FITA EVENTS
7 Essential Sites for Apparel Industry Insiders
By
Fit Analytics
Dec 27, 2017
4 min read
As the global leader in fit prediction, we naturally like to keep a close eye on developments in the fashion and apparel industry at large. With trends and topics changing every week, having a reliable set of go-to resources on hand is crucial, so we’ve put together a quick list of seven essential sites to keep you up to speed at all times.
Whether you’re interested in trends, industry news, or more technical aspects of apparel such as fabric sourcing, the sites below have you covered across the board.
Let’s start with a site that’s become an industry bible over the last few years.
1. Business of Fashion
Business of Fashion (or BoF) was founded as a humble blog in 2007 and rapidly transformed itself into an essential daily resource for fashion creatives, executives, and entrepreneurs. These days, a team of writers and fashion insiders report on the industry’s latest news daily and publish regular in-depth pieces on trending topics.
Check out their Daily Digest for the main news of the day and the consistently excellent Intelligence section for insider interviews and deep dives on topics such as the role of Big Data for fashion.
You can also get a taste of just how expansive BoF’s long-term ambitions are with a look at their annual invitation-only VOICES event. Highlights from last year included an impressively big-picture overview of the challenges facing apparel from McKinsey’s Richard Dobbs.
2. Racked
Originally a gossip website, Racked is now part of the Vox media empire and a popular daily destination for fashion insiders worldwide. Whether you’re looking for the best online or sample sales or on the hunt for fun, fashion-themed essays, this is your place.
While the tone is generally casual and led by breaking news on the brand level, Racked is also a reliable source of industry analysis and insight. Check out their longform section in particular where recent pieces on fast fashion, the Amazon Effect, and retail unrest in America all showcase the quality of their writers.
3. Glossy
Focusing on the intersection of fashion, luxury and technology, New York-based platform Glossy was launched in 2016 and aims to cover how fashion, luxury brands and media are approaching the digital world. Their team reports on topics such as the state of e-commerce and connected fashion and has quickly established a reputation for serious, in-depth, tech-savvy fashion reporting.
Browse popular themes such as store of the future and the platform effect for a taste of what’s on offer before hitting up the podcast section for pearls of wisdom from some of the brightest minds in the industry.
4. Fashion and Mash
Fashion and Mash is a daily news site which targets those interested in the crossroads of fashion, digital communications and technology. Having a strong emphasis on how fashion brands are embracing tech, the site also features start-up related news from the fashion world.
5. Drapers
Drapers more than delivers on its promise of “fashion business intelligence at your fingertips” with the UK-based outfit providing impressively global coverage of all the latest apparel news – a role it’s been ably fulfilling for over a century now.
As a quick glance at its topic index shows, Drapers has you comprehensively covered for everything from career moves and supply chain news to in-depth interviews with industry leaders such as Nick Beighton of Asos.
You can also take advantage of regular deep-dive webinars and special reports where industry experts break down the latest issues affecting apparel retail in impressive detail. Subscribe today to instantly upgrade your overall understanding of the modern apparel landscape.
7. WGSN
A historically fickle business, apparel industry trends are becoming ever more unpredictable as seasonal cycles make way for fast fashion and see-now-buy-now. In a world where trends emerge weekly, having access to a resource like WGSN (World’s Global Style Network) is more important than ever.
WGSN offers a range of high-end fashion trend subscription services (at suitably high-end prices), but you can stay ahead of the curve for free by checking in regularly on the huge range of insights published under the WGSN Insider moniker. Combine the Retail Data blog with the Trend Minute video series and you’ll be able to stay on top of both current events and future trends with equal ease.
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