South Of France Launches Seduction Campaign To Stay Afloat

The south of France normally brings in 40% of its annual tourist revenue from overseas visitors. With international borders likely to stay closed for a while longer, the south needs to appeal to its French compatriots to make sure it can stay afloat. A national charm offensive, entitled, “we all need the south” is being launched to make sure everyone heads southwards this summer.

Renaud Muselier, president of an umbrella group for all the different regions in France (Régions de France), told La Provence that not a single region, department or town has been spared losses. “In the ski resorts, at the festivals, along the coastline, the entire tourist ecosystem has been devastated. 98% of tourist workers are not working.” France is the number one visited country in the world.

The priority however, has been to get the south up on its feet, to try to fill as many of those hotel rooms and campsites which are normally booked by overseas guests. On May 25, the south will launch a campaign telling French people, “On a tous besoin du Sud”–we all need the south.

From The Front Lines: How 7 Fashion Businesses Are Coping During Coronavirus

Fashion has come to a near standstill amidst the coronavirus pandemic leaving many brands to wonder if they will be able to weather the economic storm left in its wake. Heritage brands and retailers are announcing layoffs or furlough, as Nordstrom did yesterday, or are floating the word bankruptcy in the media, as Neiman Marcus has done. The already-struggling fashion bible W has hit pause, furloughing 17 of their 58 employees.

What does all this mean for people who are still fighting for their businesses amid the pandemic?

In speaking to 7 leaders in the industry for this article, the goal was to understand what they are doing to mitigate the situation for their businesses. Spanning the spectrum from a CEO at a global e-com site to independent entities to startups, these people represent the different facets of the industry and paint a picture of their experiences as this crisis continues.

First and foremost this is a human situation and the health of our staff and customers is the first priority. We are a very global company so when this hit in China and then in Japan at the end of January and February we ensured our team was able to work from home and we made other necessary operational changes there. That was our first experience with the situation.

Our current priority is to support our community of boutique owners and brands who sell on Farfetch. When you shop on Farfetch, your items arrive from one of 700 boutiques in 50 countries around the world, or from one of our many brand partners.

Most of these are small family businesses and have had to close their physical store locations. For many, Farfetch is now their only channel so we feel supporting them is a huge responsibility as a platform.

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We are working with these boutique owners to help them in any way we can. We are making sure they can keep selling to customers on Farfetch, even if they can’t welcome their customers into their retail stores at the moment. We are assessing all ways we can drive sales volume and traffic to support these boutiques, including putting them front and center on Farfetch website, changing visual merchandising to surface as much boutique stock as possible.

We are also offering logistics and warehousing support. This includes moving stock from boutiques to our warehouses when boutiques cannot ship themselves due to regional lockdowns or staff shortages. We are doing this as a service to them, without charge.

A dedicated #supportboutiques project is launching this coming week, to get the whole Farfetch community involved.

Crucially, we also want to help the shops when they reopen. We are planning to invest in a full-blown marketing campaign, including paid marketing at our expense, to encourage footfall in due course when we are all out of these times of needing to socially distance.

How The K-Pop Craze Is Taking Over Fashion Week

Parasite winning at the Oscars is one thing, the new much-hyped Filter track by BTS, is another. But nothing is quite like the overwhelming K-Pop hype at Fashion Week.

Some say that South Korean K-Pop stars are the world's biggest influencers, having the biggest pull on Instagram. Having the entire world going bananas for K-Pop, with bands selling out stadiums in just seconds, it makes sense that luxury fashion brands want their slice of the pie. With BTS wearing custom-made tour outfits designed by Kim Jones for Christian Dior, it’s likely their far-reaching appeal won’t stop anytime soon.

Are Korean celebrities becoming the next face of luxury fashion? G-Dragon was the first Korean musician to ever collaborate with Nike for limited edition sneakers, which sold out in a matter of seconds. The fashion ‘It Boy’ has been a Chanel ambassador, too, while Kai of the K-Pop group Exo is a muse for Gucci, too.

Case in point: Just yesterday, Lalisa Manoban, the star of the K-Pop group Blackpink, was in the front row of the Prada show today at Milan Fashion Week. The crowd went absolutely wild - far wilder than most fashion week scrums, stopping traffic more than any other celebrity.

                                Mother of the Bride Dresses

Why You Need To Look Out For Alexis Ren In 2020

The new decade is basically here and Alexis Ren is the dynamic star to know. Social media may have been how she got her big break in modeling, but since then, she's worked hard to make the most out of her career. She launched her own activewear line Ren Active and even competed on Dancing With the Stars alongside professional dancer Alan Bersten.

