quickly across Europe in recent years as it benefits from the accelerated consumer shift to online channels. The company launched a Frankfurt IPO in June valuing it at just under 4 billion euros, and raised 842 million euros to help scale its offering internationally, accelerate the expansion of its software-as-a-service (SaaS), and strengthen its tech infrastructure and distribution centres. For the year to February, the business reported a 57 percent increase in net sales to 1.17 billion euros. Images: Kendall for About You by Zoey Grossman
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New product campaign and new customers boost Burberry's Q1 sales

Image: Burberry, Facebook Burberry’s comparable store sales rebounded strongly in the first quarter, rising 90 percent against last year and 1 percent from two years ago. The company said in a statement that within comparable store sales, full-price sales growth accelerated to 26 percent against two years ago, driven by new, younger clientele; exited markdowns in digital; and mainline stores globally. Retail sales of 479 million pounds increased 86 percent on reported FX and 98 percent at CER. “We have made an excellent start to the new fiscal year. Full-price sales accelerated as our collections and campaigns attracted new, younger luxury customers to the brand,” said Marco Gobbetti, the company’s chief executive officer. “We saw strong growth across our strategic categories, in particular leather goods and outerwear, and exited markdowns in digital and mainline stores. With the company firmly set on a path of growth and acceleration, we are confident of achieving our medium-term goals.” Review of Burberry’s Q1 performance The strong like for like growth, Burberry added, was driven by markets where Americas saw full-price comparable store sales more than double, Mainland China increased more than 55 percent and Korea more than 90 percent compared to two years ago. Since the end of Q1, Burberry opened its first flagship carrying the new global design concept in Sloane Street, London and plans to open three more flagships over the next year. The company’s FY22 guidance remains unchanged except wholesale, which is now expected to increase by approximately 60 percent in H1 due to a stronger order book and FX that is expected to be a 114 million pounds headwind on sales and 40 million pounds headwind on adjusted operating profit for FY22 based on June 25 spot rates. The medium-term guidance for high single-digit top-line growth and meaningful margin improvement remains on track. Burberry’s new product launches drive sales In terms of brand activity, in the last quarter, the company launched a dedicated handbag campaign centred around its new handbag shape, the Olympia. In June, Burberry launched a men’s SS22 show and collection - ‘Universal Passport’. The company further said that new product collections have proven successful, helping attract new customers to the brand with Q1 FY22 full-price sales to new customers growing mid 30 percent. Leather goods full-price sales grew double-digits and within outerwear, there was strong growth in jackets, quilts and downs. The company also achieved triple-digit growth in shoes.
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Moda Operandi names new chief merchant

Moda Operandi has named a new chief merchant. April Hennig has been senior vice president and chief merchandising officer of Moda Operandi. The news was reported by WWD. Hennig’s role is brand new for the company. In her new role she will oversee product strategy, category expansion, merchandise planning, and brand partnerships and experiences. She will officially step into this role on August 30. Moda Operandi’s CEO Jim Gold has been revamping the executive team this year. Recently, Gold has added Dermott Sullivan as chief operating officer, Don Allen as chief information officer, and Mark McClendon as senior vice president of global marketing and sales. Gold only recently stepped into his role this past May after serving as interim CEO since January. Previously, he was chief merchandising officer at Neiman Marcus. Henning is a highly experienced fashion industry professional with an impressive track record. Previously, she was president of Jonathan Simkhai, where she helped increase revenue at the brand. Prior to that, she worked at Bergdorf Goodman as vice president and divisional merchandise manager, where she oversaw women’s contemporary ready-to-wear, handbags, and jewelry. Moda Operandi recently secured a significant investment from new investors, including G Squared, and existing investors including New Enterprise Associates, and Andrés Santo Domingo, husband to Moda Operandi founder, Lauren Santo Domingo. According to sources, the company generates between 150 to 200 million dollars in revenue.
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Video: Andrea Pompilio and Harmont & Blaine SS22 collection

In this video, fashion labels Andrea Pompilio and Harmont & Blaine have presented their SS22 collection at Milan Men's Fashion Week (MFW). Watch the video below. Video: Male Fashion Trends via YouTube Photo credit: Bris8.eu, Facebook
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The four FW22 trends according to Dutch forecaster Christine Boland

