Givenchy Models Walk on Water in Paris Fashion Week

A model wears a creation as part of the Givenchy men's Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, France, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
A model wears a creation as part of the Givenchy men's Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, France, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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Givenchy Models Walk on Water in Paris Fashion Week

A model wears a creation as part of the Givenchy men's Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, France, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
A model wears a creation as part of the Givenchy men's Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, France, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

For the first major collection of Paris Fashion Week’s menswear season, Givenchy’s models walked on water.

A giant font filled with milky-white water and frothing mist in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire served as a fluid runway where models, often bare-chested and in waterproof footwear, stomped and splashed toward a blinding set light, The Associated Press said.

Matthew M. Williams clearly wanted to make a splash in his first standalone menswear show since being appointed in 2020. But did the American designer dive deep enough?

Here are some highlights of Wednesday’s spring-summer 2023 shows:

GIVENCHY MAKES A SHALLOW SPLASH

This was the high-fashion Givenchy of Audrey Hepburn in name only. Williams’ vision is urban, sports-infused and pared down.

The American designer, the former collaborator of Lady Gaga and Kanye West, brought his streetwear vibe again to the haute Paris runway. The muse this season was the style of Jamaican Reggae singer Alkaline, who worked on the show soundtrack.

These looks were defined by long and loose silhouettes, frayed hems, thick chains and fearsome facemasks.

Observations from Williams’ past produced many of the looks. The bomber jackets with laser-cut house logos that opened the show were inspired by those the designer used to admire in Harlem, New York. Elsewhere, the street styles of California mixed with preppy styles, such as torn tailored pants.

Williams said of his collection backstage that “everything is grounded in reality. I could see the guy in each look existing on the street — for me that’s a really modern approach.”

But at times this everyday vibe let the collection down. For instance, one simple pink sweat suit, worn open on a bare chest with gold chain, did not quite feel developed enough an idea for the high fashion runway.

Still, the tailoring was strong throughout — as expected for the house — for instance in one broad, ’80s black tailored coat that cut a fine shape.

DIOR’S CRUISE SPA

Marking haute couture week, Dior is reviving a floating 19th century spa that existed on an elegant barge at the Pont-Neuf bridge.

The spa, which was called Bains de la Samaritaine, was reputed to be Western Europe’s most luxurious at the time and the mother of modern luxury spas.

This season, Dior is teaming up with Cheval Blanc Paris to create its own vision of the cruising spa, with a capacity for five passengers in four suites for a two-hour journey across the Seine River. It will run between June 29 and July 13.

The boat’s decor comprises rattan furniture and parasols in blue toile de jouy, an Dior pattern reinterpreted by current designer Maria Grazia Chiuri,

BLUE MARBLE BREAKS LOOSE

Streetwear and tailoring collided in a melting-pot of a show by designer Anthony Alvarez, who counts Justin Bieber among his clients.

Alvarez is one to watch -- with his fashion repertoire for the MTV generation mixing travel with urban wear and bright eye-popping color.

For spring-summer, he turned up the psychedelia to produce a flashy, loose fitting collection. Multicolored loose pants, with BLUEMARBLE printed across, met an acid yellow-green oversize coat with a marbled texture. An ’80s pajama pant look was responsible for one of the collection’s best looks, in pearly white. It came among baggy jeans with rhinestoned four-leaf clovers.

But this show also harked from the designer’s rich heritage. Alvarez is New York-born with a mixture of Filipino, Spanish, French and Italian roots. The collection celebrated this globe-trotting vision. Ethnic shirts mixed with silken varsity bombers, and tied leopard foulards that looked both ready for safari and a rock concert.

The brand name itself is global — borrowed from the iconic photo of the Earth taken in 1972 by the Apollo 17 crew.

ETUDES TAKES THE TRAIN

Design triumvirate Jose Lamali, Jeremie Egry and Aurelien Arbet at Etudes used an abandoned railway on the outskirts of Paris as the setting — and creative springboard — for an urban-themed display.

It was the first in an upcoming series of site-specific shows, which use a location, or an environment, for design inspiration. Paris was a logical starting point for this French brand — albeit here the “lesser-known Paris” was what the house said it was channeling. Guests watched from the platform onto the Petite Ceinture, or Little Belt, railway — a thirty-kilometer track circling the city.
Frayed white jeans, distressed denim, hiking sneakers, industrial-looking baseball caps, boiler suits and workman’s aprons mixed with utilitarian toggles and straps. They seemed to evoke disenfranchised ’90s youth, who might have wandered the disused railtracks.

