Retail Diary: Sunday Scoop - Piccioli, Beckham & Substacks to Scroll
Starting off with quick hit news all over the place, then diving into Piccioli's Valentino departure, Victoria Beckham's interview, TikTok Shop & Substacks to scroll.
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Let’s try something new - free form thinking and links. All over the place but could be fun. Let me know what you think - regular Sunday Scoop after.
Smaller format stores are trending. Nordstrom & Bloomies have gone this route and now The Container Store is opening a mini in NYC. Shortage still an issue across the board and Five Below scaling back on self-checkout in an attempt to curb stealing. I also appreciate that they are investing in sales associates to help limit shrink. Stanley plans to court men and focus on a water bottle line to appeal to them. I learned via The Secret Strategist that The RealReal has a Vintage Unbranded landing page - if you love the hunt of a secondhand store this is for you. Laverne Cox shops for vintage Mugler at the Sturbridge Show. Virginia Smith writes a lovely tribute to Dries Van Noten and her favorite pieces and memories of wearing them. I enjoyed listening to Batsheva and Eva Chen on The Vogue Run-Through podcast. Career advice and how Haein Dorin became the Global Head of Partnerships and Community at retailer Ssense. And please tell me you saw the Ssense kids Spelling Bee on Instagram - here is one post. I love this People interview with Lenny Kravitz talking about his oversize scarf. Very interesting profile in the WSJ written by Chavie Lieber about Chanel Handbag authenticators and how they inspect for the tell-tale signs of fakes. Gloss Angeles podcast had Malaika Jones of Brown Girl Jane on for an interview about the fragrance line. They also just launched (as the first Black Woman owned) their fragrance line in Sephora. (We have this and recommend. So smart for fragrance brands to have a discovery set. Idea to also include a bounce back code to return and purchase the full-size.) Rhode dropped a cool bubble case (looks large! doubles as a pillow? seems like they had travel in mind) and 4 piece kit. I really love when brands do kits like this and the PDP1 shows how to use the products together - they could flush that out a bit more on this page but it is engaging and done well.
Keep scrolling for more in depth news.
Pierpaolo Piccioli is leaving Valentino - Piccioli joined Valentino in 1999 to design accessories alongside Maria Grazia Chiuri (the current Creative Director at Dior.) In 2007 the duo were selected to lead the house after Valentino Garavani retired. In 2016 when Chiuri left to go to Dior Piccioli became the sole Creative Director. Last year the Creative Director of RTW Sabato De Sarno left Valentino for Gucci. (You can also read WWD coverage here.) We will have a lot of Designer/Creative Director announcements coming up with all these shuffles.
Victoria Beckham would like to collaborate with Jordan (as in Nike). I learned this in a WSJ interview with the Fashion Designer and former Spice Girl. Also that she collects vintage denim. Beckham is celebrating a new Shop-in-Shop at Galeries Lafayette in Paris.
Thursday I shared Martin Greenfield’s Obituary from the NYTimes. I hope you had a chance to read. It was really beautiful and impressive to read about him and I think it is so important we remember stories like his and the atrocities of the Holocaust. Jacob Gallagher wrote a piece for the WSJ here on Greenfield’s life and linked to this 2011 article from WSJ on how Greenfield partnered with Rag & Bone on their suiting.
TikTok Shop - Brands are worried about what will happen if TikTok is banned in the US - TikTok is a big driver of growth in beauty sales right now and many consumers start a search now on TikTok. What has been most beneficial to shopping, sales and discovery is that brands and content show up on the For You Page, even if you aren’t following the brand. Other social media brands haven’t optimized this type of feature that benefits brands in the same way. (For more data on TikTok shopping I wrote about it last Sunday here.)
Substacks to Scroll:
If you love travel and hearing tips and tricks from others,
recent piece for is for you. I L O V E D this piece, “Seatmates: Nguyen” - Nguyen founded a boutique travel agency so you know she has the best tips and luxe advice. So fun and elegant.After the Class Action Suit against Hermés over the Birkin I was eager to read what
had to say. The headline says it all “Rich People Sue Hermés For Not Taking Their Money.” More Birkin content from the NYTimes here.Sweet Escape - fragrance moments from Substack
“Spray It, Don’t Say It” and is offering a personalized fragrance consult for a paid subscription. More fragrance content - Highsnobiety on the 5 Fragrance notes that are trending and NYTimes article by Molly Young titled “The Mad Perfumer of Parma” on perfumer Hilde Soliani. The article on Soliani has everything from Covid fragrance boom, to food comparisons, visual representations of the scents crafted, how Soliani became a perfumer and how she works.
Tried and true favorites from me: favorite running sneakers (I just bought a new pair), weekend sling bag (great for going to my kids games and fits my kindle & Diet Coke can - the essentials), favorite La Ligne sweater (make sure you check out my Stripes history & deep dive) and this great sunglasses case is soft sided and safely holds 2 pairs. Making it easy to keep my glasses and sunglasses with me. The fuchsia would never get lost in your bag. But of course, I went for midnight.
All images linked above.
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 This Will Be Quick 3.19.24 - Phoebe Philo, Todd Snyder, Rodarte, Bag Charms and more
Fashion 🌀 Re-Spiral: Seeing Stripes
Fashion Spiral 🌀 Kick Flare Pants
Retail 101: Math & Financials and Retail 101: Math & Financials Part Deux (Markdowns)
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PDP = Product Detail Page. Gives you all the details on purchasing the product online.
Love this format, Sarah!!
Love the scoop. Your taste and takes are always so good.