Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet. Another day, another debut. Tonight was Dario Vitale’s first Versace outing. I’ve got lots to say about the Milan shows, so stay tuned for Monday’s issue and a very special episode of Fashion People early next week.

Today, Sarah Shapiro gossips with Sephora store employees and gauges the likelihood of a Kate Spade New York revival. She also evaluates the validity of two nostalgia-laden collaborations that launched this week and tracks the social chatter around NikeSkims. Meanwhile, I tell you what I’m hearing about the Brunello Cucinelli scandalette and analyze Celine’s new bag strategy.

Mentioned in this issue: Sephora, TikTok, Lachlan Murdoch, Michael Dell, Gab Waller, Kelly Levian, Chanel, Celine, Coco Gauff, Gucci, Michael Rider, Coach, Kate Spade, Eva Erdmann, Ice Spice, Simon Porte Jacquemus, and many, many more…

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Four Things You Should Know…

What to make of the Brunello sitch: Morpheus Research, a somewhat mysterious consortium of financial analysts formed earlier this year out of London, just published a rather aggressive report indicating that they had shorted Brunello Cucinelli shares, accusing the company of operating stores in Russia, in defiance of sanctions and despite the company claiming otherwise. The accusations, first made public in the Financial Times on Sunday, set off breaking-news alerts at the fashion trades and caused the stock to plummet 15 percent.

The report also criticized the Italy-based, family-controlled business’s distribution in the off-price channel, which many, many brands use to offload old goods. Interestingly, the short sellers at Morpheus also posited that the Brunello stock is overvalued regardless of the Russia issue. “Even ignoring our findings,” they wrote, “Cucinelli trades at ~46x next year’s earnings, a higher multiple than any luxury peer, despite slowing revenue growth, average operating margins, and rising competition from peers like Khaite and The Row, each reporting triple-digit growth.”

Naturally, this is all anyone is talking about in Milan. For what it’s worth, the company has denied the allegations on multiple occasions, while major government figures have publicly defended the company. Adolfo Urso, the Italian business minister, said, “I trust such an important and significant Italian company, which is also a model of sustainability, and I am convinced that this trust will soon be reflected on the Italian Stock Exchange.”

It will be interesting to see how Cucinelli himself handles the crisis, and what it says about the business, which is an anomaly in a challenged market. After all, the off-price allegations—the report noted write-downs on inventory in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and claimed that the company averages higher inventory levels than any other luxury brand—shouldn’t come as a surprise. Most brands leverage the off-price market, especially now that burning product is viewed as bad practice, to essentially hide older goods from the full-line customer. And yet, there’s no denying that Cucinelli’s men’s business is much stronger than its women’s line. In order to grow, it will have to evolve.

On the Russia piece, one interesting thing to note is that Cucinelli has a hold over the communications strategy, and does not employ a traditional corporate comms executive to manage these types of crises. (Cucinelli owns a majority stake in the business through a trust and is currently grooming his two daughters for succession.) As Cucinelli’s profile rises globally, he needs to bring on outside advisors who deal with these issues daily. Maybe he has at this point, but short sellers like Morpheus are only going to proliferate, and he needs to be prepared.'
The Celine happiness pill: As anticipated, Celine dropped Michael Rider’s tweaked Luggage tote early, in limited quantities, to rev up sales during the in-between times before his first collection launches in January. (I’m getting the plaid shirt!) Anyway, not only did Rider turn the zipper up to create a smiley face, but he also flattened out the silhouette so that the large carryall is less cumbersome. (It’s potentially the greatest laptop bag ever created.) Do we need humor in a $2,100 handbag? Actually, $2,100 sounds downright affordable these days. I hope that means the Celine ready-to-wear prices will be manageable, too.

Photo: Dan Martensen/Courtesy of Celine

Sarah Shapiro

Who needs whom more, Nike or Skims?: NikeSkims is now available to shop, and it’ll be weeks before we have a real sense of how it sold and how customers felt wearing it. (Send us your feedback, and see you at pilates!) Right now, though, we have social media data to at least tell us who’s seeing more traction online from the first drop.

According to data from Launchmetrics, a Nike post about the line generates three times more marketing value (measured by likes, conversation, etcetera) than a Skims post about it. Of course, Nike has 299 million followers on Instagram while Skims has 6.8 million, so this isn’t brain surgery. However, Skims co-founder Kim Kardashian is doing a lot of the heavy lifting: Her posts have driven 30 percent of the announcement buzz alone.
Two nostalgic collabs for fall: Jacquemus x Nike is back with a reimagined Moon Shoe. Many designer-brand collabs feel like a cash grab, but Simon Porte Jacquemus had the creative license to take Nike’s 1972 shoe with the waffle-iron sole, designed by co-founder Bill Bowerman, and create a ballet-inspired sneaker silhouette. You’ll be able to find it on Jacquemus.com, followed by limited expansion on Nike sites.

Meanwhile, Hommegirls x Fruit of the Loom is another feel-good throwback. Currently, the tank top and the baby blue baby tee are the top SKUs. More iterations are in the works for January. I’m told the cheeky, nipple-covering logo placement wasn’t presented to corporate until the last moment.

