Aritzia’s mirrorless fitting rooms are beloved, bemoaned and occasionally satirised by the Canadian retailer’s customers.

Veronica Uy, 28, a dental hygienist and part-time content creator, lives close to Aritzia’s hometown flagship in Vancouver, but says she’ll mostly shop online to avoid having to model potential purchases in front of other shoppers at the communal mirrors positioned outside the changing stalls.

“If you feel insecure, you still have to go out there because it’s the only way you can see yourself,” Uy said.

For Laura Hogya, 37, a freelance publicist in Orange County, California, the mirrors — placed under flattering lighting amid lounge seating affectionately known as boyfriend sofas, are a draw.

“It is a little genius, having shoppers validate each other on what they’re trying on. Like, ‘Oh girl, those jeans look great on you,’” Hogya said. “You step out, see other people and you become part of this community.”

On one point Uy and Hogya both agree: Whatever they think of the mirrors, they love, love, love Aritzia’s clothing. Both described the retailer’s wardrobe staples, which include workwear and leggings alike, as high quality and extremely flattering — “snatching,” as Uy put it.

Those controversial mirrors are just one example of how Aritzia’s idiosyncratic approach to retail has ignited a passionate, and rapidly growing, fandom. Founded four decades ago, the company sells what it bills as “everyday luxury,” a category teeming with retailers selling basics at every price point, from H&M to Toteme. Aritzia occupies a space in the less-crowded middle of the market, with $100 dresses and $50 tops priced above Zara or Gap, but at one-half or one-third contemporary labels like Reformation or Ganni.

Unlike most of its competitors, Aritzia rarely goes big with glossy advertisements and seldom taps celebrity ambassadors (though a campaign with Pamela Anderson scored considerable press last year). Instead, the company is focused on growing its network of stores, which chief executive Jennifer Wong told The Business of Fashion she considers the company’s most effective marketing tool, and its wide selection of 10 private brands, each designed to serve a different occasion in the lives of its customers as they transition from teenagers to middle age and beyond.

Taken together, Aritzia’s approach has inspired an unusual degree of evangelism among customers, who post countless try-on haul videos on TikTok, most of which the company said is organic. It’s now counting on that passion as it opens dozens of stores in the US, including giant new flagships in New York and Chicago. Some 100 locations are planned in the coming decade, on top of 124 stores in the US and Canada today.

“Our culture is methodical, structured and organised,” said Wong, who started at Aritzia as a sales associate in 1987 and took the helm in 2022 after founder Brian Hill stepped down after 38 years in the role. “I always say we’ve been on a 40-year continuous improvement track.”

The Price-to-Quality Ratio

A critical ingredient for the retailer’s popularity in recent years is its position in the market as neither fast fashion nor luxury.

It’s a price point that few retailers target, catching both fast-fashion shoppers who see Aritzia as a splurge and customers who perceive it as an affordable, high-quality alternative to premium brands.

“There’s no one that does exactly what we do because we don’t put ourselves in a category or a box,” said Wong.

Ina Yang, 31, said she typically shops from brands like Maje and Acne Studios, as well as on resale platforms for higher-end luxury pieces. Aritzia is the only mass retailer she frequents. Yang owns five pairs of its best-selling Effortless pants and still wears an Aritzia leather jacket she purchased 10 years ago.

Nichelle Laliberte, 27, said Aritzia has been great for building a new capsule wardrobe that’s longer lasting than fast fashion.

“Instead of buying the same product every year because it’s worn out or broken down, I’d rather have something for several years and be able to pass it down to my children,” she said. “I’m in the process of rehabilitating my closet space and it’s one of the main stores I gravitate towards in order to do that.”

That value proposition is at the heart of Aritzia’s brand, Wong said.

“I think of it as two axes. There’s the fashion quotient and then there’s the price quotient,” she said. “I would position us with a high fashion quotient and an attainable price point.”

Quality and consistency are terms that come up again and again in conversation with Aritzia shoppers.

“Aritzia has the best quality pieces that I’ve owned, that I’ll probably keep forever,” said Jules Jacobson, 30, a content creator based in New York. She said she owns 40-odd pieces from the brand, though some were gifted, including different versions of the same styles such as the Effortless pants and sweat sets.

Creating the Perfect Shopping Experience

Aritzia’s culture of perfectionism is embodied by the tactful Wong. Even with internal matters, Wong strives for constant improvement. Last week, she delayed a company-wide earnings memo by two days in order to draft a better version.

“We’re always iterating even to the 11th hour,” she said. “There are times where it’s really tough … But it was just reported to me that [the memo] had one of the highest click-through rates. And that’s with internal staff.”

In fact, like Wong, 11 percent of the company’s corporate employees have been with the retailer for 10 years or longer.

Outwardly, Aritzia’s pursuit of excellence has certainly made a difference in customer satisfaction. Shoppers point to the stores’ easy-to-navigate setup, as well as convenient online functions that few other retailers seem to offer.

“What Aritzia does so well is integrating online with offline,” said Leigh Sevin, co-founder of retail marketing platform Endear. “When you go online to locate a store, all the important information is there, including a green tag that tells you, ‘We’re open today until 9 p.m.’”

Each Aritzia store has its own web page with factoids about the location, the services offered there and other attractions in the neighbourhood, such as restaurants and art galleries.

Its superfans also highlight Aritzia’s compelling visual merchandising in-person and online, and straightforward wayfinding inside the stores.

“Their layout of all the clothes is very special,” said Laliberte. “They have sections dedicated to business casual, casual, gymwear and loungewear, and I’ll know exactly where I’m going to find something I need … If I go to other places everything tends to be mixed together.”

Aritzia relishes any customer feedback it receives, according to Wong.

“We’re always striving to get five out of five stars, and from teams in the atelier, at the service counter or on the sales floor, we’re always getting feedback,” she said. “We’re very obsessed with what the customer wants.”

That doesn’t mean Aritzia tries to please everyone, all of the time. The retailer plans to keep the mirrors out of changing rooms in its new stores, though each boutique now has at least one stall with its own mirror.

“While it’s not for everyone, the overwhelming majority of our clients have responded to it, and you can see that in the level of activity, energy and traffic that happen in our stores,” Wong said.

Don’t Say ‘Minimalist’

When quiet luxury dominated the trend cycle last year, Aritzia was at the forefront with bestsellers like the wide-leg crepe Effortless trousers, body-hugging Contour tops and wool-cashmere blend double-breasted coats.

“They just have so many great casual basics and staple pieces,” said Laliberte. “Each one I’ve found to fit me perfectly and it’s always super comfortable.”

Customers today see the retailer as a destination for these pared back minimalist staples, but Wong said she rejects the notion that Aritzia has a specific signature style. Rather, its product strategy is very much rooted in delivering on the trends du jour, albeit through a subdued — or “sophisticated,” as Wong referred to it — lens.

“It might be a minimalist moment in fashion right now, but there was a time when it was a maximalist moment and our brands played that up too,” she said. “If there’s an athleisure moment, we have items that can play to that moment. If suiting is having a moment, we can have items that can play up to that. There’s not one word that can describe our style”

The magic perhaps lies in the styling and easy-to-wear nature of each piece, its shoppers say. “They’re so good at putting outfits together, so if you’re feeling lost in fashion right now but you like Aritzia’s basic style, they’ll show you what to wear with something in particular or multiple ways,” said Jacobson.

Product pages include other items featured in the modelled look; for instance, the Cozy Fleece Mega Sweatpant in grey is paired with an oversized navy blazer and a white T-shirt.

Ultimately, it’s Aritzia’s compelling products that make it irresistible to patrons. Even those who complain about the semi-private fitting rooms can find forgiveness in the face of good, reliable fashion.

“Aritzia clothes just make you hot,” said Uy. “There’s something about the way it fits. Even a T-shirt.”

In September, the industry descended upon the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris to raise a toast to new and existing members of the BoF 500, the definitive index of the people shaping the global fashion industry. Guests at the gala included Kylie Jenner, Victoria Beckham, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Marc Forne and Ashley Graham.

This year, Neft Vodka has partnered with BoF to platform three new members of the BoF 500 to explore how their creative careers and success are evolving in the industry. “At Neft, we want to invoke this sense of excitement, creativity and engagement, and bring exceptional experiences to our audience,” Paul Robinson, chief creative officer at Neft Vodka, told BoF in a recent interview.

Sam Visser, prominent makeup artist and Dior Beauty Ambassador is among this year’s additions to the list. Renowned for redefining beauty standards with his innovative aesthetic, Visser masterfully blends the high-octane glamour of previous generations with a bold spirit of individual experimentation, making him one of the most influential makeup artists of his generation.

Throughout his career, Visser has worked on high-profile campaigns for brands such as Burberry, Marc Jacobs, MAC Cosmetics, Versace and Balenciaga, as well as magazines including Vogue, W Magazine and The Face. His collaborations with renowned photographers like Inez and Vinoodh, Carlijn Jacobs and Harley Weir have further cemented his reputation as a visionary in the beauty world.

