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The LVMH-owned luggage brand will auction four digital artworks on May 18 amid surging interest in the market for Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs. The one-of-a-kind digital assets have emerged as a hot commodity, with consumers willing to pay millions to acquire the blockchain-secured virtual items.

In March, design studio RTFKT and digital artist Fewocious generated $3.1 million off of 621 pairs of NFT shoes, leaving consumers wondering what the rise of these digital assets could mean for fashion.

Rimowa said it is the first luxury travel brand to create a collection of NFTs, partnering with multidisciplinary design practice Nuova to develop four images of a food cart, lamp, sound system and table that incorporate design features from the brand. The pieces will be sold on NFT marketplace Rarible and the proceeds will go to the artwork’s creators and a charity focused on humanitarian issues, Rimowa said.

From the creator of shopping app Fancy, the Archivist allows brands to monitor resale activity from 150 platforms that sell preowned fashion.

Ashley Granata was watching the Yves Saint Laurent documentary “Celebration” two years ago when an idea struck: heritage brands like Saint Laurent have created decades worth of art and design. Yet in today’s resale market, they have no control or — even visibility — over how their vintage pieces are passed on from consumer to consumer.

And so Granata, an industry veteran who has worked as a buyer, marketing manager and head of business development for a number of fashion companies, set out to create The Archivist.

Linking up with Joseph Einhorn, founder of early shopping discovery app The Fancy (now Fancy.com), the duo developed software for brands to monitor their product transaction activity from 150 resale platforms worldwide. By scraping this aggregate data and allowing brands to explore trends and buying patterns for their products in the secondhand space, the Archivist offers its clients the ability to study how specific products depreciate — or appreciate — in value over time, to make notes on suspicious vendors and to share findings with their design team to inform future collections. The startup also offers a white-label service for creating brands’ own resale marketplace.

This week, the Archivist announced a $2 million funding round that counts Ashton Kutcher and Edward Norton as investors, alongside former Amazon executive Sebastian Gunningham and Gossip Girl creator Josh Schwartz.

The Archivist, which was a 2020 LVMH Innovation Prize finalist, joins a growing field of B2B players hoping to capitalise on the brand side of the burgeoning resale market. While e-commerce platforms like The RealReal and Poshmark serve consumers directly and offer a wide assortment of secondhand luxury products, companies like the Archivist and the more established Trove target brands as potential clients.

Trove has built resale programmes for brands like Levi’s and Patagonia, operating its own distribution centres and handling all aspects of logistics for the buying and selling process. The Archivist is vying to do the same but for luxury labels. In addition to its resale monitoring “intelligence” service, it will offer prospective clients multiple models of resale. A peer-to-peer marketplace model is one example, in which the brand nor the Archivist doesn’t touch inventory. Meanwhile, the Archivist will also offer a consignment model, under which it would manage the inventory on behalf of the brands.

The Archivist faces the challenge of standing out among a number of resale upstarts. Archive (a separate company), founded last year, also aims to help brands operate on a peer-to-peer resale marketplace. Its first client, M.M.LaFleur, launched its marketplace earlier this year. Reflaunt, a service that allows brands to offer their customers an easy way to sell their pre-owned items by automatically uploading their listing on dozens of resale marketplaces, raised $2.7 million in February and has worked with brands including COS and Balenciaga. And last month, another peer-to-peer resale marketplace service called Recurate raised $3.25 million in a seed round led by Gradient Ventures.

The Archivist’s competitive edge, according to its co-founders, is that so far, few services offer holistic data on resale transactions across platforms. And as an LVMH Innovation Prize finalist, the company has unique insights on what brands want from a resale service.

“Ultimately, we’re a heritage management company,” said Granata. “And re-commerce is becoming a business line just like wholesale and retail.”

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The luxury conglomerate is planting its flag in the thriving “aperitifs” market with the launch of Chandon Garden Spritz.

PARIS — Move over, Aperol — there’s a new spritz in town.

Moët Hennessy, the wines and spirits division of luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is planting its flag in the thriving “aperitifs” market with the launch of Chandon Garden Spritz, which hits the market just as many countries are lifting restrictions designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

A sparkling wine blended with bitter-orange liqueur, the drink is the brainchild of Ana Paula Bartolucci, the first female winemaker in 60 years at Chandon Argentina, one of six wineries worldwide making sparkling wine under the Chandon label.

