In a hyper-competitive industry, where brands with staying power are becoming harder to build, Eileen Fisher marks 40 years in business this year.

It’s doubly impressive that the American designer (dubbed the “queen of slow fashion” by The New York Times) has built an enduring label on simple, timeless pieces wrapped in environmentalism and a belief in slower consumption — all while operating in a sector that trades on newness.

But the milestone comes at a precarious moment. The sustainable fashion space Fisher helped establish is in the midst of a brutal shake out. Over the last 12 months, a host of buzzy brands have buckled, unable to survive in an increasingly competitive and challenging market while managing the additional costs and complexity that come with commitments to things like fair wages and responsible production.

Fisher has navigated the turbulence by doubling down on the quietly subversive approach that she’s pursued for decades, keeping focus on her core design philosophy and prioritising ethical and environmentally responsible operations over chasing sales or margin.

Now, after a major pandemic contraction and restructuring, the brand has shored up solid foundations that bely the broader market instability. It’s profitable, and has been for almost all of its four decades in operations. Sales reached $270 million last year. And with former Patagonia chief product officer Lisa Williams installed as CEO — allowing Fisher, 74, to refocus on the creative side of the business — the brand that’s long carried the flag for more mindful consumption is gearing up to grow — mindfully.

“We’re like a little organic farm in the middle of conventional farming,” Fisher said in an interview between meetings during New York Climate Week last month. “We could make cheaper products; we could do a lot of things that would push the growth, but we want to maintain our integrity.”

‘Back to Basics’

Growth — and how much of it to pursue — is something Fisher and Williams think about a lot.

Fisher launched her label in 1984 with $350 in her bank account and an idea. After struggling to find clothes she wanted to wear, she set out to make daily dressing simpler for busy working women. Her signature boxy linen tops and flowing cashmere cardigans are “like Legos,” she said, transcending seasons and working interchangeably.

The concept is not only practical, but designed to make it easier for women to consume less. True to this “slow fashion” approach, Fisher has sought to run the business in an equally conscious manner. She was early to embrace the idea that companies should incorporate environmental and social considerations into strategic decision making. Instead of going public or selling to private equity, she sold a large chunk of her holding into an employee stock plan in 2006.

Still, the company has at times grown beyond its ethos, acknowledged Fisher.

We could make cheaper products; we could do a lot of things that would push the growth, but we want to maintain our integrity.

“There were several moments where…. it got too, kind of too big or, you know, lost track of something in the centre for me,” she said. “There was a stage when we did all those prints — like wow,” she added, gesturing at a bright pink, flower-patterned wall completely at odds with the designer’s signature neutral accents. “There were certain things where the shapes just went crazy and they weren’t timeless anymore and I felt, you know, lost or confused.”

Before the pandemic, sales had peaked at around $450 million, but the collection had ballooned, too. In 2020, they plummeted to $207 million and the company was forced to lay off around a third of its workforce. By the time Williams joined the brand in 2022, it was in the midst of a reset focused on restoring stability and positioning the brand to succeed within the bounds of its core values. To achieve that, the company paired back its collections and refined its messaging. Many of the styles on sale today are versions of designs from the brand’s earliest collection, just done better, according to Fisher; coats are now made from regenerative wool and fits have been refined.

The pandemic was a “sort of back to basics moment,” she added.

A Mindful Growth Model

Together, Williams and Fisher have a kind of cosy camaraderie. Williams brings an organisational discipline Fisher acknowledges isn’t her strongest suit; she’s “the tough mum” who geeks out on operational details, the designer said.

It took more than a year to find the right person to fill the role. One of the many quirks of Eileen Fisher (the brand’s) unconventional business model is that it has rarely had a chief executive, operating for most of its existence as a kind of collective. Before Williams, the last time it hired a CEO externally was in the ‘90s. And while Fisher remains very much involved in the business, this time the appointment had the aura of anointing a successor. That meant someone who could help the company grow, without sacrificing its values.

“There’s a lot of complexity to how we’re trying to reconcile how aggressively we want to pursue growth and if we need it,” said Williams. “We’re not scared of growth by any means. We just want to make sure we’re getting at it with our values in mind.”

The company has plans to open a few more stores this year and it’s added to its marketing team. Efforts to subtly inject a sense of modernity without sacrificing the classic and timeless feel of the designs by playing with a hemline here and material textures or mix seem to be working.

The brand has never exactly been cool. Its designs simultaneously attract devotees who embrace its promise of comfortable elegance and detractors that see it as “frumpy and sexless,” said Kim France, author of the substack Girls of a Certain Age and founding editor in chief of Lucky magazine. (France herself is a fan). Still, the rise of trends like “quiet luxury” have helped broaden its appeal.

