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Luxury Briefing: How Ralph Lauren is taking a seasonal approach to its US Open activation

In this week’s Luxury Briefing, I look into American luxury prep brand Ralph Lauren – as its marketing investment reaches 8.2% of sales, the brand is extending the tennis tournament into a retail season spanning luxury hospitality, personalization, vintage and home. Also, luxury brands‘ bet on animation in the face of AI, executive moves at Farfetch, and news from Frasers and Shein. For tips or comments, email me at zofia@glossy.co.The U.S. Open begins Sunday, but for Ralph Lauren, it started ne...
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Why Mike Ashley’s growing luxury empire has the fashion industry on edge

This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • SpotifyBritish billionaire Mike Ashley has spent decades building a retail empire by acquiring companies at moments of distress. Now, the Frasers Group founder is making his biggest move yet into luxury by acquiring British department store Harvey Nichols.On this week’s Glossy Podcast, inte...
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How BaubleBar is turning college fandom into a year-round growth engine

The collegiate business of BaubleBar, the accessories brand founded in 2011, is growing quickly, but the company is increasingly looking beyond the traditional back-to-school sales opportunity.The brand’s collegiate revenue is up more than 50% year to date, after launching the category with 12 schools in February 2025. It now works with 25 schools, including Pennsylvania State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Florida, the University of Tennessee and the University of Tex...
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Luxury Briefing: Frasers acquired Harvey Nichols for $54 million. Fixing it could cost $270 million

In this week’s Luxury Briefing, I check in on what it would really take to turn U.K. luxury retailer Harvey Nichols around after the aggressive buyout process from Mike Ashley’s Frasers. Also, Tapestry earnings, executive moves at Exemplar Luxury Group and Centric Brands, and news to know. For tips or comments, email me at zofia@glossy.co.Frasers Group has acquired Harvey Nichols, one of Britain’s best-known luxury department stores, for around $54 million (£40 million), according to the Financi...
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As global sourcing gets harder, LA’s apparel infrastructure gets more valuable

As tariffs and freight disruption make overseas sourcing harder to predict, one of the few large apparel manufacturing hubs left in the U.S. is getting a closer look.On July 23, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative finalized new Section 301 tariffs tied to forced-labor import rules across 60 economies, with duties of 10% or 12.5%, subject to exemptions. The duties took effect on July 24. On August 12, Reuters reported another sign of shipping disruption: Vessel traffic through the Strait...
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Exclusive: Urban Outfitters launches its first back-to-campus commercial

Urban Outfitters is making its biggest advertising push yet around the college shopping season.On Wednesday, the retailer launches “All Together Now,” its first dedicated back-to-campus commercial, featuring 76 students from more than 10 universities. The campaign will run across social media, stores and connected TV, marking a move into longer-form advertising as Urban Outfitters looks to build on its recent turnaround and acquire more college-age customers.Filmed inside Rutgers University’s 52...
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Luxury Briefing: Could luxury’s next 'it' product be software? Brunello Cucinelli’s is already a 7-figure business

In this week’s Luxury Briefing, I speak with chief of humanistic technology Francesco Bottigliero about Brunello Cucinelli‘s AI software platform, Callimacus, and its new Salesforce partnership. The company is betting that its technology expertise can become a booming business of its own. Elsewhere, Ralph Lauren and Capri Holdings are showing where luxury demand is holding up, while Lyst’s latest data spotlights the brands and cultural forces capturing shoppers’ attention. For tips or comments,...
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Copenhagen Fashion Week built the Scandi boom. Can it still grow another Ganni?

