As many high-end brands show off their latest designs at New York Fashion Week, Greenpeace has a big message for the fashion world at large: It's time to clean up your act.

The latest from Greenpeace’s global Detox campaign is its “Fashion Duel,” with Italian actress Valeria Golino leading the charge for the industry to make environmental stewardship a priority in their operations.

The "duel" sets out to rate 15 Italian and French high-end luxury brands on three areas of the global supply chain — leather, pulp and paper and toxic water pollution — and highlights their differences in policy on toxic water pollution and deforestation.Continue reading...

Reebok is expanding its push in India, with large marketing campaigns, new products and tie-ins to big national sports stars.

The move comes as analysts say India, with more than 1.2 billion people, is ripe for market expansion. The India market research firm RNCOS found that the “Indian sports apparel market was set for annual growth of around 34% during the 2010-14 period.”

Seems like it’s a good time for Reebok to capitalize, especially since another report found that 15- to 24-year-old Indians labeled Reebok owner Adidas “the nation’s second ‘most exciting’ brand behind soft drinks giant Coca-Colas.”Continue reading...

With the Year of the Snake dawning, Nike's zodiac cycle is complete: The approaching Chinese New Year will bring what Nike claims is a 12th version of its special edition zodiac animal-themed shoes.

In 2001, Nike had just one zodiac offering, the Air Force 1 Low 3M "Snake." In the ensuing years, some Nike zodiac shoes were better than others. (Air Max 1 Year of the Ox, anyone? Nike Dunk High pigs?).  This year, with a better creature to work with, and as it had with last year's Year of the Dragon, Nike —along with its Jordan brand — has introduced a collection of serpentine shoes.

Nike isn't alone: Shelves of shoe stores in China are about to be filled with scaly offerings that would make Indiana Jones shudder. Continue reading...

The National Retail Federation's annual conference is in full swing in New York, with retailers, brands and vendors convening at the Javits Center to take a closer look at how digital technology is bringing brands closer to consumers at the point of sale.

In 2011 at the NRF "Big Show," Intel unveiled its vision of the “Connected Store,” featuring interactive demonstrations from leading retailers including adidas, Best Buy and Kraft Foods that aim to integrate the best of online, mobile and in-store shopping with traditional retail environments. Adidas demonstrated its adiVerse virtual footwear wall powered by Intel, featuring a touchscreen interface and 3-D rendered graphics.

At last year's NRF Expo, Intel continued to highlight technology innovation through work with retailers including HSN and Macy’s, delivering more relevant and entertaining experiences to shoppers. Intel's booth showcased Macy’s BeautySpot digital experience as a means to offer customers a helpful and fun way to evaluate cosmetics across multiple brands.

And in 2013 at the National Retail Federation Expo, Intel (as you can watch below) is showing its work for McCormick, adidas and Costa Coffee, harnessing intelligent systems to help digital shoppers "quickly and easily research products, find reviews, compare prices, share experiences with friends." The goal, says Intel, is creating "fun and memorable brand experiences as well as new ways to ensure the goods customers want are immediately available," as demonstrated in 2013 NRF Expo video, below.Continue reading...

Greenpeace has added Uniqlo to its list of global fashion brands and retailers signing its Detox pledge, making "a public commitment to eliminate all releases of hazardous chemicals throughout its entire global supply chain and products by 2020."

The commitment covers all Fast Retailing-owned brands — Uniqlo, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse TamTam, GU and Theory — which together operate more than 2,000 stores. "Uniqlo recognises clean water as a critical global issue, and is proud to join Greenpeace in its campaign to eliminate hazardous chemical use," stated Yukihiro Nitta, Fast Retailing's executive in charge of social responsibility. The company also vowed to disclose discharge data from at least 80% of its global suppliers (including all their facilities) by the end of this year.  

As the environmental group blogged, the Uniqlo deal "comes just a month after Zara, Mango, Esprit and Levi's announced similar individual commitments, responding to waves of pressure from activists and consumers around the world. Competitors in the fashion world including GAP, G-Star Raw and Calvin Klein are looking increasingly out of touch now that 12 of the world's top high street fashion brands have committed to Detox." Other Detox signatories include Adidas, C&A, H&M, Nike, Puma and M&S.

This was supposed to be an off year for Adidas. After all, its Reebok subsidiary was set to lose the NFL apparel deal that it had had since 2001 to Adidas archrival Nike. Plus, NHL players wear Reebok and that league’s season hasn’t started yet due to financial differences between the owners and players. That’s not a help to an area that generally brings in $132 million annually. So last month, CEO Herbert Hainer had to tell investors that the company was adjusting its sales expectations for the year.

However, the Financial Times notes, Hainer also had some good news to share: “We will see record sales and earnings in 2013,” he said. “All that I hear from the markets is that we are winning market share in each and every country.” And, adjustments or no, things didn’t go badly for the sportswear giant this year. Its stock price is up 40 percent from the same point last year.

The FT attributes the stock price staying strong for Adidas partially because of the strong confidence of Hainer and his “shrewd instinct about where the sports goods business must go next to expand its appeal to customers.” Serving an aging market as well as helping people deal with the obesity epidemic are two areas that are helping the bottom line at Adidas.Continue reading...

With the debris settled after the latest James Bond success, it seems that all of the bellyaching about Heineken's role in the film was about nothing. Daniel Craig as Bond reclines and sips a green bottle here and there, the label never visible. Without the ruckus surrounding Heineken's tie-in, none would be the wiser. Indeed, without the ruckus, movie reviewing icon Roger Ebert never would have known what brand to mention when he called Bond a Heineken sell-out. But then the ruckus was the point. A $45 million point that backfired on Heineken.

Just one of the slaps in the face to Heineken from Skyfall's filmmakers came in the form of Macallan whisky, which is poured throughout the film by Bond villains and M alike. At one point, a bottle of "50-year old Macallan" (£1,400.00) is even identified Bond's "favorite drink." Macallan, by the way, paid nothing for the honor.Continue reading...

Following in the wake of Zara's capitulation, Levi’s is now the 11th brand to bow to pressure from Greenpeace's global Detox campaign. The denim giant has committed to eliminate releases of all hazardous chemicals throughout its supply chains and products. Still being pressured: Calvin Klein, Gap, and Victoria’s Secret as part of the green campaigner's goal “to expose brands until the use - and abuse - of hazardous substances is totally eliminated.” 

The world’s largest denim brand, has agreed to eliminate all releases of hazardous chemicals throughout its entire supply chain and products by 2020. The commitment comes eight days after Greenpeace launched its “Toxic Threads: Under Wraps” report targeting global fashion brands releasing toxins in Mexico's rivers, resulting in a digital groundswell with more than 210,000 people calling on Levi’s to Detox, tens of thousands taking action on Facebook and Twitter, and over 700 people protesting outside Levi’s shop fronts in over 80 cities worldwide.

As part of its Zero Discharge Commitment, Levi’s (as outlined in a blog post) will start requiring 15 of its largest suppliers in China, Mexico and elsewhere in the Global South to disclose pollution data as early as June 2013, followed by compliance from 25 additional major suppliers by the end of 2013.Continue reading...