These urban references riffed nicely on tailoring. Loosely tailored jackets, with a boxy ’80s silhouette, came above matching pants that were cropped in a funky way below the knee, leading to military-style boots.

BIANCA SAUNDERS PUTS ON SECOND PARIS SHOW

One of only a handful of women designers in menswear, Andam Prize-winning British designer Bianca Saunders was in a confident mood Wednesday in a deft sophomore show that channeled her native London.

Saunders, who has Caribbean roots, quickly came to fame after graduating from Central Saint Martin’s a few years ago. Minimalism was at the heart of this display.

Oversize quirky details such as collars and pockets morphed creatively into artistic form, sometimes on looks that verged on the space-age. One silver glam rock suit with sanitized elasticated pumps evoked the pandemic.

Elsewhere, medieval peasant-like woolen undergarments, that felt quite Vivienne Westwood, was typical of her seemingly effortless trendy touch.



UK Fashion Retailers ASOS, Boohoo to Clarify Green Credentials Claims, Says Regulator 

New employees wait in the lobby on their first day of work at the ASOS headquarters in London April 1, 2014. (Reuters)
New employees wait in the lobby on their first day of work at the ASOS headquarters in London April 1, 2014. (Reuters)
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UK Fashion Retailers ASOS, Boohoo to Clarify Green Credentials Claims, Says Regulator 

New employees wait in the lobby on their first day of work at the ASOS headquarters in London April 1, 2014. (Reuters)
New employees wait in the lobby on their first day of work at the ASOS headquarters in London April 1, 2014. (Reuters)

Top fashion retailers ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda have signed undertakings to clarify the way they display, describe and promote their environmental credentials, Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday.

The announcement follows a 2022 investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) amid heightened scrutiny of companies exaggerating their green credentials in an attempt to woo climate-conscious consumers as well as billions of dollars from environmentally focused investor funds.

Some of the undertakings include making clear statements about materials used in green ranges such as "organic" or "recycled" instead of "eco" or "sustainable" and setting out clear criteria to decide which products are part of the environmental collections, the CMA said.

The three brands together make over 4.4 billion pounds ($5.56 billion) annually from UK fashion sales alone, according to the regulator.


Godzilla Claw Shoes on Oscars Red Carpet Are Just One of Hazama’s ‘Dark Fantasy’ Creations 

The various Godzilla-themes shoes by Japanese fashion designer Ryosuke Matsui, on a table also designed by Matsui, are shown during an interview with The Associated Press at his company office on the outskirts of Tokyo, Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP)
The various Godzilla-themes shoes by Japanese fashion designer Ryosuke Matsui, on a table also designed by Matsui, are shown during an interview with The Associated Press at his company office on the outskirts of Tokyo, Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP)
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Godzilla Claw Shoes on Oscars Red Carpet Are Just One of Hazama’s ‘Dark Fantasy’ Creations 

The various Godzilla-themes shoes by Japanese fashion designer Ryosuke Matsui, on a table also designed by Matsui, are shown during an interview with The Associated Press at his company office on the outskirts of Tokyo, Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP)
The various Godzilla-themes shoes by Japanese fashion designer Ryosuke Matsui, on a table also designed by Matsui, are shown during an interview with The Associated Press at his company office on the outskirts of Tokyo, Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP)

One Japanese creation grabbing attention on the Oscars red carpet wasn't a movie: the kitsch shoes that seemed to be clenched in Godzilla's claw.

They were the work of Ryosuke Matsui, who recently described his joy at seeing “Godzilla Minus One” director Takashi Yamazaki and his Shirogumi special-effects team walk the red carpet and win the visual effects Oscar, all while wearing his shoes.

“The director loves my shoes. He calls them his uniform,” Matsui told The Associated Press in an interview.

At 35 with a fashion career that's barely a decade old, Matsui heads his own brand called Hazama, which means “the space-in-between” in Japanese.

A small business with just six employees, Hazama offers girlie outfits with fluffy skirts, as well as Gothic themes, kimono and sweaters in gradient colors, jackets with repetitive motifs evocative of Andy Warhol, sofas and coffee tables, and, of course, the shoes with the crazy heels.