This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • SpotifyCopenhagen Fashion Week is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, marking two decades in which it has grown from a regional trade event into what is often described as fashion’s unofficial fifth city.Running from August 3-7, the spring 2027 edition includes 34 shows and presenta...
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Retail’s new operating model centers on leaner teams, smarter data and physical community

At a recent Brand Leaders Dinner hosted by Glossy and Modern Retail, in partnership with Global Payments, founders and C-suite executives from across fashion, beauty and retail gathered to discuss the pressures shaping their businesses, from artificial intelligence and changing hiring plans to the rising cost of building awareness at retail.The discussion was held under Chatham House Rules, allowing attendees to speak candidly without their comments being attributed to them or their companies.Th...
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Luggage brands are gunning for a bigger share of the travel gear wardrobe

Premium luggage brands are moving beyond the suitcase as more customers seek out a “travel wardrobe”.After the post-pandemic travel boom, the luggage category is still growing, but the next phase of growth is more complicated than before. Euromonitor data cited by Vogue Business showed the global luggage market grew 4.5% to $19 billion in 2024, driven by consumers’ continued appetite for travel and experiences. But for premium brands, market growth does not erase a structural problem: The better...
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Glossy Pop Newsletter: How 16-year-old Embreigh Courtlyn turned her friend group into a $2.2 million Target launch

Target’s latest creator-led fashion bet is built around a 16-year-old Alabama creator, her highly invested young fan base and a friend group whose trips, fallouts and reunions are followed like an ongoing TikTok reality show.Embreigh Edit, the new tween fashion line from Embreigh Courtlyn, generated more than $2.2 million in sales during its first two weeks, according to the brand. The collection launched on June 14 across Target’s more than 2,000 U.S. stores and on Target.com. Its $25 bubble ho...
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Luxury Briefing: Luxury’s recovery has a value-for-money problem

In this week’s Luxury Briefing, I take a deep dive into the most significant group of earnings in recent months, from LVMH, Kering, Hermés, Prada Group, Brunello Cucinelli and EssilorLuxottica – with analyst takes from Bernstein’s Luca Solca. It seems that as brands are adjusting to slow growth, they’re trying to meet customers at all price points, not always successfully. Also, how Frasers is buying up and buying into more of the U.K. luxury space, and what Arnault said on X in reply to the Le...
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As Zendaya spins another 'Spider-Man' fashion story, has method dressing gone too far?

This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • SpotifyMethod dressing is once again dominating the red carpet.At the Los Angeles premiere of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on July 27, Zendaya arrived in an Ashi Studio fall 2026 gown with a plunging neckline framed by sculptural elements resembling a spider’s appendages. Three days later, s...
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Peach & Lily brings 'zombie cell' innovation to Ulta’s skin-care assortment

Peach & Lily is betting that, much like brands championing peptides, its focus on “zombie cells” can turn complicated science into a mainstream beauty category. On Monday, Peach & Lily launched its Advanced Rebound BioGlow Zombie Cream for $59, exclusively at Ulta Beauty. The product is rolling out across more than 1,500 Ulta stores and Ulta.com under a 12-month retail exclusivity agreement, following three years of research and development.The term “zombie cells” first became popular in aging r...
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Snif and Ulta are betting male teenage ‘fragheads’ can become a serious retail business

The U.S. men’s grooming market reached $7.1 billion in 2025, growing 6.9% year over year, according to NielsenIQ, with fragrance among the categories driving that growth. At the same time, fragrance has continued to outperform the wider prestige beauty market, helped by younger shoppers treating scent as a collectible and increasingly social category.Now, Snif and Ulta Beauty are betting that young male fragrance enthusiasts can become a meaningful new retail customer.On July 29, Snif, the digit...
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Luxury Briefing: Why Zegna is outperforming Moncler in luxury’s uneven recovery

For the Luxury Briefing, Glossy looked at the different second-quarter performances of Moncler and Ermenegildo Zegna Group. Moncler was held back by weaker tourism and delayed winter purchases, while Zegna benefited from strong DTC growth, high-spending clients and momentum in the U.S. Additionally, new Traackr data shows paid creator-marketing value for U.S. luxury fashion brands fell by more than half in June. For tips or comments, email me at zofia@glossy.co.Moncler and Ermenegildo Zegna Grou...
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American Eagle is turning RushTok and malls into its back-to-school sales engine