Most recently, his work on campaigns like Marc Jacobs x Stephen Sprouse 2024 and Chanel Eyewear Spring/Summer 2024 have garnered widespread acclaim.

Now, BoF sits down with Visser to understand how his influence on the industry is inspiring a new generation of artists to embrace creativity and experimentation.

How is your creative practice evolving and what is driving that process?

My creative practice evolves by discovering new things constantly — whether that be music, films, art — or even just life experiences and trying to not repeat the way that I go about doing things. Seeing things through different lenses helps me create new ideas and feel new emotions that pushes me forward.

How important do you believe creativity is to connect with consumers, and how is its role in culture evolving?

I think that my only tie to consumers has been through my creativity thus far. It’s the most important element for me, that what I’m putting out there is something that feels right and feels exciting to me. I think that other people will just catch onto that.

Aside from my role in the beauty industry, I’m also a beauty consumer. I love buying makeup, going into the store and seeing and trying makeup. As a makeup artist, when I’m in the store, looking at how products are created, and seeing the creativity in the invention of products, and the science — it’s really intriguing to me.

How do you expand your creative inspiration and expression authentically?

In order to stay true to myself creatively, it’s almost like this exercise of going backwards in my mind. Remembering things from my early childhood or even my teenage years. It doesn’t even necessarily need to be a memory.

It’s a feeling — and then somehow, its outlet is an image, or put into a makeup look, or put into something that feels like it has a correlation with those memories. It’s almost that to move forwards, I have to move backwards a little.

What skills do you believe are most valuable in your profession in today’s market?

As an artist, to stay happy with yourself is the most important thing. The fashion industry can be a place where you can find friends but artistically, it can feel vulnerable to put yourself and your creations out there, which you feel very connected to.

The key to creativity is following your intuition — just to trust and to believe in yourself. In an industry which is constantly telling us what we should and shouldn’t do and how we should and shouldn’t be — it’s important to know and to feel that trust within yourself.

What advice would you give those seeking to enter the beauty industry today?

Stay true to yourself. I think the things about ourselves that we push away to fit in are the things that are the most special about all of us and what connects us.

The key to creativity is following your intuition.

Fashion is a very collaborative industry. The way I found my favourite and best collaborators was by being true to all those things that maybe, when you were 15, you were really insecure about — when that’s actually who we are as people at our core.

What innovations in the industry excite you?

It’s really a pioneering time for beauty. Throughout the last 100 years, we’ve seen innovation with products and in the way we use them, but now, we have a whole different tool involved — which is not human, telling or showing us what is possible.

It’s really cool the way our phones and media and technology have been super involved in starting to shift the way we look at beauty. Whether that be through filtering or talking to AI about products and about what it thinks about beauty. It’s going to shift the way we look at self-confidence and beauty ideals.

I use Facetune or Photoshop to plan makeup sometimes, and that’s only been within the last five years. Before, you couldn’t do that with such ease — you had to sit behind a desktop and create a look. Now, we can do it from the ease of an app that we all can download. And so I think through that, there’s going to be a lot of change in the way we look at skincare and makeup, the way we apply it, and the way we try to make it real.

What does your selection for the BoF 500 mean to you?

I’m honoured because I’m put amongst the names of so many people that I admire, and I’m lucky that I get to call some of them friends. It’s kind of surreal, to be honest — because I’m just here being creative and doing my thing. And so, when this opportunity was brought to me, I was very excited and grateful.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Neft Vodka as part of a BoF partnership.

Fashion has tread carefully with the US presidential election. Few brands have made an endorsement, let alone incorporated politics into their marketing. Where they have engaged, it’s typically been along the lines of “vote” campaigns or exhortations to make a positive impact, presumably by supporting Harris, though the candidate herself is rarely named. Willy Chavarria, with his nods to migrant workers and collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union, is a prominent exception. Anna Wintour is also a longtime Democratic fundraiser, in August hosting an event for Harris alongside Tory Burch. LVMH maintains ties to both camps; Bernard Arnault and his wife attended a Biden-hosted state dinner in June, while his son, Tiffany executive Alexandre Arnault, visited Mar-a-Lago last year.

Businesses don’t want to alienate customers, and there’s been a general retreat from strident social stances as the energy from 2020 dissipates. There’s also the possibility of a second Donald Trump presidency to consider. Trump has made rewarding his supporters, and punishing his enemies, a staple of his campaign rhetoric. Avoiding politics altogether, or at least the appearance of being stridently partisan, has always been seen in many boardrooms as the low-risk option, now more so than ever (that doesn’t mean they stay neutral; large fashion retailers lobby politician directly and through industry groups on a number of issues).

But even as retailers avoid outward displays of partisan politics, they’re working overtime behind the scenes to prepare for the next administration. And not just in the US. Though it’s Americans voting, their choice will have a profound impact on the global fashion industry.

The extent to which Harris’ playbook will affect fashion is fairly straightforward, as the candidate is expected to stick to the general contours of President Joe Biden’s policies, with one exception flagged below. Trump is another matter entirely.

At the top of the list is Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on a staggering range of imported goods, which will instantly change the economics of where and how apparel is manufactured. The US imports the vast majority of its apparel, accessories and footwear, and lacks the capacity to manufacture significant volumes domestically. In a recent Washington Post interview, the CEO of Columbia Sportswear didn’t mince words: “we’re just going to deal with it and we’ll just raise the prices.” Expect many other brands to do the same should Trump follow through on his campaign promises. Given that consumers are already pushing back on the last round of hikes tied to inflation, adding the cost of tariffs without losing significant sales won’t be easy.

One counterweight would be an extension of tax cuts the Trump administration passed in its first term, as well as a long list of tax breaks Trump has promised on the campaign trail. If passed — a big if, given most of these measures would likely require at least some Democratic support — they would theoretically put more money in consumers’ pockets to pay for their suddenly more expensive imported goods.

Climate policy would also take a major detour, with the Trump administration almost certain to quickly undo much of its predecessors’ work to promote renewable energy and curb emissions. Fashion hasn’t exactly been leading the charge on these fronts. Other governments, particularly in Europe, will continue to apply pressure on the industry to reduce its impact on the planet. But a second Trump presidency would end hope for more ambitious global emissions targets and policies.

The future of fashion dealmaking is more of a wild card, whoever wins. The Federal Trade Commission under commissioner Lina Khan has blocked numerous high-profile mergers, including Tapestry’s proposed acquisition of rival handbag maker Capri earlier this month. Khan, whose three-year term ended in September but will stay on until a replacement is appointed, has fans and detractors in both the Harris and Trump camps. It’s no guarantee that Harris will stick with the FTC’s current track, or that Trump will go back to the anything-goes era.

There are plenty of additional what ifs keeping many people, fashion executives included, up at night. Would Trump really deport tens of millions of undocumented immigrants? How would he handle the escalating conflict in the Middle East? What becomes of Ukraine? Will Trump accept defeat, and if not, what will he and his supporters do? The list goes on and on.

The uncertainty is compounded by the fact that this election is a genuine toss-up. Polls haven’t been so tight this close to a presidential election in a generation, if ever. That means we likely won’t know who won Tuesday night, or possibly even this week. And the ramifications of that outcome will take even longer to unfold.

The Week Ahead wants to hear from you! Send tips, suggestions, complaints and compliments to brian.baskin@businessoffashion.com.

Boohoo Group Plc appointed Debenhams boss Dan Finley as its new chief executive officer, rejecting billionaire Mike Ashley’s bid to lead the retailer.

The shares advanced after the British fast fashion company said on Friday that Finley will replace John Lyttle as CEO with immediate effect. Finley became CEO of Debenhams in January 2022 after more than a decade heading JD Sports.

Shares in Boohoo rose as much as 6.7 percent in London. The stock has lost 28 percent in the first 10 months of this year.

Finley’s appointment stymies an attempt last week by Ashley, who founded Frasers Group Plc, to appoint himself as a director and CEO of Boohoo. Frasers accused Boohoo’s board of presiding over an “abysmal” trading performance.

At the time, Boohoo said the process to replace Lyttle was already underway. It said that Frasers has a similar stake in its rival Asos Plc, which could raise governance concerns.

Frasers, the parent of Sports Direct, is Boohoo’s largest shareholder and currently owns 27 percent of its stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Boohoo, which owns the Debenhams, Karen Millen and PrettyLittleThing brands, announced last month that it’s undertaking a strategic review — a move that could potentially lead to the breakup of the company.

“We are undertaking a process to consider all options, look at each business unit and see what the best way forward is,” Finley told Bloomberg News in a call.

