Fashion runs on these really strange net 60, net 30, net whatever, store pay payment terms. We didn't understand all of this at first. When we first started PD, we asked for a deposit when someone placed an order, that helped at the beginning. But over time, stores overturned those rules. No one really pays on the dot. The reason a lot of brands do... See more

Commercially, this season of Helmut Lang may sell better than it ever has for Fast Retailing. Walking out of the show, I asked a store owner if she planned on buying the collection, and she seemed keen on the blazers and jeans, which are reasonably priced. (Reasonable, in this case, means between $300 and $600.) And then, a shop-and-copy master (wh... See more

In April, after the Fashion Trust U.S. awards, she estimated her debt to be about $90,000. Her creditors include factories that are starting to get mad, she said, but also people central to her team, like the designer Andrew Curwen, who is owed a few months’ worth of invoices.

Zara is building a hybrid business model, where it combines fast fashion with cues of luxury (curated capsules, art direction, photography, model selection, styling). Zara is still in the business of the mass consumption of standardized products, but now it’s also in the business of considered consumption of signaling products (Peter Lindbergh merc... See more