Valeria Fride, a burgeoning TikTok creator, has grown her follower count on the app to 15,000 with makeup tutorial and holiday gift guide videos as she shares her go-to products for various occasions.

But in her most successful video yet, she took the opposite approach and highlighted TikTok-favourite items, like Olaplex’s shampoo and conditioner and Dior’s Backstage Rosy Glow blush, that didn’t impress her — and viewers loved it. The video, which she published in late January, earned 1.3 million views, with comments like: “This is by far the most informative thing I’ve seen online today.”

Fride’s video capitalised on a new, unexpected trend that has emerged on the social platform in recent weeks. Called “deinfluencing,” it refers to how influencers encourage followers not to buy a product, the opposite tactic found in traditional creators’ playbooks.

Thus far, it’s playing out in a number of ways. Some creators, like Fride, deinfluence their followers from buying one product, only to suggest an alternative. Others fill their deinfluencing videos only with products they tried and didn’t like. A few go a step further and speak out against the “more, more, more” culture that often dominates the shopping conversation on social media, telling users to resist consumption for the sake of consumption and think more critically about their purchases.

Deinfluencing is something of an antidote to an online culture that sees TikTok users quickly tout $20 Amazon buys and Sephora cart additions as something “you can’t live without.” But what’s making its rise — 206.5 million views on TikTok and counting — particularly notable is the traction it’s gaining with influencers themselves, a group famous for hyping up certain products. Particularly in fashion and beauty, influencers have sent sales of items like Dyson’s AirWrap hair styling tool, K18′s repairing hair mask and Ugg’s ultra mini boots, to name a few, skyrocketing.

Typically, the proportion of positive reviews on social media typically outweighs the negative. Many creators are often reluctant to speak about products they don’t like for fear of alienating the brand or any other potential or current partners.

“More content that is honest and critical of brands is not necessarily a bad thing,” said James Nord, founder of influencer marketing company Fohr. “But it’s a tough line for influencers to walk because they don’t want to offend their partners.”

While there are plenty of creators who have built trust with their audiences, their success has spurred an explosion of other creators who want to do the same, but may be after short-term affiliate marketing success rather than building longevity in the space.

For creators dealing with swelling competition for brand deals and advertising dollars (which are facing renewed scrutiny in the current economic climate), convincing followers they’re trustworthy has never been more important. Rather than a pushback on influencer marketing as a whole, definfluencing’s emergence actually should serve as a reminder that when it comes to longevity in the influencer marketing space, honesty and candour are essential.

“It’s really an exaggeration of what’s always worked best for influencers, which is going with people who give honest opinions,” said Sarah Flint, founder of her eponymous shoe brand, which frequently partners with influencers. “It’s not always about who has the most followers, but who has the followers that are the most relevant to you and to your brand.”

Pushback on Product Recommendations

There are countless ways for consumers to seek out product recommendations today, from customer reviews to shopping roundups in magazines. Influencers are a particularly appealing option for consumers — and brands — because ideally they bring a personal, trustworthy touch to highlighting products.

Nord concedes even when being transparent, creators are more likely to talk about products they enjoy, and simply avoid the ones they don’t. For creators, every brand is a potential partnership and they want to make sure they keep doors open.

The difference today, however, is that consumers are more aware of those dynamics, and may question a creator’s motives.

“It’s everywhere, and you turn anywhere on social media and get products pushed in your face,” said Beth Zerdecki, co-founder of shopping recommendation platform Rank & Style. “What’s happening is, influencers are looking for a way to convince followers, ‘I am the most trustworthy.’”

Deinfluencing is a start, but influencers can make more subtle changes, such as being consistent in their recommendations — for example, talking about the same pair of jeans repeatedly over time comes off as more authentic than recommending a different pair every month. Couching their language, too, can help.

“Influencers can shift their messaging away from ‘You have to get this’ or ‘This will change your life’ to ‘This has been great for me; this is how it’s helped me,’” said Nord, while warning, however, they should “not try to push too hard on the fear of missing out” factor that often drives consumers to buy a product.

Of course, there’s risks to such an approach, but there’s also danger in continuing to feed the black hole of you-need-this product picks.

“Now that I’m taking this content creation more seriously, I do always have it in the back of my head that I probably started off on the wrong foot,” said Fride, whose first taste of social media virality came from her deinfluencing video. “But at the same time, it builds a good foundation. A brand deal or two are not going to matter if my audience is truly engaged and interested in what I have to say.”

While deinfluencing is perhaps a sign of an ongoing rise in the standards that audiences hold content creators to, it certainly is not a warning sign of a pending end to the influencer marketing. Quite the opposite; as deinfluencing and influencing are essentially the same thing: online creators guiding consumer purchasing decisions.

“This trend is not a referendum on influencers,” said Vanessa Flaherty, president at influencer management company Digital Brand Architects. “At its core, deinfluencing is still influencing; both are about building trust with your audience.”

Burberry is the latest fashion house to declare that serifs are back in style.

This week, the British label unveiled a new logo featuring an understated typeface, complete with small but clearly visible serifs on the edges of each letter, replacing The redesign nods to the 167-year-old brand’s heritage – to underscore that point, Burberry also brought back the logo’s equestrian knight motif, a man on horseback carrying a banner reading “Prorsum” (forwards in Latin), albeit with a tweak to showcase the logo in a bright blue.

The new look comes just weeks before Burberry’s new creative director, Daniel Lee, presents his first collection at London Fashion Week on Feb. 20 and comes at a time of high stakes for the brand. There are undeniable hopes that, armed with a new creative director and a new look, Burberry, long the anchor of the British luxury market, will be able to propel itself back to the centre of fashion conversation.

But the lettering also marks a retreat from Burberry’s last attempt at tinkering with its brand codes. It was only in 2018 that the company revealed a logo that featured a sleek, bold font, the logo the work of British graphic designer Peter Savile.

At the time, tails-free fonts were in, migrating from the start-up world to century-old luxury houses. Brand after brand, including Balenciaga, Berluti, Balmain and Saint Laurent, rolled out logos featuring thick, unembellished typefaces. Each company made its case for why its sanded-down lettering represented a unique creative choice, and the easily readable, bold typefaces were fitting for an era of sales bumps for logoed products. But the undeniable similarity prompted a backlash. A graphic that showed the variety of the prior logos compared with the new ones made the rounds on social media. Creative directors Thierry Brunfaut and Tom Greenwood coined a new term to describe the monotony: “blanding.” It stuck.

