Week of March 18th, 2024
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 ❤️️
🛍️ Quick note: I write a lot (too much good stuff to share!) so if you’re reading via email only, you may need to click through to the web version or read on the Substack app. I promise it will be worth it. 🛍️
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.
Image of Martin Greenfield via The New York Times Obituary linked above
Dries Van Noten
Dries Van Noten announced his retirement this week. I love how this article in WWD by Miles Socha outlines that DVN has a planned succession example in Carolina Herrera, also with Spanish fashion house Puig, that has been successful, thoughtful and respectful. Dries Van Noten has also appreciated that Puig offered him a lot of autonomy, creativity and space to do his work his way. Below I’ll share other articles on Dries Van Noten’s planned retirement.
If you only read one article, make it Robin Givhan’s from the Washington Post “Designer Dries Van Noten’s Graceful, Extraordinary Exit.” (gift link to read behind paywall) So many great quotes, but here is one: “His presentations accomplished something rare and impressive: they appealed to the emotions. He made a person want to wear his clothes with an intensity beyond reason.” As Givhan says in the article, we’ve been watching a legacy house be built in real time.
Style not com’s great Instagram post honoring Dries Van Noten
Business of Fashion “Dries Van Noten to Step Down”
In the mood to shop? Here are a few special DVN pieces to add to your wardrobe: layered silk dress on sale, asymmetrical top that is both classic and surprising, gorgeous wide leg trousers, interesting black sandals that are sculptural and so wearable, sculptural brown sandal at a great height, a piece of Dries Van Noten beautiful jewelry, pajama pants and a matching blazer, what a special piece of DVN to own!!
I expect we’ll see searches and prices increase for resale of Dries Van Noten.
All images via links, Eva Chen via her Instagram and prior Vogue.com runway images.
Bits of Beauty News
New & Recent Launches
Nikki Minaj is launching a Press-On Nail company with her nail artist Yvett Garcia. Pink Friday Nails is inspired by outfits Minaj has performed or worn or designs they’ve done in the past.
Ulta Mexico - this will be the company’s International debut.
The Skinny Confidential, podcaster/influencer/entrepreneur/investor Lauryn Bostick’s brand, has launched mouth tape that has sold out in minutes multiple times. She considers her brand, which is now sold in Nordstrom, Revolve and Amazon, to be a routine brand and not a wellness brand. (Thoughts from Sarah: considering your brand to be “routine” as a category is creative and more self-explanatory and allows you to branch out, but it makes it difficult for retailers to place you in a department. Nordstrom doesn’t have a “routine” category so they will place you in beauty, wellness or accessories with a single merchant overseeing the area. Keep this in mind when you are working on brands - you want to make it easy for Buyers/Merchants if you sell wholesale. Of course this is different if you are a brand selling both clothing and shoes - often two different buyers and the products sit separately.)
Beauty Biz Stories
Only 26% of Households have someone in the Gen Alpha demographic, but that demographic is driving 49% of all Mass Skin Care sales growth. Much more data and insights in this WWD Beauty article. (Thoughts from Sarah: huge opportunity for this space but also fierce competition. You have to have marketing dialed in and it needs to be honest and authentic. And build products that work and solve problems.)
L Catterton is investing in beauty to capitalize on the power of disruptive consumer-driven brands in a competitive market. Led by Elevate Beauty, a fund within its Growth Fund, they focus on early-stage beauty businesses, offering capital, hands-on partnership, and strategic guidance to help them grow into successful, iconic brands.
Rare Beauty brought on bankers to advise and field interest in investments or acquisitions (or IPO). Selena Gomez’s beauty line, valued at $2 Billion is one of the hottest brands with a potential for M&A this year. (I love this brush and both my daughter and I recommend this blush with a light touch.) And for more insights on BoF predictions for Beauty M&A activity this year check out Priya Rao’s coverage from earlier this year here.
Sol de Janeiro, owned by L’Occitane, sales have surged, nearly tripling in recent quarters, driven by its devoted fan base and the body spray trend. Focused on wholesale distribution and limited-time pop-ups, the brand is set to reach $1 billion in sales, leaving behind struggling competitors. Teens and tweens are fueling the hype, shifting their obsession from Bum Bum Cream to the brand's fragrances, as seen in its popular TikTok posts. The Bum Bum Cream is the #1 Body Care item in Sephora - for the last 6 years it’s been the #1 Body Cream. The brand launched in Ulta in January 2024. This Business of Fashion article is fantastic with much more information. (I told my Gen Alpha Daughter which would be her one favorite item from this line and she said this.)
Great article in WWD by Noor Lobad all about Merch + Beauty brands in driving hype around the product. The brand we are all thinking about right now is the viral Rhode Beauty iPhone case. This article goes back to the OG Glossier hits. I think Merit Beauty has also done this especially well. Their well designed beauty pouch comes with every first order on their site. (Which is a great way to drive initial orders and create a reason to buy direct vs through a retail partner.) They have even done a collab with Moda Operandi and Proenza Schouler. It takes the old school GWPs to the next level. To hear more about the designer behind many of the Glossier merch and the Rhode Beauty iPhone case, check out this TikTok deep dive by
.
did this great Instagram reel on Formula Fig and the med spa looks beautiful! What a cool spot that is disrupting the med spa space. (PS
is launching a Substack
New Collabs, Launches, Investments, Corporate Moves, Stores & News
Collabed
For a great review of Collaborations, including the top one from LY (Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama) and insights like 67% of people want to see fewer collabs but more high quality, check out this Highsnobiety article in partnership with Launchmetric.
