BoF’s Sheena Butler-Young and Tamison O’Connor join Lauren Sherman to discuss how a new generation of entrepreneurs are driving growth in this underdeveloped category. Background:  Monique Rodriguez turned a series of Instagram tutorials — where she made hair care concoctions out of ingredients found in her kitchen — into one of the most recognisable multicultural hair care brands in the US, Mielle Organics. The label just secured a reported $100 million non-controlling investment from Berkshire Partners that will help Rodriguez, who is now one of fewer than 100 Black women founders to have secured at least $1 million in funding, scale her business independently.  Products for natural hair is a billion-dollar plus business in the US, and getting more attention from investors as they start to recognise its enormous untapped potential and historical neglect. At the same time, founders are re-thinking how products are made, marketed and distributed to consumers.  “The next class of Black hair care founders want to flip the narrative arc: this isn't a segment, this is the market,” said BoF correspondent Sheena Butler-Young. ”I think that's where we're headed. That's the goal of these kinds of brands.” Key Insights:  The textured hair category remained relatively stagnant even as beauty saw a wider branding evolution with the rise of brands like Glossier that changed attitudes in beauty about the way brands can look and market themselves. Now, that’s changing.For a long time, fashion and beauty has neglected to direct proper attention and resources to catering to and courting the Black consumer. That’s shifting as it has become clear to investors and brands they are leaving money on the table.  Further Reading:   Rethinking Luxury’s Relationship With Black Consumers How Mielle Organics Is Rewriting the Playbook for Black Hair Brands Modernising the Black Hair Care Market Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mounting customer acquisition costs and a pressure to grow fast have made it hard to build a profitable DTC business. BoF deputy editor Brian Baskin and retail correspondent Cathaleen Chen join Lauren Sherman to analyse the past, present and future of the market.   Background:  About a decade ago, a number of flashy direct-to-consumer brands peddling premium products and promising to cut out retail’s middlemen emerged on the scene. Quickly, names like Warby Parker, Allbirds and Glossier attracted investor attention with battle cries of disruption, setting off a DTC boom. They managed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, and garner valuations in the billions of dollars. However, the market as a whole has largely failed to live up to sky-high expectations. How does the model need to change?  “Over the last year or so, investors are looking around and saying ‘wait a minute, you told us you’d get big enough and the profits would come. Where are the profits?’” said BoF deputy editor Brian Baskin. “Consumers have also looked around and said, ‘ok, I got my Allbirds sneakers — what else you got for me?’” Key Insights: The pandemic exposed a huge flaw in the DTC model: scaling ultra-fast without the support of multi brand retailers is tough — and often requires heavy spending on customer acquisition. . In both private and public markets right now, investors have little patience for brands that aren’t profitable. Today, DTC brands are embracing other distribution channels in order to scale, or choosing to grow more slowly. Growing a profitable DTC brand can be done with tight control over spending, scrappiness and smart marketing. AYR — a basics brand that started in 2014 as a Bonobos subsidiary and was later taken over independently by its co-founders — is on track to hit $60 million in sales, having only taken around $6 million in funding.   Additional Resources:   Why the DTC Model Can Still Work The Direct-to-Consumer Reckoning Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s Cathaleen Chen and Marc Bain join Lauren Sherman to talk about retailers’ big hires, hopes and plans for bringing their brands back to life. Background:  J.Crew and Gap defined how Americans dressed for much of the ’90s and 2000s, until their clothes grew stale, malls emptied out and fast fashion took retail’s reins. Then, during the pandemic, J.Crew filed for bankruptcy and Gap closed hundreds of stores. More recently, they’ve both orchestrated attempts to win back consumers: Gap, with its Yeezy-Gap collaboration, and J.Crew, with new mainline designers, including former Supreme creative director and Noah-founder Brendon Babenzien, whose menswear collection dropped a few weeks ago.  Though they share similar histories, the retailers’ comeback plans couldn’t be any more different.  Key Insights:  In the late-aughts, CEO Mickey Drexler and designer Jenna Lyons turned J.Crew into a fashion powerhouse before insurmountable debt sent it into bankruptcy a few years later. Meanwhile, Gap struggled to define its design aesthetic after dominating 1990s mall fashion with its preppy basics. With its 2020 appointment of the artist then known as Kanye West, Gap has been able to generate hype, but not sustained sales. Yeezy Gap and Gap are still mostly bifurcated: its retail rollout in Times Square featured clothes in black trash bags, in a blacked-out room separate from the rest of the Gap store.Both retailers face significant headwinds, but J.Crew is best poised to win given its balanced merchandising strategy aimed at satisfying new and old customers, said retail correspondent Cathaleen Chen. Particularly tough, added technology correspondent Marc Bain, is the fact that Gap is so large, and beholden to shareholders. Additional Resources:  J.Crew’s and Gap’s Comeback Playbooks Couldn’t Be More Different. Only One Is Working The J.Crew Comeback Starts Now Yeezy Gap Brings a Dystopian Retail Experience to StoresJoin BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In an effort to reignite consumer fire, the Italian megabrand has done some restructuring. Bernstein luxury analyst Luca Solca breaks down what it all means.  