As the first female, Black, and South Asian Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris’s every move is closely watched — from her policy decisions to her wardrobe. With Harris now leading the Democratic ticket in the 2024 presidential election, her style and beauty choices — from her for her sleek silk press hairstyle to her endless variety of pantsuits — have sparked renewed discussion. 

“She is communicating something, even if it's not remarkable,” said BoF senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young. “No one truly opts out of signalling something with how they present themselves.”

This week on The Debrief, BoF executive editor Brian Baskin sat down with Butler-Young and editorial apprentice Yola Mzizi to explore how Harris’s beauty and fashion choices are being interpreted by different audiences across the political spectrum, and what that means for the future of political style. 

Key Insights:

• Harris’s signature silk-pressed hairstyle has deep roots. “It's a centuries old way of straightening hair, and it's been around for generations upon generations. Most people associate it with just the hair that they have to have for Easter Sunday, or the style that the grandmothers would have,” Mzizi explains. Despite the history, Black Gen-Z voters have embraced the style, calling it the presidential silk press. “It's a way to support her candidacy in a fun way,” said Mzizi. 

• Harris’ wardrobe choices are being closely scrutinised, which has led her to more streamlined, straightforward ensembles. “The pantsuits, specifically the colour schemes — black, grey, navy blue, or just blues, with an occasional pastel, a pump as the shoe, or occasional Converse and pearls — are very much in line with how politicians dress,” said Butler-Young. Meanwhile, male politicians, like Harris’s vice-presidential nominee, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have more freedom to experiment. “You look at her running mate Tim Walz, and his ability to sort of play around with style with those well-worn red wing boots, the camouflage hats, rather than being distracting, they actually endear some voters to him. … Kamala, for all intents and purposes, doesn't seem to have the licence to do that.” 

• The 2024 election has highlighted the growing role of fashion and beauty in politics. Black-owned beauty brand BLK/OPL was centre stage at the DNC providing makeup services as the event’s first beauty sponsor. “Harris's candidacy is opening up new avenues for different kinds of brands to have their say in this larger conversation,” Mzizi notes.

• Should Harris win the presidency, she could use her platform to further influence the intersection of fashion and politics. Harris has already hinted at this with her past choices by wearing Black designers like Christopher John Rogers and Sergio Hudson. “She'll have more leeway to [support minority designers] when she's empowered. Right now, I think she's constrained … by this idea of having to cater to this broad, collective public palette.”

Additional resources

• How Kamala Harris’ Signature Tresses Became a Gen-Z Hit | BoF 
• Why Kamala Harris Isn’t Making Bold Fashion Choices – Yet | BoF

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2024 has brought forth the arrival of the “Sephora tweens,” which refers to members of Gen Alpha (roughly defined as those born between 2010 and 2024) who have enthusiastically taken to buying up skincare and makeup. This phenomenon, driven largely by beauty-related chatter on social media, has resulted in a new wave of brands catering specifically to this younger demographic.

“There are now teen brands, tween brands, 20-something brands, 30-something brands. … I think we can thank the DTC movement and everything that happened from 2014 on for this kind of innovation,” Rao says. “There's been a total disruption in beauty overall with challenger brands like Glossier that have come and really taken market share away from the big conglomerates and companies … that have been household names for a really long time.”

This week on The BoF Podcast, senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young and executive editor Brian Baskin sat down with Priya Rao, executive editor at The Business of Beauty at BoF, to delve into how tweens have taken over the beauty aisle and what this means for the future of the industry.

Key Insights 

• Kids have long experimented with beauty products, but today, they’re starting earlier and earlier. "If you look at social media today, it's not just 10-year-olds or 11-year-olds. There are 5- and 6-year-olds putting on makeup and trying different lipsticks and lip glosses," shared Rao. This early engagement with beauty is not just a passing trend, but is becoming a norm, fueled by the accessibility of products to try in stores like Sephora and the influence of social media platforms like TikTok.

• Another driving force behind this trend is the rise of celebrity-led beauty brands that resonate with young people. For example, Rare Beauty, founded by Selena Gomez, not only offers products but also promotes mental health awareness. "Tweens and teens can identify with these brands not just because of the products, but because of what they stand for," explained Rao.

• The proliferation of skincare products has also led to some confusion and concern, with tweens using products like retinol that are meant for an older demographic. Brands and influencers play a crucial role in teaching young consumers what’s right for their skin. "Fear is not the way to lead here. It's about education first," advised Rao. Brands must strike a balance between engaging young consumers without overwhelming them with too many steps or products.

• As the beauty industry continues to evolve, brands that wish to stay ahead will need to be responsive to the needs of Gen-Z and Gen Alpha consumers. "Smart companies have to be agile and constantly communicate with their customers," noted Rao. This means reflecting the diverse experiences of young consumers back to them, whether through representation in ad campaigns or through the products themselves.

Additional resources 

• How Tweens Took Over the Beauty Aisle | BoF
• How Should We Feel About Tweens at Sephora? | BoF
• Tweens Obsessed With Skin Care Drive Brands to Say: Don’t Buy Our Stuff

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Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz was drawn to fashion from a young age, devouring issues of Vogue and Tatler. This led her to set up D’NA, a members-only boutique based in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. 10 years later when she closed her boutique, she became the founding editor in chief of Vogue Arabia – but soon parted ways with the publication due to a misalignment in values.

Now, Aljuhani Abdulaziz is back with her own media publication, on her own terms. ‘Deenathe1st.com’ is an editorial lifestyle website dedicated to fostering a creative community that celebrates Arab culture. 

“What I hold dear is what anybody would hold dear. Representing my culture correctly and fairly,” she says. “And it's not trying to show off Western ideas to the region. It's the other way around. It's showcasing the region and what we share creatively with the rest of the world.”

This week on The BoF Podcast, Aljuhani Abdulaziz joins BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to share her career journey, the lessons she’s learned about fostering culture and community, and why the fashion community needs a new publication. 

Key Insights

• Born in California but raised between the US and Saudi Arabia, Aljuhani Abdulaziz is an expert code switcher who’s always felt able to act like a cultural bridge between the two worlds. “It never felt like an effort. It just came naturally. I think that's part of what makes me who I am in a sense,” she shares. “It's not just in figures of speech, but also in how you would interact with people, because there are different customs and traditions in different regions and in different households. It's really about a state of mind.”

• Aljuhani Abdulaziz’s first fashion influence was her mother, who she describes as “still very, very chic.” As a child, her discovery of Tatler magazine pushed this passion even further. “I picked it up and I opened up its pages and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is it!’ I was just so grateful and happy that it existed.” 

•  Aljuhani Abdulaziz’s stint at Vogue Arabia ended abruptly after just two months. “I understood the responsibility of being a voice for a very big region, being Arab myself,” she said.  “I think there was a point when that didn't align and the visions were not parallel.”

• Looking to the future, Aljuhani Abdulaziz says she is building her editorial lifestyle platform ‘Deenathe1st.com’ on the basis of community, shared values, and kindness. “I think that it's super important to remind people that you don't have to be nasty to be stylish or to be in fashion or to be chic,” she said. “I would love to continue my love letter to Arabia. That's really what I'm trying to do with this site.”

Additional resources

• Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz Exits Vogue Arabia | BoF 
• Vogue Arabia Appoints Manuel Arnaut as Editor-in-Chief | BoF 
• A New Era of Arab-Led Fashion Media | BoF

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Louis Vuitton is expected to name its Virgil Abloh successor within weeks. Lauren Sherman quizzes Imran Amed on what luxury labels think about when recruiting top designers.

Louis Vuitton has spent almost a year searching for a Virgil Abloh successor after the designer died in November 2021. According to sources, Martine Rose, Grace Wales Bonner and Telfar Clemens are among the names that were considered by owner LVMH, and the decision is expected to be announced within weeks. But how do brands like Louis Vuitton even go about finding a designer?

“Without the creative energy, without that kind of excitement, there’s nothing to sell,” said Imran Amed, BoF founder and editor-in-chief.

• While all brands have their own personality and the situations that necessitate finding a new creative director differ, the things most brands look for in a leader are similar.
• Executives have to consider whether they’re looking for revolution, like when Gucci tapped Alessandro Michele for creative energy and new ideas, or evolution, like when Saint Laurent tapped Anthony Vaccarello to keep its aesthetic formula after Hedi Slimane departed.
• A strong vision is the most important thing. But creative directors also need to have commercial sensibility and the ability to work in a corporate environment.
• One of Abloh’s achievements was that he managed to build a community at Louis Vuitton, and engage consumers who had been traditionally excluded by the luxury industry.

• Virgil Abloh: Building on a Legacy: Like Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gianni Versace before him, the late Virgil Abloh leaves a powerful legacy. What does this mean for Off-White and Louis Vuitton?
• Which Luxury Leadership Configuration Works Best? In luxury fashion, the right configuration of creative and commercial leadership is critical to success, writes Pierre Mallevays.

