This Week's Topics:  

• Remembering Martin Greenfield

• Dries Van Noten

• Bits of Beauty News

• New Collabs, Launches, Investments, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Remembering Martin Greenfield

• Martin Greenfield, a talented and successful tailor who crafted suits for former Presidents, Hollywood stars, athletes and Movies/Television, died this week at the age of 95. He learned to sew at Auschwitz. Here is his obituary from the NYTimes (link to read behind paywall.)

• The story of his life has so many moments that leave me speechless. The terrors of the Holocaust and everything that was lost is horrific. He emigrated to America with only $10 in his pocket and built an incredible business that is well respected and seems to have a lovely family. Reading the details in his obituary are incredibly difficult but I’m glad I read it. I’m not going to leave quotes here but I do encourage you to read - it is why I started my newsletter this week with this moment. I really don’t have words but Alex Traub wrote a powerful and meaningful obituary. May Martin Greenfield’s memory be a blessing.

This Week's Topics:  

• Retailer Check-In

• Luxury Fashion News

• New Launches, Investments, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Retailer Check-In

It’s no surprise that retailers have been on a major roller coaster. The Retail Apocalypse, according to Wikipedia, “refers to the closing of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially those of large chains, beginning around 2010 and accelerating due to the mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.” to pull this out a bit more, here is the data I dug into:

• From 2017, The Atlantic article “What in the world is causing the Retail Meltdown of 2017” by Derek Thompson is about the Retail Apocalypse from a time that when we had no idea what was coming (aka COVID’s long impact.) This article leaned into the rise of mobile shopping (driving traffic away from stores), too many malls and spending on experiences vs material items.

• Fortune calculated that 12,200 stores closed in the US in 2020.

This Week's Topics:  

• PFW & final thoughts

• Resale notes

• Pearls & PJs

• New Collabs, Launches, Investments, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

PFW & final fashion week thoughts

• Tim Blanks wrote a great recap on some of the final shows from Paris Fashion Week for Business of Fashion. There is a lot of love for Miu Miu, especially on social media - and it is well earned. Miu Miu sent out looks we wanted to wear and we felt fit our everyday life. I appreciated how Blanks linked Chanel Virginie Viard’s major chapeaux moment back to Coco Chanel’s hats.

• Just a thought - Chanel seemed to lead with the Brand by showing a celeb studded (Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt) movie vs leading with clothing/looks. It shows how strong the Chanel Brand is (I’m purposefully using the capital B in brand) and it is the Brand that helps sell the handbags (major volume driver) the beauty (major volume driver) and accessories in general - including shoes (major volume driver.) I’m not saying the clothing isn’t important, it just isn’t the first (or second) thought when I see this show. Although I am loving the shearling jacket with the shearling bag.

• Personally I have complicated feelings with Balenciaga but it was interesting to see the unique and original invites that were sent via eBay (as Rachel Tashjian reports, Demna is questioning what value items hold in a digital world.) (gift link to read behind paywall)

• After a few weeks of talking about how much we love the everyday and functional looks (we do! I do!) there is also the FASHION moment of seeing clothing on the runway that is meant for the runway and the spectacle of it all. From the article linked above, Tashjian wrote about this being one of Comme des Garcons best shows and how much it made the audience think. “Comme shows are intellectual playgrounds: You come in and your mind turns on, asked to travel and probe. I thought about the way people — especially women — are their own worst critics.”

• And Tashjian’s thoughts on Sean McGirr and what he needs to do at McQueen.

• I loved

  Emilia Petrarca

  recap of Fashion Week looks and it seemed like she jumped out of bed, threw on pearls and was ready to (fabulously) go about her day. Inspiration from Miu Miu setting the tone to the day.

This Week's Topics:  

• Wrapping Up MFW News

• Early PFW News

• Trends for Spring and into next Fall

• New Collabs, Launches, Acquisitions, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Wrapping Up MFW News

• Rachel Tashjian’s MFW round-up in the Washington Post was shared often this past week because it is a great article! “The Reality and Delusion of Milan Fashion Week.” Highlights:

  • My favorite quote “Prada and her co-creative director, Raf Simons, have spoken a lot lately — and especially with the collection they showed Thursday — about the importance of the emotional reaction over the intellectual experience. But what hits you when you see their clothes are the kinds of wild, interrogative and imaginative conversations — about womanhood, trends and history — that led to the strange garments before you.”

