🦄 The latest installment of Netflix's hit series Emily in Paris is revolutionising the landscape of brand integration in television, potentially reshaping the future of luxury marketing. The first four episodes of season 4, which premiered to an audience of over 58 million households worldwide, showcase a sophisticated blend of narrative and product placement that goes beyond mere visual representation.
🎯 This season's approach to brand integration is particularly noteworthy in an era where traditional advertising is losing efficacy. With 86 percent of viewers skipping television ads and 47 percent using ad blockers online, according to a 2023 Nielsen report, luxury brands are seeking innovative ways to reach their target audience.
💎 One striking example is the seamless incorporation of Boucheron, the venerable French jeweler founded in 1858, into a pivotal event scene. The brand's social media account appears on screen, a move that industry analysts predict could significantly boost its follower count, currently standing at 877,000 on Instagram.
👾 The series also touches on the booming luxury resale market, estimated to reach 51 billion dollars globally by 2026 according to Boston Consulting Group. A scene featuring Vestiaire Collective, the French luxury resale platform valued at 1.7 billion dollars in 2022, highlights this trend, albeit with a touch of dramatic license in its pricing – an haute couture dress offloaded by Mindy is bought for just over 3,000 euros.
🤖 While "Emily in Paris" may take creative liberties with certain industry realities, its innovative approach to brand integration offers a glimpse into the future of luxury marketing in streaming content. As traditional advertising channels continue to lose effectiveness, this model could provide a blueprint for brands seeking to engage with the elusive millennial and Gen Z luxury consumers, who are projected to account for 70 percent of the luxury market by 2025.
📱 As streaming platforms and luxury brands navigate this new landscape, the success of "Emily in Paris" in seamlessly weaving brand narratives into its storyline may well set a new standard for content creation and marketing in the digital age.
ELON MUSK'S AI PHOTO TOOL IS GENERATING REALISTIC, FAKE IMAGES OF TRUMP, HARRIS AND BIDEN | [SINGULARITY]
🤖 Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok on Tuesday began allowing users to create AI-generated images from text prompts and post them to X. Almost immediately, people began using the tool to flood the social media site with fake images of political figures such as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as of Musk himself — some depicting the public figures in obviously false but nonetheless disturbing situations, like participating in the 9/11 attacks.
📱 In tests of the tool, for example, CNN was easily able to get Grok to generate fake, photorealistic images of politicians and political candidates that, taken out of context, could be misleading to voters. The tool also created benign yet convincing images of public figures, such as Musk eating steak in a park.
💥 The tool is likely to add to concerns that artificial intelligence could create an explosion of false or misleading information across the internet, especially ahead of the US presidential election. Lawmakers, civil society groups and even tech leaders themselves have raised alarms that the misuse of such tools could cause confusion and chaos for voters.
🦄 Many other leading AI companies have taken some steps to prevent their AI image generation tools from being used to create political misinformation, although researchers found users can still sometimes find ways around enforcement measures. Some companies, including OpenAI, Meta and Microsoft, also include technology or labels to help viewers identify images that have been made with their AI tools.
🛡 The new Grok image tool also comes as Musk faces criticism for repeatedly spreading false and misleading claims on X related to the presidential election, including a post raising questions about the security of voting machines. It also comes days after Musk hosted Trump for a more than two-hour livestreamed conversation on X in which the Republican hopeful made at least 20 false claims without pushback from Musk.
AI IS READY TO DISRUPT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION | [SINGULARITY]
⚡ That title might feel like a blunt statement. But the fact is that Artificial Intelligence is already changing the way fashion is designed, presented, produced and purchased – in both obvious and hidden ways. As the common tech refrain goes, this is a super fast-moving train – you either jump on board or get run over by it. And there is very little time for companies to adjust their strategies in either direction. What might this mean for one of fashion’s biggest centres of digital transformation (3D and digital product creation)? And what indicators can that give us for how significant the impact of AI could be across the full scope of existing and new digital transformation initiatives?