Image: (from left to right) Chloe FW21, Boss FW21, Christian Wijnants FW21 Dutch trend analyst Christine Boland hosted a webinar at the end of June to offer attendees a glimpse at what the fall-winter 2022 season will have to offer. The talk touched on the influences affecting the upcoming season - with the uncertainty of the pandemic playing a key role - as well as the trends and colours that will dominate future wardrobes. FashionUnited attended the talk and in this article shares a summary of some of the key takeaways. Surviving the Anthropocene The first of the four key trends is influenced by the growing consumer awareness that the effect we have on the world is immensely damaging. “We are asking too much of mother earth with our overconsumption, with our extraction of resources, with pollution, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity,” said Boland. This tension feels like it is approaching a tipping point. In response, this fashion trend tries to bridge the gap between humans and nature, drawing inspiration from indigenous designs and nomadic life where people live in symbiosis with nature. This trend is all about protection, utility, and survivalism and features a lot of natural patterns, utilitarian designs, padded or soft and fluffy fabrics, indigenous symbolism and reused materials and fabrics. The colour mood is based on nature and outdoors combined with vintage, secondhand and “waste tones” - ecru grey, as well as light blues and greens, are important. Image: (from left to right) Chloe FW21, Boss FW21, Diesel FW21 Image: Burberry pre-fall 21 An increasingly phigital world The second trend is all about the way our digital and physical worlds are progressively melting into one another, creating a reality where it’s often hard to distinguish where one finishes and the other begins. This is perhaps most clearly exemplified through the fast growth of the digital fashion scene, where virtual fashion and even influencers appear so real you almost forget they don’t truly exist in the physical world. This also affects physical fashion, which in this trend is inspired by surrealism and otherworldly dream spaces and features designs that look almost impossible, such as huge but weightless or liquid shapes that often appear as if they’re melting. The trend is also characterised by high tech and sheer materials, and the colour palette is a mix of cold, futuristic and rendered “screen colours” but with a new twist: “We saw with spring-summer 22 that all these screen colours are very important,” Boland said. “But now we see screen colours that have the impression they are vintage and retro - that’s the next level.” Image: Balmain FW21 Image: Auroboros' digital collection Unleashing female force The third trend is influenced by the continued blurring of genders in fashion and the redefinition of what is typically male or female as these stereotypes are challenged. In particular, the trend is influenced by female empowerment. “We see very girly and feminine fashion items but there is this hidden force and dark romanticism,” Boland said. The trend sees a blurring of reality and mysticism as the traditional damsel in distress from fairytales is reimagined as fierce and powerful. Fabrics are refined and ornamental but also a bit strange, with lace playing a key role. Boland also referred to the Victorian era - which is of “great importance” to the trend - a time where we saw one of the early uprisings of women. The colour palette is a bit dramatic with mystic undertones. It includes feminine colours like light blue and blush colours, which are disrupted by bold reds and strong pinks, as well as teal. Image: Alexander McQueen pre-fall 21 Image: Kristina Fidelskaya FW21 Seeking sanctuary The fourth trend taps into our desire to seek sanctuary in such an uncertain time frame where growing political and social polarization and the pandemic have made us yearn for healing and self-meditation. “In design, we see that we are seeking a balance between human intelligence, natural intelligence, and artificial intelligence,” Boland said. “So the future is all about an equal weighting of these three types of intelligence.” It results in designs and patterns that are soothing, soulful and healing - ones that almost act as “visual yoga”. The mood of the trend is balanced, introverted and silent, and the fabrics have a very high tactility. Shapes are dramatic and oversized but with soft rounded corners, so no hard edges. Or “blanket-inspired designs”, as Boland puts it. The colour palette is soft and delicate, with evening sky pastels, oranges, and soft pinks and blues. Image: (from left to right) Chloe FW21, Boss FW21, Christian Wijnants FW21 Image: Malìparmi Odissea FW21
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Asos Q3 sales increase 21 percent

