Can you turn back time? On Tuesday night, Victoria’s Secret put that question to the test.

For the first time in six years, the lingerie giant brought back its best-known cultural export — the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Held inside a cavernous warehouse at Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, a parade of supermodels hit the runway donning the brand’s signature lace and mesh sets, alongside performers Lisa (of the K-pop sensation Blackpink), Tyla and Cher, who closed the show with a full dance squad and empowerment anthems like “Believe” and “Strong Enough.”

In many ways, it felt like the same Victoria’s Secret fashion show from years past: There were consistent references to the brand’s aughts height, from the moment Gigi Hadid opened the show in a large pair of pink feathered wings that grew as she walked down the runway — the first of several appearances by former Angels including Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Behati Prinsloo, Jasmine Tookes, Candice Swanepoel and Tyra Banks. The entire space was bathed in the same soft pink hue that has long covered its stores, and the featured looks were elaborate, with tulle capes, lacy details and of course, plenty of wings.

But look closely, and differences appear. From the moment before the lights dimmed, a voiceover from Banks declared that at this year’s show, women would “take the reins and the spotlight.” There was more diversity, with models of varying gender identities, racial backgrounds, ages and body types. And while there were plenty of skin-baring bra-and-thong sets, there were also dresses, leggings and even pyjamas. Behind the scenes, a female team led the show’s production, Sarah Sylvester, the brand’s executive vice president of marketing and Janie Schaffer, chief design and creative officer, as well as former Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Emmanuele Alt, who styled the show. All the performers and dancers were also women.

The contrast between old and new underscored the current stakes for Victoria’s Secret, which has found itself in the midst of an identity crisis that has resulted in falling sales since its post-pandemic turnaround and spinoff from former parent-company L Brands. In August, it also made a leadership shift, naming Hillary Super, previously the CEO of competitor Savage x Fenty, as chief executive.

Victoria’s Secret is still by far the dominant player in its category — its buzziest competitor, the Kim Kardashian-owned Skims, operates just five storefronts compared to Victoria’s Secret’s 1,370 plus. But its market share has diminished over the past decade as cultural norms shifted away from the brand’s male-fantasy image and women began to prioritise comfort over sexiness.

After facing backlash, in recent years, it has embraced body positive marketing, casting plus-size model Paloma Elsesser and soccer star Megan Rapinoe in campaigns, but nothing resonated like the “Angels” once did. Attempts to erect a replacement marketing tentpole have similarly fallen flat, like last year’s documentary “Victoria’s Secret: The Tour ‘23,” which streamed on Amazon Prime.

“It was hard to break through and open up people’s minds to something different,” said Sylvester. “That was where we were like, ‘Well, maybe we don’t need to overthink it.’”

Tuesday evening’s big production in Brooklyn, which drew a famous-enough crowd that included Cardi B, Olympic gymnast Suni Lee and “Bridgerton” star Phoebe Dynevor, was part of the brand’s latest efforts to bring back the excitement that surrounded it in its heyday. But resonating with shoppers again won’t be an easy task, a matter of reminding consumers why they loved the brand in the first place while simultaneously convincing them that Victoria’s Secret belongs in the zeitgeist.

“There’s a lot of baggage with this show,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData’s US retail and consumer division. “They had to show a fresh take that’s aligned with modern values, and much more about women than men.”

Victoria’s Secret Tries Again

From the first small, untelevised show at the Plaza Hotel in 1995 to its last iteration in 2018, the Victoria’s Secret fashion show evolved into an all-out spectacle, synonymous with “Fantasy Bras” covered in thousands of Swarovski crystals and diamonds and its Angels’ seemingly flawless looks. It was a tentpole of pop culture that had the ability to attract top performers — not to mention, mint new supermodels — and millions of primetime eyeballs on network television.

What’s more, it set Victoria’s Secret apart from not only its direct competitors, but the rest of the mall.

“Your average mall retailer did not have a one-hour ad with its own commercials on national television for more than 20 years,” said Chantal Fernandez, co-author of the book “Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unravelling of an American Icon.” “They really understood the power of creating a fantasy, and [the show] was really effective as a tool of mass communication.”

But as the late 2010s ushered in the #MeToo era, both viewership and cachet dwindled. The narrow definition of beauty championed by Victoria’s Secret — long hair in bouncy curls, blemish-free faces, usually white skin and always, always thin — felt more and more out of place. When, in 2019, the show was cancelled, the general consensus was that the decision had been a long time coming.

Recent years, however, have shifted that dialogue, particularly as Victoria’s Secret failed to find a worthy alternative. The solution? Bring back the runway show with some modern adjustments, rather than do away with it entirely.

“Our customers told us loud and clear that they wanted the show back,” Sylvester said. But they didn’t want the same exact formula. Instead, the edict was to “make it more modern, but bring back the things that we loved and missed — models, musical stars and wings.”

That’s Victoria’s Secret’s current north star — listening to what their customers tell them, which “isn’t something that we necessarily always did” in the past, Sylvester said.

With this year’s show, the intention was to present something through a female gaze. Sylvester said they also made an effort to reflect the way women buy intimates today — prioritising comfort over sex appeal. While there still was plenty of the latter, there was also more of an embrace of the former. For example, the brand sent a pair of pyjama pants down the runway for the first time (paired with a bedazzled bralette on longtime VS model Taylor Hill). Rather than focusing first on building a fantasy with over-the-top garments that never make it to store shelves, the items on the runway this year are part of the brand’s holiday collection, with a bit of added “flair to make sure it’s runway worthy.”

“This is from a woman’s point of view, and what we think is right for our customer,” Sylvester said. The casting was updated, too. For the first time in its history, two transgender models walked the runway: Valentina Sampaio and Alex Consani, as did groundbreaking plus-size models Paloma Elsesser and Ashley Graham and supermodels Carla Bruni and Kate Moss, ages 56 and 50, respectively. In stores, too, the brand has made efforts to open itself up to a wider consumer base, expanding its size range — it now offers 70 sizes across categories.

Online, reception to the show is mixed. While plenty celebrated its return — “GIRLHOOD IS HEALING!” one user wrote on Twitter — others felt that it didn’t quite capture the magic the original show once had.

Either way, it’s unlikely the show will change the cultural perception of Victoria’s Secret overnight, said “Selling Sexy” co-author Lauren Sherman. Moving in that direction, however, is essential, especially as Skims has become synonymous with buzzy campaigns, casting everyone from “Bridgerton” star Nicole Coughlin to pop star of the moment Sabrina Carpenter to a slew of former Victoria’s Secret angels, including Banks and Heidi Klum.

