This Week's Topics:  

• Podcasts I’ve Enjoyed (and What I’ve Learned)

• Store and Brand News

• New Launches, Collabs & Acquisitions

• Announcing: Retail Diary Book Club

• What else I ❤️️ 

Podcasts I’ve Enjoyed (and What I’ve Learned)

• I’ve posted a few interviews with Auroa James. This whole interview (Everything is the Best with Pia Baroncini) is great but I really appreciated the intro where she speaks about the financial challenges and “unfairness” of trying to run a wholesale business with Purchase Orders and net terms.

• Natalie Massenet & Nick Brown from Imaginary Ventures (Massenet was Net-a-Porter Founder) interviewed by Pete Nordstrom on the Nordy Pod. They discuss how they find new brands to invest in, how they got started and even what they are looking for now and how to pitch Imaginary Ventures!

• The Run Through with Vogue interviewed Sally Singer on the September Vogue cover with the Supers. (For another perspective check out this article that ran on Cup of Jo by former Editor in Chief of Lucky Magazine Kim France.)

• Loved hearing about Sporty & Rich, on the Glossy Podcast, launching from an Instagram mood board. The influencer/inspiration account to community to brand trajectory is a different business model and really interesting to hear how it comes together.

This Week's Topics:  

• Tapestry acquires Capri Holding

• More Corporate Notables

• New Collabs & Investments

• Newsletters and Facebook are the new Magazines

• What else I ❤️️ 

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Tapestry acquires Capri Holding

• Tapestry, the holding company that owns Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, is acquiring Capri Holdings (which owns Michael Kors, Versace, Jimmy Choo.)

• This move is to help Tapestry compete with the European major conglomerates (think LVMH and Richemont.)

• This acquisition makes it larger than other US groups. Tapestry will now be worth $12 Billion, VF Corp is at $11.6 Billion, PVH at $9 Billion and Ralph Lauren at $6.4 Billion. (And read more from WWD here.)

This Week's Topics:  

• It’s Barbie’s World - from Collab to new CEO at GAP

• Remembering Jane Birkin

• New Launches, Collabs, Investments & New Appointments/CEO news

• Trends I spy

• What else I ❤️️ 

It’s Barbie’s World - from Collab to new CEO at GAP

• Barbie literally painted the marketing and merchandising world pink. The week after the Mattel movie opens to huge raves (both enjoyment and financially) it is announced that the COO Richard Dickson will be leaving Mattel for the CEO role at GAP.

• In the BoF article wondering if GAP can be Barbiefied I learned that Dickson also worked at my alma mater, Bloomingdale’s. Having a background in both fashion (Bloomingdale’s, Nine West, Jones Apparel) Beauty (co-founded Gloss.com) and turn around stories (Mattel) could be the right mix for the next CEO.

• WWD explores if GAP will be the next cultural moment. If they are ready for their big resurgence.

• GAP is one of the many (many) brands that did a Barbie collab. The movie and marketing collabs feels like it became a real life resume hit for Mattel. I’m certainly seeing a ton of articles and think pieces on the execution.

• In other GAP news, Chris Blakeslee, ex Alo Yoga President, was hired as the new President and CEO of Athleta.

This Week's Topics:  

• Pop Culture Fashion Moments

• Finding Fashion Easier 🕵️‍♀️

• New Launches, Collabs, Investments, New Appointments/CEO news & Bankruptcy

• What else I ❤️️ 

Pop Culture Fashion Moments

• We are fully embracing Tween Girl Summer

• Barbie paints the world pink!

  • Lexi Niko (influencer, Pinterest Marketing, podcaster) broke down on TikTok why we are seeing so much marketing around Barbie and how it came together.

  • The making of Barbie (I mean Margot Robbie’s) red carpet dress for the US premiere. The house of Schiaperelli designs the dream Hollywood Glamour moment.

This Week's Topics:  

• Why is everyone talking about Shein?

• What’s the Store-y

• New Launches, Collabs, Investments, Acquisitions & New Appointments

• What else I ❤️️ 

Why is everyone talking about Shein?

• The fast fashion company Shein has known a lot of controversy. See here and here.