Image: Asos, Facebook For the four months to June 30, 2021, Asos has reported total group revenue of 1.29 billion pounds, up 21 percent. Sales in its home market of the UK increased 60 percent to 526.4 million pounds. The company said trading in the last three weeks of the period was more muted, as continued Covid uncertainty and inclement weather, particularly in the UK, impacted market demand. Asos said it anticipates volatility to continue in the near term, resulting in the underlying fourth-quarter growth rate being broadly in line with the prior year comparable period. Asos sales continue to improve Commenting on the trading update in a statement, CEO Nick Beighton said: “Asos has delivered another strong performance against a backdrop of continued social restrictions and global supply chain pressures.” The company’s active customer base increased by 1.2 million to 26.1 million since HY21. The company added that gross margin of negative -150bps reflected FX headwinds, elevated freight costs due to global supply chain disruption and continued ‘lockdown’ category product mix. Beighton continued: “Although mindful of the continued impacts of the pandemic on our customers in the short term, we believe that the structure of the global e-commerce fashion market has changed forever, which will drive an increase in online fashion sales over the long term. “We’re excited about the size of the prize ahead of us and the opportunity of delivering on our ambition of being the number one destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings.”
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Vince to launch rental service Borrow

Image: Vince Facebook page WWD has reported that contemporary label Vince has launched a rental service called Borrow, that will allow customers to rent men’s and women’s items from Vince without a subscription fee. On Tuesday, an announcement on Borrow is expected on Vince’s e-commerce site. Vince already operates a rental service called Vince Unfold, however they only have women’s offerings and there is a 160 dollar subscription fee. Vince Unfold launched in 2018, marking the first advanced contemporary brand to ever launch a clothing subscription service. Both of Vince’s subscription platforms are powered by CaaStle, a company that manages aspects of subscription business for retailers from the website to analytics. CaaStle also has distribution centers for shipping and receiving garments CaaStle counts Express, Banana Republic, and Destination Maternity as clients. The expansion of Vince’s subscription offerings is evidence that Unfold was successful, and now the company is looking to capitalize on the menswear market and those who aren’t willing to pay a full monthly subscription fee, but still want to occasionally rent clothes. Unfold lets customers rent four items at a time for an indefinite period of time, but they must be received before customers can rotate them out. With Borrow, customers can wear an item as many time as they like. Customers also have the option to buy the item. All Borrowed items include free shipping and returns, as well as complimentary dry cleaning. The initial rental period is 14 days, and customers can extend the borrowing period with a daily fee.
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Eric Pfrunder leaves Chanel

Image: Chanel After 37 years, Eric Pfrunder has left the legendary house of Chanel. Pfrunder was the former right-hand man to Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s famed artistic director, where he oversaw ads, image, and photography. In February 2019, Pfrunder was named joint artistic director of the house after Lagerfeld’s death. Since then, he has worked alongside creative director Virginie Viard where he helped oversee advertising, marketing, films, events, and digital. End of an era Viard continued to gradually expand her influence over photography and image by hiring photographers she favored - it was clear that Pfrunder was slowly stepping back. A spokesperson for Chanel confirmed that Pfrunder officially retired. Sources say Pfrunder took to retirement two months ago. He began working at Chanel in 1983, and was the first person to suggest to Lagerfeld that he begin shooting the campaigns himself in 1983 after dissatisfaction with a photographer. Pfrunder was present for Lagerfeld’s shoots from then on. Pfrunder recently joined the board of blockchain startup Lukso.
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Vince to launch rental service Borrow

Image: Vince Facebook page WWD has reported that contemporary label Vince has launched a rental service called Borrow, that will allow customers to rent men’s and women’s items from Vince without a subscription fee. On Tuesday, an announcement on Borrow is expected on Vince’s e-commerce site. Vince already operates a rental service called Vince Unfold, however they only have women’s offerings and there is a 160 dollar subscription fee. Vince Unfold launched in 2018, marking the first advanced contemporary brand to ever launch a clothing subscription service. Both of Vince’s subscription platforms are powered by CaaStle, a company that manages aspects of subscription business for retailers from the website to analytics. CaaStle also has distribution centers for shipping and receiving garments CaaStle counts Express, Banana Republic, and Destination Maternity as clients. The expansion of Vince’s subscription offerings is evidence that Unfold was successful, and now the company is looking to capitalize on the menswear market and those who aren’t willing to pay a full monthly subscription fee, but still want to occasionally rent clothes. Unfold lets customers rent four items at a time for an indefinite period of time, but they must be received before customers can rotate them out. With Borrow, customers can wear an item as many time as they like. Customers also have the option to buy the item. All Borrowed items include free shipping and returns, as well as complimentary dry cleaning. The initial rental period is 14 days, and customers can extend the borrowing period with a daily fee.
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Video: Miguel Vieira SS22 collection

