Dear Friend,
Let's talk about what's up with Amazon these days and why I believe that if we want to support fashion's move to ethical production and conscious consumption we should ignore Amazon's Fashion division - whether you're a customer or a fashion brand. I'm sure many of you have noticed that every week there's at least 2-3 major pieces of news about Amazon in the past months: it acquires WholeFoods, creates a meal kit to compete with Blue Apron, launches a creepy bedroom camera - stylist, Echo Look, introduces a StitchFix competitor, Prime Wardrobe, about to start selling Nike brand directly, reports on record-breaking Prime Day sale results... TechCrunch and Business of Fashion both put it well by saying that Amazon is "Eating the World" and "May Eat Fashion". But what does it do with the fashion industry which is already in a very weak shape?
It's developing its Amazon Fashion platform by forcing brands join on the wholesale side as opposed to using its common marketplace model. Amazon will then dictate inventory, set prices (i.e. control margins) and fulfill orders. That means it is taking a lot of control in its hands: it promotes and places on the top search results only products they've invested in and basically "kills" the brands participating in the marketplace.
I'm a firm believer that marketplaces and drop-shipping model are the main spark of hope for our industry - brand gets to keep its integrity by reaching customers directly, control its own margins, choose its stock depth. Amazon is looking backwards and betraying its primary concept of welcoming a variety of sellers controlling their own business on Amazon, in favor of greedy desire to rule the multitude of industries and eventually monopolize retail as a whole.
Click here to continue reading my note on Amazon and why it's never going to win in fashion retail...
News Digest:
- What Colette’s Closure Means for Fashion - Business of Fashion
- Farfetch founder José Neves tells WIRED how he built the $1.5 billion fashion platform - Wired
- Yoox Net-A-Porter Looks To The Future Of AI And Mobile Commerce With New Tech Hub In London - Forbes
- These stretchy, durable sensors could be woven right into clothing - TechCrunch
- Nike’s Co-founder on Innovation, Culture, and Succession - Harvard Business Review
- Stitch Fix is letting algorithms help design new clothes—and they’re allegedly flying off the digital racks - Quarz
- The cost of dead inventory: retail’s dirty little secret - Business of Fashion
- How Adidas is using micro-influencers - Digiday
- 3D printers start to build factories of the future - The Economist
Events
Tuesday, July 18th
6:30 - 8:30pm Give A Damn with Jessica Grose, Deva Pardue and Matt D'Avella
Huge’s Rachael Feinman will lead a Q&A with Jessica Grose (editor-in-chief of Lenny Letter), Matt D’Avella (an award-winning filmmaker known for the documentary Minimalism), and Deva Pardue (the graphic designer of The Wing and For All Womankind), about how to approach storytelling effectively to communicate a passion and develop a following. Price: Free Location: Huge, 45 Main Street, Dumbo
7:00pm Interactive Media
We've scoured the art, design, and technology field to bring you exciting emerging individuals and companies who are experimenting with new technologies that focus on the interaction between content and people. From content development to delivery, the showcase will feature both digital and analog technologies that blend the physical and digital world. Price: $10 – $15 Location: And & And, 353 W 12th St
Wednesday, July 19th
8:30am - 10:00am Social Research 101: Habits of great social researchers
In the world of tech and big data, it's easy to focus on quantitative targets, industry stats, and acquisition metrics, and in the meantime, lose touch with the people behind them. But how do you actually learn from your customers? How do you uncover their needs, not just reacting to feedback? Price: Free Location: General Assembly New York, 10 East 21st Street
6:00pm Internet of Fashion - Hands on Designing Fashion Tech
At the internet of Fashion meet up hosted at Microsoft you will learn how to design fashion tech, AR/VR, business strategies, and gaming. The May meeting focus will be designing innovative wearable with 3D print technology. Designers that have already successfully introduced their wearable s in the consumer market will share the process of creating fashion that integrate 3D technologies. Price: Free Location: Microsoft 677 Fifth Avenue
Thursday, July 20th
