Daily Links

1. FTC Names 3 Amazon Executives in Suit Over Prime. The FTC disclosed new details in its lawsuit against Amazon, publicly naming 3 executives who the agency says played a key role in a scheme to enroll customers unwittingly in the company’s Prime program and make it difficult for them to cancel their subscription. – Read More on the WSJ

2. And speaking of the FTC: The Federal Trade Commission has brought its first antitrust lawsuit under chair Lina Khan challenging serial acquisitions by private equity firms. – Read More on the FT

3. China’s middle class puts luxury spending on hold as uncertainty swirls. Only 28.6 percent of more than 4,500 people polled listed luxury spending as a financial goal, down from more than 50 percent five years ago. – Read More on SCMP

4. How Gen Z Envisions AI Improving E-Commerce. Gen Z appear eager to use artificial intelligence when engaging in one of their favorite activities—online shopping, according to a new study conducted by the Harris Poll and e-commerce tech company Rokt. – Read More on AdAge

5. California’s big oil lawsuit is a ‘huge deal,’ Center for Climate Integrity head says. California is the first oil-producing state to file suit against the companies for knowing and then lying about how the fact that their products cause climate change. – Read More on NPR

6. US retail sales smash expectations in August. US retail sales accelerated much faster than expected in August, bolstered by recovering gas station sales and strong clothing sales. – Read More on S&P Global

1. Jefferies and Goldman Diverge on Luxury Industry Outlook. Luxury-goods makers face a choppy near-term outlook, according to Jefferies and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts, though that’s where the similarities in their opinions end. – Read More on Yahoo

2. Burberry Street Fashion Week Ad Sows Confusion in London. The Bond Street tube station on the London Underground was temporarily renamed “Burberry Street” as part of a London Fashion Week marketing campaign for the British luxury brand, leading to confusion among Londoners and tourists alike. – Read More on the NY Times

3. Companies Might Be Forced to Report Their Impact on Nature. A New Framework Aims to Help. The Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures, or TNFD, on Monday issued its final reporting framework, which aims to make it easier for companies to identify their impact on nature, and take action to mitigate it. – Read More on the WSJ

4. Walmart ignored rampant sexual harassment at West Virginia store, EEOC claims. The complaint filed in West Virginia federal court says the manager of the Lewisburg store told an employee he wanted to be her “sugar daddy,” offered her money for sex, groped her and tried to force her to perform a sexual act in his office. – Read More on Reuters

5. E-Commerce Platforms Must Prioritize the Consumer-Influencer Relationship. In China, content-based platforms are generating a growing proportion of e-commerce. Savvy content-based platforms are leveraging AI to this trend and carefully curate their influencer relationships. – Read More on HBR

1. UK focuses on transparency and access with new AI principles. Britain’s anti-trust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), is, like other authorities around the world, trying to control some of the potential negative consequences of AI without stifling innovation. – Read More on Reuters

2. Regulators Are Trying to Stop Greenwashing Before It Gets Worse. From banning ads to suing over dubious claims, governments are starting to fight back against companies seen as misleading consumers on sustainability. – Read More on Bloomberg

3. So You Want to Be a Luxury Brand? “We buy the luxury brand because it’s something extraordinary,” he says. “It also connects us with a particular group of people who appreciate that and admire that.” – Hear More on Kellogg

4. Kering bets on Gucci shake-up to revive fortunes. While analysts largely see the merits of Kering’s moves, many warn that the results will depend on execution as it looks to tackle not only Gucci’s flagging sales but also problems around its cohesiveness as a group run from Paris but overseeing many of Italy’s biggest luxury brands. – Read More on the FT

5. TikTok debuts new tools and technology to label AI content. TikTok already updated its policy to address synthetic media, which requires people to label AI content that contains realistic images, audio, or video, like deepfakes, to help viewers contextualize the video and prevent the spread of misleading info. – Read More on TechCrunch

6. Can the cotton industry protect its workforce in a changing climate? “Smallholders are disproportionately impacted by the fact that they have very little financial resilience and very little climatic resilience, and an even smaller voice within the industry and cotton’s complex supply chains.” – Read More on Reuters

1. Bootmaker Dr Martens to offer repairs in sustainability step. Dr Martens plans to launch a shoe repair service in Britain next month as it seeks to polish its sustainability credentials, encourage customers to extend the life of their boots, and create a new revenue stream. – Read More on Reuters

2. RELATED READ: As Regulations Loom & Price Tags Rise, Brands Lean into Repairs. No shortage of brands – both in luxury and the fast fashion realms – are leaning into repair initiatives in order to engender goodwill among consumers, who are increasingly conscious of the ESG elements of the fashion business, and also to boost the value of their brands. – Read More on TFL 

3. A normal IPO market still “a ways away.” IPO activity has remained subdued in 2023 after plummeting in 2022. However, some momentum has been picking up, and the execution of the $4.87B Arm Holdings has added to the enthusiasm for the nascent recovery of the transactions. – Read More on S&P Global

4. How Thom Browne’s Gray Suit Conquered American Fashion. Browne’s signatures have become as recognizable as the logos of far more profitable brands. “You know instantly when someone is wearing Thom Browne.” – Read More on the New Yorker

5. Russia’s Fashion Industry Tries to Fill Gap Left By Western Brands’ Exit. The YOU clothing brand has cast itself as an alternative to Spain’s Massimo Dutti, which has closed more than 500 shops. “We cannot produce everything abroad.” – See More on Barron’s

6. Shein vows to cut clothing waste. Its waste is allegedly low by industry standards thanks to its “direct to consumer” business model, which sees it produces items in batches of 100-200 pieces, then uses tech to analyze each item’s popularity with consumers, before ramping up production of top sellers to meet demand. – Read More on Reuters

1. UK ‘Tourist Tax’ Creates Gap with Europe, Says Burberry CEO. “Unfortunately there is a gap,” said Jonathan Akeroyd, chief executive officer of the British luxury fashion chain. This is “disappointing especially as it’s our home market,” he added, speaking ahead of London Fashion Week. – Read More on Bloomberg

2. Epic Games’ new chief creative is an IP expert. At this point, gamers expect to be greeted by a cavalcade of brand and IP mashups whenever they flip on their favorite Epic Games title, making Wen, an executive who cut his teeth by helping mash different characters together into shared fictional worlds, an obvious fit. – Read More on Digiday

3. AI regulation is within sight — with an eye on preserving innovation. Regulation can make it hard for all but the biggest companies to grow, confined by industry rules that are shaped at times by incumbents.  Big banks, for example, have only gotten bigger since the Dodd-Frank Act. – Read More on Axios

4. RELATED READ: Regulating Artificial Intelligence: A Running Tracker of AI Legislation. Despite such lags in regulation, a growing number of new AI-focused bills coming from lawmakers at the federal level are worth keeping an eye on. – Read More on TFL

5. Sustainability Is About Your Workforce, Too. People sustainability takes a holistic approach to corporate human capital practices, including diversity and inclusion, well-being, employee safety, and fair pay. It raises these human capital issues to the C-suite and obliges chief HR officers to work with chief sustainability officers on these programs. – Read More on HBR

6. Garment Workers Are Getting Closer to a Fair Wage. To date, 275 individuals and groups have endorsed the FABRIC Act which is being introduced in the Senate by Kirsten Gillibrand and in the House by Jerry Nadler. – Read More on the Nation