  • We look to Miuccia Prada not just as an intellectual but as the ultimate trend-setter. When she showed bows down the runways not only did we think “more girl-core” but we wondered what statement she was trying to make. Why after seeing the proliferation of bows all over TikTok (I mean, ice cubes with tiny pink bows tied around them!) did Prada show a pink loose sheath covered in pink bows?

  • Curious - how do we feel about fashion & reality? Do we look to the shows for an escape? To fashion, in general, for an escape? I have so many conflicting feelings here.

  • Miu Miu shows in Paris on March 5th. More Miuccia Prada to come.

• Rory Satran wrote for the WSJ about MFW - quiet luxury, Brunello Cucinelli’s “gentle luxury” and the term I’ve heard most recently and love is “easy elegance.” Prada and the remix of an earlier era (Jackie O inspired shifts, recognizing 1913 as the year Prada leather was founded) and the everyday allure. Very into the oversized clutches at Jil Sander. (Grab the look now.)

• Vanessa Friedman reports for the NYTimes (gift link for article behind paywall) that there is a vibe shift leaving stealth wealth/quiet luxury and heading into more expression in dressing.

• I love a good history lesson and Vogue shared more about Gucci handbags written by Lilah Ramzi (h/t to Grace Atwood). I noted recently that I was seeing a lot of the Jackie handbag and this week I’ve noticed the Chain Horsebit popping up more. (See Allison Bornstein looking amazing in the image below.)

This Week's Topics:  

• LFW News

• Let’s talk trends

• New Collabs, Launches, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

LFW News

• Big news from London on Burberry

  • Agyness Deyn opened the show - which is a nostalgic nod for the brand as she was the face of Burberry in the mid 2000s (a great piece on Deyn from The Cut written by

    Emilia Petrarca

    ) you can also read The Cut’s insights on the Burberry show here.

  • Burberry partners with Harrods to take over the store - with many exclusives available including this tote. The takeover is to celebrate Harrods 175th anniversary and the green color is to highlight the famous shade of the department store logo. More from Wallpaper here.

• Business of Fashion wrote about the 40th anniversary of London Fashion Week and the sentimentality of it all.

• The NYTimes also wrote about the nostalgia of the 40th Anniversary of LFW (gift link to read behind paywall) and a few things to note:

  • red/wine was a trending color - really loved it at Roksanda where it felt like a chic, elegant choice over traditional black, grey or brown.

  • that image of Agyness Deyn first walking down the runway was included in every article and I can almost hear the cameras clicking and journalists taking notes now.

  • with the BAFTAs also held the same week there were plenty of celebs to attend the shows and parties. Really well timed.

• The Malene Birger faux fur jacket from this winter looks to be carrying forward into 2024 with other lovely pieces that make a cozy statement in neutrals.

• I love looking at the street style snaps. Here from Vogue & Phil Oh.

This Week's Topics:  

• NYFW News

• Cultural Moments impacting Fashion

• New Collabs, Launches, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

NYFW News

• The Cut reporting - wow! They are nailing it. This article, “Hanging On By a Thread” Why an Independent Designer today can dress celebrities, win awards, and still be one paycheck away from shuttering - by Danya Issawi is phenomenal. It breaks down all the challenges of being a Fashion Designer/Brand starting out. The expenses, the challenges with DTC (being at the whims of the algorithm), managing both the business side and the creativity. The real costs behind going Wholesale that the Brand has to cover and how difficult Retailers can make it (although it is so hard on the Retailer side too - but we have to work together.) I highly recommend reading it.

• Rachel Tashjian writes for the Washington Post about what is “cool” this NYFW and it is indie designers like Willy Chavarria and Eckhaus Latta.

• I’ll fan girl over Tashjian a bit more, I loved this under 4 minute video where she takes us with her on a day at NYFW.

• Marisa Meltzer (who recently had her book Glossy published - you can review my Retail Diary Book Club on that here) wrote a piece for the NYTimes that was shared many times over. And for good reason. American Sportswear has been really strong and growing, and Fashion Designer Daniella Kallmeyer is one of the amazing designers responsible for this moment. With the attention grabbing title “Lesbian Chic, for All” is a great read to learn about the Kallmeyer client, the tip that opening her pop-up across the street from Aesthetician Christine Chin helped launch with the ideal customer for her line and I loved learning that we both studied at the London College of Fashion.