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Royal expert Elizabeth Holmes speaks to BoF’s Imran Amed about Queen Elizabeth II’s life and legacy — in fashion, culture and society at large.

Background: 

Tributes to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch have flooded social media, television and even public parks in the days since her passing, memorialising the Queen’s steadfast leadership, but also her impeccable sense of style. 

This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed speaks with royal expert Elizabeth Holmes who reflects on the influence the Queen’s record-setting reign has had on the fashion industry and the wider culture.

Key Insights:

• The Queen was known around the world for her monochromatic outfits, designed to help her stand out in the crowd. She also created a unique twist on a set formula of basics: hat, coat, bag and pearls. “I think she understood the power of clothes,” says Holmes. “She used things like the colour of her outfit, especially when she was travelling overseas to perhaps match the host country's flag.”
• Holmes details how the Queen had a “tremendous sort of swing of the style pendulum” from her private life, where she’d wear headscarves and tartan skirts, to her public life, wearing tiaras and gowns. “It was very important to see all aspects of royal life,” says Holmes. “Both being worthy of the glamour of royalty, but then also sensible stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
• Her influence also stretched outside of her sovereign powers, with the path she paved for other female leaders around the world. Being crowned Queen at just 25, she became one of the only women at the table of leadership, and she made it count. “I think the Queen sort of made it permissible to really stand out.”
• As King Charles III takes to the throne commentators are looking to the future of the institution. “The conversation changes a little bit now that there is a King on the throne,” says Holmes. “Understanding that the whole spotlight shifts to him and with that, the good and perhaps the criticism, too.”

Additional Resources: 

• Queen Elizabeth II’s Style Legacy: Britain’s longest reigning monarch has died. Her influence extended to the realm of fashion, where she invented the concept of “sartorial diplomacy.”
• What the Queen Means to Designers: Queen Elizabeth was an inspiration for fashion designers from Vivienne Westwood to Alessandro Michele to Richard Quinn. Will any British royal have the same influence again?

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The designer speaks with BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed about building his own business, the power of aspiration and opening doors for people who want to break into fashion.

Background: 

French-Moroccan designer Charaf Tajer is the French-Moroccan designer behind Casablanca, a business that he started with only €3,000 to tap into the growing demand for women’s resortwear, and which is now doing more than €45 million in annual revenue.

But Charaf’s rise in the Parisian fashion scene is also exceptional because of who Charaf is and where he is from. As one of the few people of colour working at the very top level of French luxury fashion, he has learned that no matter how high his star rises, he still faces discrimination related to his identity as he travels in these elite spaces. This only makes him want to work harder to break down barriers and become a role model.

On the latest episode of the BoF Podcast, designer Tajer joins BoF’s Imran Amed on The BoF Podcast to talk about building his own business, the power of aspiration and opening doors for people who want to break into fashion.

Key Insights:

• Growing up in the outskirts of Paris, Tajer had an early appreciation for luxury, getting glimpses of wealth going with his mother to work as a cleaner in the 16th arrondissement. He channelled this sense of curiosity into the core of Casablanca and believes it lies in the industry itself. “I think this is what fashion does, is like it opens a certain option of dreaming of certain things,” says Tajer.
• Tajer believes you must go outside of your comfort zone and explore new paths to achieve success. “There is nothing for you in the past, so you have to go to the future because when you look back, there’s nothing for you… There was no space for me to grow.”
• Tajer’s background has at times led him to feel like a fashion outsider. That feeling inspired him to want to become a role model for others. “Beside the fact that I’m a North African Muslim guy, I also just want to represent the new face of France,” says Tajer. “It’s my duty to also accomplish the biggest thing in the world, to become an example.”
• While entering the world of fashion, Tajer is careful to open doors for others and leave behind a legacy that any achievement is possible with effort. “For me I only want to go for the impossible possibilities,” Tajer says.

Additional Resources: 

• Fashion’s Top M&A Targets: The market may be cooling, but a number of in-demand brands remain of interest to financial backers. BoF identifies the top targets.
• Can Fashion Start-Ups Cash In on the Tennis Boom? For a new wave of tennis-inflected fashion start-ups, success may depend on balancing the energy of the sport’s increasingly inclusive present with the allure of its exclusive past.

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The designer speaks with BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks about his first collection after 2020 and why he feels a sense of optimism following the pandemic. 

Background: 

At the start of 2021, Rick Owens wanted his next show to reflect the universal toll the pandemic had taken on the world. Held at Venice’s Tempio Votivo, a shrine to the fallen soldiers of the two world wars, Owens centred the show around the sombre themes of “anger and darkness.” Despite this ominous outlook, Owens told BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks in January 2021 that a pivot in political circumstances with the inauguration of Joe Biden gave him a sense of optimism.

On this week’s episode of the BoF Podcast, we revisit this thought provoking conversation with Owens about his Autumn/Winter 2021 collection, his reflections on lessons learned from the  pandemic and his renewed hope for society. 

Key Insights:

• For Owens, constraints can create fertile ground for creativity. “It has been quiet change and I like the idea of working within small boundaries,” says Owen. “I like the idea of doing the best with what you have got.”
• Owens created his collection when the world was facing  growing political uncertainty and instability but he  says “one of the most reassuring things [in this world] is that everything usually balances out. We have survived this long because there is just a tiny bit more of goodness than badness. Just enough to keep us surviving.”
•  Owen’s men’s shows in particular are deeply personal. “My men’s runway shows are always about men’s flaws and men’s worst urges because they are auto-biographical,” he says. “When I am thinking about men I am thinking about my own experience and my own experience is very critical and I am always very conscious of my worst urges and where they are coming from.” 

Additional Resources: 

• Rick Owens: Control and Abandon
• Tim Blanks’ Top Fashion Shows of All-Time: Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2014, September 26, 2013
• What Fashion Wants From a Biden Presidency

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In a rare interview, the influential Japanese designer speaks with BoF’s Imran Amed about the philosophy that underpins his boundary-breaking career.

Background: 

After graduating from Keio University with a law degree, Yohji Yamamoto realised he wasn’t interested in the law.

“I didn’t want to join the ordinary society,” he says. “So I told my mother after graduation … ‘I want to help you.’” 

She agreed to let him work at her dressmaking shop in Kabukicho, an entertainment district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward, and learn from the sewing assistants if he enrolled at Bunka Fashion College, now famous for training designers such as Kenzo Takada, Junya Watanabe and Yamamoto himself.

After graduating, Yamamoto went on to set up a small ready-to-wear company that slowly acquired buyers in all of Japan’s major cities. This success eventually led him to Paris, where his signature tailoring and draping in oversized silhouettes created an aesthetic earthquake at Paris Fashion Week in 1981.

Since then, Yamamoto has developed a cult following of loyalists who swear by his avant-garde designs. “I’m not working in the mainstream,” he says. “I’m working in the side stream.”

This week on The BoF Podcast, we revisit Imran Amed’s rare interview with the legendary Japanese designer about his storied career — and the mindset designers need to succeed. 

Key Insights:

• Yamamoto says the fashion industry’s increasingly fast-pace has come at the expense of true creativity. “For me the fashion business became a money business,” he said. “I felt I’ve been losing my competitors year by year.”
• Yamamoto believes that modern technology can be a distraction. “When I speak with young designers, I [tell] them shut your computer,” he said. “If you really want to see real things, real beauty, you have to go there by walking.”
• Yamamoto believes it’s a designer’s job to completely immerse themselves in design. “If you want to create something, keep resisting the mediocracy of ordinary things. It’s a life's work. Are you ready to sacrifice yourself to create something?”

Additional Resources: 

• Watch the full interview here: Inside Yohji Yamamoto’s Fashion Philosophy
• The Magic of Yohji Yamamoto

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After a pandemic pivot to e-commerce, many brands are back to working with third-party retailers, this time, with better terms.

Background:

The wholesale model, while offering exposure and some upfront revenue, did not always have the best terms for vendors. Department store bankruptcies, pandemic-induced store closures and the boom in online shopping pushed brands further towards their direct-to-consumer and e-commerce businesses to drive revenue. 

But that’s beginning to change. As shoppers return to stores, brands are seeing value in ramping up their partnerships with multi-brand retailers — this time on better terms. “What I'm hearing across the board from both brands and retailers is that this vendor-retailer relationship is more collaborative than ever,” said BoF retail correspondent Cathaleen Chen. 

Key Insights: 

• There are multiple factors pushing brands back to wholesale. Among them, the growth of e-commerce, which has slowed after spiking in 2020, and the growing consumer appetite for curated, in-person shopping experiences that allow them to stumble upon new designers. “That discovery is still so important, and now [shoppers are] relying on a cool third-party retailer to sort of facilitate that discovery,” said Chen.
• “Wholesale is very American,” noted Chen, making it an attractive vehicle for international labels looking to enter the lucrative US market.
• Brands are having more of a say over how their products are marketed through retailers, like sharing campaign assets or designing shop-in-shop setups.
• Both parties are also increasingly open to exploring other models like concession, consignment — more typical to European department stores — and drop-shipping, where the brands themselves are responsible for fulfilling orders made through retailer’s websites.  
• Brands are returning to wholesale, but not at the expense of their direct-to-consumer and retail offerings. “I think we're at a point where everybody has a more well-rounded business so that if things do go bad again in whichever channel, they can be agile and adapt very quickly,” said Chen. 

