METAVERSE FASHION COUNCIL

HOW THE NEWLY-SIGNED FASHION WORKERS ACT WILL AFFECT MODELS, BRANDS AND AGENCIES Key Takeaways from Glossy: In the last weeks of the year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed several bills into law, including the Fashion Workers Act. The Act has had a long history, being first introduced in 2022 before now becoming law. The Act concerns the safety and working conditions of models, granting them greater control over their contracts, more transparency in regard to their expenses, and formal channels to report harassment and other predatory practices, for example. The bill requires modeling agencies to officially register with the state and offer protection against the use of AI to replicate a model’s likeness. Sara Ziff, founder of Model Alliance, the political action group that championed the bill, celebrated the victory in an open letter to supporters on December 22. “This landmark victory, which affords labor rights to models in New York, sends a message to workers across the $2.5 trillion fashion industry that they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect just like everyone else who works for a living,” she wrote. While data on the revenue that the major modeling agencies generate is scarce since they are privately held, the New York fashion industry employs over 180,000 people. New York Fashion Week, held twice annually, generates over $500 million in revenue and relies on models. Brands that hire models directly will have to ensure their payments are delivered on time and contracts are clear and transparent. Additionally, the law will protect content creators and influencers acting as models. Fashion brands have increasingly looked to influencers, rather than traditional models, to serve as the faces of campaigns, and the influencer world is similarly unregulated. The Fashion Workers Act is just one of several pieces of legislation circling in both the U.S. and the EU aimed at making the fashion industry a fairer place to work. These include the Fashion Act, which is still in the works, as well as Europe’s Circular Economy Action Plan, both of which focus on reducing fashion’s climate impact. On the West Coast, Los Angeles passed a new community plan for the Fashion District last month that prevents the conversion of properties into luxury residences, requires new construction to include space for garment manufacturing, and establishes a task force to study what resources are needed to strengthen the city’s garment industry. The changes were strongly supported by local garment workers groups including the Garment Worker Center. “There is still much work to be done at a local level in regards to bolstering an industry that has called the Fashion District home for over 130 years,” said Garment Worker Center executive director Marissa Nuncio in a statement after the victory.

TELEGRAM KICKS OFF 2025 WITH COLLECTIBLE GIFTS AS NFTs Telegram has unveiled its first update of 2025, introducing a range of innovative features that enhance user experience and interaction on the popular messaging platform. 🐚 Collectible Gifts One of the most notable additions is the introduction of collectible gifts. Users can now upgrade their received gifts to collectibles, which come with special attributes and can be transferred to other users or even auctioned on NFT marketplaces. 🐞 Unique Appearances When upgraded, gifts unlock new appearances from a selection of custom variations created by Telegram artists. Each collectible also receives random secondary traits, including background color, icon, and number, making every piece a unique work of art. 🦋 Expanded Gift Selection Over 20 existing gifts, such as the Homemade Cake, Jelly Bunny, and Santa Hat, can be upgraded to collectibles. With more than 1400 unique appearances available and more to come, users have a vast array of options to choose from. 🦈 Enhanced Interaction Features Telegram has also introduced new ways for users to interact within the platform: 🦚 Reactions to Service Messages Users can now add reactions to service messages, such as when someone sends a gift, joins a group, or starts a video chat. This feature allows for quick and easy responses to various in-chat events. 🐦🔥 Refined Message Search The search function has been improved with additional filters, allowing users to refine their search results to show only private chats, group chats, or channels. 🐙 Third-Party Verification In an effort to improve transparency and prevent misinformation, Telegram has introduced a decentralized platform for additional verification: 🪼 Extra Verification Icons Official third-party services can now assign extra verification icons to user accounts and chats. This proactive solution sets a new safety standard for social platforms. 🐌 Visual Indicators Verified accounts and chats will display a small logo before their name, with detailed explanations available in their profiles. 🐲 Other Notable Updates Custom Emoji in Folder Names: Premium users can now add custom emoji to their chat folder names for added expressiveness. In-App QR Code Scanner: The in-app camera on Android and iOS now recognizes QR codes by default. Profitability Milestone: Telegram announced that it reached profitability in 2024, thanks to features like Premium subscriptions and privacy-conscious ads. Learn more from the Metaverse Fashion MAGAZINE: https://lnkd.in/g7xxfiCr