For this back-to-school season, American Eagle is filling sorority houses with denim, sending creators into malls and selling limited-edition jeans in its physical stores as it attempts to turn the back-to-school frenzy into customer acquisition and denim sales.The retailer’s 2026 back-to-school campaign, launched on July 22, spans approximately 10 weeks and combines mall events, campus partnerships and major talent. The latter includes Sydney Sweeney, recently signed country singer Ella Langley...
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Luxury Briefing: Private shopping is powering Toccin’s international expansion

In this week’s Luxury Briefing, Glossy looks at how contemporary womenswear brand Toccin is using private shopping events, trunk shows and full-look selling to fuel its expansion. Also, what Richemont’s latest results signal about the widening divide within luxury. Plus, executive moves at Bottega Veneta, Balmain and La Perla, and other industry news to know. For tips or comments, email me at zofia@glossy.co.Three weeks after opening its first U.K. shop-in-shop at Harrods, New York-based contemp...
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Victoria's Secret Pink's Gen-Z-focused holiday strategy, with president Ali Dillon

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • SpotifyPink wants to be the first stop on a Gen-Z shopper’s trip to the mall this holiday season. To get there, the Victoria’s Secret-owned brand is expanding beyond the pajamas, fleece and intimates it is best known for, using accessories, denim, beauty and collaborations to position itself as a broader lifestyle brand for 18- to 24-year-old women.The strategy follows a period of renewed momentum. Pink delivered low-double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2026, s...
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The Nue Co. expects fragrance to reach 85% of sales as Ulta fuels growth

Two years ago, fragrance generated around 20% of The Nue Co.’s sales, with the company still best known for supplements and its subscription-led wellness business. This year, the category is expected to account for 85% of total company net sales, as the wellness company redirects its inventory, marketing and product pipeline around its fastest-growing business.The shift has been propelled by The Nue Co.’s expansion into 1,400 permanent Ulta Beauty stores in early 2026, with distribution extendin...
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Luxury Briefing: As luxury shoppers become more selective, couture is becoming a stronger VIC tool

In this week’s Luxury Briefing, Glossy digs into Haute Couture Week in Paris with luxury sourcer Gab Waller, designer Rahul Mishra and Bain senior partner Federica Levato — the brands taking part are increasingly looking to younger customers as their next long-term clients, the sources said. Also, why Pandora and Levi’s chose the event to launch new collaborations, and executive moves at Tory Burch. For tips or comments, email me at zofia@glossy.co.At Paris Haute Couture Week, which ran from Mon...
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Stripes Beauty expands to 448 Ulta stores as menopause care moves into the mainstream

Six months after entering four Ulta Beauty stores, Stripes Beauty is expanding into 448 locations, marking the Naomi Watts-founded menopause care brand’s first major national retail rollout.Across the 448 stores, beginning July 26, Stripes will expand its in-store assortment to five products spanning skin care, body care and intimate wellness: Rich & Tight, The Full Monty, Vag of Honor, Oh My Glide and Dew as I Do. The brand’s full assortment, which also includes hair care and supplements, is av...
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On is betting on robots and nearshoring to gain an advantage

On is exploring how to expand its automated LightSpray manufacturing system beyond Switzerland and South Korea, potentially establishing production in Europe and the U.S.For On, faster production closer to demand is ultimately about selling with less guesswork. The company could launch smaller quantities, restock winners more quickly and avoid committing as much inventory months before it knows what customers want. Over time, that could mean fewer markdowns, more regionally localized product dro...
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Inside On’s innovation engine and apparel ambitions, as its founders return to lead the next phase

With its apparel business growing 57.5% year over year and its LightSpray technology moving into scaled production, On gave media rare access to the Zurich labs behind its push to become a broader premium sportswear brand.During a tour of On’s Zurich performance lab in June, Swiss triathlete and Olympian Max Studer ran on a treadmill wearing a breathing mask and reflective markers fixed to his legs, waist and shoes. Cameras tracked his movement as data appeared on nearby monitors. Elsewhere in t...
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