Welcome to the latest travel retail column for DRG by Alison Farrington aka The Retail Planner (TRP).
This month, we welcome all the auspicious brand news in celebration of the Lunar New Year for 2021’s Chinese Year of the Ox. We also look at some new skincare launches that will appeal to clean and K-beauty fans.
1/ SHISEIDO ‘INSPIRES JOY’. For Asia Pacific and US travel retail stockists, SHISEIDO has launched an exclusive set of Lunar New Year products for bestselling skincare products, Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate* and Vital Perfection Uplifting and Firming Cream (below). They feature gold and red packaging that is inspired by the art of calligraphy and designed to evoke feelings of empowerment for the Chinese New Year celebration. (more…)
Some exciting news on the designer front. Pieter Mulier, the one-time secret weapon of Raf Simons (who can forget his stand out supporting role in Dior & I?) has been appointed creative director at Alaïa.
This sounds like an excellent appointment, with Mulier promising to retain Azzedine Alaïa’s “legacy of celebrating femininity and placing women at the heart of creation”, hopefully with a modern hand. I imagine Richemont will expect a big ROI with fulsome collections of clothes, accessories (and maybe even beauty?) but hopefully they can also find a way to imbue some of the slower pace Alaïa was known for with his ‘it comes when it comes’ schedules. (more…)
It’s men’s digital fashion month and couture week at the moment, so I’m trying to keep up with all the content. What I notice is that without the physical shows, it’s really all on the brands to keep the content coming on their various platforms. I missed the Prada menswear Live transmission, so I watched it on IG catch up instead. It was the first Raf-ccia joint menswear collection for Prada, following the womenswear debut last October.(more…)
Reading about the ubiquity of the New Yorker tote recently got me thinking about the rise of media branded merch.
The New Yorker has just expanded its merch line, allowing its cultured readership to outwardly express their taste and identity. As traditional magazine sales and ad revenues decline, reinforcing the ‘brand’ is a commercial savvy move for media titles. In a timely plot twist, it also effectively lets the reader advertise the magazine, instead of the magazine selling advertising to its readers. “The New Yorker knows that it is now a brand, that it represents a cross-section of a very specific, cultured, informed, democratic public, who knows who they are (or aspires to be) and loves to show it off,” observes NSS Magazine.
In a similar vein, the New York Times has been enjoying its elevated style status, with its logo and ad campaigns being co-opted in recent years by the likes of Etudes and Sacai as part of official collaborations. It reminded me of my 20-something year-old New York Herald Tribune tee. A riff on the cinematic classic worn by Jean Seberg in A Bout de Souffle (top), the combo of gothic nameplate typography and trusted legacy journalism seem particularly resonant right now. (You can actually buy an official copy here, among a variety of NYT-branded fare.)
Some other media brands that have good merch: Monocle, IDEA Books (it kind of counts) and The London Review of Books*, which sells not only a number of chic book bags but branded chocolate and this cool enamel pin too.
And if they’re open to requests, I’d suggest Air Mail (a red and white tote!), the FT (a cute peach sweatshirt?), and Porter magazine (maybe a Sporty & Rich-style logo cap)…
*As I’m wont to do, I was diverted down a Google tunnel while researching links and found this revealing article on the LRB from 2014. The business model is most fascinating!
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: To come, NSS, New York Times
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
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