• How to Take a Brand From Local to Global | BoF 
• Searching for the Next Barneys 
• Inside Neiman Marcus' Post-Bankruptcy Playbook

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Revisiting a conversation with BoF’s Imran Amed from 2019, the 23 grand slam winning tennis champion, who announced her retirement this week, talks about how the mental toughness she has built on the court has prepared her for life as an entrepreneur.

Background: 

This week, tennis superstar Serena Williams announced her imminent retirement as part of a cover story with American Vogue. Known in fashion circles for her on-court style, which included catsuits and denim skirts and a collaboration with late designer Virgil Abloh’s Off-White, Williams will have more time to focus on as her burgeoning business empire, including her fashion label S by Serena and a venture fund, Serena Ventures. 

This week on The BoF Podcast, we revisit Williams’ 2019 conversation with BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed about how the mental toughness she has built on the court has prepared her for life as an entrepreneur. 

“It's really important for things not to come super easy for you, and to kind of accept that challenge, embrace it and then just roll with it,” said Williams.

Key Insights:

• Rather than work with a partner, licence her name or sign another lucrative endorsement, Williams felt it was important to invest time, money and effort in herself and chase her own vision with S by Serena, a direct-to-consumer brand she has funded independently. 
• Serena Ventures just raised $111 million and has invested in over 60 companies including personal care brand Lola, supply chain management firm Calico and razor-maker Billie. 
• The fund was originally founded in 2014 when Williams noticed people of colour and women were not getting the investments they needed. 
• Balancing all her pursuits and personal life can be tough. But, when she feels pinched, William is reminded of one of her favourite quotes from Billie Jean King: “pressure is a privilege.” 

Additional Resources: 

• Serena Williams: The Champion’s Mindset 
• Serena Williams, Style Icon, Retiring From Tennis
• How Athletes Went From Selling Merch to Building Fashion Brands

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The multi-tasking actor, executive producer and beauty entrepreneur shares her personal journey with BoF’s Imran Amed and explains how she unlocked her full potential across a variety of pursuits.

Background: 

Tracee Ellis Ross is best known for her roles in Girlfriends and Black-ish, but she is also the founder and CEO of Pattern which she launched in 2019 after more than a decade of development to address the gap in the market for products designed specifically for curly, coily, textured hair.

The Golden Globe-winning, Emmy-nominated Ross joins BoF’s Imran Amed on The BoF Podcast to talk about managing the little voice in her head, killing perfectionism and cultivating self-love and acceptance. 

Finding purpose and unlocking potential starts by interrogating what you love, then finding ways to merge who you are with “what makes your heart sing,” said Ross. 

Key Insights: 

• Pattern was born out of frustration. Ross couldn’t find the right tools or products to serve her needs, and never saw Black women being centred — despite sitting at the centre of culture.  
• Ross took learnings from developing a clothing line with JCPenney to help get her business off the ground. From there, she sought out the right partners. Key to evaluating partners was learning to be present during conversation. 
• In her work with Pattern and with companies like Ulta on diversity and inclusion, Ross hopes to dissolve the myth that Black hair care and beauty is a niche market.

Additional Resources:

• Modernising the Black Hair Care Market: A new wave of start-ups shaking up the textured hair care space are catching the attention of major retailers and investors, grabbing more shelf space and venture capital.
• Building the Glossier of the Black Hair Market: With her new DTC beauty brand, Radswan, blogger-turned-entrepreneur Freddie Harrel is pitching clip-in textured hair extensions and wigs to the digitally savvy black consumer.

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The creative technologist believes that experimenting with new AR technologies could radically reshape products, experiences and habits. 

Background: 

When it comes to testing new technologies, there is always an element of the unknown for brands. While tech investments may not immediately translate to a revenue bump, willingness to experiment could radically transform the fashion industry, according to Ommy Akhe, a creative technologist specialising in experimental software and augmented reality prototypes, who spoke at The BoF Professional Summit: New Frontiers in Fashion and Technology. 

“Understanding your customers, the things they value, the challenges you can help them overcome and what gets them excited — it's essential to meet users where they are,” says Ahke. “The only constant is change. So why not join the journey and start enjoying the current future?” 

• Consumers today are younger, spend more time online and are used to valuing arbitrary digital assets like follower counts and verified check marks. This means they are also more apt to spend money on digital items that hold value in the real world. 
• The tools that will build the metaverse — including 5G, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, for example — are well established and consumers are used to interacting with them. 
• Ahke’s digital skins projects overlay dynamic imagery on bags, clothes and shoes through a phone lens. Brands can implement this sort of technology to drive loyalty and give buyers more avenues for expression. 

Additional Resources:

• How the Smart Money in Fashion Is Thinking About Web3. Investors with track records of predicting where fashion is headed have their own ideas of where the big opportunities lie in web3.
• Fashion’s Metaverse Reality Check. The marketing value of digital fashion and NFTs may now be clear, but fashion brands will need to separate hype from the concrete opportunities to generate sustainable revenue streams from the metaverse.
• The Debrief: Who Is Designing Fashion in the Metaverse? BoF’s Marc Bain chats with Lauren Sherman about the 3D creators, game designers and NFT experts bringing fashion into the virtual world

To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link.

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BoF’s luxury editor Robert Williams offers insight into the surprising news that the mega-label plans to open stores dedicated to serving top customers.

Background: 

As traffic to stores soars, Chanel’s chief financial officer Philippe Blondiaux said the brand plans to open dedicated boutiques for top-spending clients starting in key Asian cities. It's a strategy that emphasises the importance of big-spenders to the in-demand French luxury brand’s future amid whispers of an impending recession — but one that risks alienating first time and occasional shoppers who are still dropping upwards of $10,000 for bags.

“Brands like Chanel, they’ve lived through lots of cycles of boom and bust in the economy… When there’s an economic crisis, they need to be ready to have a real focus on repeat business,” said BoF’s luxury editor Robert Williams. 

Key Insights: 

• Chanel sells many items in-store only, and limits locations to the most luxurious places in the world’s most luxury cities — operating just around 250 stores compared with Louis Vuitton’s over 400 doors. 
• Chanel is not the first brand to open special stores for private clients; Brunello Cucinelli deployed a similar concept last December. Other brands like Zegna have dedicated spaces in-store for special items. 
• In 2021, the company’s profits have tripled and revenue jumped 50 percent year over year.
• The brand’s growth in fashion, watches and jewellery last year was driven by its decision to raise prices and a flood of new clients and first-time buyers to luxury. 
• In addition to focusing on its physical footprint, Chanel is pushing its beauty business, which has been historically driven by department stores and beauty retailers like Sephora and Marionnaud, toward majority direct-to-consumer. 

Additional Resources:  

• Chanel to Open Private Stores for Top Clients as Sales Soar 50%
• How Luxury Brands Court the 1 Percent

Follow The Debrief wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout. 

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As a self-styled “image architect”, Law Roach has earned global recognition for the red carpet looks he has created for some of the most famous — and most photographed — women in the world.

But in 2022, when he suddenly announced his retirement on Instagram, writing “If this business was just about the clothes I would do it for the rest of my life but unfortunately it’s not! The politics, the lies and false narratives finally got me! You win…I’m out.”

While Roach continues to work with top clients Celine Dion and Zendaya — he was the mastermind behind Zendaya’s tennis-inspired “Challengers” press tour earlier this year — he’s also pursuing his entrepreneurial ambitions. Later this year,  he will launch a new online learning  platform to train the next generation of stylists. 

“It was hours and hours of me talking with a script writer and being recorded to get out all my processes, from the way I set up a room to style and the psychology of choosing the right dress. So it's super comprehensive and I'm super proud of it. And we’re launching it with me as the very first instructor.”

This week, on the BoF Podcast, Roach joins me to trace his career right from the beginning when he was selling thrifted clothes from the trunk of his friend’s car in the South Side of Chicago and to exclusively share the details of his new online learning platform and what he hopes people will learn from it.

Key Insights:

• Roach’s first memories of fashion are from his childhood in Chicago. “My first runway show was church on Sunday morning, watching those women with the hats and the outfits, but high fashion had always been something that was very aspirational but also seen very unattainable at the same time.” He then began his career selling vintage pieces from the trunk of a friend’s car before moving to a brick-and-mortar storefront. “That turned into a revenue stream for me and which then turned into a boutique, which turned into Kanye West coming in one day,” he said. That celebrity attention led to “global recognition about this little store in Chicago.”

• Roach has worked with his most high-profile client, Zendaya, since she was a teenager. Back then, he had trouble finding brands that were willing to dress her, which forced him to get creative. “She became one of the best dressed, most looked at stars on the red carpets and had not even worn any of these brands. So at that point I was like, ‘I kind of don't need you.’ We had just worked so hard to make her this thing that everybody wanted without using the traditional tools of getting there,” he shared. 

