luxury fashion's winners and losers
plus how zoomers are coping these days
Quick Hits
The FTC ruled that Worker Non-Competes are now (nearly) illegal
Spotify posts record operating profit as paid subscriber count jumps 14%
Graza so clearly wants to become a lifestyle brand, or at the very least, THE olive oil brand. Their signature dark green squeeze bottles (which may or may not contain microplastics, by the way) have undeniably made olive oil cool again. Even Nara Smith is a fan. Last month, they launched Extra Virgin Oil Potato Chips, and today, it's Extra Virgin Olive Oil Soap. I think the fact that they partnered with creative studio and interior design page metahaiku on this product supports my olive oil as a lifestyle theory.
Glossier launched Strawberry Balm Dot Com yesterday in the original formula, as STRONGLY requested by fans. If you ever doubt the power of community, I urge you to check out the r/Glossier subreddit. These people make me feel like I've never truly loved anything.
Rare Beauty is partnering with TikTok Shop on a launch event for their Soft Pinch Luminous Powder Blush this weekend in LA. Another crazy fandom. To my LA readers: Who wants to take one for the team and get us some good recon?
Threads is offering creators $500 to post about ‘positivity’. This month Instagram invited select creators to join a “positivity” challenge on the Threads app for a chance to win up to $500. Participants will have to post once a day for 10 days straight straight using the hashtag #GoodVibesonThreads. Threads really wants to be known as “the kinder alternative to X”. I wish this wasn't true, but I truly believe social media (with a few exceptions) thrives best on people’s VICES. Please read this essay. I also believe that Meta knows this, seeing as they all but pioneered the playbook. But they might be onto something here though, because Business Insider just reported that Threads has overtaken X in daily active users (but not monthly) in the US.
Meet Cait Bailey- publicist for Zayn Malik, Alix Earle, and Alex Cooper. Also long term girlfriend of Mario Carbone (of Carbone restaurant fame), expert networker, and my new celebrity-adjacent blonde white woman crush. She has 72,000 Instagram followers but zero posts. Slay. This is the kind of woman I aspire to be- rich, hot, successful, and only known to those in the know.
Also Alex Cooper got married?! Love love love the dress.
Ye is reportedly launching 'Yeezy Porn' with Stormy Daniels’ ex-husband. Firstly, is Stormy becoming an ‘as seen on’ recurring character?? Secondly, I miss when Kanye loved Jesus. Bring back Sunday Service! This is a very hearsay piece of news, but nothing this man does surprises me anymore.
SKKY Partners, Kim Kardashain’s private equity firm with Jay Sammons, is having a tough time raising funds. Despite the fundraising goal of $1 to $2 billion touted by the firm during its September 2022 launch, SKKY Partners has thus far only secured $121 million in capital commitments, according to federal securities filings. While this is mostly a reflection of a soft fundraising environment and declining LP interest in consumer private equity as a whole, potential investors have also expressed concern over her involvement in several other projects and foreseeable difficulties with SKKY selling companies whose brands have been elevated by Kim’s star power, given that she'd be exiting.
Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila and Emma Chamberlain’s Chamberlain coffee partnered up to launch limited edition candied pecan cold brew singles. Someone in the comments said they “better be selling those green glasses and shakers” and they are!
The people said they wanted new IP- Post Malone is here to deliver. Vault Comics, Michael Bay and Brad Fuller’s Platinum Dunes, and Post Malone are partnering to create a new IP universe based on an original story by Post Malone. The story, which blends road thriller and horror elements, is “set in medieval Europe where the only thing standing in the way of the horde of demons infesting the continent is a mysterious armored 18-wheeler seemingly sent back from the heavens.” Nicola Peltz, JoJo Siwa, JLO, Francis Ford Coppola… a lot of questionable celeb identity projects this year so far. Spidey senses say this one might not be awful though.
A24 released a coffee table book on the art of movie makeup. Titled Beauty Of The Beast and created with makeup artist Emily Schubert, the book uses a manual style format to depict A24’s ability to “transform actors into fantastical, and sometimes frightening, characters.” Two thoughts: 1.) it’s 2024 and real ones really do know how to spin that IP 2.) the movie to coffee table book pipeline is so real and I LOVE IT!
