Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores - Publications - Faculty & Research

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Benetton Group S.p.A., 2012

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

On May 31, 2012, after 36 years on the Milan Stock Exchange, Benetton was officially delisted and taken private by Edizione, the Benetton family's holding company. Since 2000, Benetton shareholders had seen its market value fall from $4.3 billion to $720 million at the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Fashion; Retail; Privatization; Family Ownership; Performance Improvement; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Globalized Firms and Management; Change Management; Restructuring; Competitive Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Italy

Citation

Educators

Purchase

14 Aug 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 14, 2018

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54794 Harvard Business School Case 518-047 Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent Armarium, a two-sided online platform that offered consumers the opportunity to rent the most coveted, current season high fashion View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2000, The Gap, Inc. (Gap) was the world’s largest player in specialty fashion retailing, and companies such as Inditex of Spain, H&M of Sweden, and Fast Retailing of Japan were less than a quarter of Gap’s size. But after two decades of growth, Gap’s progress... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Multinational; Brands; Fast Fashion; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Performance Improvement; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Change Management; Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sweden; Spain; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

09 Dec 2015
Research Event

How Do You Predict Demand and Set Prices For Products Never Sold Before?

Ferreira was a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rue La La is a so-called flash sales business, offering deeply discounted, extremely-limited-time offers on designer clothes and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Apparel & Accessories; Apparel & Accessories

02 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

‘Retail Revolution’ Excerpt: The Scale of the Ecommerce Threat

fulfillment of basic needs, such as Consumer Product Goods and apparel basics, is growing. With customers increasingly ordering these and other products online, potential shoppers have fewer reasons to leave... View Details

Keywords: Re: Rajiv Lal; Retail

21 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 21

ever-growing e-commerce site, and fierce competition, Amoruso wondered what opportunity to tackle next. Should she concentrate on product line expansion into lingerie, swimwear, cosmetics, and fragrances?... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel & Sean Silverthorne

12 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 12

wearing gym clothes rather than an elegant outfit or wearing red sneakers in a professional setting. Nonconforming behaviors, as costly and visible signals, can act as a particular form of conspicuous... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 26, 2008

Working PapersDiffusing Management Practices within the Firm: The Role of Information Provision Authors:Michael J. Lenox and Michael W. Toffel Abstract A key role of corporate managers is to encourage subsidiaries to adopt innovative... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

direction of CEO Michael Jeffries, the company held onto a hint of its hallmark safari style while putting a greater emphasis on casual clothes and ballooned to more than 1,000 View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories; Apparel & Accessories

26 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

cost.” During the two vulnerable weeks before government relief kicked in, Lawson delivered 200,000 prepared meals to victims, including onigiri rice balls, bread, and cups of noodles. The company also took care of its own in an area... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

17 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

‘Chick Beer’ for Women? Why Gender Marketing Repels More Than Sells

Chick Beer tried to entice weight-conscious women with the brew’s 97 calories and 3.5 carbs per bottle, “about the same as half of a carrot.” And Clutch, a brand of dryer sheets, encourages men to “grab your... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

27 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Hard Work Isn't Enough: How to Find Your Edge

restrooms. Today Buc-ee’s is a road trip destination, with more than 30 sprawling stores offering Texas-themed gifts, Buc-ee’s brand beef jerky, plenty of gas (as many as 120 pumps at one store), mountains of ice to refill coolers, View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

John Osher is one of those casually and spectacularly successful people who make serial entrepreneurship look like a cakewalk. He began racking up wins at an early age—starting and selling both a vintage... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

17 Jun 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Excellence Comes From Saying No

comic strip. Another wrote a personal essay about her struggles to overcome the stereotype of being the "Shy Asian Girl." Another student, who came from a retail background, wrote an open letter to clothing View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

23 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Three-Dimensional Strategy: Winning the Multisided Platform

When start-up thredUP launched its peer-to-peer online exchange for used children's clothes two and a half years ago, its creators were the latest generation of entrepreneurs competing online as multi-sided... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

16 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

Luxury Isn’t What It Used to Be

showcased the ongoing appeal of its more timeless products while expanding into fashionable clothing and accessories for men and women. "You... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Consumer Products

19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

homogenization of beauty ideals. Beauty became associated with Western countries, and white people, and with women. These assumptions reflected wider societal trends. Western societies as a whole underwent... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

18 Feb 2019
Book

What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

“preemptively decoupling.” Instead of waiting to be disrupted, you just break it. When Amazon started selling electronics online, it created apps that encouraged customers to go to a store and check out the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Beauty & Cosmetics; Insurance; Service; Retail

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

When Benchmarks Don’t Work

not a meaningful, let alone actionable, comparison. Similarly, although the cost of serving a customer who is purchasing clothing from a Wal-Mart store is likely far below the same cost for an Armani store,... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Service

Publications