“Our inspiration for this product was the Argentinean love for bitterness,” Bartolucci says via Zoom from Mendoza. “We drink maté every day, we drink Fernet and vermouth.”

The drink might well have been called 64, since that is the number of recipes that Bartolucci went through before hitting on the winning formula, which contains no artificial colors or aromas.

“I’m really very proud of this recipe because it’s unique: it’s made only with natural ingredients,” she says. The oranges are grown on a pesticide-free family farm, with dried and fresh rinds going into the blend. The juice is donated to local schoolchildren, while the waste gets used for compost.

“It’s a very artisanal process,” Bartolucci says. “It’s very special for me because it reminds me of my childhood, playing with some herbs and spices in the background while my grandmother’s making limoncello and narancello.”

Whereas other spritzes are made from mixing liqueur and sparkling wine just before serving, Chandon Garden Spritz is blended before bottling, meaning the quality remains the same with every glass — ideally drenched over ice with a sprig of rosemary and a sliver of dried orange.

Sibylle Scherer, president of Chandon, hopes the drink will appeal to a more health-conscious consumer.

“We see this big trend that we care about what we put in our body. We care about how it is made, where it is made, and what we put inside of us. On average, it’s half the sugar in a Garden Spritz that you would generally have with a spritz,” she explains.

Since rival Campari Group energized its Aperol Spritz with a highly successful marketing campaign in 2017, the cocktail has become near-ubiquitous, and fueled a growing trend for sparkling mixology drinks.

“We see a big evolution of consumers looking for new flavor profiles. They are open for tasting new things,” says Scherer. “It opens up a new market for us. I think we’re actually creating a new market with that product, because I don’t think that anything like Garden Spritz exists at the moment.”

The drink is launching in Europe and the U.S., marking Chandon’s first big push on the international market, underscored by a new visual identity with eye-catching vertical labels. Previously, the brand was sold mainly in the countries where it produces sparkling wine: Argentina, Brazil, California, India, China and Australia.

“We thought one day it would be nice to be in Europe, to be sold there, but we needed something innovative and different, because Europe doesn’t need another brut,” says Arnaud de Saignes, international director of Chandon.

“It came from a local culture, and it crossed with a global trend of aperitifs around bubbles, and we thought with this there was a unique opportunity, which was to bring to the world of spritz a signature on the sparkling wine,” he adds.

Garden Spritz is made with a dry sparkling wine that blends chardonnay, pinot noir and semillon grapes, while other spritz drinks are usually mixed with sweeter prosecco wines from Italy. Scherer said LVMH was not concerned about denting the existing market for its Moët & Chandon Champagne.

“It’s a very distinctive product that no one could produce in the Champagne region, because there’s a certain appellation and there are certain rules to it. We have the freedom to innovate a little bit, and that’s what we’re doing here, so we’re not afraid of any cannibalization. We think we bring a nice fresh approach that will support everyone in the category,” she explains.

Chandon is introducing the drink with an online and outdoor marketing campaign, starting in cities. It’s positioned at the premium level, with a recommended price of 19.50 euros a bottle in stores, or 8 to 10 euros a glass in a bar. Suggested food pairings include spicy Asian food, sushi, old cheddar, dried exotic fruits and nuts.

It will be served in specially designed ridged glasses, with Chandon’s signature seven-pointed star engraved in the base, that will be also available to buy online from July through LVMH’s wines and spirits e-commerce site Clos 19. Underscoring the positioning of the drink, its cooling bag is made from washable paper, jute and cotton.

Sampling campaigns will be key, since the team behind Garden Spritz is convinced that flavor is its strongest selling point. “The most important thing is for you to taste it and to feel the equilibrium between the sweetness, the bitterness and the acidity. I love to say that it has a tonic effect that makes you want one more sip,” says Bartolucci.

Scherer, who joined Chandon from LVMH’s travel retail business DFS and previously worked at Escada and Jet Set, hopes Garden Spritz will become popular with the fashion set once physical gatherings are authorized again.

“I would love to have us partnering with a couple of fashion brands when they have their fashion shows in the summer seasons, but I think also museums, art exhibitions. I think it’s a perfect association with us,” she says.

