Australian Designers Talk Global Business Strategies  – Sydney Morning Herald

They’re not particularly glamorous but when Camilla Freeman-Topper assembles fashion collections for her camilla and marc label, her most important accessories are two large whiteboards and a packet of stick pins. Freeman-Topper produces five collections a year to cater to both the northern and southern hemispheres. Her brand is stocked in more than 110 doors worldwide.

How to Sell Luxury to the Chinese? - Forbes

Lane Crawford, Hong Kong and China’s version of Bergdorf Goodman, has been in the fashion and retail business for the past 160 years. Now more than ever, the spotlight is on this luxury emporium because it serves as the litmus test for what sells and what doesn’t in the fastest growing luxury retail market in the world.  Here, I chat with Lane Crawford’s fashion director Sarah Rutson — a much-photographed street style blog star — on the evolving taste of the Chinese consumer, the brands they favor, and her role in the global fashion community. 5 Best Practices for Fashion Retailers on Facebook - Mashable.com

As U.S. consumers continue to spend increasing amounts of time on Facebook, and as brands amass larger followings than major women’s magazines, fashion retailers are investing greater resources into the world’s largest social network. But how can retailers optimize their Facebook presence? Should they focus on entertainment and product, or is it best utilized as a customer service channel? How far should they engage? Is it too early to think of Facebook as a sales tool?  We’ve taken these questions to some of the best and brightest minds in the business and gathered their thoughts for you below.

Top label makes space for Brisbane designer’s Latin flair - Sydney Morning Herald

When Ana Diaz’s parents fled El Salvador bound for a better life in Australia, it’s unlikely they could have predicted their young daughter’s early success. The 25-year-old business and fashion graduate, whose mother taught her to sew, has secured a major deal with one of the biggest names in Australian fashion retail. Sportsgirl has contracted the emerging designer to create a signature range for sale in stores around the country.

Why we give a frock about bloggers  - Sydney Morning Herald

NEW York blogger Kelly Framel, 27, is a paid-up ”Portmans girl” and to prove it – though she lives half a planet away from her nearest store – she’s photographed in the brand’s latest campaign, rocking her own Portmans wardrobe on the streets of her hip hometown. When replicas of her nipped peplum blazer, wide-leg trousers and a dozen-odd other items she styled to her own taste are racked in Portmans stores next week, sure as god made frocks there’ll be a whoosh of girly chatter across the cybersphere and the clatter of a thousand ”like” button clicks.

Hard times see Australian designers opt for the aisle - The Australian

WITH retailers suffering their worst financial year in two decades, white dresses are a way for local labels to stay in the black. Australian designers are saying “I do” to bridal ranges to ride out the sales slump. Leading designer Collette Dinnigan, who dressed Miranda Kerr for her wedding to Orlando Bloom last year, is staggered by the growth of the bridal category in her business.   Bridal gowns now account for 34 per cent of Dinnigan’s total sales, a 9 per cent rise on last year.

Australian fashion designer Peter Morrissey prevented from registering his name as a trade mark - Lexology.com

 Australia’s Trade Marks Office has refused to register trade mark applications for PETER MORRISSEY on the basis that use of the marks would be likely to cause deception or confusion. Peter Morrissey Pty Ltd applied to register PETER MORRISSEY on 18 June and 18 December 2008 for a range of goods and services, including clothing, beauty products and furniture. M Webster Holdings Pty Ltd (Webster), owner of the MORRISSEY fashion label and MORRISSEY trade mark in Australia subsequent to buying the MORRISSEY mark and associated goodwill from Oroton Pty Ltd, who in turn had bought it from Mr Morrissey, opposed the applications.

Five Online Retail Trends - FMM

Fueled by new technology and an evolving social media shopping sphere, e-commerce reported record sales last year with an anticipated double-digit growth in 2011 — even despite the sluggish economy. With daily deals delivered via Twitter feeds and mobile-friendly sale sites, the retail industry is expanding in directions it would have been difficult to predict even five years ago, but consumers are happily accepting the changing sales strategies. This new breed of brand deals and coupons is changing the way consumers shop and save money. Here’s a look at five online retail trends that are shaping a new type of consumer — those who expect special rates and lower prices.

Net-A-Porter Launches Fashion Blogger Power Issue - fashionablymarketing.me

 One of our favorite leading digital darlings, Net-A-Porter, has launched it Spring/Summer digital magazine, which features the fashion industry’s most famous bloggers. Digital decadence at it’s finest, we’re entranced with the issue (as usual). But, we have to say that we’re disappointed that this issue only features big name bloggers.  As many marketing executives and digital savants have pointed out, there are more than 15 fashion bloggers in the

world.  It draws me back to the question a brand or retailer should be asking themselves:  “Does this blogger’s affluence equate to influence, resonance and reaction to my brand?”

Lucette invests in online retail and not take part in RAFW - peninsulaweekly.com.au

 Lucette designers Angela Backshell and Tracy Miller decided not to take part in Australian Fashion Week last month despite strong interest and sales following their show at AFW in 2010.  Instead, the duo put the money they would have spent on AFW into growing their business in other ways, such as improving the Lucette website. Season’s greetings: Australians ahead of summer trends - Sydney Morning Herald  AUSTRALIAN fashion enjoys the dubious reputation of lagging behind the international trends, but it could be at the forefront, a leading fashion retail consultant said yesterday. Yasmin Sewell, a London-based consultant and trend forecaster, said: ”When a summer collection show happens in Europe in September, Australians are also going into summer in September, so it can be translated immediately and adapted at a retail level instantly into the local market. But in Europe and America it’s winter in September, so the wait is months longer until those trends can go into stores.’

Australians discard domestic fashion in favor of international e-retailers - Datamonitor

(Source: Datamonitor)Online fashion retailer ASOS has posted impressive sales growth for FY2011, with international shipping up 141.8% year-on-year. Australian sales were especially strong, which has encouraged the retailer to set up a dedicated site for the market in 2011-12. ASOS is one of many foreign retailers looking to Australia to increase online sales due to their ability to undercut domestic retailers. For the 12 months to the end of March 2011, UK-based online fashion retailer ASOS reported retail sales growth of 57.7% to GBP324.1m. This result was boosted by international sales that increased 141.8% to GBP140.0m, accounting for 43.2% of total retail sales for the period and 52% in Q4 2011.

CONTEMPORARY menswear designers have hit the glass ceiling of Australian fashion – The Australian

While Collette Dinnigan, Willow and Sass & Bide have achieved international fame with womenswear, there are no menswear counterparts following them down the runways of London, New York and Milan. Even in the Australian Fashion Week schedule there were no shows dedicated to menswear, with Stolen Girlfriends Club from New Zealand and Saint Augustine Academy presenting menswear alongside womenswear.