Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet. I was gutted to miss Marc Jacobs’ show last night, but thankfully Malique “Malique@puck.news” Morris was there to bear witness. I’m never not impressed by Jacobs and what he pulls together in such a short period of time. He is old-school in that way: He can build a runway collection nearly as fast as he sends out the models.

Malique also has some good West Coast scoops, including news of a departure at Old Navy and a new gig for a former Skims exec. Speaking of Skims, Malique shares how the company is attempting to refocus after it missed an earlier I.P.O. window. I am still bullish that the company can achieve an incredible exit, but it’s going to take some work over the next year. Also, as a little treat, I reveal the all-but-certain next editor of T magazine! It’s a surprise, and a very good one.

Also mentioned in this issue: Kim Kardashian, Hailey Bieber, Cathy Horyn, Will Ferrell, Kate Moss, Brooke Shields, Junya Watanabe, Lana Del Rey, Charli XCX, Usher, Jody Quon, Nick Haramis, Frankies Bikinis, SZA, Jens Grede, Emma Grede, Jamie Salter, Richard Dickson, NikeSkims, Zac Posen, Paula Galperin, Francesca Aiello, Target, Mert Alas, Elsa Hosk, and more.

Four Things You Should Know…

And the next editor of T magazine is…: According to multiple sources, New York magazine’s incredibly well-respected, much-heralded creative director, Jody Quon, is in the process of working out her deal to be T’s next editor. It makes a lot of sense, even if she wasn’t someone we discussed previously. We will get into it later in the week, but why don’t you prep by listening to this episode of Print Is Dead…Long Live Print (I know, that name) featuring Quon. As for T internal favorite Nick Haramis, everyone loves him and hopes he will stay. Reps for the Times, New York, and Vox Media had no comment. Quon did not respond to my Instagram D.M., understandably.

Malique Morris

The Marc Jacobs (runway) show goes on: Remember when the potential Marc Jacobs–ABG deal fell apart, in part because Jamie Salter didn’t want to produce the designer’s fashion shows? Of course it was more complicated than that, but certainly an indication that they weren’t the right match. Marc Jacobs’ marketing is the runway; if you don’t want to spend on that, you’re not going to be able to milk the name for all it’s worth. Also, Jacobs does a runway show cheaply by modern standards: No one really gets paid, and definitely not at their going rate, but his exuberance attracts the biggest names in the business—from his longtime stylist Alastair McKimm to the industry’s hottest casting director, Julia Lange. (As Jacobs likes to say on Instagram, #gratefulnothateful.)

Anyway, Marc Jacobs was ultimately acquired last month by licensor WHP Global in a deal that should be finalized in Q3. And for his last go-around with LVMH, Jacobs produced a runway show on Monday night that doubled as an argument for why these things are still worthwhile. All the suits were there at the New York Public Library to support him: Sidney Toledano, LVMH’s legendary merchant-executive; Yehuda Shmidman, WHP’s chairman and C.E.O.; and Morris Goldfarb, the guy who will be manufacturing Marc Jacobs through his company, G-III.

Like last season, Jacobs listed out his usual references for the collection, including 1970s Yves Saint Laurent, 1990s Chanel, a Junya Watanabe collection, and his own earlier work, too. (Plus a little All That Jazz–era Fosse, a forever reference for Jacobs.) What was amazing about the super-speedy show—populated with neon bodysuits, embossed leather skirts, sheer papery button-ups, gold interlocking chains, color blocking, too-high heels—was how fast and furious those four minutes in heaven spread across social media. It helped that every beauty influencer in existence was there in support of the recent relaunch of that category, but still. When you’re good, after all, the runway show still works.

The Old Navy executive shake-up continues: It’s been weird over at Old Navy for a while now. In the first quarter, the value brand’s sales were flat while the Gap posted a 10 percent year-over-year increase. On an earnings call last month, C.E.O. Richard Dickson placed the responsibility squarely on the team. “In reviewing the season, we did not execute as effectively, and as a result, customers did not respond to our assortment the way that we had intended,” he said, foreshadowing a personnel shake-up. Sure enough, I’m now told that Old Navy’s interim chief marketing officer, Derek Yarbrough, who joined in 2024, departed this week. Alex Kamnitsis, the vice president of creative who reported to Yarbrough, left the company last month. (Gap Inc. did not provide a comment.)

Yarbrough’s exit marks the latest step in a sweeping reorganization. In May, the company created the new role of chief customer officer for former Target exec Michael Francis. As Lauren has reported, chief creative officer Zac Posen’s responsibilities at Old Navy have narrowed recently. The immediate question is who will replace Yarbrough, who was known as a performance marketer rather than a creative visionary.
Frankies Bikinis’ new C.E.O.: Last week, I reported that NikeSkims co-general manager Paula Galperin was leaving the company to become C.E.O. at another startup. It turns out that the company is Frankies Bikinis, the Victoria’s Secret–backed swimwear label. A pretty standardized hot-girl brand co-founded by Francesca Aiello when she was still in high school almost 15 years ago, Frankies Bikinis’ loyal online following gave it a leg up on competitors. In 2022, Victoria’s Secret put $18 million into the business in exchange for a minority stake and a board presence.

I’m told that Galperin will succeed Aiello as C.E.O. in August, with a remit to double annual sales to $100 million. That will include the requisite retail expansion—the brand has eight stores, in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston—and a bigger push into ready-to-wear to offset the cold-weather lulls. The challenge for any startup is to grow its audience without abandoning its original customers. We’ll see if Galperin, who’s never helmed a brand before, and Aiello, a first-time founder who will stay on as chief creative officer, can pass that test.

