And now for the main event…

Last week, WWD reported that Sarah Staudinger’s much-beloved, in-crowd-for-the-out-crowd brand, Staud, was canvassing investors for a new growth round of financing. This seemed like a logical next step for a canny founder and talented designer who has already established product-market fit, is launching a new athleisure line, has a rainmaking husband, and enjoys blue chip investors, too. Staud, after all, is a profitable company with around $130 million in annual, actual revenue that’s known for making widely appealing clothes that aren’t too serious, but aren’t too tacky, either. Even its latest line, Staud Sport—which I previewed a few weeks ago—seems in on the joke about modern activewear: i.e., that it’s worn by Brentwood and Greenwich moms during carline rather than, say, ultramarathoners or dedicated canyon hikers. (Or the overachieving types who land in the center of that Venn diagram.) “For our customer,” Staud told WWD, “hydrating is sport, WFH is sport, motherhood is sport and we want them to look good in every capacity.” Anyway, an unfair amount of the Staudinger story has focused on her Cher goddaughtership or marriage to Endeavor co-founder Ari Emanuel and his ability to leverage his personal relationships in support of the business. True, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez don’t attend that many fashion shows, but the Los Angeles–based brand has spent a decade capturing the advanced contemporary market—the industry term for the healthier-margin tier between luxury and contemporary. (Their $450 cashmere sweaters, for instance, hit the sweet spot of attainable luxury, delivering quality without sticker shock.) Staud has managed to keep inventory tight enough to avoid excessive discounts or markdowns and built a strong wholesale business via partnerships with Shopbop, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Mytheresa, to name a few. Staud has also cracked the handbag code. What started with the viral bucket bag—the Moreau was basically a leather planter inside a crocheted tote with leather handles—evolved into the ’90s-style Tommy bag, a significant revenue driver priced at $250-$350. Like the Fendi baguette, it’s virtually a collector’s piece, with endless designs and iterations on a classic silhouette. The accessories strategy built on what Staudinger learned during her time as the fashion director at Reformation: good, sexy clothes sell—especially when a brand doesn’t take itself too seriously. At Staud, she quickly capitalized on the fact that fairly priced, high-margin handbags sell even better. More than anything, Staud is a brand that knows itself and its customer, having already successfully expanded into swim, eveningwear, bridal, and bachelorette weekend looks. (Their collabs with New Balance and Keds led to the launch of Staud Sport.) This new financing will presumably facilitate further growth in these established categories while ramping up its retail presence beyond the eight locations Staud has now.

Also, the executive dynamic is remarkably cohesive. The partnership between Staudinger, president Jon Zeiders, and co-founder and artistic director George Augusto demonstrates how aligned leadership can accelerate growth where there is easy access to capital. Their shared vision and complementary skills have created a foundation for scaling without the internal friction that often plagues brands with this sort of momentum. In the process, Staud has mastered multigenerational appeal. Unlike many (advanced) contemporary labels that skew strictly young or mature, Staud’s designs feel fresh enough for younger customers while maintaining the sophistication and quality to attract an older clientele. And despite her marriage to a legit mogul and Elon Musk buddy, Staudinger herself maintains an unaffected presence that infuses the brand with authentic humor and relatability—a rare quality in fashion. The company also benefitted from experienced early supporters. Chris Burch, who, I’m told, owns approximately 30 percent of the business through his Burch Creative Capital entity, famously helped launch Tory Burch until the couple’s divorce interfered. He’s also supported other consumer brands such as BaubleBar, Solid & Striped, and the now-closed, insider-beloved Trademark—his daughters’ line, where Zeiders, a longtime Burch exec, was C.E.O. From the earliest days, it always seemed like Burch was helping Staud follow the Tory Burch roadmap by relying on his deep industry knowledge and relationships with strategic partners in manufacturing and retail. (Installing Zeiders, a sourcing expert, as president, is yet another data point.) He has helped scale the company through its critical growth phases in ways that no private equity player could. I hear that Burch will use this new round to reduce his stake and take some of his money off the table. (Both Burch and Staud declined to comment on the size of his stake, only to say that he remains one of Staud’s largest investors.) Indeed, WWD had the fundraising story only half right. The Staud round is already fully subscribed, I’ve heard, and my best guess is that they are headed toward a 3-4x revenue valuation, which could peg the company somewhere between $400 million-$500 million, and attempting to eventually scale to around $500 million in revenue before contemplating their next steps—a partnership with a strategic, an exit, etcetera. That said, I’ve heard that this round is composed largely of individual investors and family offices, which suggests that Staud wants to maintain creative control and strategic autonomy. Honestly, I would have been shocked if she wanted it any other way.

OTB released its annual results today, and the Renzo Rosso–owned group still appears on its way to a public float, they say. On a brand-by-brand basis, it seems like Diesel and Margiela grew, and everything else was either flat or down. (The company only shared figures for those two brands, nothing else.) The company’s overall revenue—about €1.8 billion—was down around 4 percent year over year. Honestly, that’s pretty good given that OTB mostly sells clothes, not accessories, and still managed to turn a profit. [Inbox] California is making it harder for 11-year-olds to buy anti-aging skincare brands like Drunk Elephant at Sephora. [New York Times] LVMH launched a share buyback program, the sort of move companies usually undertake when they want to boost the value of their stock and placate investors. [LVMH] You already knew about this, but Alastair McKimm has been officially named fashion and image director at large at French Vogue. [Style Not Com] A smart explanation of what has actually happened in China regarding luxury spending. (This echoes what Luca said on yesterday’s Fashion People.) [WSJ] Sushi Park is a very modest restaurant in Los Angeles where the chef is incredibly attentive. (“It’s like the Plaza Athénée in a strip mall,” as my friend put it.) A lot of celebrities go there because it’s low-key and yet always mentioned on Deuxmoi. Now, Saint Laurent designer Anthony Vaccarello, who spends a lot of time in Los Angeles, has arranged for Sushi Park to open in Paris—permanently, they say—in the basement of the brand’s Rive Droite boutique. [Reserve a table here] The Throwing Fits boys interviewed Nikki (Ogunnaike)! They discussed menswear for women and covering Melania Trump, and they made her compare and contrast Condé Nast and Hearst. [Throwing Fits] At the Phoebe Philo Collection B preview this past October, the silvertone letter pins conjured memories of her famous Céline bamboo letter pendants. Turns out, per usual, Philo is tapping into something greater than herself. [Will Kahn’s Instagram]

And finally… Some doctor dude spent hours at Disneyland recording the sneakers that thousands of different people were wearing, and then ranked them in order of popularity. The results say everything about the state of performance sneakers. Until tomorrow, Lauren P.S.: We are using affiliate links because we are a business. We may make a couple bucks off them.

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