‘The Future of Retail’: Highlights from the best panel at last month’s Monocle conference in Berlin.
In Berlin, Storefront’s Mohamed Haouache, Perfumer H’s Lyn Harris, and Sarah McNally of McNally Jackson brought the house down in a cracking, back-and-forth debate on what the future holds for high-end retail.
On our radar: Vello folding bikes, found at last month’s Monocle conference in Berlin.
Several compelling brands and businesses were put on our radar at the Monocle conference in Berlin last month, but it was Austrian cycle enterprise, Vello, that stayed top of mind for us.
The Armoury CEO Mark Cho on modernity, brand building, and acquiring Drake’s of London.
Armoury founder Mark Cho’s projects are characterized by a ravenous, curious, and detail minded approach, fueled by constant travel between New York, London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.
Ana Andjelic: Legacy retailers define strategy in competitive terms. Retail upstarts define it in terms of their customer.
To successfully compete in today’s customer-first context, retailers have to start thinking beyond incremental innovation. They must become comfortable with new models that cannibalize their business as it is right now.
Back in 2015, WWD unknowingly signaled the end of Style.com. Turns out they were spot on.
After much fanfare, waiting, and pomp and circumstance, Style.com was relaunched…and then promptly shut down this week. We’d be lying if we said this was a shocker. (885 words)
Ana Andjelic – Rethinking luxury’s technology gameplan.
Longstanding luxury brands tend to treat technology as a marketing play or a value-add that sits on top of their business models – rather than harnessing technology to actually transform their businesses. Ana Andjelic’s argument: It’s a terrible approach. (652 words)
Bridging the gap between swim and adventure, Summersalt becomes an ambitious addition to a swimwear market in flux.
There’s a lot to like about Summersalt, a confident new swimwear specialist hoping to redefine the category. We spoke to co-founders Lori Coulter and Reshma Chamberlin about toning down the sex appeal, and becoming a category killer. (1,371 words)
Modern luxury companies don’t win best-in-class face-offs. They offer better bundles.
An Everlane will never beat an Hermes in absolute product quality – and it doesn’t need to. Best-in-class quality only takes you so far, and modern luxury brands are offering something far more compelling: a better overall bundle for shoppers. (924 words)
Getting active: Equinox is quickly becoming a go-to retail partner for activewear upstarts.
Equinox is rigorously focused on listening to its members — and members are saying they want more of what the new class of activewear companies like Rhone, Ten Thousand, and ISAORA, have to offer. (774 words)
Tracking Kit and Ace: A timeline of embarrassing failures stretching back to February 2016.
Having just shuttered 36 out of 45 total stores last week, Kit and Ace’s aim of opening 95 global stores by 2019 (and taking out $300M in debt to do so) is over. This is just the latest in a consistent series of embarrassing missteps since early 2016. (837 words)