And speaking of Skims…

Skims Plays the Long Game

Kim Kardashian’s shapewear label seemed destined for a boffo I.P.O., but a series of hiccups and the revival of Victoria’s Secret have made the timing of its exit a bit cloudier.

Malique Morris

For the past two years, Wall Street and Seventh Avenue have been salivating over an expected Skims I.P.O., which would create generational wealth for co-founders Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede and their investors. Last November, the shapewear brand was generating around $100 million in annual EBITDA when it raised $225 million at a $5 billion valuation. This year, it could generate north of $200 million, I’m told. That is a remarkable outcome in a sector overflowing with spectacular failures, and one that seemed to presage an imminent exit into the public market.

But the narrative of invincibility isn’t quite what it was. Skims has seen a mini exodus of key executives in recent months. More recently, Sarah Stroub, the senior vice president of planning who reported to finance chief Andy Muir, decamped to Vuori. And Paula Galperin, co-general manager of NikeSkims, just left for the top job at swimwear startup Frankies Bikinis. I’m told that other senior executives may also be actively looking for an off-ramp. (Skims declined to comment on that speculation.)

Meanwhile, the company appears to have miscalculated consumer demand. In its early days, Skims often produced too little—guaranteeing that product would sell out, limiting revenue but adding to its brand lore. Now an overcorrection has led to inventory surpluses, with unsold seasonal items sitting in its warehouses for months. Skims contests that framing: “We carry two buckets of inventory: seasonal products and always available products that are bought to never sell out,” a spokesperson told me. “Across both, we believe our inventory turns are at a healthy place for a business of our size and stage.”

Nevertheless, there’s an undeniable feeling that the brand has lost some altitude, perhaps as a result of its increasing ubiquity. There’s a growing contingent of customers who have complained about a decline in product quality as the company has scaled. At some point before the NikeSkims launch last year, I’m told, online sales were down at least 10 percent. And the NikeSkims collab, which took years to incubate and went through six iterations before getting off the ground, also underperformed various executives’ expectations. Indeed, when the collaboration launched on Skims’ website, sales were only 50 percent to plan, according to sources with knowledge of the business. (“We missed our forecast on day one. Our assumptions were built on prior collaboration history with Fendi and Dolce & Gabbana,” the company spokesperson told me. “We have corrected our modeling and have hit plan since.”)

The Next Act

Skims is also under pressure from a rehabilitated Victoria’s Secret, whose prolonged struggles helped clear the runway for Kardashian’s success. Skims never became the bra juggernaut we imagined—Victoria’s Secret always led in that category—but it did filch an incredible amount of mindshare. Then there was a reversal of fortune: VS reported 15 percent sales growth in the first quarter of this year, quite a feat when it’s comping over $1 billion in a single reporting period. It even landed Hailey Bieber for its Valentine’s Day campaign.

But Skims is still a massive business and growing. I’m told that overall sales are up 25 percent in the second quarter of the year. As part of a yearslong store expansion, the company plans to end the year with 55 new stores, according to sources. And according to one insider, the NikeSkims line alone is currently on pace to hit $400 million by the end of the year, in line with both companies’ forecasts. (Nike did not immediately comment.)

And while Kim, herself, commands less cultural attention than when Skims launched in 2019, the company has found ways to de-emphasize the Kardashian connection. In recent years, Skims has swapped out its key person for a rotation of celebrities: Kate Moss, Brooke Shields, SZA, Usher, Lana Del Rey, and Charli XCX. Last week, the brand unveiled a series of titillating images of Hailey Bieber in bra-and-panty sets, photographed by Mert Alas, to introduce a new line of stretchy cotton undies. And on Monday, it released a cheeky Nadia Lee Cohen–lensed men’s campaign starring Will Ferrell as Lonnie Hawkins—the fictional golfer he portrays in the upcoming Netflix comedy series The Hawk.

Of course, Skims still has work to do before it grows into its $5 billion valuation. Aggressive brick-and-mortar expansion, a strategy that has fueled growth for many brands lately, should help close some of that gap. In the meantime, however, the company’s C-suite has no choice but to be patient. In March 2025, Jens announced that the brand would wait to I.P.O. until the market was more favorable.

As with anything, success will come down to execution—particularly how Jens and Emma Grede, Skims’ chief product officer, perform as custodians of the brand. The powerhouse couple has expanded beyond the Kardashian-Jenner orbit, with stakes in Frame, The Elder Statesman, and model Elsa Hosk’s label Helsa. But a successful exit for Skims surely remains a top priority. “Emma and Jens and Kim are interested in building a generational company,” a person close to Skims told me, suggesting that it could become a $10 billion business one day. “The idea of short-term optimization is antithetical to that proposition.”

What We’re Reading…

Armani is working with Boston Consulting Group to make some business overhauls en route to its much-anticipated 15 percent stake sale in September. [Bloomberg]

Nike’s results for its fiscal fourth quarter that ended in May were mostly expected. Overall revenue was down slightly, thanks to China; wholesale was up a bit; and Converse posted its usual double-digit declines. But the company managed to recoup some tariff money and quintuple its profits. [Nike]

Cathy Horyn calls out the three brands every fashion person is obsessing over right now: Chanel, Versace, and Phoebe Philo. [The Cut]

Until tomorrow,
Lauren

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