The Business of Fashion on Instagram
An essential daily resource for fashion creatives, executives and entrepreneurs all over the world.
![What does it take to succeed in business and what does IPO stand for? We re putting the business acumen of fashion s foremost figures to the test in our video series called None of Your Business . In the second episode, we test the multi-tasking skills of tennis champion, entrepreneur and cover star of our latest print edition, @serenawilliams. Visit businessoffashion.com to watch the full video now [Link in bio]](/local/instagram/photos/60387137_671602369932023_391995300964349675_n.jpg)
![For decades, retailers used #catalogues often hundreds of pages thick to showcase their inventory and sell products via mail or telephone orders. The Sears catalogue was to 20th-century retail what Amazon has been to the sector in the 2000s. Brands like Victoria s Secret relied on catalogues for half of overall sales in the 1980s, while J.Crew catalogues were ubiquitous in the 1990s, as was the zany style of Delia s in the early 2000s.
But with the rise of e-commerce, catalogues fell out of favour. The number of catalogues mailed in the US fell by more than half between 2007 and 2017, to 9.4 billion, according to the Association of National Advertisers. Marketers say they ve started to see a rebound in the last couple years, mainly from online brands, which now fill the mailboxes of their millennial consumers. They see mailings as a low-cost alternative to advertising on search engines and social media, where costs have risen as more companies look for new customers online.
As mailboxes are once again filling up with promotional booklets, how can a brand stand out? Here s our guide to tackling direct mail marketing. [Link in bio]](/local/instagram/photos/60421033_197795687871371_25660059591767326_n.jpg)
![Botox is waging a battle on Instagram to maintain its edge in the fast-growing injectables market, with beauty editors getting caught in the crossfire. Earlier this month, Cosmopolitan s beauty director, Carly Cardellino, referred to Botox as her go-to self-care treatment in a post marked as an ad. In February, Heather Muir Maffei, beauty director of Real Simple and Health, posted a similar ad for Botox on Instagram underneath an image of her on a hike. April Franzino, beauty director at Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, and Prevention magazines, also published a sponsored Botox post, since deleted, showing the editor at a brunch. A person with knowledge of the matter said the payment #Botox offered these editors was well above the going rate for sponsored posts for influencers with followings of their size.
But sponsored posts are nothing new so why is Botox pursuing this move now? For the first time in 10 years, Botox has a direct competitor in Evolus Inc. s Jeuveau, which was approved by regulators earlier this year and became available to the public last week. Instagram, the social media platform of choice for women in their 20s and 30s who make up one of the fastest growing-markets for injectable treatments, is the battleground of choice for both brands. But they should proceed with caution. Advertising medical treatments on social media is riskier than pitching lipsticks or handbags. Aside from the usual concerns about influencers including ad disclaimers, Botox and Jeuveau require a prescription and aren t safe for all consumers. Read the full story at businessoffashion.com [Link in bio] : @shutterstock](/local/instagram/photos/59859488_2357283391260458_1602766385996683066_n.jpg)
![Today s #MondayMotivation comes from Leandra Medine Cohen, the founder of the blog-turned-website Man Repeller. Born in Manhattan in 1988, Medine Cohen attended Eugene Lang College at The New School for Liberal Arts in New York. While studying abroad in France, she started a blog called Four Months in Paris, later renaming it Boogers and Bagels, before she launched Man Repeller in 2010.
Two years later, she was featured in Forbes Top 30 Under 30 list, recognised as one of the year s most influential trendsetters, while Man Repeller made Time s 25 Best Blogs of 2012. In 2013, Medine Cohen released an essay collection and memoir called Man Repeller: Seeking Love, Finding Overalls. She has collaborated with a number of brands including Michael Kors, BaubleBar, and Stuart Weitzman, as well as creating an eponymous shoe brand, which is sold at Barneys New York, Harvey Nichols and The Webster.
In our new playbook, Medine Cohen shares her advice on how brands can succeed at influencer marketing. To download your copy, join #BoFProfessional and enjoy other benefits, including members-only exclusive content, unlimited access to articles, all online courses and our iPhone app. [Link in bio] : @edithwyoung for @manrepeller](/local/instagram/photos/59468082_625628421176018_6820348364361522393_n.jpg)
![Five months after Raf Simons exit, we can exclusively reveal Calvin Klein s new strategy, called InCKubator. The goal: create a halo effect around the brand s jeans and underwear lines without the help of a high-profile designer.
Under the new plan, Calvin Klein aims to release four to six initiatives per year tailored to specific types of consumers. The projects could include apparel, retail spaces, content, experiences and collaborations with tech platforms. Each will be different and will often involve collaborators from outside the company.
