💎Brilliant Cut No. 1:
Interview With Audemars Piguet CEO, Luxury Concierge Firms, The Billionaire Census, Farfetch Community Galleries in China, and more
Brilliant Cut is a free monthly newsletter that delivers the most essential stories on luxury marketing strategies and insights right to your inbox.
Issue #1 | September 14, 2020
TikTok to host its own digital fashion month
(CNN | 9.11.20) With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting the global fashion calendar's most important season, TikTok is moving to fill the void with its very own online fashion month. Read more
Interview with Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henry Bennahmias
(WatchPro | 9.4.20) “I have been working at Audemars Piguet for 26 years now. That is a long time. The way I look at the picture now is that I want to listen more and more to the younger generation because we are going to see so many changes to the world we are living in.” Read more
Hermès online channels are booming. Luxury brands should take note
(Luxury Society | 8.25.20) Hermès announced a decline in revenue in the first half of this year, while online channels saw growth, including new customer acquisition and increased search demand. Read more
Would you spend $10,000 on a virtual dress? Gucci is betting on it
(Fast Company | 9.8.20) Gucci wants to dress you—and your avatar. The $11.8 billion Italian powerhouse is no longer just designing physical products, but also virtual clothes, shoes, and accessories that exist entirely in the digital realm. Read more
Why luxury concierge tech firms are on a roll
(Vogue Business | 9.7.20) From Toshi to Harper Concierge, a new generation of tech-driven luxury concierge services operating in New York and London have accelerated their development during the Covid-19 crisis. Their founders hope this is only the beginning. Read more
How virtual stores became a reality in the world of luxury
(Financial Times | 9.4.20) The rapid spread of Covid-19 in Europe in the weeks after Valentine’s Day meant watch and jewellery houses had to close their boutiques and focus on selling through virtual channels. Read more
How luxury streetwear is using Animal Crossing to remain digitally accessible to Gen Z and Millennials
(Forbes | 8.30.20) Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been flooded with a lot of high-end fashion brand designs on their digital platform since its latest installment back in March, and people are buying into the feature. Read more
You can now take a virtual tour of the Gucci Garden in Florence
(Hong Kong Tatler | 9.9.20) The new immersive virtual tour of Gucci Garden might just be the salve for travel lovers who miss exploring unique places and enjoying sensory shopping experiences around the world amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
Cartier taps Willow Smith, Rami Malek, and others for a new campaign
(Grazia | 9.8.20) What happens when Rami Malek, Troye Sivan, Willow Smith, Maisie Williams and Jackson Wang come together? A good time, of course. So it makes sense then than Cartier brought the creatives together to celebrate their brilliant new timepiece, the Pasha de Cartier watch. Read more
Montblanc enlists Spike Lee to help rewrite the meaning of success
(Forbes | 8.25.20) What moves you? Montblanc enlisted the insights of three well-known individuals who live with purpose and passion, perfectly embodying the rallying cry: award-winning writer and director Spike Lee (US), award-winning actor Taron Egerton (UK) and singer, actor and writer Chen Kun (China). Read more
The new luxury: sustainability; fewer, better pieces
(Marketing Daily | 9.9.20) They may not be hungry or unemployed, but America's luxury consumers are undergoing their own post-pandemic transformation. They're questioning what matters most when they shop. Read more
The 2020 Billionaire Census is here
(Wealth-X | 6.30.20) According the 2020 The Billionaire Census from Wealth-X, the top 15 countries are home to more than three-quarters of the world’s billionaires. In 2019, these 15 countries accounted for 76% of the global billionaire population and 80% of global billionaire wealth. Read more
Farfetch launches curated galleries to lure out China’s consumers
(Jing Daily | 9.7.20) The show brought together hundreds of well-heeled guests from the fashion community who were curious to see a Wendy Yu-curated selection of clothes and accessories at Farfetch’s first-ever community gallery. Read more
Increase prices of luxury brands in Covid-19? Yes, indeed.
(Vogue Business | 9.2.20) Luxury brands have bumped up prices multiple times this year to recoup lost spending caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The strategy has an expiration date. Read more
China sellers know not to bite hand that feeds it
(Forbes | 9.1.20) No one loves Gucci bags and the 750 euro Balenciaga Triple S sneaker more than the Chinese. And when that is your main market, when that is your bread and your butter, the last thing you want to do is tick them off. Read more
Virgil and Mercedes-Benz want to rebuild the luxury landscape, they explain how
(Highsnobiety | 9.8.20) A$AP Nast has the new, highly exclusive ‘one of 22’ racing gloves designed by Virgil Abloh and Mercedes-Benz Chief Creative Director Gorden Wagener. And you don’t. Read more
Prada x Adidas Superstar sneakers: everything you need to know about the luxury streetwear collaboration
(South China Morning Post | 9.8.20) In 2019, the fashion world was taken by storm with the introduction of the Prada for Adidas brand collaboration. Now the brands are set to present the second edition of the exclusive alliance. Read more
Louis Vuitton LV² launches collaboration with Japanese designer Nigo with temporary residence
(Forbes | 8.28.20) In celebration of the second drop of Louis Vuitton’s LV² Collection, a collaboration between Men’s Artistic Director, Virgil Abloh, and Nigo, Japanese designer, Louis Vuitton opened a special temporary residency dedicated to this collection. Read more
Burberry plans ethical luxury investment
(Bloomberg | 9.9.20) Burberry Group Plc is offering a touch of luxury to ethical investors. The trench-coat maker intends to sell a sterling sustainability bond, as the socially responsible debt market increasingly grows beyond utilities, banks and governments. Read more
Fashion’s racial reckoning
(The Washington Post Magazine | 8.31.20) From executives to designers to Anna Wintour, fashion industry leaders say they are determined to be more inclusive. How will we know whether they’ve succeeded? Read more
The Luxury Item Podcast is a podcast on the business of luxury. It’s produced and hosted by Scott Kerr. Here are the last three episodes for your listening pleasure:
💡S02 E04: Learn about our shifting values of aspiration from strategy executive Ana Andjelic, author of “The Business of Aspiration” https://apple.co/2ZfklXw
✈️S02 E03: Learn about new travel trends with a focus on luxury travel from Nathan Lump, VP of Customer Marketing at Expedia https://apple.co/2FW7anG
⌚S02 E02: Learn about the luxury watch market and surging interest in online auctions from Rebecca Ross, Watch Specialist at Christie's https://apple.co/3irD6OE
3-carat 💎
Links to interesting opinion pieces on the luxury & fashion industries:
♦ The New Tribalism of American Fashion by Rachel Tashjian for GQ
♦ Outsider Innovation: Change comes from the marginalized by Ana Andjelic
♦ Would you stay in a Louis Vuitton hotel right now? by Andrea Felsted for Bloomberg
Thank you for reading. If you have colleagues that would enjoy Brilliant Cut, please share this with them.
Comments or questions? Send a letter to the publisher –– Scott Kerr scott@silvertoneconsulting.com
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