One pair has a pistol trigger you can really pull though without any bullets, while another looks like it’s stuck in an alien’s blood-red teeth.

“Dark fantasy” is what Matsui calls his motifs. His imaginary world is filled with odd creatures like witches, scary penguins and iridescent polar bears, where objects suddenly melt, a face might get replaced by a giant rose, or a horrific hand grabs your heel from underground.

His brand’s spaces in-between are the filters through which Matsui sees and expresses his mesmerizing stories of the beginnings of time, inhabited by “the people” he’s concocted. He would love to have his own café or work on an animation project.

“Of course, cool people look great, no matter what they wear, but clothes can change the way you think, how you relate to people around you, work as that doorway into building your confidence,” he said.

Matsui's no-nonsense friendly attitude defies his demure first impression. Sitting amid mounds of boxes and packages of clothing at his office on the outskirts of Tokyo, he was wearing a Hazama-designed hoodie with rainbow-tinged fangs of an “aurora shark” for studs, with torn Yves Saint Laurent jeans and Nike sneakers. He said he wasn't wearing his Godzilla shoes because he was working.

The Godzilla shoes originated as a special order from the film’s producer for the Japan premiere in October last year. Their stealing the show at the recent Academy Awards ceremony wasn’t even in the script then.

It took Matsui about a year to finish the initial three designs, the 75,000 yen (about $500) red pumps for actress Minami Hamabe, the 88,000 yen ($600) shoes for Yamazaki, and boots decorated with jagged scales, priced at 105,500 yen ($700), for Ryunosuke Kamiki, the movie’s co-star alongside Godzilla.

The entire first batch of several hundred already sold out. Plans are underway to produce more, perhaps in different colors, like gold in homage of the Oscar statue.

Interest has been huge, according to Matsui. But, in theory, everyone who’s got their hearts set on a Godzilla shoe should be able to get one, eventually.

Growing up in a loving family that sent him to piano and swimming lessons and “juku” cram schools, Matsui is a graduate of the prestigious Keio University and could have easily become a successful “salaryman” like other young Japanese men.

But he didn’t want to part with his then-blond hair.

Although he has always respected Yohji Yamamoto, he purposely pursued color and fabric texture, instead of Yamamoto’s focus on black and stark lines.

When asked about his global ambitions, Matsui acknowledged he is quite happy working in Japan. His dream is surprisingly local: to create the fashion for Bump of Chicken, a Japanese rock band.

Besides, he’s afraid of flying.


Fashion Retailer H&M’s Q1 Operating Profit Rises More Than Expected 

The logo of H&M is on display outside a store on the day it closes, as the fashion retailer exits the Russian market, in Moscow, Russia November 30, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of H&M is on display outside a store on the day it closes, as the fashion retailer exits the Russian market, in Moscow, Russia November 30, 2022. (Reuters)
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Fashion Retailer H&M’s Q1 Operating Profit Rises More Than Expected 

The logo of H&M is on display outside a store on the day it closes, as the fashion retailer exits the Russian market, in Moscow, Russia November 30, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of H&M is on display outside a store on the day it closes, as the fashion retailer exits the Russian market, in Moscow, Russia November 30, 2022. (Reuters)

H&M, the world's second-biggest listed fashion retailer, reported on Wednesday a larger-than-expected operating profit for the December-February period.

Operating profit in the Swedish group's fiscal first quarter was 2.08 billion crowns ($196.3 million), up from 725 million a year earlier, against a mean forecast of 1.43 billion in an LSEG poll of analysts.

H&M has said it aims to reach a 10% operating profit over the course of this year.

Measured in local currencies, H&M's sales from March 1 to 25 increased by 2%, the retailer said.

The Swedish fashion retailer, known for $19.99 jeans and dresses under $15, also sells leather trousers for more than $300 and, under its Cos brand, coats for as much as $1,190.


UK's ASOS Posts 18% Drop in First-half Sales

Smartphone with ASOS app, a keyboard and a shopping cart are seen in front of a displayed ASOS logo in this illustration picture taken October 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Smartphone with ASOS app, a keyboard and a shopping cart are seen in front of a displayed ASOS logo in this illustration picture taken October 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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UK's ASOS Posts 18% Drop in First-half Sales

Smartphone with ASOS app, a keyboard and a shopping cart are seen in front of a displayed ASOS logo in this illustration picture taken October 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Smartphone with ASOS app, a keyboard and a shopping cart are seen in front of a displayed ASOS logo in this illustration picture taken October 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Online fashion retailer ASOS posted an 18% drop in sales in its first half, but said it was on track to meet guidance for sales to decline by 5-15% over the full-year, as its plan to revive the business takes shape.

