Deep Dive - Week of July 1st 2024 - Tiffany & Co's Split and Bone Rings takeover

Exploring 50 years of Elsa Peretti at Tiffany & Co, the state of piercings and earrings, a bit on CPG innovation and what is on my radar this week.

I went on a Tiffany & Co. Instagram scavenger hunt. My report is below. Plus many more stories to explore if jewelry isn’t your thing (but if you are reading this it might be.)

This Week's Topics:  

• Tiffany & Co. Celebrates 50 years of Elsa Peretti

• Piercing gets high-end and Earscaping trends

• New Launches

• New Collabs

• New Store Openings & Pop-Ups

• The Business Section

• PSA

• “Upflation” vs Innovation and Inflation in CPG

• On My Radar - The August 2024 Vogue Cover

• What else I ❤️️ 

Tiffany & Co Celebrates 50 years of Elsa Peretti

On Monday July 1st many fashion insiders were featuring the new Elsa Peretti Split Ring or Bone Ring on Instagram and tagging Tiffany & Co. I was thrilled to see Allison Bornstein styling it as she often includes Peretti designs in her mood boards. Then we saw Karla Welch post and Kate Young. I kept checking Anya Taylor-Joy’s posts and then realized it was this subtle moment. Before I saw a few more I gasped when

Nikki Ogunnaike

tagged me on Instagram to dig in. 🕵🏻‍♀️ What I thought would be a quiet first week of July turned into a fun deep dive. 👩🏻‍💻

History and Fashion 🌀 Spiral on Elsa Peretti

Let’s start with the history of Elsa Peretti at Tiffany & Co (currently the secondary image on the Homepage. The Lock by Tiffany still has the Hero spot):

Elsa Peretti's collaboration with Tiffany & Co. is a significant chapter in both jewelry design and the company's history. In 2019 it was shared that Peretti’s designs were responsible for 7% of the company’s total sales.

• Early career: Elsa Peretti began as a model in Barcelona and New York in the 1960s.

• Jewelry design: She started designing jewelry in 1969, creating pieces for fashion designers.

• Tiffany & Co. partnership: In 1974, Peretti joined Tiffany & Co. as an independent designer.

• The Bone Cuff: Introduced in the 1970s, the Bone Cuff became one of her most recognizable designs.

  • Inspired by childhood visits to a 17th-century church decorated with human bones

  • Ergonomically designed to fit the wrist comfortably (they cannot be switched between wrists. They are molded to fit the right wrist or left wrist with the appropriate bone placement.)

  • 1st dibs has a great assortment so you can see some of the various designs and iterations.

• Other iconic designs: Peretti created numerous other popular designs for Tiffany, including:

  • The Bean (this is another one that is making waves at the moment. I’m seeing the pendant pop up a lot as inspiration (here too - can even add engraving to this one) or the original being styled. Here is a tiktok discussing the bean design and Y2K trends. You can find resale options on The RealReal.

    • Viv Chen
      wrote a great piece about the Bean after Olivia Rodrigo wore at the Grammy’s last year.

  • The Teardrop feels like an inspiration and early version of this current popular earring shape.

    • Hint - if you are interested in buying a new piece of jewelry, sometimes looking for the original inspiration will help you find some incredible vintage pieces.

  • Open Heart - I think of this style and the Paloma Picasso heart as an entry into Tiffany & Co. It also has so much nostalgia if it is a piece you wore when you were younger.

  • Diamonds by the Yard - I love that the inspiration for this was to make diamonds more casual. (I can attest to this - this is a necklace I wear and never take off.)

  • Bottle pendants

  • Round up of a few others worth seeing: Mesh, the Amapola brooch that was so popular (with both men & women) during award season (see here), the Starfish

• Peretti's designs helped modernize Tiffany's offerings and appealed to a younger audience. I love how this was true 50 years ago and it is still true today - as you can see from the partners they chose for this campaign.

• Peretti’s partnership with Tiffany lasted over 40 years until her death in 2021. This year marks 50 years of Elsa Peretti’s designs for Tiffany & Co.