Now, the pendulum may be swinging back.

Burberry is not alone in embracing the more traditional-looking serif-style fonts: In the last few years, Bottega Veneta and Salvatore Ferragamo have also rolled out new wordmarks with serif typefaces, albeit with an au courant twist. (Ferragamo’s was designed by Savile, the designer of Burberry’s 2018 logo.) For each brand, the serifs are present, but understated. Just this week, Phoebe Philo also hopped on the serif bandwagon, with the first Instagram post from her new brand showing a wordmark in one of the world’s most recognisable fonts: Times New Roman.

The timing for Burberry’s switch makes sense. The Savile-designed logo was introduced early in Riccardo Tisci’s tenure as creative director. The Italian designer took the house in a more modern direction, to a mixed reception. While Tisci’s heavily-logoed TB bags reflected consumers’ obsession with splashy brand symbols and streetwear influences, it also alienated more conservative Burberry customers, the ones who loved the brand for its deep British heritage.

Burberry named Daniel Lee to the post of creative director in September 2022, nearly a year after his abrupt departure from Bottega Veneta. While the new logo leaves no doubt about Lee’s own preferences when it comes to logo design — after all, he introduced a strikingly similar wordmark during his tenure at Bottega — it nicely illustrates his plans for the brand.

It also appeases those who flock to the brand for its trench coats and plaid scarves, while remaining rooted in the 2020s. The new logo isn’t a carbon copy of the pre-2018 one – the serifs are subtler, for starters. But the equestrian knight logo , which was first trademarked by the brand all the way back in 1909 and was used consistently for over 100 years following.

Consumers, already, seem to be receptive to Burberry’s changes. “The knight is back!” one commenter wrote on Instagram. “This logo and new look is brilliant,” another said.

It remains to be seen, however, if the warm response will continue if other brands introduce busier logos. They appear more traditional and heritage-driven, an approach that is resonating with luxury consumers — the post-pandemic winners in the sector are brands that lean heavily on their histories, such as Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton. As well, Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga all have recently discussed a desire to recalibrate their focus on the brand’s history.

But as their striking sans serif counterparts, too much of anything can trigger changes in consumer reception. In a few months, consumers may be calling it Blanding 2.0.

There’s an argument to be made, however, that even if these sorts of logos become de rigeur in luxury, it shouldn’t deter brands for whom it really is the most natural fit. Serif or sans, there isn’t one sort of font that’s a clear cut win for luxury brands. Instead, what matters is what feels in line with a brand’s ethos and overall aesthetic. (Burberry’s 2018 logo, for example, may not have felt like a natural fit for the storied brand, but was actually a modern interpretation of British typefaces from generations past.) If a brand just hops on a trend because it’s what feels of-the-moment without much thought behind it, that’s where the backlash begins.

THE NEWS IN BRIEF

FASHION, BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY

Phoebe Philo sets digital-first debut for September. The famously social media-shy designer has launched an Instagram account and will unveil her first collection under her own name via phoebephilo.com.

Balenciaga to focus on collections, heritage amid continuing controversy. The French brand will scale back on spectacle and focus on design after being accused of sexualising children, designer Demna told Vogue in the company’s first interview since the scandal last year.

Capri cuts forecasts as demand slows, shares plunge 20 percent. Luxury companies weathered inflation better than other industries as affluent shoppers dipped into pandemic savings, but persistently increasing prices have now prompted high-end spenders to stem their splurging on designer labels.

Ralph Lauren beats quarterly revenue estimates. Net revenue rose 1 percent to $1.83 billion in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, while analysts had expected $1.76 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Tapestry raises annual profit forecast. The company said it now expected fiscal 2023 earnings of $3.70 to $3.75 per share, compared with its prior estimate of $3.60 to $3.70.

Adidas slumps after Ye warning. After a 71 percent surge, the stock slumped as much as 11 percent Friday, the biggest decline in more than two years.

Report: Beyoncé's Ivy Park misses Adidas’ sales targets. Sales for the singer’s inclusive streetwear line, which is produced in collaboration with Adidas, fell more than 50 percent in 2022 to $40 million, far below Adidas’ $250 million revenue projections, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

Moncler ‘Genius’ to collaborate with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, Mercedes-Benz. The outerwear giant’s London Fashion Week outing will also showcase new collaborations with Adidas, Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams in a bid to broaden the initiative’s reach.

EU considers ban on ‘forever chemicals’, urges search for alternatives. If passed, the ban could become the region’s most extensive piece of regulation of the chemical industry.

US senators ask Shein about forced labour concerns for cotton. In a letter dated Thursday, three senators sought details about the company’s procurement process and its links to Xinjiang, a region of China whose products are banned for import into the US by federal law. The letter requested a response within 30 days.

China’s luxury market shrank 10 percent in 2022, according to Bain Report. China’s luxury market contracted 10 percent in 2022 on the year, snapping a five-year streak of high growth, as Beijing’s zero-Covid policy and a slowing economy hit spending, Bain & Company said Tuesday.

THE BUSINESS OF BEAUTY

US demand boosts L’Oréal fourth-quarter sales, China weighs. L’Oréal posted 8.1 percent sales growth in the fourth quarter, a touch slower than in the previous three months. The cosmetics company, which sells Maybelline mascara and CeraVe skin care, recorded sales for the last three months of 2022 of 10.3 billion euros ($11.1 billion), in line with analyst expectations, according to Refinitiv data.

Coty raises profit forecast on resilient demand, price hikes. The company’s shares rose about 4 percent to $10.80 in premarket trading after also beating expectations for second-quarter revenue and profit.

Off-White names Isamaya Ffrench as beauty curator. In her new role, the makeup artist will oversee the creative, product and packaging development of the label’s burgeoning beauty line.

Shiseido’s announces new growth strategy, sees fiscal year profits fall. The beauty company reported on Friday that full-year sales grew by 5.7 percent for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, to approximately 1.07 trillion yen, or $8.1 billion.

Nearly 60 hair relaxer lawsuits against L’Oréal, others consolidated in Illinois Federal Court. At least 57 lawsuits have been filed in federal courts across the country over the products, which use chemicals to permanently straighten textured hair, court records show.