But a star-studded event will certainly generate attention, maybe, some much-needed brand heat.

“It could potentially point towards the tides turning, and we could look back and say, ‘Oh, wow, that really did work,’” said Sherman. With a new chief executive in charge, she added, more change is surely ahead, no matter what.

Editor's note: Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez previously worked for The Business of Fashion.

Kirna Zabête founder Beth Buccini had never seen a new brand click with her store’s customers so quickly.

In the spring of 2023, the downtown New York boutique began carrying the womenswear label TWP, founded by former Theory designer Trish Wescoat Pound. By the end of that year, Kirna Zabête had sold 2,500 of the brand’s shirts, one of the highest sell-throughs Buccini had seen for an emerging label. She increased her order fivefold this year.

TWP’s proposition isn’t revolutionary: it sells elevated basics, such as crisp “boyfriend” shirts and wide-leg pleated trousers in neutral hues. But it resonates.

“Once somebody buys it, they want more and more and more,” Buccini said. “It’s such a great fit, you feel polished and put together, that’s what people are looking for.”

Quiet luxury’s moment in the zeitgeist may be over, but the trend left in its wake a thriving market for minimalist, approachably chic clothes with just the right amount of design — a black blazer with a uniquely-cut lapel, say, or a jersey top with an intricately-draped neckline. No brand has capitalised more on that desire than Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s The Row, which last month raised a funding round that valued the brand at over $1 billion.

The Row, along with Khaite, the New York luxury label that received an investment from Stripes last year, and the fast-growing contemporary brand Toteme, form something of a holy trinity. The Row’s annual revenues are estimated above $250 million; Khaite and Toteme have both surpassed $100 million.

Each has carved its own niche within the broader aesthetic: The Row is the pinnacle of minimalism, with a focus on tailoring (its name is a reference to London’s famed Savile Row). Khaite is slightly more bold, with exaggerated details like wide shoulders and oversized fits. Toteme offers Scandi-inspired pieces, including a whipstitched jacket with a built-in scarf, and thick striped turtleneck sweaters.

Behind those three are a rapidly expanding cohort of brands, mostly American and mostly founded or designed by women, promising sumptuous fabrics and a no-frills look with a high-fashion sensibility. For those who can’t afford a $1,500 cashmere sweater from The Row or Khaite, there’s Posse, Leset, Roucha and The Frankie Shop which offer knitwear for about a fifth of the price. Others, including Australian brand St. Agni, Los Angeles-born Co, New York-based labels Kallmeyer, Nili Lotan, Attersee and TWP fall somewhere in between those price points. The list goes on.

Some of these up-and-coming brands are breaking through – TWP is on track to double sales to around $30 million this year. Still, the proliferation of minimalist labels does beg the question: How many more brands can find success with their spin on the perfect pair of jeans, beige sweaters or a classic black blazer?

The momentum is with the minimalists. In September, Leset, which sells dressy knit loungewear, opened its first store, in New York’s West Village. Kallmeyer, known for its sophisticated crew neck button-up jackets, staged its debut runway show at New York Fashion Week. TWP and Posse are both considering new categories, including leather belts and handbags, respectively, while St. Agni is launching eyewear and swimwear before the end of the year.

Like The Row and its ultra-luxury peers, the new class of women-led upstarts are selling a state of mind as much as a comfy sweater.

“It’s a new question: is luxury dictated by price point? I think that’s a dated notion,” said Pound. “Luxury is giving women really well made clothes in the best fabrications, making those clothes have a lot of function, making them have a lot of utility, making women feel good in them.”

Dressing the Modern Woman

Fashion has a long history of female designers blending form and function. Coco Chanel helped lead the charge to casualise women’s clothing, ridding them of restricting corsets. In the 1990s, Donna Karan created corporate-ready pieces for a generation of women that was entering the workforce in greater numbers than ever before. As creative director of Céline, Phoebe Philo’s modern approach to chic simplicity changed how women wanted to dress.

For this latest generation of brands, inspiration, similarly, comes from their founders’ own sartorial desires — which are often shared by their target consumer. Kallmeyer’s founder Daniella Kallmeyer wanted to create suiting that didn’t feel quite so corporate. The idea for Attersee — a brand that emphasises sleek tailoring mixed with casual knitwear — founder Isabel Wilkinson Schor said, came from her own experience getting dressed for her eight-plus hour days as a T Magazine editor.

“I didn’t want to look too trend driven, and frankly, couldn’t wear a full designer price point every day,” said Wilkinson Schor. “I was really seeking something that was comfort-driven, polished, easy and approachable, but elevated. It was a very personal need that I was filling.”

And while well-made, well-designed essentials are always in fashion, they feel particularly relevant right now. Luxury’s biggest brands have raised their prices, putting many items out of reach for all but the wealthiest shoppers. When aspirational customers do shop at the top of the market today, they are looking for timeless pieces they’ll be able to wear year after year — a desire underscored by the resurgence of ‘90 minimalist style icons like the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in the online discourse.

At the same time, wardrobes have relaxed since the pandemic. There’s more of a need for clothes that are “responsive to everyday life,” as Wilkinson Schor said, but still make you look good. The same woman who might have bought a pair of Jimmy Choo stilettos for the office 15 years ago might instead invest in a great cashmere sweater, or a formal-yet-comfortable pair of trousers.

The look is relatively timeless, but it will evolve — the width of a pant leg, or how fitted a shirt is. Direction is often informed by the customer. Wilkinson Schor attends events throughout the US where she meets customers face-to-face; Kallmeyer spends time in her brand’s Orchard Street store on New York’s Lower East Side to speak to shoppers. These women’s innate understanding of their consumer is shaped by the fact that they deal with the same fashion pain points themselves.

“If I can remove the friction of time getting dressed in the morning from my customers, I’m giving them clarity,” said Kallmeyer.

Customers return the favour through strong word of mouth. Attersee has invested no money into digital advertising; Australian minimalist brand St. Agni waited five years before establishing a marketing budget. Substack writers in particular, like Jess Graves of The Love List and influencer Courtney Grow, have been vocal proponents of the style.

“It’s not just a black blazer, it’s the perfect black blazer that every time you put it on, it drapes exactly right and you feel like a million bucks,” said Graves.

Choose Your Own Growth Path

While The Row, Khaite and Toteme have taken outside investment, most of the smaller minimalist brands coming up behind them haven’t. Some founders say they aren’t looking to build the next billion-dollar brand, either.

