The Style Digest

By Cameron

CakeStyle’s summary of fashion, retail, and e-commerce news from around the web.

The Garment Production Process

Designer Nanette Lepore produces the majority of her clothing inside New York City’s famed Garment Center. TIME takes a behind-the-scenes tour of Lepore’s entire garment-production process, from sketching, to pattern-making, to sewing the complete product [photos]. Read More

Made In The USA

Even though consumer attitudes are rapidly shifting towards favoring garments “Made in the USA,” only 3% of clothing sold in the U.S. is actually made here (according to a 2011 statistic). Overseas production has long been thought to save businesses money, but designer Nanette Lepore maintains that it is possible to manufacture high-quality products in the U.S. and make a profit at her price level, and certainly at higher price levels as well. Recently, the focus of American-made fashion has been quality and craftsmanship, which designers have more control over by being close to the production process. Read More

Italian Designers Celebrate Their Craft

At Milan Fashion Week, Italian designers chose to show off their tailoring tradition, rather than lean towards reckless glamour. Fashion houses Bottega Veneta, Roberto Cavalli, and Ermanno Scervino sent sculpted flannel coats and steel-embroidered dresses down the runway. Both Scervino and Cavalli dedicated their shows to Florence, representative of artisanal leather goods and signature Italian fashion. In the face of global competition, these Italian fashion giants are returning to their roots, focusing on the renowned craftmanship that Italy is known for. Read More

Top Trends For Fall 2013

WWD provides a recap of some of the top vendors at this season’s Coterie last week. The results are in for Fall 2013′s biggest trends, the highlights including leather, track pants and tuxedo stripes, hybrid jackets, embellishment, textured knitwear, lots of black and white, and geometric patterns and prints. Read More

Internet Weighs In On Top American Designers

The Digital Luxury Group recently published a ranking of the top 30 American fashion designers, according to internet search volume. The top three on the list are Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, and Ralph Lauren, respectively. The list provides interesting insight into the driving forces behind commercial sales of these top brands. Handbags and wallets drove the bulk of website traffic for Michal Kors and Marc Jacobs, the top two designers on the list. Read More

Has Gap, Inc. Made A Comeback?

For the past couple of years, Gap, Inc. has made noticeable efforts to turn around the business, following a period of declining sales. They were most recently in the spotlight for acquiring specialty retailer Intermix. Based on fourth quarter results, Gap’s profits are up 61% to $351 million. For the year, net income rose 36.3% to $1.14 billion. In terms of growth, Asia seems to be a very promising market, and CEO Glenn Murphy stressed that he has some great new ideas for products and campaigns in 2013. Read More

Georgina Chapman For J.C. Penney

March 1 marked the launch of Pearl, a line of special occasion gowns and party dresses by Marchesa’s Georgina Chapman, sold exclusively at J.C. Penney (prices range from $50-$250). Penney’s has opened 500 specialty “boutiques” in select stores to sell the new line. The 250- to 300-square foot boutiques anchor Penney’s dress departments and contain chandeliers for a touch of class. Pearl is part of Penney’s larger strategy to reinvent its stores into 100 shops or boutiques. Joe Fresh, Martha Stewart, and Jonathan Adler are also on the agenda for Penney’s specially shops this year. Read More

Rise Of Social Media On The Runway

Recently, people have been relying on social media more and more for wardrobe advice, inspiration, and the latest fashion trends. Top brands live-tweeted their runway shows at New York Fashion Week, and Badgley Mischka and Bergdorf Goodman even previewed their collections on Pinterest. For more fun facts and stats surrounding social media and fashion, check out this infographic from Mashable! Read More

The Year Of The Mobile Retail Truck

Following in the footsteps of the food-truck craze in San Francisco, retail businesses are taking to the roads as well. Expensive rents and difficult landlords have led to mobile fashion trucks, such as TopShelf Boutique, cropping up around the city. Before now, the fashion trucks haven’t had to deal with any regulations, since mobile retail is technically illegal in San Francisco. However, city officials have started drawing up a set of unique regulations for the fashion trucks, with is arguably better than prohibiting them. Read More

Warby Parker Gains Additional Investment

In addition to being identified as a possible partner for Google Glass, New-York-based eye-wear startup Warby Parker has gained additional investment from American Express and J.Crew chief executive Millard S. Drexler. The round officially closed in January, totaling $41.5 million. Warby Parker is trying to disrupt the traditional eye-wear industry by providing a way for consumers to virtually try on frames online. When reading about this e-commerce startup, make sure to check out their canine-focused line, Warby Barker. Read More

About Cameron

Cameron is CakeStyle's Director of Social Media. She's originally from Jacksonville, Florida and studied Economics at Washington Univeristy in St. Louis. She loves fashion, art, and animals.

Follow @cej33

Cameron Jacobyon

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