• With his new online learning platform, Roach wants to encourage greater representation and open up opportunities in the industry.  “Ours is a comprehensive collegiate level, educational, educational coursework. Everything that I've used to become who I am is in there.”

• Despite the various challenges in his career, Roach’s unwavering self-belief has carried him to where he is today. “No matter how many doors are closed, no matter how many times people ask me to get out of my seat at a fashion show, no matter how many times people say no, I came to L.A. to be considered the best or one of the best, and there was no way that anybody could deter me from that. I really, honestly believed in myself.”

Additional Resources:

• The Business of Being Law Roach
• Black Stylists Form Collective for Support and Advocacy

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The founder and CEO of retail pop-up marketplace Appear Here shares his entrepreneurial journey and advice for young founders looking to break through. 

Background: 

Ross Bailey’s love of entrepreneurship didn’t start  in business school or a corporate job, but at the hair salon his parents owned in London. 

“I watched my parents take this little shop and it became their livelihood,” he says to BoF’s founder and editor in chief, Imran Amed, describing himself as a “busybody” who rearranged furniture and conducted customer satisfaction surveys from a young age. “To me, entrepreneurship was a game. It was about ‘how do I get people involved and have a bit of fun?’”

That mindset eventually led him to found Appear Here, “the Airbnb of retail,” in 2014. “The story of the world … was that the high street is dead, nobody wants it. And we had a contrarian view on that. When you have small high street stores and streets, people want to be on them … our data has always backed it up.”

By 2019, Appear Here was a global business with 250,000 entrepreneurs signed up to the platform and 30,000 stores launched. The company has facilitated pop-ups for fashion giants like Louis Vuitton, Loewe and Supreme, a bookstore for Michelle Obama’s autobiography, as well as Harry’s House for pop superstar Harry Styles. 

Then the pandemic hit. Appear Here went from having its best year ever and closing a funding round with a nine-figure valuation, to losing 95 percent of revenue with just months’ worth of cash left.

On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast, Bailey shares his lessons and advice from the early days of founding a business and the role leaders play in leading employees and stakeholders through challenging times. 

Key Insights: 

• The traditional world of commercial real estate and retail is inaccessible and opaque, creating systemic barriers for entrepreneurs from marginalised backgrounds. But small independent stores are also the backbone of entrepreneurship for immigrants and other communities. “Whether it's the local takeaway restaurant, whether it's the local shop, all of those places… were people who were entrepreneurial, who were doing something, who were trying to build a livelihood.”
• Despite Covid’s impact on retail, Bailey doubled down on Appear Here’s mission. Seeing people returning to streets, even when non-essential retail was curbed, and queuing for coffees highlighted the human desire for in-person community. “I just felt that this wasn't the time to pivot, this wasn't the time to relax on our idea or rein it in. Actually, Appear Here would make more sense coming out of this than ever before.” 
• The future of retail is hyper-local, says Bailey, citing examples of global brands playing into cultural niches, like Adidas and Gucci’s takeover of a working men’s social club in Peckham. “It's no longer about Fifth Avenue and Regent Street or the Champs-Élysées, it's about neighbourhoods and interesting places.”

Additional Resources: 

How Temporary Pop-Ups Became a Permanent Strategy

What Happens When the E-Commerce Boom Ends  

How to Open a Store in 2022 | BoF

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Ian Rogers moved from Silicon Valley to Paris in 2015 when he was appointed chief digital officer of LVMH. There, Rogers, a veteran of Apple Music and Beats, was tasked with building out the luxury conglomerate’s e-commerce and data strategy and serving as a digital whisperer to executives.  

Background:

Now, he’s chief experience officer of Ledger, a security system that provides protection for digital currencies. Given his experience at the cutting edge of both tech and fashion, he is uniquely positioned to speak to the opportunities being created as crypto technologies, gaming and fashion converge. In his mind, one day, virtual fashion will be ubiquitous. 

His insights were originally featured in the fourth episode of The BoF Show, “Dematerialisation: Why the Metaverse Is Fashion’s Next Goldmine,” streaming on Bloomberg Quicktake. 

Key Insights 

• Rogers’ background in the music industry has helped inform the way he perceives’ luxury’s need to take control of digital channels. Record labels lost out big on recorded music because they were in denial of consumers' desire to listen to music online. 
• Having goods that are both digital and physical, or, “phygital” is the gateway to the existence of purely virtual goods. In order for virtual goods to have real value and meaning, there need to be marketplaces and venues for using them. 
• People have a desire to collect things. With the rise of NFTs, there’s a way to create scarcity digitally — which gives fashion brands an opportunity to create virtual goods based on the principles and hype and rarity that drive the industry today. 
• The biggest misconceptions people have is that there’s a distinction between the physical and digital worlds, according to Rogers. The blurring of realities in the metaverse will ultimately change our perceptions of what’s real — and valuable.
• Most technology surrounding digital goods, NFTs, crypto and the metaverse is still nascent, and storytelling about its potential has been ahead of reality. 

Additional Resources

• Dematerialisation: Why the Metaverse Is Fashion’s Next Goldmine. Physical and digital worlds merge in the Metaverse. Can the luxury world dematerialise into the virtual space fast enough to attract eager customers — and their avatars?
• What the NFT Gold Rush Means for Fashion. The market for digital collectibles is booming. Opportunity or passing fad?
• Why Streetwear and NFTs Are a Perfect Match. Both trade in heavily hyped, limited-edition products that offer a sense of community. Fashion brands aiming to tap digital art take note.

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The multitasking entrepreneur joins BoF founder and chief executive Imran Amed to discuss the personal and professional journey that led him to co-create the category-disrupting brand Skims with Kim Kardashian. 

Background: 

Jens Grede has built some of the most successful direct-to-consumer brands in American fashion. Alongside his wife Emma, he launched Brady with Tom Brady, Good American with Khloe Kardashian, and, of course, Kim Kardashian’s category-disrupting Skims. This week on the BoF Podcast, the Swedish-born former ad man joins BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to discuss his journey through the fashion industry — from realising one of his early dreams of creating an ad for Calvin Klein to to elevating Skims into a once-in-a generation brand in the vein of Lululemon or Nike’s Jordan brand. 

“I've waited my whole career to be part of a moment like this, and I'm very scared of messing it up,” says Grede. “At the same time, I know that if we stop experimenting, if we stop innovating, that is the fastest way to mess it up.”

Key Insights: 

• Cultivating a sense of community is one of the only ways to scale a brand now, according to Grede. Great community starts with creating for yourself: products you like, want to buy and can afford. 
• Grede describes one of his biggest mistakes — attempting to trademark the brand name “Kimono” with Kardashian — as one of the most important moments of his career because of what he learned about community and partnership. He said the Skims team listened, owned the mistake and pivoted. 
• Fashion is at the cusp of a huge change in distribution due to pivots in culture, algorithms and the outsized role of social media. Grede thinks every major fashion brand that has scaled successfully was born in the cracks of a major distribution change.  

Additional Resources: 

• Skims Plots Its Next Moves: ‘We Don’t Have the Luxury of Failing.’ Skims recently raised funding at a $3.2 billion valuation. Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, in an exclusive interview with BoF, explain how the ‘solution wear’ empire plans to prove it’s more than a pandemic fad. First up: swimwear.

• The BoF Podcast: Building Disruptive Direct-to-Consumer Brands. The entrepreneurs behind Allbirds, Hims and Hers and Good American outline the keys to their brands’ success.

• Building a DTC Challenger Brand | Download the Case Study. Fashion entrepreneurs need a new playbook to launch, scale and differentiate their companies, as regulations and rising costs mean performance marketing can no longer serve the critical role it once did for DTC brands.

Join BoF Professional today using the link here.

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After years of analyst anticipation that the leg-squeezing silhouette would soon go out of style, market research firm NPD Group found sales for the skinny jeans fell behind straight leg jeans in 2021. Skinny jeans are far from dead though — still accounting for 30 percent of sales. Retailers have already felt the effects of the shift: Pacsun pulled the style from its stores because no one was buying it. 

“It really just speaks to the changing of the times and how styles are evolving within fashion,” said BoF correspondent Chavie Leiber.  

Key Insights: 

• Skinny jeans are no longer the most popular denim silhouette, according to data from NPD Group. But, that doesn’t mean no one is buying them. 
• As consumers come out of the pandemic, they don’t just want comfort. Shoppers are either skewing toward raw denim with no stretch or athleisure and leggings — but jegging and stretch denim styles occupying the in-between have started to fall to the wayside. 
• The world is in the midst of a “denim Renaissance,” says Marie Pearson, senior vice president of denim at Madewell, who added she’s never seen so many different types of fits and shapes selling.