• Most recently to combat the challenges in the US related to their allegations of inappropriate factory conditions, Shein invited selected influencers to visit a factory (that Shein likely prepped…) and post about it on social media. Even more backlash followed. Check out technology journalist Taylor Lorenz as she dives into the Shein Factory Influencer trip.

• Read about it in The Washington Post, NYTimes, The Cut, Amy Odell from Back Row also has a great breakdown.

• And a few parodies of what happened here: via @Ideservecouture on instagram and @colormelovely instagram parody PR conversation.

This Week's Topics:  ​

• New Launches, Collabs & New Appointments

• Everything I Loved ❤️️ 

New Launches, Collabs & New Appointments

• Launched

  • Atelier Jolie, Angelina Jolie launches a sustainable fashion company. The first capsule collection will be with Chloe/Gabriela Hearst.

  • Parent company Williams- Sonoma launches a new brand, GreenRow.

  • Beyoncé is launching hair products.

  • Intimate apparel brand Parade launches an activewear line.

  • I guess it was only a matter of time, Victoria's Secret launches on Amazon.

  • Alice & Olivia launches swimwear.

• Collabed

  • For a podcast deep dive on collabs, I loved this podcast episode from Friend of a Friend.

  • Hottest newest collab - Laura Vassar, cofounder of Brock Collection, designed a capsule collab with Reformation.

  • Sporty & Rich x Adidas collab - shoes sold out quickly.

  • Simon Miller x Mango super popular, citrus inspired, collection.

  • Sézane x Farm Rio - think colorful and french.

  • Rhode x West Elm

  • Stoney Clover Lane x Coca Cola. (I might have secured a few treats myself as a Diet Coke obsessed person.)

  • Rumor is that Clare Waight Keller is partnering with Uniqlo.

• Departures and Hired

  • Edward Enninful announces he is leaving British Vogue as the Editor in Chief. He will stay on as a Vogue advisor and will take on other creative projects. Another article from WWD on Enninful's departure.

  • Designer Gabriela Hearst is leaving Chloé.

  • Stitch Fix announces Macy's exec Matt Baer as the new CEO.

This Week's Topics:  ​

• New Launches, Collabs & New Appointments

• Everything I Loved ❤️️ 

New Launches, Collabs & New Appointments

• Launched

  • The Great launches swimwear.

  • And Staud launches swimwear.

  • Ulla Johnson launching footwear. (I'm imagining a cross between Ancient Greek Sandals, No. 6 Clogs and a touch of Loeffler Randall.

  • Coach is launching Coachtopia, a line focused on circular fashion and sustainability. I'm into the unique shapes and patterns that it develops. 

  • Tiffany & Co had a star studded party to re-open their beautifully designed flagship.

  • Bergdorf Goodman launches a program to support the circular economy in luxury goods.

• Collabed

  • Barbiecore hits Gap. Mattel x Gap

  • Oh Joy! x Rockport

  • Baggu x Laura Ashley (hi mom! half expecting you to get us matching ones.)

  • Saks x Jacquemus

  • Adidas x Farm Rio

  • RMS x Doen

  • Fun and witty home & kitchen goods line - Crate & Barrel x Molly Baz.

• Hired

  • Sally Holmes is the new Editor in Chief of InStyle

  • As a Bloomingdale's alumni I really appreciate reading how the department stores is/should be approaching hiring their next CEO.

  • Stephane Blanchard is named the US President of Chanel.

  • Peter Hawkings Named Creative Director of Tom Ford

  • Latriece Watkins is named Chief Merchant at Walmart.

  • Peter Do named Creative Director of Helmut Lang.

  • Alex Mill named Roxanne Stahl O'Hara as CEO (ex J.Crew) and Mickey Drexler will remain as Chairman.

This Week's Topics:  

• Style is a Hot Topic​

• New Launches, Collabs, Acquisitions & New Appointments

• What else I ❤️️ 

Style is a Hot Topic

• Journalist and stylists are talking about style - because everyone is confused as to what to wear. It is sustainable to wear what you already own, but how to make it look fresh and new? And after years of wearing athleisure what identity do we want to show to the world? Retailers and brands are pushing styles they think (know) will sell and need to move inventory but shoppers still need help putting it all together. Here are a few articles I noticed the past few weeks talking about style.

