Must Read: Marc Jacobs Says He Was 'Bullied' Into Renouncing Fur, How the Beauty Industry Is Failing Black Entrepreneurs

These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Tuesday.

Marc Jacobs says he was "bullied" into renouncing fur
Anti-fur protesters have demonstrated with signs, noisemakers and fake blood outside the homes of Marc Jacobs employees in an effort to make the designer renounce the use of fur in his collections; there have reportedly been six arrests related to the protest in the last week. Jacobs accused the protestors of "bullying" in a statement on Instagram and said that his brand has not used fur since 2018, with the exception of "upcycled" fur used in a collaboration with Fendi. "Marc Jacobs does not work in, use or sell fur, nor will we in the future," he wrote on Instagram. {The New York Times/paywalled}

How the beauty industry is failing Black entrepreneurs
Many Black beauty entrepreneurs feel that the industry has not followed through on its claims to better support Black founders after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, WWD reported. The biggest issue is that capital is increasingly inaccessible: Crunchbase found that funding of Black-owned brands dropped 71% to $705 million last year, compared to overall funding in the U.S. declining at about half that rate. Now, fewer investors are interested in Black-owned brands, leaving many entrepreneurs struggling to secure the funding they need. {WWD/paywalled}

Hailey Bieber stars in Saint Laurent's Summer 2024 campaign
Saint Laurent's Summer 2024 campaign features Hailey Bieber alongside the brand's Le 5 à 7 bag. Photographed by Gray Sorrenti with art direction by Anthony Vaccarello, the campaign shows Bieber posing against brick walls. See all of the images below. {Fashionista inbox}

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

How Birkenstock became a luxury behemoth
The 250-year-old orthopedic shoe company Birkenstock has become a major player in the luxury space since Christian Birkenstock hired Oliver Reichert, the company's current CEO, back in 2009. The Birkenstock family has gone through years of drama and disagreements over the business, but Reichert spearheaded the brand's rise from a German tourist staple to an accessible luxury item seen on Parisian runways and in high-end department stores. Bloomberg's Tim Loh takes a deep dive into Birkenstock's 250-year dynasty as well as its ascent into the luxury market. {Bloomberg/paywalled}

What is the future of digital fashion?
The rise of digital fashion has seen the pixelated birth of CGI influencers, digital clothing collections and Metaverse Fashion Week, but NFTs have fallen off, the metaverse is seemingly an afterthought and concern around artificial intelligence is swirling. Elektra Kotsoni interviewed seven people working in the digital fashion space to get a glimpse into what the future of the industry could look like. "Digital fashion is part of a larger ecosystem," Isabel Martinez aka Isabelita Virtual told Vogue Business. "We cannot think of it as a trend but as a long-term construction. This is why digital fashion challenges brands to make a commitment and to be authentic." {Vogue Business}

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