We’re not scared of growth by any means. We just want to make sure we’re getting at it with our values in mind.

Though it’s still not back to its pre-pandemic size, sell-through rates are the highest they’ve ever been and the brand has been growing at a slow but steady pace of about 5 percent for the last few years. The company says it’s now in a position where it can carefully step that up.

“It’s not going to be currently or in the near future double-digit [growth]; high single digits is what we’re aiming for,” said Williams. “The whole point of doing this right is not about growth and, you know, huge dollars; it’s about impact and modelling and leading by example.”

Less Is More

At a career moment when many would be looking to retirement, Fisher isn’t done reimagining the fashion model.

She remains one of the industry’s highest-profile advocates for a more responsible approach to business and inspirational figure to many in an increasingly challenging space.

“A business like Eileen Fisher has done such a good job of navigating what they see as success,” said Dana Davis, who ran sustainability, product and business strategy at Mara Hoffman — the slow fashion recession’s highest-profile casualty. “She had an idea and was able to maintain it… it takes a lot of grit.”

Despite the brands’ efforts, its financial success is still tied to worsening environmental damage (the more it makes and sells, the greater its footprint — as Williams put it, “we haven’t cracked the code and decoupled.”) Together, the designer and executive are pushing to keep raising the bar for the business — and that means pushing for change in the wider fashion system.

The company has come out in support of regulation like the New York Fashion Act, a bill that would make large brands more accountable for their environmental impact. And it’s been experimenting with resale since 2009, looking for a way to run a fashion business while producing less.

There’s still a long way to go. To date, the programme has taken back more than two million garments. But it’s still a tiny and complex sliver of the business at 2 percent of overall sales,

“Producing less and finding the right way to keep things in circulation if that’s possible is the right answer,” said Williams. “We’re trying to legitimately figure out how to operationalise this model… there’s going to have to be a different proportion of new to used than what it is right now.”

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and an intriguing argument for Hedi Slimane at Chanel. (Hint: lipstick.)

Included in today’s issue: Credo Beauty, Cyklar, Evolvetogether, Finneas, Glossier, Lionel Messi, Mooncat, Mustela, Oak Essentials, Oribe, Prequel, Ralph Lauren, Roblox, Smashbox Cosmetics, Solawave, Topicals, and Twinkies.

But first…

In August, Rare Beauty launched a lip and cheek duo tied to “Only Murders in the Building” and its winsome leading lady, Mabel Mora, played by Rare’s founder, Selena Gomez. “Only Murders” is the rare TV comedy that’s actually funny. “Only Murders” is the rare TV comedy that’s actually funny. It’s also focused on Jane Lynch getting shot in the heart, then thrown into an incinerator so her body turns to dust. Should that sell beauty products? No. And yet, Rare’s gift set sold out in three days.

“Only Murders” is fictional, but the true crime genre that dominates podcast charts and Netflix documentaries is also a stealth beauty converter. That’s most obvious on the YouTube channel Murder Mystery and Makeup, which follows a simple formula: Beauty influencer Bailey Sarian applies MAC eyeliner and Haus Labs blush into the camera while talking about serial killers, sexual predators, and secret cannibals. Sarian has nearly 7.5 million subscribers on YouTube alone and is successful enough as a content creator that she’s signed to WME, the same mega-agency that reps Gomez herself.

When a reporter asks how you’re making cold hard cash from cold-blooded violence, the smartest thing to do is ignore her interview requests — which Sarian did. (Cue “Jurassic Park” voice: Clever girl.) So I rang up Dr. Honor Doro Townshend, a criminologist in London who studies the public fascination with true crime.

“From a brand perspective, I see why beauty companies link to true crime content,” she said. Townshend explains that ultimately, true crime content is considered entertainment by its fans. “We might not talk about deriving pleasure from the experience of true crime, but that is part of it.” True crime content has also been found to promote feelings of security and self-awareness, two intended byproducts of cosmetic application.

And while some brands use Halloween to tread into gorier territory — perhaps as a plausible shield of deniability for anyone objecting to the tactic — others have used darkness in evergreen marketing. Makeup brand Rituel de Fille has a vein-matching lipstick called Written in Blood that featured in ads for season nine of “American Horror Story.” Urban Decay’s original 1990s lip colour “Gash” is also still going strong, along with a gunmetal shade called “Uzi.” Black Moon cosmetics sells lipsticks in tiny coffin carriers, and has hue names like “Elm Street,” “Hellraiser,” “Omen,” and “Dracula.” The perfumer Kilian has a $295 Black Phantom fragrance that claims notes of cyanide (!) and TokyoMilk made an Arsenic scent in the mid-2010s that remains a top seller on resale sites. There’s even an entire Florida-based brand called “Makeup a Murder” that sells $20 glitter palettes inspired by various crime scenes, alongside knife-shaped lip glosses. And CrimeCon, the gathering of wannabe CSI directors that Gomez herself has attended, sells a $10 cosmetics bag with an “I Know Things” graphic.