Olaplex customers claim hair loss and scalp injuries in lawsuit. The complaint filed Thursday accuses Olaplex of making false statements, including that its offerings restore damaged hair and provide the “ultimate breakage insurance.”

PEOPLE

Fashion journalist Hilary Alexander has died. The New Zealand-born British journalist died on Feb. 5, her 77th birthday, said the Graduate Fashion Foundation, which Alexander became honorary president of in 2019. Alexander — known especially for her energy and enthusiasm — was the fashion director of The Daily Telegraph for 26 years.

Stella Jean drops out of Milan Fashion Week, citing stalled diversity progress. The Haitian-Italian designer interrupted a National Chamber of Italian Fashion press conference to call out the nonprofit’s purported lack of movement on promises to support designers of colour.

Richemont bolsters sustainability expertise in its top ranks. The Swiss luxury group has promoted its chief sustainability officer Bérangère Ruchat and plans to add to its board a car-industry veteran who worked on the shift to electric vehicles.

The Fashion Trust US announces first finalists for awards. Finalists for its ready-to-wear award include Black Boy Knits, Aknvas, Elena Velez, Puppets and Puppets. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Mar. 21.

Asos names Sean Glithero as interim finance chief. Glithero has been named as interim finance chief to help drive its turnaround plan, succeeding Katy Mecklenburgh who leaves in May.

MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

Hermès wins ‘MetaBirkin’ NFTs trial. A jury in New York sided with the French luxury house in its year-long legal battle against Mason Rothschild over his digital renditions of its famed Birkin bag.

Australian luxury e-tailer Cettire posts $8 million net profit. The online fashion retailer reported 187 million Australian dollars (US$123 million) in revenue during the six months that ended Dec. 31, up 65 percent year on year.

Compiled by Joan Kennedy.

If Millennials had pink, then Gen-Z, it seems, has yellow.

Since 2017, internet culture critics have been proclaiming “Gen-Z Yellow” — a bright, sunny, impossible-to-ignore hue — as the generation’s defining colour.

At first, Gen-Z Yellow was more of a wardrobe staple than a major marketing presence, but as time has gone on — and Gen-Z’s cultural dominance has grown — it’s also become a particular favourite for beauty and personal care brands. Most notably, acne patch label Starface is synonymous with an ultra-bright shade of yellow, but there’s also skin care company Peace Out, which selected the colour for the packaging and marketing materials for its latest product drop, the Acne Day Dot; Gen-Z favourite skin care label Topicals, that sells products like its “Like Butter” hydrating mask in a yellow tube; and makeup label Kosas, which makes its concealer and foundation in bright yellow-accented packaging. Its influence also reaches outside of beauty: PepsiCo recently launched Starry, a lemon-flavoured soda covered in bright-yellow branding.

“Taking risks and being bold with something as simple as your colour palette speaks to one behaviour of Gen-Z,” said Shaina Zafar, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Juv Consulting, a Gen-Z-focused marketing agency that’s worked with clients like Unilever.

But despite yellow’s current dominance, it’s unlikely that the colour will ever become the behemoth that was Millennial pink. That hue ultimately became synonymous with the 2010s thanks in large part to DTC beauty pioneer Glossier, and later brands like period underwear label Thinx and Scandi apparel label Acne Studios, all of which deployed a similar shade of pink across their branding.

And that’s probably a good thing. Gen-Z yellow is likely too bold and bright to be adopted by the masses, and for a generation obsessed with curating their aesthetic on social media, the idea of following something as obvious as a colour trend feels uncool. The sheer proliferation of Millennial pink on products from cookware to lip balm — not to mention the cultural consciousness of its popularity — has made marketers wary of hopping on board the next colour fad.

The Rise of Gen-Z Yellow

Gen-Z Yellow, in many ways, speaks to the environment that the generation has grown up in. Though they’re mostly under the age of 25, Gen-Z has come of age in a time of turmoil. They’re the generation that saw their high school or university experiences irrevocably tainted by Covid-19 and cast their first ballots in the contentious presidential elections of 2016 or 2020.

“We’re in a world that’s very noisy, very chaotic, and you have a lot of darkness, a pandemic and civil unrest,” said Sunny Bonnell, co-founder and CEO at branding agency Motto. “That colour is a way to break through that and to actually be able to have a sense of hope and optimism.”

But while they’re hopeful and optimistic for the future — a fit for sunny yellow — they’re also outspoken about the need to make change to ensure that future comes to pass.

“We’re not like a muted generation and a muted colour palette isn’t reflective of us,” said Laura Montilla, a senior account executive at Edelman and a member of the agency’s Gen-Z lab.

Bright yellow is also a colour that Gen-Z grew up around. As the first generation that grew up on the internet, bright-yellow emojis have always been a primary language asset and the ultra-yellow-branded Snapchat is one of its go-to forms of communication.

For the brands that incorporate Gen-Z yellow into their branding, the benefits are obvious. It’s an impossible-to-ignore colour that stands out on store shelves. And it is synonymous with happiness and positivity, two attributes any brand would love to have their product be associated with. Starface embraced yellow (the brand’s packaging, website and branding is all covered in the hue) in part as a way to take preconceived notions around acne and turn them on its head.

“You can’t disappear with that bright yellow star on your face, and that’s exactly what we want to lean into,” said Kara Brothers-Phillips, general manager at Starface.

Yellow’s history as a gender-neutral, positive colour also has helped propel it forward, added Bonnell.

No Match for Pink

Millennial pink made people realise how far colour trends could reach. But when it reached mainstream ubiquity, the inevitable backlash followed. Over time, there was a shift, Millennial pink was no longer cutting edge, it was tired.

“If we see a lot of brands emerge and use it and create an immediate inflection point, it’ll feel like it’s a fad,” said Zafar. “And anytime that Gen-Z thinks something’s being overused, that’s when it becomes irrelevant.”

To boot, to use a bold colour like Gen-Z yellow, brands need to be okay with standing out. Bonnell said she’s had several clients that have felt uncomfortable using bright colours in their branding. Samantha Edwards, co-founder and chief creative officer at The Charles, a New York-based creative digital agency, said that because of its impossible-to-ignore nature, we may see brands incorporate Gen-Z yellow in more subtle ways, like on an individual product (like Peace Out’s Acne Day Dot) or as part of a social media campaign.

