The National Football League wants to give its growing cohort of female fans an elevated take on game day gear.

On Monday, the NFL announced it had collaborated with New York-based ready-to-wear line Veronica Beard on a collection of 32 blazers — one for each team — based on the brand’s signature Dickey Jacket. Priced at $998 each, the jackets are more elevated than the rest of the league’s official women’s apparel offer — the customary sporty jerseys, tees, sweatshirts and varsity jackets, which are all priced under $200. The complete collection will retail on Veronica Beard and the NFL’s sites, as well as at Neiman Marcus stores and in NFL stadiums.

It’s the latest example of fashion and sport cosying up to one another. Over the summer, luxury conglomerate LVMH sponsored the Olympics, while brands including David Yurman and Glossier have inked partnerships with the NBA and WNBA. While the NFL has tiptoed into fashion — releasing a collection of sweatshirts with Boss last year, for example — it’s been slower to dive into the conversation as much as other sports leagues. This collaboration marks the NFL’s first big step into women’s fashion in particular.

“This is a real need. This wasn’t out there,” said Renie Anderson, the NFL’s EVP of partnership and chief revenue officer, who estimates women make up 50 percent of its viewership.

For Veronica Beard’s part, plugging into sports — and the NFL specifically, which saw interest among women surge last year thanks in part to media attention on pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs’ tightend Travis Kelce’s relationship — is an opportunity to speak to a new audience. The brand has been in expansion mode: Last year, it surpassed $250 million in sales and opened a number of new storefronts, including in Charlotte, North Carolina and Los Angeles’ ritzy Beverly Hills. This year, it added an outpost in the Hamptons and another in London.

“We’re always looking for white space. When all of the sudden there was the Taylor Swift effect for the NFL, we were like, ‘wait, what do you wear to a football game?’ Your only choice is a large men’s jersey or a lame sweatshirt,” said Veronica Swanson Beard, co-founder of Veronica Beard. “We think you can elevate that.”

The NFL’s Fashion Drive

Fashion represents a huge opportunity for sports leagues, teams and brands.

For the NFL in particular, the opportunity crystalised last season, as more women and young people started tuning in not only to games, but the culture of sports at large. That’s in part due to the growing popularity of high-profile wives and girlfriends of athletes — including influencers Alix Earle (dating Dolphins receiver Braxton Berrios) and Morgan Riddle (girlfriend of tennis player Taylor Fritz) — who have attracted millions of followers as well as deals with high-profile brands like denim maker Frame and Louis Vuitton.

The Swift effect also helped spark a burgeoning interest in game day style as her own ensembles — which included pieces like a Dion Lee corset, bedazzled Area jeans, a sweater from friend Gigi Hadid’s label Guest in Residence and a puffer by fellow NFL WAG Kristin Juszczyk, who then snagged an NFL licensing deal — made headlines.

The league sees the step into fashion with Veronica Beard as a way to offer mainstay fans new — and much needed — fan apparel options and potentially help keep new viewers engaged.

“We had a tidal wave of growth [in women viewers] with the dating situation in Kansas City. It helped younger fans come into the NFL,” said Anderson. “We want to continue to feed that fan, we don’t care how they got there, once they’re here, we want to keep them.”

The popularity of Juszczyk’s designs — puffers, corsets, tank tops, jerseys worked into skirts, patch dresses and stitched coats that centre on stylishness — “was a jolt” that shook up the NFL merch space, said Anderson. More projects with Juszczyk are in the works, she added.

Brands Pile Into Sport

It goes both ways: plugging into sport is also a chance for fashion brands to market themselves to new audiences.

Veronica Beard’s interest in the space was piqued after UT Austin women’s basketball coach Sydney Carter wore a few of the brand’s pieces at games. Soon after, basketball phenom Caitlin Clark, wore a Veronica Beard suit in an interview.

“Our following skyrocketed in a whole new demographic,” said Veronica Miele Beard, co-founder of Veronica Beard. ”Women rising in sports is crazy important right now and relevant.”

The Veronica Beard team thinks this is just the beginning for the NFL and fashion and women: there are plenty of fans who want to get dressed up for games, who have few spirited-but-stylish options. Anderson said the league is open to more brand partnerships, and plans to make more pushes into the industry in time.

“If you think 20 years back about your selection options as a woman for any sport, it would have been something pink … That is not understanding who she is,” she said. “The business will grow if we continue to focus on women in a way we’ve focused on other fans in the past.”

Shira Suveyke Snyder is now chief executive officer of Proenza Schouler, the brand announced on Thursday.

Suveyke Snyder succeeds Kay Hong, who held the role since 2018, after designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez bought back their brand (in partnership with hedge fund Mudrick Capital) from Boston-based private equity Castanea Partners. Hong will remain on the board of directors.