Is this a scary smart move on behalf of brands? “It’s clearly working, but it’s odd!” said Townshend with a laugh. “But, you know, listening to true crime stories can be a form of self-soothing behaviour. Makeup application is another way that some people self-soothe.” The link between beauty and death can also manifest in many people’s obsession with their own mortality. Looking “more youthful” can help us pretend we’re not inevitably going to die. Likewise, listening to stories of someone else’s demise can reassure us that we’re still among the living—and that we have the power to help stop killers, and therefore help prevent death. In that way, said Townshend, the leap between applying blush and obsessing over a stranger’s murder “isn’t as big a cognitive switch as you think.”

What Else Is New

Skincare

In 2004, Gwyneth Paltrow showed up for the “Anchorman” premiere in a strapless dress that revealed bruises from a spa cupping treatment. (Classic!) On Oct. 16, the influencer and Finneas video star Claudia Sulewski debuted a $20 “body toning cup” as part of her Cyklar beauty line, which also includes a $35 “sensory cleanser” and $29 body cream. I cannot wait to debut my own pooled blood marks under an Isabel Marant strapless dress this weekend. Goop vibes, undefeated.

Oak Essentials premiered its Nourishing Cleansing Milk on Oct. 15. It’s $45 and makes a fascinating claim: Apparently, this stuff “counters the effects of hard water.” Honestly, I love that a liquid soap is coming for the booming (and landfill-loading) shower head market, and this won’t be the last time we see that kind of messaging in a cleanser this season. Stay tuned.

Solawave’s LightBoost Topicals line dropped on Oct. 16, with four products—a face serum, a neck serum, a moisturiser, and an eye cream—that claim to work alone and enhance the results of SolaWave’s “light therapy” gizmos. They cost $38 to $56 each.

Prequel’s Gleanser + SA, a face wash with 1 percent salicylic acid, dropped on Oct. 15. It’s spelt with a “g” because of glycerine, which features heavily in its $20 formula, and aims to tackle the delicate balance between zapping zits and keeping the face moisturised.

Credo Beauty now stocks three deodorants from Evolvetogether. They hit shelves on Oct. 15.

It’s a big week for Thea Green, the beauty founder whose Nails.Inc and Holler & Glow brands just got acquired by the Pacific World Corporation. That’s cool, but the “yippee!” moment for shoppers might be with Green’s other brand, Inc.redible. On Oct. 14, it dropped a collab with Twinkies and Pop Tarts. The merch includes “frosted” strawberry and vanilla body washes, plus tiny sponges that look like snacks. The Twinkies one is particularly fun.

Makeup

Celine’s first lipstick, a satin red shade called Rouge Triomphe, hit shelves on Oct. 15. It’s $75 and claims to be the brainchild of Hedi Slimane, marking the designer’s first public steps into franchised colour cosmetics. If Slimane ends up at a mega-luxury brand like Chanel, he might need—or want—to be more involved in its beauty business, especially since it accounts for so much brand revenue. This lipstick is particularly good, formula-wise. It’s also a built-in vehicle for Slimane to prove he can lead a fashion brand that’s also a beauty company.

On Oct. 15, KJH.brand introduced Soft Smudge Lip & Cheek stick, which costs $24 and promises “the longevity of a powder with the effortless application of a cream product.”

Glossier brought back its Cookie Butter, Espresso, and Biscotti lip butters for the holiday season; you can get them as singles or part of a little ornament duo. Adorbs.

Isamaya Beauty has three new shades of Liplacq 2.0 serum, including Ultraviolet, Beetle, and Lotus. They’re basically shimmery lip glosses and cost $38 each.

On Oct. 13, Smashbox Cosmetics unveiled FlashFX lipstick in shimmer-infused red shades. They’re limited-edition holiday colours and cost $22 each.

Mooncat’s Pandora Unboxed collection hexed itself into existence on Oct. 18. It includes four shades including Green Eyed Monster, which glows in the dark and costs $15.

Haircare

If you would rather pay $$$ than gift wrap anything yourself, Oribe is your friend. On Oct. 10, it launched six gift sets with vibrant packaging by the Kenyan artist Thandiwe Muriu. At $50 to $295, the boxes are costly. But if you get night sweats thinking about scotch tape and corner-edge folding, perhaps the value here is undeniable.