“We think … can this colour ever get boring or tired?” said Peace Out Skincare’s creative director Junior Scott Pence of selecting the bright yellow colour for the Acne Day Dot. “We want to make sure that we’re choosing the right colour that can transition with a lifetime at the brand.”

However, if Gen-Z yellow never reaches the saturation levels that Millennial pink did, that’s good news for the brands that have bet on it. If it’s not every brand’s go-to hue, then it’s easier for the ones that do use it to keep the colour cool.

“Trends are moving at such a rapid pace that it might have a moment, but that moment definitely disperses,” said Edwards.

Marketers are entering 2023 in a gloomy mood.

The year ahead will undoubtedly see budgets shrink as companies worry about a potential recession. With every advertising dollar spent more precious, tactics that quickly drive sales tend to take priority over efforts that strengthen a brand over the long term.

“Most marketers are looking to hold onto their dollars a little bit longer than they had in the past,” said Vic Drabicky, founder and CEO at agency January Digital. “That can be okay, but where it becomes an issue is if they hold on so much that they don’t ever test anything new.”

To succeed while placating the finance department, experts say marketers should focus on maintaining a balance between performance marketing (typically short-term efforts in which brands pay based on a campaign’s measurable results) and brand building (longer-term projects that are not as directly tied to sales, but are fundamental to a brand’s overall image and reputation with consumers). In times of trial, marketers often face pressure to focus on the former at the expense of the latter.

But it is possible to need to balance immediate realities while still ensuring success and consumer resonance well after the current period of economic uncertainty has faded. A diverse channel mix is key – the hunt for the next Instagram will continue in 2023. So is smart use of organic marketing: finding ways to get people to talk about your brand without paying them.

“The brand needs to be cohesive throughout all the channels, and we need to be basically everywhere where the consumer is,” said André de Sá Bessa, brand director at luxury creative agency VMGroupe.

A Balancing Act

The days of social media as a sure-fire, cost-effective way to drive sales are long gone. While still a key tool to get a brand in front of customers, companies that relied too heavily on the channel are now struggling with rising costs and waning returns. Valuations of many fashion start-ups that followed this model plunged in 2022.

Continuing to invest in those longer-term, brand-building strategies should remain a priority throughout the year, no matter the external circumstances.

But in an economically turbulent year, the need to use marketing in part as a sales-driving tool is undeniable. To do so, marketers should redouble efforts to expand their concept of performance marketing beyond social media and digital display ads. That means incorporating tried-and-true channels like direct mail and out-of-home as well as newer ones, like Netflix, which began offering ads for the first time late last year. The cost gap between these channels and social media is narrowing amid growing questions about the effectiveness of the latter.

On social media, influencers who can provide tangible evidence of their conversion power will be attractive partners to brands looking to mimic the results they once found with Instagram ads. The ideal is a long-term relationship with ambassador who has a loyal audience and the metrics to prove their ability to drive sales, said Stephanie Sandbo, VP and head of brand partnership at creator monetisation platform and shopping app LTK.

Sandbo said that where in the past influencer marketing was more art than science, now, ”you’re able to actually ask, ‘If I put a dollar into this particular creator, what am I going to get back out of it, and what product is that influencer driving?’”

Telling a Good Story

Brands should approach Instagram, TikTok and the rest as a way to cement their reputation with consumers and build loyalty, rather than primarily as a means to generate sales. That may mean adjusting the definition of a win on social media and looking beyond cost per acquisition to softer measures, such as evaluating a campaign’s success more from a creativity standpoint than a purely financial one.

“Stop pushing all your products, use it as a way to allow consumers to live in your brand universe,” said de Sá Bessa.

Doubts about the effectiveness of traditional social media advertising also creates a window for the fashion industry to flex its creative chops to earn consumer attention. Moments like J.Crew’s fall campaign featuring style icons like Diane Keaton can both provide a sales bump for a new collection and generate conversation around the brand, which may provide benefits in the long-term.

“Moving to a more balanced approach is just phenomenal for the fashion industry, where we have such wonderful creatives, beautiful product and absolutely excellent stories to tell,” said Drabicky. “The idea that we can be a little less algorithmic in our marketing approach, is just such an opportunity.”

Brands are investing in creating non-ad content for their own social media channels and websites to keep consumers interacting with brands for a longer period of time without paying ad costs.

Gabe Miller, Americas president at brand consultancy Landor & Fitch, predicts that opportunities that allow brands to bridge physical and digital experiences will ramp up in 2023, with more brands experimenting with pop-up stores or experiential activations that include a digital or community component. Louis Vuitton’s 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries exhibition, for example, provided ample social media content for the brand, and incorporated a gathering space called “The Workshop” as well as a restaurant.

Few brands can mount a campaign on the scale of Louis Vuitton. But companies of all sizes should seek to find ways to maintain and grow consumer excitement in a way that feels true to their ethos and image, even in a tough environment.

“Smart and strong CMOs really need to be able to balance marketing budgets and maintain a strong brand presence, no matter what the economic outlook is,” Miller said.

Serving as the jury’s president will be model, author and music producer Caroline de Maigret, while designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac will be president of honor. Other jury members include influencer Hanan Besovic, who runs the Instagram account @ideservecouture, Comme des Garçons visual image director Andrew Taylor Parr, director Matthieu Orléan, author Laura Albert and designer and musician Pam Hogg, as well as others.

The event will run from Nov. 10 to 13, and is set to feature 43 films in competition, including “Calendar Girl,” a documentary about Ruth Finley, who operated the New York Fashion Week calendar. An additional 60 films will be screened throughout the festival’s run.

Learn more:

Top 10 Fashion Films of the Season

From Grace Wales Bonner to Kenzo, this season’s most successful video campaigns shied away from the product-driven narrative, taking a more cinematic approach instead.

Independent beauty brands in recent times have figured out what has eluded resource-rich conglomerates for years: how to not only sell to consumers, but also serve them with unique products and experiences while building communities online and off.

Founder owned-and-operated brands have long been a presence in the industry. But the 2010s ushered in a golden age for independent labels. Spurred by the direct-to-consumer boom and the emergence of e-commerce platforms like Shopify, it was easy for these start-ups to open their online storefronts, while eliminating the need to pitch to wholesale partners.