6:30pm Beyond Reporting - Turning Social Analytics Into Intelligence
Social Media Insights is a different breed of analytics, which revolves heavily around consumer insights & context as opposed towards direct 1:1 ROI correlations. While most acknowledge the importance of analytics, many still struggle to define social's ROI & the 'so what' & what to do with social analytics. The purpose of this talk is to explore the ways in which brands & agencies can leverage social data, & how the brand can discover the 'value of social' in their organization. Price: $10 Location: Product School NY, 1216 Broadway, 2nd Fl
6:30pm 2017 MBA Summer Series presents: Girlboss — Inspiration from Female Founder
Learn how to nail the perfect elevator pitch to get others excited about your startup. Learn how to get that elusive first round of funding, and what kinds of investors to tap into at different stages of your business. Learn how women founders have overcome the challenges of starting and growing a business, from vetting the right co-founder to choosing the right growth strategy. Price: Free Location: CommonBond, 524 Broadway, 6th Floor
Friday, July 21st
5:30pm Hustle Summit
Hustle Summit is the most epic networking event you'll ever attend. We'll connect you digitally & in-person to the coolest companies, greatest pros across all industries, & your future life-long friends. Recruiters from companies including Macmillan, Bustle, Eileen Fisher, TEKsystems, Refinery29, IPG Mediabrands, Macy's & more will be there hiring for various skill sets, from marketing & design to editorial & tech. Price: $99 Location: Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place
6:30pm Reboot - Leveling Up
Join the Reboot community as we hear stories of growth in life & career from successful startup founders, authors, tech entrepreneurs, & people who have successfully navigated a career transition. Price: Free Location: Spark Labs Bryant Park, 25 W39th Ave, 14th Fl
Tuesday, July 25th
5:45pm Design Driven
With Cap Watkins (VP Design, BuzzFeed), Jess Brown (Dir. UX, VICE), Heather Cassano (Head of UX, Google), Mark Webster (Founder/CEO, Sayspring), Chandra Recchi (VP Product Studio, Coach). Price: Free Location: BuzzFeed, 111 E 18th St
Wednesday, July 26th
6:30 - 8:30pm Focus | AI: The Ethical Impact of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to exponentially impact each aspect of our daily lives. This technology will produce so many positive results, making our businesses more efficient and our personal lives more productive, but we're equally responsible for its potential negatives. Join us as we dig into the ethical impacts of AI and what our responsibilities are as builders of and investors in the technology. Price: $5 Location: Verizon Venture Studio, 119 W 24th St
7:00pm Make It In Brooklyn Arts+Tech Pitch Contest
5 startups at intersection of creative arts & tech will pitch for $5000, no strings attached. Eat, drink & network w/ NYC startups, entrepreneurs & venture capitalists. Price: $10 Location: A/D/O, 29 Norman Ave, Brooklyn
10:00pm - 12:00am Messaging for Your Market: Tell Your Story, Win Customers, Attract Investors
Jasmine Bina, founder of Concept Bureau, will explain how to create compelling messaging that converts your audience. Through the use of powerful frameworks and clear, real-life examples, she'll walk through the steps necessary to get you from a great idea to a story that sells. Price: Free Location: ONLINE
Sunday, July 30th
11:30am Brunchwork w/ Museum Hack
Fill your weekend with inspiration & intention. Join us for an unforgettable farm-to-table rooftop brunch with Museum Hack founder/CEO Nick Gray & Paul Kasmin Gallery Director Eric Gleason Price: $40 Location: WeLive, 110 Wall St
Tuesday, August 1st
6:00pm Entrepreneurs Roundtable w/ Google Ventures
With Erik Nordlander (Partner, Google Ventures). Format: Introductions, Q&A, 5 Pitches & Feedback. Price: Free Location: Microsoft HQ, 11 Times Sq
Saturday, August 5th
11:30am MusED Hackathon
Explore experience design in arts, technology & education. The day will feature concerts, demos, talks, hacks. Price: Free Location: Venue, 45 W 18th St, 3rd Fl
Cool Products and Long Reads:
- The new SPRING: Personalized shopping from 1500+ brands, single checkout
- Investor List - A crowdsourced list of 1036 investors
- Wander - Travel spontaneously within a budget
- Read about my No Social Media and Diet Improvement Challenge
- The weird power of the placebo effect, explained - Vox
Stay inspired,
Nataliya