FORTUNE'S BOLD BUSINESS PREDICTIONS FOR EUROPE IN 2025 Key Takeaways from Fortune: ✊ Employees will lead an AI revolution AI’s rapid rise presents opportunities but also some major headaches. None more so than the risk of employees using AI-powered tools at work, under the radar of the company’s tech teams. 💁♂️ Green fatigue: The declining popularity of the ESG agenda Why is 2025 likely to accelerate ESG’s decline? Two key factors stand out. First, ESG has become highly politicized. The anticipated return of Donald Trump to the White House, alongside key figures like Elon Musk—an open critic of ESG—will add considerable headwinds. Second, regulatory scrutiny is tightening. The EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and similar measures are increasingly challenging fund managers to justify ESG claims. Green fatigue may prove irreversible. 🧞♀️ The world’s biggest brands will go back to basics The retail and luxury world was on a tear during the pandemic, but the recent growth rate has been glacial at best. Weak demand from China was to blame for much of it, so the much-awaited stimulus measures could finally turn the tide for retail.  Except, it might not.  🏋♂️ We’ll learn to love over-the-top accessories, double denim, yellow and jelly shoes With the new year comes new fashion trends. From new shades of yellow to double denim, bag charms and hair accessories—fashion in 2025 emphasizes both practicality and glamour. Bag charms were among last year’s most popular accessories, and their playful, personalized style will shape accessory trends in 2025. Coach covered its bags in cherries and mushrooms and Loewe incorporated chains and ropes in 2024. Aspinal’s bee-logo keyring and Ami de Coeur’s keyring can also add sparkle to one’s spring bags—on a budget. 👹 ‘Reasoning’ will dominate debate over AI’s business impact in 2025 Reasoning models work differently than the previous generations of large language models (LLMs). They provide better answers if given more time to “think” about a prompt. But this upends the way both tech companies and their customers have traditionally thought about software. 🤡 The end of European globalism–and the return of a “stagnation” mindset Peter Vanham, Editorial Director, Leadership, Fortune Thirty-five years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Europe will go “back to the future”, and not in a good way. As Trump takes office, European Fortune 500 companies will likely be squeezed between the United States which forces tariffs on imported goods and services, and Chinese companies dumping their goods in the European market. 👽 Shopping will become sensory  2025 will be the year when we once again fully embrace retail stores, however, this time, with renewed expectations.  In its annual Future Consumer Index of 23,000 people across 30 countries, EY found that 57% of consumers want to see and touch products before they purchase them. 

NICOLA FORMICHETTI DEBUTS SYKY MAGAZINE SYKY has launched a digital-first editorial project led by the brand's artistic director, Nicola Formichetti. The next-gen luxury digital fashion platform for “buying, selling, and curating digital-physical pieces from the best designers working today” has unveiled SYKY Magazine, a short-form online publication. It’s “an extension of the brand’s mission to bring the future of a fully digital, physical, and augmented reality of fashion to life”.  The company was founded in 2023 by “luxury fashion expert and industry leader in digital commerce, technology, brand strategy, and marketing” Alice Delahunt. Multi-hyphenate creative Formichetti joined in January 2024 as artistic director. We’re told that “together the pair are pursuing creative endeavours and fashion collaborations to create new synergies between established luxury brands and the next generation of physical and digital designers”.  And the latest manifestation of this is the magazine. Formichetti said it’s “an extension of our larger vision for the future of fashion. Technology is a powerful tool that offers designers limitless creativity. With this editorial project, we hope to demonstrate to those who are curious about digital fashion, or who may be new to this realm, how they can enter the digital space; and to provide another platform for digital creators to share their work, positioning them as tastemakers and leaders of this new frontier.” The company said the magazine “offers a platform for emerging talents to make an impact in the luxury fashion industry by blending digital innovation with high-impact storytelling to elevate their work globally”. The just-launched inaugural issue features work from multidisciplinary artist Yasmin Gross, whose AI-driven designs explore natural elements and the human form. Under Formichetti’s creative direction, “Gross reimagines award-winning designer Kate Barton’s signature metallic textures and water motifs in two special-edition digital covers, seamlessly blending digital storytelling with physical design”. Every cover of the debut issue and future editions will be available to collect exclusively on SYKY.com for a limited time after publication. Learn more from Fashion Network: https://lnkd.in/g4gKbqN3

