An Examination of Contemporary Celebrity Endorsement in Fashion

This paper examines the contemporary relationship between fashion brands and celebrities. Noting the historic role of celebrities in fashion and their current prevalence in the industry, the paper moves beyond discussion of the motives and effectiveness of celebrity endorsement, and instead explores its nature and practice in the fashion sector. The paper proposes a new definition of celebrity endorsement in fashion, offers a classification of celebrities involved in fashion brand endorsement, and presents a typology examining the contemporary means by which a fashion brand may collaborate with celebrities. The typology is defined in context of the nature, length and cost to the brand of the relationship between it and the celebrity. The methodology uses secondary sources and qualitative primary research in an exploratory agenda in order to propose conclusions and suggest ideas for further research

The Anatomy of an International Fashion Retailer – The Giorgio Armani Group

Of all the international retailers, luxury fashion retailers are typically the most prolific as measured by the number and diversity of foreign markets in which they operate. Furthermore, for most, the contribution of foreign sales to total sales is equal to, if not greater than, that achieved by the most active international retailers (Moore & Fernie 2004). Yet, while the significance of the luxury fashion retailers’ foreign activities is now acknowledged in the international retailing literature, there have been calls for more in-depth, company specific appraisals of the strategies adopted by such firms (Doherty 2000; Moore, Birtwistle & Burt 2004). Doherty (2000) has argued in particular that further case study research in the area of fashion retailer internationalisation would provide much needed insights into the apparatus that supports their international success

Exhibition Review: Le Fil Rouge, Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris 6th Feb-3rd May 2015

In the foyer of Espace Louis Vuitton in Paris an introduction offers visitors insight to Le Fil Rouge (‘The Red Thread’), curated by Michoko Kono. It reflects on the role of thread in Louis Vuitton’s (LV) historic and contemporary products; the thread is integral to the product’s construction, binding its components, defining its boundaries and representing LV’s historic commitment to craftsmanship, establishing the integrity of the product (LVMH 2014). However in being so literal, the introduction understates the significance of the exhibition and its more abstract relationship with the LV brand. The exhibition is located on the top floor of the Champs Elysees Maison, LV’s flagship store and arguably the epicentre of contemporary French luxury fashion. Hence the exhibition serves some role in the promotion and therefore practice of this most international of luxury fashion brands; this review of Le Fil Rouge contextualizes the exhibition in respect of LV’s branding activities

La nueva pintura del emperador

El texto repasa la conocida "Ley de Ripolin" que Le Corbusier expone en su famoso texto L'art décoratif d'aujourd'hui, en el que el arquitecto suizo aspira a encontrar respuesta a la pregunta fundamental: ¿dónde está la arquitectura? A partir de una brillante reflexión sobre el papel de las paredes blancas en la arquitectura moderna, Wigley rescata el carácter textil y en consecuencia "superficial" de la condición moderna de la arquitectura. De este modo se muestra cómo la arquitectura de Le Corbusier enlaza con los argumentos de Loos y Semper, y más aun se ve con claridad la auténtica condición de la arquitectura como fenómeno visual que a su vez se localiza en el espacio de la comunicación. Como Wigley apunta, es necesario explorar con mucho detalle la fina capa blanca y para eso es preciso ahondar con mucha más profundidad en la superficie

Fashioning the Brand: a creative & commercial interpretation of the role of the brand in fashion

Within the fashion industry, the brand is regarded as critically important irrespective of the identity of the practitioner; creative practitioners (designers) and commercial practitioners (marketers, retailers) both regarded the brand as an inspiration point and an anchor in shifting tides of trend and consumer demand. Designers regard the brand as a key reference in developing new products and maintaining a lineage and relationship between seasonal ranges and collections; while marketers regard the brand and its promotion as a crucial means of motivating consumer purchase and maintaining loyalty. Notwithstanding the evident significance of the brand in fashion, definitions of it within the industry are vague and occasionally contradictory, and the specific applications and roles of the brand are poorly quantified. This paper seeks to explore the concept of the brand in fashion by considering the attitudes of fashion practitioners (both creative and commercial) toward it, and their experiences of it. Focusing on the mid- to upper-levels of the UK fashion market, the role of the brand in informing creative and commercial decisions will be explored in order to provide insight to the scope and specific nature of the brand’s influence in fashion. Understanding of the brand concept among creative and commercial fashion practitioners will be assessed with a view to establishing a definitive interpretation of the brand as it applies within the fashion industry. Finally, a conceptual interpretation of the brand and the functions it performs in context of the fashion market will be provided. Cumulatively, these objectives will provide a clearer understanding of the brand in fashion, its role in the industry, and its ability to contribute to creative and commercial development in the sector. The paper is informed by primary research collected from a variety of sources including interviews with senior creative and commercial practitioners working with brands representing a broad cross-section of the industry. It is anticipated that the paper will enhance academic understanding of the nature and practice of branding within fashion, while offering insight to practitioners (creative or commercial) seeking to harness the power of the brand in pursuing their industry objectives

