Luxury Business Science: YSL plans to Double Sales in 3 Years. Are they high?

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June 23, 2017

Luxury Business Science: YSL plans to Double Sales in 3 Years. Are they high?

Saint Laurent Monograms feature heavily in the brand’s new aesthetic

With headlines like retail sales slump here to stay and LVMH Chief Raises Concerns on Global Economy, one could almost be forgiven for a spit-take and incredulity at an article titled YSL Seeks to Almost Double Sales in Next Three Years to which then a concerned reader might ask – Are they high?

According to Business of Fashion, Yves Saint Laurent plans to open 20 stores a year and ramp up in-house production seeking to double sales in just three years. Perhaps YSL Chief Executive Officer Francesca Bellettini has discovered a magic formula for swimming against a global market reality and while news like Macy’s down 4.6%, Nordstrom down 0.8%, Prada’s fiscal 2016 results down 9% to 3.18 billion euros amidst rising inventories and traffic declines, it almost seems like the Yves Saint Laurent Chief is high and betting against the market. Or is she really?

YSL Chief Executive Officer Francesca Bellettini

Luxury Business Science: YSL plans to Double Sales in 3 Years. Are they high?

According to analysts, eCommerce is a particularly hot retail channel right now especially when year-over-year April 2017 Retail Sales figures show Store sales down 3.7% while Online sales have increased 11.9%. While one might surmise that global soft markets and a general economic down-trend is expected to drive dollar-conscious shoppers to discounted online channels, the facts are that restaurant sales are up 3.9% along with furniture sales. The conclusion from that CNBC report is that people are spending, just not in the stores. Furthermore, with luxury watchmakers like IWC debuting online sales channels, LVMH launching a multi-brand e-commerce 24Sevres.com and Amazon gaining business by taking market share from brick and mortar retailers, opening 20 retail stores a year sounds like business suicide especially when Bellentini is targeting YSL to achieve annual revenue of €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in the next three to five years.

But is it really business suicide when luxury retailers like LVMH and Burberry are reporting that Chinese shoppers are slowing shopping online and returning to the boutiques. If that report feels contrary to global shopping trends, it’s because it is. Spending in the mainland improved because of strict Chinese measures which encouraged spending at home rather than overseas or online. Since April 2017, China has been raising fees on packages from abroad and implementing strict border control measures to deter Chinese nationals returning home with suitcases full of luxury goods. These measures designed to encourage shopping at home while blocking a grey market that enables shoppers to shop overseas and avoid paying tax appears to be paying dividends- Prada’s 9% drop could have been worse if not for the fact that the drop was softened as sales in Greater China grew in Q4 2016 buoyed by “double digit” Russian sales growth.

Anthony Vaccarello is an Italian-Belgian fashion designer and currently creative director at Yves Saint Laurent. Prior to this he held the position of creative director at Versus Versace

Nope, YSL Chief Executive Francesca Bellettini isn’t high…

With store openings slated for high growth, high income cities with burgeoning luxury consumption like Shanghai and Beijing, YSL looks set to continue the up-swing in revenue following the phenomenal tripling of sales since 2012 during age of creative director Hedi Slimane’s remarkable creativity. The outlook for positive growth is backed by fruits of designer Anthony Vaccarello’s labours: his YSL-monogrammed women’s pumps became one of the hottest “it” shoes of 2016, spiking demand for YSL. With 159 stores, the 20 additional YSL boutiques will not just appear in China but in mature European markets as well, with two slated for Switzerland.

Anthony Vaccarello's labours: YSL Opyum Shoe. One of the most popular women's pumps in 2016 — Anthony Vaccarello’s labours: YSL Opyum Shoe. One of the most popular women’s pumps in 2016

EBIT Margin for YSL: the measure of a company’s profitability on sales over a specific time period; calculated as a ratio of Earnings before Interest and Taxes to net revenue – earned is expected to be boosted by 3% to 25% over the next three to five years. According to Business of Fashion, Bellettini said that this projection follows the 4.7% spurt in 2016. In context, a luxury leader like Hermes enjoys Ebit margins as high as 32.6%.

Amazingly, Bellettini’s plan for aggressive double sales growth doesn’t include more outsourcing, instead, she aims to increase YSL’s in-house production facilities by expanding its Tuscan factory while improving margins and maintaining standards – a tall order but following 3 years of growth, a potentially achievable one. YSL doesn’t seem so insane now do they?