Jill Wenger, who founded Roucha and serves as creative director, says she wants to stay small, with sales under $20 million, to avoid compromising her vision when making decisions such as adding a new colourway or introducing a new product category.

“I’m definitely not chasing a number,” said Lara Fells, co-founder of St. Agni, which has not raised outside investment. “It’s more just growing a business and putting out products that we’re really proud of.”

Still, there is a model for how to grow a minimalist brand: often they start with a hero product they feel is missing in the market, then once the core collection has momentum, add in accessories.

Leset, for one, started with casual, but office-appropriate tops and bottoms and grew its audience with relaxed cotton t-shirts, cardigans and boxer pants. Last year, it added leather-soled slippers and is planning to introduce handbags in the next three to four years, said founder and chief executive Lili Chemla. Attersee tests out new categories with a single product to gauge interest; with bags, it began with its Brea style, a small crescent-shaped bag, before rolling out its Ven bag, a larger version, this fall.

These brands are nimble and respond to consumer desires, too. Posse, for instance, discontinued its own bag collection early on after its 2016 launch amid increased competition from more established labels offering similar silhouettes. The brand introduced a slouchy, drawstring handbag for its holiday collection this year, a category it plans to ramp up in the next year, said founder and creative director Danielle Mulham.

Standing Out

The new generation of brands’ biggest task is to prove they are different enough to become household names in their own right.

The Row has a secretive, fashion insider aura that alluringly contrasts with its super famous founders. Khaite and Toteme both have developed their own identifiable angles on making minimalism contemporary and cool.

Summer Holl, president of Elysewalker, an independent multi-brand luxury retailer that carries brands like The Row, TWP and Kallmeyer, believes “there is a space for each of them in the door, they’re not cannibalising each other.” But brands are still honing their own point-of-view, trickier to do when you’re making essentials that typically don’t have logos.

Kallmeyer said that it helps when you’re selling to a customer that cares about the little things, like a slimmer sweater sleeve that will stay up after the wearer pushes it up their arm, a feature she’s incorporated.

“I might be making a navy cashmere sweater, but the details of how it forms on your body are very Kallmeyer coded,” she said. “The luxury is in the details.”

Maintaining differentiation will help labels win loyal customers and build long-lasting businesses.

“Just because there’s more of an interest in the ‘classics,’ doesn’t make them any less classic,” said Graves. “They’re going to endure even after people move on from this conversation, and the people who are shopping this way are still going to shop this way.”

The death of New York Fashion Week has long been lamented, but the events of last week appear to be proof of life.

Sure, there are still problems. Homegrown talents like Peter Do, The Row and, most recently, Gabriela Hearst have decamped to Paris. Former mainstays like Oscar de la Renta and Marc Jacobs now show off-calendar. Shows in hard-to-access locations on the far west side of Manhattan and in the Brooklyn Navy Yard have made programming into something of a week-long schlep.

These challenges were crystalised in a joint report by McKinsey and the nonprofit Partnership for New York City, published on the first day of fashion week this season. It points to a “deflation of NYFW on the world stage” due to the decentralisation of venues, the prohibitive costs of putting on a runway show and an overall lack of engagement with the city itself.

Over the past week, however, New York Fashion Week has proven its critics wrong. The big moments this season felt more grand than before — just look at Ralph Lauren’s equestrian showcase in Bridgehampton, which included a one-night-only recreation of his famed Polo Bar restaurant, or the surprise performance by Wu-Tang Clan, brought together by Tommy Hilfiger on a decommissioned Staten Island ferry.

Marquee shows from Alaïa and Off-White, both of which typically show in Paris, as well as the arrival of Swedish minimalist favourite Toteme, signalled the strength and desirability of the American market. Domestic talent, in the form of a small but influential cohort of indie brands, exhibited their aesthetic worlds in their own idiosyncratic ways, whether that’s through Eckhaus Latta’s rambunctious dinner party or Willy Chavarria’s runway ode to democracy. New York mainstays put their commercial success on display — Coach sent a wide range of bags down the runway, from oversized backpacks to top-handle satchels covered in doodles, and Tory Burch brought back its Reva flat, a style that catapulted the brand to success in the late aughts.

Beyond the runway, the energy percolated across the city in the form of events and activations, engaging other segments of the fashion industry. Florentine retailer LuisaViaRoma opened its first international outpost with a splashy party on Sept. 4. The next day, J.Crew recreated the iconic New York restaurant La Côte Basque in the basement of the New York Public Library. Thom Browne, Kering and Loewe with Saks also hosted dinners throughout the week, each just as star-studded as the last. Rival influencer monetisation companies ShopMy and LTK both hosted events, the latter for the first time since before the pandemic.

If anything, this New York Fashion Week flaunted its hometown and brought back an excitement that hadn’t been felt in years. The perfect early autumn weather didn’t hurt either.

“People were just really excited and having fun last week,” said fashion writer Rachel Tashjian. “It felt convivial, rather than like a grind.”

Behind-the-scenes, there were critical logistical improvements. In response to growing complaints about the difficulty of getting between shows, the Council of Fashion Designers of America teamed up with Google this season to charter a bus that took attendees from show to show. It was overall a big hit, even with the traffic. And more so than in past seasons, shows tended to run on time (or at least, within 30 minutes of their supposed start time), with few exceptions.

To be sure, it wasn’t a perfect week. The sheer star-power — Alaïa was one of the few shows to start late because it was holding the runway for Rihanna to arrive — or production value of the events often overshadowed the clothes themselves.

And in this iteration of NYFW, it seemed that a big name or a big budget was the surest ticket to success, which posed challenges for small brands trying to break through the noise.

“New York Fashion Week has been known as a place to discover new brands, and some of that discovery aspect is now gone,” said Gary Wassner, founder of financing firm Hilldun Corp.

And though many attendees were grateful not to have to make the trek to the Starrett-Lehigh building, or brave Spring Studio’s elevator lines, some emerging designers missed those hubs, which were operated by IMG. Knitwear designer Nia Thomas said showing as part of Black in Fashion Council’s showroom last season at Starrett-Lehigh changed the trajectory of her business.

“Editors who didn’t know us came and discovered. They started pulling samples immediately, my DMs were blowing up in the weeks after from stylists,” said Thomas. “That type of exposure is massive and you can’t put a price on it.” This season, Thomas was not invited back by the Black in Fashion Council. After having trouble securing a workable location and sponsors, she opted to bow out presenting entirely.

