"Weekend Reading" is a weekly rundown of our favorite stories from around the web.

How the Merch Experts at Bravado Turn Bands Into Brands
"That’s where Bravado comes in. Founded in 1997 by Keith and Barry Drinkwater, the music merchandise company was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2007. Their artist roster includes classic bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, and modern heavyweights like Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and Kanye West. Mat Vlasic, who has served as the CEO since March 2016, understands the importance of leveraging an artist’s platform as an omni-channel brand."

via: Highsnobiety

The LA Rag Trade: Atlases of Experience
"I’ve been coming to this neighbourhood in downtown L.A. for the last five years to carry out research on the fast fashion industry. Considered the nerve centre for fast fashion in the U.S., the Jobber Market consists of nearly six thousand clothing lines designed and distributed from small five hundred square feet showrooms that line the streets and alleyways of one square mile. Most of these labels are in actuality small-time clothing manufacturers, operated by Korean American and Korean Brazilian entrepreneurs, who produce clothing for the majority of American retailers and have fuelled the fast fashion industry within the U.S. Most of the cheap and trendy clothes are designed in L.A. among first and second generation Korean Americans, manufactured in China, then shipped back to L.A. to be distributed by retailers like Forever 21, the largest fast-fashion retailer in the U.S. which is also owned by Korean Americans. And even though this clothing market – within this small urban neighbourhood run by immigrants and their children – might just be a small blip of a place in the global universe of fashion, the risks taken and failures endured in its alleyways and narrow streets are the reverberations of fashion’s entire global supply chain."

via: Vestoj

Why the Fashion Editorial World Is Looking to Eastern Europe
"Historically, Eastern Europe hasn't been a hub for Vogue: Prior to Vogue Poland, the only two titles in the region included Vogue Russia, which debuted in 1998, and Vogue Ukraine in 2013. Fashion, however, is changing (isn't it always?) and editorial's eastward expansion reflects a shift towards globalization that we've already seen on the runways."

via: Fashionista

In L.A. Retail, The Battle for Streetwear Relevancy Booms
"Fashion insiders have long kept eyes on L.A., waiting to see if the city has what it takes to become one of the fashion capitals of the world. The arrival of Hedi Slimane in 2012 fulfilled a long awaited prophecy. “We have noticed a clear shift in the retail atmosphere thanks to Hedi Slimane, who based his creative studio in Los Angeles when he took the helm of Saint Laurent in 2012,” recalls Peter Utz, chief branding officer at Maxfield L.A. Indeed, Slimane’s collections that draw from Southern Californian youth have inspired a wave of other designers to showcase throughout California, leaving L.A. ripe for a new influx of fashion."

via: Hypebeast

Becoming a Social Media “influencer” Is the New Unpaid Internship—and Just as Exploitative
"Just as not everyone can make it based on unpaid internships, which inherently favor those with connections and families who will pay for their living expenses, not everyone can build a huge online presence and find enough advertisers to make a living. “You have to think about the investments they’re making upfront, the investments in the fashion or the makeup or the food,” she says."

via: Quartz

How The Sisters Behind Cult Clothing Brand Rodarte Mastered Fashion And Film
"There’s no such thing as a typical look from Rodarte, the independent fashion label founded 11 years ago by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy and beloved by critics and celebrities for its dark, romantic sensibility. Each garment is a unique mix of hand-altered fabrics, materials, and embellishments, offering a glimpse of the Mulleavys’ seemingly limitless imagination. This month, they’re bringing that same ingenuity to the big screen in Woodshock, a fantastical thriller written and directed by the Mulleavys and starring Kirsten Dunst. Here’s how they are expanding their brand into new mediums."

via: Fast Company

7 Dirty Denim Brands Destroying the Environment: Exporting Their Pollution Kills Thousands
"The fashion industry is all about image, of course. But many clothing brands share a dirty secret: it’s a filthy industry. Popular denim brands, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Express, American Eagle Outfitters, Wrangler and Lee are hiding as much as 90 percent of the climate pollution they generate by outsourcing production to contractors in developing countries, and then avoiding responsibility for the carbon pollution emitted by manufacturing their products."

via: AlterNet

Gucci and Yeezy Are the Hottest Brands in the World According to New Hot Brand Index
"You aren't imagining it—the Gucci and Yeezy world takeover is real. According to Lyst and Business of Fashion's Hot Brand Index, a new quarterly report compiled by the two companies that takes into account "search, page views (across devices), engagement, intent rate and conversion," Gucci and Yeezy are prom king and queen of the luxury fashion sphere."

via: The Hollywood Reporter

What if Stores Charged Admission?
"Time is the currency of today’s experience economy. Consumers can get anything they want over the internet; they no longer need to visit physical stores to satisfy their material needs. Increasingly, the sole reason for going to a store is the experience: because consumers actually value the time they spend in the store and view it as time well spent. And there’s only one absolutely foolproof way to know that customers view an experience as time well spent: they’re willing to pay for it. For stores, this means charging admission or a membership fee."

via: Business of Fashion

Tiffany & Co. Lands $20 Million Win in Costco Case
"A federal judge in Monday has ruled that Tiffany & Co may recover at least $19.4 million in damages from Costco Wholesale Corp over the warehouse club chain's illegal sale of counterfeit diamond engagement rings bearing the "Tiffany" name. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said Tiffany deserves $11.1 million, plus interest, for Costco's trademark infringement, plus the $8.25 million in punitive damages awarded by a jury last October."

via: The Fashion Law

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