Family-friendly art events in Singapore during June 2017: Gillman Barracks Open House 2017 – Art Day Out! x The School Holidays Edition

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June 23, 2017

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Family-friendly art events in Singapore during June 2017: Gillman Barracks Open House 2017 – Art Day Out! x The School Holidays Edition

This June holidays, take a day off in Singapore with the family to Gillman Barracks’ Saturday open house, ‘Art Day Out!’, on 24 June 2017.

Featuring family-friendly programmes, exhibitions, and workshops just for the kids, this special school holiday edition of Art Day Out! will keep everyone in the family entertained. Highlights include a roving performance by Singapore theatre company The Finger Players, a kids’ workshop led by local artist anGie Seah, and a special edition of Timbre’s Saturday Social BBQ, where adults can kick back with cold beers and live BBQ while the kids live it up with bouncy castles, wading pools and remote-control car racing.

Visitors with children can also enjoy a 20% off on Playeum’s new exhibition, ‘Making it Home’, where children and parents alike will get to experience the transformation of the Playeum space into a series of different ‘rooms’ to explore and experiment with. Admission is $22 per child, with free entry for an accompanying adult.

Flying solo? Enjoy a special screening by acclaimed filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger in ‘Taiga. A Journey to Northern Mongolia’, a depiction of the daily life of the Darkhad and Sojon Urinjanghai nomads, or check out Wallpaper* Handmade Classics design exhibition, ‘MultipliCITY’, which will also feature 15 new works from Wallpaper*’s latest exhibition in Milan. And if you’re staying till late, head to Handlebar for drinks, sliders, and live underground music.

More information at https://www.facebook.com/events/1918319348439641.

ilyda chua

US Department of Justice Seizes 91.5m Oceanco Equanimity yacht

Yachts

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June 23, 2017

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US Department of Justice Seizes 91.5m Oceanco Equanimity yacht

As part of growing 1MDB investigations involving the beleaguered Jho Low, the United States’ Department of Justice recently seized $540m worth of assets acquired using misappropriated 1MDB funds, among them, the 91.5 metre Oceanco Equanimity yacht.

1MDB, the Malaysian Sovereign wealth fund is riddled with scandalous allegations of financial mismanagement and criminal misappropriation involving codename “Malaysian Official 1” – widely reported to be embattled Malaysian Premier Najib Razak and model chasing Malaysian business Jho Low. The seizure of the 91.5 metre Oceanco Equanimity yacht among the recovery of other assets adds $540m to the total recovered by the US Department of Justice to $1.7 billion, close of half of the total $4.5 billion amount allegedly stolen from 1MDB or 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund.

US Department of Justice Seizes 91.5m Oceanco Equanimity yacht

The beneficiary of the alleged criminal misappropriation is Jho Low, of which the US government is seeking over $400 million. A close associate of Najib Razak, the Equanimity was delivered by Oceanco to Low in June 2014.

According to US Department of Justice statements, over $250 million was allegedly moved from 1MDB and used to acquire and maintain the 91.5 metre Oceanco Equanimity yacht whose paperwork showed a suspected shell company – World View Ltd, a company in the Cayman Islands.

The Dutch-based Oceanco delivered the 91.5 metre Oceanco Equanimity yacht in 2014. It is considered among the best in class for its size, custom built in 2014 by Oceanco in Alblasserdam ( Netherlands ) with yacht’s interior designed by Winch Design.

91.5 metre Oceanco Equanimity yacht can accommodate 26 guests in 9 staterooms and has a crew of 28. Features include a full-suite spa and beach club on the lower deck, a beauty salon, a gym, a sauna, a Turkish bath and a large pool. And additional transport facilities by way of a helipad to her aft. The interior has some oriental inspired themes, using materials as wenge, bamboo and gold lead. She is currently – 2017 – the 54th largest yacht in the world.

New TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador: Angelababy

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June 22, 2017

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Chinese model-actress Angelababy was recently named the new TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador

Listed as one of the the New Four Dan Actresses (四小花旦) or four most bankable actresses, Chinese model-actress Angelababy was recently named the new TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador. With a film career debuting with only a five minute cameo in 2007 film Trivial Matters, Angelababy epitomises the sort of #DontCrackUnderPressure attitude required as TAG Heuer’s newest brand ambassador. By 2016, Angelababy won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the blockbuster film Mojin: The Lost Legend.

Angelababy epitomises the sort of #DontCrackUnderPressure attitude required as TAG Heuer’s newest brand ambassador

A Chinese superstar based in Hong Kong, Angelababy (Yang Ying 楊穎) not only embodies the brand’s spirit but also its charisma for youthful exuberance and undeniable attractiveness. as the new TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador, Angelababy brings the kind of positive energy, association of effortless beauty and determined grace, struggling from that five minute cameo to a full fledged leading role four years later in the 2011 film Love You You alongside Eddie Peng. It would take another two years before Angelababy’s popularity was undeniable. If this isn’t the #DontCrackUnderPressure spirit, I don’t know what is.

