Hi, welcome back to Line Sheet. My bags took forever at the airport so I missed last night’s Barneys New York pop-up opening party. (I heard there was a very long line: Who wouldn’t come out for Julie Gilhart and Simon Doonan?) I’m stopping by there, and many other places, tonight, including the Bazaar Icons cocktail party, Zegna dinner, Jacquemus at Nordstrom, Sacai at Bergdorf Goodman, and the launch of the new tennis line, Spence. Finally, if I can manage, I plan on taking a quick peek inside the new Luisaviaroma. Phew.

Can I do it all? Probably not, but please be my accountability partner anyway. Say hi, or send me a text on the new Line Sheet SMS channel. Thank you to everyone who already signed up. If you’re in the U.K. or France and had trouble logging on yesterday, don’t worry, we are working on it! (Yes, you have to be an actual Puck subscriber to participate.)

How nice was Proenza Schouler this morning? I’ll have more on the shows soon. But today, I’ve got the latest on i-D, some intel on Zara’s collaborations strategy—Sqirl x Zara, Stefano Pilati x Zara, and what’s next—and a report on the state of the New York fashion industry. Most importantly, though, my buddy Rachel “[email protected]” Strugatz is back with a readout on which celebrity beauty brands are selling and which ones are failing miserably, complete with never-before-revealed numbers! You’ll be shocked. Rachel is the best. No, really. The very best.

Mentioned in this issue: Blake Lively, Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Blake Brown, GXVE Beauty, Haus Labs, Tom Ford, Haider Ackermann, Hillary Super, Victoria’s Secret, i-D, Bedford Media, Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, Nicole Muniz, Zara, Jessica Koslow, Sqirl, Literary Sport, Spence, Phoebe Philo, and many more…

• I told ya: Weeks ago, I told you that Haider Ackermann was the likely successor to Peter Hawkings at Tom Ford. This morning, the company announced his appointment. Read here and here and here why I think he’s the right choice. More on this soon, I’m sure, but the main points are that: Tom Ford, the man, is happy about it; the industry is happy about it; and the Zegna board is happy about it. Hopefully, customers will be happy about it, too. I have a good feeling.
• Moves at Victoria’s Secret: Newly appointed C.E.O. Hillary Super doesn’t officially start until next week, but I hear that brand president Greg Unis was let go this morning. Chris Rupp, the chief customer officer, is gone, too. Unis, who was there for about eight years, was liked by both the old regime (Les Wexner) and the new (Martin Waters), but he ultimately failed to steer the brand in the right direction post-cancelation. (See: my book.)

  So far, the best thing about Super is that while she is very much in the retail mix, she didn’t grow up at L Brands and therefore does not have corporate Stockholm syndrome. She—or at least the board, since she doesn’t officially work there yet—has started identifying problems and coming up with solutions. A good sign, I think? A rep for Victoria’s Secret said that “this change simplifies our structure and establishes a direct reporting relationship between our new C.E.O. and our brand team,” adding that the cuts were necessary “to help us reach our potential as the world’s leading fashion retailer of intimate apparel.” I mean, not wrong.

• Proof of life at i-D: Today, the Bedford Media-owned magazine relaunched its social channels and website, with Charli XCX and Troye Sivan on the digital covers. Designer Eli Russell Linnetz was the photographer, Claudia Sinclair styled the shoot, and Molly Lambert (a fave of mine) wrote the profile. It looks nice, but… my heart goes out to anyone who has to follow that David LaChapelle New York mag cover.

  As for when print and other things may follow… my guess is 2025. Maybe we’ll hear about the new editorial structure sooner, though, because it’s currently a little unclear to those on the outside. Holly Shackleton, the magazine’s long-ago editor (who returned for a stint earlier this year following the departures of E.I.C. Alastair McKimm and editorial director Olivia Singer), is gone. On the biz side, Dan Fitzgerald, the longtime head of sales (who survived several E.I.C. changes), also left. As one editor friend said this morning, “How can they relaunch a magazine with zero mention of who works there? It is wild to me.” The reality is that Bedford C.E.O. Nicole Muniz is running things with a small team. I suspect it won’t be like that forever, but for now, we have to continue playing the waiting game.

• Zara has changed in more ways than one: With the rise of truly fast fashion like Shein and Temu, Zara—which still boasts one of the most efficient supply chains in the industry—has made a concerted effort in recent years to shift consumer perception. Specifically, the company wants people to believe that Zara clothes are responsibly made and are simply better, in terms of both quality and design, than more expensive alternatives.

  One of the ways that Zara has seduced consumers is through its if-you-know, you-know approach to collaborations. For instance, there’s been zero editorial coverage of Zara’s project with Los Angeles restaurant Sqirl, which launched just last week. Right now, you can buy a Sqirl apron, you can buy a t-shirt printed with a Sqirl receipt, and you can buy a Sqirl tote bag. How did that happen? I asked some people who would know, and they said someone from the Zara headquarters in Spain reached out to the restaurant earlier this year. (One of the designers had visited Sqirl on a holiday and loved it.)

  Chef Jessica Koslow and her team—they sell plenty of merch in-house—were given lots of leeway to participate in the development process, consulting on everything from materials to fonts. While most brand collaborations take a year or year and a half to develop, this happened in half that time. (That’s where Zara’s speedy supply chain comes in. The company is vertically integrated and can turn stuff around in two weeks.)

