Retail Diary: Sunday Scoop -New finds, Prepping for the Met Gala, Beauty bits & more
Reading to help you prepare for the Met Gala, beauty news, new pop-ups in NYC, the iconic Hirshleifers and having fun with data + fashion. Plus some fashion finds just for you.
Fashion, Beauty and Retail news I’ve saved for today is all over the place. So let’s have some random fun this Sunday.
New fun finds:
This gorgeous newest iteration of the Toteme T-lock Clutch is super special.
Jelly Flats - The Row shoe is available (the flip flop is cute too) but these two versions (one, two) are really growing on me and I wouldn’t be surprised if I caved on this trend and added to my wardrobe. If the AGS were in black it would be a no-brainer for me.
The RealReal real good finds: Great Métier small tote, love this Toteme silk dress, Celine bag with tags in pristine condition.
I have a dress similar to this new Cos dress and love it for summer. Ideal for dressing up or wearing with sandals or even my Onitsuka Tigers for more casual days.
I know it isn’t exactly the time of year we are into cozy sweatshirts and sweaters, but this cotton and cashmere blend sweatshirt is perfection. I’d wear with jeans, a kick flare pant or cozy pants for travel.
The latest cool lip product is the Augustinus Bader x Sofia Coppola Lip Balms. Each shade is buildable for all skin tones (according to the PDP) and they did clinical trials for this product which highlight 24 hours of hydration, lip plumpness and hydration increase by 15%. You can find the lip balm here. Love this article by Linda Wells for Airmail that dives deeper into Coppola’s love of beauty (and in a way, describes why so many of us love Coppola.)
Met Gala Prep Reading:
Ahead of the Met Gala on Monday, read this piece on Law Roach in the NYTimes by Vanessa Friedman. “The Man Who Never Says No to Zendaya” (gift link to read behind paywall.) All eyes will be on Zendaya and what she is wearing (wild that Law Roach shares that they won’t be fitting it until Saturday May 4th!! talk about a time crunch.) Sounds like Law Roach will also be walking the Met Steps. Law Roach posted this on Instagram on Saturday and I wonder if this is any sort of hint of what’s to come.
The Met gets the Cut treatment with “Costume Drama The exhibits accompanying the Met Gala used to break audience records. But now the museum’s playbook seems stuck in time.” According to this article:
Last-Minute Backup Plan: The Costume Institute's original plan for a John Galliano exhibition was scrapped due to concerns about public backlash, signaling tensions and changes at the prestigious fashion department. (Personally I’m not ready for a Met Costume Exhibit dedicated to Galliano’s work yet. I’m pleased they went in another direction.)
Shift in Landscape: Fashion exhibitions, once blockbuster events at the Met, now face competition from major institutions and luxury brands staging their own shows, challenging the Costume Institute's dominance. There are many other great fashion exhibits. The Dior exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum was a personal favorite of mine.
Beauty Moments from the week:
Fun PR for Laneige, these lip balm keyhains by bonbonwhims. They are also doing a giveaway. I think they could sell this too - great for back to school.
This BoF article shared interesting insights around the Erewhon Smoothie partnership - brands that partner with it (for May it is Truly Beauty to promote their new luxury shave product Cooka Colada) they cover $30K worth of free smoothies for Erewhon members. For brands the exposure can be worth it to get in front of the target customer. The biggest challenge for brands is to make sure they are making the connection from trying a smoothie to purchasing their products.
Puig goes public, raising 2.6 billion euros through the issue of 106.5 million shares. The total offering could rise to 3 billion euros.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley will no longer be affiliated with the brand she launched in partnership with now bankrupt Amyris. Rose, Inc. The brand was sold to was sold to AA Investments (HK) Ltd., a Hong Kong-based asset management firm, for $2.5 million at the end of 2023 when many of Amyris’ brands were snapped up during the bankruptcy filings.
Great podcast episode and I found their conversation breaking down a celebrity fragrance brand very insightful and well organized.
- from wrote “Youthforia - Black Paint or Foundation Shade” about the mis-steps and controversy this week with their newest foundation shade launch. (the podcast above from Eyewitness Beauty also discusses.)