Boohoo bought Debenhams for £55 million in 2021, succeeding against Frasers, which had long sought to acquire the department store chain. Debenhams achieved a gross merchandise value annual run rate of £800 million under Finley, the group said Friday.

By Jennifer Creery

Learn more:

Boohoo Rejects Criticism From Frasers Group as ‘Inaccurate and Unfair’

Boohoo has criticised Frasers Group’s attempt to install founder Mike Ashley as CEO, defending its debt refinancing strategy and emphasising the need for careful governance in leadership decisions.

Over the last two weeks, thousands of policymakers, conservationists and business leaders descended on the Colombian city of Cali for COP 16, the UN’s biennial nature-focused summit.

Though historically less high-profile than its climate counterpart, “nature COP” is gaining more attention amid a growing push from businesses — fashion included — to address their impact on the natural world.

It’s a complicated, but increasingly urgent topic. The world is already facing an ecological crisis with significant implications for global supply chains and the natural resources they require.

Here’s what every fashion executive needs to know about this month’s meeting:

What is COP 16 and why does it matter?

Nature COP — more commonly known as the UN biodiversity summit — takes place every two years. This is the first one since world leaders reached a landmark agreement in Canada in 2022 to halt biodiversity loss by 2030. The agreement has been framed as a Paris Agreement for nature, referencing the global treaty to combat climate change. Key targets include a goal to protect and restore 30 percent of land and oceans by 2030.

Things aren’t going well so far. Global wildlife populations have shrunk by an average of nearly 75 percent over the past 50 years, according to a report published by the World Wildlife Fund. Nearly one million animal and plant species are under threat of extinction, according to the UN.

That’s a serious risk for business. Over half of global GDP — $58 trillion — is dependent on nature in one way or another, according to consultancy PWC. Fashion, for one, relies on farming for raw materials like cotton and leather. The beauty industry is dependent on natural ingredients from palm oil to shea butter. At the same time, both sectors are partially responsible for the ongoing destruction of the natural landscapes on which they depend.

More than 300 million trees are cut down every year to make raw materials like viscose, according to forest conservation campaign group Canopy. Supply chains for leather and palm oil are major drivers of deforestation, while crops like cotton can require dangerous levels of pesticides and large amounts of water.

What role did business play at this year’s meeting?

Though companies still aren’t showing up to nature COP with the same force as at the UN’s annual climate summits, their engagement is increasing. More than 3,000 businesses attended this year, compared to around 1,000 in 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal.

That’s important because more private investment is needed to galvanise the hundreds of billions of dollars that will be required annually to meet global nature goals. It’s an area where fashion has made some moves already. Companies from North Face-owner VF Corp to Allbirds and Citizens of Humanity are working on supporting regenerative farming programmes, with a view to reducing their carbon footprints and improving biodiversity in their supply chains. Big groups including Kering, LVMH and Zara-owner Inditex have committed tens of millions of dollars to restore tracts of land, forest and water (though all these efforts are dwarfed by the industry’s overall scale).

This week, Gucci-owner Kering became one of the first three companies to adopt science-based targets to protect nature, with initial efforts focused on reducing fresh water usage and land impact. Other companies are expected to follow the example.

“Climate and nature are interlinked and it cannot be clearer — especially during COP16 negotiations — that the business community needs to put as much effort into reducing and restoring their impacts on nature as they do on reaching their climate ambitions,” Kering chief sustainability officer Marie-Claire Daveu said in a social media post announcing the new commitments. “Science-based targets for nature will help enable companies to do their part in reversing nature loss and I hope other companies in our industry and beyond will commit to these targets.”

Where do things go from here?

As has been made painfully clear by lagging progress towards corporate climate targets, setting goals is just the first step in a long and challenging process to actually address and mitigate the fashion industry’s environmental impact.

In many ways, addressing biodiversity loss is an even more complicated challenge than tackling carbon emissions. Opaque and fragmented supply chains mean most brands have very little idea where the raw materials they use come from. Meanwhile, healthy soil and water levels will look different on a cotton farm in India than in Brazil or the US, for instance.

The industry is making efforts to set clearer frameworks to help brands deliver on their nature-based targets. Earlier this week, nonprofit Textile Exchange announced an upgrade to its system of standards for lower-impact materials, intended to ensure certifications widely used by the industry are underpinned by robust environmental data.

Investors are also stepping up their engagement on the topic, with a coalition of financiers with €5.85 trillion ($6.35 trillion) in assets under management announcing plans to push the fashion sector to address its impact on nature during COP 16.

But efforts to deliver on big climate ambitions are bumping up against a chaotic moment of economic and political uncertainty that’s making it more challenging than ever for such a short-term industry to prioritise long-term strategic investments. The risk is that fashion’s ambitions to become “nature positive” go the same way as many of its climate pledges, offering a green veneer to an industry that continues to operate in the same way it always has.

Add another job to the list that artificial intelligence might replace — fashion models.

The Spanish fast-fashion chain Mango is eliminating some human models and using AI-generated avatars to create advertising campaigns more quickly, chief executive officer Toni Ruiz said in an interview. The garments these AI models are wearing are real and available to customers for purchase.

Among Mango’s main rivals are retailers including Inditex’s Zara and H&M, brands that swiftly jump on fashion trends to produce items that sell at affordable prices. To compete, Mango is using AI to pick up speed across different areas of the business.

“It’s about faster content creation,” Ruiz said.

Mango piloted its first AI-generated campaign in July, which featured a limited-edition collection geared to teenage girls.

The most recent AI-generated advertising campaign, released this month, is also teen-focused. Some imagery appears on the Mango website with a disclaimer that AI was used to create the visuals. Mango plans to expand its use of the technology to its women’s and men’s collections, but hasn’t made any final decisions yet.

AI is driving a shift in the $2.5 trillion modelling industry. Mango joins other retail brands, such as Levi Strauss & Co., Louis Vuitton and Nike Inc. that have already teamed up with AI modelling companies. The financial benefits are clear, with AI models typically costing a fraction of the price of a human model.

Mango’s use of AI goes beyond marketing and advertising. AI is also helping the company design collections, providing inspiration for fabrics and more. A bot is now capable of creating clothing that conforms to the Mango design aesthetic, Ruiz said.

The retailer, which is expanding in the US, said it’s still creating human jobs. The company currently employs around 640 workers in the US and plans to double that number by 2025. Mango aims to grow its US footprint to nearly 70 stores by the end of 2025, up from 42 at the end of this year.

By Julia Fanzeres and Crystal Tse

Learn more:

Fashion’s AI Dilemma Is Getting Worse

Baggu and Collina Strada are the most recent targets of ire among consumers opposed to the use of generative AI designs, and they won’t be the last. What does it mean for an industry that has already embraced the innovation with open arms?

Former Harrods staff who were sexually abused by Mohamed Al Fayed have called for a boycott of the luxury store as it was revealed that more than 400 victims of his predatory behaviour had come forward.

Three victims of Fayed’s abuse posed with tote bags with the Harrods logo crossed out during a press conference by the Justice for Harrods Survivors group.

Lawyers for the group revealed they had been approached by 421 people, most of whom alleged they were sexually abused or harassed by Fayed when he was the owner of Harrods from 1985 to 2010.

“That is industrial scale abuse – abuse that could have only been perpetrated with a system that enabled the abuse to happen,” Bruce Drummond KC, at New Bailey Chambers, said. “The majority of those contacting us are from the UK but the claims against Harrods and Fayed are still coming in from all around the world: Canada, Asia, Australia, America and Europe.”

One of the victims, who wanted to be identified only as Lindsay, described Harrods as “a store that enabled the rape and sexual abuse of so many young and innocent women … So we don’t think that people should be shopping there. We think they should be going elsewhere.”

“It’s horrifying and it’s incredibly sad – we thought there were only few of us that went through this, and we’re realising it’s hundreds and hundreds of women over a 25- to 30-year period,” said Jen, who was backing a boycott.

Lawyers for the survivors questioned the independence of Harrods’ own investigation into Fayed’s behaviour when he was the chair.

“Who from Harrods designed and is leading this ongoing internal review? Did anyone who was still within the business from the Al Fayed’s time, recuse themselves from discussion over the design and execution of this review?” the barrister Maria Mulla asked.

She confirmed that four of Fayed’s victims had withdrawn from a settlement scheme set up by Harrods, over concerns that it was being managed by a consultant who had been employed at the store when Fayed was chair.

Asked how many “enablers” of Fayed’s alleged sexual misconduct had been identified by the group, Mulla said, “It was a very large web. Some of them are still alive – it’s not in our ability to name names or announce who those individuals are.”

The lawyers also confirmed the first letter of claim had been sent to the London department store. “It’s the first of hundreds to come; it’s going to snowball and snowball,” Drummond said.

Six of the accusers are Australian women. Drummond told Australian broadcaster ABC on Thursday that five were employed at Harrods and one worked for a supplier. All were in their 20s.

