As retailers continue to struggle to keep sales up and stores open, Gap Inc. has been able to stay profitable. It’s all thanks to one brand, Old Navy. [More]
fashion
Today In WTF Fashion: TopShop Sells Clear ‘Jeans’ While Nordstrom Charges $425 For ‘Muddy’ Ones
By 4.25.17 — Updated: 4.28.17
In the annals of fashion, Spring 2017 may be remembered as the high-water mark for laughable, high-priced jeans. TopShop is now doing its knee-sweat inducing “window” jeans one better by just selling clear plastic leggings, while Nordstrom wants to charge you a small fortune for the privilege of looking like you fetched your pants from a flooded dirt-floor basement. [More]
Why Do Larger Clothes For Women Often Fit So Badly?
By 4.24.17
Anyone who’s ever bought clothing they’ve seen a model or a mannequin wearing has probably had that moment, when you get the item in your non-mannequin size, put it on, and… it just doesn’t fit well, now that it’s on a real person. Why does this happen? [More]
This 18-Year-Old Would Not Sell Urban Outfitters 10,000 Of His Hats
By 3.30.17
Imagine you’re selling your own line of clothing, and a major retailer asks to buy a few thousand of your designs and sell them in stores. You might be tempted to sign on the dotted line for your shot at the big time with the help of an established chain, but for the social media savvy among us, that’s just not a priority. [More]
BCBG Max Azria Files For Bankruptcy, Admits It’s No Longer Chic
By 3.2.17
The fashion retailer BCBG Max Azria closed 120 stores at the beginning of last month, setting off speculation that it might be about to file for bankruptcy. This speculation was correct: The purveyor of dressy yet affordable clothes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today, seeking to either sell the business or make a deal that would give its junior creditors a stake in the business instead of cash. [More]
Wet Seal Considering Second Bankruptcy In Two Years
By 1.13.17
No, we haven’t gone into reruns: Wet Seal, a clothing retailer geared toward women in their teens and twenties, is considering celebrating the second anniversary of its last bankruptcy by popping the cork on a second one. This time, though, the chain is hoping to quietly sell itself without going through the expense and hassle of court proceedings. [More]
Get Ready To See Even More Exclusions On Department Store Coupons
By 11.22.16
If department stores can’t break their addiction to discounting, designer brands want to help. Brands like Michael Kors and Kate Spade are selling fewer of their products in department stores. Other brands are keeping their items in stores, but insisting that they not be discounted. [More]
Meijer Ditches Plus-Size Department To Attract More Plus-Size Customers: Wait, What?
By 10.31.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
At a time when clothing retailers are fretting over their business, there’s one segment of the market where sales are actually increasing: plus-size women’s clothing. Discount store Meijer is taking advantage of this change, and is changing things so the plus-size department will go away, and sizes XS through XXXL will be on the same rack together. [More]
Delta’s New, Purple High-Fashion Zac Posen Uniforms Heading High Up Into The Sky
By 10.19.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
Delta Air Lines announced in 2015 that it would be starting a partnership with designer Zac Posen for its new ground and flight crew uniforms. This week, those uniforms hit the runway — the one models walk, not the one planes fly — and we can say one thing with confidence: They’re purple. Really, really purple. [More]
Luxury Conglomerate LVMH Is Definitely Not Selling Through Amazon
By 10.11.16
LVMH is a luxury conglomerate named after only two of its brands, Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton. Other brands it owns that you might have heard of are Dom Pérignon, Dior, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora. Yet while you can find its products in most department stores, you will not find them being sold officially at the Everything Store: LVMH will definitely not be selling its products on Amazon. [More]
Nordstrom Removes Clothing Line That Features Prescription Bottle Purses, Pill-Decorated Dresses
By 10.7.16
Just because a high-end fashion designer makes a purse that looks like a pill bottle doesn’t mean consumers are going to find it any less controversial than the syringe pens sold at Target or the prescription pill bottle shot glasses from Urban Outfitters. For that reason, Nordstrom says it will no longer sell a line of clothing from Italian designer Moschino. [More]
Facebook Would Like To Know If An Advertiser Scammed You
By 6.30.16
It’s one thing if an online ad is misleading or misrepresents the site that you click on, but what happens when you order an item that isn’t as promised? As overseas clothing companies that market solely through Facebook have proliferated, some customers blame Facebook, even though the site doesn’t vet the products and services of every advertiser. Now, at least, Facebook wants to listen if you’re scammed or misled by an ad on the site. [More]
Amazon Now Selling Clothing Under Its Own In-House Brands
By 2.23.16
In yet another effort to completely and totally dominate the shopping world, Amazon has apparently started a few private label clothing brands and has been quietly shilling apparel and accessories under those trademarked names with nary a press release to let anyone know. [More]
Rent The Runway’s ‘Exclusive’ Dresses Turn Up Much Cheaper In Retail Stores
By 12.22.15
Rent the Runway, a company that lets customers rent pricey outfits for special events, now rents out their own brands alongside designer clothes and accessories. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there is something wrong with promoting those brands as if they’re from noted designers, assigning them made-up retail values. Even worse: some of those “exclusive” items can be found on department store websites, where you can buy them for less than it would cost to rent them. [More]
Amazon May Launch Its Own Clothing Brand To Offer More Options For Customers
By 10.28.15
Back in May, Amazon announced it was toying with the idea of creating its own house brand for everyday items like cereal and diapers. Not content to just stay in your cabinets, the e-commerce giant is apparently on the verge of infiltrating our closets with its own private-label fashion line. [More]
MasterCard Launches Program To Make Anything – Clothes, Rings – A Payment Device
By 10.27.15
MasterCard’s quest to make paying for things easier already includes a few out-there systems: verification via selfie for online orders, anyone? And it doesn’t appear that the credit card company is holding back in its latest endeavor, partnering with a fashion designer and other companies to create an array of consumer products-turned-mobile payment systems. Because, you know, paying with pieces of plastic and phones was so last year. [More]
Doctors Warn: Squatting In Skinny Jeans May Lead To Nerve Damage
By 6.23.15
If you’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that there was something not quite right about the trend of encasing your lower half in skintight denim, that feeling might be justified: Researchers say squatting while wearing skinny jeans can cause not only temporary discomfort, but nerve damage as well. [More]
Consumers Love Designer Brands, Hate Products Splattered With Logos
By 6.16.15
The luxury goods industry has a problem: its customers now prefer subtlety. That means that bags that serve as walking billboards yet cost thousands of dollars just don’t sell like they used to. The global rich are now more interested in subtlety and craftsmanship, or they’re tired of feeling like they’re showing off. Maybe both. [More]