Formerly the brand president of Amazon-owned e-tailer Shopbop, Suveyke Snyder has held several roles in the e-commerce space; she served as executive vice president at Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, where she helped launch The Outnet and worked in buying and merchandising roles at Gilt, J.Crew and Macy’s. Most recently, Snyder has been independently consulting on scaling private equity portfolio luxury companies. Proenza Schouler will look to leverage her expertise to accelerate growth through its own direct-to-consumer channels.

“We have the unique opportunity to take the brand’s incredible momentum and expand on what Jack and Lazaro have built by owning our customer and our brand voice,” said Suveyke Snyder.

The move comes in the midst of a years-long turnaround for the Proenza Schouler business. The brand is set to open a new store in SoHo later this year and McCollough and Hernandez are finalists for the CFDA’s womenswear designer of the year award.

Learn more:

The Nine Lives of Proenza Schouler

What happened to the most promising brand in American fashion?

It’s a well known, but often unspoken fact: the primary purpose of fashion shows today is to sell accessories. But lately, some brands are getting a little more blatant about it.

Chloé kicked it off in February with a front row full of the brand’s Maxime Wedges at creative director Chemena Kamali’s debut in February. The visual impact led to the likes of Elle and Vogue declaring “boho is back!” and “wedges are in again.” And then in September, Tory Burch staged its own shoe coup, dressing its high-profile guests — including actresses Mindy Kaling, Elizabeth Olsen and Michelle Williams — in its pierced heel, a buzzy style the brand is trying to turn into its next sales driver. The praises followed: Elle, WhoWhatWear and InStyle declared it an ‘it’ shoe.

The images — the same pair of shoes one right after the other — stood in stark contrast to luxury’s typical front row strategy, filling front rows with VIPs in carefully coordinated looks that display a full range of items.

The gambit itself, though — flooding a scene with a product to create a sense of hype and sudden inescapability — isn’t new. In 2018, Dior saturated the internet with saddle bags, seeding them to a sea of influencers for creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri’s big relaunch of the style. After showing its micro-mini skirt on the runway in October 2022, a slew of influencers arrived at Miu Miu’s next show in variation of the look. By then, it was already on its way to peak virality: it was on covers (Nicole Kidman on Vanity Fair, Paloma Elsesser on i-D), in campaigns (Hailey Bieber wore it in a series of ads for the brand) and on countless celebrities, including Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Emily Ratajkowski, Chiara Ferragni and Saweetie.

Staging a product blitz can create a frenzy that’s irresistible to social media algorithms; the press latches on to the storyline, too. At the same time, the tactic can be tricky in a luxury space driven by exclusivity.

Beyond the most obvious examples, the renaissance of the strategy plays into wider shifts. More brands are focusing on how to best use shows — and, specifically, product placement through VIP guest dressing — to spur sales. At a time luxury is widely under pressure, many brands are in need of a boost that fast-spreading imagery highlighting key products can provide.

“There’s been a huge rise in discussion [among shoppers] about it-items and it-styles of the season,” said Gab Waller, a luxury product sourcer. “Most brands are trying to create that moment.”

Risks and Rewards

If a product blitz hits, it can drive awareness for a brand broadly and quickly. Chloé's viral wedges, for example, helped hammer home a singular vision of who the Chloé girl is under its new creative director, and drive eyes to the collection itself. At Tory Burch, in the midst of a turnaround dubbed “the Toryssance,” the ubiquity of pierced shoes helped create a sense of a clubbiness around the brand in general — InStyle called it “the viral Tory-verse.”

A sense of a brand being its own world — i.e. that there is a Chloé girl or a Miu Miu girl — reflects how younger shoppers especially experience brands today, including with a desire to dress on “theme,” said Allison Bringe, chief marketing officer of analytics firm Launchmetrics.

Still, manufacturing saturation comes with a risk that at some “point [it] becomes cheesy,” said Conor Begley, chief strategy officer at influencer marketing firm CreatorIQ.

Getting an item everywhere all at once can create excitement; but a brand can’t live on excitement alone. Chloe’s wedges and Tory’s heels only make up a tiny fraction of conversation about both brands, said Begley, and the impact of these moments tends to be short lived. After the Chloe show, searches for “wedge heels” shot up 235 percent in the following week, but quickly returned to its baseline, according to fashion data firm Trendalytics.

In an effort to fast-track popularity, a brand could actually end up accelerating the shelf life of an item, especially among certain audiences. “A lot of clients shy away from something that’s saturated,” said Waller. Consumers want things that seem illusive: if an item is suddenly everywhere it’s rarer that it develops that lasting it-item sheen, she added.

