Publications

August 2008 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Polanco: A Fashionable Opportunity

By: Arthur I Segel and Ben Creo

Roberto Charvel is a young MBA graduate making his first personal real estate investment in his native Mexico City. Charvel is planning to purchase and renovate a nine-unit apartment building. Is the market good? Should he sell or lease the units? How should he handle... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Housing; Leasing; Property; Real Estate Industry; Mexico City

June 2004 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Zara: IT for Fast Fashion

In 2003, Zara's CIO must decide whether to upgrade the retailer's IT infrastructure and capabilities. At the time of the case, the company relies on an out-of-date operating system for its store terminals and has no full-time network in place across stores. Despite... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Value and Value Chain; Information Management; Infrastructure; Supply Chain Management; Information Technology; Retail Industry

July 2024
Teaching Plan

ECOALF: Fashion for the Future

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Diego Aparicio and Sara Coronel Rodriguez

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 524-057. View Details

01 Jun 2022
News

A Sustainable Solution for Fashion

Ferdinand Stockmann (MBA 2021) and James Theuerkauf (MBA 2021) Photo courtesy Syrup Tech Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world, says James Theuerkauf (MBA 2021), who worked in McKinsey’s retail sector before... View Details

Keywords: April White

June 2022
Case

Zalando: Becoming the Starting Point for Fashion

By: Antonio Moreno, Leela Nageswaran, Emilie Billaud and Federica Gabrieli

Born in 2008 as a small startup selling flip flops, by mid-2021 Zalando had turned into an online fashion company with an assortment of more than 4,500 international brands, 45 million active customers, and a presence in 23 European markets. An essential component in... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Platforms; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Service Operations; Strategy; Business Strategy; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Europe

21 Nov 2015
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Stella McCartney Combines High Fashion with Environmental Values

Many people equate luxury with excess and folly. Stella McCartney is not one of those people. A lifelong vegetarian and prominent player in the green fashion movement, the designer has shown that luxury and sustainability need not be... View Details

Keywords: by Brian Kenny; Fashion

24 Mar 2015
News

How Chiara Ferragni Turned Her Fashion Blog Into Big Business

06 Mar 2014
News

Fashioning a Career with Style

Keywords: Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

July 1987 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Benetton S.p.A.: Industrial Fashion (A)

Find at Harvard

This study documents the emergence of the high-end fashion industry in India from the mid-1980s to 2005. Drawn from oral histories, magazine articles, and several databases, the study demonstrates that the Indian fashion industry's unique identity, based on heavily... View Details

October 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

FARM Rio: Bringing a Brazilian Fashion Brand to the World

By: Isamar Troncoso and Jill Avery

FARM Rio, a twenty-six year old Brazilian fashion brand, had recently put down roots in the U.S. The brand, known for its bold, colorful, nature-inspired tropical prints, was testing the waters in Europe to assess if and how the brand should further expand globally.... View Details

Keywords: Global Marketing; Go-to-market Strategy; Global Branding; Brand Positioning; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Expansion; Fashion Industry; Brazil; United States; Europe

Research Summary

Re-Producing Exclusivity: A History of the Transatlantic Fashion Industry, 1929-1960

The history of fashion has been increasingly explored over the last decade, but two important and intertwined features of the topic are still underdeveloped: business and its international aspect. These dimensions are crucial. Fashion is first and foremost an industry... View Details

1999
Chapter

Managing Inventory for Fashion Products

By: A. Raman

Keywords: Logistics; Fashion Industry

June 2024
Teaching Note

Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive: Fashion for All

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Max Hancock

Keywords: Social Marketing; Fashion Industry; United States

08 Feb 2018
News

Bringing a Personal Touch to Plus-Size Fashion

November 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Zara: Managing Stores for Fast Fashion

By: Zeynep Ton, Elena Corsi and Vincent Marie Dessain

Pablo Isla, the CEO of Zara, wanted to improve operational efficiencies in managing its store network. In particular, he wanted to improve labor productivity at the stores. He considered outsourcing certain store operations to third parties, changing the way store... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Managerial Roles; Service Operations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Efficiency; Performance Productivity; Retail Industry