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.