Waller didn’t see a lot of demand for the Chloé wedge from her followers, mostly fashion enthusiasts in the US, she said. A blitz is more likely to resonate with a consumer on the accessible end of the spectrum, said Laurent Francois, managing partner at Paris-based creative agency 180 Global.

“You’re going to reach a wide audience, it creates an amazing picture, suddenly you make an impact,” said Francois. “It’s smart in the short term, but when you look at what true luxury consumers want from luxury brands it’s an elevation of product.”

Most importantly, people have to actually want to wear the item that’s being pushed: “There’s a risk in being too impactful without credibility or without general interest to wear the stuff,” said Francois.

Perhaps that’s why most brands take a more subtle approach. Fendi, for example, fronted its new version of the soft Peek-a-Boo bag, launched in August, at its show: it was on the runway, a number of VIP guests including actress Shaliene Woodley, singer Normani and influencer Caroline Daur carried it, and Fendi dedicated most of its Instagram posts in the days that followed to the bag. It didn’t make for a mega-viral moment, but there was a clear push around a bag already available for purchase, said Bringe.

“Fashion week is a great place to amplify whatever product you’re selling. But if you don’t specifically talk about that product within the context of fashion week, no ones going to know you’re promoting it,” said Bringe. “That’s something we’ve seen brands get smarter at.”

Money just got a little less expensive.

On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve made its first interest rate cut in four years, effectively declaring victory in its effort to bring down inflation that set in after the pandemic. Officials voted to lower the rate, used as a benchmark to set borrowing costs throughout the economy, by half a percentage point, to a range of 4.75 percent to 5 percent. That’s higher than the quarter point many economists expected.

The hope is that by lowering rates, the Fed will officially usher in a so-called soft landing for the US economy, where inflation is brought down to target levels without triggering a recession. In August, consumer prices rose at their slowest pace since February 2021. But hiring has slowed dramatically, raising recession fears and contributing to the decision for a more aggressive cut.

The Fed’s move is part of a global trend: the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada cut rates earlier this month, while the United Kingdom and Mexico did the same in August.

The decrease will have a widespread impact, with effects on the stock market, hiring and loans, including mortgages. Broadly, lowering borrowing costs is a way to heat up the economy and stimulate demand. The effects on fashion will be nuanced. BoF explains what rate cuts mean for consumers, brands, retailers and investors.

Will consumers spend more?

For years, consumers watched interest payments on their credit card balances tick up with each Fed rate hike. This week’s cut, which is expected to be the first of several in the coming months, will lower those payments along with other forms of debt, including new mortgages. Retailers are hoping this will free up more money for consumers to make discretionary purchases, particularly among lower and middle income shoppers, said Sucharita Kodali, vice president at research firm Forrester.

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For the most part, consumers have continued to shop even as economic data increasingly pointed to trouble ahead: US retail sales beat expectations again in August. Still, we’re far from the boom times of 2022. A number of mass-market retailers, including Macy’s, Urban Outfitters, Lululemon and Ulta Beauty in recent weeks said they are seeing slowdowns in spending. The luxury sector has also been hit hard. Plus, shoppers are sitting on record credit card debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

For fashion, it’s the mood that rate cuts put shoppers in that matters most: good news helps increase consumers’ confidence, and with it, presumably their cart size too.

“It doesn’t make a big impact on someone’s wallet. It ends up being about the actual confidence itself,” said Kelly Pedersen, head of retail at PwC.

What does it mean for fashion companies?

Much like their customers, many fashion brands and retailers have borrowed heavily and will welcome the chance to refinance their debt at lower interest rates. Among the large fashion companies analysts point to as carrying relatively higher levels of debt are Macy’s and Nordstrom, as well as Capri and VF Corp. The latter recently sold Supreme and is exploring the sale of other brands in part to reduce its debt load.

As borrowing costs decrease, brands and retailers can redirect more money toward growth — opening stores, hiring more employees, crafting buzzy marketing pushes or investing in new digital strategies. Already, the retailers Pedersen works with are talking about how to revamp their stores to encourage sales, either with more salespeople or technology upgrades, he said.

Not all businesses will feel the cuts equally, though, said Simeon Siegel, BMO Capital Markets managing director and analyst.

“Rate cuts will impact borrowers very differently than they impact savers. Companies that have a lot of cash have benefitted from higher interest rates on their bank accounts, people who have been borrowing have not,” said Siegel.

At the same time as borrowing costs decrease, so too do the perks of storing cash. Many companies, including the more savings-forward Gap Inc. and Ralph Lauren, quietly benefitted from the increase in interest income, said Siegel.

“You lose the ability to simply generate cash in your sleep because your bank account works in your favour. You have to find other opportunities,” said Siegel.

How will investors react?