The rise of social media also helped. For one thing, social media advertising was relatively cheap, allowing unknown brands to quickly acquire customers. For another, social media became a place for brands to connect with consumers directly, creating online “communities” of loyal customers who follow and engage with the brand, sharing its virtues with their own followers. On Instagram, in particular, founders could become immediately recognisable as their brand’s public face, and discuss the efficacy of their products and the worthiness of their missions.

Industry incumbents were quick to recognise the threat. Brands owned by Estée Lauder Companies, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble, Puig and Coty had name recognition, but struggled to resonate with consumers, particularly the younger ones. Attempts to launch their own indie-inspired brands mostly flopped. So they embraced a time-honoured approach: if you can’t beat them, buy them. Most, if not all, of these big brands have acquired at least one independent beauty brand in recent years.

“If you were to come out with an independent brand 20 years ago, the concern would have been that you’d be squashed by L’Oréal or Estée,” said Sonya Brown, partner at Norwest Venture Partners. “Today, the tables have turned. These independent beauty companies are the ones that are at the forefront of innovation and growth. And the big conglomerates continue to be acquisitive, which is one of the reasons [venture capital and private equity] investors continue to support the space, because there’s a known exit path.”

Today, the infrastructure exists for indie brands to hit it big quickly: more and more brands will launch bolstered by venture capital funding, and retailers like Sephora and Ulta Beauty are willing to give buzzy young brands shelf space, even after only a year or less in business. But there are many more brands vying for funding and spots on retailers’ shelves, including labels founded by influencers and celebrities along with dermatologists and makeup artists. Competition is more intense than ever.

This case study unpacks what it takes for an independent beauty brand to stand out and grow by examining lessons from three indie start-ups: skin care label Glow Recipe, hair care brand K18 and fragrance purveyor D.S. & Durga.

Glow Recipe — founded by former L’Oréal employees Christine Chang and Sarah Lee in 2014 — jumped on the booming Korean Beauty trend with its fruit-inspired products in 2017. The founders spoke with BoF about how their team considers the way a product appears online from the get-go, at its formulation stage, as well as how they are able to quickly respond to trends and tailor communications to particular channels. In August 2022, Bloomberg News reported that the brand tapped investment bank Goldman Sachs to advise on its sale, at a valuation of between $400 million and $500 million.

Fragrance brand D.S. & Durga debuted in 2008, at a time when David Moltz readily admits today that he and co-founder (and wife) Kavi Moltz had little business experience. The founders leaned heavily on traditional principles of brand building to create a “personality” for every fragrance in their portfolio, pairing each with a playlist in order to highlight its connection to and inspiration from music. It’s a multi-sensory approach that has helped D.S. & Durga reach its goal of sustained growth — its sales have increased by 90 percent year on year since 2020.

As a new entrant in a hot category, having arrived on the scene in 2020, hair care label K18 provides evidence that despite greater competition, it’s possible for independent brands to scale quickly. Launched at the height of the pandemic, the brand leaned into TikTok virality to help its signature product, the Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask, fly off shelves. Sales in 2022 — its second full year in business — are expected to exceed $125 million.

For many independent beauty brands, the promise of a lucrative exit is a major motivator through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. But as the three brands in this case study demonstrate, there’s no avoiding the pre-exit heavy lifting.

Click below to read the case study now.

Guzmán has been named to the post of editorial director at Oprah Daily, Hearst’s Oprah Winfrey-fronted media property. In the newly-created role, Guzmán will oversee content and strategy across Oprah Daily’s website, as well as its social, video and print platforms.

Previously, Guzmán served as the editor-in-chief of the US edition of Condé Nast Traveler from 2013 to 2019 and held the same role at Martha Stewart Living. She was also the founding editor of Cookie magazine.

Hearst launched Oprah Daily, a new, digital-focussed iteration of its previous publication, O, the Oprah Magazine, in March 2021. The magazine shuttered its print edition in early 2020, 20 years after it first launched in 2000.

Guzmán will start in the position on Oct. 31.

Learn more:

How to Create a Fashion Magazine in 2022

Elle UK’s new editor-in-chief Kenya Hunt lays out her vision for the Hearst-owned title: inclusive, intellectual, but still having fun with fashion.

Seventy years have passed since the last time a monarch was buried in the United Kingdom. And while the pomp and ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral may have many similarities to the 1952 memorial for her father, King George VI, it will also likely include several modern updates.

Queen Elizabeth is undoubtedly the monarch that brought Britain into the modern age over the course of her record-breaking reign, but she was also a staunch loyalist to royal tradition. The ceremony, which she herself had input in planning before her death, will likely reflect that ethos.

Over 2,000 guests are expected to attend the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, including a long list of foreign royals, politicians and other dignitaries, as well as every adult member of the extended royal family. The event will be the first state funeral held in the United Kingdom since Winston Churchill’s, who died in 1965.

When it comes to protocol around attire for the funeral, the same approach is expected. The service does bring an opportunity for royal fashion traditions, such as veils, that haven’t been seen in the decades since George VI’s funeral. The expectations around attire at the funeral have also led to heated discussions over who will be able to attend wearing military uniform.

“This is pretty formal,” Marlene Koenig, royal historian and author of the website Royal Musings, said. “This is the highest of the highest for a funeral.”

What to Wear

Much of the attire at the funeral will be just as you’d expect: Sombre, black dresses for women and men in suits. Of course, hats will be de rigueur for women. But the sort of eye-catching (even headline-making) fascinators that are standard at more celebratory events like royal weddings will be kept at home in favour of more subdued styles.

After Her Majesty’s death, British atelier and milliners prepared for the onsalught of orders. “We changed our shop over to only black hats in anticipation of the needs of our customers,” said Stephen Jones, a London-based milliner. “What I feel is most suitable is simplicity both in silhouette and in texture. Naturally a veil, also is part of mourning so many of our simple black hats were re-trimmed with short veils. I feel this is little to do with fashion and more about being respectful and appropriately dressed.”

Prominent royal women like Catherine, the Princess of Wales and Queen Consort Camilla have likely had their ensembles for this occasion prepared and sitting in their closets for months, if not years now. For Kate, as well as Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, whose clothes are the subject of endless chatter, they may choose to rewear a previously-worn outfit.