THE 10 THEMES THAT WILL DEFINEE THE FASHION AGENDA IN 2025 The 10 fashion industry themes that will set the agenda in 2025 - key takeaways from The Business of Fashion: 1. Trade Reconfigured Global trade is shifting as major economies diversify and source from countries where they have more political alignment. This will accelerate in the fashion industry in 2025 due to rising costs, evolving trade policies and sustainability targets. 2. Asia’s New Growth Engines China’s economic deceleration, changing consumer preferences and the return of international travel are making growth in the country highly challenging, leading international fashion brands to look to other Asian markets. India will be a focus. 3. Discovery Reinvented Fashion shoppers are overwhelmed with choice, which negatively impacts their engagement and conversion rates with brands. However, a new era of brand and product discovery is on the horizon, underpinned by AI-powered curation across content and search. 4. Silver Spenders Fashion brands have typically focused on youth, but in 2025 they may struggle to grow sales from younger shoppers alone. The “Silver Generation” aged over 50 represents a growing population with a high share of global spend. 5. Value Shift Macroeconomic pressures and rising prices have driven fashion shoppers to adopt cost-conscious behaviours. This is expected to persist, even as some economies begin showing signs of recovery. 6. The Human Side of Sales Differentiating the in-store experience is key to reigniting demand for in-person shopping. Brands can achieve that by empowering their store associates to reach their full potential, as sales staff have a central and valuable role to play in connecting with customers. 7. Marketplaces Disrupted Following a tumultuous period for luxury e-commerce platforms, online non-luxury marketplaces are facing challenges of their own. Share prices have dropped as much as 98 percent since Covid-19 peaks due to existential business model challenges and disruptions. 8. Sportswear Showdown Challenger brands are forecast to generate over half of the sportswear segment’s economic profit in 2024, up from 20 percent in 2020. This means the battle between challengers and incumbents in the growing sportswear market will likely intensify. 9. Inventory Excellence Inventory remains a challenge for the industry with both excess stock and stocks-outs impacting brands. In 2025, margin pressures and sustainability regulation will place greater emphasis on end-to-end planning excellence, with brands increasingly adopting tech tools and adjusting their operating model to support agile supply chains. 10. The Sustainability Collective Fragmentation and complexity across the fashion value chain, coupled with consumer reluctance to pay for sustainable products, are inherent barriers to reaching sustainability goals.

FASHIONING A BETTER FUTURE FOR 2025 By FashionUnited: 🏂 Sustainability has evolved from a niche concern to a non-negotiable imperative In 2025, brands must move beyond performative greenwashing and commit to actionable change. This includes embracing circularity at scale—rethinking the lifecycle of garments from design to disposal. 👾 Technology as a transformative force Digitalisation continues to redefine every aspect of fashion, from design to retail. In 2025, the integration of AI and augmented reality (AR) offers an unprecedented level of personalisation and efficiency. Virtual fitting rooms, customisable designs, and on-demand production are not just novelties—they are solutions to reducing overproduction and waste. Meanwhile, blockchain technology is enabling greater transparency across supply chains. Consumers can now trace the journey of a garment from farm to closet, holding brands accountable for their claims of ethical sourcing and fair labour practices. 🎀 Inclusivity as an ethical mandate A better future for fashion must also be an inclusive one. This means going beyond tokenism to authentically celebrate diversity in all its forms—across race, size, ability, age, and gender. Brands that embrace inclusive design principles and reflect the rich tapestry of global cultures are not just appealing to wider audiences but also honouring the humanity at the heart of fashion. 🐻 Purpose-driven leadership As the stakes rise, so does the need for visionary leadership. Fashion in 2025 requires leaders who prioritise purpose alongside profit. Companies that embed social and environmental impact into their core strategies will not only survive but thrive in a landscape where consumers demand accountability. Collaborations between governments, NGOs, and the private sector are also critical to driving systemic change. Whether it’s setting stricter regulations on waste or providing incentives for sustainable practices, collective action will be key to addressing the industry’s most pressing challenges. 🦥 The consumer’s role in shaping the future Finally, a better future for fashion depends on an informed and engaged consumer base. In 2025, individuals are increasingly aware of the power of their purchasing decisions. Movements like minimalism and "buy less, buy better" are encouraging consumers to invest in quality over quantity, shifting the dynamic between brands and buyers. 🧨 Beyond 2025, a new definition of success The fashion industry of 2025 has the opportunity to redefine success—not as a measure of volume or profit alone but as a reflection of positive impact. A better future for fashion means creating not just clothing but a legacy of care for people and the planet.