This Week's Topics:  

• Resale News

• Shining Bright: Lab Grown vs Mined 💎

• New Collabs, Launches, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Resale News

The RealReal

• The RealReal has made a few changes to their site as they continue to push towards profitability and growth. I had noticed the ads at the top of the site for Safeway, Facetune AI and other seemingly random sites and links. This week I noticed a new feature that feels more inline with the shopping experience.

• Powered by xCover you can now pay extra (TRR with the upsell feature) to make Final Sale items returnable. For example, on this $5,000 Chanel Mini 22 Hobo you can pay $580 to have the option to return. You will still have to return within 7 days of receipt and pay $14.95 to cover return shipping. It is an interesting insurance business model.

• This appears to only be on high in-demand items that usually aren’t available for return vs items that are heavily discounted before they are removed from the site for not selling and final sale for that reason.

This Week's Topics:  

• Fashion + Retail + AI

• Luxe News

• Watch this

• Sports but make it Fashion

• New Collabs, Launches, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Fashion + Retail + AI

There is certainly a hot debate around AI. My favorite quote can be summarized as “AI isn’t going to take your job, but someone who knows how to use AI will.” I love it for the ability it has to unlock mundane tasks and make them simpilier (much like spell check for me personally) but also opportunities to improve many ecommerce features. Lily AI is one example. As I am interested in this topic and trying to learn as much as I can, here are a few articles and pieces I’ve discovered.

• Business of Fashion tackled the recent controversy when Selkie designer and founder Kimberley Gordon used AI along with her own original art to design prints. Frustration from others was likely due to the fact that 1) the brand wasn’t upfront that AI was used and 2) people felt that AI was used in place of a human artist - although that is debatable if she would have hired another artist. This quote sums it up well “For all the excitement around AI’s possibilities, there’s also a great deal of fear and distrust…”

• TechCrunch tackled the Selkie and AI conversation here.

• This article for Vogue.com by Joy Montgomery is a fabulous example of how important the prompts are. Montgomery asks ChatGPT to create her looks for each day and she gives specific prompts and interprets them.

• Retail Dive writes about Etsy’s latest launch, Gift Mode. Gift Mode uses both human curation and AI to offer suggestions for gifts. This is very similar to the quiz prompts that many ecommerce sites use. I tried the Etsy Gift Mode and it was okay, but perhaps because it is still too generic to really help more than just using the search bar and filters that the site already has.

• Jill Standish from Accenture spoke with WWD to talk about ways to use AI in retail. I like that she also shares the same idea that AI isn’t coming for your job, but someone who uses it well will. Using AI as a tool to improve and help solve business challenges is a great way to drive positive business results.

• I’ve heard examples of brands using AI to upload best seller designs from one season and ask the program to use that as inspiration to design best sellers for the next season. Norma Kamali is using Maison Meta to upload her 50+ years of designs and inspiration so that when she does step away from her business, the brand can continue to recreate new designs using her style.

This Week's Topics:  

• Couture Fashion Week News

• Shopping Notes

• Styling Trends this week

• Taste and Style-setters

• Brands, Marketing, Women & Finance

• New Collabs, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Couture Fashion Week News

• John Paul Gaultier invited Simone Rocha to be a “guest designer” for the couture show. It was exciting to see another designer take on the responsibility of designing for a living designer. More from Vogue here.

• Didier Ludot is celebrating 50 years with his vintage shop in Paris. It is a true treasure and I’ve been lucky enough to visit. This article in the NYTimes about his shop and experiences is a delight. I loved reading about him fitting and selling a dress to Reese Witherspoon for her to win an Oscar wearing in 2006.

• Vanessa Friedman wrote about the “Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses” exhibit at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs on display through the end of April.

This Week's Topics:  

• Beauty and Tweens & Teens

• Award Season Highlights

• Luxury Fashion News

• Calvin Klein Ads Controversy

• New Launches, Collabs, Corporate Moves & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Beauty and Tweens & Teens

I’ll leave the parenting insights to the experts, but I want to mention that I first fell in love with Retail as a middle schooler in awe of The Body Shop and what Anita Roddick built. This manifested as me wanting to visit every single ‘The Body Shop’ store I walked by, read her book and pore over the catalogs. It is so cool when we look back to see what experiences later shape us in our career choices. So perhaps the tweens and teens in love with Sephora and skincare could become the next beauty lab chemist, dermatologist, beauty retailers, beauty founders, aestheticians or makeup artist.