“It was the most wonderful thing they had, quite understandably, working for this amazing store, working for this very powerful individual who was a billionaire … then a lot of them, after they had been subjected to this horrific ordeal, fled [back to Australia],” he said.

The Metropolitan police asked prosecutors to decide whether to charge the former Harrods and Fulham FC owner in relation to only two of 21 women who made allegations, including of rape and sexual assault, between 2005 and 2023.

Evidence was shown to the Crown Prosecution Service in 2009 and 2015 but it decided not to proceed with either because there was not “a realistic prospect of conviction.”

Dean Armstrong KC said many of the victims were sceptical about the police investigations.

“In lots of cases there are trust issues, because a lot of our survivors in their hours of need went to the police and little or nothing was done,” he said.

Jen said after helping Vanity Fair with an article about Fayed’s abuse, she was contacted by John Mcnamara, a former Met detective.

“I was contacted by John Mcnamara, who was then head of security from Mohamed, who asked me to think very carefully about my involvement in Vanity Fair and just to remind me that he knew where I lived and he knew where my parents lived, and wouldn’t it be terrible if something would happen to either them or myself?” she said. “It’s that kind of terror that kept us all so quiet for so long.”

Fayed died in 2023 at the age of 94.

Harrods referred to a previous statement by its managing director, Michael Ward, in which he acknowledged the store had failed its colleagues. He said if he had known about Fayed’s criminality and abuse he would have acted immediately.

“This was a shameful period of the business’s history, however the Harrods of today is unrecognisable to Harrods under his ownership,” he added.

By Matthew Weaver

Estée Lauder Companies first-quarter earnings on Thursday laid bare the uphill journey incoming CEO Stéphane de La Faverie has ahead of him.

The beauty giant announced net sales had declined 4 percent to $3.36 billion, with a particularly painful 11 percent slide in China, and a 7 percent drop in skincare, its biggest category. It also trimmed its second-quarter sales outlook from flat to minus 8 to 6 percent. Earlier in the day, the company withdrew its 2025 guidance and cut dividend payments by 47 percent. Estée Lauder’s stock slid more than 20 percent to a 10-year low.

The results were more than the latest in a string of bad quarters – they represented a resetting of expectations that could all-but vanquish investor confidence that the company will find a quick solution to its growing list of problems, said Filippo Falorni, a director in Citi consumer’s practice, which downgraded its recommendation on Estée Lauder’s stock to neutral on Thursday. He said the company’s inability to foresee how much sales would drop in China was particularly concerning.

“Investors have already lost a lot of trust … but withdrawing the guidance is kind of the last straw,” he said.

Estée Lauder’s sales have fallen steadily since the start of 2023, led by ongoing softness in China, which makes up around a third of the company’s business, as well as a drag from the closely linked travel retail sector. It reported sales growth around 5 percent in May for the first time since the end of 2022, but couldn’t sustain the momentum. In early 2024, rival L’Oréal eclipsed it as the biggest prestige beauty company, while its core brands, which include cosmetics makers Too Faced, Tom Ford and Mac Cosmetics, were all cited as underperforming in Thursday’s earnings in the key US market.

“We are working hard to rebalance the company and avoid future overexposures to areas of the world that are too volatile,” said incumbent CEO Fabrizio Freda on a call with analysts. But as outgoing chief financial officer Tracey Travis said, “We obviously still have much more to do.”

De La Faverie’s appointment is the capstone on a company-wide shakeup that’s seen incumbent chief executive and chief financial officers Freda and Travis announce their retirements, William P. Lauder and Jane Lauder, two of the founder’s grandchildren, step down as executive chair and chief digital officer, respectively.

While he’s not the outside hire investors favoured, de La Faverie, who will take the top job on Jan. 1 after more than 13 years at Estée Lauder Companies, has prior experience at L’Oréal, so can bring some outside perspective. With the adjustment to the roles of Lauders Jane and William, the company now has less family control over its day-to-day operations. And, by cutting dividends, the company has more headroom for reinvestment in its brands outside of the covenants of the profit recovery plan.

Figuring out which brands are worth saving is step one. Olivia Tong, a managing director at Raymond James said she expected a “deep brand by brand assessment” to be a key early priority for de La Faverie.

“The company needs to make some hard decisions to better focus the portfolio towards long-term sustainable and profitable growth,” she said.

Fix the China Problem

First, de La Faverie will need to come up with a solution for China – or an alternative. Many international prestige brands have struggled as the country’s economy has faltered, with consumers increasingly seeking out domestic brands they feel offer better value for their money.

However, Lauder was hit harder than most, partly because China had become so key to its sales, but also because of its strategy. It hinged largely on daigou, a practice wherein customers on the Chinese mainland deputise others to purchase on their behalf in other nearby regions at a lower cost, and on travel retail outposts in the area, effectively doubling its exposure to volatile markets. Falorni also noted that the majority of its products are still made in the US, creating long lead times for shipping and forecasting. New distribution centres in the region have helped incrementally, and a production facility is set to open in Japan.

Falorni said while the market has been soft, there’s also been a shift in the market that favours mass, more affordable brands, while Estée Lauder Companies still measures itself as against other premium brands.

“They’re not willing to acknowledge [this shift],” he said, adding that cost savings are also necessary throughout the business given its performance. “Most businesses in their position would be much more aggressive on cost-cutting.”

Estée Lauder Companies plans to rebalance its regional growth, with Freda saying that its exposure to China has already reduced by 10 percent since the 2022 fiscal year. “Strategic reset is at the core [of our plan],” he said.

This can partly be achieved by right-sizing inventory levels, as well as continued improvement in its margins, which it has grown by a few percentage points. It’s also targeting key growth markets in regions like Latin America and other parts of Asia like Japan to increase overall diversity.

However, even offsetting the China decline, the company only grew sales 1 percent globally.

Fix the US Problem

Estée Lauder Companies also has issues on its home turf. Sales declined 2 percent in the US in its first-quarter earnings, with many of its core premium brands such as Too Faced and Mac Cosmetics cited as softening. Clinique, which launched on Amazon in March, was a bright spot, but Travis said the Estée Lauder Companies’ overall market share in the US has progressively declined over the last year.

Beauty companies like Coty, L’Oréal and Unilever’s prestige arm have all raised concerns over a slowdown in the US, but Estée Lauder Companies is also facing issues with its channel mix and brand offering. Historically reliant on department stores, it was slower to deepen its relationship with speciality stores like Sephora and Ulta Beauty, and it faces stiff competition from trending brands like Shiseido-owned skincare line Drunk Elephant, L’Oréal-backed skincare maker Cerave and a raft of indies like cosmetics brands Saie, Kosas and Westman Atelier which are popular with consumers.

It has taken steps to stem its losses, partly by debuting seven brands including its titular Estée Lauder line on Amazon, and introducing Clinique to Ulta Beauty, all of which Freda said were performing well.

Still, de La Faverie will need to be mindful of not diluting the brand equity of its portfolio — a fine line with increased distribution.

Fix the Brand Problem

Regional woes aside, de La Faverie’s biggest mission might be that of revitalising the company’s portfolio. Skincare makes up almost half of its overall sales, partly because of its reliance on China where it’s a top category, but fragrance and body care are more buoyant categories in the overall beauty market. Its hair care division has consistently underperformed, with the natural-inspired line Aveda name-checked as underperforming in salons, likely against more modern competitors such as K18, Olaplex and Kérastase.

While some brands like Too Faced and Mac Cosmetics have big social media followings, its brands lack the huge engagement competitor brands like Dior Beauty, Cerave and E.l.f Cosmetics get. De La Faverie will need to find ways to build affection and stickiness for its core brands, and make them products shoppers consider core replenishment items, not occasional treats. A stronger value proposition is needed as aspirational customers retreat in the US. Rebuilding value shouldn’t be around promotional bundles or discounts, but instead investment in the brands to make their offerings feel truly “worth it”.

The company also needs to examine its portfolio divesting unsalvageable brands and investing more in trending lines, like the fragrance makers By Kilian, Le Labo and newly-launched Balmain Beauty. Its biggest and best-known lines, including Mac Cosmetics, could also use some new thinking.

One thing the company and its investors are in alignment on: the business needs to get faster, and fresher.

“We need brand builders, but we need also people that will act with urgency, speed, courage to make the needed changes,” said Freda.

Ironically, that speed and urgency could be a long time coming, given the depth of the company’s issues and the choice of an internal hire for the top job.

“Any turnaround is going to be a multi-year journey,” said Falorni.

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Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas, and vampire perfume.

Included in today’s issue: Armani Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, Corpus, Devachan, Dieux, Dior Beauty, Glossier, Heretic Parfum, Huda Beauty, Kiehl’s, Kopari, Lana del Rey, L’Oréal, Le Monde Gourmand, Marlowe, Native, Naturium, RoC, Skkn by Kim, The Rootist, Vitamasques, and more.