H&M x rokh and in explaining why they collabed with a designer that could be considered lesser known, head of design for H&M stated “ROKH is less of a household name than, say, Kenzo or Simone Rocha or Mugler, all of which H&M has worked with in the past. But Johansson was particularly interested in the emerging label because of its ability to put an experimental spin on wardrobe staples. She notes that right now, young and old fashion fans alike are interested in really wearing their clothing and investing in pieces they’ll have forever. To her, ROKH is the perfect brand for exactly that.”
GAP x PALACE launches this Friday 3/22. The announcement of the 1990s inspired skater collection was fun, with lots of movement, and a Spice Girl. More here from Fashion Dive.
Ray-Ban x Lenny Kravitz capsule collection for their Reverse line
Bode x Nike Astro Grabber via Complex
Tyler the Creator x Louis Vuitton on a new sneaker.
The RealReal x Apple TV’s newest show Palm Royale is a smart partnership
Launched
Reformation relaunches swim after a 5 year hiatus. They reviewed their sustainable materials from before, which were mostly Econyl last time (only 20% this time) while the remainder of the collection is made of a castor bean-derived fabric called Evo, a bio-based material according to Chief Innovation Officer Alison Melville. This collection feels very Italian Riviera mixed with Old Hollywood.
Law Roach and Julia Fox on a new E! show, OMG Fashun, a fashion design competition show.
Invested
Lily AI raises $20M. Led by Conductive Ventures, this series (a B extension) will help the team to extend its leadership into international markets, expand its social and eCommerce platform integrations, and accelerate the engineering team’s ability to ship enterprise-grade AI solutions across the retail value chain according to Finsmes. (Thoughts from Sarah: I’ve seen a presentation from Lily AI before and I was very impressed. A lot of manual work for site merchandising can be handled by them in a manner that feels like a merchants touch to improve UX.)
Corporate Moves
Balmain CEO has exited the company. Jean-Jacques Guevel has been at the fashion house for the last 4 years.
Speculation around if Michael Kors is exploring stepping down but Capri denies this claim.
I’m still reading on Kevin Plank’s return to Under Armour.
Stores & News
Forerunner published their 2024 Consumer Trend Report. The 201 page slides share details around 3 value trends: Access, Independence and Spendthrift and 1 technology trend: AI.
In an attempt to take the department store private, Nordstrom has asked investment banks Morgan Stanley and Centerview Partners to reach out to private equity firms and gauge their interest for a potential deal. This is to avoid the active investors seeking a takeover bid similar to what is going on at Macy’s.
Hermés is challenged with a class action suit in California claiming that the “requirement” to purchase other goods (silks, accessories, homewares, clothes, etc) before one is able to purchase a Birkin is unlawful. I went straight to Fashion Law Blog for more details.
Kering is bracing the market for slow sales across the board, but especially at Gucci.
On Running opens their first German store in Berlin.
If you love Bravo, and specifically Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, then you know this western/cowboy hat store before I’ve even mentioned the name. Kemo Sabe was featured in an articles in the NYTimes written by Jessica Roy. “The Most Famous Cowboy Hat in the World Right Now.” (Probably a smart time to write an article about “cowboy hats” dropping that Beyoncé has one from the store as there are about to be a lot of searches for those terms together. So if you have an online store and have a cowboy hat in the collection, or cowboy boots, maybe rename them “the Beyoncé” to improve SEO.)
What else I ❤️️
Owner of the fantastic boutique Capitol, Laura Vinroot Poole, has a podcast and I loved this episode with Mickey Drexler. (I can’t seem to find a book written by Drexler with stories, advice and all about the retail industry...might I request one and suggest the title “The Merchant Prince: A mentor and a mensch.”)
Fast Company published their most innovative companies and I always look forward to their curation. Here is Beauty, Fashion & Apparel and Retail.
This article about viral micro mini Free People shorts also mentions that Influencers are flocking to Substack and “substack is the new instagram.” I will admit, I love it here…but also find that you can follow any type of writer and that is what is amazing. (PS the first collection in Free People’s navigation is “micro shorts” so they are clearly doing well. 33% increase in demand and 700% increase in social conversations and 974% increase in reach.)
“Laura Harrier Wants ‘It’ Girls To Go Back To Gatekeeping” from The Cut by Chinea Rodriguez has been shared a lot this week. If you didn’t read the whole article you likely saw the quote “L.A. vintage stores are very picked over, so when I’m in Europe I go to my favorite places, but I don’t want to say where. Controversial opinion, but I feel like we need to go back to gatekeeping. Everyone is sharing way too much information. We’ve all worked hard to find places and a distinct style, and I don’t think it should be given out on the internet all the time. That’s my rant about that.”
I won’t gatekeep these items: this Cult Gaia necklace is a well priced accessory you could wear all summer to mix up a look and this gold Khaite clutch is something truly special. wow!
What's Next?
Spring Stripe Re-Fresh Fashion 🌀 Spiral out tomorrow (Friday) all about the history of the stripe shirt and an assortment of some fun choices. And did you hear, Casa Magazines has a new owner.
Thanks for reading Deep Dive Edition 157
Sarah Shapiro