A round-up of everything you might have missed in relevant fashion, retail and tech industry news over the past week.
TOP STORIES
- Levi Strauss’ caffeinated IPO; Stock jumps 32% [WWD]
- Rent the Runway joins Glossier in the elite club of female-founded unicorns [Fortune]
- H&M to phase out cashmere amid sustainability push [Retail Dive]
TECHNOLOGY
- The world’s first genderless AI voice is here. Listen now [Fast Company]
- Alibaba acquires Israeli VR startup Infinity Augmented Reality [Tech Crunch]
SUSTAINABILITY & PURPOSE
- Inditex and MIT sign agreement to promote research into sustainability [Fashion United]
- Why recyclable single-use water bottles + other plastics are a plague on our planet [The Daily Beast]
- Levi’s leather patches come under fire by Peta [BoF]
- Starbucks teases coffee traceability app feature, compostable cup trial [Restaurant Dive]
- Guess launches
eco-friendly collection for Spring 2019 [Fashion Network]
RETAIL & E-COMMERCE
- Lush to launch new Fresh & Flowers store format [Retail Week]
- Why makeup brands are selling mystery bags [BoF]
- & Other Stories explores secondhand fashion with Sellpy [Fashion Network]
- Filippa K launches new “customer-focused” website [Fashion United]
PRODUCT
- Amazon launches private label
skincare line [Retail Dive] - As air pollution gets worse, a dystopian accessory is born [Vox]
- It’s become impossible to tell the difference between luxury & fast fashion sneakers [Highsnobiety]
BUSINESS
- Nike hit with racial discrimination lawsuit [Footwear News]
- China breaks counterfeit goods ring worth 100 million Yuan [BoF]
- What happens when a business built on simplicity gets complicated? Dollar Shave Club’s founder Michael Dubin found out . . . [CNBC]
- Ken Downing leaving Neiman Marcus after 28 years [WWD]
- Ahead of Brexit, British fashion promotes itself in China and welcomes Chinese talent to UK [SCMP]
MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA
- This Works Skincare range turns to voice to launch free sample Facebook campaign [Internet Retailing]
- The dangerous side effect of digital wellness [Fashionista]
CULTURE
- Fashion isn’t just for Instagram: Inside the world of high fashion Twitter [GQ]
- Human contact is now a luxury good [NYT]
- A sea change in plus-size fashion [The Atlantic]
- How can fashion better address the needs of disabled people? [BoF]
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