Never heard of a raccoon dog? Well, you may be sitting near one on your next visit to the theater or your favorite posh restaurant. Apparently, some major retail brands used raccoon dog fur in their products and then mislabeled them. Yes, that fake fur just might be real.

The Humane Society has brought a lawsuit against retail stores such as Saks, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, and Neiman Marcus, who wrongfully labeled raccoon dog fur as faux fur or imitation fur on retail items, trimmings, and jackets. A raccoon dog is a part of the canid species, which belongs to the family that includes foxes, wolves, and dogs. The Humane Society is outraged and has filed a lawsuit against the retail brands.Continue reading...

In the world of guerrilla marketing, anything a brand can do to draw attention to itself is fair game.

So how about this game: A professional fashion model is offering to wear a t-shirt promoting any brand for a day. Tanaya Henry, a 21-year old whose modeling credentials include L'Oreal, Microsoft, VH1, and Sephora, says she'll not only wear a branded t-shirt, she'll also "do a professional photo shoot wearing your t-shirt, write a blog post about how kick-ass your company is, and I'll even talk about your company to all of my model friends."

She also promises to post pictures of her wearing the t-shirt to her Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.Continue reading...

Neiman Marcus hit the skids hard due to the recession. November 2009 store sales were down 12.7 percent over the previous year. The company cut jobs, trimmed inventories, and experienced heavy losses -- but the brand has yet to stray from its original mantra.

“We have no intention of changing our business model or trading down,” chief executive Burt Tansky told Wall Street analysts on a conference call last month. “It’s important to reiterate that we will continue to offer our customers the luxury and designer merchandise that they want to buy and, in fact, some of our best-selling merchandise is at the upper end of our price ranges.”Continue reading...

It’s an odd paring: the fashion industry and a recession -- like a peacock standing in a mud puddle.

Not only does the flamboyant nature of the fashion business clash in a very unflattering way with the subdued and depressing reality of a global financial downturn, but it also raises a rather obvious question:

How do iconic fashion houses survive in tough economic times like these? Christian Lacroix closed its doors last year due to the tough economy. Are other fashion houses to follow?

Not Christian Dior, if the brand’s appearance in this week’s Haute Couture Fashion Show in Paris is any indicator.Continue reading...

Coming out of college, you are told to wear a nice black suit to work, sport an expensive pair of heels and always be polite. Cosmetic guru Bobbi Brown followed these same rules while building her business -- that is, until about ten years ago when she realized that it just wasn’t her.

“I’d go into these meetings and there was something wrong,” she told the New York Times. “I never knew what it was.” She was uncomfortable with her image.Continue reading...

In the famous windows of Bloomingdale’s Lexington Avenue flagship store, a new, recession-appropriate theme is on display: "Staying in, is the new going out."

The Big Window Challenge brings together Bloomingdale’s, Elle Décor, and Apartment Therapy. Each brand sponsors a window display that showcases a room featuring its own signature look, personality, and lifestyle.

Eddie Ross, for Elle Décor, presented "The Modern Woman" with a room that brings together vintage and modern colors, patterns, and details. The aura of happiness, confidence, and adventure sits among hot pink candlesticks, an orange art deco painting, and twin turquoise blue lamps. However festive the room appears, it is best not to make a quick move around the bookcase full of fine china.Continue reading...

After Mayor Bloomberg's office and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced their collaborative Incubator Project nearly two months ago, additional details have recently been released. Most notably, the venture will provide mentoring to the dozen winning designers.

Bloomberg explained New York City's commitment to the fashion industry in his official statement: "New York City is the fashion capital of the world, but we're not about to take that for granted. The development of the NYC Fashion Incubator is the latest step we're taking to help fashion designers and their employees stay and grow in New York.”Continue reading...

One retailer is managing to survive -- and even thrive -- because of its leadership in "fast fashion."

Sweden's H&M relies on designers to keep fashion fresh, "as if it were a perishable good," allowing the world's third largest fashion chain to introduce lines quickly and compete effectively with such rivals as Gap (US) and Inditex (Spain).

While H&M experienced a drop in same-store sales in November, as did most retailers, the company today reported, "Christmas shopping had started strongly." (Net profit for the chain in 2008 was up 11 percent over the year prior.)

Now more than 60 years old, family-owned H&M has close to 2000 stores in 35 countries and continues to plan for expansion. H&M has managed to grow while other retailers have faced store closings, cost cutting, and layoffs -- and in some cases bankruptcy.Continue reading...