• The Cut article on Tweens and Sephora “Shopping With Sephora Tweens After School”

• Jessica DeFino

  who writes

  The Unpublishable

  on Substack and is a beauty writer for The Guardian, wrote “Ask Ugly” I’m getting ads for beauty products for my baby. Infants don’t need skincare - do they?”

• Warning, this is a long podcast! But I like listening to Once in a Millennial author/Be There in Five podcast host Kate Kennedy ramble (in the coolest way possible) about pop culture. She does an excellent job talking about the nostalgia, pop culture connections and falling down the rabbit hole. The episode is also appropriately and cheekily titled “Sephora the Explorer.” Diving in deep (so deep) to tweens and Sephora/beauty.

• Gloss Angeles podcast chatting about Sephora and Ulta and opportunities around Gen Alpha.

This Week's Topics:  

• Shopping in 2024 - Cooler, Smaller and Weirder

• Luxury Retail Updates

• Initial Holiday Sales #s

• New Launches, Collabs, Corporate Moves & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Shopping in 2024 - Cooler, Smaller and Weirder

I kicked off Substack Chats with a link from this article from Rachel Tashjian in the Washington Post (gift link) titled “How we’ll shop in 2024: Cooler, smaller and weirder”

• Highlights from the article:

  • Luxury Business Shift: how the consumers are shifting behaviors due to increased pricing from inflation and changing consumer behavior to more affordable categories - especially beauty.

  • Bifurcation of shoppers: True luxe shoppers not balking at the price points vs consumers shopping for entertainment and joy and affording the entry price points of brands (beauty and small leather goods, for example.)

  • Rise of Independent Boutiques: Independent retailers, offering unique and reasonably priced items, saw success as consumers sought alternatives to big luxury brands.

  • Shopping inspiration: Love love love that Tashjian called out some fabulous writers

    Leandra Medine Cohen

    Becky Malinsky

    and

    laura reilly

    for where we are getting inspiration as the “new guard of shopping newsletters” vs traditional fashion market pages (although I’m still reading magazines too.)

• I’m excited about these shifts as it opens lots of new opportunities for retail disruption. Retail entertainment is bringing immersive and engaging experiences into shopping - this can drive loyalty and create memorable moments for a shopper that they want to talk about with others.

• This WWD article further discusses the luxury shopping experience and how when stores deliver the customers will visit - shown by an uptick in foot traffic in London’s West End shopping district at its highest since 2019.

• Join the chat - I’d love to hear what boutiques, brands and retailers you think are providing exceptional service to all customers and who is nailing the experience and entertainment to shopping?

  Tiffanie Darke

  shared Agora, her boutique in Ibizia “We treat it like a live magazine, telling the stories of fashion and sustainability and it's as much an event space and a hangout as it is a shop.” and

  Liz McKay

  (author of a newsletter I love Bad Influence) mentioned A Current Affair vintage show that pops up a few times a year in LA and NYC.

This Week's Topics:  

• 2024 Predictions

• Closing Up 2023

• Notes on Shopping and E-commerce

• New Launches, Collabs, Corporate Moves & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

2024 Predictions

• This week I watched Scott Galloway review his 2024 predictions (over 100 slides) and his biggest trend and prediction of the year was GLP-1 drugs (Ozempic, Mounjaro, etc) and the impact from that on the consumer industries at large.

  • Retailers/clothing and consumers needing new sizes

  • Healthcare related changes - less reliance on services like dialysis treatments and other supplements and weight loss products, impact to food and beverages (less interest in alcohol so alcohol sales go down, etc) but protein shakes interest increases.

• Then, I saw Dan Frommer’s New Consumer Trends predictions, he also highlighted GLP-1 drugs/weightloss as the #1 trend for 2024. He has a deep dive in his presentation here. Also worth a review in his presentation are the importance and insights around TikTok Shops.

• The Business of Fashion x McKinsey 2024 Predictions are out also and another trend all of these have in common is the continued importance of Travel as a luxury people are splurging on. I love the insight that a way for brands to take advantage of this is to create luxe and special experiences and pop-ups in high traffic travel destinations.

• AI is an area fashion and retail need to pay attention to. As BoF mentioned, it is likely still very early, but there are so many use cases and possibilities for this in search, discovery, content creation, product innovation etc.

• The Art and Science of Hyper-Personalised Shopping article from BBC (found via Lauren Sherman’s The Line Sheet)

  • The more a customer shares – knowingly or unknowingly – with a brand, the more tailored their experience will be. 

