Join my Substack Live later today: I’m doing a Substack Live with Viv Chen who writes the incredible The Molehill. We will be discussing all things San Francisco style, Vogue World San Francisco, Bay Area retail and fashion. Join us TODAY/Thursday at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT. Click here to join us.

In this send: After reading The RealReal’s Resale Report and other recent retail insights I had a lot of ideas about the state of designer retail that we need to discuss. Plus: Cou Cou Intimates, days of the week underwear, Cos’s new viral bag, Old Navy beauty, Prada Wish in red, the buckle logo, what brand had a 24 percent increase in New With Tags items at The RealReal (I’ll tell you!), teens it shopping tote bag, UWS sporty row, Knox Street in Dallas, Addison Bay, and in retail the end of summer always means you better have all your holiday Q4 plans and strategies locked and loaded.

New Collabs

• The pairing of Cou Cou Intimates x Sandy Liang is the perfect collaboration of nostalgic, sweet, feminine, little girly but all grown up details. I really like these two together for a modern take on the days of the week underwear. The collection has a pajama shirt, pajama pants, a boxer with french lace, a baby tank top and days of the week underwear. Made with 100 percent organic cotton.

• Topshop announced their collab with Cara Delevingne. Lots of statement denim like this full skirt and these oversized loose shorts which remind me of the “tailored and structured baggy” style that will be trending for Fall according to the denim experts I interviewed.

• Gap x Malbon for their second time on the golf course. I like them teaming up because it makes Malbon very accessible and gives Gap a reason to play in a sport. Plus no drama from this golf brand this week, thank goodness.

• Did you see Delia’s x Target? After the Limited Too buzz and the Esprit at Costco, I’m surprised this hasn’t gotten more chatter.

• I added the Addison Bay x Philadelphia Eagles collab to the Fandom tracker where I’m following all the fashion brands collabing with sports teams, universities, and whatever else is adjacent to that. More on Addison Bay in the New Store Openings section below.

• There has been a lot of J.Crew tiny Rollneck™ chatter this week (yes, I’m part of that) but I’m into these J.Crew x Clark Wallabees. This feels like a step in the right direction for both brands.

New Launches

• This handbag from Cos has been all over Instagram and TikTok and something is going on because it is no longer on the US commerce site. The Trullo bag (the page might still be going to a 404, I’ll update when it is live again) is being described as a dupe for the Balenciaga Rodeo and the Chanel Maxi Flap. (I also want to see this Cos handbag in person.)

• Beauty is ON: Old Navy launched their beauty category with their own bath & body care items and an assortment built from partners like Tony Moly, Patchology, and Buxom. They went really heavy in the patches. Gap Inc shares their earnings today (Thursday) but it is too early to share any details from this launch.

  More Gap Inc news, the first of Reed Krakoff’s product for Gap was shared in September Bazaar that I quickly flipped through last night. A very all-American denim silhouette. I wonder if we will nickname this the de-rkin. As in the “denim Birkin”. Can someone come up with a good name?

  

• More denim campaign launches:

  • Tate McRae is the face of Calvin Klein denim. The products from the campaign are here.

  • 7 for all mankind with Chloe Sevigny. Their new fall collection is here.

  • You can now shop With Nothing Underneath’s denim collection. There is a classic straight leg, baggy style, and a cropped wide leg.

• Donni Fall Part 1 launches today (Thursday) the new delivery includes plaids and the silk track pant with a lace strip for the racing stripe.

• Have you seen the new Prada Wish in red? So cute. But I bought this recently and it scratches the same itch.

• Nancy Twine, the founder of Briogeo and who later sold it to Wella in 2023, is launching Soulstice Beauty with a premium positioning for both haircare and skincare.

• Archive Sale to note: One of is hosting a Limited Edition Archive Sale Friday 8/28 - Saturday 8/29. DM on Instagram for more details. Hosted on the UES, NYC.

• Yes, I’m obsessed with these new Loewe sandals. This gives the shopper a reason to shop for a footbed sandal that isn’t a Birkenstock. Otherwise I typically say just go for the Birkenstock.

Reading the Resale Tea Leaves

When I visit Marin Country Mart one of my favorite spots to Channel Check is The RealReal. Actually, on any shopping trips if there is a TRR nearby I like to stop in because I can tell so much from visiting the stores. They tend to have shoppers buying, looking for something new to spend their credit on, as well as consignors dropping off items they are ready to unload. On a recent visit I noticed just how busy TRR was with the store filled with steady foot traffic. Meanwhile the strip of stores nearby was much quieter. While I didn’t read this as anything specific on those stores I took it as a way to look deeper into who is actually in TRR and what they are doing in a secondhand store.

Some are buying. Some are dropping off items they’re ready to unload and consign. And increasingly, per a recent Bloomberg interview with TRR CEO Rati Levesque, they’re comparison shopping before buying anything new at all. More than 80 percent of the company’s fastest-growing customer segment, Gen Z and millennials, now check resale prices before spending on a new designer item. In this way, the secondary market is acting as a value check on what things are really worth (of course an item can be worth whatever you are willing to pay for it). It’s a useful gut-check before a consumer parts with their money. The other service resale is offering consumers: a workaround when a store increasingly won’t take a return.

Don’t leave the story hanging here! Behind the paywall you’ll find details on how consumers are using secondhand shopping, what I discovered about The Row from The RealReal’s Resale Report I haven’t seen talked about anywhere else, and the latest on Blazy’s Chanel handbags I’ve been watching on TRR.

Plus I’m sharing a quick note, a TL;DR for Urban Outfitters and Abercrombie’s recent earnings report.

Read more

PSA: I’m doing a Substack Live with who writes the incredible — her chat is one of my favorites for vintage finds and local Bay Area suggestions. We will be discussing all things San Francisco style, Vogue World San Francisco, Bay Area retail and fashion. If you have any specific topics and questions you can comment, DM me, or email sarah@privatelabel.ltd See you Thursday at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT.

In this send: I visited a Sézane to see the rebrand in person. I’m sure the rollout will take some time but I have initial thoughts to discuss. Plus: the knock-off shoe king, Beckett, tiny rollnecks, Emma Chamberlin, Flabelus, the perfect air travel companion, basic (in a good way) scarves, Will forever, Alexandar Julien and the Hornets, and I’ll be in NYC in 2 weeks! What stores should I make sure to visit?

Fresh Receipts

• Spotted at Nordstrom: I shared an Instagram story of these shoes from a Nordstrom Channel Check (make sure you are following me there too) and I got dozens of DMs. People are not thrilled about the knock-off shoe king. Interesting that this shoe is not on the Nordstrom website (at the time of writing on Monday) but is in store and the Isabel Marant Bekett is on Nordstrom website.

  

• tiny Thoughts on The Rollneck™: J.Crew made a splash with their tiny Rollneck™ with Emma Chamberlin. I have a few thoughts on this one. I can do a pro and a con and it all rolls back to their financial concerns.

  • Pro: Emma Chamberlin is a great partner for this. This tease over the weekend with the shrink to wash was really cheeky. On Monday Chamberlin’s post on her own Instagram handle received over 250K likes. J.Crew’s got just over 20K likes (it wasn’t done as a collab post). Will get the attention of Gen Z and younger millennials in her demographic. Pairs well with the oversized and wide leg jeans. And a fun companion for their recent denim launch. Keeps the traditional Rollneck™ in the conversation and updating it. This launch is getting attention and it is a smart pairing with Chamberlin.

  • BUT…Con: I keep wanting J.Crew to spend their money only in marketing that will push the bottom line. Sure, to get big rewards you have to take big risks, but this doesn’t feel like the right risk. This doesn’t feel like a million dollar revenue idea and then need a lot of those. I asked teens if they would wear this look and was told they didn’t like the neck or the fit. Right now teens are wearing cardigans open like this or the super baggy sweatshirt. For this sweatshirt the larger sizes sold out first AND the S/M fits super oversized as it is. So if this sized sweater isn’t what the teens want, and I don’t see elder millennials, Gen X, or baby boomers gravitating towards this…what generation is J.Crew designing this for? See the comments on this J.Crew post.

  • Tell me in the comments, where do you land on the _{tiny Rollneck™}?

• I really enjoyed ’s recent Second Life podcast episode with Flabelus founder Beatriz de los Mozos. These studded velvet mary janes are my kind of shoe — a black ballet flat with a stud.

• Low Profile Spotted: I popped into the Fillmore Margaux for Channel Checks and a few shoes caught my eye. This pointed zebra ballet flat, the softest structured loafer and then I saw online the new derby — check out the chart on low profile shoes as well as more details from footwear designer . PS Another Margaux location is opening at the Marin Country Mart very soon!

• The other low profile trend: Ready or not, sneakerinas are here. And this pair made it into ’s big back-to-school reporting.

• Merit (a brand that has a Substack , and recently posted an interview from their CMO Aila Morin with ) has always done “merch” a little different. They had the Brooks Brothers button-up and collabs with various fashion brands for their make-up pouch GWPs1 like with Proenza Schouler and Tove. Today they are launching a small collab with the performance wear brand Live The Process.

• Early Fall Reads: I asked a source at TWP what their early fall reads were, and even though it is still warm out shoppers are buying this leather top and this blazer. I love the details on the blazer — it gives you a reason to shop a classic item again.

• Another new, sharp blazer?: This one from Argent now is available in black. The Argent blazers are built for multi-tasking. My tip is that a blazer like this is the perfect air travel companion. You wear it on the plane and have a zillion pockets that are hidden and make storing your phone and AirPods (plus a lip gloss*) super easy. Between the colder plane air and an easy way to pack an extra topper, you are all set.

Forecasting

• Predicting The Winter Scarf: I expect these cold weather scarves to be the ones everyone is wearing this fall/winter. Johnstons of Elgin was founded in 1797 and is still Scottish made. They’ve been weaving cashmere since 1851 and this heritage brand has a Royal Warrant.

  • The hero styles is this fringe, also in a plaid.

  • I see the triangle scarf continuing this winter and while there are plenty of versions, this will be considered the classic/basic2.

• Another thought re: teal: I keep thinking about how we got to this specific teal moment. covered in how the “Jacquemus drops are only getting better” and I clicked her link and agreed. Then this weekend, at my daughter's flag football game, I spotted a dad on the sidelines in a Jacquemus t-shirt (okay, keep spiraling 🌀 with me here) — followed by these new clutches as new deliveries: red and teal. Then this image from way back in Fall 2024 was top of mind. Is Jacquemus’s color palette why we love teal and keep seeing it everywhere?

• Forecasting Fandoms: We’ve seen all the brands partnering with either schools (hey Parke x ‘47 - it launches today!) or the NFL, thanks to a big kick off with Offseason when the brand launched. Now Pink x NFL. I would have liked to have seen VS x NFL and Pink x Universities and Colleges. Getting into fandoms is smart for the brands and Sororities x Roller Rabbit was another new launch this week. Pink has landing page in the navigation for Back to Campus that includes Sorority Rush Fits and Game Day. The new Abercrombie x NFL collection launched this week too.

Sézane Rebrand — Field Notes

On August 23rd Sézane’s new products dropped online. I immediately saw shoppers commenting about snatching up this new canvas tote at $100 (yes, I’ve added to the canvas bag tracker) and this leather jacket priced at $680 was another hit that quickly sold out online in the chocolate. So I was eager to visit the store and see for myself. Monday morning I visited the San Francisco Fillmore location to check out the new inventory and see the rebrand. I left a little more confused than reassured.

This feeling of being unsettled came from the quality of the products. I know that some shoppers have mentioned this in the social commentary online, but experiencing it in person, as part of a rebrand where you’d expect their best foot forward, was still jarring. More on that below with images.

Read more

Open To Buy

• The Retail Business Section — lots of affiliate reads

• Fresh Receipts — The all handbag edition

Denim Experts

• Asking The Denim Trend Experts

• From Denim Trends to Retail Strategy

• Denim on the Runway

• Get Me An Expert!