Since the pandemic, the British company has struggled to grow and cast 2024 as a transition year, with the focus on speeding up processes, launching new collections and getting rid of a build up of excess stock.

For the 26 weeks to March 3, ASOS said sales declined by 18%, broadly in line with its expectations. It stuck to guidance for the sales decline to improve over the 12 month period, Reuters reported.
It also repeated guidance that it would post positive adjusted core earnings (EBITDA), positive cash generation and would return inventory to pre-COVID levels.
"I'm excited by the performance of our new collections, while we have also made great progress in monetizing inventory that built up over the pandemic and in improving the core profitability of our operations," CEO José Antonio Ramos Calamonte said in a statement on Tuesday.
Shares in ASOS have lost over half their value during the last year. The company has a market capitalization of 413 million pounds ($522 million).


Valentino Cancels June Fashion Shows Following Piccioli’s Exit

A model presents a creation by designer Pierpaolo Piccioli as part of his Spring/Summer 2024 collection show for fashion house Valentino during Men's Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia Greco
A model presents a creation by designer Pierpaolo Piccioli as part of his Spring/Summer 2024 collection show for fashion house Valentino during Men's Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia Greco
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Valentino Cancels June Fashion Shows Following Piccioli’s Exit

A model presents a creation by designer Pierpaolo Piccioli as part of his Spring/Summer 2024 collection show for fashion house Valentino during Men's Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia Greco
A model presents a creation by designer Pierpaolo Piccioli as part of his Spring/Summer 2024 collection show for fashion house Valentino during Men's Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Italian fashion house Valentino said on Monday that it would not present its Men's and Haute Couture fashion shows in June, following the departure of its creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.

The group said on Friday it had agreed with Piccioli to end their collaboration, adding that a new "creative organization" would be announced soon.

"Following the latest organizational announcement regarding the Maison's Creative Direction, Valentino confirms that it will not present its upcoming Men’s and Haute Couture fashion shows in June 2024," the group said in a statement on Monday.

"Creativity will continue to lead the company as a key pillar, shaping new future collections ...", it added

Earlier on Monday fashion trade publication WWD reported that Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele was negotiating with Valentino to take the role left by Piccioli, citing market sources.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica said on Monday that the contract with Michele had already been signed during the weekend, cited sources close to him.

Valentino declined to comment, while Michele could not immediately be reached for comment.

French luxury group Kering, which owns Gucci, bought a 30% stake in Valentino last year from Qatari investment fund Mayhoola with an option to buy the rest in five years.


H&M's New Boss Erver Faces Battle to Reboot Sales

H&M logo is seen on one of the Swedish retailer's shops January 30, 2020. (Reuters)
H&M logo is seen on one of the Swedish retailer's shops January 30, 2020. (Reuters)
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H&M's New Boss Erver Faces Battle to Reboot Sales

