Fashion tech influence

We recently analyzed social media data from China to investigate which fashion brands generated the most buzz during Singles’ Day 2021. The analysis revealed that the Chinese are increasingly interested in domestic Chinese brands. A Chinese brand that is not yet well known managed to generate by far the most buzz on the world’s biggest shopping holiday. (The drum) Read more

Just as the food industry revived the concept of farm-to-table, emphasizing sustainability, and transparency in sourcing and all along the supply chain, a B Corp-certified, luxury clothing brand believes that the fashion industry should take a similar approach. (Fastcompany) Read more

A few months ago, I came across a fashion brand on Instagram that purported to be a Los Angeles-based, woman-owned boutique. The tagline on its Instagram bio, “Alteration is innovation,” suggested that the brand championed clothing alteration and sold clothes that were upcycled or crafted out of old and discarded fabrics. (Vox) Read more

Ghana — The rise of fast fashion in the United States is supporting an invisible "salvage market" that sees American clothes waste shipped to faraway countries where it fills marketplaces, clogs up beaches and overwhelms dumps.

There has been a five-fold increase in the amount of clothing Americans buy over the last three decades, but each item is worn only an average of seven times, according to reports. (CBS news) Read more

After two seasons of digital shows and virtual events, fashion weeks are back in real life — and the sense of excitement is palpable across the big four fashion capitals.

As the first of the four to return to real life, from 8 September, New York Fashion Week is betting on integrating in-person shows with see-now-buy-now. (Voguebusiness) Read more

Editor’s note: Next City first covered FABSCRAP in 2019, when it expanded from its Brooklyn location to a space in midtown Manhattan. At that time, the nonprofit had diverted more than 230,000 pounds of textile waste from landfills. We thought readers would be interested to know the nonprofit’s next move — to the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection. (Nextcity) Read more

Wrangler, the American denim brand, spent much of the first half of 2021 convincing customers to buy its products via the usual marketing tools, like advertising on social media, influencer campaigns and a collaboration with the surf retailer Billabong. (Businessoffashion) Read more

Bitmojis on Snapchat can sport the new collection from luxury fashion brand Off-White.

The brand’s fall and winter 2021 collection debuted at its flagship store on Rue de Castiglione in Paris July 4, and a partnership between Off-White and Snap Inc. will bring 12 total looks for Snapchatters to dress their Bitmojis in across Bitmoji Stories, chat, games, lenses and Snap Map, including the Out of Office Sneaker, the low vulcanized sneaker, classic hand-logo apparel and items from the Caravaggio line such as hoodies, T-shirts and sweats. (ADWEEK) Read more

Some day in the future, Ralph Lauren stores may not have any merchandise in them. At least that’s what chief innovation officer David Lauren envisions. Instead, you’ll chat with an in-store expert about the outfit of your dreams—a teal polo or a red linen summer dress, perhaps—and the brand will make it for you on demand. (Fastcompany) Read more

While the spring 2022 menswear shows in Milan and Paris are expected to be a hybrid of in-person and virtual, the Couture shows, organized by Paris’s Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, will be a mostly physical affair. If real life collections from Christian Dior and Chanel were not enough to get your heart racing—alongside the twice-postponed debuts from Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga and Chitose Abe at Jean Paul Gaultier—there is even more happening around the collections. (VOGUE) Read more

Especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises, which may lack the resources to run dedicated service teams, messaging is an affordable, accessible solution for driving new business and serving existing customers. (Forbes) Read more

Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous post here). Share these 25 gems and insights from the week of December 6-12 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See also our special compilation of quotes related to India’s coronavirus responses here. (Yourstory) Read more

The List joins the social commerce movement with a new app connecting consumers with global luxury brands and retailers to offer a personalized discovery and shopping experience.

Focused on sourcing hard-to-find items, the app launch is buoyed by $3.5 million in seed funding backed by a group including American Designer and Rachel Zoe, who is both an investor and advisor to the New York-based company. (Techcrunch) Read more

China’s second largest short video company Kuaishou is working with partners to launch the e-commerce business in Brazil, Chinese e-commerce media Ebrun reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Kwai, the company's short video app for international markets, is now doing live shopping experiments in Brazil with partners such as Casas Bahia, the top local appliance department store, and AmazFit, Xiaomi's fitness wristband. (Pingwest) Read more

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy.

The app industry continues to grow, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also spent 3.5 trillion minutes using apps on Android devices alone. (Techcrunch) Read more

Beauty and fashion e-commerce firm Nykaa, which had a blockbuster public market listing earlier this month, is giving consumers a peek into its live commerce ambitions at its ongoing flagship sale event.