• Denim Footnotes

In this send: You asked about denim trends for fall, so I called up the experts across the brands we trust, retailers we love, denim designers, and the stylists we trust. Plus: Volleyball, Ben Edelman, affiliates, MLMs, Rachel Scott, Valesque, no logo handbags, ToteMEN, Nelle Atelier, Jane Herman, Rùadh, TWP, Benjamin Talley Smith, Still Here, Evereve, Agolde, Citizen of Humanity, Lauren Sharkey, dirty denim, 90’s sensibility, big cuffs, indigo, tailored, western inspired.

What jeans are you buying? Do you agree with the trends? What did we miss?

Leave a comment

The Retail Business Section

• Bump, Set, Spike: Left on Friday, the active and swimwear brand, is going all in on beach volleyball. They announced a new global partnership with Volleyball World making it the official apparel partner of the Beach World Series and Elite Beach Volleyball. LoF will be outfitting every athlete, staff member, and producing men’s singlets for the first time in the brand’s history. It’s the brand’s biggest investment in volleyball to date and builds on their support of outfitting Team Canada for the Olympics.

  For context, and why I find this interesting, in the Bay Area I’ve seen volleyball take off as one of the top sports for junior high and high school girls. Along with flag football (for boys and girls), soccer, and swimming, volleyball is incredibly spirited and a dominant sport in the area.

  The Homepage takeover for Left on Friday’s volleyball partnership launch was fun (the cursor turned into a volleyball) and the colors and kit look exciting and functional. And the brand has been promoting their bikini tops as doing double duty as a sports bra* now that swim season is starting to slow down.

  Seeing Left on Friday take more of a position in a growing sport can be very good for their brand and growth where there aren’t a lot of options in fashion activewear.

• Setting new records: posted on Instagram Stories that the Set Coastline launch was the highest revenue limited edition drop day in Set history. My follow up questions would be: what was the SKU count versus other drops, average retails versus other drops, and did they see any drop off on conversion for styles that were on backorder.

• More Affiliate Headlines Headaches: Ben Edelman, the researcher and consultant who discovered the Phia’s cookie-stuffing situation, has now posted on his site about ShopMy. Also read ’s reporting for Business of Fashion. As Edelman explains it: each network can only see its own links, so two networks can both end up honestly claiming credit for the same sale. The fix is supposed to be figuring out who was actually last. But Edelman's post shows ShopMy's own guidance tells merchants to skip that step and just pay ShopMy.

• Still Curious About Affiliates?: This article from Bloomberg written by breaks down a lot of the stats and finances for brands behind ShopMy. (Way to go — she is the GOAT, nicest human, and I 1,000 percent trust her recs.)

  I don’t exactly agree with the MLM comparison one person makes, except for the referral of someone else to sign up for an account. I see the seedy nature of MLMs to be that people have to buy their way in (example, purchasing their inventory to sell) and the more that are in the MLM the less of a consumer base there is. I don’t see that here. The question I would ask, which is a characteristic I see with MLMs, is as there are more affiliate links out in the world, does each influencer see their volume go down. Someone like Atwood suggests this isn’t uniformly true. The subset that is sharing links in the group chat might be messy and diluting the business.

  The openness is one of the structural differences I noticed from LTK, the first mover in fashion and lifestyle affiliate marketing. LTK built its business as a gatekeeper early on. Hard to get into, high follower count required, while ShopMy went the other way and made itself far more inclusive. In the Bloomberg article, Tiffany Lopinsky, ShopMy’s Co-Founder and President, explains the strategy is finding sellers and keeping them active. As she states, the brands just need people with a couple thousand engaged followers.

  Affiliate links are really taking the idea that influencers, people you trust — wherever they are, whoever they are — are who you want to buy from more than a traditional ad. The benefit to retailers and brands is you can really track the customer journey and who is converting and ShopMy has excellent data for both creators and brands/retailers.

• For your weekend walk: I enjoyed this podcast interview from Who What Wear with Rachel Scott, the founder of Diotima and Creative Director at Proenza Schouler.

• ToteMEN: Men’s Toteme has arrived and they have the option to wear a scoat now too (that’s a scarf + coat).

Fresh Handbag Receipts

• I am still obsessed with my Valesque handbags and noted a few new ones that haven’t sold out. Yet. This silhouette is very similar to my most used one at the moment.

• Speaking of which, my most used Valesque handbag is also available in navy! Everyone I mention this bag to 1) immediately buys and 2) mentions that it reminds them of early Kate Spade or vintage Prada nylon.

• If you like your handbags with a little more structure, this looks fantastic! This is a whole genre of minimal, no logo, simple handbags that I’m here for. Another in an excellent shape.

• I’ll keep with the no logo, or minimal logo, theme. Métier has some gorgeous new colors. I call this one icy grey. Adding to the belted tote category, this one is spectacular from all sides.

• Toteme shrunk the belted tote. I need to think through this pricing strategy for each size. I have the large and bought in navy from eBay. This is a great bag to buy secondhand.

  

  👖 Quick note: I write a lot (too much good stuff to share!) If you’re reading via email only, you may need to click through to the web version or read on the Substack app. I promise it will be worth it. 👖

Asking The Denim Trend Experts

I’ve been tracking as many denim activations this fall as I can — from Gap’s 1996 collab with Hailey Bieber, J.Crew’s latest campaign, American Eagle partnering with football star Lamine Yamal briefly rebranding to “Lamine’s Eagles” and renaming a bestseller the AE 19 in his honor, Re/Done’s edit with Kaia Gerber — and a reader asked me about what the predominating trend(s) in denim silhouettes are this year.

Before we go any further, I hope it goes without saying, wear whatever makes you feel good when you wear it. That never changes and can be different for everyone. But it’s also fun to be curious and dig into the why and context behind the trends and noise. Plus it gives me another opportunity to chat retail strategy.

Two years ago, the answer was obvious. I called barrel jeans the champion silhouette of Fall 2024 in Marie Claire that September in article (she is now writing for The Cut). I watched this silhouette go from a side-eye, “tricky” shape, early-adopter style in 2023 to something shoppers were excited and comfortable to play with a year later. That single silhouette dominance isn’t what I’m seeing this year.

So I called in the experts. I reached out to a range of brands, retailers, stylists, and denim insiders and asked them all about denim trends for Fall 2026. What are you actually seeing move and what are you excited about.

P.S. If you want a playlist to listen to, I found this one from NPR on Songs About Jeans

From Denim Trends to Retail Strategy

There’s a reason I watch denim so closely as a category every season. At the beginning of fall and spring, especially during those “in between” transitions we see brands, retailers, influencers, and editorial all sharing the new must-have silhouette. Why??1

1. Brands and retailers need to get your attention on to something new to add to cart.

2. Trends shifts. Different groups (demographics, sub-cultures, etc) grab onto different styles. I love how once “Mom Jeans” was a total turn off (thanks SNL) and then it became the cool pair to wear with the higher waist. Now even American Eagle has a category landing page for “mom jeans for women”.

3. Fashion influencers and fashion people who we watch to set the trends also tend to want to try something new. There are also influencers who tend to have the same style year after year and don’t set trends or jump on new ones, but it’s a mix.

1. There is something for everyone - usually.

   1. There are typically a few denim trends rather than just a singular style. If you aren’t into one, you can try another. It wouldn’t be in a brand or retailer’s best interest to only give you one thing. They know that shoppers gravitate to different options.

   2. Denim needs to work back to other trends. I’m thinking about shoes specifically. If we want knee high boots we need a skinny jean to show them off. What you wear with bootcut jeans is going to be different than a tapered ankle silhouette. As I’ve been highlighting the low profile shoes, I keep thinking about what jeans and pants work best here.

2. Consumer behavior insights

   1. Are we embracing something completely new and innovative? Some styles take more than one season to adapt for a larger audience. Barrel legs were once on the fringe, then were everywhere, and now almost feel like a classic shape. Or at least one that is in the mix.

   2. Economic trends. If consumers are pulling back spending then the denim category might be something they are willing to shop for because they know they will wear it for a few years. But maybe then you want to stick with something more classic or even buy a secondhand vintage style.

      Thanks for reading Private Label. This post is public so feel free to share it.

      Share

Denim on the Runway

Let’s go back and look at a few inspirational pants silhouettes from recent runway shows. The ones to reference are Dior, Celine, Versace, Ralph Lauren. Dior has embellished denim with crystal scallop details, relaxed denim mixed with this feminine detail. Celine’s fitted and more tapered silhouette. Versace’s colors and crops. Very fitted. Ralph Lauren menswear in a preppy classic collegiate style. Even the designers — notably Jonathan Anderson and Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, are creating inspiration with their own clothing choices for runway waves. I wonder if the Chanel “denim” in blue and white chiffon will also inspire more ready-to-wear looks? (Try Haikure’s silk jeans.)

Get Me An Expert!

What the insiders are seeing, but first let me introduce the experts and brands:

• Madeline Cohen the founder of Nelle Atelier (an option I recommend for petites)

• a denim expert who writes the Substack aptly named Jane on Jeans. She is a former Vogue editor and has her denim line The Only Jane that is made in L.A.

• Benjamin Talley Smith is a denim designer and consultant. He has worked on Khaite, Aflalo, Reformation, J.Crew, Madewell, and Guest in Residence (launching September 15th). For more on Smith check out this article by Vanessa Friedman in the NYTimes (gift link). Because he works behind the scenes (seams!) and has years of expertise and influence over what styles we are wearing I find his thoughts really interesting and helpful.

• Jac Cameron is the Founder and Creative Director of Rùadh and after working and designing for other major brands she has been working on her own line since launching in 2024. Rùadh is now B Corp certified.

• Sonia Mosseri is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Still Here. I highly recommend going to visit their boutiques to try on denim and flip through their denim guides to find your fit or view their Denim Library online. The West Village is their newest and largest store and their UES location on Madison also carries vintage.

• Katheryn LaFin-Petersen is the Director of Buying and Product Integration at Evereve. When I was researching and reporting on Evereve in shopper interviews it kept coming up as a favorite spot to find jeans that fit.

• Lauren Sharkey is a stylist helping men and women get dressed for everyday. She has a Substack:

• I’ve also gathered insights from more brands: TWP, Citizen of Humanity, and Agolde.

Let’s set the stage with Jac Cameron from Rùadh who also agrees with me that this season we are not seeing just one dominant trend. She tells me:

“I continue to see a real breadth of opportunity to diversify denim fits and washes for Fall 2026. There seems to be a growing appetite for a more nuanced denim wardrobe, moving beyond a single dominant silhouette and giving women greater choice in proportion, shape and attitude.

For Fall, I see an opportunity to explore everything from more relaxed, oversized and fluid shapes to refined, elongated silhouettes and more directional proportions. The return to deeper, richer washes also feels important, alongside more considered vintage-inspired treatments and cleaner, elevated finishes. I think the most interesting denim will feel intentional rather than overly trend-driven, with the distinction coming through in proportion, wash and fabrication.” — Jac Cameron

Straight & Cigarette

• Madeline Cohen: “DESPITE the Hailey Bieber Gap collab extravaganza, pant legs are coming in. We are seeing a lift in Claire Vintage and Kate since the beginning of august. I think we are going to see a shift toward a more polished look this fall (and I say this as someone who bought the HB jeans). Slimmer legs are more democratic and overall easier to style. I also think this coincides with the majority of people's return to office (at least 2-3 days a week) where the low slung baggy look may just not work for most workplaces.”

• Sonia Mosseri: “The Life Jean is the classic one, a mid rise straight leg that has the feel of a really great vintage fit, something our customer can come back to with every outfit, every day. And the 11 Jean is the newest fit I think our customer will be drawn to this Fall. It sits lower and slimmer than anything else in the line, with a snap closure at the waist and zippers at the ankle so you can adjust the leg to whatever the night calls for. It has an early 2010s feeling to it and feels relevant.”

• Benjamin Talley Smith: “Low Rise Straight in high processed washes. Hearkening back to my high school days, all the girls are buying old Diesel jeans on Depop and Poshmark or wherever they can get their hands on them. Referencing this Olivia Rodrigo jean from Coachella. One I’m doing is the Reformation Charlee Low Rise Straight.