In the meantime, she believes it’s the ideal drink to toast the lifting of lockdown restrictions.

“In a way, the naturality of how we come together is what you have in a glass, so I think it’s the perfect drink for de-confinement. It’s the happy drink to drink on a terrace, or in the garden, or at the beach. I think it’s really what we’re all longing for at the moment,” she says.

The lingerie giant shelved a sale and is opting for a tax-free spinoff in August.

Victoria’s Secret is going it alone.

After exploring a sale, parent company L Brands Inc. said it was planning a tax-free spinoff of the lingerie giant in August, a move that will separate the Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works businesses.

Sarah Nash, chair of L Brands, said: “In the last 10 months, we have made significant progress in the turnaround of the Victoria’s Secret business, implementing merchandise and marketing initiatives to drive topline growth, as well as executing on a series of cost reduction actions, which together have dramatically increased profitability. As a result of these efforts, Victoria’s Secret is now well positioned to operate as a stand-alone, public company.

“Further, both Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret are leaders in their respective markets, and, as separate businesses, each will be ideally positioned to benefit from a sharpened focus on pursuing growth strategies best suited to each company’s customer base and strategic objectives,” she said. “With this in mind, the board believes that this path forward will return the highest value to shareholders and that the separation will allow each business to achieve its best opportunities for growth.”

Martin Waters will continue to lead Victoria’s Secret as chief executive officer after the separation.

L Brands also said it expects to report operating income of $245 million for Victoria’s Secret for the first quarter. Bath & Body Works, which will continue to be led by Andrew Meslow as CEO, is expected to report operating income of $380 million.

Salvatore Ferragamo's executives spoke of the company's independence, reporting an increase in revenues in the first quarter of 2021.

MILAN — “Being independent gives you pride and flexibility.”

Just as the M&A scene heats up, this is how Michele Norsa, executive deputy chairman of Salvatore Ferragamo, responded to a question during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday, commenting on the company’s increase in profitability and revenues in the first quarter of the year.

Speculation about a possible acquisition of Salvatore Ferragamo continues to hover over the brand, despite the Ferragamo family’s repeated assertions that the company is not for sale. But the effects of the pandemic are emphasizing the power of the larger fashion conglomerates, as noted by the analyst.

“It’s clear larger groups benefited from their organization, financial strength and global presence during the pandemic, but a single brand company of medium size can take advantage from [its own] reorganization in such a moment because in a very fragmented women’s shoe market, with companies that are disappearing or losing market shares, I believe there is still interest in the uniqueness of Ferragamo, and the charm of Italy for travelers will give us new opportunities in the short [term], and we will be able to regain the position we had in the past,” Norsa contended.

The executive was also asked about his precise role at the company, to which he returned in May 2020 after leading Ferragamo for a decade. “My role is executive, more about strategies, and not operational. I am not involved in the running of the company. I work with the family shareholders and the younger members, in team with the CEO. It’s an excellent team as we’ve proved in the past 11 months and I hope I can still give added value to the company,” explained Norsa. As reported, last month Norsa and CEO Micaela le Divelec Lemmi were reconfirmed in their roles.

Shoes and leather goods remain a focus for the company, said le Divelec Lemmi, and the two categories, with the performance of China, helped boost Ferragamo’s performance in the first quarter.

In the three months ended March 31, the net loss amounted to 600,000 euros, compared with a net loss of 41 million euros in the first quarter of last year.

Revenues rose 10.3 percent to 245 million euros compared with 222 million euros in the same period last year, despite the ongoing lockdowns of stores in some countries, impacted by the pandemic

In the quarter, retail sales were up 17.2 percent to 166.7 million euros, representing 68.2 percent of the total. Like-for-like sales grew 14.7 percent.

Wholesale sales were flat, inching down 0.7 percent to 75.9 million euros, accounting for 31 percent of the total, despite the persistent negative trend of the travel retail channel. Norsa said he believes “travel retail in two or three years will come back in full shape, traditional mom-and-pop stores and multibrands are affected by the crisis, but there are opportunities for us to partner with some traditional wholesalers with more concessions. Wholesale is a good challenge to understand the consumer.”

As of March 31, the group had 638 points of sales, including 390 directly operated stores and 248 third-party operated stores.