In this video, Portuguese fashion designer Miguel Vieira has presented his SS22 collection at Milan Men's Fashion Week (MFW). Watch the video below. Video: FF Channel via YouTube Photo credit: Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Facebook
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Video: Tod's SS22 menswear collection

Photo credit: Tod's, Facebook In this video, luxury brand Tod's has presented its SS22 menswear collection at Milan Men's Fashion Week (MFW). Watch the video below. Video: Fashion Feed via YouTube
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Ivory Coast’s Lifestyle and Beauty Festival aims to bring together and develop growing sectors

FashionUnited Abidjan- In 2017, the Ipsos Social Research Institute carried out a study entitled “the women of Africa: a central motor driving the African economy". It found that fashion and beauty occupy the second and third spot in the list of what the women of the Ivory Coast spend their disposable income on, accounting for 14 and 13 percent of their budget respectively. With this in mind, the Lifestyle and Beauty Festival (LSBF) came to life. “The sectors of fashion, cosmetics and lifestyle are quite important in the country, but still need to be organised. We realised there was a need to create a framework to promote the development of these sectors that also takes into account the entire production chain”, explains Agara Konan Yao, the exhibition curator, to FashionUnited. He also notes that this initiative is unprecedented in the country: “traditionally, we see more fashion and cosmetic shows, but there has never been a show that brings together fashion, cosmetics and well-being under one roof. Bringing all these stakeholders together in a single space is a considerable challenge”. Facebook Lifestyle and Beauty Festival The LSBF took on this challenge on 21, 22 and 23 May 2021 at the Sofitel Hôtel Ivoire, one of the country's most prestigious venues. In an area spanning more than 8,000 square metres where 3800 square metres of expedition space are spread across three specific zones, there are more than 45 brands and companies which convene to meet both the public and professionals in connection with workshops, round tables, stands and fashion shows. One festival, two target groups: consumers and professionals “For this festival, we wanted to attract professionals from the worlds of fashion, beauty and lifestyle. With their skills and expertise, it is important for them to get to know one another, interact and perhaps even develop new markets”, explains the commissioner. “At the same time, we also wanted to attract consumers. First of all, because in this way, they can go meet professionals and get the best tips and advice. They can also make attractive business deals, buy quality products and respond to their needs and all this in the same space”. In order to allow as many people as possible to benefit from these brands and professionals, the festival’s organisers focused on making it accessible with an admission ticket price of 2000 FCFA (the local currency) equivalent to 3.05 Euro for adults and 500 FCFA equivalent to 0.75 Euro for children aged 7 to 12. “By offering this price, we can be certain that the people who come to the LSBF can shop on location and take advantage of the articles offered at the stands and in the surrounding area since the show takes place in the most prestigious venue on the square. Profits came from sponsoring and rental of the stand for the brands, but one should also keep in mind that the revenue from admissions was also considerable”. This was a choice that very much paid off considering the huge response on the part of visitors. A total of 15,530 participants were registered during the three-day event : On the opening day, Friday 21 May, the LSBF welcomed 4,605 visitors. Saturday attracted the most people with a total of  6,220 visitors. On Sunday, the final day, a total of 4 705 persons attended the event. FashionUnited Attract as many people as possible thanks to… reality TV! The Voodoo communication group and the Life TV channel were behind the lifestyle and beauty festival. In order to attract as many people as possible to the festival, the two organisations ingeniously decided to launch a reality TV program. The idea? To bring together four influencers from French-speaking Africa: Emma Lohoues with 2.7 millions followers on Instagram, Coco Emilia with 2.2 million followers, Nathalie Koah who accounts for 1.8 million and finally, Suy Fatem, former Miss Ivory Coast in 2018, with 350 thousand followers. Apart from being influencers, these women are known for their undertakings in the fashion and beauty sectors in the Ivory Coast for Emma Lohoues and Suy Fatem, and in Cameroon on the part of Coco Emilia and Nathalie Koah. In connection with this program that blends business, entrepreneurship and clashes (like all good reality TV), the production team also managed to showcase the festival and the idea behind it to a large audience. Through each of their vast social network communities, it was possible to reach a considerable number of viewers who then became participants. Facebook Lifestyle and beauty Festival LSBF, what’s in it for professionals? Numerous big names from Africa's and particularly the Ivory Coast’s fashion scene responded when the event was announced. This was the case for the high fashion brand Wafa Couture, which always strives to be closer to its clientele: “The brand has existed for 16 years, even though we are known in the country, we still have a need for visibility. It is important to remind our customers that we are there and that we exist. When a brand “makes noise”, it stays in the customer’s mind. If we don't do that, even if we do good work, there is a risk that our customers will forget us. Communicating and staying in contact with our clientele is essential, particularly in the wake of this health crisis", explains Wafa Sarkis, creator of the brand. FashionUnited Although many small and medium enterprises responded to the call, the organisers were also confronted with reluctant professionals: “From the first press conference on, big names from the fashion world joined the initiative, but it is also true that things didn’t come quite as easy when it came to the professionals themselves. They are sales-oriented whereas shows are traditionally places where products are put on display. The professionals have a clear goal: immediate profitability. We had to track them down and convince them that plenty of people with considerable purchasing power will be in attendance. I must say that this was one of our biggest challenges. Some opted to watch this first instalment from the sidelines and told themselves that they'd take part in the second one", notes Agara Konan Yao. Has a date been set for 2022? Following the success of this first instalment, the commissioner is already announcing plans for the next instalment: “We are envisioning a larger second instalment with even more representation from the entire value creation chain. We want to have more stands, more participants and more institutional involvement, particularly on the part of ministers. This year, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce opened the show, but next year, we hope to be accompanied by other ministers”, he concludes. Crédit : Lifestyle and Beauty Festival This article was originally published on FashionUnited.FR, translated and edited to English.
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Quiz sales sore, but still impacted by lower demand for occasionwear