“They are fairly cognizant that their fashion is discussed and debated widely,” said royal historian Jessica Storoschuk of An Historian About Town. “We see them wearing repeats at events where they don’t want to draw attention from whatever is happening.”

One of the biggest questions surrounding attire at the funeral is whether the senior female members of the royal family, such as the Queen Consort, the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex will wear full veils for the occasion.

Such headwear was a staple of royal funerals for decades, and Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother and Queen Mary all wore them to King George VI’s funeral. However, when the Queen Mother died in 2002, veils were absent from her funeral. (A state funeral for a reigning monarch, however, is a more formal and significant occasion.)

It remains to be seen whether they’ll make a reappearance at Queen Elizabeth’s. While many royal fans hope so, as a sign of the opulence of the monarchy, King Charles may advise against the more antiquated accessory, particularly as he prepares to usher in an era of a “slimmed down” monarchy in order to justify the institution’s existence in today’s world.

“It’s such a unique opportunity to be reminded of the position that these people hold, because no one else is going around wearing a long formal black coat, diamond jewellery and this elaborate mourning veil,” said royal fashion expert Christine Ross. “We only see it once every few decades for the death of a monarch.”

The Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex managed to find a middle ground during the service for the reception of the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall on Wednesday, where they wore less dramatic birdcage veils, a thin, transparent net veil that drapes over part of the face — a more contemporary, less dramatic take on the accessory. We may see a similar approach at the funeral.

“I would be very surprised in 2022 that these women will be veiled,” said Koenig. “I think we’ve moved beyond that.”

It’s near certain that attendees, particularly royal women, will honour the Queen in other ways through their accessory choices. Already, the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex have worn pieces from the Queen’s jewellery collection during the mourning period.

Other guests without direct access to the Queen’s jewels may find their own ways to pay homage to Her Majesty.

“We’ll see a lot of pearls throughout the congregation at the funeral because the Queen was so fond of them,” said Ross, referencing the Queen’s signature three-strand pearl necklace, which it is speculated that the Princess of Wales wore on Tuesday to greet her coffin as it arrived at Buckingham Palace. “They’ve almost become synonymous with Queen Elizabeth.”

In Uniform

A point of contention that has emerged around the Queen’s funeral is which members of the royal family will be allowed to wear military uniform for the service.

In the UK, only active service members are permitted to wear their military uniforms. While royals like King Charles, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and even lesser royals such as the Dukes of Kent and Gloucester are not active service members, they do hold honourary military titles, which grants them the same privilege.

The controversy that has emerged primarily surrounds whether Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, will be allowed to do the same. Harry served in the British army for a decade, even undertaking two tours in Afghanistan, one of the only living royals to face combat. (Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, also saw active combat in the Falkland Islands in the ‘80s, but will also wear a suit to the funeral as he stepped back from royal duties at the end of 2019 following the fallout over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual misconduct).

A spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex put out a statement confirming that Prince Harry would wear a suit at the funeral, putting a stop to speculation. “His decade of military service is not determined by the uniform he wears, and we respectfully ask that focus remain on the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” the spokesperson said.

However, it was later revealed that Prince Harry would wear his military uniform for a vigil at Westminster Hall on Sunday that all eight of the Queen’s grandchildren would hold. At a vigil held by the Queen’s four children on Friday, Prince Andrew was also allowed to wear his uniform. Permission to do so would have been granted to both by King Charles.

“Formally, if you’re no longer in the military, you’re not allowed to wear a uniform anymore,” said Koenig. “It’s up to the King.”

Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom’s longest reigning monarch and a much-loved symbol of national stability, has died at Balmoral Castle, her home in Scotland. She was 96 and will be succeeded by her eldest son, Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign was extraordinary from the very start. Born on Apr. 21, 1926, in London’s Mayfair, she was the first child of the Duke of York, the second son of the then-reigning monarch King George V, and the Duchess of York. It was only when her uncle King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 that her father became King George VI, making Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive.

When her father died at the age of 56, she took the throne at the young age of 25, presiding over the end of the British empire and the rise of the Commonwealth of Nations. In the years that followed, she met weekly with the 15 UK prime ministers who served during her reign, from Winston Churchil to the recently departed Boris Johnson. This week, she welcomed newly-appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss at a time of growing national uncertainty.

The Queen’s death starts a 10-day period of mourning. The date of her funeral has not yet been confirmed. (The British Fashion Council confirmed that London Fashion Week, scheduled for next week, will continue, though events scheduled for the day of the funeral are to be rescheduled and all parties and other non-essential events cancelled).

Unlike that of her predecessors, the Queen’s image was routinely captured and circulated in the media, particularly with the rise of 24-hour news and social media. Her outfits, often bold in colour and accessorised with go-to items like her black Launer handbag, Anello & Davide or Ferragamo loafers and her three-strand pearl necklace were scrutinised the world over.

But as her childhood friend Alathea Fitzalan Howard wrote in “The Windsor Diaries,” Queen Elizabeth was not a natural clotheshorse. Rather, she developed an appreciation for fashion as a useful tool as she fulfilled her duties.

She is credited with inventing the concept of “sartorial diplomacy,” or the act of using fashion as a gesture of diplomatic goodwill. For example, she wore a maple leaf brooch that first belonged to the Queen Mother on visits to Canada in both 1951 and 2010. On countless other travels abroad, she reflected the colours of the receiving country’s flag in her ensemble.

The practice goes back to her coronation gown, designed by British couturier Norman Hartnell. The white duchesse satin dress was covered in an intricate latticework design that featured the national flowers of various Commonwealth countries, such as New Zealand’s fern, South Africa’s protea and, of course, England’s Tudor rose.

“She was one of the first public figures to realise that her fashion could send a message and was able to use fashion on a much larger scale,” said royal fashion expert Christine Ross. “Rather than being seen in one portrait once a year, she could be seen by the public on a daily basis.”

She’s also used fashion to send more subtle messages honouring family members, such as wearing the sapphire brooch she first wore in her engagement photographs with Prince Philip during her annual Christmas address in 2021, the year that he died.

Her wedding dress was one of her most notable ensembles, worn in 1947 when she married Prince Philip. Designed by Hartnell, the ivory silk satin gown was encrusted with 10,000 seed pearls. She famously had to use rationing coupons to create her wedding gown, though the government gifted her an extra 200 coupons to cover the costs.