• Jac Cameron: “At Rùadh i am seeing slimmer straight-leg fits continuing to feel relevant, particularly through a focus on mid- to low-rise proportions. I also see strong potential in a relaxed slim-leg jean, offering a sense of casual ease while still maintaining a considered silhouette.”

• Katheryn LaFin-Petersen: “Driven by strong ’90s influences, this cut is set to be the season's breakout trend.”

• Lauren Sharkey: “A sharp cigarette silhouette - an obvious extension from last winter and a shape that’s being praised by millennials around the world as a return to normalcy from the low loose approach of the past few years. The high structured piece qualifies them as what I can a sitting pant. They look great at a cocktail hour, in a presentation (favorable shape for the office) or photo moment but don’t torture yourself in these for a cross country flight. My picks: Still Here | Same”

• TWP: “The TWP Kent Street jean continues to perform, and the Paris wash is especially popular.”

• Citizen of Humanity: “After several seasons of low-rise, oversized, and ultra-relaxed proportions, there’s a real appetite for a more elongated, body-skimming line. Key silhouettes for us include the Savannah, a low-rise, slim straight inspired by the clean minimalism of the ’90s; the 90s French, a high-rise silhouette that fits close through the body before falling into a straight leg”

• Agolde: “For Fall ’26, we’re seeing a move toward straighter, slimmer-leg silhouettes and a continued shift toward mid- and low-rise fits. At the same time, there’s still room for volume, but it feels more intentional and considered. Vintage-inspired, rigid denim remains important, with darker, moodier washes like Rinse giving these silhouettes a more refined point of view.”

Wash & Color Driven

From Trendalytics: “Ecru jeans have jumped +200 percent among key influencers, while olive green jeans see a +90 percent increase in market adoption.”

• Sonia Mosseri: “There's a shift happening toward denim you can build a relationship with. Our customer isn't chasing a season; they're looking for the jean they'll still reach for in three years, and that usually comes down to the wash and the small details. Fall pulls our palette deeper, with indigo, black, army green, and a deep purple. We're bringing those last two to both the Cool Jean and the Everyday Jean, because those are the fits our customer is always returning to.”

• : “We're still in a moment where all fits go – baggy, high-rise, low-rise, barrel, slim... Personally, I'm reaching for jeans with dirtier washes and distinctive hardware. It's more about having the right finishing (vs a trendy fit) this fall.”

• Lauren Sharkey: “I sound like a broken record, but I will always advocate for an earth tone pair (ranging from tan to camel to chocolate) for nearly every closet I encounter - and often, even before the traditional black. This range of shades quietly nods to the traditional tones, hues and expectations of the season without overdosing on fall/boho. And for many women, they can be styled for the office. I personally love balancing them with a charcoal grey tee + blazer. My picks: La Ligne (tall girl friendly inseam), Staud (here as well), Agolde Now, the warmer tones have evolved a bit this year bringing burgundies and rust tones to the forefront, feels very Chloe inspired. These tones are shockingly practical when approached from a monochromatic and/or color blocking angle, either shade looks divine with a deep navy. My picks: Abercrombie | Still Here”

• Sarah (me): I’m seeing the “dirty denim” as a nod to lived in and vintage not perfect denim. My choices here are to go for actual vintage denim. Stylist Elyse Winter suggested Denim Revival to me and I recently found a great pair there that is perfect for me. I also see this dirty denim as a painted wash like we saw at Ralph Lauren. See Jamie Haller too. The other color trend I’m seeing is the opposite, and more sharp primary shades. Very saturated. I’ve been most intrigued by red and blue denim.

• Citizen of Humanity: “For Fall 2026, we’re exploring more depth and definition in our silhouettes, with a strong through line of ’90s sensibility. We’re returning to inkier hues and deep indigos, particularly across cigarette, stovepipe and slimmer straight-leg shapes. The line overall feels closer to the body and a little more polished.”

• Lauren Sharkey: “A deep indigo shade is an easy yes for more elevated environments from work to dinners. The rich inky shade is a natural answer to fall as closets tend to shift to represent deeper tones and jewel tones in general. There’s strong options across a range of silhouettes from the sharp cigarettes to those slouchy straight legs. My picks: Citizens | Frame, Agolde”

Wide Leg & Barrel

• Madeline Cohen: “I continue to see movement in wide legs with a more fitted top block. This is overall a more flattering cut than a true baggy. Could also be because our customer skews more millenial than gen Z but we sold a ton of Kiki Jeans this summer to chic girls in their late 20's/early 30's.”

• Benjamin Talley Smith: “This trend has been around but doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. It's so chic with heels for night. I do multiple iterations from the super high end like the Delmonico jean from Khaite or even the more approachable for Fabletics.”

• Katheryn LaFin-Petersen: “Barrel and Arc legs: They’re easy and effortlessly cool, especially styled up for work or a night out.”

• Agolde: “The Spiral is a refined take on the barrel shape that moves effortlessly around the body.”

• Jac Cameron: “I find myself moving between relaxed fits that are cut with a sense of ease like the Olympia and Bijou jean and more form-fitting silhouettes, like the Agnes jean that offer structure, definition, and great hold. That tension between ease and structure feels important to the collection and allows the denim offering to speak to different ways of dressing and different expressions of the woman.”

Bootcut

From Trendalytics: “Bootcut jeans are up +158 percent among key influencers, while street-style favorite puddle jeans are up +148 percent in searches to last year.”

• Madeline Cohen: “I am so excited about a bootcut revival. I am seeing what I've affectionately called baby bootcuts - we actually launched this early last spring and it didn't move much but all of a sudden it's picking up. We have the Rachel in Onyx and are launching it in our Lapis wash in October, and probably on preorder a bit sooner than that. I think this feeds into the overall western vibes I've been getting recently. More suede, fringe, bandana print everywhere (I am personally obsessed), it's all giving 90's Ralph Lauren in the best way.”

• Benjamin Talley Smith: “With the return of the low-rise silhouette popular in the early 2000s, you're going to see a lot more of this style of cut. Thankfully, it's not a low rise skinny jean. The boot cut gives it an elevated feel (jeans I am doing in this vein include the Khaite Conforti jean, which launches any day now, as well as the jean worn by Sarah Pigeon called the Conner that hasn’t released yet) Other market favorites include the Frame Grey jean.”

Tailored, Structured Baggy

• Jac Cameron: “Top loves from me include the Crewe jean for a more tailored look. The Raasay jean has become a true Rùadh classic, and one of the things that excites me most is seeing a non-traditional silhouette evolve into a core style for the brand. I think there is a real opportunity for more of these crop gaucho-inspired shapes to come through for Fall 2026. They offer a fresh alternative to the more familiar straight and wide-leg proportions, while still feeling incredibly wearable.”

• Lauren Sharkey: “Well tailored baggy fit - selfishly I’m not ready to give up baggy, slouchy jeans (especially being pregnant) but the pairs I’m prioritizing for clients these season balance the overarching loose fit with tailored elements. I’ve found that the average mom in the Chicago suburbs doesn’t resonate with a slouchy all over pair - she craves a bit of polish and structure and that’s available to her in a more meaningful way this season. My picks: Argent | TWP And Denim culottes even deep into fall (with tall boots) - for the fearless fashion gals. A if you know, you know piece. My picks: Aritzia | The Frankie Shop”

A Few More Options:

• Work Jeans:

  • Benjamin Talley Smith: “The painter jean still lives on. It's been a staple and continues to be relevant. With subtle iterations like the Nili patch pocket the classic painter has been reimagined. I’m doing it here- J.Crew Painter, Ulla Johson Olympia jean — with a fresh new style coming from Guest In Residence in Sept called the Workday Jean )”

  • Sarah (me again): I am seeing this painter style everywhere and I keep thinking back to when Jenn Lyons was interviewed by Anna Kodé for the NYTimes about her stoop sale in 2024 (gift link) I was more drawn to the pants she was wearing — Carhartt WIP double knee pants. So when I see this style popping up now I wonder if JFL was the inspiration. Another brand, Renggli, has had this style in their rotation for some time. This pair fits in with the work style but in a hot hot pink for Gen Z-Alpha.

• Cuff It:

  • Benjamin Talley Smith: “Both high and low cuffs, but lots of cuffed jeans. They ground a dark jean and give a little pop (jeans I’m doing: Khaite Karo, J.Crew Exaggerated Barrel).” [Note from Sarah: I like this because it is giving us a reason and way to try something new. I’m also loving how the J.Crew pair are styled with the layered baggy t-shirts. Reminds me of this look.)

  • Agolde: Extreme big cuff from the appropriately named “Big Cuff Jean”. “The Big Cuff exaggerates a classic straight leg with a dramatic cuff that can be personalized depending on how it’s styled.”

• The 80s Peg: Both Citizens of Humanity Taper and Agolde’s 80s Taper Jean (both owned by Citizens of Humanity Group LLC) with independent design teams have reference this silhouette as a trend for fall 2026.

“Overall, denim for Fall feels more refined and intentional — clean finishes, distinct proportions and silhouettes that have personality while still feeling like enduring wardrobe pieces.” from Agolde’s design team

Denim Footnotes

I love ’s footnotes where she shares insights on what shoes to pair with denim. Because so many people dress from the feet up, and we have specific shoe styles that trend too. And when those shoes change the denim trends get impacted. I asked Jane for some recommendations based on dressing from the feet up.

Private Label: Based on low profile ballet flats, loafers, sneakers etc which denim styles go best with this type of shoe?

Jane Herman: In general, I don't like not seeing feet when wearing jeans (or anything else. Footless is not a good look!). For low profile shoes, I like a straight, cigarette style (I just tried this one and it's great), especially now that slimmer fits feel so right again. Jeans with this leg shape can be flexible on length – cropped, ankle-length, or long and tapered – all work.

Private Label: Any predictions based on what boots people will wear for fall/winter and the jeans that pair best?

Jane Herman: Western-inspired boots are still happening. A good bootcut is a good idea. I like this one from Buck Mason, and the NIli Lotan Joan (in the Simon wash), which is so beautiful with big-heeled boots. Oh! And Mother's Reifler is perfect and comes in multiple inseams, which is necessary for a jean with spur bites at the hems.

That wraps up the denim fall forecast. What styles are you gravitating towards?

Made just for you — always. See you Tuesday

xx, Sarah Shapiro

Private Label Issue 37

Catching Up:

❤️ If you enjoyed this newsletter please click the like button at the bottom of this post so others can discover it.

📧 Maybe even share with someone else who would enjoy.

Share

📱Find me on Instagram

💬 If you are on the Substack app or platform join the chat and I’m happy to respond to any questions in the chat or comments here.

Have a question, comment, tip, the inside scoop, or ever want to reach me directly — email me at sarah@privatelabel.ltd

Thanks for reading Private Label!

Private Label by Sarah Shapiro is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Quick note: some links here are affiliate links — I may earn a small commission if you shop through them, at no cost to you. It helps keep this newsletter going. Gifted items are marked with an *. All opinions are my own, and everything I share, I’d tell my best friend about and probably already have.

In this send: Taking stock of the tween scene. Where it was and what the options are now. Maisonette launched Neon Rebels for the tweens. Plus: Princess Olympia of Greece does denim, Parke, Zippo lighters, J. Crew Vintage, beyond The Nap Dress™, fashion nerds, Polo Sport x-67, Minnesota State Fair, Pickle Report, Vuori, Quenlin Blackwell, Jelly Firkins and since everyone can comment now (not just paid subscribers) where did you shop as a tween?

I’ll be back this weekend with the denim trends with my insights as well as details from favorite brands, designers, stylists, and experts! This was from a reader request — so let me know what you want me to report on.

New Collabs

• Denim fit for a Princess: A triple collab in the form of Princess Olympia of Greece x DL1961 x Moda Operandi. In early 2025 Princess Olympia of Greece joined Moda Operandi as Contributing Editor. You’ve been able to shop her closet, aka her edit, on the site. Launching today is a new nine-piece capsule collection she designed with DL1961. She was inspired by vintage styles from her own closet, menswear designs, and when the press release mentioned “1990s supermodel leaving the airport” I immediately pictured this. A few highlights include the Slim Straight Jean, a suede cinched jacket and matching micro shorts, and the barn jacket with leather details in a rich deep burgundy color.