“People live for the dream. You have only one life to make all the efforts and strive for it.” – Angelababy, new TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador

New TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador: Angelababy

Thus, one can surmise that Angelababy is more than a pretty face, it is this diligence, wisdom and boldness which then adds depth beyond celebrity association for TAG Heuer. Wearing the TAG Heuer new Aquaracer Lady, Angelababy graces TAG Heuer’s new campaign collaterals with impeccable beauty and charm; beyond that cherubic smile and those enticing eyes, Angelababy breathes the heart of an empowered woman, improving on each performance and persisting as a multi-hyphenate celebrity beyond her early model roots. She didn’t just cruise on pretty girl-next-door looks, Angelababy has become an actress with much acclaim and kudos for her acting skills – winning the Most Popular Actress award at the 21st Beijing College Student Film Festival in 2013 as well as “Weibo Queen” for the year 2014.

She didn’t just cruise on pretty girl-next-door looks, Angelababy has become an actress with much acclaim and kudos for her acting skills – winning the Most Popular Actress award at the 21st Beijing College Student Film Festival

Today, TAG Heuer’s newest ambassador is not only making forays into Hollywood, debuting in films like Hitman: Agent 47, she is ranked 12th on Forbes China with an estimated income of 41 million yuan (US$6,604,000). It is testament to her #DontCrackUnderPressure credentials that despite starring in box-office failure Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016, Angelababy’s credibility remains unscathed, where she was listed as one of Forbes‘ inaugural 30 under 30 Asian Celebrities under the film, music, television and sport category that same year.

“I am very honoured to become the global ambassador of TAG Heuer. TAG Heuer helped me to discover another side of myself and encouraged me to commit to my belief even more. The power of dream allows me to be never afraid of pressure, and the inner power gives me enormous confidence. Together with TAG Heuer, I will never stop pushing forward, let’s all #DontCrackUnderPressure!” – Angelababy on becoming TAG Heuer Brand Ambassador

The new TAG Heuer brand ambassador is not just a celebrity model-actress-singer but also a budding angel investor (no pun intended) with the establishment of AB Capital where she bought shares in Chinese overseas purchasing e-commerce site Ymatou and beverage brand HeyJuice. Angelababy is also an entrepreneur invested in several businesses; including a nail parlour, a cafe (with fellow Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka-fai) and a lifestyle store.

It is testament to her #DontCrackUnderPressure credentials that despite starring in box-office failure Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016, Angelababy’s credibility remains unscathed, where she was listed as one of Forbes’ inaugural 30 under 30

Add to her commercial portfolios, the picturesque doe-eyed Angela Yeung Wing is also a wife and mother, managing her reel and real roles with much aplomb, pushing boundaries and demonstrating great inner strength rarely found in a 28 year old.

“I am very happy Angelababy joined the big TAG Heuer family. She will help TAG Heuer establish a deeper bond with the younger generation. In the meanwhile, with the spirit of #DontCrackUnderPresure, we are going to accumulate greater power, together with Angelababy, to spread the spirit to more and more young people.” – Jean-Claude Biver, TAG Heuer CEO and President of the LVMH Watch Division.

TAG Heuer’s new Brand Ambassador Angelababy wears the brand new Aquaracer series for women in 2017, in steel with a natural mother-of-pearl dial in a semi-transparent blue or black lacquer (a first for TAG Heuer), finished with a completely steel strap with links alternating between their brushed outer and polished centre. The bezel is set with 35 diamonds for a total weight of 0.59 carats.

Universities in the West Coast, USA: How to choose the right college

Life
Travel

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June 22, 2017

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Universities in the West Coast, USA: How to choose the right college

You’ve decided that you want to go to college in the U.S. You’ve heard that West Coast universities are leading the way in science, technology, engineering, and math. How are you going to choose the one that is the best fit for you and your goals? Here are some tips:

1. Start by making a list of your interests and personality traits.

If you are shy, for example, you may prefer a small private college. If you have always wanted to live by the beach, you may look for schools with proximity to the ocean. University California Santa Barbara, for example, is not only situated in an idyllic community on the Pacific Ocean but boasts six Nobel Prize winners among its renowned faculty.

