A round-up of everything you might have missed in relevant fashion, retail and tech industry news over the past week.

TOP STORIES
  • Karl Lagerfeld dies in Paris [BoF]
  • Internal memo from Gucci CEO shows he’s taking the blackface scandal very, very seriously [Fashionista]
  • Fashion prepares for Brexit disaster [BoF]
  • Levi Strauss files for initial public offering [Fashion United]
TECHNOLOGY
  • Brands are testing augmented reality’s influence on e-commerce [Digiday]
  • Amazon opens up Alexa store for anyone to create and publish custom skills [The Verge]
SUSTAINABILITY & PURPOSE
  • Government considers clothing levy to reduce fashion industry waste [The Industry]
  • 6 years after Rana Plaza, worker safety is under threat in Bangladesh again [BoF]
  • 3.1 Phillip Lim to go fur-free from autumn 2019 [Fashion United]
RETAIL & E-COMMERCE
  • Bonprix’s latest high-tech shopping experience [Fashion United]
  • Barneys to open luxury cannabis shop [Chain Store Age]
  • Le Bon Marché to showcase technology with ‘Geek Mais Chic’ theme [WWD]
MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA
PRODUCT
  • Cannabis couture: MedMen unveils apparel line [WWD]
  • Vans partners with Led Zeppelin on capsule collection [Fashion Network]
  • Here’s why luxury shoe brand M.Gemi releases new shoes every Monday [AdWeek]
BUSINESS
  • Kering sales rise 24.5% in Q4 as Gucci growth normalizes [WWD]
  • What’s ailing Mulberry? [BoF]
CULTURE
  • How to address fashion’s racism problem [BoF]
  • Blackface fashion is officially the worst fashion trend of 2019 [Quartzy]
  • Prada introduces Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council [Retail Dive]
  • Burberry’s new campaign aims to be inclusive—sort of [Quartzy]
  • Who needs Kanye? Amazon wants to be the biggest thing at Coachella 2019 [Fast Company]
  • The plus-size era is over before it began [Retail Dive]
  • Barbie is now in a wheelchair and has a prosthetic leg [Teen Vogue]

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