New Launch Campaign

• Focuses on the new ring styles, mostly the Split ring but the bone ring is also new. These launched in stores in mid June I also found that they launched earlier in Europe, Middle East and Africa and launched Globally July 1st, hence this latest campaign.

  

• I love that this campaign has a lot of fashion “behind the scenes” stylists and hair stylists that have a passionate fashion following but for some are IYKYK.

• Was there anyone missing for you? I would have loved to have seen a Danielle Goldberg client like Ayo Edebiri (between The Bear returning and Inside Out 2 playing) or maybe letting Olivia Rodrigo play with it after the Grammy’s moment.

• Did you like the images all launching the same day? Or would a drip over an elongated time been more powerful?

I’m a huge fan of the bone cuffs worn one on each wrist. Wonder Woman statement making.

Piercing gets high-end and Earscaping

• Some of my favorite journalists at Marie Claire put together a great package highlighting the piercing and earring landscape. I’m super into what is going on in the jewelry industry and here is why:

  • Combining piercing services with jewelry sales offers a unique value proposition. When designers also offer piercing services (or vice versa), they can provide a bespoke experience that includes both the piercing service and curated jewelry. While the trend of multiple piercings is popular, ear real estate is limited. However, customers will return for exceptional jewelry pieces long after they've run out of space for new piercings.

  • Customization is another key aspect. For jewelry designers with unique styles, being able to build an earscape and help the client/customer see what unique shapes of earrings and a couple of styles look like together is a plus.

  • I might sound like a broken record at this point, but I’m a retail broken record. AOV¹ can be increased. Instead of just selling the piercings you can upsell on the earrings. After a piercing I love dreaming of all the new styling opportunities with a new hole(s).

  • I’m a fan of Maria Tash’s jewelry and upscale piercing service so I love that she was featured here.

• The article also brought in clip-ons. I love this! Earring styling doesn’t have to be limited to pierced. The current styling of earrings also sits so well with clip-ons. A bit bigger, organic styling, metal heavy. Plenty to play with. Here are a few I like:

  • This edgy but also glitzy ear cuff gives the look of more with no piercings required. I would also totally wear this even though I have piercings.

  • From my years as a Jewelry Buyer, Kenneth Jay Lane (KJL) does amazing clip-ons for costume jewelry. Check out clip-on hoops. ODLR (Oscar de la Renta) has great clips too.

  • Gah! Ippolita beauties clip-on bezels.

  • Make a statement! I’ve been seeing larger ear covers in editorials and on stylish fashion influencers.

  • or go with Vintage like this or these incredible Tiffany’s vintage.

  • You don’t have to stick to ears - maybe try a septum ring with no commitment or piercing required.

• I love playing with earscapes. I often do tiny and asymmetrical (I have 3 in each ear) but these days I’ve branched out and I’m having so much fun wearing this larger 3 carat lab grown sapphire earring* in the first hole, the 2 carat in the second hole* and either another 2 carat in the third hole or a tiny stud.

New Launches

• Self-Portrait is expanding into jewelry and this is a smart category expansion for the brand. The dressed up designs and details lend to jewelry and you are likely buying jewelry for the same event. The brand’s 2 year old handbag expansion now represents 9% of the total business and they expect the jewelry diversification to be similar.

• Away is launching soft-sided luggage at $225 - $325 July 9th. The brand sees the marketplace of luggage and expects soft-sided to represent 50%. Alan Ruck/Connor Roy is one of the spokesmodels for the campaign. Made me smile, and miss Succession.

  • Away is having a Buy More Save More event with code GETAWAY. I’m assuming this sale is also helping to drive down inventory to make room for the soft-sided case launch. If customers have more options (hard case vs soft case) the overall sales for hard case will likely go down but also, it will bring in more customers that are die-hard soft sided fans.

New Collabs

• American Eagle and sister brand Aerie partnered on a collab showcasing denim looking fabrics with soft comfort. My first thought brought me to this Rag & Bone collection of denim-ish jean sweatpants (you can read more from a previous Retail Diary here.) Check out the collection here. I think the swimsuits and bodysuits look great.

• Reformation’s latest Collection with designer Laura Vassar (Brock Collection) using deadstock fabrics and historic Italian prints.