But first…

Eight blocks from the Met steps where Serena Van Der Woodson and Blair Waldorf once bared their fangs, Georgia Louise is telling me to relax. The celebrity facialist is lathering her new products — including a lactic acid cream cleanser and vitamin A serum, which launch today on Amazon Beauty, along with her best-selling balm made with chamomile and mango butter — onto my skin in slaps and swipes. “Sandy said this part helps her skin look smooth in photos without any touch-ups,” said Louise, a UK native. She means Sandra Bullock. Louise also tends to Jennifer Aniston, Emily Blunt, and Linda Evangelista, whom Louise tells me was the guinea pig for her new product formulas. “She tested everything. There were lots of notes.”

Louise has been a Hollywood beauty insider for nearly 20 years thanks to Evangelista, who first hired Louise to fix the model’s at-home facial laser. (“I was basically her handyman, then she realised I knew how to optimise the results!”) In London, Louise had a cult following of models and aristocrats; now in New York, she serves a steady stream of celebrities and 1 percenters. But though she met Evangelista while working on machinery, Louise’s current clients don’t want it. “They’ll be like, ‘I can’t do a microcurrent. It’s too overstimulating. Please just use your hands,’ “That way, I can feel texture points and help speed up the lymphatic system and blood circulation.”

Louise says those texture points are like a secret language for an expert facialist — one that gives ‘manual labour’ a new context. “You know, before Amy Schumer realised she had Cushing syndrome,” a condition that inflames the body with the stress hormone cortisol, “I said, ‘This lymph node is swollen. Something is up.’ Maybe one day a robot will do that, but not yet. Now, your facialists do.”

Just before the CFDA Fashion Awards on Monday night, Dr. Barbara Sturm agreed that her famous clientele (such as Mrs. Hailey Rhode Baldwin Bieber, etc) were most excited about skincare rituals that involved hawkishly supervised ingredients and expert massage techniques. “Technology is amazing but you cannot replace real, human expertise guiding that technology,” Sturm said. A large scale language model, after all, does not know how it feels to glow.

Fashion tide pools favoured by the super-wealthy, like knitwear label & Daughter and Melissa Ventosa Martin’s made-to-order Old Stone Trade, tout their small-batch drops and handmade Cowichan sweaters as central to their brand’s appeal and value. Likewise, elite celebrity facialists are charging over $800 for their services — not because high-tech machinery and medical-grade procedures are happening, but precisely because they aren’t.

“The women in Hollywood and in these ultra-rich circles who come to me, they don’t want injectables,” said Louise. “Even people on Ozempic, who have lost a lot of fatty tissue in their face. Nobody is coming to me anymore saying, ‘I want to look 20 years younger.’ They’re saying, ‘I want to look ageless.’ Sure, you can get a facelift around 50; some people do. But until then, no lasers. No shots. People are really trying to keep it simple.”

Hollywood studio executives approve of her advice, which is why they’ll contract her to care for famous faces before and after film shoots. ”If you have great skin going into a shoot, there’s a lot less you need to spend on retouching and post-production costs,” she explained. “And no executive producer wants to wait another two days for somebody’s skin to calm down from a laser treatment or an extra shot of Botox. That’s $100,000 down the drain.”

What Else Is New

Skincare

RoC Skincare dropped a Hydration+ duo of moisturiser and serum on Oct. 24. Each product is $33, which feels high for a drugstore brand, but maybe perfect for women who refuse to spend over $60 on a moisturiser knowing that the $15 off-label formula from Ocean State Job Lots might not work.

Kompari’s first-ever self tanners, a $32 face serum and $36 body mousse, launched Oct. 25. The Hawaiian-born brand is known for its viral scented hair mists, which it spun off into scented, shimmery sunscreen this summer. Will they replace Sol de Janeiro? At this point, it doesn’t feel like anything will. But they’re playing in the same space, which we know has lots of shoppers, and not everyone wants to smell like Cheirosa 62.

Uma’s Wellness Magnesium Oil Sprays hit shelves on Oct. 28. They come in two $60 scents — Pure Calm with vetiver and chamomile and Pure Rest with ashwagandha — and one promise to harness magnesium’s muscle relaxing properties.

Willie Norris Hive rise up! On Oct. 29, the designer and downtown babe announced her partnership with Dieux, which minted bright red eye masks that blare the text “Promote Homosexuality” and deliver hydration benefits. The patches are $25, and 100 percent of proceeds go to the trans advocacy group G.L.I.T.S. As Dieux navigates some Reddit drama thanks to the departure of their co-founder (and fellow downtown babe) Marta Mae Freedman, the partnership is a wise PR move by the brand to get us talking about something else. It’s also a good test of Norris, who is certainly glam enough for beauty brands to start testing her conversion rates in bigger ways.

Symbiome’s Essence Rejuvenating Mist hit stores on Oct. 29. The $50 spritz claims to “eliminate acne causing bacteria, protect against sun-related skin damage, and provide instant purification and pH balance.” Symbiome’s “creative advisor” is Kate Hudson, and I will do anything to look like her, so let me spray this on my face all week and report back to you.

Evolvetogether and Goop have partnered on a $20 exfoliating soap bar duo with biodegradable packaging that dissolves in water to reduce waste. (Yay!) It debuted Oct. 29.

Bonjou Beauty made a turmeric soap ($25) and turmeric clay mask ($20) for its holiday skincare drop. Available Oct. 29, the products go hard on the “antibacterial” messaging. The orange herb is also an anti-inflammatory, and I know some of this weekend’s marathon runners have been pounding turmeric shots every morning as part of their training. (Good luck, Upper West Side Run Club!)

On Oct. 30, Glossier introduced a solid stick version of Futuredew, their “targeted glow serum” that brings a little gleam to cheekbones and lids. It’s $26.

Marlowe’s Santal Deodorant dropped on Oct. 30 for $14, joining similar products by Aesop, Salt & Stone, and Saltair. Santal vibes were climbing in popularity before Taylor Swift revealed her love for Tom Ford’s Santal Blush perfume last month, but the fragrance co-sign will keep the category buoyed through 2025.

Also in deodorant land, Corpus debuted deodorant sprays on Oct. 30 in four of their signature scents, including Third Rose, which counts violet and cedar root as base notes. Intriguing (and $26).

Naturium’s $25 skincare product, Multi-Rich Peptide Cream, hits their website today. The E.l.f.-owned brand has mastered the balance of excellent formulas at reasonable prices; let’s see if a slightly more expensive formula can keep their shoppers hooked.

Kiehl’s will open a new boutique in New York’s Moynihan Train Hall, the gleaming new Amtrak hub at Penn Station, on Nov. 1. Its holiday pop-up store will feature free gift-wrapping and lots of mini sizes.

On Nov. 2, Native is testing a pop-up “beauty truck” model at the Third Street Promenade in Los Angeles. The truck will have Native’s Fall Market collection — honeycrisp moisturisers, apple strudel body butters — with free samples available to those who tag the brand on social media or leave product reviews. Smart, if a little cloying.

Cosmetics

Did you have Armani Beauty x Blake Lively on your CFDA bingo card? The actress and her makeup artist, Carolina Gonzalez, paired with the L’Oréal-owned brand for the Oct. 28 event. Lively even did a detailed Instagram story about her matte pink lipstick. Despite recent Twitter tantrums surrounding the actress, I’ve heard from multiple brands that when Lively drops a brand name, sales and social media spikes follow. We don’t yet know if she can sustain a full brand — Target insiders tell me her hair care line, Blake Brown, is selling nicely, if not with the same constant thrum as Lemme — but for a one-and-done product hit, she’s a proven cash win.

CLE Cosmetics, known for its upscale branding and clean formulas, dropped its Color and Shine Set on Oct. 28, with four shimmery lip shades and a clear glaze. It’s $48.

Skkn by Kim’s Silk Matte Lip Color hit stores on Oct. 29 with 10 hues and a smooth, deep colour payoff. They’re $29 each and you can layer them under RMS Beauty’s legendary lip oils, which also debuted on Oct. 29 and come in eight glossy shades. The tagline is “high-impact shine, low-maintenance lip colour.” Nice.

Some campaign news: Chicken Shop host Amelia Dimoldenberg is the new face of Charlotte Tilbury’s holiday campaign, which debuted Oct. 29. She joins Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue. Yes, this is a big deal. Also cool: Urban Decay unveiled their newest face, WNBA star Cameron Brink, on Oct. 30. She plays for the Los Angeles Sparks and like U.D., she seems to really dig smudged-in eyeliner.

Huda Beauty’s Icy Nude palette hit Sephora on Oct. 30. It’s got 18 shades, and joins other Icy Nude items — a “face gloss,” two bronze-toned liquid blushes, and a lip gloss — to give your holiday glimmer a jump start.

