The debut of Mr Porter, the biggest ever launch of a men’s luxury-goods website, will be closely watched by the fashion industry to see whether there are enough active male shoppers to support a fashion site.

Mr Porter, a cousin of the successful Net-a-Porter site for women, is aiming to crack the notoriously tough men’s market when it comes to clothes shopping. Men tend to be quickly intimidated and turned off by new fashions being promoted in magazines and stores. And men sharply trail women when it comes to shopping for clothes online. Women’s online apparel sales in the U.S. rose 11% to $10.5 billion in 2010, compared with a 7% rise to $4.5 billion for men, according to NPD Group.

Full story at WSJ

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged an anti-fur protest on clothing brand DKNY’s Facebook Page Monday morning.

Thirteen different users changed their Facebook profiles photos to block letters and posted in quick succession on the DKNY’s Page to spell out the words “DK Bunny Butcher” in protest of the brand’s use of rabbit fur (screenshot below). Dozens of supporters have since taken to the Page to voice their disdain for the LVMH-owned company’s practices, reaching many of the Page’s 200,000+ fans in the process.

Full story at Mashable

Richemont already owns a 29 percent stake in Net-a-Porter and is looking to acquire the remainder of the company from other shareholders including founder Natalie Massenet.

The deal, expected to be completed this week, will see founder Natalie Massenet, a former fashion journalist, become at least £50m richer as Richemont acquires the remaining 70pc of the company it doesn’t already own.

Acquiring Net-a-Porter will give Richemont the channel to sell its own brands including Cartier, Alfred Dunhill and Chloé on the site that around 2m women log on a month to read, browse and buy from more than 200 labels.

The London-based website set up by Mrs Massenet 10 years ago, employs more than 800 people in New York and London. Featuring brands as Jimmy Choo, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Givenchy, the site delivered a 67pc increase in 2008 revenues to £55.2m.

Having set the standard in luxury fashion commerce it will be interesting to see where full Richemont control takes the brand. Watch this space…

eBay were ordered to pay the hefty sum of  €200,000 ($275,000) in damages to Louis Vuitton and to stop paying the search engines to direct certain key words to the eBay site.

In a subsequent article, WSJ’s Law blog argues whether a similar ruling would have been given in the American courts. Judging by some of the comments on WSJ, the american readership has little faith in the French legal system.

BMW are now officially the world’s number one luxury car manufacturer.  Love or hate the brand image, their engineering credentials are undeniable.  Their Vision EfficientDynamics prototype is a major marketing investment as well as a design triumph.  As with so many successful luxury brands it is the content created by this kind of product innovation desirability that filters down to the mainstream market, creating a serious halo effect.  Check the brand film here.

When Bell & Ross launched the BR01 in 2005 they already had a respectable web presence, which helped them make a credible entry into the luxury watch market – not an easy task.  Now they have put their full collection of over 300 pieces online rather than the previous small selection available.  This investment in their online boutique demonstrates their commitment to a digital sales channel in spite of the bold message it sends out to their retailers.  We think this is sound thinking on B&R’s part.  Watches are a luxury commodity for which it is possible to get the full luxury experience online, particularly if you are already familiar with the brand and product.  A well architected online boutique can seduce a consumer into making a purchase every bit as well as a retail environment as long as you know which buttons to push.

A neat little collaboration between Blackberry and Monocle has produced 100 limited edition devices, which come preloaded with Monocle’s 25/25 travel guides.

We predict this is the tip of the iceberg for collaborations between ‘hardware’ (be it technology, luggage or apparel) and content providers because:

i) It offers luxury brands the opportunity to reinforce their positioning with like-minded brand

ii) They can sell more product with limited edition cache, and

iii) It offers real value to customers

The share price has been taken from a multiple of 26 times on expected earnings for 2010, reflecting Yoox’ rapid growth and putting the etailer ahead of Asos which trades at 20 times earnings in London.

The company – which as well as hosting it’s own site also provides an ecommerce platform for brands including Dolce & Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Jil Sander, Emporio Armani, Valentino and Diesel – expects to raise as much as €126 million when shares start trading tomorrow.

The flotation and top-of the range share pricing will no doubt be a welcome relief to European online fashion retailers following the recession.

It is the latest development in a series of legal battles between eBay and luxury goods manufacturers, which accuse the online retailer of not doing enough to stop its users trading counterfeit items.

Full story at Times Online.