• Khaite collab with Ginori 1735 on a home collection only available at Moda Operandi.

• Beams x On collab on a fashion forward tennis collection. Blending technical expertise with functional fashion.

• Olivia Rodrigo x Stanley collab. Launches July 9th. You can sign-up to learn more from her newsletter.

• J.Crew Mens collabs with The Bear for a fictional take on merch.

• Glossier continues their partnership with Women’s Basketball by partnering with Team USA Women’s Basketball for the upcoming Olympics.

• Chinese designer Bing Xu collabs with British luxury wallpaper-maker de Gournay on a footwear collaboration. I love this. The collection is beautiful, special and unique and de Gournay’s designs translate so well for elegant footwear.

• Regarding the rumor about Coperni x Gap (I read about it in Lauren Sherman’s The Line Sheet) I asked readers if they would shop. Results: 36% said YES!, 29% said not adding to cart but interested and 34% said “Who is Coperni” which leads me to believe that this would be a good move for Coperni to help more people discover the brand. So you don’t have to wait for any potential collab, here is the 411 on Coperni:

  • Coperni, founded in 2013 by Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, is a Parisian fashion brand known for its innovative designs blending futuristic aesthetics with classic French style, gaining widespread attention for their technologically-driven fashion shows.

  • Why you might know the brand or the designs: the popular swipe bag (currently this version is 60% off)

  • A fabulous statement making slinky dresses.

  • But most likely, you’ve heard of Coperni due to Bella Hadid “wearing” a spray on dress applied during the runway show.

New Store Openings & Pop-Ups

• Left on Friday has a pop-up that just opened this week in NYC and plans to be open through September. 228 Mott Street North. They will also open at 1402 Abbot Kinney in LA as a permanent location.

• California cool with a Parisian twist opens in Paris. L’Agence opens a flagship in Le Marais.

• Brochu Walker is opening in Buckhead Village in Atlanta. This location joins 3 other US locations with 2 more opening later this year in TX and CT. (I love their layered sweaters.)

• Alex Mill has a pop-up this week at 264 Butter Lane with SoulCycle in the Hamptons. Mickey Drexler, Alex Mill’s Chairman and the Merchant Prince (and one of my retail icons) has been nicknamed “The Godfather of SoulCycle” because he starts every day in one of their spin classes. While this is a 3 day pop-up, Alex Mill is looking for a longer term pop-up space in the Hamptons. I love that this pop-up has an activation where you can get a painted monogram on a tote.

• After shutting down stores and the subscription service as a result of the pandemic, M.M. LaFleur is re-opening physical stores and leaning back into subscription. The program allows customers to preview items before their Bento Box (styling box) is sent.

🛍️ Quick note: I write a lot (too much good stuff to share!) so if you’re reading via email only, you may need to click through to the web version or read on the Substack app. I promise it will be worth it. 🛍️

The Business Section

• The most important point about Gap Inc. on a positive trajectory is that if the brand can be more relevant (with trends, collabs, styling etc) the company can rely on promotions less.

• Retailers - make sure your Back To School strategies are locked down and ready. Parents in every income bracket above $50K are expected to spend more - spending $475 a child vs $390 LY.

• Larroudé is moving to a “Direct-to-Demand” business model. Here is what you need to know:

  • This change means their inventory will ship directly from a single warehouse based on what is currently available.

  • The goal is to focus on inventory turn and have wholesale partners only buying what they need, vs purchasing in advance and overbuying (expecting to RTV² or discount product at a later time.)

  • In order to make this move, Larroudé currently has a 50% off sale on the DTC site - this is to help prepare the warehouse and technology for the updated inventory accounting. I love how they took this business decision and made a PR moment and revenue driver out of it. Happy Shopping!

  • Retail Diary thoughts from Sarah - I expect this to be better for the business overall - more sustainable environmentally but also less reliant on RTVs and markdown dollars³ However…it also means Buyers need to have open to buy⁴ dollars available. So during a weak period, or when retailers are struggling, I expect their $$ will all be tied up on Purchase Orders they can’t cancel. This just means that Larroudé should continue to help their strongest retail partners but they will also likely rely more heavily on DTC and focus on making DTC a larger piece of their business model.