And now, the main event…

The Week in Shopping: Beauty’s TikTok Doomsday & Fashion’s Fall Wish List Items

A roundup of the most pressing pre-holiday-season shopping trends: the beauty brands anxiously awaiting changes to TikTok’s lucrative algorithm, the most popular items that fashion sourcers are being asked to track down, and why Kate Spade can’t mount a revival.

Sarah Shapiro

For the beauty industry, TikTok has been a delightfully unexpected and incredibly potent tool for brand discovery. After all, a single 15-second clip can elevate a product from obscurity to viral fame in a matter of hours, and help it sell out in a matter of days. But as the American version of the platform comes under U.S. ownership—and algorithm changes ensue—retailers are grappling with the implications for their businesses. As I overheard a Sephora salesperson muse the other day: “What did we even do before TikTok?”

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Indeed, as part of the new ownership agreement—Oracle, Silver Lake, Lachlan Murdoch, and Michael Dell are all expected to have a stake—TikTok’s recommendation algorithm will be retrained exclusively on U.S. data over the next four months. For the companies that have spent years and countless marketing dollars trying to manipulate the algorithm to surface their goods, this feels like nothing short of a crisis.

Obviously, we won’t know how the revamped feed surfaces brands until the changes are implemented. But R “Ray” Wang, chairman and founder at Constellation Research, told me that brands should stay the course for the 120-day retraining period. He acknowledged that there might be hiccups, but said that his conversations with ByteDance have essentially assured him that it should be business as usual—at least for Q4. Of course, no one involved wants to manage a surprise during the all-important holiday season window.

The Sourcer’s Notebook

September is basically the start of the new year for the fashion industry, and many top sourcers, like Gab Waller and Kelly Levian, are already seeing trends emerge from clients asking them to track down hard-to-find items. So far, they said, the focus has been on statement pieces.

Earlier this summer, I wrote about the momentum among clients behind the Chanel 25 handbag—specifically in suede, with grey as the top requested shade. It’s only growing. With this super-functional and capacious style, Chanel has effectively reimagined its classic silhouettes. Meanwhile, in footwear, loafers and sneakers are trending: Celine’s Adam loafer in suede (also in men’s) has a low profile and an almost ballet-slipper-like back with an elastic ankle. The Miu Miu x New Balance sneaker collab in new colorways is seeing a lot of requests, as well.

Waller also told me that the debut of Michael Rider’s Celine Luggage Smile is generating record preorders. And, as always, there are stalwarts that perform each season, like Chanel’s ballet flats: The Coveted noted that the navy patent is particularly in-demand this year, and the Chanel slingback moccasin is gaining ground as a new updated classic.

Kate Spade’s Missing Moment

If you haven’t noticed, Coach has been on an impressive run lately. For the quarter that ended June 28, 2025, revenue was up 14 percent year over year. On the Lyst Index, Tapestry’s premier label came in number five behind designer brands Miu Miu, Loewe, Saint Laurent, and Prada. They’re giving new shoppers great shapes that reference past hits while playing with nostalgia for their longtime customers. In fact, Coach is pulling off exactly the type of Gen Z comeback that another Tapestry label, Kate Spade, needs so badly right now. (Spade’s revenue was down 13 percent in the same period.)

Ostensibly, Kate Spade is one of few brands that appeals to multiple generations, so why does it seem to be missing the mark? Perhaps it’s a lack of boldness. A year ago, when Eva Erdmann took the reins as C.E.O. and president, the brand enlisted Charli D’Amelio, Ice Spice, Laufey, and Reign Judge for their campaign to launch the new “Duo Crossbody” style. The problem was that the product—with a crescent moon shape and shrunk-down zip-pouch charm—didn’t capture what makes Kate Spade unique. It could have been made by any brand.

It’s a shame, because Kate Spade is sitting on so many great styles that could work. The boxy nylon bags that the brand was built on could easily be reimagined for a new generation. The brand tried to do that with a one-off style for Urban Outfitters, but it was priced too high for the chain’s shoppers, and it felt like a missed opportunity to chart a new path. Like so many others, I’m patiently waiting for a real, on-brand relaunch.

Have a great weekend,
Lauren

P.S.: We use affiliate links because we are a business. We may make a couple bucks off them.

Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman and a rotating cast of industry insiders take you deep behind the scenes of this multitrillion-dollar biz, from creative director switcheroos to M&A drama, D.T.C. downfalls, and magazine mishaps. Fashion People is an extension of Line Sheet, Lauren’s private email for Puck, where she tracks what’s happening beyond the press releases in fashion, beauty, and media. New episodes publish every Tuesday and Friday.

An essential, insider-friendly Hollywood tip sheet from Matthew Belloni, who spent 14 years in the trenches at The Hollywood Reporter and five before that practicing entertainment law. What I’m Hearing also features veteran Hollywood journalist Kim Masters, as well as a special companion email from Eriq Gardner, focused on entertainment law, and weekly box office analysis from Scott Mendelson.

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