In 2019, Ren continued her streak in front of the camera by collaborating on music videos with Ed Sheeran and Kygo. With another roaring 20's on the horizon, fans can expect the 23-year-old to embark on more on-screen adventures. "I'm changing my career so drastically," she told Forbes earlier this year at the Revolve Awards. "It's been really amazing. I'm going into acting, which is going to be so fun and I'm excited for that transition."

The model and entrepreneur turned actress also explained that she's open to all opportunities that come her way. "My goal is to find more creative outlets for my art, whether that be acting, music or poetry." At the same time, she wants to focus on making a difference in the environment and coming up with innovative ways to make the world more sustainable. "I'm really invested in environmental work," she said. "Even though it's absolutely beautiful to work on your own accomplishments, none of it is going to matter if we don't protect the Earth. That's one of my priorities now because I want the younger kids of our generation to have a bright future."

Her ambition and confidence is unlike any other, but Ren mentioned that she couldn't have gotten to where she is today without her strong support system. This includes her family, friends and of course, boyfriend Noah Centineo. The duo made their red carpet debut in October for the UNNICEF Masquerade Ball. "When I doubt myself, having them to look towards is everything to me," Ren shared of her loved ones.

She added that her To All the Boys I've Loved Before love interest constantly keeps her going. "He inspires me in every single way, he's all of the above," Ren described of Centineo. "I've really grown so much as a human being in our relationship. He challenges me mentally, emotionally, in the work that I do and with my mental health. He's so evolved as a human being, so it's really amazing and makes me understand what a healthy relationship can look like. It's really beautiful."

The Clothing Rental App That Wants To End Fast Fashion

Brits purchase more clothing than any other European country, spending £2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) on fashion that they only wear once.

The founder of a fashion technology company called By Rotation is hoping to change consumer habits, and help the planet to boot.

U.K.-based, India-born and Singapore-raised Eshita Kabra came up with the idea when she was planning her honeymoon.

"I turned to social media for ideas on what to wear, and always saw influencers on social media wearing beautiful clothing—often only once—in idyllic settings. I started to wonder if these items were gifted from the brands themselves or bought just for the photo, and what would happen to them after."

Kabra didn't want to follow the footsteps of Rent the Runway, or China's YCloset, as she wanted to "build a sustainable community, rather than a cheaper alternative to dressing new."

By Rotation launched via a beta platform in April 2019, while 28-year-old Kabra was still working full time at a hedge fund.

Kabra says her company differs from players like Rent the Runway, or U.K. companies such as Girl Meets Dress, Front Row, and Our Closet, as they are the "U.K.'s first and only fashion rental app."

"We are a pure peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace meaning we do not buy any inventory whatsoever unlike all the other businesses.

"Most of our peers focus on occasion wear and are for fashion-conscious females whereas we cater to a wide range of outfits and therefore prices."

Rentals range from £15 for a Reformation dress to £75 for a Birkin bag and the app is open to all genders.

But shifting mindsets about renting has been a "big part" of the challenge.

"We liken ourselves and give the examples of AirBnB, Uber and Vestiaire Collective to warm up and remind people how common the sharing and circular economies have become."

Kabra says her upbringing played a role in wanting to launch the brand.

"I was born in Rajasthan, a place known for its textile mills and craftsmanship; I grew up in Singapore, where our national hobby is shopping while repeatedly being taught the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and made to feel guilty about wasting water, and I live in the United Kingdom, where people are fashion-conscious and increasingly turning up the volume on sustainable causes.

"The same people have also embraced sharing economies such as Airbnb, Uber and Fat Llama—so why not fashion?"

In order to stay as sustainable as possible, the company doesn't buy in any inventory, which also poses another issue around sizing and style.

"We continue to invite and grow awareness within our community so we can have something on offer for everyone," Kabra says. "As we educate and shift perceptions on the importance of sharing via renting and therefore decreasing consumption, we encourage our community of Rotators to strive towards a more sustainable lifestyle.

"We regularly host and connect our community at our events where we discuss and debate important topics affecting climate change and the fashion industry."

Kabra plans to expand internationally, as well as launch partnerships with charities within the next two quarters. Since the beta launch, the app has already had more than 4,000 users sign up and completed 250-plus transactions.

"My ultimate ambition for By Rotation is to disrupt the fashion industry by bringing an end to low-quality fast fashion."

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