⌚ Over the last twenty years, our industry has witnessed a complete paradigm shift away from predominantly physical sampling of garments, footwear, accessories, jewelry, watches, and other categories. For many brands, the majority of samples are either already digital, or are targeted to become digital as part of multi-year strategic transformation projects.
👔 And today, associated processes like market research, trend analysis, merchandising, buying, design, development, and more recently upstream manufacturing are shifting to a new digital best-practice model. Physical sampling is becoming a second-best approach, driven by the need for speed, sustainability, and cost. If you want to be quick to market, with a reduced footprint and the right margins, the more you can do digitally – using 3D design, simulation, and visualisation tools – the better.
❓ For most of the fashion workforce, that shift from physical to digital still feels “new” even if the core principles behind 3D design have been consistent for decades. Many brands are, right now, actively scaling their 3D departments in design, technical design, engineering, and downstream content creation, and 3D artists are amongst fashion’s most sought-after talent. So the assumption would be that this way of working, feeling close to the cutting edge of digital transformation, is as safe as any workflow can be?
👾 Which is why it’s been so interesting to see that paradigm shift being dwarfed by the emergence of Generative AI, which is now enabling fashion brands to not just improve on some of the steps of a 3D / DPC workflow, but to potentially sidestep them entirely. From automating the creation of styling options through iterative prompts, to virtualising and simulating costing, environmental impact, and operational best practices, bringing together AI and DPC tools can help to realise the original (and largely untested) vision for making the full scope of creative and commercial decisions based on a digital representation of a product, material, or method.
BORED APES' CREATIVE DIRECTOR JOINS META'S REALITY LABS | [METAPHYSICS]
🦄 Jeff Nicholas, the former creative director at Yuga Labs for the Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC), has expressed his excitement on X, noting that he will join Meta’s Reality Labs as an executive producer. In his new role at Meta, he will focus on developing innovative virtual reality (VR) entertainment experiences.
💥 Meta’s ambitious plans to develop the metaverse are costing the company billions of dollars a quarter. As part of the company’s second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, Meta’s Reality Labs unit, which houses augmented and virtual reality technologies, recorded an operating loss of $4.48 billion.
🎯 Nicholas’s entry into Meta comes as the firm tightens its purse strings for Reality Labs, its division dedicated to VR, augmented reality (AR), and the metaverse. According to a report by The Information, the tech firm’s hardware teams within Reality Labs have been asked to cut spending by nearly 20% from this year through 2026. This follows a series of layoffs over the past year, which heavily impacted middle and senior management, including over a dozen vice presidents and directors last month.
💲 Meta has placed a long-term bet on the metaverse, investing over $40 billion. This project is very significant to the firm. In fact, earlier this year, the firm’s CFO emphasized the potential $1 trillion opportunity in AR and VR, indicating the scale of the ambition behind Reality Labs. Currently, the tech firm offers its Quest line of VR headsets and Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses, with more advanced AR glasses expected to be released in the future.
💭 Despite the ambitious outlook, Zuckerberg has acknowledged the risks associated with the metaverse. On a call with analysts last year, he described the metaverse as a “very long-term bet,” He admitted that he could not guarantee people that his bet was going to materialize. However, Zuckerberg believed that the world is inevitably heading toward virtual reality.
KEYCHAIN AIMS TO UNLOCK A NEW APPROACH TO MANUFACTURING CONSUMER GOODS | [FASHION SYSTEM]
💡 Most consumer brands have become “completely disassociated” from the manufacturers who actually create their products, says Keychain CEO Oisin Hanrahan. “They don’t own anything except a brand and a set of marketing functions,” Hanrahan said. That’s what Hanrahan is trying to change with Keychain. Brands can use the website to look up different products and see who actually manufactures them, then reach out to those manufacturers and potentially partner on future products.
👾 To demonstrate the platform, Hanrahan looked up the granola and yogurt I eat for breakfast every morning. Once he found the manufacturers, he said a large retailer might then work with them to create a private label version of that same granola or yogurt, or a new brand might want to create something healthier or more environmentally friendly.
💰 In November 2023, the New York-headquartered startup announced raising an $18 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, then actually launched in February. Since then, Keychain says big brands and retailers have already used the platform to fulfill $500 million worth of manufacturing demand.