Vitamasques $5 Lip Butter Balm hit Target on Oct. 30. It’s in a slim pink tube the same shape and shade as Rhode’s Strawberry Glaze Peptide Lip Tint, but skews a tiny bit deeper (Valentino Pink instead of Barbie Pink) out of the tube.

Welcome to New York, Dior Beauty! On Oct. 30, the French luxury brand opened its first standalone boutique for makeup, skincare, and scent on Greene Street in SoHo, next to its mens and womens apparel stores. It’s got a gold Christmas tree in the centre that’s ringed with every Dior fragrance. Impressive.

Hair Care

Celebrity hair guru Tracey Cunningham is now the US creative director of colour and technique at Schwarzkopf Professional. Cunningham is behind Lana Del Rey’s dark brown strands, which might be the 2024 version of Mary-Kate Olsen’s “almost plain brown, but cooler because it’s expensive” shade of the early aughts.

The Rootist hired Whitney Port to hype their Densify Collection in an Instagram video on Oct. 8. Since then, searches for the brand have creeped up 40 percent, according to Google Trends data, which is a tidy conversion rate for someone who hasn’t been a TV regular in almost 15 years. I thought it was interesting that Port slid into the Marina McManus show at New York Fashion Week — quiet, cool-girl luxury at its most sincere — and now I’m hearing some Real Housewives murmurs around the 39-year-old. Let’s keep an eye on a a possible TV return … and see what kind of brand she’ll try to launch in tandem.

Fragrance

You knew it was coming: Le Monde Gourmand has finally unveiled their candy cherry scent, called Cerise Riche Eau de Parfum. It’s $25, premiered on Oct. 25, and comes with a very fun launch party: The brand is hosting a screening of “Death Becomes Her” next week. Meanwhile, the Broadway musical version has made marketing materials based on ‘80s fragrance ads, because what’s more luxurious than being undead?

Speaking of the undead, Heretic Parfum launched a collaboration with Focus Features pegged to the Dracula movie “Nosferatu” on Halloween. It smells “cold, pale and pellucid” (really it smells like violet and petrichor, the earthy after-rain scent, but okay?) and is called Eau de Macabre.

BDK Parfum’s Rouge Smoking Extrait hit Neiman Marcus for $305 on Oct. 28. It’s got cherry, almond, and bergamot, and says it’s inspired by Pigalle, the Parisian district that used to be seedy and now serves oat milk lattes for 10 euro.

Kenneth Cole’s Hyper Violet perfume dropped on Oct. 30. This is great because there are no violet notes in the fragrance! It’s got plum, tangerine, and sandalwood, though, and comes in a sleek purple bottle for $45.

And Finally

Do we need to do a beauty podcast roundup? After L’Oréal dropped “This Is Not a Beauty Podcast” — which is, in fact, a beauty podcast — on Sept. 29, Devacurl founder Lorraine Massey debuted her own, called If Your Curls Could Talk, on Oct. 21. To me, it’s weird keeping beauty, an aesthetic practice, in an audio space. But if “Top Chef” can make an entire TV franchise based on watching, not tasting, new recipes, certainly we can listen to people talk about pretty privilege without viewing it.

I assume that’s what we’re discussing on a podcast about aesthetic power. We’re not going down an ‘inner beauty’ rabbit hole while shilling products … right?

Abe Chavez is the fashion manager at buzzy New York-based luxury boutique ESSX, where his responsibilities include managing the store’s relationships with high-profile celebrity clientele like basketball star Jaylen Brown and American football player CeeDee Lamb. But earlier this week, Chavez was tasked with a different role altogether: leading a run club through Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Everyone from regular consumers to influencers to local fashion cool kids and Brooklyn-raised rapper Theophilus London joined in what was the culmination of a three-day takeover of the store by running sneaker label Hoka ahead of Sunday’s New York City Marathon. For those who didn’t fancy being put through their paces but still wanted to try out some shoes, ESSX co-founder Laura Baker led a group on a cultural walking tour of the neighbourhood.

A year or two ago, a luxury boutique participating in such an activation may have raised eyebrows — but not anymore. Fashion has been going all in on running culture for the past year. It’s now typical for brands to celebrate milestones like flagship store openings with run clubs, while networking at fashion weeks between buyers, press and creatives, which traditionally happened over loud music in bars and clubs, now often starts bright and early with a run.

For brands, marathons offer the perfect chance to market special-edition gear to product-crazy members of the running community, while getting their clothing and footwear in front of others who may not have come across them yet. At the New York City Marathon — one of the world’s big six — this obsession is more evident than ever. The swarm of brand activity from product collaborations to pop-ups to sponsored fitness events in the lead-up to the race has resembled that of a fashion week rather than preparation for the 26.2-mile slog through the city’s five boroughs.

Bandit, a New York-based fashion-forward running label, released a 17-piece collection of running gear and sneakers in collaboration with Asics and will host activations like cheer zones and a pre-race warm-up run from a SoHo pop-up. Minted New York, a running-centric clothing and jewellery brand, is hosting its own pop-up and announced a limited edition Speed 4 sneaker and apparel collaboration with Saucony. New Balance is sponsoring a team of high-profile personalities for the race in partnership with rapper Action Bronson to promote the release of their FuelCell Rebel v4 and M10 Minimus sneakers.

And for the first time, the marathon has an official beauty partner. L’Oréal-owned cosmetics label Maybelline will have a dedicated cheer zone, make-up booth and branded running team staffed by actress Claire Holt, TV personality Tayshia Adams, model Haley Kalil and make-up artist Karen Sarahi Gonzalez.

“These events are full of people and influencers wearing all the expensive, exclusive gear, many of whom have no intention of running the race at all but are drawn in by the product,” said Tayler Wilson, a writer and brand consultant who has run eight marathons since 2020. “The race is now almost the least important part.”

For brands looking to engage with marathoners, it’s not enough to just turn up with some sneakers to sell, however. Superficial cash grabs are likely to send them running.

Come for the Run, Stay for the Merch

There are, of course, still plenty of participants who show up to running events primarily to run. But big moments like marathons are increasingly frequented by consumers who come expecting to show off often expensive products that signify their place in a community, according to Yazmin Johnson, a London-based stylist and runner who participated in the New York City Marathon last year.

“It may as well be Paris Fashion Week,” Johnson said, adding that New York is the most popular of all the world’s major marathons for many runners, giving brands extra incentive to go bigger on activations.

Tied to this week’s marathon, On has a packed schedule of daily displays of its new LightSpray manufacturing technology, along with its own organised group runs and other events. It also took the moment to release a batch of its Cloudboom Strike LightSpray sneakers in ultra-limited quantities at its On Labs location in Manhattan.

It’s not only runners who covet running apparel or footwear either. The growing popularity of performance running and running-inspired footwear has turbocharged growth for newcomer brands like On and Hoka, and reinvigorated the appeal of older technical players like New Balance, Asics and Salomon. Nike’s bright pink AlphaFlys running sneakers now double as fashion items. Adidas collaborator Pharrell Williams appeared in a pair of the brand’s newly launched Pro Evo 1 racing shoes for his turn as torchbearer at the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony this summer.

Earlier this week, Adidas chief executive Bjørn Gulden told investors the brand was caught off guard when 200 pairs of its new $500 long-distance racing sneaker sold out in an hour at a drop at last month’s Beijing Marathon. The brand plans to continue building heat for the shoe ahead of a wider rollout next year through releases around key marathons, the next being Shanghai. It will also release a special edition of the shoe designed by Pharrell Williams this week in New York ahead of the race.

ESSX’s Baker said witnessing young fashion consumers in her store wearing limited-edition Hoka collabs is what prompted the shop to pick up the brand’s performance footwear — its first major sneaker assortment — including the Bondi 8 and Mach 6 LA silhouettes.

“These are the fashion kids pushing trends forward, and they’re equally obsessed with fitness [and] run clubs as they are with their clothing,” Baker said.

The running community, however, is similar to the streetwear community, according to Wilson: Consumers aren’t afraid to call out or boycott brands which they feel are simply jumping on the trend in a way that doesn’t feel authentic.

Keeping It Real

For big races like New York, even the more established brands like Hoka partner with local businesses to better access the consumer groups they’re targeting. Working with ESSX, one of the city’s hottest new multi-brand retailers, was designed to get in front of its “strong community of tastemakers,” said Ian Hill, Hoka’s director of US marketing.

The partnership allowed Hoka to directly engage with young fashion-forward consumers who blend performance gear with high fashion or streetwear pieces, but may not necessarily pull up to shop in a Hoka store itself, said Baker.

Baker believes running will be a long-term inspiration for brands, rather than a passing trend, thanks to its avid community and how deeply involved runners are in product — especially during marathon season.

“When you look around New York [at this time of year], the whole city is like a lookbook,” she said.