Mustela’s Detangling & Nourishing Cream Shampoo dropped Oct. 18 on Amazon. It’s $14 and made for children with tighter curls and tangle-prone hair, although the kid in the “before” and “after” pics looks perfect both ways!

On Oct. 15, Nutrafol introduced Active Cleanse, a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner formulated for men. Why the gender designation? The brand says it’s because “men have a weaker scalp barrier” that needs some extra care. This care specifically costs $44.

Fragrance

Do you want to smell like Lionel Messi? His eponymous cologne hit JCPenney on Oct. 9 with notes of cardamom, cyprus, and vanilla. The fragrance is distributed by Sheralven, whose CEO Steven Koss says, “We are confident that with Messi’s devoted fan base, we will hit the projected retail sales of $100M by 2026.” BRB, setting a calendar alert to check back in 14 months…

More in athletic smells: Lewis Hamilton is famously a Tom Ford dude, but his fellow F1 driver Lando Norris is the newest face of Ralph Lauren Fragrances. On Oct. 15, he debuted as Polo Red’s new campaign model, wearing a red racing suit and clutching a bottle of cologne in the ad pic.

Rather smell like an extremely talented and perpetually underrated Disney star? Ashley Tisdale’s fragrance line, Being Frenshe, dropped a $15 scent called Moon Milk on Oct. 15. It has notes of orange, nutmeg, bergamot, cardamom, cinnamon bark, warm oat milk, and vanilla. If you don’t want to mist yourself with it, try ordering that flavour combo at Starbucks. Sounds amazing.

Fine’ry is “the fastest-growing fragrance brand at Target,” according to Fine’ry. On Oct. 15, they unveiled a new Roblox space that combines super-soothing chime music with giant computerised bottles. It’s cute!

And Finally

Did you peep the Topicals under-eye masks backstage at the Victoria’s Secret show? VS doesn’t sell the brand… but gosh, what if they did?

Yse, the prestige skincare brand founded by the American model Molly Sims, has received an investment from early-stage private equity firm Willow Growth Partners, the company announced Friday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though Willow Growth Partners invests in brands that generate between $1 million to $5 million in revenue, with a typical cheque size of around $750,000 to $1.25 million. It has previously backed Gen-Alpha skincare brand Bubble, clean cosmetics brand Kosas and supplement brand Perelel.

Pronounced “wise”, Yse was founded in 2023 with a range of products priced between $40 to $90 designed for Gen-X women and mature skin.

In a statement, Willow Growth Partners co-founders Deborah Benton and Amanda Schutzbank said that women over the age of 40 often have high disposable income and are looking for skincare products that offer targeted solutions for mature skin. “Simply put, they are looking for alternatives to their moms’ legacy brands,” said Benton and Schutzbank.

Yse will use the funding to help facilitate an entry into wholesale next year.

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The British fast-fashion company said it believes Boohoo, which also owns the Debenhams, Karen Millen and PrettyLittleThing brands, is “fundamentally undervalued” and there is potential to “unlock value” for shareholders.

Shares of Boohoo fell 9% in early trading in London. The stock has lost about a quarter of its value this year.

The review comes as Boohoo reported that first-half revenue had plunged to £620 million ($809.8 million) from £729 million at the same time last year. Boohoo said it’s also signed a new £222 million debt facility to give it the “appropriate financing” for the next phase of its development.

Boohoo has had to weather a difficult five years since Lyttle joined from Primark, its much bigger rival. Before the pandemic it was hit by a damaging minimum-wage and safety scandal at supplier factories in Leicester, England. An independent review found that Boohoo had prioritized profit and growth and ignored “red flags” about labor violations, but cleared the company of any direct involvement.

Under Lyttle, Boohoo also had to contend with the Covid pandemic, which initially boosted revenues as online shopping soared but then pared back rapidly as people returned to stores. Boohoo’s launch into the US has also been affected by high freight costs.

Earlier this year, Boohoo had to scrap a lucrative bonus plan amid reports of a shareholder backlash following ballooning losses.

Boohoo said Friday that it has taken a number of “decisive and robust” strategic initiatives to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs at the group in the past 18 months. It has also made progress in reinvigorating the Debenhams and Karen Millen brands, it said, which is why now is time to “review options for each division” to maximize value for shareholders.

Although Boohoo’s refinancing is a positive development, the new facility includes a £100 million term loan that is “repayable as soon as August 2025, which leaves relatively limited time for maneuver,” said Andrew Wade, an analyst at Jefferies.

By Jennifer Creery.

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