Derris was acquired by BerlinRosen after just nine years, an exit rivaled only by the likes of Lucien Pages and Karla Otto in traditional fashion P.R. Now, as Orchestra’s new president, he’ll be working alongside C.E.O. Jonathan Rosen to apply the Derris method across the portfolio, which includes Small Girls PR, as well as BerlinRosen and InkHouse. (Disclosure: Puck has partnered with Orchestra on the Private Conversation polling series.)

Anyway, Orchestra is funded by the private equity firm O2—founded by Rob Orley, father of my guys and former fashion brand owners Matt and Alex Orley. And while O2 is sort of a family office at heart, with a long-term investment horizon, I assume part of Jesse’s mandate will include prepping the business for an eventual exit of some sort. That probably means more agency acquisitions. So if you want to sell (and I know you do), be more strategic and call Jesse!

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The Brand-Blogging Trend

Fashion and beauty brands continue flocking to Substack. So far, a mix of founders (Hill House’s Nell Diamond, Loeffler Randall’s Jessie Randall, founder and Real Housewife Rebecca Minkoff…), brands (Tory Burch, Madewell, Rare Beauty, The RealReal…), and even founder-brand-influencer hybrid types, like Molly Sims from YSE Beauty, have all set up shop on the platform.

On one level, the strategy here seems obvious. Over the past decade, a growing number of businesses have opted to reduce their reliance on traditional P.R. Instead of racking up magazine credits that are hard to track or waiting patiently for that golden goose Styles section profile, they’ve invested more in their own editorial, marketed directly to consumers via owned and operated channels. (Netflix, a16z, and even the White House all have their own digital newsrooms now.) It’s no surprise that fashion brands are meeting customers where they are—in this case, Substack, home to many style and shopping newsletters.

Of course, there’s a right and wrong way to get into blogging. American Eagle is taking a particularly thoughtful approach, launching a Substack with teen-culture impresario Casey Lewis. But there’s a risk of brand dilution, too, for those who launch without channel-specific strategies or simply recycle content across platforms. American Eagle aside, most brands are not hiring a Substack-specific author, or even outsourcing the task. (Of the ones that have launched so far, Jessie Randall’s is the most convincing because she writes about brand-adjacent topics like design and home decor and isn’t pushing the Loeffler Randall product in an overt way.) It’s one thing if there’s a plan to build a community and convert it into a meaningful revenue stream, but if a Substack just becomes a marketing box to check, it may not be worth the pixels it’s printed on. —Sarah Shapiro

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Openings and Collabs Tipsheet

Next week in L.A., Tory Burch has an opening party for her newly renovated Rodeo location, which carries the latest jacquard styles, jewelry, sportswear, shoes, fragrances, etcetera. The space, designed in partnership with Curiosity’s Gwenaël Nicolas—who also designed the flagship Mercer Street location—features curved walls by Art Groove.

Tory Burch’s flagship on Rodeo Drive. Photo: Courtesy of Tory Burch

Back East, Carhartt Work in Progress just opened their largest store in North America, staking out 4,000 square feet in Brooklyn after outgrowing their SoHo location. (Carhartt, a family-owned company founded in Detroit in the 1800s, has only three U.S. stores. It is on fire.)

Meanwhile, the Upper East Side keeps adding to its roster of stores from a newer generation as freshly funded Staud opens at 78th and Madison (with an exclusive beaded “I ♥️ NY” Tommy bag to celebrate), and new locations are also coming soon in Georgetown and on Melrose in L.A. Out on Long Island, Elyse Walker will have her first pop-up in Southampton this summer, after hosting private events in town. The fires tragically destroyed her Palisades location, so this gives her an alternative spot to play for the summer.

As for collabs, Armani is breathing new life into archival fabrics by partnering with Our Legacy Work Shop, following up on their 2023 collab, but this time with womenswear. Alasdair McLellan photographed the campaign, which combines Swedish design sensibility and Italian traditionalism, on Giorgio Armani’s personal island retreat on Pantelleria, southwest of Sicily. (A reminder: The Stockholm-based Our Legacy joined the LVMH Luxury Ventures portfolio late last year.) Elsewhere, the Fair Harbor x Rothy’s link-up is pretty clear-cut: Both brands make their products from recycled plastic bottles, the designs are complementary, and, as usual with collabs, each brand is leveraging the other’s following to expand their own name recognition. —Sarah Shapiro