• College x Sweatshirt Takeover: Last time it was the coffee brands x sweatshirt brands. Then last week I mentioned the Love Shack Fancy x Fanatics collab. Now Parke has a collab with ‘47. My question is who is managing the inventory? If it is Parke this will be sold out in less than 5 seconds.

  When I visited a college bookstore last summer while I was on campus for my husband’s college reunion I was impressed with all the brands that had large displays in the bookstore. Rhone, Faherty, Lululemon all had products with the school logos. This is a solid licensing program that you need to get the colors right with and then you can just run with it. Hundreds of colleges and universities and large fan bases already built in.

• Birkenstock x Staud in the Loma style, similar to the Boston clog, launched today in three colors. With the wider strap it reads a little loafer inspired and timed well for fall back-to-school. This isn’t the first time the brands have collaborated.

• Madhappy has a consistent collab funnel going. The latest one in time for back-to-school is with Keen. I like that they went after this silhouette, the sneakerina (maybe with Keen it is more of a hikerina) feels right.

• We keep seeing that smoking is back in the zeitgeist. I’m not making any calls or judgements here, but there have been a ton of jewelry items around lighters and cigarettes. Foundrae x Zippo for the latest in the conversation.

• The Willow x Free People collab came together nicely. I like how the pieces individually look good and just easy to sell merchandise. The pieces GenZ-Alpha will shop for. But the real win is how they are styled together and feel much more directional especially for a teen mall-ish brand.

• U Beauty x Flamingo Estate adds the Prinesstarta Milk Bar Soap along with hydrating U Beauty products.

  Thanks for reading Private Label. Know someone who works in retail or loves to shop? Share the insights!

  Share

New Launches

• If you love Vintage J.Crew more than new crew: J.Crew is launching a vintage shop online with merchandise from 1983-2000. When I’ve covered other vintage drops like this before, I’ve mentioned that it is much more of a marketing and loyalty play than revenue.

  Unfortunately, revenue is what J.Crew needs. How can J.Crew turn this into a revenue play? Use the data from clicks to discover more items to bring back like the popular Rollneck sweater.

  Why is this not a revenue strategy? Let’s base this on a bit of history from the Banana Republic archive sales. They had under 250 pieces in previous events, so I’m going to estimate 250 just to be conservative for J.Crew’s vintage sale. That’s still a massive amount of sourcing for one-off pieces. When Banana Republic had their event the prices ranged from about $80 to $500 for a leather jacket. Let’s hit the sweet spot of $150 average retail price for J.Crew. If the cost for the pieces is around $30 they would make $30,000 retail margin on this vintage event not counting advertising or any back-end production costs of putting online. This is a retailer that is down 30 percent according to the Financial Times reporting they need big revenue swings.

• J.Crew aiming for a bigger revenue swing: New J.Crew denim launched. Benjamin Talley Smith worked with Olympia Gayot and the J.Crew team on this delivery. You know Benjamin Talley Smith’s work because he has designed and consulted on denim for Khaite, Aflalo, Reformation, and most recently Guest in Residence (launching in early September). For more on the J.Crew revenue struggles, catch up with the story from earlier this week here.

• Fashion nerd alert: I love data insights and shares these on Instagram Stories occasionally. According to her stories, top sellers by units in a 24 hour period earlier this week was this silk slip dress, these pants, this dress, then this nap dress and this nap dress and this nap dress. The fact that the top 3 styles are not nap dresses and item number 2 is a pair of pants is pretty impressive for The Nap Dress™ brand. The brand has evolved.

• New Glow Recipe Lip Blur Balm is launching August 24th. Remember all the new beauty launches — most launched today. Like the new m.ph lip gloss, Tower 28 Swipe Serum, InnBeauty Project Extreme Milky Cleanser, and the Sarah Creal pH lip liner.

• The new Miu Miu sneaker that are being hyped up (see here from Hypebae and featured in her latest newsletter). The silver nylon ones remind me of the Polo Sport x-67 that were a best seller when I was a shoe buyer at Bloomingdale’s circa 2004/2005. The fact that the name of the shoe was x-67 is another reason these should have a comeback with the kids. Although that ship might have already sailed.

• Savette Fall is available and I’m loving this new shape.

• New Lisa Yang for fall/winter 2026 is live now too. Through the sculptural details a few things stood out to me: this skirt reminded me of a ‘70s shape and although not a drindl, gives that kind of feel. I think the scoat (scarf-coat hybrid) is ushering in a lot more capes for jackets and sweaters with extra volume/cape feel. See here and here. I love the structure of this dress, but it isn’t possible to tailor so it has to be the perfect fit.

• is bringing back the pickle flavored Glow Reviver Melting Lip Balms and the press release has a few details that caught my attention. First, I think it is cool they are partnering with the Minnesota State Fair for a surprise and dill-light (their term, not my smart pun) for an activation. I love to see an activation with out of the box (pickle jar) thinking. Second, the first time they had this it sold out in 8 minutes. Finally, there is a Y Pulse Pickle Report.

• A few Fresh Receipts I’m into — this opera pump style reminds me of the Chanel Opera Pump/patent moccasin with a slightly higher heel, nylon bags but make them polka dots, Tuckernuck launched their own version of the oversized cashmere bandana scarf (this one and this version was everywhere last year), is this Olympia Le-Tan book clutch too on the nose for NYFW?

Tween Rebels

If you have a child or know one in the 9-15 age range I don’t have to tell you how absolutely impossible it is to find real clothes for them. Something they like. Something that isn’t too young or make them look like are ready for a college party. There’s no middle ground. So when I heard that Maisonette, the online children’s multi-brand destination for stylish kids’ clothes, was launching a tween shop I was thrilled. Both personally and professionally. Neon Rebels launched Wednesday.

Behind the paywall we’ll get into Maisonette’s history, where the tween landscape was (looking at you Limited Too) and where it is now. Plus all the fashion random bits I’ve been reading and consuming this week.

Read more

The Rundown

• Fresh Receipts: new finds worth making note of

• Forecasting: another look at flats

• The Case for Vette: readers asked me why Vette vs ShopMy/LTK

• SET-ting Up for Success: how Set Active is handling an inventory challenge

• In My Feed: random bits I’m loving this week

In this send: I answer the questions about Vette, and what makes it appealing compared to ShopMy/LTK plus the signs of what challenges lay ahead. Plus: Lucky Charms, nylon handbags, bag charms, the case for cummerbunds, flats, commission rates, Flagship, , Set Active, Chava Studio, last year-itis, J.Crew, and I’m loving the merch from Jordyn Woods & Karl-Anthony Towns wedding.

Fresh Receipts

• Now that we are all watching for the turquoise/acid blue/capri shade I’ll point you in the direction of this new Tove leather skirt.

• Did you see that General Mills/Lucky Charms sponsored a sorority Bid Day activation? The recruitment chair who organized this is a pre-med Biology student. I think she could also have a future in Brand Marketing and PR. For any breakfast cereal fans, Brunch has a collab with General Mills. Perhaps marshmallow-y soft slippers.

• My favorite nylon bags these days are Valesque, so glad I got my hands on this one (and mine in black available here). I’ve been wearing non-stop. But, for cheap and cheerful these are really great. And this new tote.

• Possibly the next accessory hanging off girls backpacks.

• I would classify this as a really good work or High Holidays dress.

• Are you more of a Saint Laurent pillbox person or an Elsa Peretti pillbox person?

• I’ve mentioned that I want to see more fun cufflinks for women, if a brand is already making earrings and brooches (like these as cufflinks) this should be an easy-peasy category expansion and women are wearing quality dress shirts. I saw this and realized I’d also love to see more cummerbunds!!

Forecasting

• Another Low Profile Option: This slipper from The Row is technically filed as a "ballet flat," but it closes with a back zipper instead of the usual elastic pull-on or solid heel. The type of detail that makes shoe categories so slippery right now. See previous reporting on this confusion here:

• The Confusion Confirmed by a Shoe Designer: I posted the chart on Instagram and footwear designer , who has worked with Jamie Haller, Dôen, and Proenza Schouler, DM’ed me with kind corrections:

  “There is a difference between Derbies and Oxfords1, but do we really care? There’s no platonic form for what we might call a “jazz shoe”. A brogue or a wingtip might be a lace up, and might not be. As a consumer, it truly doesn’t matter what you call any particular iteration… truly, buy what you like, and call the shoe whatever you want to!
  
  On the brand side, marketing is important, certainly, but if you’re selling a Derby and calling it an Oxford, know that to a certain segment of your colleagues, you lose a fair amount of goodwill for not understanding the category. At the lower end of the market, this is totally forgivable… Mango isn’t selling manufacturing prowess, but brands with footwear heritage mostly get it right.” — Jessica Taft Langdon

  This illustrates the confusion well. My guess is a lot of the naming mix-up comes from how many people touch a shoe before it reaches you. The designer sketches and develops a shoe with a specific style in mind. Then the merchants and marketers decide how to actually sell it. Choosing the name that sounds best or is trending. The shoes are categorized ideally in a way a shopper can find online. Somewhere in that game of telephone, the original name can quietly get swapped or watered down for whatever works better on the sales floor (real or virtual).

  Langdon’s favorite flat? Porselli.

Why Influencers Choose Vette?

After I wrote about Vette I received a lot of reader questions and DMs. What was the commission for influencers? Why would influencers choose this versus ShopMy or another affiliate platform? Let’s get into all of this and more.

Read more

Open To Buy

• Field Notes - Montecito, Denim, and Bloomingdale’s newness

• Forecasting — trend spotting

• Fashion & Beauty Finds — sales and new deliveries

• In My Feed - content and stories I’ve been reading this week

In this send: Wrapping up my southern California Channel Checks with Montecito. Laid back and filled with advanced contemporary brands. Plus: Godmother Books, work dresses, Montecito Country Mart, The Post Montecito, Jamie Haller, senior jeans, Nour Hammour, cupro, another Love Shack Fancy collab, Pool Slick Lash Lacquer, Mixik, Reef, Capri, and I hope you have a fun weekend with plenty of tabs open.

Field Notes

I hadn’t been to Montecito in about a year and was eager to check out The Post Montecito. After my daughter and I shopped/Channel Checked around L.A. we drove to Montecito. See our notes from The Grove here and Nordstrom and vintage spots here.

• Summerland: I’ve always wanted to visit Godmother Books because I love book stores so much. Even though I read on a Kindle and borrow books via Libby. I stepped inside and I knew I could get lost, in the books, for hours. Unfortunately my daughter wouldn’t let me. This is the place I want to spend an afternoon. I also stopped by Heidi Merrick next door. This is the only store front the brand still has and it is well merchandised with plenty of special pieces, everyday staples and the space is open and easy to shop. I love “California” brands like this personally because as someone who pretty much only wears black and solids I still feel right at home. This is what I call a great “work dress” and it is on sale. I also love the architecture of this dress.

• Montecito Country Mart: La Ligne opened at the end of July. Marfa Stance is opening at the Mart at end of August. Marin Country Mart has had a Marfa Stance location for awhile now and it has been doing well according to sources, especially with the milder temperature year round the build-your-own outerwear is designed for flexibility. I also love the Clic at MCM but the location at Marin seems much bigger. The edit is always fantastic and one of the things I like is you can find interesting basics (black dresses, easy pants, t-shirts), special pieces that are more heritage — like Il Bisonete, and if you need to get a hostess gift or home decor you will always find something interesting here. The store is from Calypso founder Christiane Celle. One store we don’t have at Marin Country Mart that I really loved is Mate Gallery. It is the tiniest space but has a fun assortment across price points. Plenty of vintage and just the best RRL merchandise. While the merchandising can seem chaotic, it really isn’t. Makes it fun to discover something new every time.