Fashion start-ups and established brands looking for buyers may start to see more interest. When rates are high, investors tend to park more of their money in cash and cash-like investments, such as treasury bills and money-market funds. Each rate cut will reduce the returns on those holdings, and encourage investors to seek out riskier investments – consumer brands among them.

There’s evidence that has already begun: almost half of investment firms servicing the ultra-wealthy have put more money towards private equity and listed companies this year versus last, Citigroup found in a survey of family offices released on Sept. 18.

Last week’s investment in minimal fashion label The Row — led by Chanel’s Wertheimers and L’Oréal’s Bettencourt-Meyers families, Imaginary Ventures and Moda Operandi co-founder Lauren Santo Domingo — was a potential harbinger of positive sentiment in the space.

Lower interest rates could heat the M&A market up too, analysts say.

“We start to see more deals as the cost of money decreases,” said Pedersen. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more consolidation because there’s just more opportunity for cheap money to go and infuse in these investments.”

Of course, nothing will change overnight. Investors still may be wary of fashion investments. And rates are still relatively high. Much depends on whether the cuts continue, if they do, by how much. The next Fed meeting is Nov. 7, right after Election Day.

“It’s going to take a while. A lot of investors are hoping for a zero interest rate environment and we’re far from that,” said Kodali.

THE NEWS IN BRIEF

FASHION, BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY

Chanel buys 42 Avenue Montaigne amid real estate arms race. The firm plans a major renovation for the 42 Avenue Montaigne boutique beginning in 2029. Chanel’s current property portfolio’s value is more than $7 billion, with a significant portion having been bought over the last 10 years.

Fed cuts rates by half point in a decisive bid to defend the economy. The Federal Reserve is aiming to bolster the labour market while signalling a cautious approach to future adjustments amid mixed economic indicators. Policymakers pencilled in an additional percentage point of cuts in 2025, according to their median forecast.

Zegna CEO is still betting on China despite uncertain growth. The Italian fashion house remains committed to its medium-term expansion strategy in China, prioritising marketing and made-to-measure services. The company reported first-half sales of €960 million ($1.1 billion), 6 percent higher than last year.

EssilorLuxottica extends smart glasses partnership with Meta. The new long-term agreement will take both companies into the next decade. The launch of the first smart glasses struggled to gain traction among consumers, the latest version, introduced in late 2023, has sold more units in a few months than the previous ones did in two years.

US retailer holiday hiring is set to be lower than last year. Retailers will hire fewer seasonal workers this holiday season than last year due to a softer labour market and tighter consumer spending heading into the crucial shopping period. Retailers are expected to add 520,000 new jobs in the final quarter of 2024 compared to 564,200 in 2023.

Hong Kong K11 Musea mall expands luxury offerings. Luxury brands owned by LVMH and Kering are among those expanding or upgrading their presence at the mall as owner New World Development bets on a rebound in the premium retail sector. The K11 brand malls have been a key growth driver for New World’s investment property sector.

Next ups profit guidance on international growth. The fashion and homeware retailer forecast its annual profits at £15 million more than previously expected, at £995 million — up from the £918 million recorded in 2023. Overseas sales rose by 23 percent in the six months to July, offsetting a near 1 percent decline in sales of Next-branded clothing in the UK.

UK warns 17 fashion brands on greenwashing. The Competition and Markets Authority has written to 17 “well-known” fashion brands advising them to review how they market sustainability claims. The letters highlight areas of concern, focused on vague or general claims that could mislead consumers.

THE BUSINESS OF BEAUTY

Cassandra Grey buys back Violet Grey. The cult beauty retailer’s founder teamed up with investor Sherif Guirgis to acquire the business back from Coupang, the South Korean owner of Farfetch. The retailer is also launching a brand development arm called Violet Lab, which Grey will lead as chairman and artistic director.

Ozempic “very likely” to face drug prices negotiations, Novo says. The ability to negotiate drug prices is part of a sweeping set of policies set forth in President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The law allows the US government to mandate lower drug prices, as many other nations around the world already do.

PEOPLE

British Fashion Council CEO to step down. Caroline Rush will step down from her position from June 2025, ending a 16-year run. The search for her successor will begin immediately, led by management consultancy Egon Zehnder. In the meantime, Rush will continue to lead the organisation.

i-D magazine appoints Thom Bettridge editor-in-chief. The magazine is set to resume publication with Bettridge as top editor and chief brand officer. Bettridge most recently served as Ssense’s vice president of creative content and he previously held editorial roles at 032c, Interview and Highsnobiety, where he was editor-in-chief.

Dazed Media names new executive director. Dan Fitzgerald will lead the company’s commercial partnerships across its digital and print publications including AnOther magazine, Another Man, Dazed and Dazed Beauty. He will also be responsible for the business’ Dazed app, a creative professional networking platform.