  • WSJ on how shopping got boring. Retailers are forced to drive through older inventory before bringing in newness and brands are not launching enough new innovation. 

  • Also in the WSJ on how to revamp your wardrobe without buying a thing. They mention one of my favorite stylist influencers to follow, Allison Bornstein. 

  • The Atlantic and why old handbag styles are back and on trend.

  • Women's Wear Daily also broke down WGSN trend's forecast and what they are calling the Future Consumer Profiles. 

This Week's Topics:  

• How to Help 🧡 And Not Give Up

• Gwyneth Paltrow Ski Trial Fashions

• Rich Fashion and Succession

• New Launches, Collabs, Investments & New Appointments

• What else I ❤️️ 

How to Help 🧡 And Not Give Up

• Sending 🧡 to Nashville, but also feeling overwhelmed. When is our country finally going to do something about our gun problem? If you are having a hard time wondering what to do here are some resources:

  • Cup of Jo shared 6 ways to help

  • Emily in Your Phone on Instagram has the simple steps broken down of what to do. This one too.

• enough. Shop Everytown's collection on Social Goods to support their movement.

• Jewelry Designer Brent Neale sold $100K worth of her mushroom earrings and sent the full amount to Everytown. She did all this from an Instagram stories post.

• Lingua Franca and others posted about how we might organize and strike via @chezlesaubergers.

This Week's Topics:  

• Fashion Week and Spring Trends

• And the Oscar goes to

• New Launches, Collabs & New Appointments

• What else I ❤️️ 

Fashion Week and Spring Trends

• A deep dive recap on Fashion Shows with Imran Amed from Business of Fashion

• Some wear now inspo from the Fall 2023 Fashion Shows - Love this recap of how to wear the most recent outfits and why this seasons shows are so wearable.

• Another great article that highlights the beauty of the recent fashion shows but also shares how someone would want to wear in a realistic way - and pronto. Some fun every day fashion in here.

• Humorous spring trends from Cup of Jo

This Week's Topics:  

• J.Crew investigative journalism

• Fashion Week must see

• Innovation in Fashion & Retail

• New Launches, Collabs, Investments & New Appointments

• What else I ❤️️ 

J.Crew Investigative Journalism

• I've posted about Who What Wear's Hillary Kerr's podcasts and how much I enjoy them. Her interview this week with Maggie Bullock is no exception.

• After listening to the above linked interview I immediately pre-ordered Bullock's new (and first) book on the rise and almost fall of J.Crew. The Kingdom of Prep: Inside the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew.

• The interview grabbed my attention with the discussion about Jenna Lyon's and Mickey Drexler's working style - how both of them are creative and business minded and finding that blend was the magic formula at J.Crew. I also appreciated the conversation around how J.Crew defined style in 2009-2010 and was challenged when they couldn't define the next look after that. Embracing of prep style but then turning away from it. 

• Here is the article Maggie Bullock wrote in 2019 for Vanity Fair that kicked off her writing the book.

This Week's Topics:  

• Fashion News! NYFW

• Trends that make you go - WHAT?!?!?

• New Launches, Collabs, Investments & New Appointments

• What else I ❤️️ 

Fashion News! NYFW

• This feels like the biggest news - Phoebe Philo's returning with her new collection in September.

• All the fashion insiders were quoted for the NYTimes article about the glow-up that Tory Burch is currently experiencing. The leader of "American Style."

  • For more about Tory Burch, listen to this podcast from The Cut where EIC Lindsay Peoples interviews Tory Burch.

• I love getting caught up on all the updates. Here is what I've been reading and listening to.

  • Fun podcast chat of all the NY fashion week highlights from the team at Who What Wear.

  • NYTimes has a running list of all the moments at NYFW. Including Thom Browne's spectacular show and Marc Jacob's tribute to Vivienne Westwood.

  • I'm loving the new Vogue podcast The Run Through. The last two episodes had lots of NYFW news and are great listens. This week's here and the previous week's episode I loved the interview with Gabriella Karefa-Johnson on styling the Vogue covers.