• The Post Montecito: First, the space. Runyon Group developed the Post Montecito and then sold it this past spring for a nice profit. Now the Runyon Group is developing a property in the Hamptons. I visited the two spaces back to back on a Saturday late morning/early afternoon and Montecito Country Mart was busier and felt more crowded — like there was more going on.

  Teller was a fun boutique to shop with a smart assortment of brands like Donni, Kallmeyer, Agolde, Tove, and Still Here. Advanced contemporary brands and the merchandise and brands were all mixed together making it easy to pair a top from one brand with pants from another. I really liked this space as it felt like an “adult” boutique to shop. I feel like if I need something to wear I could always find something to wear immediately.

  The Lela Rose boutique recently opened and the interior design is beautiful. Built-in closets that you can wander around. This Lela Rose was heavy in the Ranch collection. There is a Brochu Walker here and when I was in the store a woman was trying this faux leather top on and I hope she got it. It looked great on her.

  Plenty of great accessories stores: Janessa Leoné, Freda Salvador (I’d like to bring your attention to a woven mule reminiscent of the Jada ballet flat and the Carmela pump that is like the Jada ballet flat got a little height.), and the jewelry at Marisa Mason was beautiful. And there was a lot of it.

  Then I wrapped up my afternoon at Jamie Haller. I’ve been so excited to visit the shop ever since I spoke to Haller shortly before she opened this spot. She was driving back and forth to Montecito from L.A. to work on preparing for the opening. There was a comment recently from a reader that the inventory and sizing assortment was spotty at Jamie Haller. I agree. This isn’t a brand that focuses on always being in stock. As a customer this can be frustrating, super frustrating, but as a retailer and someone who wants to see brands do well in the long-term this is likely the smarter approach. It is more of a slow growth strategy minimizing overstocks and reducing the need to markdown goods.

  I tried on a couple of pairs of pants and jeans but they didn’t have my size in a few styles. I also wanted to try on the Jazz shoes which weren’t in stock. I did pre-order the Trap shoe in Fire this past June but they haven’t arrived yet. I just checked the site, looks like they are expected to ship this week! Lucky me. For a more fall/wintery version the Kitty (another shoe I have and love) just arrived in moss and claret/burgundy ponyhair. I tried on the San Diego Sandal and loved. This could easily be a 10K to 15K step flip-flop. The Hero jean is a solid option for petites. I liked the fit of this and I’m 5 foot 2 inches for reference. I also liked the fit of the Kick Trouser. Overall I really like the Jamie Haller store and while this is the only location currently, I hope she opens a couple more. What I really like about a Jamie Haller boutique versus shopping the brand in a large department store is you get all the products together. The shoes, ready-to-wear, and other accessories and it makes it easy to play around with them.

That’s a wrap on my L.A. and Montecito Channel Checks. I’m already wanting to return. Next stores on my list to visit in the area: the reopening of Palisades Village which opens this weekend, the new Agolde store, I skipped Mohawk General this visit but want to go visit again (they are getting a little facelift at the moment), and Still Here is opening on Melrose. They do something special and different for each location so I’d like to see that too. Montecito I’ll need to swing by the Rosewood Miramar next time.

More Field Notes

• Denim Days: Denim season continues. The category for back-to-school and the go-to item for transitional weather. Spotted this week:

  • Madewell x Eva Joan customization in Austin, Nashville, Chicago. See more details here.

  • Abercrombie x Abbode monogramming and embroidery.

  • American Eagle showing up on campus with sorority rush.

  • Have you heard of “Senior Jeans”? Seniors in High School have all these traditions that were not a thing when I was in school. Back in my day…we decorated a pennant to highlight where we got into college and that was it. I bet by next year we will have brands hosting events to decorate and DIY. Gap x Michaels for next year maybe??? Other DIY projects: parking spaces, car decorating, senior boxes. There are tons around graduation, prom, last game of the season etc. too.

  • More of my denim recaps from this week here.

• Bloomingdale’s new additions: In recent weeks Bloomingdale’s has expanded the vendor roster with the Loulou de Saison shop-in-shop, Ulla Johnson, and Dries Van Noten. I’m excited about the add of DVN because it gives the department store the right amount of edge and something interesting to the mix. I’ve brought this up before and seen it in the comments, but the shoppers in the branches wish there would be some fun brands added to their mix too. It is always a push and pull of building the brands out and still making sure they get a healthy sell-thru but you would think operations wise in 2026 it would be a solvable challenge. Additionally, while I was doing some online research regarding Nour Hammour, Nordstrom recently added to their vendor assortment, I was searching for the brand at Bloomingdale’s. While they don’t have at this time, customers are clearly searching for the brand here. Below you can see a screenshot of what auto-populates.

Forecasting

• Comme Si just launched what might be the easiest easy pants that are also a little elevated with the sheen. What makes them have that sheen and a super soft hand is the Cupro Twill material.

  • Cupro is a material that acts like a silk, but is easier to care for, drapes really well, less expensive than silk, and is considered sustainable because it is produced from the short fibers left on the cotton seeds. Which would otherwise just be waste.

  • A few other pants and pieces in this material that I love:

    • I saw these at Paloma Wool in L.A. and loved them in the navy. They are 92 percent cupro and 8 percent elastane giving them that stretch.

    • A more tailored pair from Dries Van Noten.

    • Left on Friday has a great travel set in a Japanese cupro — and described as naturally moisture wicking, quick drying, bio-degradable, and anti-static . The pants, a short sleeve button down, a maxi dress, and the shorts.

    • This Skims jersey wrap dress.

    • I own this J.Crew dress from maybe 5 years ago in black and it is the perfect summer travel dress. It is 60 percent cupro which makes it travel so smoothly and this one on Poshmark is in the blue shade of the season. Here is the newer version with thinner spaghetti straps but the same 60 percent cupro blend.

    • J.Crew’s cupro blend top in 60 percent cupro would be a less expensive alternative to an all silk shirt and easier to care for.

• I added the LoveShackFancy x Fanatics collab, launching with 8 universities, to the LSF collab tracker. All Power Four teams — in the SEC, ACC, and Big Ten. Major football programs.

• I’ve been noticing more bandana accessories, similar to the Call It By Your Name totes. These easy, simply made loafers have been all over my feed this summer. Feels like the newer version of this type of shoe. Fabric upper with a flexible rubber sole. I also just discovered this cute fringe-y mini bag.

• Longchamp east-west handbag. Back in my Retail Diary days I was recapping east-west handbags so I added to this round-up.

Fashion & Beauty Finds

• Tory Burch’s end-of-season Private Sale kicked off. A few finds:

  • A dress in the blue shade we’ve been talking about. They named it “Bay Blue”. (I’ve been asking around and heard Reef, Turquoise, Paradise Blue, and Capri*.)

  • The Pierced Mules are included in the Private Sale event.

  • From trends I’ve been tracking this season: Polka dotty, a canvas tote, balloon pants, and this creative take on the cardigan that has a trompe l’oeil bikini top.

• Nour Hammour’s new fall collection just launched. Éclats de Nuit. A few highlights: this fur jacket is described as a ‘90s style to wear for evening or with denim, a flow-y leather midi skirt, a leather robe coat, removable collar on this bomber, loving the name of this jacket — the Matriarch. Fits perfectly.

• Left on Friday is having their summer sale — 30 percent off all swimwear. Note it is Final Sale but if you know your size, these hold up so well it is a great time to stock up for next summer, or with the weather we will likely be able to swim for another few months this season. This is my personal go-to one piece, and this one piece has been the best seller for the season (see my reporting in Puck’s Line Sheet on top affiliate links).

• We have more new beauty products coming. Pool Slick Lash Lacquer (aka Mascara) from Fara Homidi was teased via Instagram. I’ll add to the August New Beauty Tracker when it launches. The brand launched sunglasses earlier this summer and an excellent eye shadow palette so it’s a great time to expand into mascara.

  Merit Beauty launched a mascara, Clean Volume, in June. And Jones Road Beauty launched their new mascara earlier this week.

  When I checked in with a beauty exec this week she said this is typical and we aren’t seeing any more than in previous years. Lots of new fragrances coming soon too. I added Chanel’s new Coco Mademoiselle Crush Absolu to the beauty tracker.

• Korean beauty brand based in L.A., Mixik, has a pop-up this weekend in L.A. — 621 S Western Ave. This is a teen-focused brand that is sold in Old Navy, Tilly’s and CVS. My daughter has tried these pimple patches* and says they work great.

In My Feed

• A travel syllabus. Print this one out or archive it to reference before traveling. I love packing guides and travel looks so I devoured this immediately. Plus no one does a bag round-up and accessories like — I’m a fan forever.

• This was illustrated perfectly by . No notes.

• Frasers Group has acquired Harvey Nichols out of insolvency (aka bankruptcy). [Business of Fashion]

Made just for you — always. See you Tuesday

xx, Sarah Shapiro

Private Label Issue 34

🛍️ Quick note: I write a lot (too much good stuff to share!) If you’re reading via email only, you may need to click through to the web version or read on the Substack app. I promise it will be worth it. 🛍️

Catching Up:

❤️ If you enjoyed this newsletter please click the like button at the bottom of this post so others can discover it.

📧 Maybe even share with someone else who would enjoy.

Share

📱Find me on Instagram

💬 If you are on the Substack app or platform join the chat and I’m happy to respond to any questions in the chat or comments here.

Have a question, comment, tip, the inside scoop, or ever want to reach me directly — email me at sarah@privatelabel.ltd

Thanks for reading Private Label!

Private Label by Sarah Shapiro is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Quick note: some links here are affiliate links — I may earn a small commission if you shop through them, at no cost to you. It helps keep this newsletter going. Gifted items are marked with an *. All opinions are my own, and everything I share, I’d tell my best friend about and probably already have.

PSA: Next Thursday, August 20th, I’ll be hosting a virtual conversation with The Co-lab about going from corporate retail to journalism and now fully independent with Private Label. If you have any questions you can email me ahead of time at sarah@privatelabel.ltd and I hope you’ll join our conversation. More details here. And if you aren’t familiar with the Co-lab you should follow Kristy Hurt and check it out.

In this send: Sézane shared that in their rebrand they will be slowing down. I took at look at what shoppers actually want, how the investors play into it, and what I’m keeping my eyes on. Plus: Citizen of Humanity x Jennifer Meyer, Daily Drills, my growing Love Shack Fancy collab tracker, Benjamin Talley Smith, “Dancing On My Own,” purple-and-red, Palisades Village, Zendaya’s button-back engagement ring, a Tory Burch bag with a 30,000 person waitlist, Chanel’s 100 percent mark-up on secondhand handbags, the Phia cookie-stuffing, Acquired Style's wedding dress drama, and I’m curious what you think of Sézane’s upcoming rebrand?

Leave a comment

New Collabs

• Citizen of Humanity launched a collab with Jennifer Meyer, the jewelry designer. The vintage inspired jeans look really great and Citizen of Humanity and Agolde have some of the best denim out there at a competitive retail.

• After collab'ing on a sweatshirt with earlier this summer, Daily Drills is back at it with a sweatshirt collab with The Montauk General Store. Daily Drills did a whole Out East collection too. Daily Drills is another one of those brands I’d bucket as a “sweatshirt” brand but they have a lot of workout and lounge sets.

• Love Shack Fancy again! Do I create a LSF collab tracker? Yes — it’s here. Mane x Love Shack Fancy. Here is what I’m thinking about — we literally just had the Wet Brush x Goody x Love Shack Fancy collab as part of the Target collab. Which leads me to think that the brands LSF collabs with don’t care that there is similar product already out there. Wet Brush = $18.99 and Mane = $25. Mane x LSF also has clips and a thermal brush. If your dorm room is all decked out you certainly need this to match.1 I’m feeling like a collab with this brand should be on the horizon.

• I want to do a deeper dive on Favorite Daughter’s current business. I found it a little interesting, but not completely surprising, that they are doing a collab with Stitch Fix.

• This is giving me old school GWP feels. Clinique x Rifle Paper Co for their gift with purchase (GWP).

• Stanley x Farm Rio. The prints and charms are fun. I’m noticing mostly Owala water bottles out and about though.