BBC report: former Harrods Boss Al Fayed raped and abused women. Mohamed Al Fayed’s victims and former employees described a pervasive climate of fear at Harrods, and said his predations were known among the staff. Rather than intervene, Harrods helped cover up abuse allegations, according to the BBC.

Compiled by Yola Mzizi.

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.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America has announced nominees for its annual fashion awards, which will take place on Oct. 28.

Thom Browne is nominated in both the womenswear and menswear categories and Tory Burch is up for womenswear designer of the year (which she has yet to claim) and accessories designer of the year.

The rest of the nominees for Womenswear Designer of the Year are Diotima’s Rachel Scott, last year’s Emerging Designer of the Year; Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler and Marc Jacobs. A notable omission is Khaite’s Catherine Holstein, who took home the Womenswear Designer of the Year Award in both 2022 and 2023.

Alongside Browne, the Menswear Designer of the Year nominees are Mike Amiri’s Amiri, Emily Adams Bode Aujla’s Bode, Todd Snyder and Willy Chavarria, who won the prize last year. Burch, Khaite’s Holstein, Ana Khouri, Coach’s Stuart Vevers, and Raul Lopez’s Luar are the nominees in the accessories category.

Nominees for the Shop With Google Emerging Designer of the Year award are Tanner Fletcher, Jackson Wiederhoeft, Connor McKnight, Presley Oldham and Zankov. A number of other figuers will also be honoured with special awards at the ceremony, including photographer Annie Leibovitz, Schiaparelli designer Daniel Roseberry and Michael Kors.

Learn more:

Hopes and Fears at New York Fashion Week

America’s intense political moment found its way onto the runway, wittingly or unwittingly, reports Lynn Yaeger.

Take a walk down Madison Avenue in New York and the familiar sounds of summer in the city will ring out: cars honking, gleefully chattering pedestrians, and more recently, the ever-present hiss of circular saws and thuds of new construction.

After a decade of falling rents and rampant vacancies, New York’s most prestigious stretch of real estate is buzzing once again. In the second quarter of 2024, retail availability crept down to 12.3 percent from a high of 40 percent in 2021, according to data from brokerage Cushman and Wakefield.

It’s been a long time coming. Rents in the famous retail district soared dangerously high in the early 2010s, just as e-commerce began to surge. This contradictory dynamic pushed tenants out in droves; by the time the pandemic struck, nearly half of the neighbourhood’s storefronts sat empty. Between 2015 and 2021, the average asking rent more than halved, from $1,600 per square foot to $700, data from CBRE shows.

At that point, retailers were already on the rebound, fuelled by stimulus checks and voracious consumer appetite for newness. Suddenly, the low rents on Madison Avenue became an opportunity for luxury brands to expand their presence in the area and lowered the barrier to entry for new tenants, which will soon include Khaite, Toteme and French jeweller Boucheron.

The revival of Madison Avenue mirrors an overall boom in brick-and-mortar retail, in which the years-long trend of supply outpacing demand has reversed. Competition for coveted real estate is more fierce than ever — including an eight-block area on Madison between 62nd Street and 70th Street that’s particularly hot right now, brokers said. Outsize demand has already pushed up the parameters of the 20-block retail area (57th Street to 79th Street) to 86th Street, where Todd Snyder opened a new store on Aug. 1, joining Alex Mill, Faherty, James Perse and Brooks Brothers on the block.

“[Madison Avenue] is back in full swing,” said Sonia Mosseri, creative director of Still Here, a downtown-favourite denim line that recently opened a location on the street. “Everyone who lives up there hasn’t left and they’re excited to see it bounce back.”

Still Here joins a growing number of younger premium brands looking to find new customers in the affluent Upper East Side zip code. Their demand has already driven up rent prices, from an average of $718 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2021 to $884 in the second quarter of 2024, according to CBRE.

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But for newcomers on the street, serving the area’s customers poses as much of a learning curve as it does an opportunity. The wealthy older clientele of the Upper East Side are used to a higher level of service than their downtown counterparts, brands say, but they are more likely to stay loyal to the brands they connect with the most.

A Game of Musical Chairs

In 2019, the closure of Barneys’ 275,000-square-foot flagship seemed to signal end times for the avenue. The loss of its anchor retailer meant waning foot traffic and overall excitement in the neighbourhood. It was also symbolic of larger shifts across the industry, where brick-and-mortar looked increasingly unattractive in the e-commerce era.

Today, the former Barneys space still sits vacant — landlord Ben Ashkenazy has said he is waiting for one big retailer to buy it. But the storefronts around it have rebounded en masse, driven by not only new retailers hoping to capture the area’s affluent residents but also existing tenants looking to upgrade their space and visibility on the street, brokers said.