FRENCH BILLIONAIRES TAKE BIGGEST HIT EVER ON LUXURY GOODS SLUMP Key Takeaways from Bloomberg: For France’s biggest billionaires, 2024 was a year to forget as their combined fortunes slumped by a record amount on weak luxury-good demand and political instability.  Bernard Arnault, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and François Pinault, among the world’s richest, saw about $70 billion erased from their collective wealth this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The industry giants they control — LVMH, L'Oréal SA and Kering SA — are some of the biggest losers on the French stock exchange, with the Gucci owner shedding 41% of its value. The trio have seen their wealth sucker-punched by a selloff in luxury goods and personal care companies. Chinese shoppers have slowed spending on purchases ranging from leather goods to designer gowns and skincare, while companies including Kering’s Gucci label are grappling with new management and strategy. France’s volatile politics — including the collapse of Michel Barnier’s government this month — have also sapped investor appetite for the country’s assets.  “The Chinese consumer was supposed to be the growth engine of 2024 but that didn’t materialize,” said Ariane Hayate, CFA, a fund manager at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management. “There’s also been luxury fatigue after three years of extraordinary growth as revenge spending faded.” Sales of luxury goods and cosmetics soared during the pandemic era as consumers splashed out on high-end brands with cash reserves built up during lockdown restrictions. Those dynamics helped propel LVMH founder Arnault to the No. 1 spot on the Bloomberg wealth ranking. He’s now No. 5 and has so far lost more — $31 billion — than anyone else among the 500 richest people in the world. As for L’Oreal heir Bettencourt Meyers, she was long the richest woman in the world and last year became the first woman to have a fortune of $100 billion. She has now lost both crowns.  Pinault, 88, who founded the company that has evolved into Kering, has also seen his fortune take a big hit, falling 64% to $22 billion from an August 2021 high. That’s the largest percentage decline of anyone still on Bloomberg’s wealth index over that period and is largely due to troubles at its biggest fashion label, Gucci. Pinault’s wealth decline has come while Kering has been under the watch of his son, Francois-Henri Pinault, 62, who focused the empire on luxury from a hodge-podge of retail assets. Yet during his tenure, Kering has remained largely dependent on Gucci, whose success has ebbed and flowed. The Pinault clan holds a 42% stake and 59% of voting rights in Paris-based Kering, whose shares slumped after a string of profit warnings. It’s been a fall from grace for European luxury shares, which only two years ago were seen as the continent’s growth-stock alternatives to Wall Street’s “Magnificent Seven” cohort of tech megacaps.