New Launches

An Embarrassment of Beauty Riches

• m.ph beauty by Mary Phillips is expanding the lip category with a new gloss in 8 shades out August 20th on the Sephora app (loyalist enjoy first) and then the m.ph DTC site on 8/21. This gloss joins the Lip Ciggy and Overliner Lip Pencil.

• Sarah Creal is launching ph Lip Liner on 8/17 in the Sephora app. This lip liner with this lip repair serum from the brand is what I’m most likely to order as I’ve heard great things about the lip serum and want to test it out. I’m also a huge fan of this product from Sarah Creal.

• Tower28 Beauty is launching a foundation (another foundation + skincare serum — time for me to do a Forecast for this). To partner with their Swipe Serum Concealer (in 28 shades) they have 36 shades of the new Swipe Serum Foundation launching 8/20 (a big launch day at Sephora). On Instagram they marketed that no AI was used — real models!

• InnBeauty Project is launching the Extreme Cleanse Milky Micellar Barrier Repair (I don’t even think I can say that one time fast, let alone three times) and all I can think is “milky jelly cleanser, is that you?” Said with respect. Smart move InnBeauty Project. Once this launches I would love to see the Sephora sales recaps of these two products side by side.

• Saie is launching their first eyeshadow on 8/17. They will have 6 matte shades and 5 shimmer shades.

• Let’s track all the August Beauty launches here. What are you most excited about?

• Soft Services is celebrating their 5 year Anniversary! To celebrate they are doing a 10 percent off promotion and have released some fun merch like the Guess inspired denim tote bag. I am a repeat buyer from Soft Services and have 3 of the hand lotions strategically placed across my house. My desk, my nightstand, and the kitchen sink. This is my nightstand scent and is my favorite. Another product I always have in stock is this buffing bar. And how absolutely adorable is their mini shop? The minis are only available twice a year, a smart marketing move, so if you like travel minis or want to stock your guest room bathroom grab them now.

Fashion Launches Happening Too

• Posse pre-fall collection is now available. A few of the items worth calling out: A scoat, polka dots for pre-fall, a red leopard cardi (available in black combo too), an easy 3/4 sleeve bateau neckline top, and balloon pants I added to the Balloon Pant Forecast here. For more background on the Posse brand, check out post here.

Denim Season

Pre-fall transition time period and back-to-school means major denim vibes. Denim is always a hero category in those shoulder seasons when you aren’t sure what to focus on.

• We have recently seen the Gap x Hailey Bieber, this week was another new Gap campaign with Malcom Todd and Inde Navarrette. How far out do these songs get picked? Because this song got really popular in July although it was originally released in 2010. It was featured in the movie from June 2026, “Voicemails for Isabelle”.

• Guest in Residence — Benjamin Talley Smith worked with Gigi Hadid, the Creative Director of GIR, to develop the denim category expansion. Smith has worked with Khaite, Madewell, La Ligne, Reformation, Aflalo and more on developing denim lines. The prices will be $265 to $325. There will be 4 styles launching in September. What has stuck with me, is when Molly Howard shared that they knew it was time to develop and launch La Ligne’s denim category because customers would always ask which denim they were pairing with the La Ligne sweaters on the product detail pages (PDP). My assumption is that something like that was happening with GIR. Additionally, if a shopper is buying a sweater or top from a brand the denim is different enough that it isn’t like the shopper is deciding between two different sweaters. They are going to possibly be shopping for both. Increase that Average Order Volume (AOV). [WWD]

• With Nothing Underneath is launching their denim at the end of August. I wrote a Private Label — Label Check on the brand WNU here if you want more insights on the brand. Similar to GIR it makes sense for a brand that is creating excellent tops to expand. But to go into denim you have to know that you are going to nail the fit. New blouses from the brand already have the images styled with denim.

• Plenty of other recently denim launches that I’ve been tracking so check out the Private Label archive if you want to catch up. For example, TWP denim and the Kaia Gerber edit for Re/done.

Ballet Flats 🌀

• A fun little fashion spiral 🌀 on Alex Mill and ballet flats:

  • I noticed last week they changed the color of their avatar logo on Instagram to a purple and red shade — specifically a color combo that has been trending this pre-fall season.

  • They launched these new ballet flats with the purple and red showing prominently. $228 for the ballet flats.

  • I wonder if they will do a fun hand-painting event at their SoHo store to launch the ballet flats? Similar to how they customize their totes. As long as they wear well on the crinkly patent material. Mansur Gavriel, Freda Salvador, and many others have done activations like this.

  • Last fall they collabed with Margaux (and again for a hot summer sandal, the Selene) the flat mule last fall was $325. The Selene is also $325. Margaux has their own Demi ballet flat for $290.

  • Previously Alex Mill has partnered with Italian shoemaker Porselli to bring in their ballet flats. This feels like a bigger push into shoes with their own ballet flat after testing the waters with Margaux. Wonder if they did the Private Label for them??!

New Store Openings

• After the fire destroyed Palisades Village stores in January 2025 they have been rebuilding. The grand re-opening is August 15th. There are old favorites like Elyse Walker, and new stores opening, like Leset’s first west coast outpost. More stores to shop: Jacques Marie Mage, Xirena (you know them for the crinkle cotton dresses and sets), Veronica Beard, Anine Bing, Cult Gaia, Buck Mason, Reformation, Isabel Marant, Zimmermann, Toteme, Byredo, Violet Grey and of course restaurants and coffee spots to make it a true lifestyle experience.

• Jessica McCormack opens their second U.S. location and first California location not in Beverly Hills, but at South Coast Plaza at the end of August. The boldest, coolest, most interesting diamond jewelry — button back settings — with Zoe Kravitz as the brand ambassador and Zendaya’s engagement ring.

• Golden Goose also just opened at South Coast Plaza. At this location they have on-site cobblers and repair services as well as a customization experience.

• Hill House Home now has a permanent location in Naples.

• Aritzia opened a store in New Orleans at the Lakeside Shopping Center. P.S. Have you seen the Aritzia quarter-zip sweater?

• Still Here (I love their store experience) opened a new West Village location at 89 Christopher Street. The pair I’m itching to try-on are back in stock.

• Frances Valentine is opening in Charleston!

Sézane’s Croissance Lente (slow growth)

Sézane, the French brand with 13 U.S. stores (a mix of permanent stores and long-term pop-ups), has been on my radar since I heard whispers of a rebrand this past spring from a variety of sources. The brand made it official with a Vogue Business article and timed well with a refresh of their Brentwood, California location that opens this Friday. What’s coming? A new logo that they are launching with silk scarves, an updated website which is now live, more classic styles versus trendy, and styles that build each season instead of starting fresh (more basics and replenishment could also help build margin by decreasing costs).

Read more

The Rundown

• Fresh Receipts — new foundation and new fashion

• Field Notes — Channel Checking Nordstrom in L.A. plus a few vintage spots

• Nike Gets a Bid — Brands showing up to rush week

• In My Feed — random bits I’m loving this week

In this send: More Channel Checks from L.A. plus the brands showing up for RushTok Plus: Suprême Skin Bio-Complex, longer t-shirt sleeves, Comme Si, the Judd, The Grove, Dammit Janet, Paloma Wool, fidget toys, charm-y sandals, Dries Van Noten, work weeks, Ven.Space, YKK zippers and let’s just get into it.

Fresh Receipts

• Westman Atelier is launching their first liquid foundation — Suprême Skin Bio-Complex in 30 shades. It will retail at Westman Atelier’s website and launching on Sephora too. $69 and this prices it inline with Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation and above m.ph by Mary Phillips Le Skin Weightless Serum Foundation also 1 oz but $49. Victoria Beckham’s Foundation Drops retail for $110 for the same size foundation. Westman Atelier’s Foundation Stick is $68,

• Leset’s August collection has launched with chartreuse as the bright new shade and a gorgeous chore coat in cashmere. It’s luxe! My favorite fit for a t-shirt, the Margo, now comes in Rosso, a tomato-y red. Leset takes their color stories very seriously. I am into the longer sleeves on the Ari, Lauren t-shirt mid-sleeve, and Pointelle t-shirt mid-sleeve. Great for transitional weather and a t-shirt with a fitted sleeve looks fresh and gives the option of more coverage.

• Comme Si’s new Drawstring Linen Bermuda is classic, easy, and simple. Comes in black and cream. The longer length shorts have been a style hero this summer but surprisingly it is the short shorts that are taking the top of the trend lists.

• released a new boot, the Judd. Inspired by country music with a city feel. The boot comes in a beautiful deep olive and a light tan suede.

Field Notes

If you are in East Hampton this week go check out Resee at 94 Newtown Lane. They have a fantastic vintage edit online.

More Channel Checks from L.A.

This past weekend I shared the teen scene from The Grove in L.A. I should mention we did skip Brandy Melville because we didn’t have enough time to squeeze everything in. I had a lot of thoughts at the Nordstrom at The Grove so I saved it for today.

Behind the paywall I’m sharing my thoughts on the SPACE: Emerging & Advanced Designer Brands at Nordstrom from Channel Checks at Nordstrom. A few vintage spots we visited too around L.A.

And Nike is showing up on RushTok and how they matched with sororities.

Read more

Open To Buy

• Field Notes - The Teen Scene

• Fashion Finds — following up on a few Forecasts

• Beauty Finds - Violet Grey picks

• In My Feed - fun stories and content I enjoyed reading this week.

In this send: I’ve spent the past few days in L.A. and have the teen version of Channel Checks today. I’ll keep sprinkling more in the next few sends. Plus: Tysons Corner, …

Read more

Deep Dive

• New Collabs — sweatshirt brand x coffee brand

• New Launches — Alo’s moves and denim everywhere

• Vette-ing Vogue’s Bet — have you seen the first of Vogue’s Vette shops?

• Q2 Earnings — e.l.f. beauty (whoa Rhode!) and Revolve’s earnings

• New Store Openings & Pop-Ups — La Ligne’s 10th store opens

• People in the News

• In My Feed

In this send: Vogue launches the first of their Vette stores with fashion insiders like and so let’s take a look at what is behind this strategy and business. Plus: Dandy Worldwide, Starbucks, Drop N’ Dunk, US Open, Bella Hadid, low profile sneakers, grey hoodies, Still Here’s latest denim drop, I’m back on the petite pant beat, quarter-zip, Vette, Vogue, Lisa Aiken, Rhode, Revolve Los Angeles, Exemplar Luxury Group, Edikted, Nikki Kule, and the next few days I’ll be channel checking!! Reporting back soon.

New Collabs

• Wardrobe.nyc x H&M drops August 6th. Oversized, sleek, structural essentials from Christine Centenera and Josh Goot. The brand launched in 2017 and this is a big collab for them to drive awareness.

• Dandy Worldwide x Starbucks. Preorder is already closed so this is just an FYI. The teens love Starbies (Starbucks nickname) and the teen girly pops also love Dandy Worldwide Sweatshirts. So there you go. Interesting this launched the same week as Parke x Dunkin collab. Choose your (sweatshirt and coffee) fighter. Since they both sold out the real test to me is which one (if either) I actually see in the wild or if this was a small bet on inventory.

• Frame x Sotheby’s has a second season of their collab. I like calling this one a merch collab.

• and Bubble are teaming up on a limited-edition skincare-makeup hybrid line that launches this Friday. This mash-up is taking two brands with die-hard fans and overlapping Gen Z fanbases and hoping that loyalty plays out and get each other's community trying something new and that there isn’t huge overlap already. With the back-to-school timing it could work well as the audience might be in a spendy mood. The collab includes: Glow Talk (a tinted lip serum), Drop N’ Dunk (a hydrating moisturizer x bronzing drops — I love that the collab has a collab item that is a hybrid), and Camo Slide (a blush “serum” — bringing in that skincare terminology).

• Nordstrom is hosting the US Open x Polo Ralph Lauren collection. This will be in the NYC space called “The Corner” through September. So all the locals and tourists looking to shop US Open merch can visit Nordstrom and then stay and shop. Of course shoppers can always head uptown to the Ralph Lauren mansion but this gives them another option closer to the hotels and in midtown.

