Fashion Strategy Weekly

TOP 11 BRANDS IN THE FSW CONTENT EFFECTIVENESS INDEX (as of January 2025) 1. Miu Miu 2. Ralph Lauren 3. Coach 4. Hermès 5. Brunello Cucinelli 6. Prada Group 7. Zegna 8. kate spade new york 9. Stone Island 10. Thom Browne, Inc. 11. Moncler 🌟 The brands winning with content are winning with consumers. The rest of the index shows that the brands struggling with content are also struggling on the revenue growth side of the equation, including Jimmy Choo, Versace, Stuart Weitzman, Burberry, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Michael Kors, HUGO BOSS, and TOM FORD FASHION. For the full analysis, see our recent report, "The FSW Luxury Playbook for 2025: Welcome to the Year of Content-First Brand Strategy": https://lnkd.in/eXQWXGmW #luxury #luxurystrategy #retailstrategy #contentstrategy #contentmarketing #brandstorytelling #branding #brandstrategy #cx #retaileconomics #luxuryeconomics

LVMH’s Full Year 2024 Results Point to Positive Trends with A Cautionary Chaser Luxury bellwether LVMH reported its full-year 2024 results after the close in Paris on January 27. The industry had a weak first nine months of the year, at least relative to the historic post-pandemic growth rates. Expectations were for a 1 percent decline in Q4 group sales year over year, which implied a decent bounce back after a 4.4 percent decline in Q3, but still in the wrong direction. What we got was something a bit better for Q4 and a much better story going into H1. Overall reported group sales were down 0.1 percent in Q4, with positive 1 percent organic growth. This still left LVMH with a roughly 2 percent decline for the full year, following annual growth rates of 44 percent, 23 percent, and 9 percent during 2021-23. But the key story from our way of looking through the prism is that this was a strong report. Fashion and leather goods (48 percent of group revenue), selective retailing (mostly SEPHORA and 22 percent of revenue) and watches and jewelry (12 percent) recorded significantly stronger sales in Q4 than in Q3. These three business groups comprised 83 percent of total sales and finished up 29 percent from October to December relative to July to September. This points to a potentially more promising prognosis for H1 2025 than the market expected just a few weeks ago, particularly after Richemont, Burberry, and Zegna also reported better-than-expected sales numbers this week. Some cautionary elements for LVMH have implications for the rest of the industry. First, China continued to be a weak spot. Second, LVMH’s gross margins declined by 4 percent in 2024. This was, in part, due to flat pricing last year. The 2024 results were issued after Paris trading closed on Tuesday, but the OTC secondary LVMHF listing in the U.S. closed down 2.3 percent, recovering after falling over 7 percent intraday. FULL ARTICLE: https://lnkd.in/eXAMnJid #luxury #luxuryeconomics #retaileconomics #lvmh #marketanalysis #strategy

Sustainability is no longer a vanity metric or a corporate responsibility bullet point for fashion and luxury brands. In this fourth episode of season two of FSW Conversations, FSW co-publisher Jessica Quillin, PhD chats with Heidi Svane Pedersen, a thought leader at the intersection of fashion, circular business models, and digital innovation. As head of digital for the Lifestyle and Design Cluster in Copenhagen, she helps brands leverage cutting-edge technologies like AI and blockchain to enhance transparency, reduce waste, and drive meaningful change in the industry. FSW Conversations is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcasting platforms. Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/ey2mQmP9 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e3sMgvCG YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eRZP2XRk #sustainability #dpp #digitalproductpassports #digitaltransformation #fashion #sustainablefashion #climatechange #digitalcontent #datastrategy #ai #blockchain

Welcome to the year of content-first brand strategy. This FSW Luxury Playbook is our annual examination of the current state of luxury, providing strategic insights brands can use now and for the year ahead. Our 2025 edition centers around luxury brand strategy and the growing gap in customer experience. This report also features the debut of the FSW Content Effectiveness Index, which charts a positive correlation between brand content efficacy and 2024 revenue growth. 💡 FINDING: In 2024, the brands that won with content also won with consumers. https://lnkd.in/eXQWXGmW #luxury #luxurystrategy #retailstrategy #retail #fashion #fashionstrategy #contentstrategy #contentmarketing #content #communications #brandstrategy #storytelling #brandstorytelling

Season 2 Episode 3 of FSW Conversations features Michael Spicher, PhD, founder of the Aesthetics Research Lab, who sat down with me for a wonderfully deep and insightful conversation about the meaning of luxury, brand storytelling, and the ongoing value of human creativity. FSW Conversations is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcasting platforms. Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/epMY5pGG Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ev-kmWQ8 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eX9WcdHD #storytelling #branding #brandstorytelling #luxury #aesthetics #luxuryaesthetics #fashion #beauty #CX #humanism #creativity 

Episode 2 of Season 2 of FSW Conversations features Philipp Labkovskiy, Global E-Commerce Director of ECCO. In this must-listen episode, Philipp chats about how he's using data to garner deeper, more targeted customer insights and about the evolving landscape of retail e-commerce. FSW Conversations is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcasting platforms. Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eQm74U93 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ewK7sa-5 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eSsvgDx9 #ecommerce #digitalstrategy #retail #retailstrategy #shoes #footwear #ecommercestrategy #cx #customerexperience #contentstrategy

Insights from Retail's Big Show: day 3 We explore an interesting session on AI use cases to transform the fashion supply chain to reduce overproduction from Marco Ruffa, formerly CMO of PINKO, and Guido Mengoni, Marketing and Advisory Director of Temera. https://lnkd.in/eAXqHFh7 #retailtech #retailstrategy #ai #technology #retailinnovation #supplychain #strategy #luxury #fashion

🌟 FSW Conversations Season 2 Episode 1 is now live. Season 2 features in-depth conversations with some of retail, fashion, and luxury’s brightest minds and innovative thinkers discussing key topics affecting consumer-facing brands today. Episode 1 features Marco Ruffa, former Chief Marketing Officer at PINKO, talking about AI, innovation, and human creativity. FSW Conversations is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcasting platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/ePwV36f6 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e6Y_Q9ra YouTube: https://lnkd.in/e2E_qdd5 #luxury #fashion #podcast #content #ai #innovation #datastrategy

Strategy took center stage on day 2 of the National Retail Federation Big Show in several sessions. In this special report, we talk about interesting sessions with Katie Welch of Rare Beauty in conversation with Dan Frommer of The New Consumer and a panel on personalization featuring Ken F. of Hermès, Greg Pulsifer of Sam's Club, and Christopher "CTM" Thomas-Moore of Domino's, moderated by Giri Agarwal of Incisiv. FULL STORY: https://lnkd.in/eic2Z6xY #retail #retailstrategy #fashion #luxury #contentstrategy #tech #retailtech

Retail’s Big Show day 1 was full of lessons on strategy for retail, fashion, and luxury brands. In this special daily coverage of retail’s big event, we examine interesting strategy insights from the first day of the National Retail Federation Big Show conference in New York City. We hone in on two sessions: - Burberry CEO Joshua Schulman spoke with Pete Nordstrom of Nordstrom in a candid chat about the British luxury brand’s “Burberry Forward” turnaround strategy - Elizabeth Preis, CMO of Anthropologie, and Giovanni Zaccariello, Head of Visual Merchandising for Coach, chatted with moderator Melissa Gonzalez of MG2 about how to connect mindshare and wallet share through content and experiences. FULL ANALYSIS: https://lnkd.in/ePScts8u #retail #retailstrategy #fashion #luxury #strategy #fashionmarketing #marketing #contentstrategy #contentmarketing