🎯 Keychain recently opened an office in Austin, signed Carvel cake-maker Rich Products as a customer, and hired Mitchell Madoff, who previously led private label offerings at Whole Foods, as its head of retail partnerships. In a statement, Kevin Spratt, Rich Products’ regional president for the U.S./Canada, described the partnership as “a strategic move that will empower us to drive greater growth, foster enhanced innovation and deliver even more unique value for our customers.”
HOW LVMH-BACKED L CATTERTON TURNS CHINESE BRANDS INTO GLOBAL POWERHOUSES | [FASHION SYSTEM]
🌐 As luxury group LVMH navigates a slowdown in China’s luxury market, L Catterton – the private equity firm LVMH formed with Catterton and Groupe Arnault in 2016 – has been significantly bolstering its presence in the region. Through strategic investments made in 2023 and 2024, L Catterton is providing LVMH with a crucial avenue to strengthen its influence and mitigate the challenges posed by a slowdown in luxury consumption.
💡 Based in Chengdu, the fund has taken stakes in companies like plant-based protein drink maker Weiyi, soft drink brand Genki Forest, premium tea chain Heytea, pet food brands Partner Pet and Pure & Natural, beauty brand Marubi, and collagen company Trautec Medical. L Catterton also acquired a majority position in Shanghai-based gym chain Will’s and minority stakes in outdoor advertising firm Asiaray and luxury e-commerce platform Secoo.
👾 This investment strategy stands out for two reasons: it prioritizes accessible consumer brands over the traditional high-end luxury types in LVMH’s portfolio, and targets growing segments like beauty, personal care, pet care, fitness, and food and beverage – all areas where LVMH’s expertise can make a significant impact.
💱 L Catterton’s financial backing enables Chinese portfolio brands to grow domestically while paving the way for global expansion. This strategy benefits the Chinese brands and indirectly provides LVMH with a strong hedge against luxury market volatility.
🍵 A prime example of this is L Catterton’s 2021 investment in popular Shenzhen-based tea chain Heytea, which has helped fuel Heytea’s global expansion beyond its network of more than 3,400 stores in Greater China. Today, Heytea operates international outposts in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and the US, and recently launched a Paris pop-up to capitalize on the Paris 2024 Olympics.
📈 L Catterton’s investment strategy in China aligns with LVMH’s need to cultivate new consumer bases, compete with Kering and Richemont, and secure its position in less saturated markets. By focusing on early-stage consumer brands in the beauty, personal care, and food and beverage sectors, L Catterton is laying the groundwork for these companies to achieve both domestic dominance and global scale.
👻 For LVMH, these investments act as a strategic hedge against luxury market volatility, both in China and globally. By diversifying into high-growth consumer segments in China, LVMH can stabilize revenue streams and reduce reliance on high-end luxury sales, which are more vulnerable to economic fluctuations.
THE AI PHOTO EDITING ERA IS HERE, AND IT'S EVERY PERSON FOR THEMSELVES | [SINGULARITY]
💡 I had no problem taking out the vaping couple on a beach towel. They’re in the background of one of my vacation photos, and they’re really mucking up the vibe. The Google Pixel’s Magic Editor feature takes them right out with a few taps, and you know what? I felt fine about that. It’s drawing the line that I’m having a hard time with.
📸 My taken-on-an-iPhone, edited-on-the-Pixel-8-Pro vacation photos are just the kind of thing Google’s generative AI editing features are designed for. We went to a beach on Lake Michigan for sunset, and I had an adorable photo of my child sitting on my husband’s shoulders. It’s the kind of moment you want to crystallize and keep in a jar for the whole rest of your life.
⚔ The Pixel 9 series launches on August 22 and will come with generative AI tools on a whole new level that let you “reimagine” entire portions of your photo. You’ll be able to use AI to add objects and scenery to images with text prompts or get everyone into a group photo by merging two different frames. You won’t just be able to tweak the background and the lighting of your vacation photos; you’ll be able to change the location entirely. Scrubbing out a few parked cars is nothing compared to what’s coming in a matter of days.
