Wall Street Shows Confidence in Ralph Lauren’s New CEO#
Patrice Louvet took on the chief executive position for the U.S. luxury apparel giant Ralph Lauren last month in the hopes that the management shake-up will bring the brand, which has had significant losses in the past year, a shot of confidence. The designer himself described Louvet’s tenure as a form of “partnership” for the brand and hoped that Louvet’s 28-year experience at Pamp;G’s global beauty business will help the fashion label regain its erstwhile glory in the quickly-evolving market. The financial report for fiscal 2018 released on Aug. 8 showed that the brand’s sales in Asia for the first quarter decreased by 1 percent -- a significantly better number compared to the 17-percent decrease in North America and the 14-percent decrease in Europe. Wall Street seems to have gained confidence in the brand: Ralph Lauren’s stock shot up 13.28 percent with the intraday high of 88.53 on the same day as the release of the report. Unlike luxury labels such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren has yet to enter the e-commerce game in China. Currently, all the Ralph Lauren items on Tmall are gray market products. It is not unreasonable to anticipate that Louvet will establish relationships with Chinese e-commerce platforms for the brand in the near future.
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Bottega Veneta Hires Meenal Mistry as Senior Director of Editorial Content#
The Italian luxury leather goods brand Bottega Veneta announced this week that they will welcome Meenal Mistry as the brand’s senior director, global editorial content and copy, a newly created position. Mistry had served as the fashion editor of Off Duty at the Wall Street Journal since 2012 and had previously worked at W Magazine and WWD. Jean-François Palus, group managing director of the brand’s parent company Kering said Bottega Veneta would soon go through a “radical reset” of its communications strategy, incorporating a heavy digital component, according to WWD. Kering had just settled a lawsuit with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to crack down counterfeit products. Currently, Bottega Veneta has a Chinese-language website for mainland consumers but its online store is only available in Hong Kong. Mistry is expected to start on Aug. 21.
Jon Gluck to Take on Senior Role at Hearst#
Jon Gluck, the managing editor of Vogue is to take on the role of executive director, editorial talent, development and special projects at Hearst, overseeing senior-level editorial recruiting and magazine development. Gluck had been with Vogue for four-and-a-half years, during which time he has reportedly helped shape the brand's strategic direction on both digital and print platforms. Previously, he served as the deputy editor of New York Magazine for 10 years. He is also adjunct faculty at New York University’s Journalism Institute and a mentor for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Invisible Ink program. It’s worth noting that Hearst’s long-standing staple ELLE just launched a new Chinese-language print publication, SuperELLE, on August 8, specifically targeting Chinese millennials. This is similar to Condé Nast's Vogue Me launch in 2016. Gluck’s appointment has definitely brought on speculation that he would be heavily involved in steering Hearst’s newly-launched publications. Gluck is expected to assume his new position on Sept. 5.