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.

Luxe News

Tamison O’Connor wrote a Case Study for Business of Fashion on how Luxury Brands are selling to the top 1%. The multiple splitting of how customer journeys happen is so interesting to me. For example, there is a customer shopping Bergdorf Goodman, Chanel, Net-A-Porter etc but one is going to splurge on a lipstick and fragrance and another is purchasing a cashmere coat for over $5K and not even looking at the price before purchasing. A quote from this article “The top 2 percent of luxury customers drive 40 percent of luxury sales, according to Bain.”
I really enjoyed reading this Glossy article by Jill Manoff about new leather handbag line Métier and how they are building their business. “Leaving breadcrumbs” can be interpreted as showing up multiple times in front of the consumer/shopper they are going after. It can also mean leaving a digital footprint to keep bringing her/him/they back to their site or store. They are also focusing on being warm and inviting vs what luxury fashion boutiques are often considered.

Watch This

Part of the Luxury market that is doing well, watches. Sotheby’s is seeing huge growth in this category by a younger demographic - notably 30’s - 40’s. They specifically call out social media, Instagram, in driving this. I’ve been wanting to dive into the amazing influencers in luxury watches so this seems like an ideal time.
- Dimepiece has re-launched their website. Brynn Wallner launched Dimepiece in 2020 to focus on all things women and watches. Whether it is your first investment watch purchase or your tenth. See the instagram here and a great NYTimes feature from 2021 here.
- Girls O’Clock is another luxury, female focused watch instagram with plenty of watches to drool over.
- Daily Grail follows all the watch styles in pop-culture, celebrity, influencer and luxury fashion. There is a website too where they aim to bring enjoyment and enthusiasm to the luxury watch world.
- For any mini watch obsessed, fashionistas, and honestly any age bracket, check out Watch it with Amandine for a fresh take on a variety of watch styles and the market. (Is it to cheesy to say “she is one to watch”??)
- Watch Girl Off Duty is the instagram of a Luxury Watch Dealer (& lover)
- And the OG, Hodinkee

Images via the sources above and all tagged.

Sports but make it Fashion

Just in time for the Super Bowl, Stoney Clover Lane partnered with ‘47 and the NFL. Check out their instagram too for more details.
More in store, but so excited for this!! And thrilled I called it a few weeks ago. Kristin Juszczyk (who designed that phenomenal jacket Taylor Swift wore to the KC Chiefs game) landed a NFL licensing deal.
This Uber Eats ad with Victoria and David Beckham is brilliant.

New Collabs, Launches, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

Collabed
- Clare V x Mother denim. This is a great collab! Their styles go together well but CV hasn’t had denim in her assortment.
- LoveShackFancy x Roller Rabbit Sleepwear sweet for Valentine’s Day and very on trend with bows and “girlhood” galore.
- Substacker we all love, Earl Earl by Laurel Pantin collabed with Chava Studio on a beautiful Navy Tux Shirt and Navy Boxers. For major inspo check out Laurel’s impeccable and whimsical styling here.
- Jacquemus x Repetto the classic ZiZi oxford with a squared off toe box.
- Thanks to laura reilly for tipping me off to the Tropic of C x Agua Bendita Swim collab with this A++ writing that had me in stitches. “The Tropic of C x Agua Bendita swimwear collaboration is as if Pucci did ayahuasca once and won’t stop talking about it—bikinis, one pieces, and trunks are patterned in tripped-out swirls and more to-the-point mushroom prints, which reprise in delicately beaded tank tops and a sweet selection of matching swim sets for babies and toddlers.” See what she is describing so well here.
Launched
- Millie Bobby Brown is launching a fashion line. Florence by Mills Fashion.
Corporate Moves
- I’m sorry to share that companies are still doing layoffs. Levi’s is the latest I’ve read about as they move the focus to DTC.
- Tiffany Dufu named President of the Tory Burch Foundation via WWD
Stores & News
- Tory Burch opened a pop-up in partnership with Humberto Leon. I love that the pop-up allowed Burch to be inspired to create a store experience based on her most recent collection(s) that might be a departure from her original store designs that have been around for two decades. Articles from Hypebae and WWD.
- Vestiaire Collective announced that it was crowdfunding however they later took this down as it wasn’t available for everyone. Additionally, it was confusing as it wasn’t about the financial needs of the company but a marketing strategy. (Lauren Sherman from The Line Sheet also covered this - her newsletter is top notch!)
- Wildlike piercing studio from Dallas opened in NYC via WWD. I learned that her family owns jewelry boutique Ylang23, which has a fabulous assortment of curated fine jewelry. This shop seems to be a bit more high-end than piercing studio Studs, which has expanded in the past few years. It sits well with Maria Tash, The Last Line and EF Collection. They found a great location for their customer and discovery.
- Are people shopping? The news still seems to be confusing (and saying both Yes and No) but WWD titled article “Consumer Confidence Hits Two-Year High” which seems promising.

What else I ❤️️

Loving Substack because it brings me back to the early days of Daily Candy and Who What Wear with discovery and styling curation. Do you remember the jolt of excitement when the Daily Candy email popped up? What new discovery would you find? And the WWW newsletters that had the cute collages around how to wear a little leather jacket? So many of the amazing Substacks remind me of this.
J.Crew launched a new kick flare a la high sport in multiple colors and length options.
I enjoyed this podcast episode from The Skimm with Fern Mallis (founder of NYFW and former Executive Director of the CFDA.) I appreciated her comment that she knew it was time to leave the CFDA role when the conversations were more about EBITDA and less about how to support creativity and designers. That push and pull in fashion between business and design.
I can’t stop watching Tariro Makoni on instagram. I could listen to her for hours. She is my favorite instagram follow of late.
Obsessed with this beaded jewelry article from the NYTimes written by Libby Banks. Love the styles and the brands featured! Talk about dopamine dressing and the beading as a relaxing, personalized and hand craft moment.
- Brands featured you should check out: Yona Kohen, Don’t Let Disco (love, love, love!), CompletedWorks (a fresh way to wear pearls!) and Carolina Bucci’s Forte Beads.
- Beaded necklaces and bracelets should have a continued resurgence this spring also driven by the cool “styled” and overstuffed handbags on the runways last season that were inspired by Jane Birkin’s personal Birkin (see Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2024. And a Marie Claire Australia article about the inspiration.) Try something new and add a loop of special and custom beads to your tote. I’m always looking for new places to add accessories.

All jewelry labeled and images via sites linked above.

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What's Next?

We’ve got Marc Jacobs’ show on Friday 2/2 and NYFW starts at the end of next week. More Super Bowl shopping since that is coming up on the calendar (and Taylor Swift is back on tour!) Valentine’s is typically a short shopping holiday so we’ll see a burst of that towards the end of next week. Likely why we are also seeing so many fabulous jewelry articles (I’m not mad at it.)

Also, I’m working on my Retail Math 101 newsletter - if you have any questions or want me to focus on anything in particular, add to the comments here or email me sarahshapiro@substack.com. I love hearing from y’all - thank you for all the comments and notes!

Thanks for reading Deep Dive Edition 150

Sarah Shapiro