Pop-in these Pop-Ups
Studs goes fancy - for 3 weeks Studs will have “Fancy Studs” and offer piercings of 14-karat gold earrings featuring lab-grown diamonds priced at $150-$320. Piercing services will start at $35. Studs is the cooler version of a one stop piercing studio for earscapes. Based on insightful customer data revealing a strong desire for a premium assortment, co-founder and chief brand officer Lisa Bubbers and co-founder and CEO Anna Harman decided to launch Fancy Studs, a new higher-end offshoot of the popular earring brand Studs. The data-driven decision aimed to cater to existing Studs shoppers seeking elevated offerings, as well as attract new and slightly older consumers, including tourists, with an accessible "masspirational" approach featuring lab-grown diamond jewelry in the $300 range. This is another brand that has expanded into lab-grown diamonds recently. For more insights on lab-grown, I shared in February here. Studs I’ve always been impressed with their curated sets. Here are two I like: one, two. It makes for an easy and customer friendly online shopping experience.
Frankie Shop x Moda Operandi - The Frankie Shop x Moda Operandi “Art of Dressing” exclusive capsule launches Friday for in-person shopping and on Monday on the Moda Operandi website. Price points range from $98 to $436. It is timed to hit the Frieze Art Fair in NYC as there is an art world alignment. The pieces are very gallery world chic with a neutral color palette that can easily be worn day-to-night including an evening event and be paired with all of the Frankie Shop existing merchandise. The pieces will also be available online Monday (currently you can see the non-exclusive collection here.)
A totally different Frankie, Frankies Bikinis, will have a pop-up shop in Soho next Friday and Saturday May 10th & 11th. It will be an immersive, sensory-driven, candy- and swimwear-filled pop-up shop called Sweet Shop. On their website they are already teasing something sweet, coming soon - so sign-up if you want to be the first to know about the new collection.
If you are like me and love the Instagram .@databutmakeitfashion you’ll enjoy reading her interview with Elle Magazine “Analyzing Fashion Trends with Data: Data But Make It Fashion.” Madé Lapuerta was interning at Google when she discovered she could overlap data insights with fashion trends. She focuses on items that are already trending as opposed to future trend forecasting.
I love following Lori and Marci Hirshleifer on instagram and am mesmerized by their family department store, Hirshleifers in Manhasset (Long Island) NY. Rory Satran at the WSJ did a profile on the store and the family that runs it. “This Fifth-Generation Department Store Is Winning the Luxury Game” (gift link to read behind paywall.) You can see more from Hirshleifers here online, but note only 10% of their business is done online. Compare that with other retailers, like Nordstrom, where 36% of sales is done online. This shows me they have really elevated the IRL shopping experience, have excellent customer service, their events/trunk shows are engaging and bring foot traffic in and personal shopping is a win for them.
This ballet flat girl loved
post on “The Ballet Flat Paradox”
Last bits - news to wrap up the week 🧵
Reading Imran Amed’s piece in Business of Fashion “Reality Check: Luxury’s Price Hikes Are Unsustainable” which kicks off with the staggering statistic that “the average price of personal luxury goods in Europe has increased by an eye-watering 52% since 2019.” Found via
, this Business Insider article on Gucci’s sluggish sales (-18%) “The fall of Gucci was inevitable” the article highlights the brand's over-reliance on a singular aesthetic and aspirational customers (who love the logo), leading to the current losses in sales. Designer and Founder Anine Bing has a debut album.What have you been reading this week? Add to the comments so we can all check it out.
Enjoy your Sunday Scoop.
Sarah Shapiro
Catch up on Sarah’s Retail Diary:
Tuesday’s Retail Rundown 4.30.24 - the Fashion Business Section, podcast listens and trending items
Thursday’s Deep Dive - Week of April 29th 2024 - Bridal retail, Accessible Luxury, Sandal Trends & more
Last Sunday’s - Sunday Scoop -Jewelry trends, Loewe Puzzle bag, working in retail & Substacks to scroll
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
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impossible to believe the row jelly mesh-style flats - priced at nearly $900 - are SOLD OUT. wild! dying to know how many were made...
Loved the Erewhon deep dive. Also : ordered the Bader/Coppola lip balms on launch day and can't wait to try.