Articles by Don-Alvin Adegeest
Don-Alvin Adegeest is a consultant and specialist in brand strategy, communication, and design with extensive experience in the fashion and luxury retail industries. Since 2003, he has collaborated with FashionUnited as a senior editor, contributing analysis, interviews, and in-depth reports focused on the international fashion business. His career includes leadership roles at companies such as Hugo Boss or LVMH giving him a deep understanding of the market and the sector’s value chain.
The rise of the late bloomer: why fashion’s most resilient founders are starting late
For decades, fashion has mythologised youth. From freshly graduated designers launching labels straight out of Central Saint Martins to digital-native founders scaling brands overnight, the industry has long equated innovation with immediacy. Yet a quieter shift is underway—one that favours experience, patience and long-term thinking over speed....
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What rising energy prices mean for fashion, retail and manufacturing
Oil markets have surged to multi-year highs as tensions between the US and Iran intensify, with Brent crude climbing above 120 dollars per barrel. According to Bloomberg, prices briefly spiked by more than 7 percent to over 126 dollars amid fears of prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil transit...
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The Tech Gala: When fashion’s front row is bought, not built
The red carpets have been non-stop this past week. A state visit from King Charles to the United States, the global premieres of The Devil Wears Prada 2 (DWP), and a beautiful Chanel Cruise show in Biarritz have kept fashion in a constant state of performance. Stylists like Micaela Erlanger, Erin Walsh, and Jessica Paster have been working...
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Fashion takes over Design Week as brands blur the line between runway and room
The crossover between fashion and the home is nothing new. From Hermès blankets to Missoni towels and Versace ceramics, luxury brands have long extended their identities beyond clothing. But at this year's Milan Design Week, running alongside the 64th edition of Salone del Mobile, that crossover has reached a new level of ambition, and...
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The 4 billion dollar shoe that fashion never wanted: the rise and fall of Allbirds
In 2016, a New Zealand football player-turned-entrepreneur and a biotech engineer launched a wool sneaker on Kickstarter. They hit their 30,000 dollars goal in five days, raised 119,000 dollars in total, and set in motion one of the most instructive brand stories of the decade. This week, Allbirds agreed to sell all of its intellectual property...
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Italian luxury brands stage citywide retail takeover in Manhattan
From April 9 to 11, Manhattan’s luxury corridors will double as a distributed exhibition space. Under the banner “Icons of Italy,” 43 flagship boutiques representing 56 Italian brands spanning fashion, design, jewellery, automotive, yachting, food and wine will host installations and cultural activations aimed at reframing retail as a vehicle...
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AI moves into fashion’s C-suite
As fashion navigates economic uncertainty and technological disruption, the C-suite is being redrawn. Artificial intelligence is no longer confined to design studios or marketing dashboards, it is now reshaping executive leadership itself. At Kering, CEO Luca de Meo last week appointed the group’s first chief digital, AI & IT officer, Pierre...
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Oil at 200 dollars a barrel: Middle East conflict sends shockwaves through fashion
As the global conflict involving Iran escalates, the prospect of oil prices climbing towards 200 dollars a barrel no longer feels implausible. Fashion businesses across the UK and Europe are once again bracing for volatility, as energy markets react sharply to geopolitical risk. From fibre production and manufacturing to freight costs and...
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The fashion industry has a water blind spot
Water is widely recognised as fashion’s single largest environmental impact, yet it remains structurally overlooked in sourcing decisions, audit systems and sustainability reporting. At a time when 2.2 billion people globally lack access to safely managed drinking water, according to the United Nations, the fashion industry continues to consume...
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Trump targets ‘Made in America’ misuse
US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at cracking down on fraudulent “Made in America” claims, sharpening federal oversight of country-of-origin labelling at a time when domestic manufacturing has re-emerged as a political and commercial priority. According to a report by Reuters, the order directs the chairman of the...
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