In more recent years, the Queen became known for her vibrant monochromatic ensembles, which she wore in order to ensure she stood out in the crowds that so often surrounded her during public engagements. She has been frequently quoted as saying “I have to be seen to be believed,” meaning that being out, about and visible was key to the future of the monarchy.

Facing mounting social pressures, her reign also saw a move away from the constant gilded glamour that had previously been synonymous with kings and queens, with items like tiaras now worn only for official portraits and state dinners.

For over a quarter century, her senior dresser and personal assistant was Angela Kelly, a designer, dressmaker and milliner who was the architect of many of the Queen’s ensembles in the last decades of her life. Couturier Stewart Parvin also served as a royal dressmaker. Both were made members of the Royal Victorian Order, an honour typically reserved for those who served the Queen or her family.

“Although the Queen doesn’t consider herself to be a fashion icon, I am very aware that many people do,” wrote Kelly in her 2019 book “The Other Side of the Coin,” where she detailed her work as senior dresser and pulled back the curtain on the Queen’s fashion. “She is always on-trend, trendsetting, in fact, never puts a foot wrong when it comes to choosing the outfits she wears and takes inspiration from the classic styles of Dior and Chanel.”

In today’s fashion industry, her legacy is most prominently felt through the Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design, handed out annually by the British Fashion Council to recognise a promising young British designer that also has demonstrated attention to sustainability and community. In 2018, when the award was first presented to designer Richard Quinn, the Queen attended his London Fashion Week show, sitting next to Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

Beyond fashion, the Queen’s life has been a regular feature of pop culture: Helen Mirren played her in the 2006 film “The Queen” and the play “The Audience,” winning an Oscar and a Tony. Since 2016, a new generation of people has gotten to know Queen Elizabeth through Netfilx’s popular series “The Crown,” in which she was played by Claire Foy and Olivia Colman. She’s also had her own moments in the pop-cultural spotlight, appearing in a video with Jmaes Bond actor Daniel Craig for the London Olympics in 2012, as well as a recent clip with with Paddington Bear for her Platinum Jubilee earlier this year.

She marked her Platinum Jubilee, 70 years on the throne, in June of this year with a 4-day celebration.

Stay tuned for BoF updates to this developing story.

Ulta Beauty wants to channel the “power” of beauty.

That’s the idea behind a new fall campaign from the beauty retailer, a multi-channel effort titled “Beauty&” that dropped earlier this month. The campaign is a collaborative effort with three “cultural leaders” — Meena Harris, the niece of US vice president Kamala Harris and founder of social justice-focused media company Phenomenal; and two artists, Timothy Goodman and muralist Emmy Star Brown — as well as agency partner McCann. The idea, said Karla Davis, vice president of integrated marketing at Ulta Beauty, is to showcase what beauty is capable of when it comes not just to product efficacy but its capacity to make someone feel something, too.

“There are real powers that beauty actually holds. The pandemic really brought those to life pretty significantly,” she said. “You saw people using beauty for self-care, as a means of self-expression, when they were cooped into their own spaces. You even saw people using it as community-like ways to reach out and connect with people ... That is what gives beauty brands the space and even the permission to really bring it to the forefront.”

The campaign’s themes are not revolutionary in beauty but are ones that consumers are increasingly demanding beauty brands embody. Rohit Banota, the founder of Jump Accelerator, a beauty-focused accelerator, said that Ulta Beauty’s best bet going forward is to double down on the idea of driving more spending from casual consumers.

“Sephora went more the route of pure discovery store, appealing to beauty aficionados,” said Banota. “But Ulta is following the other strategy of bringing the non-customers into the category.”

Those casual consumers will be even more important as Ulta continues to ramp up its shop-in-shop deal with Target, which first rolled out last year. The most tangible benefit of that deal, in fact, is the opportunity to connect to those consumers who have yet to become full-blown beauty shoppers.

The campaign will run on the traditional channels, including social media, linear television and streaming but will also include new components, like a limited-edition T-shirt collection with three shirts designed by Harris, Brown and Goodman emblazoned with uplifting phrases like “beauty is you and me” and “beauty isn’t just what you put on, but what you put out into the world.”

As part of the campaign, this fall, the brand will also release its first podcast, “The Beauty Of,” a project that’s been years in the making, according to Davis. Hosted by David Lopez, an Ulta professional stylist, the podcast will see Lopez interview guests such as powerlifter Tamara Walcott, body image researcher Virgie Tovar and AM Darke, a professor of art and design at UC Santa Cruz, about topics surrounding both beauty standards and “non-traditional” areas of beauty.

The move to launch a podcast is fitting when you consider that Ulta CEO Dave Kimbell noted on the company’s most recent earnings call that education content, particularly around skin care, has been a boon for the brand in driving growth with its monthly skin-care program, Skinfatuation. While social media offers avenues to present that content, doubling down on it requires a longer-format medium.

This all comes at an exciting — but high-pressure — moment for Ulta. Its more recent earnings report saw sales rise 14.4 percent in stores open at least one year, with overall revenue for the quarter of $2.3 billion. Ulta raised its comparable sales growth outlook to between 9.5 percent and 10.5 percent for the year, from 6 percent to 8 percent previously. Demand for cosmetics and skin care has remained strong even as the turbulent economy has hit apparel sales. The retailer is also expanding its partnership with Target, having opened 186 Ulta shop-in-shops in just over a year, on its way to a long-term goal of 800.

At the same time, Ulta’s largest competitor, Sephora, is ramping up its own shop-in-shop partnership with Kohl’s, announcing plans last month to expand the concept to all Kohl’s stores.

That goal also may have led Ulta to take more of a brand-building approach to this campaign, rather than a more pure sales play, particularly as it looks to compete with Sephora not just as a standalone beauty brand but also as a pop-in shop in a mass-market retailer.

“We fundamentally believe the idea that brand love and those that really can drive a meaningful connection with consumers are going to be the types of brands and businesses that sustain long term,” said Davis. “A large portion of how we bring Ulta Beauty to life is in elevating our overarching brand purpose. It is an ongoing work; it will continue to be as we build not only awareness but really become the retailer of choice for our consumers. It’s core to sustainable growth as a business.”