2. Make a list of what activities you hope to participate in while pursuing your degree.

If you are thinking about pursuing a degree in business, but also love film, look for a college that has a strong business program but also offers courses in film so that you can explore that field. It is possible to switch your major or receive a minor in a second field. Most colleges have web pages for each of their academic departments.

3. Think about if you would like to be a part of a large school or a smaller, private university.

Bigger schools offer more diversity, larger class size (often taught by TAs rather than professors), and a place where you can be semi-anonymous. Smaller colleges tend to offer more leadership opportunities in a comfortable, close-knit community.

4. Consider the sort of environment in which you thrive.

Studying abroad offers many challenges. One of which is convincing your family that you will be safe. Different schools have different social vibes. If there are specific activities that you’re currently invested in, make sure your prospective school or the surrounding area offers opportunities to continue. Many West Coast schools have many students from Asia that have formed great networking and support groups on and off-campus. Students regularly get together, often at their new favorite close-to-authentic-as-they-can-find Asian restaurant.

5. Be wary of college rankings.

Your college search should be about what is important to you. Prioritize things that are important to you. List out your top five requirements based on the discussion above. Cappex is one of a myriad of resources that will help you compare your priority list with data on every U.S. college.

But what if I don’t qualify for the college I want?

Evaluating admissions statistics in relation to your qualifications can be daunting. Most four-year universities have required GPA, SAT and ACT ranges that they find acceptable. Most international students will either need to score high enough on the verbal section of the SAT and or provide a TOEFL score. This process can be intimidating. Most students spend years preparing to attend their dream college.

Don’t rule out attending a school because your GPA or test score is low. Starting your U.S. college career at a community college could be the right answer for you. If your SAT or ACT score is not in range of your desired university and you don’t have the time to retake it, or you simply did not take it, consider attending a community college for two years to complete your general education classes. Most community colleges do not require a SAT or ACT score, and a few do not even require the TOEFL for international students.

The quality of the education is comparable, the tuition is significantly less, and the schedule is flexible. Whether you start at a community college or a four-year university, you are required to take general education courses (60 units). These are the prerequisites that you can take at a community college that will transfer to your desired four-year university where you will complete your major and earn your Bachelor’s degree.

For many students starting at a community college is the most direct route to earning their Bachelor’s Degree from a top U.S. college.

List of universities in the West Coast

Now that you’ve done some thinking, here’s a list of the top US colleges in the West Coast for your consideration:

Stanford University: Good for Engineering, Social Sciences
University of California, Santa Barbara: Good for Engineering, Social Sciences, Business
University of California, Irvine: Good for Engineering, Social Sciences
Pomona College: Good for Mathematics, Economics, Biology
Claremont McKenna College: Good for Economics
California Institute of Technology: Good for Engineering
University of California, Berkeley: Good for Social Sciences
University of California, Los Angeles: Good for Social Sciences
Whitman College: Good for Science
Colorado College: Good for Science
Harvey Mudd College: Good for Engineering
Reed College: Good for Humanities
University of Southern California: Good for Science, Dentistry, Business, Film
University of Washington: Good for Science
Scripps College: Good for Women’s Only Liberal Arts
Santa Clara University: Good for Engineering, Business, and Law
Occidental College: Good for Liberal Arts
University of California, San Diego: Good for Medicine, Science, Social Sciences
University of Colorado, Boulder: Good for Science
Pitzer College: Good for Psychology and Political Science
University of California, Davis: Good for Social Sciences
Pepperdine University: Good for Business
University of Denver: Good for Social Sciences and Humanities
Colorado School of Mines: Good for Engineering

Why U.S. School Accept?

U.S. School Accept helps each student navigate the college application process and determine a major and a career path. These decisions guide the identification of the best-fit university for that student. Students entering the 2+2 Program are placed into California’s top community college in one of the safest and most beautiful small cities in the world – Santa Barbara. This crucial step, helps the student acclimate to college life in America, saves money on tuition, and side-steps the TOEFL and SAT/ACT requirement of entering a university as a freshman. We walk the student through the entire process, from community college to university to bachelor’s degree.

Visit U.S. School Accept’s website for more information.

Art fair in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Highlights and must-sees of ART JOG 2017

Art & Design

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June 22, 2017

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Art fair in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Highlights and must-sees of ART JOG 2017

ART JOG, the artists’ fair that started a decade ago, has fast grown into a boutique fair whose quality is acknowledged beyond Yogya, and Indonesia for that matter. Increasingly popular with foreign art aficionados, it has also organised the Jogja Art Weeks, a month-long festival of openings and events around the Yogyakarta Special Regency, which has been a major boost to Yogyakarta tourism.