Additional Resources: 

• The Style That Finally Dethroned Skinny Jeans
• Why Skinny Jeans Will Never Die
• Fashion Drives New Denim Momentum

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On the heels of releasing the second, expanded edition of The BoF Sustainability Index — which assesses companies’ progress toward ambitious 2030 goals across categories such as emissions and worker’s rights — Kent and Diana Lee, director of research and analysis at BoF Insights, join Imran Amed, BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief to unpack their findings, answer questions and lay out what needs to happen next. 

Key Insights:

• Progress on sustainability has been slow. But, a few shifts are coming that may push fashion forward — including EU regulation aimed at the textile industry, and emergence of new models like resale and rental. 
• Plenty of companies have set ambitious sustainability goals. What is important now is that they move beyond target setting to real action. 
• Given that most brands don’t own their own factories, to make real progress, companies have to take charge of their whole value chains, not just their own supply chains. 
• While growing revenue and sales are often at odds with promoting less waste and consumption, there are ways to generate financial gain through reuse, especially as new technologies emerge and fashion moves to be more about community and less about peddling things. 
• Though it can’t wait for full transparency to act, fashion needs better data to understand where opportunities for improvement are.

Additional Resources:

• For more BoF sustainability coverage, sign up now for our new Weekly Sustainability Briefing by Sarah Kent.
• Widespread Inaction on Sustainability Eclipses Progress at Fashion’s Biggest Companies: Efforts to transform the fashion industry in line with global ambitions to curb climate change and establish more responsible business practices by 2030 have yet to gain sufficient momentum, The BoF Sustainability Index 2022 finds

To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link.

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At the BoF Professional Summit, viral TikTok creators Nic Kaufmann and Wisdom Kaye explained what drives success on the platform, while communications executive Christopher Bugg and talent agent Pranav Mandavia discussed the critical elements of a compelling TikTok strategy for brands.Background:

TikTok has become one of the world’s largest and buzziest social media platforms, with over a billion active monthly users. But while fashion brands are eager to experiment with the platform, they’re still figuring out what strategies work best to effectively engage creators like Nic Kaufmann and Wisdom Kaye, who took the stage at last month’s BoF Professional Summit alongside Christopher Bugg, communication director of Prada Group and Pranav Mandavia, a talent agent from United Talent Agency and BoF senior editorial associate Alexandra Mondalek. 

Successful campaigns on TikTok tend to cast a wide net, allowing creators to do what they want with a hashtag or product. Both Kaye and Kaufmann underscored the need for brands to relinquish creative control to creators to yield the best results. For creators, “the key to sustained viral success as a creator is “differentiation [of your content], as well as being a multifaceted creative,” according to Kaye.

“What defines success on TikTok is the requirement for authenticity,” Kaufmann said, explaining how his best videos — that is, those that have attracted the most viewers — are the result of brand collaborations in which he was given a wide berth to style, produce and direct his content, free of interference. 

Meanwhile, for brands, “understanding that TikTok creators are multi-hyphenates” is the key to getting the best out of partnerships,” according to Mandavia.

“When a brand partners with a TikTok creator, they need to remember that they’re essentially hiring a cameraman, a stylist, a model, all in one — we cover every single aspect of that,” said Kaye, a content creator with over eight million followers, who has partnered with brands such as Dior, Zegna and Fendi. 

Key Insights:

• Between them, viral content creators Nic Kaufmann and Wisdom Kaye have a collective 26 million followers on TikTok and have partnered with brands such as Dior, Prada, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss. 
• For brands, relinquishing creative control to creators will yield authentic content and drive organic engagement, as seen with Prada’s bucket hat challenge.
• Brands looking to partner with talent on the platform must understand that TikTok creators are multi-hyphenates — their roles encompass styling, modelling and production.

Additional Resources:

• Catch up on the BoF Professional Summit: New Frontiers in Fashion and Technology. All sessions are now available to watch on demand, exclusively for BoF Professional All-Access members.
• The Complete Guide to Influencer Marketing — Download the Case Study: As the creator space has matured, brands must be thoughtful about crafting a strategy that leverages influencer marketing’s full power, considering everything from talent scouting to the effectiveness of metrics.

To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link.

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Imaginary Ventures’ Natalie Massenet, and Natasha Franck, founder of digital ID-maker Eon join BoF technology correspondent Marc Bain to discuss Eon, how the technology works and highlight the opportunities digital IDs could create for fashion.

Each interaction a brand has with a consumer typically ends when a product is sold. Digital IDs have the potential to extend that exchange, integrating digital initiatives with products’ physical lives. A a flock of start-ups and fashion power brokers want every item of clothing, watch or handbag to have a digital twin, meaning, QR code-enabled garments that lead to a website packed with information such as an item’s material breakdown or suggestions on how to style it. It's a concept that is well-established in the automobile industry and a few other sectors, but has yet to gain traction in fashion. Proponents believe it could unlock enormous potential for consumers and brands. 

“It's moving from this very transactional relationship that brands have with customers into this service-based continuous relationship between brands and customers,” said Natasha Franck, founder and chief executive of Imaginary Ventures-backed digital ID-maker Eon at BoF’s Technology Summit.

Key Insights:

• Eon makes digital twins of physical products in the cloud based on information embedded in items using a NFC chip, RFID tag or QR code for partners including H&M, Gabriela Hearst and Zalando. 
• Massenet compares Eon’s work to building railroads at the beginning of the industrial revolution. The tracks are still being laid, but she says digital IDs have the potential to drive more connections and commerce. 
• Digital IDs represent a first step toward connecting consumers with web3 initiatives like the metaverse, could enable more seamless reselling and re-ordering as well as allow brands and influencers to collect royalties on sales.

Additional Resources:

• The Year Ahead: What Product Passports Will Do for Brands: Brands are adopting new technologies that store and share product information to improve authentication, provide transparency and boost consumer trust. However, for “product passports” to truly gain traction, businesses must coalesce around common standards and engage with pilot projects at scale.
• What Digital IDs Can Do for Fashion: Proponents of the effort to give every item its own digital identity say they’ll unlock numerous benefits for brands and shoppers alike. But for these IDs to work it will require overcoming some big obstacles first.
• Is Fashion Ready to Put Its Supply Chain on the Blockchain?: H&M and Kering are among the fashion players that have recently launched pilot programmes to trace their supply chains using blockchain technology.

Join BoF Professional today using the link here.

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BoF’s Tamison O’Connor explains how the fashion industry is betting on resortwear as consumers return to their pre-pandemic lifestyles and travel rebounds. 

Background: 

Every spring, top fashion clients, influencers and insiders are whisked away to lush destinations like Monte Carlo and Capri to indulge in fabulous dinners and cocktail parties — and sneak a peek at brands’ resort collections. Resortwear, which began as a way for luxury houses to cater to wealthy, travelling clients halfway through the main season, now represents so much more as a meaningful driver of sales for retailers. 

“It's really attractive for the true luxury customer who sees these items as a fun way to accessorise a holiday, but it's also an entry point for more aspirational and younger consumers,” said luxury correspondent Tamison O’Connor.

Key Insights: 

• As consumers start travelling and treating themselves again, luxury is betting big on vacation dressing. 
• Resortwear stands apart with more casual designs, lighter fabrics and lower prices. Brands aren’t just using these collections to attract travellers and true luxury consumers, but also to snag wealthy domestic clients and appeal to aspirational buyers.
• Retailers are picking up on opportunities to engage wealthy consumers by building buzz with events and activations surrounding resortwear online and in stores.
• Big brands are opening more stores and pop-up markets in vacation towns. 
• Luxury doesn’t expect growth in the segment to slow, even amid global economic turbulence, travel restrictions in China and skyrocketing inflation.

Additional Resources: 

• Luxury Seizes the Vacation Dressing Boom 
• Loewe's Brand Within a Brand: Is This the New Way to Do Diffusion? 
• How Fashion Is Targeting the Travel Rebound 

Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout. 

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To mark Mental Health Awareness Month, Intimacy expert and podcast host Lila lays out a formula for creating intimacy to combat loneliness.

“We are simultaneously the most connected and the loneliest we have ever been,” said intimacy expert Lila at BoF VOICES 2021, just before the Omicron wave extended further restrictions and social distancing amid the pandemic. 

Indeed, social distancing caused a complete breakdown in contact among family, friends, and entire communities. But the epidemic of loneliness predates the Covid-19 crisis, and has only worsened since the pandemic began

On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast Lila explains why intimacy is the cure for loneliness, and lays out a formula for creating authentic connections.

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Background: 

Anna Wintour is arguably the most recognisable name in fashion media. In her new biography of Wintour author Amy Odell sets out to paint a nuanced and meticulously researched picture of Wintour’s life based on hundreds of interviews and sweeping archival research. 

This week on The BoF Podcast, Odell joins BoF’s Imran Amed to talk about the process of biographing the complicated fashion titan, and provides some insight as to what she learned about Wintour’s life and career, as well as what the future holds for Vogue in a post-Anna Wintour era. 

