China market will be the first for luxury brands The Shanghai Universal Expo 2010 will put China under the spotlight. It is the opportunity for luxury brands to reaffirm their strategy in the biggest market of the world, a market where potential customers for luxury goods are estimated at 250 million and average age for millionaires is 39. Today, C

Maison Martin Margiela uses Michael Stipe as celebrity collaboration The avant-garde label Maison Martin Margiela (MMM) is known for not using the usual marketing tricks of the other fashion brands. This is why this collaboration with Michael Stipe, lead vocalist of the 90’s rock band REM, came as a surprise. The result of this collaboration is a

Ranking the digital competences of luxury brands In 2009, in order to communicate with a new generation of customers and to generate growing online sales, most of the luxury brands controlled their presence on the web by purchasing keywords, built e-commerce platforms and started to use social media. The New-York University Stern School of business

Richemont buys online fashion retailer Net-a-Porter April 1 – Cie Financiere Richemont SA, one of the top three luxury groups, owner of brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Dunhill or Jaeger Le Coultre, agreed to buy the online fashion retailer Net-a-Porter LLC. The Swiss group already owned 33% of the web company, this acquisition values

Lorenz Bäumer makes Vuitton shine PARIS – In October, the French company Louis Vuitton introduced its first high jewelry collection called “L’âme du Voyage”, created by Lorenz Bäumer. The 43-year old French-German designer is not exactly a new kid on the block: he had been creating jewelry collections for Chanel for the last fifteen year

FEVAD reveals a rising estimate for the 2010 e-commerce revenue in France September 9 – French customers globally spent 14.5 billion euros during the first half of 2010 claims the Federation of e-commerce and remote sales (FEVAD). This amount represents a 19% year-to-year growth in electronic sales. (Source: La Tribune) A similar jump is observed

Paris – The commercial court decided to implement the recovery plan of the shareholder Falic Group Six months after the fashion house Christian Lacroix filed for bankruptcy, the commercial court of Paris decided today (1/12/09) to implement the recovery plan proposed by the current owner, Falic Group , which owns U.S. retail group Duty Free Ameri

The French house announces Shang Xia, a new luxury brand in China Paris December 21 – Patrick Thomas, Head of Hermès International unveiled that the French luxury brand is about to launch a new label called “Shang Xia” which literally means upside-down (source la Tribune and Capital.fr). Shang Xia will be a true luxury house with a cultural

French professional federations, brands and internet operators signed a code of ethic to fight against counterfeiting Paris December 16 – Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy and Industry unveiled today a charter for the fight against counterfeiting. In this text, owners of intellectual properties and e-Commerce operators commit to allocate res

The number two U.S. car maker sold Volvo to a Chinese company Stockholm March 28 - After many months of persistent rumours, a Volvo spokesman confirmed last Sunday the signature of an agreement with the Chinese company Geely to sell Ford motor’s Volvo car unit. (source Reuters). The estimated price of the transaction is $1.8 billion (source Finan