Discover the most relevant industry news and insights for fashion PR & communications professionals, updated each month to enable you to excel in job interviews, promotion conversations or perform better in the workplace by increasing your market awareness and emulating market leaders.
BoF Careers distils business intelligence from across the breadth of our content â editorial briefings, newsletters, case studies, podcasts and events â to deliver key takeaways and learnings tailored to your job function, listed alongside a selection of the most exciting live jobs advertised by BoF Careers partners.
Key articles and need-to-know insights for PR & communications professionals today:
1. The Fight for Influencer Marketing Dollars Heats Up
Influencer marketing has long been dominated by LTK, which in 2011 essentially introduced the concept of digital creators â back then, bloggers â being paid for recommending products to their followers. But LTK is facing a challenge from ShopMy, a four-year-old platform that also connects creators with the brands they promote and the consumers that buy the products they recommend. Despite its smaller size, the latter has attracted some major talents, including the fashion influencer Courtney Grow, editor-turned-creator Chrissy Rutherford and celebrities like Jenna Lyons and Molly Sims (though they all still have LTK profiles as well).
Now, LTK is striking back. On Tuesday, the company filed a lawsuit in US federal court against ShopMy, alleging its rival engaged in false advertising, trademark infringement and unfair competition. The suit details 16 examples of what it calls âmisleading claimsâ in ShopMy marketing materials, mostly concerning features it says it offers that LTK does not.
Related Jobs:
Digital Media Specialist, Ugg â London, United Kingdom
Event Producer, On â Berlin, Germany
Freelance Publicist, KCD â New York, United States
2. Case Study | How to Create Cultural Moments on Any Budget
Every brand dreams of achieving what Calvin Klein did with its [Jeremy Allen] White campaign: creating a genuine cultural moment. Most marketing captures consumer attention for a few fleeting seconds by hopping on a trend or jumping into an ongoing discussion. But the best campaigns aspire to more than that. Their goal is to not just draft off the cultural conversation but to drive it. When these moments are executed well, they create culture rather than just responding to it.
But creating a cultural moment is, by definition, not easy. […] Simply casting a beloved celebrity or coming up with a clever concept for an ad isnât enough. Brands need to find the partnership that strikes the balance between perfectly fitting yet remaining unexpected. That could mean using an unexpected face for a campaign, or deploying a familiar one in a surprising way that breaks through the sea of other celebrity-driven marketing. Or it could mean releasing a product collaboration with an under-the-radar television show thatâs about to go big, or engaging with the right event.
Related Jobs:
Video Colourist, Burberry â London, United Kingdom
PR Account Manager, Modeworld â New York, United States
Senior PR Manager, Gucci â Seoul, South Korea
3. How to Make Beauty Merch That Matters
Lately, beauty brands have been going viral for non-beauty products. Also known as merchandise or âmerch,â these items allow users to flaunt their loyalty to a particular label beyond swiping on some lip gloss or moisturiser. On social media, users have flaunted special edition make-up bags from brands like Dior and cosmetics label Refy and the phone case from Hailey Bieberâs Rhode line, which was built to fit the brandâs peptide lip treatments on the back.
Merchâs rise is just another example of the way being a beauty brand today is about so much more than hero products. Consumers, especially young ones, donât want to hide the brands they use away in their cabinets. Theyâre looking to buy into a whole world, and display their choices to others. […] But it takes more than just slapping a logo on a tote to stand out now.
Related Jobs:
PR & Communications Coordinator, The Bicester Collection â Parma, Italy
Marketing Special Events Coordinator, Bloomingdaleâs â New York, United States
Communications Manager, Tapestry â New York, United States
4. The Big Money in AI Might Be for Marketing
Last month, while people online buzzed about the mishaps in Googleâs new AI-generated search results, like its suggestion to add glue to tomato sauce on pizza to keep the cheese from sliding off, the tech giant revealed some other notable AI news. Those AI-generated results will soon include ads, the company said. It also unveiled a number of other AI features. A new ability in its Product Studio, which can generate a realistic background behind a standard product shot, now allows brands to tailor the result to their brand aesthetic by letting them upload a reference image representing their style.
Since generative AIâs abilities captured widespread attention, Google and numerous other tech companies from Meta to Salesforce have raced to bundle AI of all kinds into more of their products. The audience for these features isnât just the general internet-using public. Itâs also marketers willing to spend on tools that make it easier to create ads that grab shoppers.