Key Insights: 

• Even amid a number of industry shifts, including the decline of print media, Wintour has maintained her power in part because of the strong network of people — in fashion and beyond — who value her advice and her ability to bridge the  business and creative sides of fashion.
• Former colleagues and friends  have described Wintour as future-focused and hungry; she hasn’t stopped working because she enjoys the work. 
• Whoever succeeds Wintour as editor-in-chief will inherit lots of sway that comes with the role. Odell theorises that a Vogue veteran will be tapped next as has always been the case in the past. 

Additional Resources: 

• What Anna Wintour’s Big Promotion Means for Condé Nast: As the publisher focuses on returning to profitability, a new unified content strategy under Anna Wintour, more powerful at the publisher than ever, aims to make its strategy more efficient and intertwined.
• Org Chart: Vogue’s New Global Editorial Structure: The heavyweight international Vogue editors who once filled the front rows at Paris Fashion Week were gone this season, a stark sign of the restructuring that has consolidated power in the hands of global editor Anna Wintour and her regional deputies.

Join BoF Professional today using the link here.

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Husband and wife duo Gucci Westman and David Neville’s luxury beauty label Westman Atelier has become an industry favourite, winning fans for its curated collection of cosmetics, holistic approach to beauty and strong focus on ingredients.

“Our customer knows that she's getting something that is clean, is going to perform, is going to be good for her skin, and is going to be a luxury experience she hasn't had before,” said Westman. 

“We think about brand-building in the literal sense of building a brand brick by brick. Every day we are building our team, building our capacity, building our assortment, introducing new products,” shared Neville. 

In this conversation from The Business of Beauty Global Forum 2024, Priya Rao, executive editor of The Business of Beauty, sits down with Westman and Neville to discuss how they’re building a multidimensional luxury beauty brand that lasts.

Key insights:

• Growing up in Sweden, Westman said that the importance of high quality ingredients was instilled in her at a young age. “The Swedish lifestyle is all about value over quantity, having a slow burn and really savouring that experience. I think that really informed my ideas around what we should do and how we should do it,” she shared.  

• Neville believes that a product focus is crucial to longevity. “We spent about three and a half years prior to launching in the market just developing with a singular focus on our products. That mentality has been with us all along this journey.” 

• Westman highlights trust as another essential ingredient to their brand formula. “Our customer knows that she's getting something that is clean, is going to perform, and is going to be good for her skin. I think we've established this sort of loyalty and trust is imperative in this kind of thing.”

• To build a brand that lasts, Westman Atelier’s strategy is to take it all one step at a time. “We think about brand-building in the literal sense of building a brand brick by brick. Every day we are building our team, building our capacity, building our assortment, introducing new products. We're building awareness through new customer acquisition, whether that be direct to consumer or through our retail relationships,” said Neville. 

Additional resources

• How I Became… A Makeup Artist
• Can Gucci Westman Build the Next Great Luxury Beauty Brand?

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At the BoF Professional Summit, RTFKT’s co-founder explained why he agreed to sell to Nike in 2021, and unpacked how brands can leverage web3 and associated technologies to grow  their communities.

“A lot of brands are getting it wrong — they need to stop thinking about their business and ask instead: ‘what can I do for my community?’” said Benoit Pagotto, co-founder of virtual fashion start-up RTFKT Studios. 

Pagotto added that fashion brands need to invest in incentivising individuals to build an engaged community in the long run. 

Giving people access to digital assets or tokens such as NFTs, which can increase in value over time, helps customers feel they are contributing to a brand’s growth story, he explained, but adding that brands also need a new mindset.

“The word ‘consumer’ is over,” he said, noting how the democratising nature of the web3. “has shifted power to the individual, and now brands’ communities will define their value.”

Key Insights: 

• Co-founded by Benoit Pagotto at the beginning of the pandemic as a virtual fashion platform, RTFKT was acquired by Nike in December 2021, marking the sportswear giant’s most significant push into the metaverse. 
• In late April, the two companies revealed their first product: a pair of virtual Nike Dunk sneakers, whose look owners can change with different digital skins.
• Pagotto believes that building and engaging communities is a long-term endeavour that requires customer incentivisation, rather than social media strategies.

Additional Resources:

• How Brands Are Using NFTs to Keep Customers Hooked: Brands like Adidas, Gucci and The Hundreds are finding the tokens are a great way to reward their superfans. But maintaining that loyalty can be hard work.
• Op-Ed | Notes From an NFT Sceptic: Nike, Adidas and other big brands have plunged headlong into the latest crypto craze. But companies and their customers may soon discover converting virtual fashion into real-world profits isn’t so easy. Caveat emptor, warns The NPD Group’s Matt Powell.

Join BoF Professional today using the link here.

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Richard Christiansen pursued a career in fashion as an escape from his upbringing in rural Australia, where his parents worked as beekeepers and sugar cane farmers. In 2005, he founded global creative agency Chandelier Creative, which worked  with clients like Hermès, Cartier and Calvin Klein. But when the pandemic hit, everything spun out: work evaporated, he lost his New York office and was forced to let some employees go. 

Even amid those challenges, new opportunities emerged. Christiansen ended up revamping a dilapidated Los Angeles garden and found himself embedded in the local farming community. Soon, these new connections, with everyone from wine makers to olive growers, led to the creation of Flamingo Estate, a brand which generated about $6 million in sales in 2021 and has developed over 150 products, such as olive oils, vinegars, candles and soaps.

This week on the BoF Podcast, Christiansen talks about creativity and resilience and how the two helped him build Flamingo Estate. 

“Spending my whole career trying to get excited about make believe and luxury goods, It’s funny that the thing I love the most was right under my nose the whole time,” Christiansen said last year at BoF VOICES. His dream is to support more farms and businesses to move to regenerative agricultural practices. 

“To me, that would be a fantasy that it’s really worth fighting for,” he said.

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Fast fashion upstart Shein set the industry ablaze this month after reports it was seeking to raise $1 billion in funding at a $100 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. Shein has upended fast fashion by making apparel at jaw-droppingly low price points and gaining market share, attracting major investors. But is it profitable?

“Even if Shein isn’t profitable now, the thesis is that if enough people shop from the brand it would be able to leverage some of its operational costs … It could become a very lucrative business,” said Chen. 

Key Insights

• While it is unknown whether Shein is profitable, the retailer drives ultra-high sales volume and razor-thin margins 
• Shein is powered by a nimble, AI-driven supply chain, which allows it to produce a plethora of trendy items for an internet-obsessed young fashion audience almost instantaneously. 
• The retailer’s app uses casino-like tactics and rewards to draw shoppers in and keep them buying, sharing and engaging. 
• Despite its murky manufacturing process and reputation for amplifying rates of consumption, Shein is popular among young consumers — who purport to care about sustainability.

Additional Resources

• The $100 Billion Shein Phenomenon Explained: Reports revealed that Shein is seeking over $1 billion in funding at a $100 billion valuation. BoF breaks down how the fast-fashion disruptor has built a global business that now rivals Zara and H&M.
• How to Compete With Shein: The Chinese fast fashion giant built an empire on unmatched speed-to-market and unbelievably low prices. To compete, others must play a different game.

Search for 'The Debrief' and make sure to follow wherever you get your podcasts to never miss an episode.

Join BoF Professional today with our exclusive podcast listener discount of 25% off an annual membership, follow the link here and enter the coupon code ‘debrief’ at checkout. 

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In the final episode, professor of psychology Sheldon Solomon, Depop’s head of sustainability Justine Porterie, The Fabricant’s head of content and strategy Michaela Larosse and Chloé's chief sustainability officer Aude Vergne join retail futurist Doug Stephens to explore how evolving consumer preferences are shaping purchasing decisions. In this final episode of Retail Reborn, we explore the future consumer’s preferences and needs, and how this is shaping their purchasing decisions, from the V-shaped recovery of the personal luxury goods industry in 2021 to the renewed verve in, and take on, the experiential economy as the world reopened post-global lockdowns.

“It’s worthwhile to question the extent to which some of the changes we are witnessing are truly indicative of longer-term shifts in behaviour, or an almost primally motivated response to the profound medical threat of the pandemic, not to mention the social, political and economic unrest that it has unleashed,” says podcast host and retail futurist Doug Stephens.

The conversation examines human behaviour and the effects the pandemic might have played in the mindsets of young consumers, before discussing evolving attitudes towards ownership, the rise of responsible goods and sustainability in a luxury fashion house and the resale market — an industry expected to nearly triple by 2025.

Finally, we explore virtual technology’s presence in consumption preferences, from the evolution of sampling processes to the increased interest in digital products. Indeed, the metaverse is projected to provide a $50 billion revenue opportunity for luxury by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley, and the first Metaverse Virtual Fashion Week took place last month.

To break down what consumers will buy, four global experts share their insights and expertise with host Doug Stephens.

Listen to all episodes of Retail Reborn Season 2 on the BoF Podcast, to discover actionable insights into the opportunities and challenges the consumer of tomorrow will bring.

Brookfield Properties is building marketplaces of the future that meet the needs of the modern shopper. Discover more.