After years of domination from the teeny-tiny purse — some so small they couldn’t even fit an iPhone — consumers are moving towards something a bit more practical: the tote.

Bags like the Louis Vuitton “Neverfull” or Goyard “Saint Louis” are longtime best sellers. But during the pandemic, the sturdy style hit a low point when work-from-home mandates and postponed vacations seemed to spell extinction for bags designed to lug stuff around. Google searches for totes dropped to a five-year low in April 2020.

Now, with airports and commuter trains bustling again, totes are experiencing a resurgence. Hybrid work schedules mean that people have to have a bag that they can cart everything they need for a day’s work from the office to the home and back again. Among wealthy women, 71 percent said they were likely to buy a tote, more than any other style, according to a recent BoF Insights report.

Today, consumers are gravitating towards more utilitarian, less luxe fabrics like canvas, woven rope or raffia, as well as light-hearted touches like bright colours and ironic sayings.

Brands across the pricing spectrum are attempting to cash in. L.L. Bean is seeing the strongest demand in a decade for its signature canvas “Boat and Tote,” which has gotten a fashion twist from customers who add cheeky embroidery. During New York Fashion Week, Bottega Veneta is collaborating with The Strand on three leather bags, “an homage” to the Manhattan bookstore’s carrier totes.

More than a post-pandemic trend, the revival of the tote is more of a return to the status quo: Carryalls have been a staple in any bag lineup for decades, with an option for every budget. Typically made from cheap, durable fabrics, the bags provide brands a relatively affordable blank canvas, so to speak, to express their style.

“Totes have always been a really great seller,” said Wendi Koletar, the owner of Austin, Tex.-based boutique Kick Pleat. “Now, it’s adding colour and novelty to something that you can easily buy and wear. And oftentimes, because it’s canvas, it can be the right price as well.”

Tote Mania

At a base level, totes are as much a marketing tool as a fashion statement – there’s a reason brands like Outdoor Voices and Reformation give them away. Large, impossible-to-ignore logos serve as mobile billboards. And while not every consumer may recognise a Dior saddle bag, everyone can read the words “Christian Dior” printed on the side of the brand’s popular book tote.

“A lot of people like to have something that is signifiable to others,” said Meaghan Mahoney Dusil, co-founder and CEO of Purse Blog. “That’s something that has worked very well with these bags. You see a Dior book tote, you know what it is the minute that you see it.”

At the high end of the market, the formula is fairly standard. Canvas body, leather trim and a large logo stamped on the front. Chloé sells multiple versions of its Woody tote, while brands like Saint Laurent, Balmain and Mansur Gavriel offer simple, unfussy versions. Dior’s book tote and Gucci’s Ophidia tote offer options covered in signature brand prints. Brands are also experimenting with a variety of fabrics: Loewe’s raffia totes and Prada’s multi-coloured woven shopper totes have both become summertime hits.

For most luxury brands, the totes are among their most affordable bag styles. Saint Laurent’s rive gauche tote runs between $1,390 and $1,950, while the sac de jour starts at $2,390 and can go up to $4,200. Gucci’s Ophidia is $1,600 for a medium-sized tote, $1,890 for a large, while the Jackie 1961 bag is $2,950 and the Horsebit 1955 shoulder bag is $3,250. Even the pricier options, like Dior’s book tote, which can cost as much as $3,900, pales in comparison to its other offerings, like the Dior lady bag, which starts at $5,300.

“At the luxury price point, they’re very expensive, but they’re a bit less expensive than their leather bags,” said Ana Correa, footwear and accessories strategist at WGSN. “They can be an aspirational entry point.”

More-affordable brands tout their totes as functional but stylish, positioning them as a reasonable splurge even as inflation and a potential recession cause some consumers to rein in unnecessary purchases. L.L. Bean’s Boat and Tote, a TikTok favourite, costs $29 to $55, while J.Crew’s most-expensive “Montauk” tote tops out at $148.

“People want a little bit more practicality,” said Rae Liu, co-founder of Leatherology, which introduced a canvas tote last year. “You want to be able to hold your stuff, so you want your canvas bag, but you also want it to look nice. It’s not just your free supermarket bag.”

Because customers plan to carry their tote with them everywhere, they tend to have strong opinions. When Leatherology opened a pop-up shop in Dallas, the brand received more feedback about the store’s tote selection than any other style.

L.L. Bean’s boat and tote has been core to the brand’s lineup since 1944, but took off with a new generation of consumers this year after the bags were featured on TikTok and Instagram. Users showed off how they’ve personalised the tote with unexpected emblems, from luxury brand names like Prada or Balenciaga as well as intentionally-humorous phrases like “unhinged,” or “girl boss.”

“It’s the perfect storm of a bag that is known for its incredible quality, but you can personalise it and show off your personality,” said Gracie Weiner, who runs the @ironicboatandtote Instagram account where she chronicles different takes on the bag.

And given their current moment in the spotlight, brands can position totes as both a practical staple for a customer on-the-go, as well as a must-have it bag. That makes them “feel both fresh and nostalgic,” said Koletar.

“It’s an update to this very staple bag that younger generations are embracing,” said Correa.

The last print issue of Condé Nast’s beauty-focussed publication will be the December 2022 edition, editor-in-chief Jessica Cruel announced in a note this week to staffers. Only two jobs will be impacted by the move, and no further layoffs are planned at the time.

“Our brand is stronger than ever across social and digital and our success is testament to our collaboration as a team and because we know just how and where our audience is accessing content in today’s ever-changing landscape,” wrote Cruel. “It’s our mission to meet the audience where they are and with this in mind, after our December print issue, we are making Allure an exclusively digital brand.”

Cruel went on to detail plans for Allure’s digital-only future, which will include a “live, consumer-focussed summit” next year and further efforts with Allure’s New York City brick-and-mortar shop in Soho, which just unveiled a partnership with Ulta.

As print becomes less of a viable financial proposition, numerous titles have ceased publishing a print product in recent years. At Condé Nast alone, Glamour announced its intention to shutter print in November 2018 and Self in December 2016. Earlier this year, DotDash Meredith announced the closure of the print editions of InStyle, Entertainment Weekly and Health, among other titles.

Learn more:

Condé Nast Can Learn From Netflix

In a global world where local tastes still matter, the publisher of Vogue should be careful not to dictate too much of its content strategy from New York and London.