• L Catteron and Birkenstock employees sold 14 Million shares - Birkenstock's secondary public offering aims to increase stock liquidity and broaden its investor base, with L Catterton remaining the majority shareholder.

• Rocksbox, after being acquired by Signet Jewelers Ltd, is changing the business model from rental (and rent to own) to resale. It is a bummer to lose the subscription recurring revenue, but my assumption is that the revenue wasn’t substantial or there is more opportunity in resale.

People

• Vanessa Friedman at the NYTimes gives the background on Peter Copping and his Lanvin appointment. Lanvin is the oldest running French fashion house.

• Louis Ferla named CEO at Cartier. Currently Ferla has been Chief at Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin.

• Béis has promoted the Brand President Adeela Hussain Johnson to be the company’s first CEO.

  • An aside about product innovation - after Béis received feedback and reviews about scratches on the suitcases during travel, they innovated a “Béis Wash” in partnership with Scrub Daddy and Branch Basics and also created a luggage cover.

  • I think they can innovate to improve the suitcase material to not have this frustration for customers, but this is a great quick update to improve and listen to their loyal customers.

• Left on Friday hired a Chief Creative Officer. Ashley Sargent Price (most recently SVP and Creative Director at Madewell and has also lead in creative director roles at Beautycounter, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister.) I can’t stop talking about how much I love this brand. This is the first swimsuit I grab every time.

• Cathy Horyn at The Cut considers what is next for Chanel and what all the fashion people during Couture Week in Paris were debating. On Lauren Sherman’s Fashion People podcast Sofia Coppola’s name is thrown out as a wild card from a conversation with Ssense’s Head of Content Steff Yotka (I love this kind of creative thinking.)

PSA

• Sadly thieves are getting more creative. Watch out.

• Saie Beauty is 20% off - I use the GlowSculpt in peach glow and Glowy Supergel in Starglow.

• Kule Sale - my picks are the striped t-shirts like this short sleeve and this long sleeve (I have a couple of Kule striped tees.) This bag for tennis or swim stuff and a hat that says “oy vey” which I’m frequently saying.

“Upflation” vs Innovation and Inflation in CPG

I have worked in CPG and “‘Upflation’ Is the New Retail Trend Driving Up Prices for US Consumers” from Bloomberg brought up a lot thoughts:

• Many of the examples of “upflation” such as razors for smaller, more delicate areas and a whole body deodorant, I would actually consider innovation. Do you need whole body deodorant, maybe not, but if a consumer is interested in a refresher that does not require a shower maybe there is an audience for that. The sales will show if it is worthy or not. I do not think it is meant to trick the consumer into spending more, but rather solve a problem. Is it the right idea? That’s what the marketplace will show.

• The higher costs of the innovative products is also due to a few other factors:

  • more sustainable packaging and tooling new packaging costs more

  • the costs of innovating the product

  • smaller production runs as they test the product. a more established product in the assortment (ex. regular deodorant) they purchase millions of more units so the costs go down.

• I’m not 100% convinced that people are spending 19.2% less in shampoo than they did in 2019. What I think is happening:

  • DTC or smaller brands are eating into the space and taking away from brands that Circana reports on. Are they capturing Crown Affair, Roz or a Shampoo Bar? All three are examples of products that are beloved, rated super high and possibly not factored into the traditional industry reports on the CPG industry.

  • Potentially the trend is also noting more 2-in-1 shampoo items and people going in for more blowouts or lasting a few days between washes with the help of excellent dry shampoo (like this one!!) Is dry shampoo counted in the shampoo data??

• The trend of less salty snacks also makes me think of the impact from GLP-1 (I discussed that a bit in my 2024 trend predictions) or the trend in protein snacks and drinks rising.

• Additionally, the consumer is possibly being more careful on waste of product, like using shampoo until the last drop or using less with each wash. Maybe also using more natural products and eco-friendly options that again, likely aren’t tracked in the Circana data.