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Teacher, farmer and indigenous women’s rights activist Seno Tsuha travelled over 40 hours from her home in Nagaland, northeast India, to reach Soho Farmhouse in time for BoF VOICES 2021 because she had an important message to share with the global fashion community. 

“When it comes to textiles we use, it’s not just a piece of cloth, it has cultural meaning,” said Tsuha. “When we talk about respect, especially in fashion, it’s very important to understand the local context or historical context and also the social meanings, the cultural meanings attached to the piece of cloth. If you understand that, and if you acknowledge that, that’s where respect comes in.”

Alongside Rebecca Hui, the founder of indigenous arts organisation Roots Studio, Tsuha led a compelling conversation on why cultural inspiration doesn’t always have to be problematic. Together, they suggested a framework for more mindful cross-cultural borrowing rooted in respect, reciprocity and remuneration.

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In this weekly series,  BoF’s chief correspondent will go behind the scenes of the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry. 

Fashion has the ability to move markets, shake up cultural norms and even transform society. But who — and what — are the forces driving major change?

We’re answering that question on The Debrief, a new weekly podcast series from The Business of Fashion, where we go beyond the industry’s glossy veneer to understand how the fashion business is evolving, from the inside out.

Hosted by BoF’s chief correspondent Lauren Sherman, The Debrief will be your guide into the megalablels, indie upstarts and unforgettable personalities shaping the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry. Each week, Lauren will take you through BoF Professional story —  in conversation with our correspondents and industry experts — to unpack the analysis and insights you need to know to navigate an industry undergoing rapid change.From the rise of direct-to-consumer disruptors, to the rapid consolidation of the luxury industry, to cultural shifts turning beauty upside down.

BoF covers it all.

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Adjunct professor in global digital economy Winston Ma, design and blockchain expert Marjorie Hernandez de Vogelsteller, and fashion tech lawyer Gina Bibby join founder of Retail Prophet, Doug Stephens, to assess the evolving payment space and behaviour.

This episode tackles how consumers will shop, deep diving into the transaction processes themselves and how methods of payment are changing, from biometric payment to the Replenishment Economy, as well as innovative paths-to-purchase and how brands and retailers are engaging with them, including the gamification of sales and products.

In 2020, Epic Games reported over $1 billion in microtransaction sales from the mobile version of the Fortnite game alone, across in-game upgrades, costumes and player capabilities. Seeing the potential in this space, brands across the value spectrum have embraced the world of gaming, from Nikeland on Roblox to Balenciaga’s Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow to showcase the brand’s Autumn Winter 2021 collection.

“Both gaming and livestreaming are part of a broader move toward [...] ambient retail — a state where retail is everywhere, woven into every social or entertainment experience. [It is] an evolution that may spell the end of the centralised and search-driven web shopping convention we’ve lived with for the past 30 years,” says podcast host and founder of Retail Prophet, Doug Stephens.

The conversation also considers the evolution of currency, from crypto and blockchain to Bitcoin and Ethereum, detailing their distinct qualities, entrance into the mainstream payment space and popularity among next-gen consumers. Indeed, more than half of Millennial millionaires have at least 50 percent of their wealth in crypto, while nearly 60 percent of Gen-Z believe wealth is achievable through investments in cryptocurrency, according to Business Insider.

To deep dive into how the next-gen consumer will buy products and experiences in the future, BoF gathers three global authorities to share insights with host Doug Stephens.

Follow the series to ensure you never miss an episode and discover actionable insights into the opportunities and challenges the consumer of tomorrow will bring, and how retail’s transformation will impact your business.

Brookfield Properties is building marketplaces of the future that meet the needs of the modern shopper. Discover more.

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The former barrister and author of “A Dutiful Boy” examines intersectionality and identity at BoF VOICES. 

Just before the pandemic hit, Mohsin Zaidi, former barrister and author of the memoir “A Dutiful Boy,” was preparing for his wedding. When he tried on his sherwani, a traditional garment for South Asian grooms, he didn’t feel excited. Zaidi spent his whole life battling between his Muslim faith and his identity as a gay man. 

In his inspiring talk from BoF VOICES 2021, Zaidi examined the thorny topic of intersectionality and identity. On the latest episode of The BoF Podcast, Zaidi shares his experience of finding peace with multiplicity, cultivating bravery and pushing through fear. 

“We are all born whole. We are born one thing, but quickly broken into parts because of societal expectations and cultural norms,” he said. 

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McKinsey’s head of retail practises in Central and South America Tracy Francis, luxury analyst Erwan Rambourg and Warby Parker’s SVP of retail Sandy Gilsenan join Doug Stephens, founder of Retail Prophet, to examine the global forces redefining consumer behaviour and circumstances, and the implications on retail habits.

BoF assesses how the climate crisis and economic downturns are impacting consumer behaviour and retail practices, before addressing the new centres of wealth and income polarisation on a global scale. In the US, for example, more than 50 percent of American wealth in 2020 was held by Baby Boomers, or those born between 1946 and 1964, while Millennials held less than 10 percent, according to Harvard Business Review. In contrast, young consumers in China are powering an unprecedented level of spending as the first generation to come of age during China’s economic revolution — almost 80 percent of luxury spending in China today is by those under the age of 40.

The conversation goes on to analyse younger consumers’ relationship with luxury, and the industry’s evolution in democratising access for such consumers, before considering the strategy behind one direct-to-consumer brand’s post-pandemic brick-and-mortar expansion plan, attuned to the next-gen consumer whose expectations far exceed those of previous generations.

Follow the series to ensure you never miss an episode and discover actionable insights into the opportunities and challenges the consumer of tomorrow will bring, and how retail’s transformation will impact your business.

Brookfield Properties is building marketplaces of the future that meet the needs of the modern shopper. Discover more.

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In her return to the BoF VOICES stage in 2021, she said: “If change is only embedded in the present, change will be a moment, not a movement.” 

Burke lays out a path for removing abelism from our society. Systemic change, she said, has to happen based around four pillars: people, places, product and promotions, and be jump-started with awareness, allyship and advocacy. 

In short this means “nothing about us, without us.”

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Footballer Héctor Bellerín first made a name for himself with his defensive skills on the pitch but it’s his outspoken views and distinctive personal style that have transformed the Spanish right-back into a cultural trailblazer.

Now, Héctor, who has been called “the world’s best-dressed footballer”, is launching a new label, Gospel Estudios, which has served a creative outlet as he continues to play football.

“This was a way to recharge my battery. It was a way of learning something new, do stuff with my hands, trying new things. It was a process of discovery and learning and trial and error,” he says.

This week on The BoF Podcast, Héctor sits down with me to talk about the burgeoning relationship between fashion and football, how he developed his strong sense of personal style, and to share his plans for the launch of Gospel Estudios for the first time on The Business of Fashion.

Key Insights:

• After starting his career in Barcelona, Bellerin moved to London in 2011 to play for Arsenal. During his nine years at the club his off-duty style gained him both media admiration and criticism. “I got a lot of stick when I was at Arsenal and things didn’t go well, a lot of people used to say he’s not playing well because he’s focused on fashion,” he says.
• Héctor Bellerín looked to another footballer, David Beckham, as an example of how to bridge the gap between fashion and sport. “He opened doors for everyone. And I think not just in football, but for men overall … In these very masculine places it’s very hard to be different.”
• At Gospel Estudios, dependence, rather than independence, is the foundation upon which Bellerín is building his sustainable brand. “My mom works in the studio. My friend’s dad works in the studio. My granddad repaired sewing machines back in the day so he repairs the same machines,” he says. “It’s important to let people know that we are dependent. We are dependent on a lot of people.”
• Sharing his philosophy on responsible consumption, Bellerín encourages potential buyers of Gospel Estudios to really think about the item in question before they buy it. “Take the time to just breathe and think, is this something that I am ready to have a relationship with? Because this is what it is.”

Additional Resources:

• Inside the Big Business of Styling Athletes: NBA stars and footballers are leaning on a network of powerful style consultants to help shape their personal brands outside of their day jobs, laying the groundwork for lucrative brand deals.
• Why Luxury Brands Want in on Football: Despite the rocky history between fashion and football, luxury brands from Moncler to Dior are looking to benefit from the cultural power and global audience of the world’s most popular sport.
• How Athletes Became Fashion Week Royalty: It’s not just sports superstars sitting front row at fashion week. Today, luxury labels are looking to work with emerging athletes from niche sports, giving rise to new dealmakers who match brands with eager skateboarders, boxers and rugby players.

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Associate professor Thomas J. Campanella, ‘Godmother of the Metaverse’ Cathy Hackl and Stôur Group co-founders Sonny Gindi and Eden Melloul join Doug Stephens, founder of Retail Prophet, to discuss how physical and virtual consumer landscapes are evolving to meet next-gen consumer demands. 

Presented by Brookfield Properties, BoF investigates the consumer of tomorrow — how new fundamentals will shape the lives and behaviours of the next-generation consumer, and the impact on the retail industry today.