As it gets more expensive and logistically difficult to stage shows, brands must think harder about whether they really need one. A runway show isn’t always the best format every season for small brands and sometimes even larger ones. A number of brands favoured small gatherings rather than traditional shows this season, for instance. Todd Snyder invited about 50 people to his runway inside Le Rock restaurant; Eckhaus Latta coordinated with its guests to walk the “runway” at a dinner event in a loft in Tribeca.

The intimacy of these events also underscored the closeness of the fashion community in New York City — another reason why this season felt reinvigorated, insiders said.

Eckhaus Latta’s dinner was a great example of a brand demonstrating its cultural prowess, said Tashjian. “They’re saying, ‘We’ve really built something that’s not just an aesthetic but a sensibility and a group of very dedicated customers,’” she added.

Fashion public relations giant The Independents has acquired creative agency Kitten Production, marking its second acquisition in just a week.

With the new acquisition, The Independents will form a new content production vertical. Kitten Production specialises in creating photography, video and other digital content for fashion brands, and has worked with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Jacquemus and Jil Sander. Under The Independents’ ownership, it will work to expand into new markets, including New York City and Tokyo.

Last week, the company announced it would acquire Dubai-based multi-media and creative technology agency Bureau Béatrice, which has earned a reputation in the Middle East for its work producing events and immersive experiences for companies including Tiffany & Co, Bulgari, Prada and Formula 1.

The purchase of Kitten Production marks The Independents’ fifth acquisition this year. Last year, it raised $400 million with the goal of doubling in size by 2025.

Learn more:

The Independents Group Raises $400 Million, Looks to Double in Size by 2025

The luxury marketing and communications group — parent to Karla Otto, Bureau Betak and influencer marketing firm Lefty — raised $400 million in a round led by TowerBrook Capital Partners and media, gaming and online sports betting company, FL Entertainment.

This week, the company is launching “ShopMy Opportunities,” a new feature that will facilitate a different sort of paid partnership between brands and influencers. With Opportunities, brands will be able to offer creators a set monthly payment in exchange for a guaranteed number of mentions across their social channels.

Unlike a traditional influencer campaign, which usually includes a detailed brief with specific talking points to hit, sponsored posts born out of Opportunities will have no mandates on what must be included in a post. The only thing the influencer is required to do is hit the number of posts they’re contracted for per month, and include a trackable ShopMy link to the brand’s website. Through that link, brands will be able to track how the post performed in their ShopMy dashboard. They can also approach influencers within ShopMy’s network about potential Opportunities through the company’s messaging system.

The idea is essentially to allow brands to pay in advance in order to ensure the creators they know will convert for them are mentioning their brand and linking to their products on a regular basis. Influencers, meanwhile, get the creative control they’re looking for.

“When [creators] have to go back and forth with a brand six times on reviewing content, it gets to the point where their voice has been sucked out of it,” said Tiffany Lopinsky, the co-founder and COO of ShopMy. “They lose in that situation because they don’t like it, their audience doesn’t like it, and I don’t think it converts for brands either.”

Lopinsky added that for brands, an organic mention can lead to a major sales spike, but you can’t predict when they’ll come. This feature is meant to give brands a way to bake some certainty into that process.

“It’s almost like the brand is putting these creators on salary, and it’s up to them to create the content,” added Lopinsky.

Opportunities’ arrival is reflective of the changing tides in the influencer marketing sector. As consumers have grown savvier, they’re less receptive to blatant ads. Influencers, too, want to be given the freedom to make ads that will resonate with their audiences. And as the industry has grown, so have the pathways for influencers to make money online.

ShopMy, which was founded in 2020, has been gaining traction in the space for its updated approach to affiliate marketing meant to ease communication between brands and influencers. In addition to Opportunities, ShopMy also this year introduced a feature called “Lookbooks,” which allows brands to invite influencers to select products for gifting from a predetermined offering.

Learn more:

The Fight for Influencer Marketing Dollars Heats Up

ShopMy, a four-year-old influencer monetisation platform, has attracted over 50,000 creators, making inroads in a space long ruled by incumbent player LTK. Tensions rose to new heights this week after LTK sued ShopMy for false advertising.

More and more influencers are sliding into their followers’ DMs.

They’re doing so via Instagram’s broadcast channel feature, which was first introduced in February 2023, and essentially acts as a (one-sided) group chat that appears in a user’s direct messages inbox. Any user with over 10,000 followers can create one to share images and text, as well as features like polls and question boxes. Though members can’t respond the way they would in an actual group chat, they can react with emojis.

Broadcast channels were rolled out globally in September 2023, and since then, uptake has picked up. Influencers including Courtney Grow, Mallory Goldman, Megan Roup and Sara Walker have launched channels in recent months, as have founders like Gen-Z favourite fashion company Parke’s Chelsea Kramer, fashion and lifestyle brand Hill House Home’s Nell Diamond and lab-grown jewellery label Dorsey’s Megan Strachan.

In the channels themselves, much of the content influencers share is the same sort that they’d post on Instagram Stories, such as outfit selfies (followed by links to purchase), new online shopping finds or photos from vacation. But because it’s a private channel that you have to elect to join, there’s a sense that the broadcast channels are a gathering place for your most devoted followers.

Brand founders are using them as a place to solicit customer feedback — even if only by emoji. Influencers see broadcasts as a way to connect with followers in a less formal setting. For both, it offers an easier method to respond to the countless direct messages they receive daily.

“It takes the pressure off of making the perfect story or announcing it in the perfect way,” said Goldman. “You can just get the information out quickly.”

But what broadcast channels really do is provide a deeper connection point at a time when brands and creators are seeking new ways to engage with — and reward — their most loyal fans and consumers, whether it’s inviting them to a broadcast channel, rolling out a paid subscription for additional content or offering top customers special perks.

“We’re moving toward this world of creators wanting the same tool sets that marketers might have; to collect email addresses and phone numbers, and just get closer to that direct to fan relationship,” said Krishna Subramanian, co-founder of influencer marketing platform Captiv8. “This is a perfect example of creators getting that opportunity.”

The Need for a ‘Safe Space’

In a world of curated Instagram feeds, broadcast channels — which appear as a direct message in a member’s inbox — offer the opportunity to give followers the casual content they so often crave.

“It’s a little bit more transparent,” said influencer Rachel Cohen Smolyar. “I’ve shared a mirror selfie in the morning where I’m in workout clothes, and I’ll just say ‘This is what I’m actually wearing today.’” The accompanying text, too, she said, can feel like “word vomit,” or more spontaneous and off-the-cuff than what they’d show their wider audience.

