Louis Vuitton Holds 'Voyager' Fashion Show in Shanghai

A logo of Louis Vuitton is displayed on a Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, March 30, 2024. (Reuters)
A logo of Louis Vuitton is displayed on a Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, March 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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Louis Vuitton Holds 'Voyager' Fashion Show in Shanghai

A logo of Louis Vuitton is displayed on a Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, March 30, 2024. (Reuters)
A logo of Louis Vuitton is displayed on a Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, March 30, 2024. (Reuters)

Louis Vuitton debuted its newly-labeled "Voyager" traveling show in Shanghai on Thursday night, showing off asymmetric hemlines and boxy leather vests in the country that is one of the brand's key markets.
More than 1,000 invitees, including international celebrities like Cate Blanchett and local stars such as Zhou Dongyu and Jackson Wang, took in the pre-fall collection designed by women's artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière, Reuters said.
The show was held in the cavernous concrete expanse of the Atelier Deshaus-designed Long Museum, in the riverside West Bund art district. It included pieces made in collaboration with Beijing-based artist Sun Yitian, who painstakingly paints photographs of inflated plastic animals, including ducklings, cats and rabbits. Reprints of her works were incorporated into the opening designs of the show.
In the days leading up to the show, images of Sun's work popped up around Shanghai, China's most international city, projected onto the exterior of malls and plastering walls in hip shopping and lifestyle districts.
For Louis Vuitton, the largest luxury brand in the LVMH stable, China continues to represent one of the world's most important luxury opportunities, even as a broader economic slowdown and consumer malaise stymie growth.
LVMH said on Tuesday that year-on-year sales for the quarter ending in March rose 3% on an organic basis, but purchases by Chinese shoppers globally grew 10%.
Last year, Louis Vuitton's men's line, helmed by Pharell Williams, staged a large-scale show in Hong Kong.



Zara Owner Inditex Meets Quarterly Sales Forecast but Recent Sales Slow

Shoppers walk past a Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish group Inditex, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, December 13, 2022. (Reuters)
Shoppers walk past a Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish group Inditex, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, December 13, 2022. (Reuters)
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Zara Owner Inditex Meets Quarterly Sales Forecast but Recent Sales Slow

Shoppers walk past a Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish group Inditex, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, December 13, 2022. (Reuters)
Shoppers walk past a Zara clothes store, part of the Spanish group Inditex, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, December 13, 2022. (Reuters)

Zara owner Inditex on Wednesday reported sales for its fourth quarter ending January 31 in line with analysts' expectations, sealing another year of strong growth for the world's biggest listed fast-fashion retailer.
Inditex's first quarter started more slowly, though, with sales up just 4% in currency-neutral terms over the February 1 to March 10 period, compared to 11% growth a year ago, Reuters said.
Sales grew 10.5% in currency-neutral terms, to 38.6 billion euros ($42.07 billion) for the year, Inditex said, as fourth-quarter sales came in at 11.2 billion euros.
"The main concern will be a softer exit rate of 4%" compared to analysts' forecast of 8.8% growth for the first quarter, Bernstein analyst William Woods said. "This requires a significant acceleration in the rest of the quarter," Woods said, noting Inditex said sales in its most recent week were up 7%.
Zara's growth may have been boosted recently by consumers shifting from more high-end brands to Zara during the cost-of-living crisis, and that trading down might not happen to the same extent in the coming years, said Morningstar analyst Jelena Sokolova.
In comments on its 2025 outlook, Inditex said it had a "strong commitment to profitable growth" after net profit for 2024 grew 9% to 5.9 billion euros.
"The excellent sales and profit figures show the solidity of the Inditex Group's profitable growth," Chief Executive Officer Oscar Garcia Maceiras said in a statement.
Inditex, which also owns Bershka, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, and Oysho brands, said it would hike its dividend by 9% to 1.68 euros per share.
Inditex's consistent growth, outpacing rivals, such as H&M, has driven a strong run in its share price, which is now more than double of where it was three years ago, but the stock has struggled to gain further ground since September last year.
Inditex plans capital spending of 1.8 billion euros this year, unchanged from 2024, as it invests in store refurbishments, technology and improving its online platforms.
After investments in logistics and expanding warehouses, Inditex said a second distribution center in its logistics hub of Zaragoza will open this summer.
The retailer, which operates in 214 markets around the world, plans to open its first stores in Iraq this year. Its brand aimed at younger shoppers, Bershka, will launch in Sweden, and sportswear and loungewear brand Oysho is set to open for the first time in the Netherlands and Germany.