Major Retail Moments for the Met Steps & Serving Looks
Retail Rundown 5.7.24: The Met Gala got my attention today, sharing a few other retail articles, some racket trends and a sneak peek at the Amazon Summer Beauty Haul.
Images via all the sources linked below.
Early Met Gala content to follow:
Condé Nast reached a tentative contract agreement with unionized employees early Monday morning, averting potential disruptions to the Met Gala later that day after over a year of negotiations. Curious about The Mark Hotel and Met Gala connection? Love this .@stylenotcom coverage on Instagram. The true first look (and I love how Doja Cat created a story around the two “red carpet” moments.) Easy to follow NYTimes live coverage (gift link to read behind paywall) including Zendaya’s 2 looks.
I’m in awe of Jonathan Anderson/Loewe - how did he manage to dress so many stars (who all looked amazing) and do the Costume Design for Challengers. And yes, I realize the movie wrapped awhile ago, but he’s still involved in many of the looks promoting the film.
Retail 🤝 Met Gala Steps
We’ve got some MOMENTS on the steps to chat about.
Hill House Home - Nell Diamond, Founder and CEO of HHH was teasing something exciting for the Met Steps and that she would be attending the Met Gala on Monday. Retail moments that unfolded:
Her dress in a beautiful “flaming” orange inspired by this painting. To take it a step deeper - a Met Gala theme of “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” really is perfect for the brand famous for their Nap Dress™ so I love that this was HHH and Diamond’s debut. The dress had special details reminiscent of the brand’s signature looks - a defined waist, a bow and flower details (of course more flowers in Diamond’s long locks.)
To take advantage of this moment, Hill House Home launched for immediate availability to purchase, 10 The Collectors Edition Ellie Nap Dress in Flaming June. I love that it is the same material and shows a sustainability angle, they likely had extra fabric and found a use for all the material. Also, rather than using the earned media for marketing only, it played into an aspect that allows the customer to be engaged too. This dress sold out in minutes and plays up the “bestie” community that the brand fosters. They are inclusive. They try to bring along as many people as possible. These items will be made to your exact size. They didn’t try and guess on a size run immediately, it also made the PDP experience much cleaner.
Gap - For Da'Vine Joy Randolph's Met Gala debut, she wore a custom Zac Posen, Executive Vice President & Creative Director of Gap Inc., and Chief Creative Officer of Old Navy, denim gown inspired by 1700s evening wear, featuring a removable ball skirt and a form-fitting mermaid dress underneath, perfectly tailored to highlight her curves. “Leveraging Gap's denim experts, Posen meticulously draped and constructed a gown that pays homage to Gap's classic 1969 denim, while incorporating elements reminiscent of historic evening wear from the 1700s.” Randolph stated “I knew for sure the fit was going to be insane. I knew that this dress was going to look like it was poured on my body, which is very exciting for me as a curvy girl who likes to show her body.” I would have loved for Gap to have taken this a step further and highlighted the 1969 denim collection on the HP during/after the Met Steps reveal. It didn’t need to be a new collection, but to take advantage of searches, SEO and awareness from the event it would have been a moment to lean into.
Crown Affair - This retail moment on The Mark carpet was even a surprise to the brand! Doja Cat seemingly interpreted the theme as really running out of time and still having a (Vetements) towel on and a Crown Affair towel wrapped around her head. I love that she had that look to exit The Mark and then had another moment on The Met Steps in a fresh out of the shower look and make-up by Pat McGrath. It was also such a thrill to watch the awareness from Founder
as she recognized the Hair Towel as part of the look and celebrate the moment with her brand.Vogue Business Madeline Schulz (who quickly became a favorite fashion & retail journalist to follow) wrote “The Met Gala’s Big Brand Advertising Opp” which shares more of the ways brands and designers are taking advantage of the interest and hype around the event.
What I’m reading…📰
Having a retail strategy that allows your customer to shop the way they want to has never been more important. It is challenging to have an online only experience or a store only experience. Many retailers, especially big box stores, like Target and department stores like Macy’s, are taking advantage of the wins in having both online and brick and mortar integrated. WSJ “How Online Shopping Is Saving the Bricks-and-Mortar Store”(gift link to read behind paywall) by Kate King highlights how the strategy is working for retailers.
Data point: 42% of e-commerce orders last year involving stores, up from about 27% in 2015, due to their role as pickup and return points and fulfillment hubs.
