FASHION INDUSTRY NEWS – TUESDAY
Good morning designers! The Tuesday edition of the StylePortfolios.com Daily Fix is up and ready for your reading pleasure. What are you waiting for? Get a coffee, sit-down and get your day started-off right with the The Daily Fix…
IBM & YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP FORGE LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP – FootwearNews
“Yoox Net-a-Porter Group and IBM have inked a long-term strategic partnership aimed at enhancing the omni-channel browsing, shopping and delivery experience for YNAP’s customers and third-party clients. The companies said in a joint statement today the new deal will enable YNAP to enhance its focus on delivering customer-centric innovation by using IBM’s commerce technology products.”
NORTH FACE EXPANDS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENGAGEMENT – RetailingToday
“According to VentureBeat, The North Face is launching a mobile app that will let consumers find products using natural conversation to conduct searches and receive personalized recommendations. The app is scheduled to launch in April 2016. As reported by Retailing Today sister publication, Chain Store Age, The North Face initially began letting desktop customers use natural language to search for items using the IBM Watson artificial intelligence platform and Fluid XPS intuitive recommendation engine in December 2015.”
MONEY GIVEN TO KENYA, SINCE STOLEN, PUTS NIKE IN SPOTLIGHT – TheNewYorkTimes
“In a contract signed several years ago, Nike agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in honorariums and a one-time $500,000 “commitment bonus,” which the former employee called a bribe.The money was supposed to be used to help train and support poor Kenyan athletes who dream of running their way out of poverty. Instead, it was immediately sucked out of the federation’s bank account by a handful of Kenyan officials and kept off the books.”
HOW TO DESIGN YOUR OWN LIGHTWEIGHT ACTIVE JACKET – Forbes
“Eddie Bauer is launching its second design-your-own jacket. With the success of the personalized down jacket they debuted last fall, which I wrote about here, the company is expanding their bespoke offering to their bestselling Sandstone jacket. Part of the First Ascent series, built with input from Eddie Bauer’s athletes and guides, the Sandstone is made for high-output activities with an ultralight stretch shell. It is breathable, water and wind resistant, and has a streamlined design with an athletic fit. With the technical aspects taken care of for you, the fun part is getting creative. There are twelve areas that are customizable by color, including zippers and contrast stitching, and a monogram or personal message can even be added to the chest, shoulder, and inside pocket.”
SURPRISE! HEDI SLIMANE SHOWED COUTURE, NOT RTW, AT SAINT LAURENT THIS SEASON – Refinery29
“Of all the ways to mix up the tried-and-true show format, an unannounced haute couture collection is certainly an interesting tactic. Especially in the context of the industry’s current conversation about shifting toward a consumer-facing calendar. Made-to-measure design is pretty much the opposite of the speedy “see now, buy now” switch that took over runways (and how we talked about shows) in New York, after all. Hedi Slimane didn’t need much to get people talking about part two of his fall ’16 collection in Paris. (The first half premiered at the Palladium in Los Angeles on February 10.) But the resulting discourse went in a few different directions.”