Influencers also use the channels as a place to reward their most loyal followers. Goldman said she does so by sharing links to products earlier, hosting giveaways or even uploading a Starbucks gift card so a follower can treat themselves to a cup of coffee. And unlike Instagram Stories, which expire after 24 hours, content in a broadcast channel lives on indefinitely, meaning that the shoppers who are most likely to take an influencer’s recommendations have an easier way to find previously-posted content.

As well, the channel’s privacy can offer a layer of protection from criticism and trolls, particularly when disclosing more personal details.

“People are there because they care about you,” said Goldman. “They’re loyal to you, so you can speak more openly about topics that you wouldn’t necessarily blast to all 100,000 of your followers.”

Brand partners are taking notice of their potential, too: Parke founder Kramer said that for an upcoming sponsored content deal, posting in her broadcast channel was included in the deliverables.

A Testing Ground

Just as influencers are using the channels to present a more candid picture of their day-to-day, so are brand founders. Shrugging off the “girl boss” era of the 2010s, which was defined by glossy success stories plastered on the covers of magazines, they’re using channels to give a more realistic picture of what it means to be an entrepreneur.

“A lot of what we, and what a lot of what consumers saw were perfect founder stories on stage,” said Stratchan. “That’s just not been my experience building a company.”

But the benefits go further than transparency.

As more consumers, particularly Gen-Z, say they want to play a role in building the brands they shop from, broadcast channels offer a way for founders to give their customers a behind-the-scenes peek at product development or marketing photoshoots. They can essentially serve as a focus group for immediate feedback, which can be used to get a sense of demand for a particular product, which can help them determine how much of it to order — or if they should make it at all.

“This generation, right now, all they want to do is be a part of your brand. They want to look at someone and they relate to them in some capacity,” said Kramer. “That’s how I’ve grown the business, is just showing these glimpses of being a brand owner in my 20s.”

It’s still early days for the broadcast channel feature, but already, users have feedback. The most common point of frustration with broadcast channels is that they can feel a bit like the host is shouting into the void or “talking to myself,” as Goldman said, because members can’t reply. The addition of the question box and the ability to react helps, but two-way communication would help increase the feeling of community within the channel, they say.

Instagram, for its part, seems open to evolving broadcast channels. Just this month, it introduced new features, including allowing channel leads to select their own image to serve as the channel’s “background,” giving leads the ability to host Instagram Lives specifically for their channel members and providing QR codes that link back to the host’s main feed.

“This really has to evolve into either [allowing] additional feedback to the creator or they will think about if there is another medium or platform that allows that to happen,” said Subramanian.

Summer’s most standard sandal is getting a fashion-forward upgrade.

This week, Havaianas, the Brazilian brand that’s made $20 rubber flip-flops for over 60 years, is rolling out a collaboration with Italian luxury label Dolce & Gabbana. The collection features four classic Havaianas’ flip-flops done in classically D&G maximalist prints, including leopard, zebra and bright, illustrated florals. At $138, they’re priced over six times higher than a standard pair of Havaianas, and will be sold at luxury retailers like Selfridges and Galeries Lafayette, as well as on both brands’ direct-to-consumer websites.

It’s all part of Havaianas’ plan to harness this current moment, where its flagship shoe is on the upswing.

The brand, which saw its first-quarter profits increase nearly 9 percent and sales go up 3 percent from 2023 to 2024, is focussing on getting in front of consumers. D&G is its third collaboration this year, following team-ups with fellow Brazilian-born label Farm Rio in March and lifestyle label Maison Kitsuné in April. Last fall, it rolled out a new brand campaign, and this summer, it will further lean into out-of-home advertising and in-store display to maximise its busiest season.

“Being part of people’s lives again is a must for us,” said Maria Fernanda Albuquerque, vice president of global marketing at Havaianas’ parent company Alpargatas SA. “Flip-flops are super on trend, so we need to ride this wave.”

It’s a good time for the sandal seller to align itself with a luxury label (even if it’s one with a controversial past). The luxury market can’t seem to get enough flip-flops. Major brands, including Chanel, Loewe, Prada, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Tory Burch and Louis Vuitton, are all selling pairs, plus fashion favourites like Jil Sander, Toteme and Khaite.

Nostalgia is, of course, a driving factor. (Even the Millennial favourite squishy “Floaties” flip-flops are back; a made-for-2024 version is available at Free People and Amazon.) But the flip-flop’s coming resurgence is proof that even in the age of TikTok micro-fads, the standard playbook for driving trends is alive and well: It’s trickled through the upper echelons of the fashion industry, and now is poised to break through to the masses.

Sales haven’t yet seen an uptick, according to market research company Circana, but it’s still early on in the trends’ lifespan. Nikolas Minoglou, co-founder and CEO of footwear seller Ancient Greek Sandals, said the brand didn’t see much wholesale interest nine months ago, which he attributed to caution around an unproven trend. On its DTC channels, however, its seen flip-flop sales increase threefold this year. Minoglou added that he believes the increase could have been four or five as much if the company had the stock. (Ancient Greek Sandals is currently producing more of its flip-flop styles to meet demand.)

This wave of flip-flops and thong sandals are better suited to a dinner out than a day at the pool. The Row kicked it off with the debut of its Ginza sandal — a $990 flip-flop with a leather or suede upper and a one-inch platform — in 2019; by the Spring 2024 season, elevated takes on the flip-flop were appearing on the runway at Chanel, Staud, Ferragamo, Proenza Schouler and more. Now, Madewell and Gap are selling more thong-inspired sandals, as well as direct-to-consumer players like Rothy’s (which is owned by the same parent company as Havaianas) and Reformation.

“I used to only wear flip flops home from pedicures, it wasn’t something that I’d walk around in all day,” said Rachel Cohen Smolyar, a content creator and a former buyer for Bergdorf Goodman. “But obviously when big brands like The Row are pushing a shoe, people are going to buy them.”

Fashion’s Take on Flip-Flops

In some ways, today’s flip-flops are different from the ones that came before; in others, they’re eerily familiar.

Styles that were aughts staples, like Havaianas, are making their way back into the fashion conversation, as are platform flip-flops, which saw searches increase 255 percent this spring, according to analytics platform Trendalytics. But there’s also more unique twists, from versions that extend to wrap around the wearers’ ankle (think Miu Miu’s popular Riviere cord and leather sandals) to more dressed-up styles with a kitten heel — Trendalytics found that searches for kitten heel flip flops increased 700 percent in April.