H&M logo is seen on one of the Swedish retailer's shops January 30, 2020. (Reuters)
H&M logo is seen on one of the Swedish retailer's shops January 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Investors will be looking for reassurances from new H&M CEO Daniel Erver that he has the right plan to reboot revenue growth when the fast fashion retailer reports its first quarterly earnings under his leadership on Wednesday.
Erver took the helm in January after his predecessor Helena Helmersson stepped down unexpectedly on the day of H&M's annual results, unsettling investors, Reuters reported.
H&M shares are still down 10% from where they stood before that.
The retailer has struggled to keep pace with bigger rivals such as Zara owner Inditex, whose shares hit a record high last week, while China-founded fast-fashion firm Shein is also expanding rapidly in Europe.
"The consumer space remains very polarized," said Dora Buckulcikova, lead portfolio manager of Dutch asset manager Robeco's fashion equity strategy.
"We have been quite surprised by just how strong demand for certain brands has been, but others in the middle market are getting squeezed."
H&M, which sells dresses for $9.99 and jeans for as little as $17.99, but is also stretching into higher price points with its brands Cos and Arket, is expected to report its weakest quarterly sales in two years on Wednesday.
Revenue is expected to drop to 53.4 billion Swedish crowns ($5 billion) from 54.9 billion a year earlier, LSEG analyst estimates show. Operating profit is expected to double to 1.422 billion crowns.
H&M says it is prioritizing profitability over sales volumes as it aims to reach a 10% operating margin this year.
Still, the retailer is stepping up investment in its stores and logistics, announcing in January that capital expenditure would increase by up to 30% this year to 11-12 billion crowns.
H&M needs to follow Inditex's lead and invest in improving its store network and logistics, even if that weighs on its profit margin short-term, said Nick Clay, portfolio manager at Redwheel in London. Clay previously held H&M in his fund, but switched to Inditex in May 2022.
SQUEEZED MIDDLE
Improving the look and feel of stores is one way H&M can attract more aspirational shoppers, experts say. In a store H&M opened last week on the King's Road in London, the layout is more spacious, the range more curated and the changing rooms more comfortable than a typical H&M.
Investors will also be looking for Erver to detail plans to "near shore" and improve H&M's logistics.
The speed with which companies in the sector respond to consumer behavior is a key differentiator, said Olivier van Hirtum, head of developed market equities at APG Asset Management in Amsterdam.
"Companies that have shorter supply chains – both physically, and in time – can respond faster to fashion trends, and we've seen them take share from companies that take longer," he said.
H&M is taking measures to improve collections, time to market, and inventory geographic allocations, which should drive improvements in its top-line growth and, by extension, profitability, said Magnus Raman, analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Stockholm.
H&M has also been closing stores in recent years. At the end of its 2023 financial year it had 700 fewer stores than in 2019, a decline of 14%.
H&M's cash position of 26.398 billion crowns, or around $2.5 billion, was up 22% from a year earlier, though still small compared to Inditex's 11.4 billion euro ($12.34 billion) cash pile.


Valentino’s Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli Leaves after 25 Years

Designer Pierpaolo Piccioli appears at the end of his Menswear ready-to-wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection show for fashion house Valentino during Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, January 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Designer Pierpaolo Piccioli appears at the end of his Menswear ready-to-wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection show for fashion house Valentino during Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, January 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Valentino’s Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli Leaves after 25 Years

Designer Pierpaolo Piccioli appears at the end of his Menswear ready-to-wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection show for fashion house Valentino during Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, January 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Designer Pierpaolo Piccioli appears at the end of his Menswear ready-to-wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection show for fashion house Valentino during Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, January 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Italian fashion house Valentino said on Friday it had agreed with its creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli to end their collaboration, adding that a new "creative organization" would be announced soon.

Piccioli started working at Valentino in 1999 and took on the role of sole creative director in 2016.

"We extend our deepest gratitude to Pierpaolo for writing an important chapter in the history of the Maison Valentino. His contribution over the past 25 years will leave an indelible mark," Valentino's chairman Rachid Mohamed Rachid said.

Piccioli said in the same statement: "I've been in this company for 25 years, and for 25 years I've existed and I've lived with the people who have woven the weaves of this beautiful story that is mine and ours."

French luxury group Kering bought a 30% stake in Valentino last year from Qatari investment fund Mayhoola for 1.7 billion euros ($1.84 billion).

The agreement includes an option for Kering to purchase the whole of Valentino's share capital no later than 2028.


Nike, Lululemon Sink as Annual Forecasts Disappoint

The Nike swoosh logo is seen outside the store on 5th Ave in New York, New York, US, March 19, 2019. (Reuters)
The Nike swoosh logo is seen outside the store on 5th Ave in New York, New York, US, March 19, 2019. (Reuters)
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Nike, Lululemon Sink as Annual Forecasts Disappoint

The Nike swoosh logo is seen outside the store on 5th Ave in New York, New York, US, March 19, 2019. (Reuters)
The Nike swoosh logo is seen outside the store on 5th Ave in New York, New York, US, March 19, 2019. (Reuters)

Nike shares tumbled 8% on Friday after the Air Jordan maker warned of lower sales in its first half as it replaces older styles with trendier sneakers, while Lululemon Athletica sank 17% as demand waned for its premium athleisure.

While Lululemon's gloomy forecast spotlights the challenges for retailers as customers reduce discretionary spending due to sticky inflation, Nike's projection signals its efforts to battle newer brands for market share.

