The Best of BoF 2023: Opportunities and Threats in Global Markets

Trend companies working in numerous markets throughout Asia, the Center East, Latin America, Jap Europe and Africa spent a lot of 2023 navigating a posh and delicate set of trade-offs.

In the key China market, international manufacturers wrestled with a post-pandemic restoration that failed to fulfill expectations. Refining their growth plans, luxurious gamers turned to underserved pockets of wealth corresponding to Shenzhen, the centre of “China’s Silicon Valley”, to seize progress. In the meantime, Dior’s landmark present in Mumbai signalled India as a bright spot and the inaugural version of Riyadh Trend Week confirmed Saudi Arabia as an investment destination.

In a yr that noticed warfare persist in Ukraine and erupt within the Center East, vogue manufacturers added ”friendshoring” to current nearshoring methods to cut back the danger of provide chain disruptions amid rising geopolitical tensions. However the early beneficiaries of this shift, together with quick vogue producers in Bangladesh and Mexico, have confronted challenges of their very own. In Japan, luxurious giants like LVMH, Hermès and Gucci strengthened their ties with the nation’s centuries-old artisanal producers.

Market volatility stored many vogue executives on their toes this yr however none extra so than in international locations like Argentina the place they needed to survive the nation’s so-called “perpetual disaster”. Entrepreneurs have overcome difficult situations elsewhere too, just like the founders of scrappy start-ups in Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa battling for a share of the worldwide sneaker market. Trend’s movie star advertising and marketing playbook additionally got here into its personal as international manufacturers regarded past the standard leisure epicentres of Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood, signed reggaeton singers from Colombia, actors from Thailand and — as their affect on social media reached new heights — extra K-pop stars from South Korea than ever.

It has been a unprecedented if unsettling run-up to 2024.

High Tales

How Worried Should Fashion Be About China’s Weakened Economy?: Because the nation’s economic system strikes into deflationary territory, manufacturing output declines and an actual property disaster worsens, some customers have gotten more and more cautious.

Market Analysis: Is This Luxury’s Watershed Moment in India?: Manufacturers like Dior and Valentino are banking on India’s excessive progress potential, however it can take greater than dazzling exhibits and smooth shops to compete with native designers and switch this complicated market into a significant income supply.

What ‘Friendshoring’ Means for Fashion: Western manufacturers shifting provide chains away from China hope to cut back disruptions brought on by geopolitical tensions however ‘friendlier’ sourcing hubs aren’t all the time possible.

Why Fashion Is Betting Big on Saudi Arabia: The dominion is ready to drive progress for the trade as its economic system booms, social reforms reshape shopper tradition and futuristic cities sprout from the desert.

Why Luxury Giants Are Obsessed With Small Japanese Suppliers: Firms like LVMH, Hermès and Gucci are strengthening ties with Japan’s artisanal producers to faucet unique supplies and historic methods.

Why Thai Celebrities Are Fashion’s New Power Players: International luxurious manufacturers are signing movie star ambassadors from Thailand to faucet into rising native demand and leverage the celebs’ rising attraction throughout the broader Asia area.

The BoF Podcast | Hallyu: How the Korean Wave Is Sweeping Global Culture: Influencer Irene Kim and V&A curator Rosalie Kim be a part of Chanel govt Yana Peel to chart South Korea’s rise to international artistic juggernaut.