Jessica Simpson's fashion line hauls in about $1 billion in annual sales, an aberration in a retail landscape littered with dead celebrity brands. David Hasselhoff's Malibu Dave, Mandy Moore's Mblem, Heidi Montag's Heidiwood … the list of defunct fashion labels of the famous is endless. Yet Simpson's line has not only survived, it's grown over the past decade into a true lifestyle empire. How did she accomplish such a feat? According to the pop star, Simpson just knows what women want.
L.A.
During yesterday's keynote session at the Fashion Digital NY show, Kate Spade's CEO Craig Leavitt talked about the brand's mission and shared four key strategic areas it's focusing on.
Thousands have factory jobs in American Apparel's downtown Los Angeles plant. CEO Dov Charney wants it all made in America. But recently he's talked of importing.
American Apparel will be tagging every neon legging, velvet bodysuit, T-shirt and iconic hoodie with a RFID sensor. The sensors will track items from the time they're shipped from American Apparel’s factory in downtown Los Angeles to when a customer purchases the item from one of its 280 stores, helping the chain to keep better track of inventory and disappearances.
To bring its 1969 Premium Jeans line closer to the heart of the designer denim industry, Gap opened a creative design office in a gritty section of downtown L.A. last year. Now the company is putting its L.A. vibe at the core of a global marketing campaign that launches today, complete with food trucks and a dog.
Kim Kardashian filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against Old Navy for employing a model who looks more or less exactly like her in ads her lawyers claim “evoke [her] identity and persona.” The amorphously famous reality star “is known for her look and style,” her lawyer said in a statement. “When her intellectual property rights are violated, she intends to enforce them.”