“It’s a bit like musical chairs. But in musical chairs everything shrinks; this is a musical chairs of expansion,” said Corey Shuster, a broker at Douglas Elliman. “People are taking bigger stores and going after more prominence on the avenue.”

Hermès kicked off the streak, opening a new airy flagship on 63rd in 2022. Its old space on 62nd was snapped up by Dolce and Gabbana. Goyard, which has operated a boutique on 63rd since 2014, announced plans to move into a larger spot on the avenue in 2025. A bigger store is also in the works for Lafayette 148, whose outpost on 76th Street will now be occupied by L’Agence.

What’s in Store?

Simply being on Madison isn’t enough to drive sales; tenants must cater to the particular tastes and needs of the multigenerational Upper East Side shopper and find new ways to lure them in.

The most successful Madison Avenue retailers focus on service, said Matthew Bauer, president of Madison Avenue Business Improvement District. Top salespeople on the avenue will often go to lunch with top clients and call them personally to talk through new arrivals.

Conversion rates on Madison are higher and the cart size is bigger than that of its downtown store, said Still Here’s Mosseri. But serving this customer requires investment beyond rent. Still Here doubled its store staff on Madison Avenue since it opened and developed a 30-page guide on best practices.

“I always joke downtown that if I look at someone the wrong way or am too friendly, we’ve lost the sale,” said Mosseri. “Uptown, clients want two people catering to them, they want attention.”

Amenities and a special product range are also important components of service. Hermès’ flagship offers multiple lounge areas across its five floors, creating an inviting atmosphere for the brand to throw parties for its local customers. Todd Snyder’s new location boasts a more elevated product mix, a tailor shop and an assortment of vintage accessories in collaboration with Foundwell, aimed specifically at the neighbourhood’s resident, said chief product officer Alejandro Rhett.

Beyond Luxury

As Madison Avenue returns to growth, the scope of retail offering has also expanded. New tenants aren’t just traditional luxury labels; many are emerging contemporary brands or international labels having recently expanded to the US.

Being on the same street as Prada and The Row gives French contemporary line Officine Générale a nice glean, said founder Pierre Mahéo. But its prices are more affordable, which has helped drive sales, he added. In the midst of price hikes and challenging economic conditions, many luxury consumers are trading down.

As well, a wave of international brands, including Italy’s Del Core and France’s Destree are adding a sense of dynamism the avenue had been missing.

“Just pure, true, luxury, 200 year-old brands … doesn’t create enough of a merchandising mix,” said Steve Soutendijk executive managing director, Cushman and Wakefield.

Madison Avenue is also welcoming a number of new food and beverage concepts. British nightlife entrepreneur Robin Birley is set to unveil a members club between 69th and 70th Streets on Madison, while the newly-renovated Surrey Hotel will reopen with buzzy Miami restaurant Casa Tua in September. As of this week, residences at Giorgio Armani’s mixed-use complex at 760 Madison — fit with Armani shops and restaurants on the ground floor — have officially sold out.

“There’s fresh blood, new experiences,” said Shuster. “When you see excitement from both the small independent houses and the massive publicly traded ones, it’s a testament to the resurgence.”

Between rapidly-paced chatter on TikTok and the emergence of ultra-fast fashion players like Shein, figuring out how to capitalise on trends has never been more complicated. That reality, in tandem, has made a fashion buyer’s job harder.

“Different shocks are happening to different parts of the system. The anxiety is at a fever pitch,” said Monisha Klar, director of fashion intelligence at trend forecasting company WGSN, who previously worked as a buyer at Gap, Amazon and Fast Retailing. “If something goes wrong, it’s the buyer’s head on the chopping block.”

To address these shifts, on Aug. 8, WGSN is launching a new platform for buyers that puts its tools — including its TikTok Analytics service, which launched in April and analyses what sort of staying power trends on the app have, and its AI features which use machine learning to classify trends — together in one place, so that it can provide forecasts for when buyers should phase items in and out under their typical commercial calendar.

The firm’s AI model works by first analysing years of data drawn from social media, runways and retail, and using statistics to weigh the importance of various factors (for example, it has found being on the runway is a strong predictor of the lifecycle of some trends, while social is stronger for others). Trend experts then review the data and account for outside factors.

Previously, WGSN’s products were mostly centred around designers’ process and workflow, providing inspiration through high-level reports. The firm saw an opportunity to speak directly with the buyers using its information, said Francesca Muston, WGSN’s vice president of fashion. The platform has been in the works for years and is part of a wider emphasis the company is placing on building products specifically for buyers.