Wilson, the marathoner and brand consultant, pointed out that even for casual runs some people will show up in hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise, from their shorts to their sunglasses to their sneakers.

“I remember when I first started running with a group four years ago, I’d turn up in a pair of trainers my mum gave me and would be wearing random bits of old sports gear,” Johnson said. “But it’s a different game now.”

Last year, Peacock gave viewers of the Bravo reality show “Below Deck” a reason to pay attention when the commercials came on-screen.

For the first time, the NBC Universal-owned streaming service launched an in-show shopping feature, where, during the ad breaks, a QR code would appear on-screen. Those who scanned it would be taken to a page on Walmart.com featuring a curated assortment of products inspired by the outfits on-screen.

It was a hit, with 379 percent higher engagement than regular ads, according to NBCU Global CMO Josh Feldman; Peacock has since rolled it out to six shows, including “Southern Charm” and “Summer House.” NBC Universal is planning to add more shopping features to its programming, including a makeup detection tool (in partnership with a yet-to-be-revealed cosmetics brand) that will identify makeup shades worn on-screen and match them to specific products.

Product placement in TV and film has long been an effective tactic for getting more eyes on fashion and beauty brands, but actually getting consumers to buy the items they see on-screen (and tracking those purchases) has historically been trickier. Nowadays, though, there are more ways to buy the clothes you see on TV. Streamers like Peacock, Prime Video, Hulu and Netflix are using retail media providers such as Shopsense AI and Kerv, which powers Peacock’s “shop the look” feature, that use AI to make videos shoppable by surfacing items worn on-screen (or similar products), whether it’s by QR code, image-scanning technology or just a product widget that pops up when the screen is paused.

As brands and streamers invest further in these programs, they must balance making it simple for viewers to shop without making the whole thing feel like a never-ending ad.

There’s real incentive to get it right. According to market research company Emarketer, consumers spend an average of $290 on products seen on TV annually; that number only stands to go up if it’s as simple for consumers to find and purchase the products they see on TV as it is to buy the garments they scroll past on TikTok or Instagram.

“The big screens are trying to catch up to the little screens,” said Brad Quinn, SVP of publisher partnerships for Kerv. The real question is “how do we get people to actually buy things? We don’t want to interrupt a viewer’s content.”

When It Works to Make TV Shoppable

Streamers are increasingly embracing shoppable TV — but are still determining what content is best suited to these sorts of features.

Putting shoppable features in a drama where viewers are on the edge of their seats, for example, could prove to be too much of a distraction. Reality series and live events, on the other hand, offer key moments for shopping inspiration without interruption. During the recent livestream of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show earlier this month, for instance, viewers were fed cues to open their Amazon app to shop the show as part of an effort to make the show more “accessible,” said Sarah Sylvester, EVP of marketing at Victoria’s Secret.

Red carpets, too, can be a good fit, even if providing an exact link to a custom designer gown isn’t possible.

“You’re never going to find a one-off outfit that someone’s wearing on the red carpet to the VMAs like Taylor Swift, but we were able to surface additional items,’” said Bryan Quinn, president and co-founder of Shopsense.

It also helps when fashion is already a part of the conversation around a show, like “Sex and the City” or “Emily in Paris.” For the fourth season of the latter, which premiered this summer, Netflix launched a partnership with Google Lens that allowed viewers to use image-based search to find links to shop characters’ exact outfits (or if unavailable, similar items). Kerv’s Quinn pointed to a recent partnership with Peacock’s “Bel-Air” as another example.

“[’Bel-Air’] is produced beautifully, there’s nice furniture, the outfits are beautiful, the earrings, the accessories, everything looks great,” he said. “That show just lends itself to [wanting] to find out more.”

For shows where shoppable content isn’t the best fit, there are other options. Hulu, for example, teamed up with Free People to create a collection tied to the second season of its hit show “Tell Me Lies,” with several of the items worn by characters on-screen, like the lace-trimmed “Better Not” cami and the sheer “Lady Lux” layering top. While it wasn’t shoppable, the launch was a success: Conversion for the collection was 22 percent higher than the average product page, according to Free People. Hulu promoted the partnership on TikTok and Instagram, and the retailer, in turn, drove awareness for the show, highlighting the collection on their homepage, in email marketing and stores.

“You have these moments when your content is in the zeitgeist and your fans are naturally engaging,” said Adia Matthews, vice president of brand partnerships and synergy at Hulu. “It became a moment to say, ‘Okay, how do we collaborate together and find this opportunity to drive conversion or to be a part of this conversation?’”

Adjusting to the Learning Curve

If adding “shop the look” features detracts from — rather than enhances — the viewing experience, then it’s likely doing more harm than good.

Streamers should make the experience as easy as possible for consumers, such as making it possible to bookmark items for later (if they’re not ready to shop at the exact moment an item appears on-screen) and allowing shoppers to pre-save payment details for faster check out. Shopsense also connects retailers’ inventory with streaming partners’ websites and apps, said CEO and co-founder Glenn Fishback, so viewers won’t be directed to out-of-stock products.

They also have to get consumers in the habit of shopping while watching and should tell viewers that items are shoppable — whether with a QR code, URL, ad break or social post. The Warner Bros. Discovery platform Max, set to launch the first of its shoppable ad campaigns in early to mid December, will alert viewers before a show or film starts that the forthcoming content will be shoppable. During ad breaks, it will include shoppable carousels with products related to the show, and occasionally, pause ads to offer a second screen shopping experience.

“The core focus of what we’re trying to do is that everything is optimised towards the content that the viewer just watched,” said Derek Gatts, vice president of ad products at Warner Bros. Discovery.

In the meantime, Gatts said that sometimes it’s best just to direct someone straight to a brand’s website, since that’s where they are already accustomed to doing their shopping.

Shoppable content is only the beginning. Google, for instance, doubled down the “Emily in Paris” partnership, running ads starring Lily Collins to drive awareness of the Google Lens feature, serving as the series’ title sponsor and hosting an activation at a pop-up in LA for the new season’s premiere where visitors could scan iconic looks from the show using Lens for the chance to win a trip to Paris.

Going forward, brands and streamers alike will have to experiment to determine what strategy works best, which may differ depending on the show or tech in question.

“Everybody’s still in that learning phase before there’s an industry norm,” said Kerv’s Quinn.

Of all the collections KidSuper founder Colm Dillane has designed, the one he’s been most anxious about is his new collaboration releasing Friday with the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.

It’s the inaugural showing by the Nets’ new in-house label Bero, which launched earlier this year. Not only does it mark one of the clearest examples to date of the growing affinity between sport and fashion, but for Dillane, who teased the tie up in January at his Autumn/Winter 2024 Paris Fashion Week show, it’s highly personal: The Nets are his local team and play not far from where he went to high school.

“Sometimes these sports and fashion collabs really aren’t great,” he told The Business of Fashion. “I was trying to make product that I think people would actually want to wear outside of the arena and make pieces that felt like Brooklyn.”

The collection includes letterman jackets, bombers and accessories like bucket hats. It also allowed Dillane to work with new materials like leather. The accompanying campaign features fellow Brooklyn locals like Nets centre Nic Claxton and his teammate Jalen Wilson, as well as borough president Antonio Reynoso.

The Nets are one of many sports organisations putting increasing time and resources into making clothing that goes beyond basic low-quality merch in a bid to drive cultural clout and also boost retail sales. At London Fashion Week in June, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium hosted the runway show of menswear brand Labrum London — who also designed the team’s away kit for this season — with players like Declan Rice modelling the collection on the pitchside catwalk. This week, Rhude founder Rhuigi Villaseñor was named chief brand officer of Italian football team Como, in a role that will encompass transforming the brand’s approach to fashion and creative partnerships, hospitality and fan experience.

Dillane has been at the forefront of fashion’s recent convergence with sports. He designed the 2023/24 season jerseys for English football team Barnsley FC and will soon release a collection with all-time football great Ronaldinho, who starred in his January runway show.

With his Nets collaboration, he said he felt encouraged after getting the all-important buy-in from the team’s players, many of whom — like Claxton, who wore a leather jacket from the collection in a pre-game tunnel walk last season — were clamouring to get their hands on pieces ahead of this week’s general release.

For Claxton, it was important the team partnered with a designer who understood Brooklyn’s style codes.

“This collection really reflects the energy of Brooklyn and the new style that’s driving things forward right now,” he said.

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While China’s luxury market is slowing, population trends in Southeast Asia (SEA) are a significant opportunity to the fashion industry at large. By 2030, when 70 percent of ASEAN’s population — which currently stands at over 670 million — is expected to have attained middle-class income levels, the consumer market could reach $4 trillion, according to McKinsey & Company.

What’s more, according to a joint report by Temasek and Google, among others, the digital economy in the six largest economies of the region — Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines — was worth an estimated $218 billion in gross merchandise value in 2023 and is on track to reach $600 billion by 2030.