  • From a McKinsey study:

    • 78% of customers said personalised communications from a brand made them more likely to re-purchase, plus recommend the brand to friends and family.

    • companies that excel at personalisation generated 40% more revenue from those activities than those who did not.

• I have fun exploring the Pinterest Predicts trends - it is interesting seeing what specific searches are trending on Pinterest. New this year, Pinterest opened a Pinterest Predicts Pop-Up Shop which showcases their relevance in the shopping journey and their ambitions to move into the commerce space.

• Stitch Fix shared their 2024 trend forecast (personally I love that they partnered with stylist Allison Bornstein for editorial content.)

• CommerceNext shared their tech heavy 2024 emerging trends.

This Week's Topics:  

• Holiday Sales Data Recap

• 2024 Predictions - Curated from the media

• Mashburn Magic Moments

• New Launches, Collabs, Corporate Moves & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Holiday Sales Data Recap

Let’s start and set the scene: This NYTimes article shares how the biggest retailers are prepping for the holiday season/holiday rush.

• This article from Axios is easy to digest with all the high level Black Friday - Cyber Monday sales and the trends expected to continue. What you need to know

  • online spending was up, over LY

  • spending this holiday season expected to continue

  • earlier thanksgiving date and favorable weather helped increase shoppers spending

  • Holiday shoppers claim to have half of their shopping left to do for the season

• Forbes trends that defined Black Friday

  • sales started earlier

  • advertising costs were higher - becoming more competitive

  • ecommerce sales grew faster than in store

  • inflation’s impact on sales (more on that below)

  • Black Friday is still the big sales day vs Cyber Monday (makes sense, many consumers off work Friday and not as much Monday.) Friday = online + in store and Monday = online

• Via Forbes: Retailer performance is all over the place. Some luxury brands are indicating that sales are strong and the business is performing, while other brands are feeling the impact of higher prices. From this Forbes article about pre-Thanksgiving week performance, Retailers were cautiously optimistic because they felt they had a tighter (perhaps more conservative) approach to inventory ahead of the Holiday season vs years past. The article includes several data sources if you are looking to dive even deeper into trends and insights.

• This Glossy article Brands prepare for a discount-heavy holiday shopping season has data from Adobe and states that sales were already up 6% year over year with retailers launching earlier Black Friday deals. The belief is that this just pulled sales up but discounts might be longer time frame but a less steep discount (example, 20% for weeks and one day at 30%.) And post BF sales recap from Glossy here increase from 55% to 60% of online sales were done on mobile vs LY. One point this article also made is that when shopping for deals, it is easier to scour the web vs looking for the best deals running around to local stores. A 14% increase from LY on Afterpay for $70 million spent buy now pay later.

• More Adobe data in this Retail Brew article, which also stated that Millennials were more likely than older demographics to shop in person.

• I’m also listening to The Daily podcast The Bad Vibes Around a Good Economy and while the economy might be “good” there are so many other factors to consider (inflation, income inequality, debt burden, job insecurity, quality of jobs, etc.)

• In the realm of fashion, Blackbird Spyplane sparks a sophisticated dialogue on the impact of sales strategies. Take this quote from the article “Put more bluntly, sales allow brands to sell clothes they shouldn’t have made to people who don’t actually want them.”

This Week's Topics:  

• Sanchez & Bezos in Vogue Magazine - Blast Off 🚀

• Latest on Tory Burch

• Shop Pre-Owned Chanel Couture

• New Launches, Collabs, Corporate Moves & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Sanchez & Bezos in Vogue Magazine - Blast Off 🚀

• You can read the article written by Chloe Malle for Vogue here. (If you don’t feel like reading, I totally support that. Just know there are a lot of outer space references and a wildly ridiculous clock Bezos built.)

• I really enjoyed journalist Amy Odell’s substack

  Back Row

  talking about the Vogue piece.

• Clarifying a personal curiosity - Bezos and Sanchez front row at Staud NYC Fashion Show wasn't about Amazon & Fashion but the connection to Sarah Staudinger and Ari Emanuel (Endeavor CEO). Interestingly, Sanchez's ex, Patrick Whitesell, is Endeavor's executive chairman.

• I’m sure there are plenty of funny memes on social media, but I’m still on my break. If you see any good ones please send my way.