“There’s this perception that TikTok is driving trends, what TikTok is really doing is marketing trends,” said Muston, adding that these changes have made many buyers feel unnecessarily helpless. “It’s not about going out and making a whole new load of product off the back of every single trend and hashtag … Our clients are chasing their tails the entire time and they’re compromising on quality, fit and margin. There’s a way to be much smarter about this.”

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Tiffany & Co. and the Council of Fashion Designers of America are launching an award aimed at recognising and providing mentorship to American jewellery designers. Select participants, announced in the fall, will be invited to take part in “an immersive learning experience” with the LVMH-owned jewellery house, said a statement from Tiffany and the CFDA. In early 2025, one designer will be chosen for a year-long fellowship with Tiffany’s design department and receive a $50,000 prize.

The CFDA coordinates a number of awards and mentorship schemes for fashion and accessories designers; the Tiffany & Co x CFDA Jewellery Designer Award is its first prize focused exclusively on jewellery. The selection committee includes Alexandre Arnault, Tiffany & Co. executive vice president of product, communications and industrial; Frank Everett, Sotheby’s vice chairman of jewellery; model, activist and CFDA board member Bethann Hardison; actress Gabrielle Union and designer Jason Wu.

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The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode released its preliminary calendar for the Spring/Summer 2025 edition, featuring 70 shows and 38 presentations. Weinsanto will kick off the week on Sept. 23 and Louis Vuitton will round it out on Oct. 1.

One of the week’s most anticipated shows is Alessandro Michele’s runway debut at Valentino. The designer dropped a surprise resort collection on the final day of Milan men’s week in June, after joining the Roman house in March. Chanel will stage its first ready-to-wear show since Virginie Viard’s departure in June and Dries Van Noten is set to show for the first time without Van Noten. Both collections will be designed by the houses’ studios.

Absent from the schedule were Maison Margiela and Givenchy, which has yet to name a creative director following Matthew Williams’ departure in December. Off-White, under the creative direction of Ib Kamara, will show in New York.

New York-based Gabriela Hearst will take her namesake line to Paris for the first time since Spring 2021; and Ludovic de Saint Sernin will return to his home base following a showcase in New York last season. Y/Project is also back on the schedule, after cancelling its Autumn/Winter 2024 show in March. Seán McGirr and Chemena Kamali will both present their second collections for McQueen and Chloé.

Newcomers to the schedule include LVMH Prize finalist Niccoló Pasqualetti and Alainpaul.

Coperni, known for its viral shows, will present off-calendar at Disneyland Paris on Oct. 1 following the Louis Vuitton show.

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James Purdey & Sons, the over 200 year-old Richemont-owned British brand, has named British designer Giles Deacon creative director of clothing, accessories and brand image. He succeeds Simon Holloway, who joined menswear brand Dunhill, also owned by Richemont, in 2023.

Deacon is perhaps an unexpected choice for the gun and field sport clothing maker, which holds the Royal Warrant of gunmaker to the British royal family. He’s best known for his feminine dresses and use of pattern, as well as his celebrity client roster, which includes Beyoncé, Sarah Jessica Parker, Pippa Middleton and Billy Porter. He previously held roles at Bottega Veneta, Gucci and Tom Ford.

Last year, Purdey put a new focus on expanding and elevating its clothing business. Its knitwear and outerwear retail at Net-a-Porter and Harrods.

”Giles’ 30-years of experience in the industry perfectly complements what we do here at Purdey,” said CEO Dan Jago in a statement. “Valuing and supporting quality craftsmanship, upholding and celebrating these skills, and honouring design that is able to evolve while staying true to its roots.”

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The fashion industry has no shortage of buzzwords; chief among them is “buzz” itself.

Online chatter is highly prized in fashion, and for good reason: the ability to get people talking can make or break a brand. In recent years, a cycle has emerged. Brands do something meant to start a conversation, whether it’s putting on a runway show that seems to be more about getting attention than presenting clothes; dressing celebrities in their most polarising pieces; or churning out products meant to provoke. Usually, the more outlandish or unexpected the move, the more attention it receives, on social media and in the traditional press. Likes and shares, and metrics like earned media value surge. That is, until people move on and brands are forced to come up with what’s next, each time, trying to top their past.

The whole thing is understandably seductive.

“Buzz implies … the brand isn’t pushing the story down your throat. People are reacting and evangelising on your behalf,” said Tony Wang, founder of luxury consulting firm Office of Applied Strategy. “If you can unlock it, it’s infinitely more scalable than paid media.”

Still, it can be hard to tell whether much of that noise has meaning, or a lasting impact.