This Week's Topics:  

• Skim-ming new CCO and new campaign

• Kate Spade 30th Celebration

• New Launches, Collabs, Investments & New Appointments

• Trend Grab Bag 

• What else I ❤️️ 

Skim-ming new CCO and new campaign

• Skims has proven yet again that they can be of the moment with their campaigns. Their valentine's day campaign is starring the two most recent "galentines" or best girl friends. Two of the stars from the White Lotus. I loved this campaign (written about here by Business of Fashion. And Fashionista wrote about it here.)

• And a new CCO was named. Robert Norton is coming most recently from Moncler. The fact that they specifically call out that he has a focus on brand and business shows us where the focus of Skims is - both in building the stable foundation but also continuing to stay true to what the brand is and who they cater to. A commercial lead is key to building a strategy to maximize the profit and sales.

• This week, Thingtesting dug into the Shapewear category and shared insights into the category that is expected to reach close to $7 billion by 2030.

This Week's Topics:  

• New Years Resolutions Round-Up

• Retail Shuffles

• New Launches, Collabs (and a bit of Partnerships) & Investments

• Wardrobe Investments

• What else I ❤️️ 

  New Years Resolutions Round-Up

  • January 13th is known as "Quitters Day" as it is the day that many people give up on their New Years Resolutions. So congrats if you are still hanging in there! This year I saw more companies using this as a marketing angle and promotion opportunity. Here Cassandra Daily wrote about the trend.

  • Every year companies build out their New Year, New You strategy just like Black Friday/Cyber Monday, Mother's Day, Back to School etc etc. Round up of a few:

    • LoveShackFancy and Reese Witherspoon's Draper James launched activewear. LSF tested the waters first with partnerships with Bandier and Beach Riot (in 2020 and 2021 - both of which I wrote about it as a way to test the space before investing further.)

    • FitOn, an at home fitness app, has partnered with H&M on an activewear collection.

  • A bunch of my favorite fashion focused newsletters have also shared resolutions related to improving the quality of your wardrobe (sustainable!), a no new things challenge - and in the "Wardrobe Investments" section below I'll outline all the hero items that editorial is focusing on.

    • The Great Closet Cleanout from The Love List

    • Wardrobe Icons on how to care for your winter woolens (love the elevated and edited items here.)

    • Would you do a No New Things Challenge? Not sure I could....

    • This NPR (not fashion focused but so good it needs to be listed here) resolution guide is fantastic and so engaging. It has everything.

This Week's Topics:  

• Layoffs and Change

• CFDA new Board begins

• New collabs & store openings

• Rounding out 2022

• What else I ❤️️ 

Layoffs & Change

• If the last 2 days are any indication, 2023 is going to be another shaky year for the economy. Worth noting in the retail world:

  • Stitch Fix - CEO Elizabeth Spaulding is stepping down, Co-Founder and ex CEO Katrina Lake is stepping back in (currently on the board) as interim CEO and they are laying off about 20% of the employees.

  • Amazon's layoffs to impact 18K workers, roughly 5% of the total full-time employees and will impact some of the retail team. 

• And a good read, Vox has a round-up of what you should do after a layoff.

• My favorite work related podcast as of late is Work Appropriate with Anne Helen Petersen for a fresh take on workplace trends and opportunities.

This Week's Topics:  

• New Collabs

• Resale keeps raising $

• Year End Recaps

• Girls Crushing It

• What else I ❤️️ 

New Collabs

• Collabed:

  • Matchesfashion launches Barbour x Chloe

  • Uniqlo x Marni via blog Le Catch and see the collection here

  • Cheeky collab - Parade x Coca Cola

Resale Keeps Raising $

• Archive is the latest retail resale tech company to raise $. Their Series A raised $15m.

• Lightspeed Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures led the round.

• They help brands and retailers create supply chain around resale inventory.

• In resale adjacent news, Rental... Matches Fashion launches a rental program.