Le Divelec Lemmi reported an “overall recovery” in the first quarter, but the company is “still feeling the effect of the retail stop-and-go lockdown in Europe and Japan.” She said 55 stores are still closed, of which 29 are in Europe and 23 in Japan. In addition, 129 stores are working at reduced hours, so she estimated that 50 percent of directly operated stores are not working up to speed. However, “sales are growing and retail over-performed wholesale,” said the executive, ticking off initiatives put in place to support local and new customers.

Sales of footwear grew 8 percent to 99.2 million euros, representing 40.5 percent of the total.

Sales of leather goods grew 18.2 percent to 106.7 million euros, accounting for 43.7 percent of the total.

Apparel fell 3.9 percent to 12.4 million euros, and fragrances grew 5.3 percent to 10.4 million euros.

As reported, following the exit of creative director Paul Andrew, Ferragamo said it would rely on its “solid” in-house team and the company’s craftsmanship. Asked about any developments in this regard, le Divelec Lemmi confirmed that the team is working on the next collection to be shown in September. However, she admitted that “we are thinking of the next steps, but we will communicate them when we will be ready.”

In the quarter, the Asia Pacific area was confirmed as the group’s top market in terms of revenues, increasing by 50.6 percent to 104.5 million euros, accounting for 42.8 percent of the total.

The retail channel in Greater China posted revenue growth of more than 105 percent at constant exchange rates and was up 6.1 percent compared with the first quarter of 2019. In particular, the retail channel in China posted an increase in revenues of more than 128 percent compared with the first quarter last year at constant exchange, bringing the performance to a growth of 39.4 percent at constant exchange compared with the first quarter in 2019. “China is a most important driver and has shown great potential and consistency in different regions. It is also open to future developments and retail investments in shopping areas,” said Norsa.

The Far East has the potential to offer more growth, and he expects Japan to improve after the lockdown and with the Olympics, as he is confident traveling will pick up in Asia, the U.S. and the Caribbean. “Travel remains a most important factor for luxury,” he noted.

The retail channel in Korea also posted a solid growth trend in the first quarter, up 33.7 percent compared with last year and up 25.4 percent compared with the first quarter of 2019 at constant exchange.

Sales in Japan decreased 9.3 percent to 22 million euros, penalized by the evolution of the pandemic and the consequent restrictions.

Overall the Asian continent represents more than 51 percent of the group’s total revenues.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region posted a decrease in revenues of 20.5 percent to 47.3 million euros, representing 19.3 percent of total sales, still strongly penalized by lockdowns of stores and by the lack of tourist flows in the period.

Sales in North America were up 9.9 percent to 58.5 million euros, representing 23.9 percent of the total. At constant exchange, they rose 18.2 percent.

Norsa highlighted the improvement of the U.S. market, which is benefiting from “large liquidity, government [stimulus] and savings,” seeing “signs of revenge shopping” in tourist destinations from Miami and Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

Revenues in Central and South America were down 20.1 percent to 12.1 million euros, with a positive trend in all markets with the exception of Mexico, due to the continued lockdown.

In the quarter, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization amounted to 48 million euros, up from 12 million euros, with an incidence on revenues of 19.5 percent from 5.2 percent.

Operating profit totaled 7 million euros, compared with an operating loss of 36 million euros last year.

Le Divelec Lemmi highlighted the efforts to improve profitability, through a “very important plan of internal reorganization, and a leaner structure,” as the company reduced its headcount “in a significant way,” without disclosing a precise number. “We are starting to benefit from the structural savings,” she said.

While declining to provide an outlook, le Divelec Lemmi said the second quarter is “showing an acceleration versus the first quarter and compared with 2019. We are trying to accelerate and close the gap with 2019, but it depends on how travel retail will recover and on Europe’s performance. We want to grow our top line in a clear way, and not inflate it with off-price and promotions.”

“The May scenario is definitely better than March,” said Norsa. “We’ve seen improvements in vaccinating people in more developed economies, improved retail sales in very important market areas, and the dynamics for the luxury sector are still looking positive.”

Ferragamo has raised its prices by 5 percent across markets and product categories. “Over the past three seasons, we’ve raised prices midsingle-digits depending on the currency fluctuations and the geographies,” said the CEO.

Capital expenditure totaled 6 million euros, up 12.6 percent due to more investments in the retail network and in the digital channel.