J.Crew, Loft, Mango and even Old Navy, synonymous with rubber flip-flops, have introduced leather (or faux) versions, many unmistakably inspired by The Row’s Ginza or its City or Beach styles. Havaianas, too, has introduced a more stylish square-toed version of its rubber flip-flop, plus a number of new silhouettes inspired by the thong shape or introducing design details like chains and buckles to the rubber silhouette.

Giving a utilitarian sandal a fashion upgrade is a playbook that’s worked in the past. Look at Birkenstock, which has collaborated with the likes of Jil Sander and Rick Owens, and seen its stock rise by over 60 percent since its October 2023 IPO.

Likewise, these updates will help consumers consider flip-flops for a different setting, beyond the pool.

“What the industry is really struggling with lately is consumers pulling back on their buying, newness and innovation becomes more important.” said Beth Goldstein, executive director and footwear industry analyst at Circana. “It’s not necessarily recreating the wheel but evolving it. So people are like, ‘I had this but now it’s something new that I don’t have in my closet, so I’m going to go for it.’”

Behind the Rise of the Flip-Flop

The flip-flop’s current prevalence is also a reminder that despite how much TikTok dominates the conversation, with its rapid-fire, hyper-specific trends like “mob wife” and “coastal grandmother,” it’s still possible for the old rules of trends to apply, particularly when thinking about the rise of an overall product category.

“Nowadays sometimes we see trends on TikTok, in the masses first,” said Kendall Becker, director of trend and editorial strategy for analytics platform Trendalytics. “This was hands down sparked by runways and luxury.”

Goldstein attributes the lack of a sales bump so far to the fact that seasonal footwear generally is softer than more year-round styles like loafers and sneakers. According to Becker, it may be because people may be seeking out specific shoes, like The Row’s Ginza.

There’s reason to believe that shift will begin this summer. According to Trendalytics, searches for thong sandals were up 12 percent in May; as temperatures rise, more people will reevaluate their sandal collection. The options are certainly available, and as influencers further embrace the style, consumers are likely to follow.

“For some reason the flip flops make you look cooler, like wearing an evening dress and flip flops,” said Christina Martini, the co-founder and designer of Ancient Greek Sandals. “We’ve seen that a lot lately, that creates an appetite for it.”

Over the past month, Gap has inched its way back into the cultural zeitgeist. This week, it will update investors on whether its turnaround efforts are proving as successful.

In May, Gap’s new executive vice president and creative director, Zac Posen, dressed a star for the Met Gala — the actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who won the Oscar for best supporting actress earlier this year — in an entirely denim gown. Posen himself appeared with her wearing a white Banana Republic suit. It was the first time the brand dressed a star on its own for the Met Gala. Previously, it had teamed up with luxury labels Alexander Wang and Rodarte on looks back in 2010.

The brand made headlines again just weeks later for another red carpet moment, dressing Anne Hathaway in an off-the-shoulder, floor-length white shirtdress, paired with glittering Bulgari jewels for one of the jewellery house’s events in Rome. (That dress will be available for pre-order on Gap’s website on Tuesday.) People had been buzzing about Gap off the red carpet, too: A few days prior, it dropped a collaboration with California-based, cottagecore-esque brand Doên, the majority of which promptly sold out. The tie-up followed a very different Gap collaboration with British streetwear label Palace in March.

All these moments are a sign of the times at Gap, which appointed Richard Dickson, the former president of Mattel, as chief executive last July. Dickson is credited as the mastermind behind the strategy that ignited last year’s “Barbie” craze, revitalising the toy brand’s place in pop culture. He was brought into Gap to give it the same treatment and bring the brand, once ubiquitous in the US, back to the centre of conversation.

The effects of these efforts will start to become clearer when parent company Gap Inc. reports its first quarter earnings on May 30.

The report won’t tell the full story, particularly as the impact of the aforementioned red carpet moments won’t be reflected in the brand’s first quarter sales. Gap’s turnaround plans, too, remain in a relatively early stage. Dickson hasn’t yet been with the company a full year and is still remaking its executive suite. Earlier this month, Gap announced the appointment of PepsiCo executive Fabiola Torres as chief marketing officer. In addition to Posen, who was named to his post in February, Dickson has also hired a new chief business and strategy officer and chief people officer.

Red carpet moments alone won’t be enough to turn the company around, which makes its money from basics worn for far less glitzy occasions and has been on a steady decline for the past two decades. Profits and sales have slid, there’s been a string of failed turnaround attempts under former chief executives Sonia Syngal and Art Peck, and of course, there was that ill-fated Yeezy collaboration. But they are reminiscent of the last time Gap was at the centre of the fashion and retail conversation: Sharon Stone famously wore a Gap turtleneck to the Oscars in 1996.

Gap has already seen some moves in the right direction since Dickson’s appointment last year. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2023, which were reported in March, beat expectations, and profits in the third quarter also surpassed forecasts.

But the hard work isn’t over yet: Net sales for 2024 were expected to remain flat, and while sales were on the rise at Old Navy and Gap, at the company’s other brands, Banana Republic and Athleta, they slumped 4 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The company said it anticipates updating the product assortment at those brands to take longer than initially expected.

Certainly, Dickson’s strategy has managed to get people talking at least. This week’s update will help paint a clearer picture of whether or not the early momentum of his tenure is continuing to build.

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

Margaret Zhang, editor-in-chief of Vogue China, will be leaving the publication at the end of March when her contract expires, BoF confirms. Condé Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour shared the news with Vogue China staff in an email on Friday.

Zhang’s appointment to the job in February 2021 made headlines at the time: Not only was she the youngest Vogue editor globally, she was also the first influencer to be named a top editor at any edition of Vogue, a sign of the fact that even Vogue could not deny the power of social media stars. She succeeded Vogue China’s founding editor Angelica Cheung, who departed in November 2020 amid a flurry of departures of international Vogue editors as parent company Condé Nast began to employ a global content strategy led by Wintour, also the editor-in-chief of American Vogue. She was notably one of the few new appointees who was able to retain the title of editor-in-chief; most are now called head of editorial content.

Her departure comes just weeks after Edward Enninful, the former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, published his last issue of the magazine.

A successor has not yet been named. Wintour confirmed in an email to Vogue staff that a search is underway.

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At this Sunday’s Super Bowl, the evening’s biggest stars arguably won’t be on the field, but in the stands.

