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Swiss fashion concern Charles Vögele has released very disappointing semi-annual results, with turnover dropping 10% to CHF 626 million (€552 million). 86% of this reduction was caused by the strong Swiss Franc – earlier also responsible for difficulties at Coop. Charles Vögele generates over two thirds of its turnover in the Euro-zone.
The chain also announced a first semester loss of CHF 62 million (€54 million) – of which 30% would be directly caused by exchange rate losses. CEO André Maeder already announced to expect that the second semester will not be good enough to compensate for these losses. Last year, the group still had a net profit of CHF 18 million.
“The modernization strategy we have initiated is gradually having an effect, but is taking longer than expected”, says Maeder. The new strategy focusses on three pillars: “Fascination” (adopting actress Penelope Cruz and her sister as new faces of their campaigns), “Growth” (doubling the number of collections per year to eight) and “processes” (renewing the clothes in Vögele stores each six weeks). Still, new customers show up much later than expected.
The growth should be stimulated by launching a web shop for Switzerland, Austria, Germany and – starting from this autumn – the Benelux. The group also has 826 stores in 9 countries, of which 114 are in the Netherlands and 45 in Belgium.
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French group Hermès joins the long list of luxury groups with excellent semi-annual results. The group's turnover went up 22% to 1.305 billion euro, while net profits rocketed to 290.9 million (+49.5%). This was the most profitable six months yet for the handbag and scarf producer, as operating profits as a percentage of sales rose to 32%. 
Italian luxury shoe company Salvatore Ferragamo announced excellent semi-annual results yesterday, featuring a 32.4% increase in net profits. The favourite brand of Hollywood stars like Angelina Jolie earned 45.7 million euro in the first six months of 2011.
The European branch of Canadian lingerie chain La Senza is underperforming and needs to cut its costs, otherwise its owner Lion Capital might close a number of stores. Private equity firm Lion Capital has owned the European branch since its split off the Canadian parent company in 2006.
Inditex's youth brand Bershka has opened its first German store in Berlin this weekend. While the clothing company clearly wished to impress the trendy capital with an eco-friendly store, the slavery case in Brazil weighs heavily on Inditex's sustainable image. 
While Inditex tries to work on its eco-friendly image, that does not necessarily mean that the fashion giant is human-friendly too. The Regional Superintendency of Labour and Employment of São Paulo found Bolivians working in slave-like conditions in a sweatshop for one of Zara's Brazilian subcontractors. Illegally transported to Brazil, they were locked in small apartments and were only allowed out to work – compulsory at least 12 hours per day. They were paid €0.7 for each dress they made (worth over €50 in Brazilian stores) and earned up to €69 per month, clearly under Brazil's – already low – minimum wages. 
Ben Sherman has added Adrian Ward-Rees to its board of directors as commercial director, a newly created function. He will be responsible for managing the commercial activities of Ben Sherman Group all over the world.
American fashion retailer Gap is to open a Banana Republic flagship store in Paris next December. Paris hopes to follow Istanbul, Milan and London (and Bath), where the brand already had successful store openings.
Hundreds of workers in a H&M clothing factory have fainted this week in the Cambodian province of Kampong Chhnang. So far, it is not exactly sure what caused the general fainting, but most analysts point to either poisonous chemicals used, extreme fatigue or a combination thereof.
Irish fashion chain Primark has denied the rumours that it was looking to build an international web shop. British website Marketing said the “disposable fashion” chain had called for tenders for an e-commerce site that should open next year, but the Irish company denied doing so.
Dutch lingerie chain Hunkemöller is planning an expansion to the UK: under its foreign brand name Bodique the group will occupy a shop-in-shop in House of Fraser's Oxford street store in London. If successful, the concept will be expanded to several of the 61 luxurious House of Fraser department stores.
Adidas, the second sports article producer in the world, has announced double digit growth figures today. A remarkable achievement, as Adidas already reached a top score last year, thanks to the World Cup football. 
Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has bought the small, members-only website Myhabit.com, similar to vente-exclusive.com or vente-privee.com.
Following Zara's online successes, Inditex has announced it will launch web shops all of its brands on 6 September. Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterqüe will join the Spanish group's flagship on the Internet “for selected European markets”.
After LVMH released its semi-annual figures, one contradictory cliché remains true: the luxury segment fares well during the crisis. The French company saw its turnover rise 13%, its profits 22%. 