Background:  In the late 2010s, Gucci pulled off a successful turnaround by aligning creative director Alessandro Michele’s unique, baroque aesthetic and Jacopo Venturini’s expert merchandising under the leadership of chief executive Marco Bizzarri, according to Luca Solca, Bernstein luxury analyst and BoF contributor. They injected the brand’s heritage and tradition with streetwear codes and coolness — bringing more casual products like sneakers into the luxury fold, and sparking the era of “new luxury,” said Solca.  Lately, the brand has started to see momentum slow, falling behind rivals on organic growth. In search of a boost, Gucci has reorganised, introducing two newly created roles to support creative director Alessandro Michele.  “The onus is on Gucci to continue to drive newness so that consumers can turn their heads and say, ‘Wow, this is something I don't have. I want to buy it,’” said Solca.  Key Insights: One of creative director Alessandro Michele’s longtime deputies will develop the brand’s commercial collections in the newly created role of design studio director. Maria Cristina Lomanto will oversee merchandising and brand elevation as executive vice president, brand general manager. The shifts are a signal of Gucci’s intent to appeal to more consumers, while searching for a creative spark. Its biggest challenge right now, according to Solca, is for Gucci to “drive newness” to spur consumer demand. Michele has been creative director of Gucci for seven years; a long tenure by today’s standards. Relying more on a wider team could help mitigate the risks associated with an eventual creative transition for Gucci as it targets annual sales of €15 billion.  Additional Resources:  Will Gucci’s New Creative Configuration Work? How Big Can Luxury Brands Get?Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kim Kardashian’s ‘solution wear’ line was recently valued at $3.2 billion. BoF correspondent Alexandra Mondalek charts the rise of the brand, and details what challenges lie ahead. Background:  Founded in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and retail veteran Jens Grede, ‘solution wear’ line Skims has taken the fashion industry by storm, disrupting the sleepy shapewear category and fetching a $3.2 billion valuation following its Series B funding round in January 2022. Now, the brand is looking to launch new categories and in new geographies, and is eyeing brick-and-mortar and a potential IPO.  “Investors particularly like to talk about founder-product fit, and this really felt like a business that accomplished that,” said BoF’s Alexandra Mondalek.  Key Insights:  Skims has seen non-stop momentum since its launch. Going forward, the brand will have to find a way to keep up with lofty expectations based on its early performance. As Grede told BoF in March, “[Skims] doesn’t have the luxury of failing.”A big challenge Skims has faced is managing unrelenting demand, especially amid the global supply chain crisis. Core items are often out of stock on the brand’s site — a huge problem for getting and keeping customers, and a reason for the business to take on funding, raising a $240 million round in January. Additional Resources:   Skims Plots Its Next Moves: ‘We Don’t Have the Luxury of Failing’ The BoF Podcast | Jens Grede on Building Skims, Frame and the Future of Fashion Building a DTC Challenger Brand | Download the Case Study  Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s Daniel-Yaw Miller unpacks why — and how — sports stars including Russell Westbrook and Megan Rapinoe are running their own labels, with full financial and creative control. Background: Athletes have long been part of the fashion conversation. In the past, they’ve capitalised on their influence by inking brand endorsements with the likes of Nike and Adidas. Now, stars like the NBA’s Russell Westbrook, soccer player Megan Rapinoe and runner Allyson Felix are taking it a step further and launching their own labels in pursuit of more financial and creative control. Key Insights:Tennis champion Rene Lacoste’s namesake label is one of the earliest examples of an athlete starting a brand. One of the latest is NBA star Russel Westbrook’s Honor the Gift, which just showed its Spring 2023 collection at Paris Fashion Week. Founding a brand gives athletes more control over creative direction, finances and their future; whereas endorsement deals often mean athletes have little say, are restricted in what they can wear and will expire upon their retirement. Many athlete-founded brands are imbued with a sense of purpose. After leaving Nike, track star Allyson Felix founded footwear and apparel label Saysh — which just closed an $8 million funding round led by Gap’s investment fund — with a nod to her advocacy for maternity rights baked in, allowing mothers and pregnant women to trade in shoes as their foot sizes change. Though many athletes, including Westbrook and Felix, are pushing out brands toward the end of their playing and running careers, younger players are starting their careers with the mindset that they will eventually run fully-fledged businesses like Honour the Gift or Saysh.Additional resources: How Athletes Went From Selling Merch to Building Fashion Brands How NBA Star Russell Westbrook Is Changing How Men’s Fashion Works Why Luxury Brands Want in on FootballJoin BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a pandemic pivot to e-commerce, many brands are back to working with third-party retailers, this time, with better terms. Background: The wholesale model, while offering exposure and some upfront revenue, did not always have the best terms for vendors. Department store bankruptcies, pandemic-induced store closures and the boom in online shopping pushed brands further towards their direct-to-consumer and e-commerce businesses to drive revenue.  