Tech companies have good reason to appeal to them. Their money fuels much of the industry. In Googleâs most recent quarter, about 77 percent of its revenue came from companies paying to advertise on its properties, including YouTube.
Related Jobs:
Head of Global Digital Marketing, Hugo Boss â Metzingen, Germany
Global Media Strategy & Planning Senior Manager, Coach â New York, United States
Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Alexander McQueen â Shanghai, China
5. Luxury Retailers Hope For Boost in London, Milan as Shoppers Avoid Paris Olympics
Luxury retailers in European cities outside France are betting on a surge in visitors avoiding crowds and street closures in Paris during the Olympic Games. âParis will probably be slow,â with cities like London, Milan or Barcelona likely seeing a lift in traffic during the event, Cartier CEO Cyrille Vigneron said on Friday. The Summer Games, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, are probably ânot the right time to organise a very important high jewellery celebration in Parisâ, said Van Cleef & Arpels CEO Nicolas Bos. âBut we will keep the stores open and be very happy to welcome sports amateurs,â he added.
The executives of the Richemont-owned jewellery brands speak from experience. The 2012 Olympics, held in London, drove some serious shoppers to their boutiques in Paris, they said, although it was âneutralâ overall for their businesses. Expecting a similar trend this year, they will focus on meeting their wealthy customers where they turn up. Selfridges, for example, plans to attract locals as well as international visitors with sporting events such as a running club and is beefing up its offer of sportswear products.
Related Jobs:
Fashion PR Coordinator, Couverture & The Garbstore â London, United Kingdom
Press & PR Manager, Ralph Lauren â Paris, France
Brand Marketing Manager, Swim USA â New York, United States
6. Calvin Klein Returns to the Runway
Calvin Klein is bringing back its runway collection, tapping The Rowâs former design director and Quira founder Veronica Leoni as creative director â the latest in a series of moves intended to revitalise the American brand. Leoniâs first collection for Calvin Klein â which hasnât had a creative director or staged a runway show since Raf Simons departed in 2018 â will land for Fall 2025.
In a statement, owner PVH said reviving Calvin Kleinâs premium âCollectionâ line under Leoni âmarks one of the most important [in its] series of strategic stepsâ to revive heat around the brand. After all, the company has long struggled to sustain momentum beyond its bread-and-butter underwear line. While revenues inched up during a lengthy push to refocus on direct-to-consumer channels, the brand has had to navigate the decline of many US department stores and outlet malls, as well as challenges in the premium denim segment worldwide.
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Communications Assistant, Emilia Wickstead â London, United Kingdom
Brand Marketing and PR Manager, Anest Collective â Milan, Italy
Marketing Communications Instructor, FIT â New York, United States
7. How Chopard Seizes the Red Carpet Spotlight in Cannes
At their red carpet appearances at Cannes in May, Bella Hadid and Sienna Miller were notably wearing jewels by Chopard. The Geneva-based house has been Cannesâ official partner for 27 years and, in addition to crafting the festivalâs Palme dâOr trophy, the event is key for Chopardâs business.
Chopardâs link to Cannes is âa rare asset. Being associated with one of the most prestigious events in entertainment full-stop is difficult to replicate,â says Erwan Rambourg, global head of consumer and retail research at HSBC. âLuxury consumption is about escapism. No one needs a piece of jewellery â itâs all about escapism and aspiration. And the entertainment and cinema industries are about escapism.â
Related Jobs:
Media Coordinator, Tiffany & Co. â Paris, France
Content Editor, White House Black Market â Fort Myers, United States
Social Media Director, Gap â New York, United States
8. The BoF Brand Magic Index: Volume 2
We instinctively know magical brands when we see them â those that seem to be at the forefront of culture and in almost perfect lockstep with their customers. But that judgement has always been more art than science. Last year, BoF Insights and Quilt.AI introduced the concept of Brand Magic to bring data into the conversation. Unlike vanity metrics such as the number of followers, or basic sentiment analysis, we used proprietary AI models that understand emotion, culture and context to surface the nuanced meaning embedded in brand and user-generated content.
By collectively analysing Alignment, Engagement and Intent, we reveal the brands that drive cultural conversations and captivate audiences without compromising their underlying essence. The result is the fashion industryâs most rigorous brand measurement tool, powered by cutting-edge AI technology. Find out how the 50 brands ranked by reading a sample of the report below. An extended version of The BoF Brand Magic Index, including deep dives for all 50 brands, is available exclusively to Executive Members.
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