UNIS founder, Eunice Lee | Photo credit: UNIS
People

How UNIS CEO Eunice Lee battles the ‘Everlane effect’.

Everlane’s ‘radical transparency’ story is misleading, argues Eunice Lee. Her antidote: long-term perseverance, gradual growth, and a focus on bricks-and-mortar.

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The jovial Mr. Biver | Photo credit: Reuters
Business

Tag Heuer’s new gateway drug is the smartwatch (and its dealer is chief Jean-Claude Biver).

How Tag Heuer is using its smartwatch line to convert shoppers into buying full mechanical watches later.

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Warby Parker flagship in SoHo NYC | Photo credit: Warby Parker
Subscriber Comment

Why the store of the future actually doesn’t want to sell you anything.

Warby Parker, Bonobos, and Kit and Ace have turned their stores into gathering places and social hubs. For them, stores are no longer strictly transactional.

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The Everlane design team in China | Photo courtesy: Bloomberg
Business

Everlane: Cult or commerce?

CEO Michael Preysman wants consumers to believe there’s a spiritual mission behind Everlane’s basic T-shirts. Lean Luxe readers are unlikely swallow that pill.

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Olympic dreams | Photo courtesy: Tracksmith
Business

As Paul Evans sidesteps the VC circuit, other fast-risers, like Tracksmith and Lively, embrace it.

The modern luxury economy is poised to explode over the next five years. For brands to enjoy the bounty, they’ll need to find strategic investors who can offer more than just a check.

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Kit and Ace's Detroit storefront | Photo Courtesy: Daily Detroit
Business

Unicorn delusions: Why Kit and Ace’s Chip Wilson has doused the brand’s billion dollar dream.

The activewear brand is shutting down many of its stores, has ousted co-founder JJ Wilson, and is laying off 56 employees. It’s a tacit affirmation that they’ve expanded too quickly.

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Photo courtesy: David Kind
Subscriber Comment

We’re fast becoming a ‘post-luxury’ society. So how should luxury brands be defined today?

With new ‘luxury’ brands arriving in droves each year, how do we separate the pretenders from the sincere?

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Byredo: The opposite of mass market. | Photo credit: Garance Dore
Book Smarts

Recommended Reading: Deluxe by Dana Thomas.

At a time when luxury appears to be returning to its roots, Deluxe does well in showing why this shift is long overdue, and why luxury, at least in its mass-marketed form, has lost its luster.

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Ministry's new women's line: Perfect for the office (and for the bike). | Photo credit: Ministry
Business

Ministry’s new officewear for women underlines a broader menswear development.

On the back on Ministry’s announcement, we look at how smart men’s brands are bringing innovation to the women’s side.

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Away's founders, Jen Rubio and Stephanie Korey, have reason to smile. | Photo credit: Nate Poekert
Business

Travel abroad: Making sense of Away’s new $8.5M Series A (and its big, global ambitions)

Does the quick rush to expand globally by suitcase brand Away (after less than a year in business) point to a larger trend among modern luxury brands?

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