This article also highlights the importance of understanding the customer journey. In the example given, a customer wants to order online (to ensure more size choices and variety) but then return in store to both reduce the hassle of shipping & packaging and also shop to see what is in store. Now the store can capture multiple shopping moments instead of in the store once or online once.
Finally finished my last book and just started this on my Kindle. I’m reading Come & Get It by Kiley Reid.
What I’m listening to…🎧
Naked Beauty (with Brooke Devard) interviewed many behind the scenes Met Gala media, creators, stylists, etc about the event and preparation etc. Listened to this as I was scrolling the early entrances.
What’s Trending…🚀
Tennis was already trending, and then along came Challengers.
E.L.F. partnered with Billie Jean King on equality in the workforce and it is so elf-ing good. Way to raise a racket. 🎾
There is a new sport trending. Check out Padel from Business of Fashion. Thankfully it looks like we can keep wearing our tennis looks.
When Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department came out I wrote about the viral moment with the Popflex Pirouette Skirt and now Retail Brew also wrote about it here. Since all colors are sold out, it is now on preorder here. Or you can try the Pirouette Dress or the Twirl Skort while you wait.
“Love” Accessories: Bag Charm (under $15), leather tennis sleeve to monogram, love this Clare V. x Racquet collab extra large tote. Aces accessory - the must have tennis bracelet. My favorite sneakers. Stripe socks. I stock headbands and always have one on hand and I wear a visor or go for a hat - this is the one I wear, but this Baseball cap is perfect for the tennis court. The most stylish pickleball racket if you ask me.
Serving Looks: love this dress (Vuori has great material), a great sweater to layer over any look, country club chic dress and I love that this dress goes from xs to size 3x. Knife Pleat skirt, love the cut and ease of this dress. The Prince x Target collab sweatshirts are so soft - I was impressed! I’ll often throw on my favorite sweatshirt. Maybe add in an I Told Ya t-shirt too (article via Bazaar.)
PSA…💄
Amazon Beauty announced the return of their Summer Beauty Haul beginning Monday, May 13th and running through Sunday, May 19th. Even though the event doesn’t start until next week, they’ve already launched over a thousand deals at 20% or more off now. The idea for Summer Beauty Haul is to stock up on your summer items (glow-y skin, sunscreen!!) and travel items for summer getaways.
Given how popular the Goop Scalp Scrub is, the good.clean.goop Powerscrub Scalp Detox is a great one to try.
Sunscreen, Black Girl Sunscreen (learn more about the brand here) and stock up here or from Versed, a solid brand founded by Katherine Power.
I have some eye balms from Tula that I love and this little kit is perfect for travel.
Laura Geller was recently on the Gloss Angeles podcast (it was great!) so I was excited to see the Baked buildable foundation on the Amazon sale.
For ease of use and portability, I love a good blush stick. A friend just recommended this one from Ogee and it comes in a huge variety of shades.
What’s Next 🗓️
Brand Crush launches tomorrow, Wednesday, with a brand that I love for great product but even more for their business model and operations. For the Deep Dive Thursday I’ll likely have more Met Gala stories and more collabs. A reader requested a straw bags round-up and I have a fun Fashion 🌀 Spiral refresh that I plan to send next week to cover that.
Recent posts to catch up on:
Retail Rundown 4.30.24 - the Fashion Business Section, podcast listens and trending items
Deep Dive - Week of April 29th 2024 - Bridal retail, Accessible Luxury, Sandal Trends & more
Sunday Scoop -New finds, Prepping for the Met Gala, Beauty bits & more
Fashion Spiral 🌀 Trench Coats, Fashion 🌀 Re-Spiral: Seeing Stripes, Fashion Spiral 🌀 Kick Flare Pants and American Sportswear is Having a Moment
Retail 101: Math & Financials , Retail 101: Math & Financials Part Deux (Markdowns) and Retail 101: Buying Decisions Chapter 3
FYI: I use affiliate links where applicable which means I may get a small commission from things you buy (at no cost to you.) Thank you for supporting my work and trusting me. Love that we can enjoy Fashion & Retail together in this space.
❤️ If you enjoyed this quick format please click the like button at the bottom of this post so others can discover it.
📧 Maybe even share with someone else who would enjoy.
📱Find Sarah’s Retail Diary on Instagram
💬 If you are on the Substack app or platform join the chat and I’m happy to respond to any questions in the chat or comments here.
You can email me at sarahshapiro@substack.com with any requests or thoughts too - I’d love to hear.
The HHH moment was brilliant
Do you have any thoughts about the amount of John Galliano on the carpet this year? I thought he was persona non grata due to antisemitism