Image: Quiz, Facebook Quiz has reported soaring sales in the first quarter of the year following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in the UK, but said it continues to be impacted by the pandemic. In the quarter to June 30, total sales reached 17.3 million pounds, which were consistent with the board’s expectations and 13.1 million pounds more than reported a year ago when the company was “severely impacted” by the first wave of the pandemic in the UK and Europe. But despite lockdown restrictions easing during the quarter, Quiz said the pandemic continued to impact sales through the closure of stores and concessions for part of the period and a drop in demand for the company’s trademark dresses and occasionwear. Breaking the sales down by channel Quiz reported 4.6 million pounds through its own website, compared to 2.2 million pounds a year earlier, while sales through third-party websites totalled 1.8 million pounds compared to 1.2 million pounds a year earlier - which the company said was linked to the cessation of sales through the Debenhams website from early April. As of June 30, Quiz operated 61 stores in the UK, 13 fewer than it had prior to the lockdown of stores in March 2020. International revenues from stores and concessions operated by Quiz amounted to 0.6 million pounds, compared to 0.1 million pounds the year before. Quiz has five international stores and 15 international concessions, all located in Ireland, which were closed at the start of the period and reopened in mid-May. Revenues from international franchise partners in the period amounted to 3.1 million pounds, compared to 0.4 million pounds in 2020. “The group continues to pursue opportunities for long-term International growth and is confident that this can be achieved,” Quiz said. Looking ahead, the company said it “looks forward to the further relaxation of restrictions on social activities” as demand for occasionwear returns.
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Première Vision’s Digital Denim Week: the key takeaways