"One of the things that both Lululemon and Nike have enjoyed over the last few years is premium prices on their premium products and that seems to be in doubt at this point in time," said Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management, which has a stake in Nike.

Nike plans to trim supplies of classic shoes such as its Air Force 1 and Pegasus, financial chief Matt Friend said on Thursday, to focus on reviving its running shoe category, as well as upcoming launches including its Air Max Dn.

Meanwhile, Lululemon reported a 9% growth in North American sales for the fourth quarter, a far cry from the 29% jump a year earlier and a 12% gain in the prior quarter.

"This level of deceleration (in sales growth) in the US does raise some concerns on market share opportunity," Piper Sandler analyst Abbie Zvejnieks said in a note. The brokerage trimmed its PT to $525 from $560.

Lululemon was set for its worst day in more than four years, while Nike shares touched a six-month low on Friday. Peer Under Armour fell 3%.

At least 12 brokerages cut their PTs on Nike following the results, pulling down the median target to $116 from $126 in December. Nike's shares were last trading at $93.50.

"Until the market sees evidence that new products can grow and scale sufficiently, we think this will remain a hotly-debated stock that will remain stuck in the mud," said Wedbush analyst Tom Nikic.

Nike's forward price-to-earnings multiple, a common benchmark for valuing stocks, is 24.84, compared to 52.08 and 15.31 for Adidas and Puma, respectively.

At least 17 brokerages cut their PTs on Lululemon.


Clothing Giant Shein in Focus as France Targets Fast Fashion 

Signage of cross-border fast fashion e-commerce company SHEIN is seen at a garment factory in Guangzhou, in China's southern Guangdong province on July 18, 2022. (AFP)
Signage of cross-border fast fashion e-commerce company SHEIN is seen at a garment factory in Guangzhou, in China's southern Guangdong province on July 18, 2022. (AFP)
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Clothing Giant Shein in Focus as France Targets Fast Fashion 

Signage of cross-border fast fashion e-commerce company SHEIN is seen at a garment factory in Guangzhou, in China's southern Guangdong province on July 18, 2022. (AFP)
Signage of cross-border fast fashion e-commerce company SHEIN is seen at a garment factory in Guangzhou, in China's southern Guangdong province on July 18, 2022. (AFP)

With jaw-droppingly low prices and a seemingly endless selection of trendy clothes, Shein has taken the world by storm -- and found itself in the crosshairs of French lawmakers who want to curb the excesses of fast fashion.

Customers love the Chinese-founded firm's massive catalogue of ultra-cheap items, from $8 sundresses to 48-cent bracelets, at a time when inflation has shrunk purchasing power around the world.

Like H&M and Zara, Shein has been accused of using factories staffed by underpaid and overworked garment makers, and of causing widespread harm to the environment.

Critics also accuse the company of promoting hyper-consumerism and selling clothes designed to be discarded after a few wears -- a charge also levelled at its rivals.

But what sets Shein apart, analysts say, is a hyper-efficient supply chain and product development process.

"In theory, Bangladesh could probably sell garments for cheaper than Shein. However there's no ecosystem there to market it, to brand it, to sell it overseas, to ship it," Allison Malmsten, China market analyst at Beijing-based Daxue Consulting, told AFP.

"China has all of these elements."

Shein moved its headquarters to Singapore between 2021 and 2022 to dodge increasing global scrutiny of Chinese firms, according to analysts.

Still, it benefits from China's unique combination of a massive low-cost textile manufacturing industry with highly developed e-commerce technology and logistics networks.

That ecosystem has also spawned the online shopping app Temu -- while it is frequently compared to Shein, it acts as more of a discounted Amazon-like marketplace offering third-party home goods, tools and gadgets.

'Extremely agile'

Shein offered an astounding 1.5 million different apparel items for sale last year, according to research by University of Delaware fashion expert Sheng Lu -- far surpassing pioneering Spanish fast-fashion brand Zara, which stocked 40,000 styles.

While such a large variety usually comes with huge risk and production costs, Shein reported $23 billion in revenue and $800 million in net profit in 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"The only reason Shein is able to get away with this is because they're extremely agile and they have very little waste in their warehouse," Rui Ma, China business expert and founder of the Tech Buzz China newsletter, told AFP.