The approach has worked to great success at Moncler, which initiated a Genius strategy last year of nearly a dozen designer limited-edition collaborations. Sales grew 19 percent year-over-year in 2018 to $1.62 billion. Other brands have begun to put their own spin on the model, including Tod s with its Factory campaign.
As #CalvinKlein expects to spend $170 million on overall restructuring, do you think the new strategy can boost relevance and business results? To read the full article, join #BoFProfessional and get members-only exclusive content, unlimited access to articles, all online courses, the iPhone app and special print issues. [Link in bio] : Calvin Klein s latest advertising campaign starring Bella Hadid and Lil Miquela](/local/instagram/photos/59560378_448677565885738_7117556480858870842_n.jpg)
![Selling product through #celebrity and personality is nothing new. But the rise of #socialmedia and the millennial generation has supercharged the influence economy, fundamentally reshaping how influencers fit into the marketing mix. A few key elements separate a strategy that delivers authentic consumer engagement from one that is a waste of valuable marketing budget at best, and brand damaging at worst.
Swipe through for three of our top tips to maximise your strategy, then download our full Influencer Marketing Playbook, providing you with actionable insights from influencers, marketing experts and top minds at leading agencies and brands, along with case studies and practical templates. [Link in bio]](/local/instagram/photos/59720531_604770586693688_8538459810715258176_n.jpg)
!["I think I came out of the womb a retailer," says Rachel Shechtman, the founder of Story and brand experience officer at Macy s. This may seem like hyperbole, but as Shechtman comes from a family with industry experience dating back three generations, there's something to be said for those instincts really being in her blood. In 2011, long before the words "direct-to-consumer pop-up" and "experiential retail" were in the lexicon of #retail executives Shechtman engaged with a question nobody was asking: "Why can't retail be a media channel?"
Enter Story, a retail merchandising experience that redefines itself every two months, much like a new issue of a magazine. However, Story uses sponsorships which now amount to $600,000 cheques instead of ad space as its revenue stream. Despite the current, bleak backdrop of the US market's retail apocalypse and struggling department stores, Story's partnering with Macy's is an exercise in founded optimism, and Shechtman calls the success of the start-up "a combination of luck, timing and the quality of the idea." On the #BoFPodcast this week, she discusses her innate love of retail and the challenges of creating "a living magazine." Tune in now. [Link in bio]](/local/instagram/photos/60235770_386050758786267_3135613875260820700_n.jpg)
![At major publishers of fashion and lifestyle magazines, data has become more important than the content itself and the talent who produce it. "We are addicted to data and this addiction is dangerous," argued Amy Odell this week on BoF. "You stop employing instinct, skill and taste, making it less likely that you are telling interesting and differentiating stories." BoF user Viktor Plzik added that this practice also undermines a publication's purpose and credibility. Do you agree?
We love hearing your opinion and will monitor user comments for publication across our social media channels, website and email. Use the comment function on our website (at the end of each article) or add the hashtag #BoFMySay on social media to submit your opinion, thoughts and feedback on any article. [Link in bio]](/local/instagram/photos/60248918_2758116440926623_5363783239350507422_n.jpg)
![A new wave of female-founded companies are tapping market opportunities that have long been in the blind spots of male #entrepreneurs and investors. Brands like Universal Standard, Lola and The Modist are building new business concepts rooted in genuine empathy for the female experience in areas from personal care and lingerie to maternity and plus-size clothing, developing practical solutions to pain points that men rarely consider.
But women entrepreneurs receive significantly less funding than their male counterparts. In the US, the world s largest market for start-ups, just 10.7 percent of venture capital investment went to companies with at least one female founder last year, according to PitchBook. This figure shrinks to 2.3 percent for US companies with an all-female founding team. In the UK and Europe, the stats are similar.
There s evidence that things may be starting to change. For example, last year companies with at least one female founder raised $16.3 billion of US venture funding across 1,769 deals. But without continued support, opportunities that sit outside the male line of vision will go untapped, and significant value creation will be left on the table. [Link in bio] : @universalstandard](/local/instagram/photos/59163525_381644815778028_3092983844853223170_n.jpg)
![The reaction from customers to Riccardo Tisci's first collection for #Burberry has been "very encouraging", according to the company's chief executive Marco Gobbetti. But what was the impact on the brand s bottom line? Today, Burberry reported revenue of 2.72 billion (around $3.49 billion), down 1 percent at constant exchange rates, and adjusted operating profit of 438 million (around $562 million), for the year ended March 30, flat on the same basis compared with the year before. The brand is rationalising its distribution in the United States to ensure it is in the right stores, hitting its financial results in the short term. But Burberry said it expected growth to be re-established in the second half as Tisci's collections build through the year. [Link in bio] : @burberry : @reuters](/local/instagram/photos/58409968_647723125690432_8440281296358932627_n.jpg)
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