  Less than a week after the Sqirl merch dropped, news leaked that Stefano Pilati would design a capsule for the brand. (He’s been prepping his Instagram for weeks, as many of you noted.) But I also hear that Amanda Cutter Brooks, late of the recently closed Cotswolds temple to Dôen and John Derian, the Cutter Brooks Shop, has signed a contract with the retailer. (I reached out to reps for Zara and Brooks directly, but didn’t hear back.) What do these three entities have in common? Nothing, in terms of aesthetic. But they all have cultish, or at least rabid, followers.

• Does this mean we can finally stop reminiscing about early-era Outdoor Voices?: Last night before dinner, I managed to preview Literary Sport, a new collection by Toronto-based Fran Miller, the woman behind F. Miller skincare, and her partner, the stylist Jackie McKeown. (It officially launches September 27.) Literary Sport is inspired by technical gear, and running gear, especially. It plays into the idea that while no one really dresses up anymore, we still want to look dressed with swishy trousers, red bra tops, and easy windbreakers. From the sneak peeks I’ve had of the tennis-centric line Spence, which launches tonight, I’d say there is something in the air in this category, although Spence is more technical.

  Are all my audible complaints about the paucity of chic, elegant activewear and casualwear on the market finally being heard? No. The reality is that when you feel that something is happening, more often than not, other people are feeling it, too. And not for nothing, there is definitely a whiff of Phoebe Philo in these lines, especially in terms of color choices and art direction. This is a good thing for the fashion industry, and for Philo, whose power comes from her ability to influence others. (I wonder if there’s an opportunity for a third wave of Phoebe mania after all…)

• What’s wrong with the New York fashion industry?: A lot, of course. Nothing’s perfect. This week, the nonprofit Partnership for New York City—whose members are business leaders aiming to build a stronger relationship with local government—released a report created with McKinsey that offers recommendations to strengthen New York’s position as a global fashion capital. They interviewed about 40 industry executives, creative people, and journalists for the project, including me.

  The big takeaway: “Government and fashion industry leaders must decide whether to make a strategic investment in the industry’s future or risk losing fashion’s defining contributions to New York’s economy, culture, and brand.” According to the report, between 2012 and 2022, the fashion industry’s contribution to New York’s “economic output” decreased nearly 14 percent. To which I say: Of course it did. Fewer garments are produced here than ever. New York Fashion Week isn’t as important as it used to be. Lots of creative people fled New York during the pandemic. Etcetera. You should read the whole thing.

  As for what I think? You can’t go back. Industry leaders need to consider what New York is good for, not what it lacks, and develop businesses and projects around the positives.

But despite countless embarrassing flops—Jennifer Lopez’s J.Lo Beauty, Jared Leto’s Twentynine Palms, Kim Kardashian’s SKKN by Kim, etcetera, etcetera—certain celebrity brands actually resonate with consumers and wind up reshaping the market entirely. Consider Hailey Bieber’s nearly flawless execution of Rhode, Selena Gomez’s seemingly overnight blockbuster Rare Beauty, and, of course, Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics, the 2010s ur-brand considered the blueprint for most contemporary celebrity beauty businesses. Indeed, according to YipitData, four of Sephora’s top 10 brands in August were celebrity or influencer-founded—namely, Fenty Beauty, Rare, Summer Fridays, and One/Size­, in no particular order.

I definitely underestimated exactly how much people hate Lively, but I guess numbers don’t lie. Indeed, Blake Brown’s sales from its July 31 launch through August 25—about three and a half weeks—totaled about $4.7 million, according to Target sales data that was shared with me. And in the last two and a half weeks, sales were over $3.8 million. Sure, those numbers are strong, but it’s still too early to foreshadow the brand’s long-term success. “Anyone will buy it because it’s new and promoted on an endcap,” the executive reminded me. “The key indicator will be the baseline when it’s in its home location.”

Meanwhile, Gwen Stefani’s GXVE Beauty reportedly laid off much of its team earlier this year, and all of its products (sans one eyeshadow palette) are on sale on Sephora’s website. “They’ve really been trying to make it work,” said a person with knowledge of the LVMH-owned retailer’s business. “The Sephora team has spent a lot of time with her to brainstorm on product, etcetera. It’s just never hit and was such small money.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs is in the middle of mounting perhaps the only celebrity beauty brand comeback that I’ve ever witnessed. The affordable makeup line, which launched on Amazon back in 2019—arguably the worst year in recent history to start a makeup brand, given the once-in-a-generation pandemic and contemporaneous shifts in “Instagram makeup” trends—had a splashy Sephora relaunch in 2022. Like other beauty insiders, I was skeptical. Going up market is extremely difficult, and selling via Sephora naturally entailed higher prices. But I was wrong. “They are killing it now,” said an executive with knowledge of Sephora’s business, who was merely one of several people to tell me this lately. “The foundation is really strong. I think going after a subcategory like that was a win.” I’m told that the line is within the top 20 makeup brands at Sephora.

Indeed, according to an insider, Haus Labs’ turnaround is largely due to a focus on complexion (foundation) and a “stacked” product development team that’s about twice as large as a typical brand of its size. Alexis Androulakis, a product developer, makeup artist, and one-half of the Lipstick Lesbians TikTok account, told me that Haus Labs employs “some of the most advanced labs in the market,” allowing them to ferment ingredients, create their own raw materials with suppliers, etcetera, and even does clinical trials, which is even rarer in makeup than in skincare. A spokesperson for Haus Labs didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Until tomorrow,
Lauren