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TECH THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE IN 2025 Weather forecasts will get smarter, EVs could get pricier, crypto will be for everyday investors and AI will be everywhere - key takeaways from The Wall Street Journal: 🧨 Agent provocateur Google already declared its new Gemini 2.0 the “model for the agentic era”—yes, they said “agentic”— and has shown how its AI agents can buy plane tickets and other stuff. Anthropic recently began testing a “computer use” feature where you can direct its Claude model to search the web, open applications and input text using a mouse and keyboard. And, no surprise, OpenAI is reportedly launching its own AI agent platform in early 2025. 🎈 Go go AI gadgets!  Apple is set to release a 6-inch smart-home display, according to reports from Bloomberg. Think an iPad for your kitchen or living room wall with a big emphasis on Siri and Apple Intelligence—areas where we’re looking for big improvements. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. Then Amazon’s Alexa is finally getting its long-promised generative-AI upgrade. Along with it, we expect to see smarter Echo speakers and deeper, more seamless interaction with the long-running voice assistant.  AI will also venture out from the home. “Next year is a big year for Meta glasses,” Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted in response to our recent report that the Facebook parent will release Ray-Ban smart glasses with a small display. And then there’s the wild card: Former Apple design legend Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are reportedly collaborating on an AI device. It’s unclear if that will be out before the 2026 ball drops.  🎀 Crypto boom 2.0 Bitcoin just keeps setting new records, having crashed through the $100,000 barrier in early December. There are many reasons to believe it could go a lot higher than that—and a lot lower. For those with an appetite for risk, particularly America’s young men, that’s apparently a feature, not a bug. With the debut of bitcoin ETFs, it’s now easier to buy a ticket to ride the roller-coaster. Wall Street and big banks are cashing in, with former crypto skeptics now running giant funds themselves, such as BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. The market will be fueled by a crypto-friendly incoming administration, possible new ETFs for smaller and riskier crypto tokens, and changes at the Securities and Exchange Commission, crypto’s archnemesis. These shifts may mean more millionaires will be minted, but it doesn’t guarantee safety for unwary investors. “Bitcoin in particular is becoming more of a ‘normal’ part of a risk-on portfolio for investors,” says Grant Engelbart, an investment adviser at financial-advisory firm Carson Group. However, he cautions, the next time there’s a winter in crypto, enthusiasm could wane. #VC #INVESTMENT #FASHION #SMARTFASHION #METAVERSE #BTC #ETH #WEB3 #CRYPTO #MEMECOINS #NFT #FSHN #FASHIONCOIN #BITCOIN  #TECH #DIGITALFASHION #DECENTRALISATION #DEFI

THE BOOM - AND BUST - OF CELEBRITY MEME COINS Key Takeaways from Decrypt: 🤡 Celebrities being a part of crypto—not new. What is new, and became a dominant theme last year, was the advent of the celebrity meme coin. As meme coins replaced NFTs as the degen’s favorite way to gamble, the celebrity meme coin emerged, with nearly a dozen stars launching their own coins in the past year. These influencers are not just promoting the coins, they’re actually creating coins in their own image, promoting them and, in some cases, trying to find businesses around them. For better—and, far more common, for worse. Traditional investors often believe that Bitcoin investors have high risk tolerances, but meme coin degens are the real mavericks—shooting it out in the Wild West with tokens that can skyrocket or collapse with a moment’s notice.  And nowhere is that more evident than on the popular meme coin-launching platform, Pump.fun.  ☠️ It was the Olympic decathlete Caitlyn Jenner who kicked off the celebrity meme craze by launching her meme there. Pump.fun, it should be noted, is where people do outrageous things to get attention. In May, in this circus environment, Jenner decided to launch her token—posing with Donald Trump, who was then mounting his re-election bid.  😾 Not all the celebrity meme coin launches ended in tears. The exception was Australian musician Iggy Azalea. Though her token MOTHER caught heat from Bubblemaps because 20% of its supply was sniped at launch, she claimed this was done without her knowledge. That may be true, but as Bubblemaps on-chain sleuths pointed out at the time, the only way a token gets sniped like that is by someone leaking the coin’s contract address to a group of insiders early. 👾 Needless to say, with these tokens crashing and celebrities abandoning their projects, the first lawsuit has been filed. In November, a group of investors filed a class action lawsuit against Jenner and her manager Sophia Hutchins, accusing her of fraudulently misrepresenting her Solana meme coin and failing to register it as a security. 🙈 Some crypto law experts say get ready for more civil litigation: “We are going to see an uptick in lawsuits involving celebrity-endorsed meme coins,” cyber law attorney Andrew Rossow told Decrypt. “Celebrities will begin to find themselves increasingly accountable not just for their promotional activities, but potentially as 'sellers' of these digital assets, opening them up to a wider range of legal repercussions.” #VC #INVESTMENT #FASHION #SMARTFASHION #METAVERSE #BTC #ETH #WEB3 #CRYPTO #MEMECOINS #NFT #FSHN #FASHIONCOIN #BITCOIN  #TECH #DIGITALFASHION #DECENTRALISATION #DEFI