But that’s beginning to change. As shoppers return to stores, brands are seeing value in ramping up their partnerships with multi-brand retailers — this time on better terms. “What I'm hearing across the board from both brands and retailers is that this vendor-retailer relationship is more collaborative than ever,” said BoF retail correspondent Cathaleen Chen.  Key Insights:  There are multiple factors pushing brands back to wholesale. Among them, the growth of e-commerce, which has slowed after spiking in 2020, and the growing consumer appetite for curated, in-person shopping experiences that allow them to stumble upon new designers. “That discovery is still so important, and now [shoppers are] relying on a cool third-party retailer to sort of facilitate that discovery,” said Chen.Both parties are also increasingly open to exploring other models like concession, consignment — more typical to European department stores — and drop-shipping, where the brands themselves are responsible for fulfilling orders made through retailer’s websites.  Brands are returning to wholesale, but not at the expense of their direct-to-consumer and retail offerings. “I think we're at a point where everybody has a more well-rounded business so that if things do go bad again in whichever channel, they can be agile and adapt very quickly,” said Chen.  Additional resources:  How to Take a Brand From Local to Global | BoF  Searching for the Next Barneys  Inside Neiman Marcus' Post-Bankruptcy Playbook Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF correspondents Chavie Lieber and Daniel-Yaw Miller discuss why fashion brands are making products for sports like pickleball, padel, rugby, boxing and skiing.  Background:  Two decades ago, Lululemon built its brand around yoga — then considered counter culture. Today, it’s a $6 billion behemoth that makes products for everything from running to swimming and tennis, becoming a model for upstarts like Gymshark and Nobull hoping to filch market share from giants like Nike and Adidas. Now, as sports like pickleball, padel and skiing are gaining traction, there’s yet another opportunity for start-ups to disrupt the activewear market.“If you go niche and focus on a very specific customer base with a very specific niche following, that might be a better way to crack activewear as opposed to selling everything for the masses — then you’re going head to head with Lululemon and Nike,” said BoF correspondent Chavie Lieber.    Key Insights: Instead of going after the activewear space in general, brands are serving underrepresented groups or making noise with differentiated products and price points. A few brands, like Gymshark and District Vision have succeeded by identifying strong communities and putting themselves at the centre of them. The activewear market represents a massive opportunity for brands: global sportswear is expected to grow to $395 billion by 2025, at an annual rate of 8 to 10 percent, according to McKinsey. Brands are tapping into the desire to look good while playing sports like pickleball, rugby and boxing. They are poised to benefit from and buzz surrounding events like the 2028 Olympics and 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cup, which will be held in the US.  Additional resources:  The Hunt for Activewear’s Next Big Category Activewear’s Biggest Disruptors The Race to Develop the Best Sports Bra  Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts.  Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The vice president of fashion and shopping partnerships at Meta and BoF technology correspondent Marc Bain join Lauren Sherman to discuss the company’s new marketplace — which sells digital items from Thom Browne, Balenciaga and Prada — and the future of fashion on the platform.    Background:  Social-media company Meta has launched a virtual clothing store, and Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne are the first major designers to create looks fit for avatars in Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse.The designs, available for use on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger, include a Balenciaga motorcycle suit, Prada shorts and one of Thom Browne’s signature grey suits. The move marks Meta’s formal entry into the virtual high-fashion business after Zuckerberg declared his ambitions to build the metaverse in late 2021.Key Insights: Meta’s virtual goods represent an opportunity for consumers who may not be able to afford physical items from the labels, to own a piece of the iconic brands. Chen said the designers already are masters of creating their own immersive worlds — whether through shows or clothes — so it wasn’t hard to get them interested in the experience. Translating real-world texture and detail to virtual items, however, was a challenge. Right now, the metaverse doesn’t represent a huge revenue stream for fashion companies. But, being a first name to the nascent space has a branding advantage. Eventually, when brands are able to make virtual items into NFTs, they’ll be able to create true ownership and scarcity, which could create the same dynamics of exclusivity and hype that drive fashion today. Additional Resources: Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne Will Be the First Brands on Meta’s Virtual Fashion Store  Facebook’s Vision for Fashion in the Metaverse Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout.  Want more from The Business of Fashion? Subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this discussion, Sheena Butler-Young, BoF’s workplace and talent correspondent, unpacks the unique challenges managers face with Gen-Z employees in the fashion industry. Sheena highlights how Gen-Z's high expectations around remote work and salary are amplified by a labor shortage that grants them leverage. Unlike Millennials, this generation demands transparency and real communication over traditional sales tactics. The conversation also emphasizes the need for brands to understand these desires instead of relying on stereotypes.