On my radar - The August 2024 Vogue Cover

• Vogue put Dr. Jill Biden on the cover pre-election (August 2024 cover), unlike Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton who appeared post-election each time (once for Clinton, three times for Obama. This is Biden’s third time.) I wonder if both Vogue and the Biden campaign considered the timing's optics, given Anna Wintour's known Democratic support and thought about how this would play out.

  • Rachel Tashjian covered for the Washington Post “Jill Biden is Vogue’s Cover Star. What Timing.” (gift link to read behind the paywall.)

  • Amy Odell
    wrote about it for her Substack
    Back Row
    “Jill Biden’s Embarrassingly Timed ‘Vogue’ Cover.”

What else I ❤️️ 

• Marc Jacobs latest show continues with the oversized doll silhouettes. Cartoonish eyes, nods to Marilyn Monroe and pure joy. Read more from the NYTimes here and Business of Fashion here.

• Yes, there was a Marc Jacobs fashion show this week, but Hunter Abrams wrote for Vogue.com about the real star - Jacobs’ nails!!!

• Love this knit dress. Perfect for work and play and wherever the day takes you. Also a great blank slate for all your accessories.

• This A.L.C. skirt made me think of wandering in Italy, and more specifically, this previous season Prada skirt and look at the Spring 2004 Prada Runway images for more inspiration.

• I would wear that skirt with the Paz shoe* from Margaux. I have been wearing and loving because 1) they are so incredibly comfortable. extra padding, leather doesn’t dig in and 2) the open weave makes them feel like a sandal in a ballet flat silhouette. If you are limited in suitcase space I would 1000% recommend these shoes to be like a 3 in one (walking shoe, sandal and ballet flat.)

• Newness at Veronica Beard - like this ladylike and super versatile jacket.

• This Kate McLeod Dusk Stone - Natural Insect Repellant is Limited Edition for summer - made with 100% plant-based active ingredients, cocoa butter, citronella is plastic-free and is incredibly highly rated. Wow! I plan to try this and report back. (I have these and love. Great gift!!)

• Loving these InnBeauty SPF lip balms*. No yucky taste, great color (my favorite is Rosy Brown. My daughter loves Pink) and it isn’t thick or gloopy (is that a word?) I’ll be wearing this for July 4th by the pool.

• I liked this Instagram Reel from Clayton Chambers .@spr.ezza on how brands like Rimowa and Nike are making “worn” part of the story and marketing play for merchandise.

• I’ve been enjoying

  The New Garde with Alyssa Vingan
  podcast - this week Danielle Prescod was on (I’m a huge fan so I can’t wait to listen.)
  Alyssa Vingan
  also launched an accompanying Substack.

• More accessories for things. After iPhones, Kindles make sense. Have you seen these fun cases?

• Launch a new category? Want to bring attention to a seasonally relevant category in the navigation. Add a fun emoji. Check out Negative’s Swim Category Navigation 🌴 (screenshot below, but you are going to want to see the swimwear too.)

  

Any retail news you’ve been following this week? Retail questions I can help with?

What's Next?

I’m envisioning much more LVMH marketing with the Olympics and I’m curious to see if other fashion houses outside the LVMH world will compete for news. Sales and promotions picking up now and likely aren’t stopping for awhile. Pace yourself.

Thanks for reading Deep Dive Edition 172

Sarah Shapiro

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1. AOV = Average Order Volume - a key metric in retail and e-commerce that represents the average amount spent each time a customer places an order on a website or in a store.

2. RTV = Return to Vendor. When a retailer doesn’t sell all the inventory and negotiates for the vendor/brand to take back unsold goods. This is one way to reduce the inventory and open up more dollars to spend on other products/or just reduce inventory overall.

3. Markdown Dollars = when a vendor financially supports discounting merchandise at a retailer. Often the buyer/retailer will be asked to be made margin whole. So they aren’t losing out on important margin KPIs. If you have a brand and their margin is not strong you likely won’t carry again in the future.

4. Open to Buy = how much a merchant can afford to bring in of inventory every month. If you don’t make your sales goals the previous month your P&L (profit & loss) will likely show that you have less money to spend on new merchandise. And the customers always want to see newness available.