Nykaa is currently running influencer-led live shopping events as part of its 'Pink Friday Sale', an annual sale event that is likely a spin on the Black Friday sales phenomenon. (Moneycontrol) Read more

What is the metaverse? How far off is it? And will this represent a tectonic technological platform shift — along the lines of the internet and mobile revolutions — or is it simply a lot of hot air?

We’ve certainly heard a lot of chatter about the metaverse recently. In fact, Axios reported last week that the term had been used 128 times in investor presentations this year, up from seven in the prior year. (Geekwire) Read more

Myntra today announced its foray into social commerce to cater to the rapidly evolving content consumption patterns and shopping preferences of consumers.

During the launch, Myntra also unveiled M-Live, a video streaming and live commerce platform. With M-Live, the company aims to bring a first-of-its-kind, interactive, and real-time, live shopping experience to millions of shoppers in the country. (Businesstoday) Read more

Look at the recent rise of streaming services and off online stores, and it all starts making sense. So, finally, there’s a shift happening in how we shop.

The pandemic has forever changed the retail landscape, making it much more digital. And as brick-and-mortar stores give way to ecommerce, retailers are finding themselves scrambling for consumers’ attention in an increasingly chaotic and crowded online environment. (Readwrite) Read more

Facebook announced today that it’s rolling out new shopping features: Shops in Groups, product recommendations and a test of Live Shopping for Creators.

Shops in Groups enables admins of Facebook groups to set up an online store on their associated Facebook Page. (Techcrunch) Read more

My job title is content creator. I get paid per post—on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube. Viewers watch my content for a few seconds, perhaps are briefly entertained, and then swipe next. I am called an “influencer,” which means I am paid to showcase products in my content, thereby influencing people to buy them. I am referred to as “the talent” in contracts in which my manager negotiates my rates and duties. I have 1.3 million followers across all my platforms. (Slate) Read more

The racial pay gap has long presented issues for African Americans in corporate America and other industries. It’s now filtered to social media.

MSL U.S., in partnership with The Influencer League, unveiled a first-of-its-kind research study, “Time to Face the Influencer Pay Gap,” uncovering a vast racial divide in influencer marketing. (Washingtoninforme) Read more

A few years ago, the word “influencer” meant something pretty different than what it represents today. In 2016, the Instagram-focused social media consumer probably pictured a wealthy ex-Bachelor contestant who took beach photos in a personalized floppy hat and sponsored weight loss tea. But in 2021, the creator economy has evolved to encompass a more relatable, diverse population. (Adweek) Read more

An Instagram influencer has apologized after a voice memo in which she used racist slurs went viral earlier this week. Fyza Ali, who is based in the UK, said she would be taking a social media break in light of the incident. (Insider) Read more

Online platforms are connecting influencers with brands in ways that are cutting out agencies and other traditional middlemen, according to panelists at the influencer and content creator convention, VidCon Asia.

The event was held Thursday as an in-person event at Singapore’s Suntec Convention Centre, as part of the Singapore Media Festival. (Variety) Read more

French cosmetics giant L'Oréal has been going through a massive retail row in China after two leading social media influencers sold large quantities of the company’s beauty face masks to consumers while inaccurately claiming it was the cheapest deal available anywhere. (The conversation) Read more

Like many other late-2000s teens who only emerged from their rooms for school and to be fed, Olivia Yallop had a tumblr page. She posted photos and text that she liked, and began to cultivate a large following on the blogging site. It was her first taste of online influence. (VICE) Read more

Our latest research, presented in the The New Key Opinion Leader is Here report evaluates how a new generation of Chinese Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) are growing up on a different set of platforms and changing the rules of influencer marketing. We call them Cultural Opinion Leaders (COLs). Driven by Gen Z culture, COLs will set the tone going forward for how brands navigate influence in China and beyond. (Highsnobiety) Read more

As brands seek ways to establish more personalized connections with consumers, they’re engaging social media influencers more heavily than in previous years, according to a recent Nielsen assessment. The pandemic has accelerated the trend, given the elevated need for connection amid the isolation wrought by lockdowns. (Mediapost) Read more

Lindsey Lee Lugrin is shameless about being an influencer. Case in point: In December 2020, she founded a company that she has described as “Glassdoor for influencers,” naming it F*** You Pay Me (FYPM). The platform lets influencers anonymously spill the deets about their brand deals, like how much they were paid and what was asked of them. (Morningbrew) Read more