This Week's Topics:  

• The (Phoebe) Philo Files

• SKIM this

• Fashion 🌀 Spiral Revisit - American Sportswear

• New Launches, Collabs, Corporate Moves & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

The (Phoebe) Philo Files

I mentioned in my “This Will Be Quick” Monday 10/30/23 newsletter that I was diving into all things Phoebe Philo launch (her site launched selling products on 10/30/23)

• Multiple media accounts compared her blazer shapes and shoulders to Fashion Designer Claude Montana. (i-D 2022 article on Claude Montana and the ‘80s look. I expect his vintage pieces value to now go up and see a nice resurrection.)

• WWD - First Look at Phoebe Philo’s New Collection

• Who What Wear - Phoebe Philo is Back, and She Brought With Her My End-All-Be-All Wardrobe

• Business of Fashion - Phoebe Philo: the Big Reveal

• Vogue - Phoebe Philo’s Eponymous Debut is Confident, Uncompromising Delight.

• NYTimes - Phoebe Philo’s First Collection: A Review

• Glossy - Phoebe Philo’s Business Model is Based on Limited Collections and Product Drops

  • TL;DR (too long, didn’t read)

    • (from BoF) “High margins, no unsold inventory. And a sense of urgency: grab ‘em or they’re gone. The second edit, A2, will follow in Spring 2024, with future edits to come at yet-to-be defined intervals.”

    • (from Vogue.com) “At first viewing, she has delivered what we’ve hoped for: a powerful punch of imagery and silhouettes to set your mind whirring; the Phoebe Philo tang of oddness, eroticism, and humor she so cleverly secretes amongst clothes that are just perfectly wearable.” and “…Phoebe Philo is born not just as a complete collection, but as a new luxury fashion house. It has its own in-house atelier and perfectionist standards to equal the best of Paris…”

    • (from Vogue.com on details of the Philo line) “What appears today is the first tranche of what the company is calling Edits; a series of three online releases, labeled A1, which are to appear from now to December. A2 will arrive through spring and so on. It is only ever going to be available on PhoebePhilo.com, and is intended, in an anti-trend sort of way, to be seasonless, “to create a product which reflects permanence.””

    • (from WWD, pricing details) “Retail prices for A1 range from $1,400 to $2,400 for trousers; $2,200 to $8,500 for dresses; $3,600 to $4,800 for knits; $3,600 to $4,500 for tailored jackets; $6,900 to $12,000 for leather jackets, and $16,500 to $25,000 for shearling jackets. Shoes run from $1,100 to $1,750 and handbags from $3,500 to $8,500.”

This Week's Topics:  

• Birken-Stock

• New Launches, Collabs, Funding, Corporate Moves & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

Birken-Stock

• Birkenstock, the iconic sandal brand, has a history as comfortable as its shoes. Founded in 1774 in Germany, it's been making strides in fashion for centuries. The 1960s saw a hippie trend embracing Birkenstocks for their comfort and groovy style, while the '90s brought them to the mainstream. Fast forward to 2021 when they collaborated with designer Rick Owens, sparking a high-fashion revival. With comfy cork soles and a dash of pop culture, Birkenstock remains a timeless favorite in the world of fashion and retail. In 2021 L Catterton acquired Birkenstock.

• The rumors of Birkenstock’s impending IPO began in July 2023 (rumored to be over $6 Billion) and then filed in early September. NPR has details on “the oldest start-up on Earth.”

• News from their IPO on October 11th:

  • NYTimes

  • Two articles via the WSJ: on the “frumpy” Boston Clog and why Americans are obsessed with Birkenstock.

  • Dan Frommer wrote about it in the New Consumer - and while many were ready to sound blah at another “fashion” or “retail” IPO Frommer writes about why it is a win. “What actually happened: Birkenstock issued stock in its public offering at $46 per share, around the midpoint of the $44 to $49 per share range it was considering.”

This Week's Topics:  

• Paris Fashion Week Wrap-Up

• Vuori News

• New Launches, Collabs, Acquisitions & More

• What else I ❤️️ 

Paris Fashion Week Wrap-Up

• There was so much written the last two weeks about women designers and their ranks in the fashion industry.

  • Rachel Tashjian wrote her Perspective for the Washington Post “We Need More Female Fashion Designers.”

  • Lauren Sherman also wrote about women in fashion creative/women at the top in her Puck Line Sheet newsletter "Much has already been written about what McGirr’s appointment says about the industry: there are plenty of women and people of color working in fashion, but at the top, it’s still pretty much all white people, and mostly men. At Kering, every major creative director is a white guy." And I'll say it again, if you haven't subscribed yet, do it now.

