Must Read: James Jebbia Breaks His Silence on Supreme Italia, Virgil Abloh's New Spring 2019 Campaign for Louis Vuitton Men's Spotlights School Teens
Plus, American Eagle and Aerie may split.
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Wednesday.
James Jebbia breaks his silence on Supreme Italia
Supreme founder James Jebbia sat down with Business of Fashion to discuss the brand's battle with Supreme Italia, the company that globally touts counterfeit Supreme. In the interview, Jebbia refers to the people behind Supreme Italia as "complete imposters and impersonators." He also adds that "the idea of legal fakes is a complete farce." Towards the end of the conversation, Jebbia outlines the measures the New York brand is taking to combat counterfeiters. "We are doing every single thing that we can to stop [these counterfeit companies] and I think that we are going to prevail." {Business of Fashion}
Virgil Abloh's new Spring 2019 campaign for Louis Vuitton men's spotlights school teens
Virgil Abloh's third and final campaign for his first Louis Vuitton men's offering features teens wearing brightly colored T-shirts around schools in Los Angeles. The images were shot by Raimond Wouda and display formative communication between teenagers in group settings. {Hypebeast}
American Eagle and Aerie may split
In an interview on Bloomberg TV, American Eagle's Chief Financial Officer Bob Madore said American Eagle may spin off its highly successful Aerie lingerie brand. The statement comes shortly after Gap announced its split from Old Navy — a move that provided a big, albeit temporary, stock boost and encouraged other apparel chains to carry out similar strategies. But the split wouldn't happen anytime soon: Madore said Aerie still has more room to grow before it can break off on its own. {Business of Fashion}
ShopStyle unveils new program to help influencers know their worth
ShopStyle is unveiling a program that allows influencers to see the total sales they've driven to retail partners, conversion rates, average order values and revenue share percentages. Up until now, this information was only available to the retail partners. "We're trying to help our influencers become smarter digital marketers to help them grow their business and therefore grow the business of our retail and brand partners," said Brent Locks, ShopStyle's general manager. "It unlocks an incredible amount of insight for our influencers to help them with their content strategy and ultimately build more valuable relationships between our influencers and our retail partners." {WWD}
The safety of Bangladesh workers may be at risk again
Worker safety came under scrutiny in Bangladesh after the Rana Plaza factory collapsed, killing over 1,000 people. The disaster prompted 200 major brands and unions to sign the Bangladesh Accord, a factory inspection mechanism. Last year, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ordered the Accord to leave the country, claiming that its national regulatory body is fully capable of taking over their work. Meanwhile, reports from organizations like the Clean Clothes Campaign reveal that the local government has yet to eliminate high-risk safety hazards. The Accord appealed the decision and a new hearing to decide on its fate is scheduled for April 7. {Reuters}
Meet the anonymous Instagram account trying to stop influencers from damaging public lands
The Instagram account @publiclandshateyou is dedicated to pointing out the ways that Instagram tourism — particularly of the influencer variety — ruins delicate natural ecosystems. Jezebel caught up with the 31-year-old man behind the account to talk about the aggressive Instagramming that's threatening California's poppy fields and what he's doing to stop it. Part of his mission is to gently educate content-thirsty tourists about the damage their actions cause and the other part is to contact sponsors to tell them that it paints their company in a negative light when influencers promote their products in a poppy preserve. {Jezebel}