While Taylor Swift — by some measures the most famous person on the planet as well as girlfriend to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — is the most obvious example, she’s hardly alone. Brittany Mahomes, wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, has racked up nearly 2 million followers on Instagram; former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo is engaged to 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and Allison Kucharczyk, the wife of defensive end Isaac Rochell, is a TikTok star with over 3 million followers.

That’s just American football WAGs — an acronym for wives and girlfriends, usually referring to the partners of professional athletes — whose other halves are playing in the Super Bowl. Other notable WAGs include Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles, whose husband Jonathan Owens is on the Green Bay Packers and TikTok mega influencer Alix Earle is dating Dolphins receiver Braxton Berrios.

The phenomenon extends beyond football: Tennis, in particular, has seen a WAG-aissance in recent years, with women like Morgan Riddle (girlfriend of top-ranked American male Taylor Fritz), Ayan Broomfield (girlfriend of Francis Tiafoe and a former collegiate tennis player herself) and Paige Lorenze (girlfriend of American tennis player Tommy Paul) are all content creators with hundreds of thousands of followers across platforms. There, they give followers a behind-the-scenes look at the non-stop professional tennis tour, which takes them everywhere from Melbourne to Wimbledon, and of course, share plenty of details on their match day ensembles.

WAGs have long been a cultural force, but in the past, their public image has mostly been out of their hands, the product of photographs in the stands and tabloid chatter. But today, many double as influencers, capitalising on interest in pulling back the curtain on what it really means to be a WAG.

“[These women] were once put into a box as the partners of athletes, but they’ve broken out and are able to connect with the common fan and consumer, which wasn’t possible prior to the influencer age,” said Emily Brown, senior manager of strategy at influencer marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy.

The worlds of sport and fashion have become increasingly linked — look at Hugo Boss’s NFL partnership and LVMH’s Olympics coming sponsorship. And this generation of WAGs, with a public profile and accomplishments that go far beyond their romantic relationships, have emerged as a connective tissue between the two industries. In showcasing the lifestyle elements of sports to a new audiences, these women are making games and matches as much a fashion event as they are a sporting one — and boosting interest in the sports they’re associated with. And with that, they’re attracting major brand partnerships, from the likes of Prada, Ralph Lauren and Uniqlo.

“The [tennis] Grand Slams now are like a fashion show,” said Broomfield. “It’s clicked for brands that if they can’t close dress the players on court, they can dress the girls in the box.”

The Fabulous Life of WAGs

The WAG fascination goes back decades. The aughts were a high point for the phenomenon with the superstar pop singer and athlete pairing of David and Victoria Beckham. Women like Ayesha Curry, wife of Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry, charted a playbook for turning WAG status into a career, and WAGs like Savannah James, wife of NBA icon LeBron James, sits front row at Paris Couture Week. And in 2019, the UK’s Wagatha Christie scandal — a tale of gossip and WAG in-fighting between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney, the wives of two UK footballers — gripped the public, eventually leading to a libel case in 2022.

The public obsession can be linked to several factors — the connection to professional sports, a seemingly-glamorous lifestyle, the “power couple” factor and more.

“In order for something to go viral, it has to be controversial, enviable, or relatable. If you can hit all three, that’s the type of video that you get millions of views on,” said Riddle. “Being a WAG encompasses all of those things.”

They’re aspirational, but social media makes them approachable, said Mae Karwowski, the founder and CEO of influencer marketing agency Obviously. They make videos discussing the difficulties of life on the road and share their skincare routines. They talk about their relationship, and supporting their partner through wins and losses.

Social media has also provided a path to a lucrative — and perhaps most importantly, flexible — career when in previous years, the logistical realities of being a WAG may have cut off those opportunities. Living with a schedule dictated by a professional sports organisation, with frequent travel and uncertainty around what city you’ll be in from week to week (or where you can make your home base), makes holding down a traditional job difficult. Riddle, for example, spent her first year accompanying Fritz on the tennis tour working a 9-to-5 job remotely — dealing with constantly changing time zones led her to taking work calls in the middle of the night or missing important matches for meetings.

“We sit in the box and sometimes it pans to us, but that’s not how you create a business out of this,” said Lorenze. “There’s a difference between being known and then making it into a business.”

Creating content is a seamless fit for a WAG, particularly now that brands are taking notice of their power. Broomfield said that in the past two years, more brands have started dressing tennis WAGs for matches, particularly grand slams — some, she said, are even paid by the brands to wear their wares. Mahomes starred in a Skims holiday campaign, and Riddle is attending the Super Bowl this weekend as a guest of Louis Vuitton.

“It’s really priceless when you can be in the pop culture zeitgeist, because people come and find your business organically,” said Jasmine Okougbo, manager of marketing, product and partnerships at Hidden Crown Hair Extensions, who did Mahomes’ hair for the Super Bowl in 2023 and will again this year.

Changing the Face of Sports

Coverage of WAGs has always been tinged with misogyny, and even amid the current resurgence, that’s still the case. Just look at the number of angry NFL fans on social media who fume every time Swift flashes on the screen.

But the fact of the matter is that WAGs are bringing a new audience to the sports they’re associated with. The NFL has seen its highest levels of female viewership since it started tracking data, according to NBC Sports, with a 53 percent spike in teenage female viewers. Women in particular are a demographic that the NFL is trying to reach, said Xaimara Coss, the NFL’s director, consumer products and retail marketing.

“I’ve had so many girls come up to me at tournaments saying ‘I would never be here if I didn’t watch your videos,’ or ‘I’m dressing up for Australian Open this year, your content made me want to dress up for it,’” Riddle said.

The leagues themselves are starting to recognise their power. Kristin Juszczyk, a clothing designer who is married to 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, recently nabbed a licensing deal with NFL Fashion — her jersey puffer jackets went viral after Swift and Mahomes wore them to a Chief game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Christmas Day.

Last summer, Wimbledon tapped Riddle to host a web series called “Wimbledon Threads” that spotlighted attendee fashion. Lorenze said she’s planning to work with a number of the tournaments this year in an official capacity.

“These women are powerful,” said Kyle Smith, NFL Fashion content strategist. “It would be bad business for us not to engage with that and leverage them to expand our reach.”

If 2023′s biggest flameouts taught the fashion industry anything, it’s that companies neglect their brand identity at their own peril.

Farfetch’s fire sale to Coupang, had many causes, but a big one was its inability to build a cohesive brand identity, even as it built a commanding lead in the luxury e-commerce market. Allbirds, which sold truckloads of wool runners via ubiquitous social media ads, saw its stock sink to record lows. Amyris, which banked on celebrities to lure in consumers to its beauty products, filed for bankruptcy in August.

