
Fashion school without fashion school: the routes that actually work
Degrees are one door into design. Patternmaking, trade skills, and digital tools are three others — and each has a different price tag.
Fashion News covers ownership, manufacturing and pricing across beauty and fashion retail: which group owns a brand, who makes the formula, how exclusivity deals operate, and why an identical product costs more in one country. Best used by readers who want the commercial picture behind a purchase.

Degrees are one door into design. Patternmaking, trade skills, and digital tools are three others — and each has a different price tag.

Financials disclosed ahead of Shein's planned Hong Kong listing showed US net revenue down 14.3 percent to about $2 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and a $99 million net loss, per Reuters — the clearest evidence yet that import duties changed the cheap-clothes math.

Hermès reported €8.2 billion of first-half 2026 revenue on July 29, up 6 percent at constant exchange rates with an operating margin near 41 percent, and the house's no-discount model is the lesson inside those numbers.

Kering reported €3.65 billion of second-quarter revenue on July 28, 2026, its return to organic growth, yet fashion and leather goods still ran a recurring operating loss — and that tension explains the discounts and allocations luxury shoppers actually see.

LVMH reported €38.6 billion in first-half 2026 revenue on July 26, with fashion and leather goods back to 1 percent organic growth in the second quarter after seven straight quarters of decline — a signal that carries into prices across the market.

Post-event analyses of Amazon's July 2026 Prime Day show clothing, shoes and accessories as the top-selling category for the first time, with apparel discounts holding at 24 percent while shoppers spent less per order.