Première Vision’s second edition of its Digital Denim Week took place last week from July 5 to 9. Dubbed “The responsible denim fashion event,” it presented the trends, materials and newest products for the Autumn-Winter 2022-2023 season. Initially planned to happen physically in Milan last May, it moved online to the fair’s global platform that presented both the events and marketplace in one place. Following the success of the first edition - it got more than 5,000 visitors and 1,400 participants - this season’s event presented a week-long schedule ranging from conferences and masterclasses to discussions with industry experts. The key word for this edition was ‘connecting’ and the event revolved around the theme of ‘The Great North’, which celebrated an ode to nature, sustainability and the Nordics. It focused on how the industry can rethink its future and make more eco-friendly decisions that’ll bring a positive change to the environment. The products highlighted a new sense of simplicity and more conscious materials and fibres. An array of themes illustrated the season’s direction, such as polar light, frozen decoration or starry nights. Premiere Vision’s Marketplace was the core of the event. Launched in 2018, it enabled exhibitors to showcase their collections online and buyers to select and order products directly from the platform. Whether it was artisanal weavers or industrial garments makers, the catalog made for an international offer ranging from Italy and Spain to Pakistan and the UAE. The online platform held numerous events throughout the week, beginning with a seminar on Tuesday decrypting the trends and products to consider for the AW22-23 season. Other leading events included a SmartTalk on the future of sustainable fashion with consultant Giusy Bettoni and a mini series analysing the denim ecosystem with designer Andrea Grossi. The highlights from the collections? An ever-growing shift to more sustainability, with one-of-a-kind products and eco-friendly developments in the denim sector. Exhibitors heralded bright hues and colourful overdyes, as well as traceable and bio-synthetic dyes. A return to well-being and wellness in general has been noticed, with denim coming in softer and more comfortable fabrics. Finally, we’ve seen the introduction of more responsible dyeing solutions - either plant-based or made from organic elements - and techniques that do not require colorants or chemicals. Première Vision successfully wrapped up a week full of promising innovations for the denim industry and will return next October for a physical edition in Milan. ‘Picture:Levi's Off the Cuff blog’
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Kinnevik's NAV improves 11 percent, completes Zalando distribution

Image: Zalando newsroom For the quarter ended June 30, 2021, Kinnevik reported NAV of 76.2 billion Swedish krona or 274 Swedish krona per share), up 12.6 billion Swedish krona or 11 percent compared to the same quarter previous year. The company’s net cash position at the end of the quarter was 4.3 billion Swedish krona, including 563 million Swedish krona in dividends from Tele2 received in early July, corresponding to 6 percent of portfolio value by quarter-end. During the quarter under review, the company distributed its Zalando investment to the shareholders. “With the Zalando distribution completed, we continue our pivot and strengthen our strategic focus on younger digital innovators that aim to reimagine everyday lives while generating sustainable returns over the long-term,” said Georgi Ganev, CEO of Kinnevik in a statement. The important highlights of the quarter include Babylon’s announcement of becoming a public company through merging with the SPAC Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp. Pleo raised 150 million dollars in a funding round. Kinnevik increased valuation of Budbee, led a 12 million euros funding round in Superb, the all-in-one guest experience management platform for restaurants and invested 23 million dollars into Parsley Health, a subscription service which offers personalised doctor-led care and support for chronic conditions for women. In July, the company also invested 49 million dollars into Lunar, the Nordic challenger bank, alongside its former Zalando partners Heartland.
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Victoria's Secret to trade independently from August 2021

Image: L Brands resources Board of directors of L Brands, Inc. has approved the previously announced separation of the Victoria’s Secret business into an independent, publicly traded company. The new company, named Victoria’s Secret & Co. (Victoria’s Secret), will include Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, Pink and Victoria’s Secret Beauty. In addition, the company said in a statement that the board approved a name change from L Brands, Inc. to Bath & Body Works, Inc. and L Brands’ stock symbol will also change from LB to BBWI. The company added that the separation will be achieved through the distribution of 100 percent of the shares of Victoria’s Secret to holders of L Brands common stock. The distribution of Victoria’s Secret’s shares is expected to be completed after the market close on August 2, 2021, with L Brands stockholders receiving one share of Victoria’s Secret common stock for every three shares of L Brands common stock held at the close of business on the record date of July 22, 2021. Victoria’s Secret has received approval for the listing of its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VSCO.
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