Apparel - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Dec 2014
News

Taking Tailoring High Tech

2010) created Birchbox, a wildly successful monthly beauty-samples subscription service that has inspired countless in-a-box imitators. Motlagh’s Acustom Apparel showroom in Soho, which opened in 2013, has some things in common with a... View Details

Keywords: April White; fashion

01 Jun 2014
News

Faculty Q&A: The Cup Runneth Over

fans were forced by FIFA to remove their pants before entering the stadium. As a result, hundreds of fans watched the game in their underwear. Needless to say, the Dutch brewery reaped a marketing bonanza. For the big athletic equipment and View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

William M. Wood

After successfully managing a mill for his father in-law, Frederick Ayer, Wood organized the American Woolen Mills Company in 1899, combining the enterprises of Ayer and several other businessmen. Capitalized at $60 million, American Woolen owned some 40 mills across... View Details

Keywords: Fabric & Apparel

Sidney W. Winslow, Jr.

Following the death of his father, Sidney Winslow Jr. took an increasingly important role in the family company, which had been consolidated into the holding company, United Shoe Machinery Corporation. Winslow went on to expand the company internationally and also to... View Details

Keywords: Fabric & Apparel

James S. Love

Beginning as a rayon producer, Love built the world’s largest textile mill by the mid-1950s. Love, the architect of the company’s growth, expanded the company to 22 plants by 1936 and bought six hosiery mills. After World War II, he increased the company’s annual sales... View Details

Keywords: Fabric & Apparel

Millard S. Drexler

Drexler helped to transform The Gap from a “me-too” retailer of Levi’s and private label jeans into a fashion icon. He simplified the brand’s product line and invested heavily in provocative advertising which made The Gap a recognizable worldwide brand. During the... View Details

Keywords: Fabric & Apparel

James W. Cannon

In 1898, Cannon’s mill produced the first cotton towel ever finished in the South. About 1906, Cannon built Kannapolis, the largest unincorporated town in the world, as a mill town that included schools, churches, and parks. Upon his death in 1921, Cannon had grown... View Details

Keywords: Fabric & Apparel

14 Nov 2014
News

This Mother-Daughter Duo Wants to Save China's Environment

Keywords: Apparel Manufacturing; Apparel Manufacturing

01 Apr 2002
News

The Simplest Taste

After combining two names, one from each side of his family, Stanley Marcus (MBA '27) went on to make "Neiman Marcus" a household name. It was a pairing that would prove as successful as the company's "his-and-hers" holiday gift offerings - such as matching camels, or... View Details

Keywords: Apparel Manufacturing; Apparel Manufacturing

29 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Finding Professional Purpose: Building an Impactful Career that Reflects your Values with Lisa Tanzer (MBA 1993)

lines for major networks like PBS, Disney, and Cartoon Network (CookieJar Entertainment). As President of Life is Good, I led a lifestyle apparel brand dedicated to spreading optimism. Later, I joined Katie Couric Media as President of... View Details

01 Mar 2016
News

Faculty Q&A: Price Check

addition, online retailers have a vast amount of data at their fingertips; solving complex problems with data seemed like a natural fit. Tell me about the research you did with Rue La La. Rue La La is in the online flash sales industry, offering designer View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Nonstore Retailers; Retail Trade

01 Oct 1999
News

Eight Among Many: Nancy J. Karch

years later, it's clear that she made the right choice. As a director of the Atlanta office of McKinsey & Company and managing partner of McKinsey Southeast United States, Karch has become an expert on numerous business topics, such as retailing, mass merchandising,... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Web

Past Projects | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

showcase best practices in the topic, to be distributed among all participating agents. Our objective is to disseminate knowledge and facilitate implementation of the most efficient solutions for distribution of financial products. Sustainable View Details

11 Dec 2014
News

Fashion's Retail Revolution

making entrepreneurship in fashion retail more possible and more attractive: globalization and the digital disruption of the shopping experience,” says Khaire, who studies entrepreneurship in creative industries. In the United States last year alone, View Details

Keywords: April White; fashion; Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Finance

September 1983 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Heather Evans

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Michael J. Roberts

Focuses on the efforts of Heather Evans, a second-year MBA student, and her attempts to start her own dress business. Examines the business plan and the process of acquiring control over the financial and human resources necessary to implement the plan. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Investment; Human Resources; Strategic Planning; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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November 1982
Case

Worcester Textile Co.: Marketing Worsted Fabrics

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Keywords: Product Marketing; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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September 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Infinity Carpets, Inc.

By: Ronald W. Moore and Thomas R. Piper

A turnaround expert must determine whether a firm in distress is worth more as a going concern than its liquidation value. If so, the finances of the firm must be restructured in a way consistent with the bargaining power of the holders of the various securities. The... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Liquidity; Crisis Management; Value; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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September 2023
Teaching Note

Patagonia: 'Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder'

By: Brian Trelstad, Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael Norris and Susan Pinckney

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 323-057. Patagonia’s change of ownership from a privately held company to a perpetual purpose trust and 501(c)(4) nonprofit in order to use the company’s profit to fight the environmental crisis and be a model for future businesses. View Details

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September 6, 2022
Article

Creating a Platform for Costless Personalization in Clothing

By: Shane Greenstein

This study analyzes the role of co-invention in the creation of a platform for print-on-demand-clothing, or PODC. Co-invention is the invention of a new business process to complement new technology, and turn it into a valuable commercial service. PODC copies a design... View Details

Keywords: Print-on-demand-clothing; Customization and Personalization; Digital Platforms; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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May 2021 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Coats: Supply Chain Challenges

By: Willy C. Shih and Adina Wong

Coats, the largest thread maker in the world, transformed its business to digital colour measurement so that it could respond better to customer demand in the garment industry for rapid product cycles and more fragmented colour choices. Its embrace of digital colour... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Management; Supply Chains; Digital; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia

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