🛡 Like digital processing, we’re all going to find our own comfort level with generative AI photo edits because these tools definitely aren’t going away anytime soon. And for some kinds of photos, I guess I do like having the option of brushing out a distraction in the background. But I don’t need every photo to look polished and ready for the Christmas card, the same way I wouldn’t write a letter to a friend the way I’d write, I don’t know, a college application essay. Sometimes a little bit of grit is just perfect.
LVMH'S BERNARD ARNAULT HAS QUIETLY INVESTED IN 5 AI STARTUPS THIS YEAR VIA HIS FAMILY OFFICE | [FASHION SYSTEM]
💲 Few business areas go untouched by the influential Arnault family. LVMH is the family’s best-known business, and its sprawling luxury fashion empire owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tag Heuer, and more. But the Arnaults’ reach goes well beyond top-end brands. For instance, patriarch Bernard Arnault bought a three-star Parisian bistro ahead of the Paris Olympics, for which LVMH was a big sponsor. Other acquisitions, such as that of the world’s first department store, Le Bon Marche, happened decades ago.
👾 The biggest of 2024’s five funding rounds was in H, a French startup that aims to improve worker productivity. The company, cofounded by a Stanford researcher and four Google DeepMind alums, raised $220 million in seed funding in May, of which Aglaé was a part. Other well-known business personalities, such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, have also backed H Company.
🤖 Borderless AI, a Canadian human resource management startup, raised $27 million led by Aglaé and Susquehanna, while Parisian AI editing app Photoroom received $43 million in funding. Lamini, an enterprise AI startup, and Proxima, a digital marketing platform, were among the other companies that gained a funding boost from the Arnault-owned venture fund.
👚 The LVMH CEO’s interest in AI doesn’t just extend to startups. The luxury conglomerate has been integrating AI into its business with a Google Cloud partnership. The company has been chipping in on the subject through its annual LVMH Data AI Summit and awarding innovative tech companies that help change the fashion industry.
CONDE NAST INKS PARTNERSHIP WITH OPENAI | [VALUE PROPOSITION]
💵 Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ, has signed a multi-year partnership with artificial intelligence company OpenAI, according to an internal memo seen by BoF.
The deal will allow content from Condé Nast publications to be displayed on OpenAI’s platforms, including AI chatbot ChatGPT and a prototype version of SearchGPT. Through SearchGPT, OpenAI plans to integrate its conversation models with information from the web and direct links to news stories.
🗣 “As we all know, generative AI is rapidly changing ways audiences are discovering information,” said Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch in the memo. “It’s crucial that we meet audiences where they are and embrace new technologies while also ensuring proper attribution and compensation for use of our intellectual property.” In the memo, Lynch added that various technology companies in the past have “eroded publishers’ ability to monetise content” and that the partnership with OpenAI will “make up for some of that revenue.”
💥 The move is at odds with several other news organisations, namely The New York Times and CNN, which see the technology company as a threat to their business as its language models are trained on copyrighted material. In December 2023, The New York Times sued OpenAI for copyright infringement.
DEEPMIND WORKERS SIGN LETTER IN PROTEST OF GOOGLE'S CONTRACTS | [COMMONWEALTH]
💡 At least 200 workers at DeepMind, Google’s AI R&D division, are displeased with Google’s reported defense contracts — and according to Time, they circulated a letter internally back in May to say as much.
📢 The letter, dated May 16, says the undersigned are concerned by “Google’s contracts with military organizations,” citing articles about the tech giant’s contracts to supply AI and cloud computing services to the Israeli military. “Any involvement with military and weapon manufacturing impacts our position as leaders in ethical and responsible AI, and goes against our mission statement and stated AI Principles,” the letter adds.
👾 While a relatively small portion of the org’s overall staff, the memo hints at a culture clash between Google and DeepMind, which Google acquired in 2014 and whose tech Google pledged in 2018 would never be used for military or surveillance purposes.
Weekly news and stories covering everything from the Fashion System, Investment, and AI to WEB3 and Crypto that truly matter in Metaverse Fashion.