In addition to its proximity to these newly significant markets, Singapore is uniquely positioned between the two superpowers of our age. Almost all of East Asia’s energy imports flow through the Strait of Malacca, and much of its manufacturing trade flows the other way. China is not only Singapore’s largest source of imports, as it is for most countries in the world, but its largest source of exports too.

At the same time, America remains by far the largest single investor in Singapore, with S$574 billion ($428 billion) invested in the country at the end of 2022, compared with 156bn from mainland China, according to The Economist.

So what structure of regional supply will enable apparel and contemporary businesses to capitalise on the SEA growth trends and respond to the shape of that demand? And what positions a supply network as best in class in today’s market?

In a recent BoF Live event, Sian Nee Ho, regional director of the Americas for the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and Tony Pelli, practice director of supply chain security and resilience at BSI Consulting, discussed this opportunity and discovered best practices in minimising supply chain risk and optimising distribution to meet Asian and Southeast Asian demand.

Below, BoF shares condensed insights from the conversation.

Aligning Supply Chains to Growth Markets

SNH: There is really no one-size-fits-all approach. Companies will ultimately have to review their overall customer supplier base in Asia to identify their optimal supply chain strategy that allows them to best manage their costs, while also ensuring speed to market and overall resiliency amidst their supply chain disruptions.

What we are seeing is that consumers are increasing their expectations around accelerated delivery. Now, more brands are moving away from centralised distribution centres and adopting smaller, but more regionalised distribution centres to improve time to market. This could also be done through partnerships with various logistics players. Indeed, brands are increasing investments in supply chain management capabilities, including stronger data analytics to help with inventory optimisation across various distribution channels and countries.

In Singapore — because of our given proximity to major manufacturers, raw material suppliers and the growing Asian market — what we’re starting to see is that more brands anchor sourcing and distribution hubs here, and that’s happened over the course of a couple years.

More brands are moving away from centralised distribution centres and adopting smaller, but more regionalised distribution centres to improve time to market.

The supply chain function as a whole is becoming a lot more strategic, and companies are actively thinking about how to expand those teams. I think most companies today have it as a global function. Those that are a bit more forward-thinking look to these regional supply chains as well — not just in the US, or wherever they are headquartered, but to have that across major regions where they operate as well, so that they can deal with unexpected circumstances or situations that come up.

TP: What we’re seeing is a more forward deployment of distribution centres that are closer to consumers, allowing companies to have more of those routes to market, through traditional stores, direct-to-consumer — enabling more of that sort of omnichannel distribution.

That was a huge buzz word four to six years ago; but it’s actually here now. We’re still seeing lots of sea freight, moving goods around, that’s not changing anytime soon. But, I think the way that companies are thinking about their supply chains — how they can get more SKUs, how they can get different products faster to their consumers, in that forward-deployed way I was speaking about — it ultimately requires changes throughout the supply chain, impacting your sourcing and buying and purchasing strategies, in addition to distribution.

We’re also seeing faster changes in consumer demand — something that was popular a month ago is no longer popular. That really started to accelerate during the pandemic and hasn’t slowed. That increased importance of speed to market can be a bit of a double-edged sword though — as it requires you keeping less inventory on hand, which means that you have less resilience throughout the supply chain. It’s all about finding the right balance — which is what companies are grappling with now.

Best Practices and Global Standards

SNH: There are two aspects — diversification and disruption. Diversification — because I think we’re all familiar that geopolitical tensions are here to stay. When it comes to disruption, we do live in a troubled world today where there are two ongoing wars in both Europe and the Middle East — I don’t think anyone could have imagined it five years ago. The Red Sea attacks have led to sea freight costs increasing three to five times since the start of 2024 and potential terrorism against China has led to inventory stock-ups as well, resulting in bottlenecks in port.

While China has served the interest of US companies for the last two decades, many companies now recognise the need to diversify their manufacturing and supply chain footprint to new growth frontiers. We have seen tremendous growth in Southeast Asia as an alternative from consumer products, semiconductors, industrial and even headquarter investments. So, the growth in Southeast Asia has also translated into an increase in inter-regional trade within Asia, with a larger proportion of Asian exports now destined for other Asian countries compared to the previous decades, where trade was more focused on exports to Western countries.

As a critical supply chain hub in Southeast Asia that facilitates trade flows, Singapore seeks to be that pressure relief valve for companies by providing some flexibility, certainty and efficiency. We are heartened to see the expansion of global leaders such as FedEx in Singapore, because we see them as the bellwethers of supply chain shifts, and these recent expansions provide validation on the opportunities in Southeast Asia.

Sustainability, Disruption and Mitigating Risk

TP: If you look at companies like Apple — they have used their supply chain strategy as a competitive advantage, by being in places before their competitors are. We saw that during the pandemic, when there were lockdowns in Shanghai, for example, they were able to quickly pivot to new areas of operation, new areas of sourcing and manufacturing. In the luxury industry, more broadly or in higher-cost goods, you’re able to use that as a competitive advantage, rather than just as a risk mitigation measure.

Of course, it’s not just them, but other businesses that are needing to be closer to consumers in places like Southeast Asia. You may see a large hub in a place like Singapore, and then smaller satellite hubs in places like Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, that are more on the distribution end — essentially creating that central hub and spoke strategy rather than trying to distribute all from China directly. That’s the sort of scale of the investment we’re seeing.

Thailand’s another one where people may be investing as well, but on the supplier side, and it’s really being led by Vietnam. You’re seeing a lot of the supply chain management companies that were based in Taiwan, South Korea and China — they’re expanding into Vietnam now, but of course, they’re using that to either avoid or mitigate certain risks. Certainly, when you’re looking at Vietnam or places like Cambodia, we want to make sure that these companies are sensitive to other risks that may develop, making sure that they’re doing proper on-the-ground risk assessment of those suppliers from the beginning.

Innovating Supply Chain Technology and Predictive Analytics

TP: Companies really appreciate putting the analytics software in place that is able to feed them valuable data, but the issue is that they are unsure about how to then react when that data is presented to them. We see a lot of the time that companies are building systems or ways of working with that data in silos — buying and procurement using it for one thing, supply chain management using it for another.

We advise that companies should assess themselves internally before looking at any kind of software. Really thinking about how they are going to manage all of this new data, how are they going to react and how they are going to feed the data into their decision-making processes.

In terms of mitigating risk, the mapping out of your supply chains is the most important first step to act on, before even putting software in place.

In terms of mitigating risk, the mapping out of your supply chains is the most important first step to act on, before even putting software in place. Understanding where the raw materials are coming from initially is something that can be very messy — there’s lots of manual data to sort through, many moving parts in terms of figuring out the provenance of those products and then overlaying digital solutions on top that make sure you can get a more real-time viewpoint. That makes it critical to have that static view of your supply chain first. From there, you can move to push and get more real-time visibility, and add the tools as needed to have that sort of second and third tier visibility.

Emerging Markets and Manufacturing Hubs

SNH: China will continue to be an important market for many companies, so it’s about finding out the level of presence that companies require in China to be able to adequately serve the needs of that population, while also finding an alternative when companies could then diversify some of their manufacturing and supply chain operations to ensure that is neutral and well connected.

The alternatives I mentioned: we’re seeing Mexico and Canada for more nearshoring of manufacturing and tech investments; and then India, for sectors such as more generic drugs and consumer electronics; not forgetting Southeast Asia for more consumer products, semiconductors and headquarter investments.

What we’re seeing with Singapore is that it’s a place that’s committed to growing its air and sea connectivity through the airport and port expansion. And this will enable Singapore to remain plugged into and serve as a critical node in global trade and supply chain networks.

TP: If you look at it from a country-by-country basis, Indonesia and Vietnam certainly have large populations, with Vietnam being fairly well connected with China on one end and Singapore on the other.

I’m not going to pretend that the sorts of issues in apparel supply chains or fashion supply chains don’t exist in those countries, but that’s why we encourage people to look at that through the entire process — from sourcing all the way through to business-as-usual management of their suppliers.

Don’t just treat it as something that you only need to deal with when something goes wrong. Make sure that you’re building that in from the beginning — I think that’s where we’ll see fashion, especially in a place like Vietnam, have the greatest impact. Thailand and Malaysia may be a little less relevant for fashion, but they can add higher value manufacturing that some of the other regions cannot — again, all centred around Singapore as a hub for distribution through Southeast Asia, through the rest of East Asia and then onto the rest of the world.

We may see East Africa emerge in the longer term as well as a hub for manufacturing. Again, a lot of the freight that comes out of there is going to pass through Singapore as well. That’s my overall take on what’s developing in the region where you’re seeing the strengths and weaknesses of individual countries.

If companies are smart about it, they can manage those weaknesses, as well as actually turning them into a competitive advantage for being able to quickly shift and change their supply chains as needed.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by EBD Singapore as part of a BoF partnership.