"By testing and producing new products in small initial batches of 100 to 200 items, we gather and evaluate customer feedback in real time, and restock only the products that our consumers truly want," Shein told AFP in a statement, adding that this avoided "the pitfalls of overproduction".

This on-demand strategy depends heavily on a tightly engineered supply chain of more than 5,000 third-party manufacturers, largely in China, where local media reports describe Shein as dominating entire districts of small workshops.

The company ranks suppliers by their flexibility and ability to deliver urgent orders, and regularly eliminates the poorest performers, according to a 2021 Zhongtai Securities report.

At the same time, it tracks users' search data and social media trends to generate designs that are almost guaranteed to sell -- often appearing to simply copy from other brands.

A recent lawsuit filed by Japanese retail giant Uniqlo over an alleged copycat bag design is one of a slew of intellectual property disputes involving Shein.

"You can imagine their design team more as data people, and less as design people," Malmsten said. "They're not sitting there with sketchbooks, they're sitting there with computers and data."

'Micro-influencers'

The world's biggest fast fashion brands, including Shein, have come under fire in recent years for alleged labor exploitation and its contribution to environmental pollution and waste.

The French parliament last week approved measures to make low-cost fast fashion less attractive to customers, especially because of sustainability concerns.

Shein says it conducts regular third-party audits to ensure fair wages, and it says its on-demand model avoids overproduction and thus "dramatically reduces waste".

Even as it fights these allegations, it has developed an army of fans who praise it for making fashion accessible to those on tight budgets, especially in plus-size styles.

This inclusive image has been carefully cultivated by Shein, which enlists small-time video bloggers and social media users to represent the brand in exchange for free products and cash.

Unlike luxury brands that use celebrity ambassadors, Shein has sought out "micro-influencers" in the form of "everyday people", according to Malmsten.

The company uses the tactic to "bombard consumers, so everywhere that you look online you'll see Shein products", she said.

But the strategy has occasionally backfired, with a sponsored factory tour for a group of Western influencers last year sparking a strong backlash for glossing over alleged labor violations.

Ma cautioned against giving social media too much credit for Shein's success.

"It's not like there weren't plenty of companies trying to mimic Shein (on social media)," she told AFP.

"The marketing aspect is the easiest to copy and also the most useless as it's not their foundational competitive advantage."


LVMH’s Stephane Bianchi Promoted in Top Management Reshuffle

FILE PHOTO: Stephane Bianchi, CEO of Watches and Jewellery of LVMH, is seen during the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Switzerland March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Stephane Bianchi, CEO of Watches and Jewellery of LVMH, is seen during the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Switzerland March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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LVMH’s Stephane Bianchi Promoted in Top Management Reshuffle

FILE PHOTO: Stephane Bianchi, CEO of Watches and Jewellery of LVMH, is seen during the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Switzerland March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Stephane Bianchi, CEO of Watches and Jewellery of LVMH, is seen during the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Switzerland March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

LVMH's group managing director Toni Belloni will step down, the company said on Thursday, with Stephane Bianchi taking over his operational functions as a younger generation moves up the ranks of the world's biggest luxury group.
The move is a rare top management reshuffle at Europe's second-largest listed company, worth 425 billion euros ($461 billion).
Bianchi, 59, will chair the group's executive committee, and, alongside LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, take up strategic and operational supervision of its labels, LVMH said.
Long-time retail executive Bianchi joined LVMH in 2018 and has moved up quickly through the ranks. He started out as chief executive of watch label Tag Heuer and the watchmaking division of the company. Two years later, his division was enlarged to encompass jewelry, and now includes Tiffany & Co.
In his current role, Bianchi oversees Bernard Arnault's sons Frederic Arnault, CEO of LVMH watches, and Alexandre Arnault, executive vice president in charge of product and communications at Tiffany.
All five of Bernard Arnault's children hold key management positions in the group, Reuters reported.
Arnault, who turned 75 this month, has not shown any signs of stepping back. Two years ago, LVMH changed its bylaws to raise the maximum age of its CEO to 80 from 75.
LVMH also said on Thursday that it would nominate Wei Sun Christianson, a former Morgan Stanley executive with extensive experience in China, to the board of directors at its annual general meeting on April 18.
Belloni, 70, will remain at the group, in charge of strategic missions for Bernard Arnault and president of LVMH Italy.