• Rachel Tashjian also wrote about major girl power to close out Paris Fashion Week for the Washington Post.

• I love the WWD recap from Buyers/Fashion Directors post fashion week. Here are the big takeaways from the Paris recap:

  • Red continues - so wear for Fall and you will still want to transition it for Spring

  • polka dots - I’ve seen a bunch this summer and Fall and it will also continue in Spring (currently I’m seeing this Doen dress everywhere on Instagram. Buy now, wear now, and still wear next spring/summer)

  • flats are sticking around - and next summer’s mesh shoe will be the Jelly Sandal and see below for a Chanel white ballet flat mary jane that I expect to be super popular next spring/summer.

  • open-to-buy stays conservative or down but thoughtfully investing in the exciting and special brands

  • everyone loved Stella McCartney’s open air market so I expect a version of a marketplace or event to show up in boutiques and department stores IRL as a way to bring foot traffic in and create retail theater.

• Hear Vogue editors give their immediate thoughts on Paris Fashion Week on the Run-Through podcast.

• Similar to trends, we tend to move on swiftly from 'canceled' brands that have made significant mistakes and need to address their issues. Dolce & Gabbana has been one such case in my view.

  Evan Ross Katz

  recap on Balenciaga's journey over the past year is insightful and a great read. Another noteworthy Balenciaga story this week is the runway walk of journalist and fashion commentator Cathy Horn modeling at the show, raising questions about her being able to remain impartial when reporting on the fashion/brand.

• Phoebe Philo set her return date (available to sell for the first drop) on October 30th.

• Sean McGirr named Creative Director at Alexander McQueen to replace long-time designer Sarah Burton who took over as Creative Director after Lee McQueen’s passing.

• I'm curious about two things with the recent Actors' Strike. First, how will it affect fashion shows and red carpet dresses—we saw fewer red carpet designs on the runway. Second, with fewer acting jobs, will celebrities get more creative with brand partnerships or even start their own ventures? The business-fashion connection was evident at Staud, where Designer/Founder Sarah Staudinger is married to Endeavor CEO Ari Emmanuel and Jeff Bezos was in attendance. Read more in WWD's coverage, including insights on UTA Hollywood Agent Dan Constable and the celebrity impact on fashion month.

• Angelina Jolie makes a splash in Vogue with her new Atelier Jolie.

This Week's Topics:  

• Fashion Week News

• Deciphering the Data of Luxury Shoppers

• Tabi Talk

• New Launches, Collabs, IPOs & More

• What else I ❤️️ 

Fashion Week News

• Sarah Burton, who took over for Alexander McQueen when founder Lee McQueen died in 2010, is leaving McQueen as Creative Director. She was his #1 partner prior to his death. She is leaving McQueen after starting there as an intern and then beginning full time post graduation from Central St Martins in 1998.

• Rachel Tashjian from the Washington Post on the Luxury (rarity) of being able to be offline during Fashion Week.

• From the NYTimes I also loved this article (and series of street style photographs) about how this season we saw more “serious” looks on the street vs the over the top peacocking of previous seasons. I saw this as notable due to a few reasons

  • The “quiet luxury” trend continues. Let’s take Sofia Richie Grainge’s sophistication and Gwyneth Paltrow’s courtroom style and put it in a fashion show attendee context.

  • Major trend and increase of American Sportswear Style and functional clothing seen on the runway - trickling into the streets too. On the calendar coming up I’ll be sharing my American Sportswear Style deep dive. I’m getting excited for this and now you can too!

  • If we are talking street style images I just need to mention Bill Cunningham and how much I miss his work, his smile during the shows and his warm personality.

• Looking for a great NYFW recap that isn’t by Vogue, WWD or BoF (not that I don’t love those)?

  Leandra Medine Cohen

  talks about all the interesting pieces and shows. This is a super thorough and in depth recap.

• You know I love Lauren Sherman’s The Line Sheet with Puck News - here is a fun interview with her from…Interview Magazine including Fashion Week gossip.

• There is a new documentary “Invisible Beauty” by Bethann Hardison who co-directed the documentary but also is a model and shares her story from her decades of experience in the Fashion world including the famous “Battle of Versailles.” Lots of press that I enjoyed around this including a podcast interview on The Run-Through with Vogue and Bazaar magazine article and the New York Times.

• Everything we know about Fashion week (so far) from the New York Times is another mini dive into all the details you need to know.