To survive — let alone thrive — in today’s market, nothing is more important than marketing that shapes a brand’s long-term reputation. Look at brands like Abercrombie: In the 2010s, its reputation had tanked due to a series of public controversies, but it has since mounted a turnaround by ditching its exclusionary image, refreshing its product lineup and courting older consumers that already had an affinity for the brand. Or Chanel, which has succeeded for decades by embracing the brand’s original codes, such as tweed and camellia flowers, while updating the designs for the modern consumer.

A brand or product may be omnipresent on Instagram or TikTok feeds, but without a deeper meaning behind it, that visibility will only take a company so far. Performance marketing (marketing methods where brands only pay based on results received, as is common in social media advertising) is still an important part of any company’s marketing mix. In 2024, it should be used to amplify an extensive brand marketing strategy, rather than serve as its foundation.

This trend is only expected to continue into 2024 as the wider economic landscape remains uncertain, making it increasingly difficult to capture consumer attention. This year, marketers need to think about brand as the muscle behind everything they do, from large-scale campaigns and events to short-term social media ads users can swipe away with a tap of a screen.

“Consumers are making more considered choices, and if you haven’t done the work to connect with them on that level, then you end up getting swept away by your competition,” says Sarah Grech, brand voice lead at ad agency Mother Design.

Back to Brand Basics

Brand marketing is about telling a story. And what story your brand tells all comes down to its purpose.

“Any brand starts with an idea, and ideas that become brands evolve,” Gap Inc. chief executive Richard Dickson said on stage at BoF VOICES in December. “Evolution keeps the brand relevant, but purpose makes a brand immortal.”

It’s a topic he knows well: Dickson, who previously served as the president of Mattel, where he oversaw the evolution of the Barbie brand, which, when he joined the company in 2014, was outdated and underperforming. In harnessing its purpose — empowerment of young girls — while pushing the brand to embrace a more modern sensibility, it was able to return to success, culminating in the release of the blockbuster “Barbie” film earlier this year.

Now, he’s attempting to do the same with another iconic American brand that’s lost its way — Gap.

Purpose isn’t necessarily about aligning with a philanthropic cause or social movement; it can mean creating effective skincare with safe ingredients or designing the perfect T-shirt. Marketing should reflect that purpose, which can then be amplified in several ways: Through big-ticket campaigns, but also on social media or events.

For menswear brand Mizzen+Main, that’s meant reflecting how customers use their product in their advertising.

“We know that our customer is a working man … part of reaching [our core customer] is understanding what he does and how he engages with our hero product, a performance dress shirt,” said chief marketing officer Bethany Muths.

The brand hosts a video series called “Thanks for the Time,” where three men — wearing Mizzen+Main apparel and holding microphones featuring the brand’s logo — discuss “water cooler”-esque topics, such as methods for doing math equations in their heads or hotel hygiene. And when Mizzen+Main did a pop-up coffee truck to build awareness, it set up shop in the heart of Dallas’ downtown office district, where they could catch working men on their lunch break.

Conceptualising that story is one thing, determining where to tell it is another. As marketers prioritise their brand marketing strategies, they should also consider new channels — or using their pre-existing channels in different ways — to meet their customer where they already are.

“Right now, you’re seeing a ton of ads, and the ones that are really cutting through are those that are really savvy, showcasing content in a way that feels deeply personal, genuine and well researched,” said Jamie Wachlarz, chief marketing officer at influencer talent management agency Estate Five.

In influencer marketing, Wachlarz said, that means partnering with creators that already have been evangelising your brand and allowing them to flex their creative muscle in crafting the content. Brands can also use influencers not just for their influence, but to create user-generated content that they can then run on different platforms, which will bring a more personal touch to a brand’s social media ads.

While shifting approaches on pre-existing channels matters, Erin Kleinberg, founder of agency Métier Creative and body care label Sidia, said it’s also about appearing in the places that customers want to see them. For her brand Sidia, that means top-tier spas, such as at the Beverly Hills Hotel, or in the locker rooms at cult-favourite fitness classes like Tracy Anderson.

“It’s like, ‘Oh my god, I love this brand and it’s showing up everywhere where I am,’” she said.

Brands Under Pressure

Marketers will undoubtedly face renewed pressure from their finance departments to justify their spending in the face of a more challenging macroeconomic environment. They have to balance that reality with the fact that even with the strongest brand marketing strategies, it takes time to fully see the impact on the brand’s bottom line.

Jon Claydon, chief development officer at affiliate management agency Acceleration Partners, recommends brands take a page out of the performance marketing playbook to measure the effectiveness of brand marketing efforts, even in their early stages. Looking at metrics such as brand lift — positive momentum around consumer perception of a brand — and brand awareness can help demonstrate progress. That can be measured with a number of tools, such as TribeDynamics’ earned media value and Launchmetrics’ media impact value, both of which determine the online chatter and impact around a particular campaign, product or viral moment for a brand.

Still, brands shouldn’t feel that they need to perfect their brand marketing strategies before beginning to publicly experiment. The best brands, according to Ben Hennes, chief creative officer and co-owner of creative agency Happylucky, have the sort of relationship with their consumers that makes them feel they’re a part of the brand they’re shopping.

“As long as brands have a real understanding of their purpose and existence in the world, I don’t think they have to go dark for years before they come out with something,” he said. “They can start to have a real conversation with consumers and just be really transparent about who they are and how they’re marketing.”

Bastien Daguzan is leaving his post as chief executive of Jacquemus effective immediately, a spokesperson for the brand confirmed.

“I would like to thank Simon for his trust and the incredible journey we have been on together with the team. He has always been an immense source of inspiration; I am so proud to have been a part of this adventure,” Daguzan said in a statement.

Daguzan joined Jacquemus officially as CEO in May 2022, though he had a long-standing relationship with the brand: He consulted with Jacquemus while he was serving as the general manager of Paco Rabanne and had been a fixture at its runway shows. He was the brand’s first CEO after founder Simon Porte Jacquemus himself, who previously held the positions of both creative director and CEO.

“Bastien has been a driving force behind the business and its leadership. We wish him well in his new endeavor,” Jacquemus said in a statement.

Under his tenure, the buzzy independent French label continued to expand its reach. It opened its first flagship in a 3,200 square-foot, two-level space on Paris’ Avenue Montaigne, in September 2022, and hit €200 million ($220 million) in sales in 2022.

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