Young people can’t get stable jobs, get married, have kids, or own homes- so instead we’re running marathons. Marathons used to be the thing for the forty-somethings going through a midlife crisis and wanting to prove that they still got it. But recent years have seen the rise of the “quarter-life-crisis marathon.” In 2023, the share of people in their 20s who finished the New York City Marathon was 19%, up from 15% in 2019. In this year’s Los Angeles Marathon, 28% of finishers were in their 20s, up from 21% in 2019. This makes total sense to me- young people want to set a goal they can actually attain. Not mentioned in this article is how more young people are also joining running clubs as a way to find friends and build community. Run club merch is even cool now. Many of these clubs train for marathons together and are even partnering with big brands like Nike and Adidas to get them to the finish line.
How deep sleep became a status symbol. People don't want to party anymore, but they are obsessed with getting a good night's sleep. If you hadn’t noticed, ‘sleep optimisation’ has became a serious concern for many. From sleepy girl mocktails, to Oura rings, weighted sleep masks, mouth taping, magnesium supplements, and sleep tracking apps- people are going all out to make those precious 8 hours count. This is like the glucose tracker trend story- in it of itself, I’m not that interested. What I am interested in though, is the larger trend of self-optimization these both speak to. It’s like the more out of control things become in our world, the more we seek to ‘master the self’ (see: quarter-life-crisis marathon). I think the whole anti-girlboss movement also plays into this: having the soft life is the goal, and attaining that by being a trad wife or stay at home girlfriend is fair game. I know you guys say you hate this stuff but love the whole ‘girl internet’ thing. I guess we’re not ready to discuss how they have more to do with each other than we want to admit.
Miu Miu’s sales jumped 89% in the last quarter. Unreal but I’m not surprised. This is what I wrote about Miu Miu at the begging of the year:
Miu Miu is the brand du jour, and all the girlies know it. Growth at the luxury label is far outpacing the wider luxury market, including that of big sister brand, Prada. In 2023, retail sales for Miu Miu were up 58% and accelerated by 82% in Q4, compared to a 10% rise at Prada. Their strategy? 1.) Leaning into “conversation” pieces like 2022’s micro mini skirt and the more recent slingback pumps 2.) creating for “a broader church of customers” which includes more ageless and genderless pieces 3.) and of course the good old operations overhaul
LVMH’s global sales of handbags and perfumes surpassed those of wine in France’s agricultural sector last year. The fashion conglomerate alone (which owns Louis Vuitton, Dior, Celine, LOEWE, Tiffany & Co., and Sephora) composed 4% of France’s exports in 2023, while the country’s international Camembert and wine sales made up just 3.2%. France accounts for less than 10% of LVMH’s global sales. For their latest earnings report, LVMH did report a 2% fall in YoY revenue, following a year of record breaking profits in 2023.
Meanwhile, Gucci parent company, Kering, announced that their profits are likely to drop 40-45% in the first half of the year. Puck’s Lauren Sherman did a great job of breaking this down with WSJ men’s fashion columnist, Jacob Gallagher, for the inaugural episode of her new podcast Fashion People. The gist of it: weak demand in China, not enough Sabato De Sarno in stores, and people are just not that excited about the brand (or luxury fashion in general) right now. (Lauren and Jacob also discussed the New Balance loafers I personally love and know will be everywhere once it’s out, Steve Jobs fashion eras, and some Challengers costume analysis. It was a great episode).
And the FTC sued to block Tapestry’s $8.5B Takeover of Capri. According to the FTC filing, the deal “would eliminate fierce head-to-head competition on many important attributes including price, discounting, and design, resulting in tens of millions of Americans that purchase Coach, Kade Spade, and Michael Kors products facing higher prices.” FYI Tapestry owns Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman while Capri owns Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors.
Lyst’s ‘Hottest Brands’ Q1 Index is out. Interesting that with the exception of Loewe, none of LVMH’S brands made the top 10 but a number of Kering’s did.