• Similarly, Who What Wear editors recap the Spring 2024 NYFW shows. And if you like to listen to the recaps vs read and hear about how to incorporate them now vs waiting until next season this is the podcast for you.

• Loving this trend of socks being the it item. When socks are trending it has the ability to drive the category up over 100% to LY because of the swings. I also love seeing a trend take off that is 1) accessible to so many 2) low entry price point 3) something everyone can show some individuality with. Congrats and have fun with it Intimate Apparel Buyers!!

This Week's Topics:  

• Store Stories

• NY Fashion Week Commences

• New Launches, Collabs, Acquisitions & More

• What else I ❤️️ 

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Store Stories

• This article from Vox talks about the decline of in store (in person) shopping at brick and mortar and the poor experience. Think inventory shortages, product locked up (increased theft) and long times to wait for help. I think we need to separate in person shopping into at least two categories. Convenience and Necessity vs Discovery and Pleasure. For every day CPG (consumer packaged goods) items or repeat purchases that I’m loyal to brands for, I prefer to order online via Amazon or do BOPIS (buy online pick up in store) via Target etc. But experiential shopping (retail as theater!) we can still enjoy the emotional experience of discovering new items in person. Trying something on and playing with merchandise.

• Along these lines, the number 1 trend in the Robin Report is Experiential Shopping and number 8 are Pop-Ups which also fits into this in-person shopping experience.

• Stores opening in secondary markets - this article in WWD really got me excited to talk about the trends we see and putting the puzzle pieces together.

  • During the pandemic we saw more people moving out of larger cities. We’ve also seen many workers hesitant to return to the office. Making it more likely that people are shopping closer to home and not in major cities.

  • If you are putting in the effort to open a location in one area, it makes sense to scale and open a few in the same region that can be supported by regional managers, etc.

  • In this article they mention Marin Country Mart and the new stores opening there. This happens to be in the Bay Area (near me) and a place I love shopping. So much discoverability, similar shops but also each store has something unique, the service is amazing and you can go and have great food too. J.S. Rosenfield & Co has done an excellent job managing this outdoor shopping center and has Brentwood Country Mart, Malibu Country Mart and Montecito Country Mart in Southern CA. I think this is the experiential shopping that is really special (and luxury - but “accessible” luxury) that is the direction we are seeing be successful in shopping and retail.

  • Fred Segal is being resurrected and a push to grow further post Jeff Lotman purchasing the retailer in 2019. Lotman is friendly with Rosenfield (see Country Marts above bullet point) and Fred Segal will be opening in many of the Country Mart locations. Fred Segal bring lovely memories of being THE PLACE to discover new brands and trends with their cool shop in shop experiences that was always changing and finding the coolest items.

• An interesting read on what is next for Barney’s NY now that Authentic Brand Groups has taken over licensing the name. A collection with Forever 21. In this WSJ article two customers are quoted saying while they haven’t shopped Forever 21 this would lead them to shop there, I’m not convinced that is the case for the majority of former Barney’s NY shoppers.

• Retail CEO roles and the current trend of Women being replaced with Men in the C Suite. This is an important read on understanding how the greater economy is impacting how boards are making decisions and what is still seen as a risk.

• One major brand bucking this trend of male CEOs in this current economic climate is Chanel’s CEO Leena Nair. This WSJ article is a great deep dive into the past year plus with Nair as the CEO and her outside experience - Chief HR from Unilever.

• Will they won’t they story. Hudson Bay Co. (who bought Saks Fifth Avenue) on acquiring Neiman Marcus Group.

• Back to school shopping is expected to increase by $24 Billion from LY and hit $135 Billion. Top trends include jean shorts and clear backpacks. I’m sad to say that clear backpacks are not due to a cool, nostalgic “Clueless” trend (as in the movie “Clueless”) but related to our clueless politicians that are not doing enough to stop gun violence, especially in our schools and to our children.

A start-up story. A family business story. A retail icons story. Reality. Prep (but not prep.) Let's read into it.

"The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J. Crew" by Maggie Bullock order your own copy from Bookshop.org, pick up at a local book store or reserve from your Library.

Overview:

Before Jenna Lyons & Mickey Drexler there was Arthur Cinader and his daughter Emily Cinader launching a catalog business around the lifestyle of Prep without being preppy. If you love reading about start-ups, fashion, American style and business this is a great quick and easy read. Think of it as an extended addition of a Vanity Fair x Women’s Wear Daily article from fashion journalist Maggie Bullock.