New Launches

• Smart Move Alo: I’m considering this a launch, Alo has Bella Hadid as the new face in their fall campaign. It isn’t just that she is beautiful and a strong model, in the recent Index it was called out that Bella Hadid wearing Massimo Dutti in Cannes helped to drive a 43 percent increase in demand for the brand. Now Alo has Bella Hadid on the Homepage. For a brand that is rumored to be eyeing an IPO this will help drive revenue and interest. Bella Hadid has over 50 million followers on Instagram and her recent posts with her wearing Alo on set has over 580K likes.

• Sneaking around: Rothy’s has been teasing a new release on social media and it is finally here. The Ivy, a sneaker, launched today August 6th and a source at the brand shared with me that “sneaker” has been a top searched term on the e-commerce site. Thousands of searches for sneakers and previously on a small assortment available — the Slip On. Sneakers have also been one of the most requested styles in the stores (listen to your customer! get feedback from the sales associates!) The Slip On style has also been landing in the top best sellers for the brand in 2025 and 2026 showing that the brand had a reason to expand the category. The Ivy is a new fit, not a reinvention of another style, and has a slim, low-profile silhouette that has been trending (see Adidas Sambas, Dries Van Noten (on sale), Prada, Onitsuka Tiger — love this lace pair all as examples). This already has me thinking of a sneaker mule, snoafer, or sneakerina could be next. Rothy’s design team, happy to brainstorm any time.

  The other recent addition to the Rothy’s line-up is another new clog, The Penny Clog. Fall’s back to school timing makes sense with expanding this category too as the Casual Clog already comes in 17 different colors! This is quite the assortment to keep up with between the colors and sizes. Kudos to the inventory planner.

• I don’t think this is an indicator that Nike is failing, as a $46 billion business (annual revenue 2025 was $46.3 billion vs Adidas at $28.1 billion) they are by far still the leader. BUT I do have questions around not just working to “reignite” the business with a grey hoodie but also lead with this in a marketing and PR effort. Here’s why:

  • Nike often knocks themself off and makes simple grey sweatsuits for their outlet business. This type of product I can easily get with the Nike logo on Amazon. See the Nike Studio Fleece versus Nike on Amazon**. And while I’m not 100 percent sure the Nike Studio Fleece I linked above is what they are launching with, since it doesn’t launch until September 1st, that is part of the problem. Nike already has so many skus of a grey hoodie. It is going to be hard to pin a re-ignition of the sportswear business on this item that is already over sku-ed in Nike’s own business if they don’t retire all the others and take them out of the market. Which would be an impact to markdowns etc and not needed.

  • They are also competing with literally EVERY BRAND out there. Alo, Quince, Gap, and Hollister all come up as I search “women’s grey hoodie”. Is the grey hoodie the item you need to own? Don’t even get me started on the SEO of it all.

  • Nike also does what Simeon Siegel (the retail analyst I go to for the most witty and incisive retail breakdowns) refers to as “rhymes with”. They look at where the marketing is going in terms of sneaker silhouettes and they do their own version. Like the Nike Vomero Plus was their version of a puffed-up Hoka. And the Vomero still sells well because Nike has so much marketshare and marketing budget. But will this same strategy work in the world of a grey hoodie?

  • Alyssa Liu is part of the campaign. I’d love to see a line of leggings/sweats that she co-designed. Her tights are so fun. Give me fun new and innovative workout wear that isn’t identical to everything else out there.

• Denim launch week continues with Abercrombie & Fitch. Abercrombie’s event includes 25-50 percent off all jeans.

• Old Navy has Cardi B as the face of their denim campaign along with Quenlin Blackwell, Paloma Elsesser, Brooks Nader, Haley Baylee and Wisdom Kaye. The campaign is fun and playful as Old Navy always seems to be. A little quirky.

• Gap is really stepping on the pedal right now. GapBody relaunch. The campaign feels a little Calvin Klein in a good way and nostalgic. My question is always will it ring registers? The younger set loves Skims and Aerie, and Victoria’s Secret still has huge marketshare. The Gen X and elder Millennials have gone for Skims or indie brands like Negative and Cou Cou Intimates (although that is a very small set of shoppers). Who is GapBody for now?

Fresh Receipts

• Interesting given the recent conversation around Vera Bradley, the similarities with Celine’s hard-to-get unless you are in Gab Waller’s DMs Tote Bag, and if Vera Bradley can have a comeback (I wrote about this story here) — the brand (Vera Bradley) is now listed as “New & Now” at Nordstrom.

• Still Here’s latest fit is the 11 Jean. A low-rise available in three finishes. It has adjustable ankle zippers. Launching online and in Still Here’s stores. I love Still Here’s boutiques — they really pay attention to the design and have some vintage pieces in the Upper East Side location — and highly recommend a visit.

• Donni’s stripes! Love the bolder take. I have these crop pants and they are great for petites. Of course work for other heights too.

• More fun for petites, I know I’ve shared how much I love my Cropped Colby Pants, well they just launched the same cropped length in Silk! There is a basic (but never boring) black, white, and a gorgeous olive shade. The crepe is also back in stock in black too. [No, you can never have enough black pants — here is a recap of my favorites.]

• Alex Mill August new receipts launched. My personal highlights include the quarter-zip that I’ll be surprised if any sweater brand doesn’t do their own iteration of after Chanel’s subway version. I really love this cashmere rugby — an original update to a classic shirt silhouette. Other new deliveries include the rollneck preppy classic, cardigans, and matching dress shirts with poplin pants. Men’s has Alex Mill-takes-on-prep classics too.

Vette-ing Vogue’s Bet

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed the same thing from some of my favorite fashion follows. An insider with great taste, maybe merchandising in their background, launches an online boutique. It looks like a store, it acts like a store, it fulfills like a store, but did they really do the heavy lifting to invest in inventory, warehouse it, and create an actual shop (even online only)? These shops all have a similar feel too even if the copy, colors, and names are different. Want the story? It’s time to check out Vette.

Behind the paywall let’s get into Vogue’s bet on Vette — building shopping websites and launching with commission on drop ship for both Condé Nast and the creators behind the shops. I’ll also compare it to ShopMy, LTK, and other affiliate marketing programs.

Read more

Q2 2026: The Hottest Items According to Lyst

1. Knicks Championship Hat

2. Pleats Please Issey Miyake Madame-T Stole

3. Skims Jelly Shoe

4. Gucci Vittoria Thong Sandal

5. Chloé Jelly Mules

6. Massimo Dutti Toe Sandals

7. Chanel Shield Sunglasses

8. Dôen Iona Shorts

9. Adidas x Willy Chavarria Soccer Jersey

10. Zimmermann Daylight Dress

In this send: You’ve seen the Index rankings, but have you reviewed the why behind it? Here is my overview through the lens of an experienced merchant. The why behind the demand. Plus: Chanel, TikTok Scarf, Knicks in five, Kill Bill yellow, StockX, Adidas Mexico Kits, lace-lingerie-as-daywear, Madame T-stole, Voranida Rujekitnara, pierced nipple bra, and I have thoughts. Tell me in the comments what your thoughts are — any surprises? What is missing?

Leave a comment

First Let’s Set The Stage:

What is Lyst, and what is the Lyst Index? Lyst is a fashion shopping app. It pulls together more than 27,000 brands and retailers in one place, and 160 million people use it a year to browse and buy. Every quarter, Lyst uses all that shopping activity to publish the “Lyst Index”. A ranked list of the brands and specific products that are generating the most buzz and demand at that moment.

How is it calculated? Lyst looks at three things: desire (are people talking about and wanting something), demand (are people actively searching for and shopping it), and discovery (is it spreading, showing up in social, search, and even AI shopping tools). They weight recent activity more heavily than older activity, so a brand can’t coast on last quarter’s buzz. Notably, they exclude anything driven purely by a sale or a discount, and anything driven by negative attention (a scandal, a controversy) which is meant to be a measure of genuine excitement, not just price-chasing or gossip.

What period does Q2 2026 cover? April through June 2026.

I Have Thoughts

Seeing the Lyst data on Hottest Brands and Hottest Products is like opening up a present. Did the clues you were thinking about pan out? Is it a complete surprise or did you know what was coming? I start to unravel what the items are explaining about how we are searching and shopping but then also go back to previous years and quarters to see how it all fits together, or doesn’t.

The Q2 data is no exception. It had a few surprise moments — a sports team paraphernalia making it on to the list? Of course, it’s the Knicks. But I haven’t seen something like that register in some time. And even the number 2 item threw me into an immediate detective mode.

Behind the paywall: what the Knicks hat, a $298 pair of shorts, and a TikTok scarf trend are actually telling us about how (and why) we shop. I break down the merchandising strategy behind each pick, dig back through past quarters to see what repeats and what doesn't, and connect the pop culture dots that helped place brands and items onto the Lyst Index. You don’t need to be deep in the retail industry to find this interesting. I made it fun, I promise!

Read more

In this send: The specific shade of blue that is surfacing everywhere. This can’t be a coincidence. Plus: Celisse, leather Teva, Wicked Good Slippers, McDonald’s Diet Coke fountain soda, hair longevity, , scorching color, acid blue, Hermès Bolide, Zebra print, The Park, Sarah Bonello, Nordstrom NYC vs Bloomingdale’s NYC, and much much more. See you in the comments!

Fresh Receipts

• Nailing It: Celisse is finally doing red, after being the most requested shade since launch. Launching August 4th at 10am ET, Celisse Red drops as both a standalone bottle and in The Celisse Red Trio, alongside a new base coat (The Set Up) and two high-summer shades — Bunny, a pearly evolution of their popular Babydoll pink, and Swan, a sheer white — bundled in The High Summer Trio. The brand reminded me that even die-hard sheer-and-neutral girls tend to keep one bold shade in rotation for big moments and that this is their first step into a core range of classics they always planned. They also shared that with their brand imagery being the perfect shade of red it was time to add it into the assortment. I'm currently wearing Camisole on my toes, but since I usually opt for OPI’s Big Apple Red I plan to add a new color to my rotation very soon.

• Everything old is new again: These Miu Miu shoes are like a leather Teva, and pointed out on Instagram that these shoes from The Row have been in many peoples closets for decades. This pair basically costs the sales tax of the ones from The Row. I’m not judging.

• A tote bag for your pjs: Petite Plume, the pajama brand, is launching accessories. They’ve started with a canvas tote bag in stripes, and a toile. Designed to match with the pajama prints.

• For the person who can explain the difference between a cold can and a McDonald’s fountain: Yes, I immediately added this to cart and checked out. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a graphic t-shirt that is more me.

• Fresh Hair: K18 is launching a new product aimed at helping with shedding and greying — targeting people interested in “hair longevity” bringing the aging conversation from skincare to hair care. The new product is called FutureIQ. I doubt this even needs a “Note” but Note: I am not a scientist!

  I’m a big fan of the K18 Leave-In Hair Mask and find that for my frizzy curly/wavy hybrid hair it is the one product that will quickly tame it. As close to a keratin treatment that I can do on my own and in minutes. Also, the dry shampoo* is a non-aerosol and a solid option especially for darker hair because there is no messy white powder to contend with. I feel like it gives me a bit of texture along with the refresher for day(s) old hair.

• Old Navy teasing with a 👑🐝: It would be interesting if they got Beyoncé given her partnership last year with Levi’s (she literally sings a song “Levii’s Jeans”) but Hailey Bieber has partnered with Levi’s and Gap in a short amount of time. If Gap parent co goes after another Levi’s collaborator so quickly…interesting. But this Instagram tease uses the verbiage “Most Wanted” in the post copy which is another Cowboy Carter song. The song is a duet with Miley Cyrus so could it be a two for one deal? Honestly I think it could be a tease and just a denim release but maybe…

  Old Navy needs to keep winning in denim (and all categories) to hang on to their marketshare and dominance as the “number one specialty apparel retailer”1. Uniqlo could give them a real run for their money. From the Q1 2026 earnings shared at the end of May:

“First quarter net sales of $2.0 billion were up 1% compared to last year. Comparable sales were up 1%. Old Navy continued to win in strategic categories, including denim, active, and kids and baby, while customer response to women’s dresses was weaker.”