Core Competence & Diversification in Apparel Retailing �- the case of Next Plc

The UK apparel retail market is characterised by transient intra-seasonal style trends and unpredictable and demanding consumers. From a commercial perspective, the market has also been marked by increasing concentration, offer homogenization, price deflation, corporate merger and acquisition activity and by the aggressive entry of foreign competitors. As a consequence, UK apparel retailers have historically faced a dual challenge: Firstly, how to create product development, marketing and distribution strategies aligning their products and brands with dynamic consumer preferences and perceptions; and secondly how to synchronize corporate assets and competence to create infrastructures for the execution of those strategies in pursuit of commercial growth. Against this background, this paper identifies the core competences required of participants within the apparel retail market and illustrates the diversification opportunities accrued by their acquisition. These are explored using the example of Next PLC, a historically successful participant within the UK apparel market. Applying historic commercial data since 1982 and contemporary media commentary to the core competence and diversification literature, this paper will show how apparel retailers may diversify by focusing on competences in branding, product development, retail channel and format, internationalisation and business support. Alongside the key findings, a model representing the diversification opportunities of an apparel retailer will be presented

Moving Beyond Concentrations: The Challenge of Limiting Temperature Change

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change shifted the attention of the policy community from stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions to stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. While this represents a step forward, it does not go far enough. We find that, given the uncertainty in the climate system, focusing on atmospheric concentrations is likely to convey a false sense of precision. The causal chain between human activity and impacts is laden with uncertainty. From a benefit-cost perspective, it would be desirable to minimize the sum of mitigation costs and damages. Unfortunately, our ability to quantify and value impacts is limited. For the time being, we must rely on a surrogate. Focusing on temperature rather than on concentrations provides much more information on what constitutes an ample margin of safety. Concentrations mask too many uncertainties that are crucial for policy making.

Emulating coupled atmosphere-ocean and carbon cycle models with a simpler model, MAGICC6 - Part 1: Model description and calibration

Current scientific knowledge on the future response of the climate system to human-induced perturbations is comprehensively captured by various model intercomparison efforts. In the preparation of the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), intercomparisons were organized for atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) and carbon cycle models, named "CMIP3" and "C4MIP", respectively. Despite their tremendous value for the scientific community and policy makers alike, there are some difficulties in interpreting the results. For example, radiative forcings were not standardized across the various AOGCM integrations and carbon cycle runs, and, in some models, key forcings were omitted. Furthermore, the AOGCM analysis of plausible emissions pathways was restricted to only three SRES scenarios. This study attempts to address these issues. We present an updated version of MAGICC, the simple carbon cycle-climate model used in past IPCC Assessment Reports with enhanced representation of time-varying climate sensitivities, carbon cycle feedbacks, aerosol forcings and ocean heat uptake characteristics. This new version, MAGICC6, is successfully calibrated against the higher complexity AOGCMs and carbon cycle models. Parameterizations of MAGICC6 are provided. The mean of the emulations presented here using MAGICC6 deviates from the mean AOGCM responses by only 2.2% on average for the SRES scenarios. This enhanced emulation skill in comparison to previous calibrations is primarily due to: making a "like-with-like comparison" using AOGCM-specific subsets of forcings; employing a new calibration procedure; as well as the fact that the updated simple climate model can now successfully emulate some of the climate-state dependent effective climate sensitivities of AOGCMs. The diagnosed effective climate sensitivity at the time of CO2 doubling for the AOGCMs is on average 2.88 °C, about 0.33 °C cooler than the mean of the reported slab ocean climate sensitivities. In the companion paper (Part 2) of this study, we examine the combined climate system and carbon cycle emulations for the complete range of IPCC SRES emissions scenarios and the new RCP pathways

Forest Habitat Use by White-tailed Deer in the Arkansas Coastal Plain

Forest habitat use by five radio-equipped white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was monitored in the Arkansas Coastal Plain during 1982-84. The deer were located 821 times. Use of forest types was compared to expected use as calculated from availability. The study area was also divided into 491 two-hectare cells for which timber characteristics and number of deer locations were determined. Pine sawtimber was the most heavily used forest type in all seasons and was used more often than expected during spring. Also used more than expected were brushy areas (clearcut but not site prepared) during spring, summer and fall and openings (grass fields and a site-prepared clearcut) during summer. Hardwood stands were used less often than expected during every season. Also used less than expected were pine pulpwood stands in summer and pine-hardwood stands during spring and summer. A significant (P \u3c 0.001) discriminant function correctly classified 74% of the two-hectare cells as used (1+ locations) or not used (0 locations). Used cells often had less hardwood pulpwood and sawtimber and more pine sawtimber than nonused cells. Use by deer of cells containing stand edges did not differ from use of cells without edges