Arriving at the critical age of a decade, ART JOG wanted to change perspectives. The focus of the tenth anniversary edition, which ran from 19 May to 19 June 2017, was on ‘Changing Perspective’. Unlike the previous edition which had more works by established artists, this edition had more young, emerging artists. About fifty percent of the artists were relatively unknown, and there were just 14 foreign artists.

On the surface, this edition of ART JOG was not particularly different. The mandatory commissioned work featured in the façade of the Jogja National Museum was seven metres high, showing Wedhar Riyadi’s creation, which consisted of bulging eyeballs that seemed to overlook the entire scene. In the entry, Ichwan Noor’s sculpture, featuring a skull made of machine components, was not extraordinary either.

Wedhar Riyadi, ‘Floating Eyes’, 2017. Image courtesy ARTJOG

But changes were visible. Angki Purbandono, for instance, who is known for his creative scanography images, this time with filmmaker Nicholas Saputra dealt with the conservation of tigers on the island of Sumatra. There were also other familiar names who tried to come out of their comfort zone and present works that differed from their usual practice, with more or less success. There was Syagini Ratna Wulan with her psychedelic colour schemes, Bagus Pandega with his light work ‘Random and Constant (oblique)’, Syaiful A. Garibaldi, Agan Harahap, Mulyana Mogus with pristine white instead of coloured crocheted corals, Uji ‘Hahan’ Handoko, and many more.

But it was Jim Allen Abel’s installation, ’Season in the Abyss’, that stood out. Jim, Jimbo or Jimmyboy, as he is nicknamed, is a photographer whose socially induced images have reached many countries. To create this installation, he chose to do something different. Moved by the fatal flight of Adam Air heading from Surabaya to Manado, he created the installation in honour of the 108 passengers who were in the aircraft. Emotive and fascinating, the installation consisted of seven plates hanging from the ceiling featuring the different phases of the accident projecting onto the various tins down below, while the storyline unfolded on a video imagining of the sea or the sky.

Jim Allen Abel, ‘Season in the Abyss’, 2017. Image courtesy ARTJOG

Also notable was a video installation by film director Kamila Andini, who collaborated with her colleague and husband Ifa Isfansyah in the work ‘The Seen and Unseen’. It was an adaptation of their film ‘Sekala Niskala (The Tangible and Intangible)’, a mystical tale about the night when children, unlike grown-ups, imagine the moon in different ways, engendering the magical. Their installation at ART JOG invited visitors to crawl down a black hole to arrive before a scenic paddy field, which, with the full moon at night, gave a sense of van Gogh’s Starry Night. HONF founder Venzha Christ’s work, focused on new media art, was utterly intriguing, although equally puzzling.

The star of the exhibition, however, was a video by Beijing-based sculptor and mixed media artist Geng Xue, whose rarely-used porcelain characters proved to be a surprising phenomenon in the video. Interpreting a classic supernatural tale of the Qing Dynasty, she brought her porcelain characters to life with a stop-motion video, ‘Mr. Sea’. The importance of this work lies in the use of porcelain as a language in new- and multi-media.

It seems that this time, ART JOG has more than one interesting work from abroad. The tangled work ‘Healing Chromosomes’ by Japanese-Australian artist Hiromi Tango is amongst such works. While one would initially walk past the work without paying much attention, a closer look at the accompanying text explains how the tangled cables are metaphors for our brain and dependency on devices in our daily life and the phenomenon of how our lives seem to almost fall apart when we’re disconnected from the Internet.

Visually similar is the work ‘Flight Risk’ by Thai-born artist, Linda Sormin, which appears to be a mesh of tangled components. It is not easy to understand this work, which is said to be ‘of this moment’. An explanatory text reads: “the work explores issues of fragility, aggression, mobility and survival.” Although such a work would be incomprehensible to the novice, it is intriguing, and one would wonder at the complexity of an artist’s mind. An artist-educator who has been teaching ceramics since 2003, Linda Sormin currently teaches at New York State College at Alfred University, where she is associate professor of Ceramic Art.

Linda Sormin, ‘Flight Risk’, 2017. Image courtesy Carla Bianpoen

The inclusion of these three works is telling of the aspirations that ART JOG has been steering towards. It has, of course, always been the desire of ART JOG founder and CEO Heri Pemad and his team to foster and facilitate younger artists, and this may be one of their strategies. An artist himself, Heri Pemad has been and still is the major passionate force behind the event, which continues to be a source to tap into for the development and evolution of Indonesian art and artists.

This article was written by Carla Bianpoen for Art Republik.

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