This Week's Topics:

• What's Going On At Balenciaga

• Fashion House Shake-ups

• Black Friday Notes

• New launches, collabs & acquisitions

• What else I ❤️️

What's Going On At Balenciaga

• Fresh off of severing ties with Kanye West (over his antisemtic rants) Balenciaga is yet again apologizing and being held accountable for their recent ads (children photographed with bondage items and alcohol. And the spring campaign that had papers regarding the Supreme Court Ruling about Child Pornography.) The CNN article linked above does not include any of the images but a write up of what is going on.

• Fashionista also outlined exactly what happened with a timeline and what has happened since the images were called out for being inappropriate and disgusting. (Again, this link does not include the images.)

This Week's Topics:

• Adidas Roundup

• Ballet Flats & Flats to love

• New launches, collabs, acquisitions & investments

• Podcasts worth tuning in to

• What else I ❤️️

Adidas

• Adidas finally (finally) spoke out and cut ties with a certain rapper celebrity. I've captured a few of the articles and commentary and sharing here.

• Over 180K people signed this Change.org petition for Adidas to end their partnership.

• Some of the best context and analysis I read was from this NYTimes article with multiple journalists reporting.

• WWD article on the end of the partnership and the Business of Fashion article here and here.

• I've heard quotes that Adidas had $250M in annual sales from the Yeezy Brand. And this WSJ article mentions that it represented about 8% of the Adidas bottom line (this WSJ article has a great business analysis of what has happened with Adidas and Nike and their ties with personalities that are antisemitic.) Of course they had to figure out how to handle this, but morally they needed to speak up first and then figure out the rest of the financials. Companies like The RealReal shared they would not resale the products.

• Balenciaga cuts ties with him also.

• Fans now grapple with what to do with their shoes and Yeezy merchandise etc.

• Here’s an idea - for any influencers that have made money off of Gap, Adidas, Balenciaga or any of you know who's collabs and businesses (he also has 5% ownership of Skims) I would suggest announcing that you won’t support that/him going forward and donate all funds from those links etc to Anti Defamation League etc.

This Week's Topics:

• Fashion Trends

• Resale's latest

• New launches & collabs

• Bravo

• What else I ❤️️

Fashion Trends

• Coat Season

  • Clearly editorial calendars were ready to launch the coat material this week. Makes sense for late October, but hard to get excited about when it is over 90 degrees where I live.

  • Goop did a style edit that is well put together. Can't be topped (pun intended.)

  • And WhoWhatWear did a fabulous round-up of the must have jacket style of the Winter. Especially if you live in a walking/outdoor city, this Toteme jacket is the one to have. Sold out at so many retailers.

  • Just found this influencer on TikTok and Instagram. Loving her coat edit on must have styles. A great breakdown of the variety that you can use.

• Houndstooth

  • Cardigan

  • This statement making coat from the Sergio Hudson x Target collab

  • Try just a touch for your tootsies

• Micro Minis

  • Post Miu Miu micro mini skirt from Fall 2022 skirts are staying micro. Denim, black patent and from Miu Miu's spring fashion show.

  • While the coats and houndstooth feels more preppy and classic, the micro mini is not that...

This Week's Topics:

• Having a Karl Lagerfeld moment

• Fall Fashion Trends - Printed Turtlenecks

• Fashion News Round-Up

• New launches & collabs

• What I don't want to talk about

• What else I ❤️️

Having a Karl Lagerfeld moment

• Karl Lagerfeld passed away in February 2019. Then we had a pandemic, now we have the buzz of Karl Lagerfeld having a moment of recognition coming up.

• The biggest news, is that the next Met Gala theme will be Karl Lagerfeld. This Gala will be in May 2023 and the show will be open to the public following that.The exhibit will center around all his designs for brands including Chanel, Balmain, Fendi, Chloe etc.I expect this one to be as big as the Alexander McQueen one (which was big!) Read more from Vogue here too.

• Along with this, it was announced that Jared Leto has partnered with the design house of Karl Lagerfeld to create a biopic of the designer's life. Given Leto's transformations in the House of Gucci and WeCrashed, I expect this to be EPIC!

• Along with these announcements, I think it is worth mentioning that with Lagerfeld's place in culture and the news he has plenty of statements that were less than stellar and some people, like public figure and influencer Jameela Jamil calling him out on Instagram.