Retail Diary - Week of February 19th, 2024

London Fashion Week news, talking trends (giddy up), collabs and launches and everything else that is new in fashion and retail this week. Let's Catch Up.

This Week's Topics:  

• LFW News

• Let’s talk trends

• New Collabs, Launches, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• What else I ❤️️ 

LFW News

• Big news from London on Burberry

  • Agyness Deyn opened the show - which is a nostalgic nod for the brand as she was the face of Burberry in the mid 2000s (a great piece on Deyn from The Cut written by

    Emilia Petrarca
    ) you can also read The Cut’s insights on the Burberry show here.

  • Burberry partners with Harrods to take over the store - with many exclusives available including this tote. The takeover is to celebrate Harrods 175th anniversary and the green color is to highlight the famous shade of the department store logo. More from Wallpaper here.

• Business of Fashion wrote about the 40th anniversary of London Fashion Week and the sentimentality of it all.

• The NYTimes also wrote about the nostalgia of the 40th Anniversary of LFW (gift link to read behind paywall) and a few things to note:

  • red/wine was a trending color - really loved it at Roksanda where it felt like a chic, elegant choice over traditional black, grey or brown.

  • that image of Agyness Deyn first walking down the runway was included in every article and I can almost hear the cameras clicking and journalists taking notes now.

  • with the BAFTAs also held the same week there were plenty of celebs to attend the shows and parties. Really well timed.

• The Malene Birger faux fur jacket from this winter looks to be carrying forward into 2024 with other lovely pieces that make a cozy statement in neutrals.

• I love looking at the street style snaps. Here from Vogue & Phil Oh.

  

  THE image of London Fashion Week - Agyness Deyn leads the models on the runway at Burberry. via Vogue.com

Let’s talk trends

• If you are like me, and have been confused by what the kids these days (did I just say that?? how old am I?) describe as “preppy” this article, “Teen Subcultures are Fading. Pity the Poor Kids” from the NYTimes by Mireille Silcoff explains a lot of the aesthetics, trend jumping and identities that are occuring with the Gen Alphas. (gift link to read behind paywall)

• For the real capital P PREP take it back to Ralphcore, which is apparently the coolest label to wear. (I have seen many of the baseball caps around.)

• How many bright color scarves have you spotted? The “Vally” scarf by Acne Studios, the trend (both the original for about $320 and the $20 version to buy from street vendors) and the history of the scarf is all wrapped up here in the NYTimes.

All images via links above.

Giddy-Up 🤠

• Post Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton show we felt the cowboy trend was being driven by the conversation around his show (see instagram favorite Data But Make It Fashion.) But it kept popping up - and then Beyoncé! Lindy Segal for Glamour wrote this piece that tracks the trend and musical influence.

• If we keep tracking, Bazaar has bolos (laraits) trending in their February 2024 issue.

• Then I saw this “It List” on Daily Grail and between the:

  • Khaite cowboy boots (or try white for summer from The Real Real)

  • Hermés Kelly fringed bag (you are in luck, I found one here in tan at 1st Dibs for a mere $50K. Other similar style options here from Hermés, here from Michael Kors and here from Callista.)

  • And a western style jacket - I think we are fully embracing the look.

Louis Vuitton-Pharrell Image via Vogue Business. Beyoncé image via People.com. All other images linked above.

New Collabs, Launches, Corporate Moves, Stores & News

• Collabed

  • The big announcement this week was Target x Diane von Furstenberg (see here for brand announcement - launching March 23.) I was discussing with a retail friend how this could be good for DVF. The brand has been struggling and a partnership, excitement etc at this price point could be good for the brand. I think DVF did excellent with their Gap Kids collab a decade ago.

  • Jacquemus x Nike Swoosh Bag

  • Ugg x Gallery Department (Uggs that are both glitzy and casual)

  • Simon Ungless (local to the Bay Area in Larkspur, CA) is the next designer collaborator for Atelier Jolie.

  • Tyler, the Creator will be designing a capsule collection for Louis Vuitton.

• Launched

  • Alex Mill launches denim with a fun and splashy (and very Gap Khaki coded musical launch.) Tips from others have been to size down (I love Substack chats!), possibly size down up to two sizes. Read more here from WWD on the collection and launch.

  • Another Mill(e) launched denim. Mille launched denim with beach inspired washes and names like Montecito, Malibu and Sand.

  • Net-A-Porter went heavy on the Gucci exclusive access on their Homepage. This was either a big bet by Net-A-Porter or a consignment style offer from Gucci. The Jackie bag does feel to be having a vintage moment that aligns well with ladylike bags (see

    Becky Malinsky
    here) and related to FX Swans show.

• Corporate Moves

  • José Neves steps down as Farfetch CEO

  • Aya Kanai has a new job and is at Target - Senior Director of Marketing, Social Commerce. She is creative and informative on her Instagram, so I think this will be fun, engaging and profitable for the brand.

• Stores & News

  • Guess? acquires Rag & Bone you can read more here from Fashion Dive.

  • Cost per Fit
    did an excellent deep dive on the 10-K Report from Rent the Runway.

What else I ❤️️ 

• La Ligne launched a new denim style, the Mer and I’m so into the story behind this. In fact, I’ve been waiting for La Ligne to launch this style ever since they announced a denim collection. So I know they’ve taken their time to get this right. The story behind THIS amazing double denim look. I can’t even imagine how many inspiration boards and personal Pinterest style boards this is on (I know it is on mine.) To complete the look try a classic chambray shirt or gauzy linen top like this for spring.

• Emma Grede and Ashley Graham are hosting a show for Hello Sunshine titled Side Hustlers that helps to mentor founders as they attempt to leave their day job and work on their side hustle full-time. This feels like an exciting, interactive version of Shark Tank where you get to see more behind-the-scenes. I’m also impressed with Grede’s business savvy (she digs into the data at Good American for ideas on how to drive the business and make it successful. I mean, size 15 denim insight is my favorite anecdote.)

• Listen for the conversation about tiny things and oversize things referenced in the Marc Jacobs fashion show. I really enjoyed this week’s episode of A Thing or Two with Claire and Erica with lots of fashion and trend talk.

• Thank you to

  Chloe List
  for including me in her Unbox Inbox feature. I feel pretty lucky that I’m in the Salt feature. If you haven’t read it go check it out ASAP. I love how Chloe showcases so many different brands in each newsletter, profiles design packaging and digs a little deeper into each topic. It is brand design, consumer history and sociology of shopping all in one great read. I love the humor too.

  Issue 14 – Salt

What's Next?

MFW kicked off February 21st but not much news out while I draft this newsletter. So I’ll save for the next update, likely a few bits for our Sunday Scoop. PFW starts Monday February 26th.

Part one of Retail 101 - Math and Financials will be out this weekend in addition to our regularly scheduled programing.

Thanks for reading Deep Dive Edition 153

Sarah Shapiro

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