Hints and tips:
...The mega brands with their €800 sneakers and €8,000 handbags will endure. But the “aspirational” luxury market is in trouble....
...Glamorous, glittery and beautifully finished, his designs, which were shortlisted for this year’s BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, are a riposte to the idea that vegan leather equals cheap....
...john.thornhill@ft.com...
...Armed with that skill, the minimum number of human staff in each Family Mart branch can now be halved. The robots are coming. leo.lewis@ft.com...
...Just go to FT.com/unhedgedoffer. I’m Ethan Wu. Thanks for listening. [MUSIC PLAYING]...
...Our address is money@ft.com and of course you can find me on Instagram. I’m @claerb. This week’s episode was produced by Laurence Knight and Philippa Goodrich....
...They’re not cheap at £18 a pair, but Toast’s head of design Laura Shippey insists the attention to detail is worth it....
...In hiring street artists and bootlegger GucciGhost to spray-paint “Real” across its autumn/winter 2016 handbags, Gucci used the destructive power of paint as the ultimate shrug of indifference....
...HOLD: Mulberry (MUL) Rising margins on luxury handbags multiplied luxury leather goods maker Mulberry’s profits, writes Madeleine Taylor....
...Los Angeles: The Denim Doctors on Broadway Place Classes and workshops London: raystitch.co.uk, ssone.com Los Angeles: sewingarts.com New York: thenewyorksewingcenter.com Paris: ateliersbytheway.fr...
...Of course it's not cheap, though in local terms it’s not recklessly extravagant either....
...It was the epicentre of street prostitution and drug dealing, squats and illegal raves, quirky clubs and cheap studios....
...Send any thoughts to trade.secrets@ft.com, or email me at robin.harding@ft.com....
...There are concerns about cheap knock-offs. French luxury company Chanel has launched lawsuits against online platforms it says are selling counterfeit handbags....
...Listen and subscribe to Culture Call, a transatlantic conversation from the FT, at ft.com/culture-call or on Apple Podcasts...
...If you spotted a cheap start-up that survived and grew, were you lucky or prescient? Could Firebox.com, which was selling the beard lights, be the next one?...
...john.gapper@ft.com...
...kate.burgess@ft.com...
...With the exception of brands such as tuxedo-based label Racil, handbag designer Nathalie Trad and couturier Elie Saab, few Arabian designers have broken out on the international scene....
...Drugstore.com was eventually purchased by Walgreens and then shut down....
...We always want to hear your thoughts and feedback, so please do email us at longstoryshort@ft.com — and have a lovely weekend. Amy South Asia bureau chief...
...That is: if you need to set yourself apart from the great unwashed, get a fancy watch or a handbag. But you can buy your trousers at TK Maxx. What happened?...
...AOC, 8700 West 3rd Street, 90048 (+1310-859 9859; aocwinebar.com). Brentwood Country Mart, 225 26th Street, 90402 (+1310-458 6682; brentwoodcountrymart.com)....
...You can email the team on swampnotes@ft.com, contact Ed on edward.luce@ft.com and Rana on rana.foroohar@ft.com, and follow them on Twitter at @RanaForoohar and @EdwardGLuce...
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