From some vantage points, buzz’s connection to generating long term sales and desire looks tenuous. Brands who relied on eye-catching virality throughout the 2010s — most notably, Balenciaga and Gucci — have embraced a more subdued, heritage-driven approach in the midst of sales slumps. Meanwhile, the labels thriving in the middle of a wider luxury downturn, like Hermès, Brunello Cucinelli and Prada, put less focus on attention-grabbing stunts.

Banking on this sort of attention is a risky endeavour in an environment where it’s more and more difficult to make moments that stand out. In turn, many brands are re-evaluating their strategies when it comes to how they build and measure buzz — and what exactly it’s worth.

“Buzz is awareness, amplification and excitement,” said Lucien Pagès, founder of his namesake communications firm. “You need to have it, but you cannot live on buzz.”

Buzz Doesn’t Conquer All

In the past, talked-about moments were more widely looked at as a happy accident. But today, behind every conversation-starter is a carefully orchestrated plan.

Manufacturing buzz — whether an isolated splash or plugging into particularly talked-about moments like the Cannes Film Festival or the Met Gala — is high on brands’ agendas, said Guillaume Delacroix, the founder of strategy and communications firm DLX.

A viral moment can push a small label to the next level. Coperni’s Spring/Summer 2023 show — where the brand sprayed a liquid fibre dress onto Bella Hadid with materials company Fabrican — catapulted the brand from an insider favourite in its local market to global recognition, said Stefano Martinetto, founder of growth and development platform Tomorrow, which is an investor in the brand.

In the immediate aftermath, viral moments can move items like handbags and shoes, attract a new audience or for young brands attract well-funded collaborators and sponsors for their next show, said Gia Kuan, founder of her namesake New York-based PR firm. After Beyoncé sat front row at client Luar’s Fall/Winter 2024 show in Brooklyn, for example, it saw a sales bump in new regions, she said.

But making it the primary goal can make brands reliant on quick hits of attention that don’t have much meaning.

“In the conversations I have with my clients, it’s just ‘focus on who you are and on having the right positioning and a unique offering,’” said Delacroix. “You cannot build brand desirability on buzz … it lasts the amount of time an Instagram story is up.”

Plus, some may be over-prioritising metrics like earned media value, used by firms including Lefty, Creator IQ and Dash Hudson and media impact value, Launchmetrics’ proprietary measurement, as indicators of overall success. Both use different methodologies to put a dollar value on conversation online and in the media, linked back to what a marketer would’ve had to pay if the placement had been paid.

That data is useful for figuring out what talent to work with, or what event to do a push around, said Lissy von Schwarzkopf, chief business officer of Karla Otto. Share of voice — the percentage of chatter a brand owns in a particular channel — is important because it has a correlation to market share and can provide insight into a brand’s trajectory, said Conor Begley, Creator IQ’s chief strategy officer.

EMV does indeed help a brand discern who is talking about it and the volume of the conversation. But critics say such metrics provide little insight into what people are actually saying and focusing too much on them can lead brands to lose sight of the big picture.

“Metrics can make you make a mistake,” said Pagès. “You get too addicted to things that will easily bring you exposure, not equity or inspiration.”

Even the M&A market is tempering on the idea of buzz, said investor Ariel Ohana, as a more precarious financial market refocuses priorities.

“Right now many buyers are saying ‘give me legacy brands, give me brands that have built perennial brand equity.’ There have been periods of time where people were only looking for what’s the most recent and buzzy brand around,” said Ohana.

The Weight Buzz Carries

For any brand, there’s a line to be walked when it comes to attention. Too little of it, and it doesn’t create desire, too much and it risks oversaturation. With that in mind, reaching the right consumer is imperative, said Mario Ortelli, managing director of luxury advisory Ortelli & Co.

“Brands need to focus on creating connectivity with their consumers. That’s really key in thinking about whether they need to generate a lot of buzz,’” added Alison Bringé, chief marketing officer of analytics platform Launchmetrics. “Is everyone your consumer? Probably not … I think that’s where we get lost.”

For example, the art world influencers Bottega Veneta invites to its shows to talk about the sculpture by Italian artist Umberto Boccioni at the centre of its runway or its set design from architect Gaetano Pesce may not create nearly as much chatter as its Kendall Jenner and A$AP Rocky paparazzi campaign in December, but they make inroads with a specific, high-quality audience, said Wang.

On the talent side, brands are increasingly building long-term relationships with celebrities that project a clear, consistent image of the brand, said von Schwarzkopf. They’re also playing a deeper role in creating cultural moments, said Wang, citing Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson’s designing costumes and dressing the stars of the film “Challengers.”

“It has evolved from brands trying to piggyback off a cultural moment to brands now realising to create the most meaningful buzz they need to be the cultural moment,” said Wang.

What comes next is the most important part.

“[Buzz] creates an energy, but also an expectation,” said von Schwarzkopf. “You always need to think about what you do after.”