FASHION
We Need to Talk About LVMH
Despite being the largest company in Europe (depending on the oscillations of Ozempic), the chatter this week around LVMH, from the okay earnings to the Tiffany triumph, has been muted of late. It’s going to take a new creative direction—and return to an entrepreneurial attitude—for industry insiders (and investors) to get pumped once again.
Lauren Sherman
& Sarah Shapiro
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January 29, 2025
Condé’s Middle East Breakup & An Ozempic Runway Mystery
A tidy collection of hot-button fashionworld intel: The dissolution of Condé Nast’s relationship with its longtime Middle Eastern publishing partner, notes on how GLP-1s are changing the plus-size modeling profession, and a dissection of the latest Lyst Index brand and product power rankings.
Rachel Strugatz
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January 29, 2025
Rhode to Retail
Hailey Bieber’s beauty juggernaut is all blue sky and peptide lip treatments, with some deceptively simple messaging, and a brand playbook straight from Skims. A new Sephora partnership could take the business to another level.
Lauren Sherman & Sarah Shapiro
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January 29, 2025
LVMH’s Alaïa Lesson & Taylor Swift’s Luxury Evolution
News and notes from around the fashion industry: A close reading of LVMH’s better-than-expected Q4 and full-year results, observations on Taylor Swift’s increasingly rarefied wardrobe, and a few datapoints suggesting that the skinny jean “revival” might be bupkis.
Sarah Shapiro
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January 29, 2025
Larroudé Awakening
The upstart shoe brand admits it’s experiencing growing pains in its attempt to reinvent—or at least adjust—the way big retail operates. But if their vertically integrated model works, it could yield a cleaner, leaner end-to-end supply chain that its big-name rivals can only fantasize about.
Lauren Sherman
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January 28, 2025
Fashion’s Trump Complex & Hearst’s Quiet Substack Play
A potpourri of industry notes and chatter: the fashion executives feeling giddy about Trump II, an eyebrow-raising Substack gamble from Elle magazine, and a timely dispatch from the wilds of Paris Men’s Fashion Week.
Lauren Sherman
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January 27, 2025
Phoebe or Not to Be, Part II
After a few years of magical thinking, designing, cash-burning, and pivoting, the great Philo experiment is entering its next stage of growth. Herewith, my follow-up on an instantly legendary business with a case of the startups.
Lauren Sherman, Rachel Strugatz & Sarah Shapiro
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January 25, 2025
Chalamet’s Chanel & Pat McGrath’s Misfire
The latest industry chatter surrounding Matthieu Blazy’s potential menswear plans for Chanel, how Gen Z fell in love with Adidas, and the future of Pat McGrath’s beauty business after her ‘skin fetish’ face plant.
Sarah Shapiro
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January 25, 2025
The Week in Shopping: Phoebe Retail & Staud Sport Edition
A lab-grown diamond play, another Alex Mill collab, Staud Sport (!!), and the most brilliant and devious Valentine’s Day marketing tactics yet.
Sephora Sponcon & Terry Richardson’s Return
News and notes on Sephora’s new Hulu documentary series, the future of brand marketing, and the un-cancellation of an industry pariah. Plus: How Wintour confidant Jordan Roth is placing himself at the center of the action in Paris
Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ Beauty Portfolio
As entrepreneurs, the first family of Calabasas makes a lot of beauty bets, from Kylie Cosmetics to Skkn. Now, enough of them are starting to pay off—including the dark horse hit that is Kourtney’s supplement line—to raise the question: Are the Kardashian-Jenners finally reaching their business potential?
Lauren Sherman & Sarah Shapiro
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January 22, 2025
LVMH’s Liquor Problem & The S.F. Retail Apocalypse
Fresh reporting on the building investor pressure for the Arnaults to sell or spin their booze division; updates on a Jonathan Anderson-Dior mystery; and the economic data points behind Bloomingdale’s decision to flee San Francisco.
Lauren Sherman
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January 22, 2025
The Bellotti Jar
Creative director Simone Bellotti had an amazing ascent at Bally, the Swiss leather goods house. But he seemed destined for poaching, and now word in Milan is that he’s on to his next “project”—with roads pointing to Jil Sander.
Lauren Sherman
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January 22, 2025
Oscar de la Renta’s Big Trump Bet
News and notes on the fashion houses dressing Usha Vance and Ivanka Trump, and the American designer behind Melania’s inauguration hat. Plus: Why is Adam Selman leaving Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty?
Sarah Shapiro
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January 21, 2025
The Vuori Reality Distortion Complex
If LinkedIn had a clothing line, it might look a lot like Vuori: bland, technical, sufficiently breathable for crushing those quarterly all-hands from your remote location. But with a big bet from SoftBank (and others) and a $5.5 billion valuation, can the San Diego brand sell enough comfortable, forgettable clothing to keep its investors happy?
Lauren Sherman
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January 20, 2025
Changing the Chanel
While the world awaits the Blazy era, the Wertheimer family is making moves—instituting layoffs, a restructuring, and most tellingly, the appointment of a new board member known for taking companies public.
Sarah Shapiro
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January 17, 2025
Pinks & Links
The most up-to-date themes and trends in retail, from Alaïa to Cos to Hill House Home. Plus, everything else I’m seeing out there and where to get it.