We begin by examining the redrawing of city life as new lifestyle patterns have propelled a seismic shift in the urban landscape. Globally, cities experienced a mass exodus of residents and commuters as the pandemic popularised remote living and working. 

The episode goes on to discuss how retailers are exploring innovative methods and use-cases for physical retail to better engage consumers in-store, such as New York’s Allure Store and its focus on media as the store’s metric for success. 

The conversation also illuminates the fast-emerging retail opportunities within the metaverse, discussing luxury fashion and beauty’s initial steps into this space, and the potential in leveraging the likes of NFTs, skins and blockchain technologies. Indeed, BoF and McKinsey & Co.’s State of Fashion Report 2022 cites estimates that the total addressable market for digital fashion is $31 billion.

Follow the series to ensure you never miss an episode and discover actionable insights into the opportunities and challenges the consumer of tomorrow will bring, and how retail’s transformation will impact your business.

Brookfield Properties is building marketplaces of the future that meet the needs of the modern shopper. Discover more.

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Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just four weeks ago, thousands of people have been killed and  more than 10 million people have been displaced. Among those impacted are Julie Pelipas, former fashion director of Vogue Ukraine and founder of fashion upcycling platform Bettter; Lilia Litkovskaya, designer and founder of her namesake brand and Vadim Rogovskiy, chief executive and founder of virtual try-on company 3DLook. 

On the latest episode of The BoF Podcast, Pelipas, Litkovskaya and Rogovskiy spoke to BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed to share their personal reflections and experiences, and examined what's next for the Ukrainian fashion industry.

Resources to Support the Ukrainian Fashion Community:

• Bettter Community: https://community.bettter.us/
• Help Ukraine Win: https://helpukrainewin.org
• Lilia Litkovskaya: https://litkovskaya.com/

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Podcast host and founder of Retail Prophet, Doug Stephens, is joined by 14 global authorities and thought leaders, from fashion and retail executives to futurists and academics, in this second series of Retail Reborn. Guests will share insights on the changing consumer lifestyles and expectations shaping the retail ecosystem, discussing generational expectations as shaped by the pandemic, climate crisis and economic downturns, as well as examining where, how and what next-gen consumers will buy.

Retail Reborn Season 2 launches on 28th March 2022. Subscribe now to never miss an episode.

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“Everywhere I've been, I have had to get comfortable with being a bit of an outsider, which often means the decisions I come to — are different to the normal consensus,” said Kingori. “It's OK to be intuitive. It's actually great to lean into your differences rather than try to push to assimilate too much.”

Discover leadership opportunities on BoF Careers across more than 300 of the fashion industry’s leading brands, businesses, retailers and media companies.

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These evolving expectations are having a profound impact on how leaders have to run their businesses. At BoF VOICES 2021, Kevin J. Delaney, co-founder and CEO of media and Charter and former editor-in-chief of Quartz, examined the qualities leaders need to assimilate today.

On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast, Delaney says: “One question I hear often from leaders is how do they find the right balance between a focus on operational performance of their business and these new expectations of their employees?”

Explore employment opportunities across more than 350 businesses on BoF Careers,The Global Marketplace for Fashion Talent.

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“The way we make and use things accounts for 45 percent of greenhouse gases and 90 percent of biodiversity loss,” said Dame Ellen MacArthur at BoF VOICES 2021.  

In this conversation with BoF’s Sarah Kent,  MacArthur lays  out a vision for an alternate “circular” economy where the lifecycle of garments is extended through better design, including the use of more resilient, recyclable materials, and using systems throughout the manufacturing and sales process to facilitate items’ repair, reuse, and eventual transformation into something new. 

But this kind of systemic change will require a collective and coordinated push from suppliers, designers, brands and retailers across fashion’s value chain.

“We need to work together to make this happen. You need the entire value chain in the room,” said MacArthur, adding that though such comprehensive change is a challenge, it's also an opportunity. Circular business models, including resale and rental, are on track to become a $700 billion market representing 23 percent of the fashion industry by 2030. 

“Business as usual doesn't work,” said MacArthur. “It's not the solution.”

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“We are moving through a decade in which we are proactively looking for the businesses, the brands, the products, the goods and the services that will help us on our journey to become healthier, wealthier and happier,” said Sanderson.

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Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez speak to BoF’s Lauren Sherman about their journey from one-time fashion wunderkinds to seasoned entrepreneurs, navigating a series of ups and downs.

Fresh out of fashion school — armed with approval from then Barneys New York fashion director Julie Gilhart, who bought their Parsons senior thesis collection in 2002, and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who helped them stage their first show in 2003 — Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez followed early 2000s American fashion’s script for success. They took investment quickly, produced buzzy runway shows and an ‘it’ item in the form of the PS1 bag, and began launching new categories and distribution deals — but struggled to achieve sustained commercial success.

“By 2018, the board of directors was quite large and in charge and we weren’t. That’s when, I guess, shit hit the fan,” said Hernandez. 

So, 15 years after its 2002 launch and on the brink of bankruptcy, McCollough and Hernandez bought Proenza Schouler back from private equity firm Castanea Partners, installed fashion turnaround veteran Kay Hong as chief executive, and positioned the brand for growth in 2020, just before the pandemic hit. It appears their strategy is working: Proenza Schouler broke even in 2021 and is on a path to profitability in 2022. 

On the latest episode of The BoF Podcast, McCullough and Hernandez join BoF’s chief correspondent Lauren Sherman following her feature, “The Nine Lives of Proenza Schouler,” to chat about their experience so far — and the brand’s next chapter.

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One of the planet’s oldest lifeforms was the centrepiece of some of last year’s biggest stories in material innovation in fashion. But beyond fungi’s potential for shaping the future of materials, its ability to build things and create networks can provoke our imaginations and make us question the way we organise our lives, according to Merlin Sheldrake, biologist and author of “Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures.”

Download our latest Case Study: ‘Fashion’s Race for New Materials’ here

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In 2014, in a nondescript basement club in East London, Charles Jeffrey’s Loverboy was born. At the age of 18, the Scottish-born designer moved from Glasgow to London to pursue a BA in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins and has since earned his place in the long line of highly creative fashion designers coming from the city. With an upcoming exhibition at Somerset House, the one time upstart is ready to look back on 10 years of his brand.

“I'm Charles Jeffrey, I'm not Alexander McQueen, I'm Charles Jeffrey, I'm not Gareth Pugh. I'm Charles Jeffrey, I'm not John Galliano,” he said. “I have a way of looking at fashion and I want to nurture that and see it to its end.”

This week on The BoF Podcast, Jeffrey joins me to share his journey into London’s fashion scene and reflect on the past, present and future of Loverboy, underscoring that he has his own unique vision to contribute to fashion. 

Key Insights:

• Jeffrey credits video games for sparking his interest in fashion design. “I was a big geek and me and my friends would play in the forests and play Lord of the Rings with sticks. I would sit and draw the outfits and characters that we would all be. We all had our own alter egos and we would just really live in that world.” 

• Since the inception of Loverboy, Jeffrey was conscious of building a brand, and chose not to name the brand after himself. “I could have had a business that was just called Charles Jeffrey but I wanted to keep that Loverboy thing because I felt it was a sticky kind of concept. I could apply it to products, Loverboy tartan, Loverboy polka dot, Loverboy pinstripe, or the Loverboy beanie,” he said. “All these things, you start to give them names; it's the psychology of business and brands and advertising.”

• Jeffrey understands that creating core hero products is essential to creating brand loyalty and drawing in customers to discover other products.  “How can I make a beanie, which is a bit of a novelty and a throwaway, something that people will buy from us for another ten years? How do you change the perspective of that to somebody so that they come to us for that but then the psychology of this novelty beanie also makes them think, ‘I bet they do great jumpers or I bet they do a really nice bag’.” 

• Looking to the future, Jefrrey’s  aim is to create a sustainable, independent business. “My goal, in the next three to five years, is to build an element of the brand that's not reliant on a wholesale model, that's not relying on the fashion model, per se.” he says. “You can push the brand into all these spaces but if the sell-through isn't right, if you've not got the story behind it, if you've not got the relationship with the clients, it just dies a death.”

Additional resources 

• Charles Jeffrey on What It’s Like to Be a Rising Designer in the Midst of a Pandemic 
• Charles Jeffrey Loverboy’s Furious Physicality   
• A Tang of Revolution at Charles Jeffrey  

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At BoF VOICES 2021, Jay Shetty spoke about how his experiences as a monk taught him not only how to find purpose, but how to live with it.

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Up until a week ago, Jonathan Anderson was set to show his J.W. Anderson show in Milan, but Omicron has put paid to that, and Jonathan had to quickly change his plans and instead film a presentation at the Scala in Kings Cross London. BoF's editor at large, Tim Blanks, sat down with Jonathan to discuss his responses to the challenges presented by the pandemic. Jonathan has done everything from a show in a box to a show on a wall, and this time he has continued his optimism and enthusiasm in the face of the pandemic. 

Read Tim Blanks' full article here. 

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