Forecasting

🩵🩵🩵: This shade of teal has been popping up everywhere! On a lot of t-shirts but what is surprising to me is I’m also seeing it on older and secondhand finds that are surfacing on Instagram and out in the wild. I’m tracing it back to and her t-shirt collab with Cleo Camp in October 2025. Is this an October shade? Not really. But maybe that is why it stood out and then likely ended up on everyone’s mood boards. Seems like designers, creative directors, stylists, and fashionable people filed this image away. Satenstein wrote in her Substack about this specific shade:

“I’ve seen this vision of blue a few times in my life: a Michael Kors-era Celine spring 2000 knit sweater I bought, but it never quite fit right. I nabbed a Versus Versace top in the same hue, which also didn’t fit. But I loved the color. There’s something fantastical about the hue: escapist, lavish, and sexy. It takes a pinch of delusion to wear a scorching color like this. You’ve got to really believe in it and yourself.”

🩵 Where else I’ve spotted 🩵

• The Cleo Camp x Neverworns QVC-ish style event of course. Here it seemed like everyone was wearing the shirt!

• That slip that Zoe Kravitz wore. Gorgeous sky blue shade. Kravitz was snapped by the paparazzi wearing this in August 2021 so maybe that image has been in designers minds ever since. If you’ve considered that slip, wait until you see this $40 RL slip via resale. Once I started on the Kravitz research I also noticed she wore this shade in tiny athletic shorts and a baseball t-shirt. Yes, BASEBALL t-shirts! Another trend I’ve been tracking.

• Seeing this PDP (product detail page) image of the Brooke Callahan tie pants in turquoise makes me think that this specific blue shade could be trending because of the red x blue combo that first put on my radar. I still tag her or comment whenever I see this specific combo.

• CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist has it in her men’s style out. (Gah! I love a style out so much!)

• Flore Flore they make amazing thicker t-shirts. I highly recommend. I like to order 1 to 2 sizes up. Flore Flore did the color exclusive for their ecommerce site, so of course I’m adding the retail strategy commentary here. Smart move, gives you a reason to shop directly from them. Can also do a smaller run that way. Keep it limited and special.

• I love the name of this t-shirt “acid blue”

• We love a canvas tote, here is a giant one in the shade.

• Tibi’s bright blue slip dress or the midi bias dress.

• The Grow x Reformation sandal was in this shade and her deep purple satin shoe might be where we are stepping next.

• This isn’t the typical “Leset Blue” that Harry Styles wore, but it is another fabulous shade “Skye”. And if not the t-shirt, the silk bias pants in the popular Barb collection are gorgeous too.

• has been teasing this shade in a new t-shirt coming soon for her brand Donni.

• from Troupe shared this Instagram Story and I immediately screenshot as another example of the shade showing up everywhere. What I love in this image (see below) is that it is a vintage bag. Bringing a trending shade back.

  Other vintage options: an Hermès Bolide, a canvas Bolide that looks like it was shaded at the beach, store a vacation bikini in this Hermès pouch, the perfect bright shade for a Bottega Venta clutch, or how about a Balenciaga City Bag in this shade? Reva’s pouch is no longer available (pretty sure this is the listing) but there is the same style in a dark cobalt shade. Can also just skip to new Hermès.

  

  Note from me — with computer screen settings I think the colors can sometimes be slightly off. But all this feels in the same family to me. If colors are totally off in person, oops on me. But I still see a theme in this turquoise/blue azure/teal-y blue shade.

• Zebra Crossing: The animal print I’m noticing en masse for fall, the black and white stripes of a Zebra. Spotted in a Déhanche belt, Freda Salvador ballet flats, Freda Salvador has a whole zebra collection, Reformation also has a mini collection including the skirt they launched for the IPO announcement, Nili Lotan’s best selling pants in a dark zebra print, and of course Khaite has had handbags, clutch, and shoes in her assortment for a few seasons.

  If you’ve made it this far please do me a favor and share with a friend!

  Share

Label Check: The Park

Behind the brand: I first paid attention to the brand when I heard and discussing on Liv’s podcast Let’s Get Dressed. Waller was wearing this bodysuit and talked about how great the material was. I also noticed that was wearing this summer dress* from the brand in her recent post on summer dresses. I spoke with founder Sarah Bonello recently and learned more about her brand, The Park.

Behind the paywall you will find more insights on The Park and my thoughts on their retail strategy. I also follow-up on this weekend’s Met Costume Institute announcement with another question and more finds from my feed.

Read more

Read more

Today’s Deep Dive

• New Collabs — Love Shack Fancy x Wrangler and more

• New Launches — Re/Done, TWP denim, and an air dry hair helper

• Fresh Receipts — Buckle totes and the Gala vs Colby

• The Business Section — Does it feel like with AI brands are duping shoppers?

• New Store Openings — Jeffrey in Atlanta and more

• Pop-Ups — I hope Nantucket can handle more influencers

• People in the News — Jennifer Hyman at Babylist, ex Glossier CEO at Whoop and more

• In My Feed

In this send: I looked at e.l.f. Beauty’s Substack and needed to ask a few questions. I’ve been exploring fashion and beauty brands and how they are using AI and what the consumer thinks about it. Plus: glow-in-the-dark sheets, Love Shack Fancy x Wrangler, Sofia Coppola’s t-shirt, Chan Luu says “I do”, Song Sung Blue Jean, Milk Styling Mousse, two tote trends, bra bag, Claudefishing, Daydream, Quince, Kirkland, Brunello Cuicinelli, Hermès, Kith, Jeffrey Atlanta, mercury in retrograde, Jennifer Hyman, Babylist, Jenn Hyman’s TikTok, Kyle Leahy, NikeSkims, and a new-to-me podcast I’m loving.

New Collabs

• New Boo: West Elm x Petite Plume collabed on Halloween pieces — two sets of sheets (and they glow-in-the-dark) and a trick-or-treat basket. Petite Plume also launched their new Halloween PJs (men’s, women’s, kid’s) but the print is different than the West Elm sets. I do like this toile print. While it may feel early at least by buying now you can enjoy for longer and better cost per wear.

• Love Shack Fancy x Wrangler for yet another LSF collab launching August 5th. This gets LSF into the denim space without having to deal with the intensity and complexity of denim fits. I often want to refer to what LSF does as “licensing” versus a collaboration.

• Clare V x Ciao Lucia on a new collab. The Ciao Lucia brand has been carried at Clare V pop-ups and in the Silverlake location so the brands have had a long relationship of working together.

New Launches

• Who is ready for their a$$ to look good in jeans? According to Meredith Kahn, Head of Design at Re/Done this is what is launching today. [Instagram] Plus the Financial Times shared that Sofia Coppola loves this t-shirt from Re/Done so WWSCD?

• Chan Luu launched a bridal collection described as “a modern capsule designed for the unconventional bride”. It was inspired by founder Tessa Tran’s own wedding in 2019. The pieces include a mirror tunic in white, a techno taffeta mini shift, a sequin mini bag, and jewelry. Of course the pieces are not for brides and brides-to-be only.

• TWP has expanded their assortment of denim with new styles and dropped a new editorial campaign. The denim is made in LA with premium Japanese denim. New styles include this dark denim in a linen cotton, and the New Straight in a heavy denim. These styles join TWP’s classic straight leg denim and an extra wide leg style.

• An Air Dry Hair Helper: Roz launched the Milk Styling Mousse. A hydrating and volumizing product for fine and wavy hair. I like and use all of Roz’s products and the recommendation for styling is using this in between my other two favorite items from the brand — the Milk Hair Serum and the Saint Lucia Styling Oil. Last month the brand received a minority investment stake from L Catterton as well additional investments from Silas Capital, G9 Ventures, and celebrity investors like clients Zoe Saldana and Brooklyn Decker. [Beauty Independent]

• Handbag line Fane has launched at Net-a-porter. The bags are priced just under $1,000 — at a contemporary price point where there isn’t a lot of competition as the options or either cheap and cheerful or expensive. The brand uses Italian leather. This is one of their key styles, named after, yes, a bra. The minimalist tote is another style I’ve been noticing as a trend. Parker Thatch has their magazine tote and Kallmeyer’s brunch bag all in the thin strap vertical skinny tote just big enough for a magazine or book.

Fresh Receipts

• Forecasting a tote trend: The new Lemaire Belt Buckle Tote shares a trend with this Chanel bag I’ve spotted on the shoulders of influencers like and . There is also the micro version (and in leopard) from Parker Thatch. I have this older bucket bag from Toteme in navy suede and this summer it came in raffia.

• Jamie Haller launched a new Kick Trouser in three colors and the brown is almost completely sold out. The George Slipper also launched — a loafer with a rubber sole.

• As part of the low profile shoes chart this weekend I highlighted plimsoll sneakers. Tuckernuck has a new gingham Keds that caught my eye.

• The Row Gala pants are back in silk and wool. I think the wool is a decent choice and as for the crepe I have both The Row and La Ligne and I prefer the thicker weight (and less likely to snag) material of La Ligne. La Ligne appears to have about 50 SKUs (stock keeping units) of the Colby pant now if that tells you anything about the popularity. I’d have to dig into the sales and inventory data to see if they were over-SKU’ed. And if you’ve been waiting for the Cropped Colby in Ivory they are back in stock. Petites, these are the length for you as a regular pant.

The Business Section

Behind the paywall today you’ll find a mix of retail stories that made me sit up a little straighter to pay attention and research (and it wasn’t just this sports bra correcting my posture). I dug into e.l.f. Beauty and how they are appear to approach Substack and AI.

Read more

In this send: I love how today’s big stories are related to prep fashion. From a quilted bag trend spiral to Nantucket influencer drama. Plus: Rachel Strugatz, Gap’s Heaven, Emily Holt, Hero Shop, Valesque, crushed velvet, Uniqlo quarter-zip, Loewe pineapple jelly shoe, Hello Kitty, Hart Jewelry, Hill House Home, petite denim, Nour Hammour, Chellams, Vera Bradley, Pierre Deux, Liberty London, London College of Fashion, fat quarters, bug eyed sunglasses, Hunza G x Burberry, Needlepoint, That Crochet Guy, Lily Eve, fashion hoarder, Nantucket Friendship Basket, “No Influencers”, Paige Lorenze Paul, Julia Berolzheimer, Frances Valentine, Traackr, ShopMy, TikTok Shop, Heirlome, Laura Vinroot Poole and I can’t list everything so keep reading and subscribe.

Subscribe now

Fresh Receipts

• Heaven Scent: After much anticipation (seriously, Rachel Strugatz has been writing about Gap Beauty and the return of the scents since 2025) Gap announced that their 5 scents — Heaven, Dream, Grass, Om, and Harmony — that originally launched in 1994 would make a return on July 30th. I’m interested to see if the conversation is à la Hailey Bieber x Gap Denim or more Gap stripe sweater as a printed mesh tank top. [Gap] I’m also curious to see where the beauty category is put in the navigation. I’m writing on Monday July 27th and it is not up yet on the site.

• A Fashion Candy Bowl: Valesque’s latest bags are hitting now. Do not wait! I immediately reached out to Emily Holt at Hero Shop at Marin Country Mart and she let me know they were receiving their delivery Monday. I’ve already placed my order and will be picking up this week. I have the Thea in slate (a light grey) but I’ve now added a red. On Net-a-Porter they have a large assortment too. The Thea in crushed velvet (hello yellow!), this lightweight tote (I love in Navy, but they have black too) and I plan to use when working and schlepping my kids around for activities, the spaghetti strap handbag is already sold out, but you can also order from Hero Shop and there is also a petite handbag in a crushed velvet. It’s like trick-or-treating without the cavities.

• If you are more into new Pleats Please versus sourcing secondhand (pant suit here, love this color, a vest, and a cardigan with tags) there are so many great pieces. Like this green midi skirt, a matching top, straight leg pants in a bold color, and a Miró-like top.

• More new at NAP that got my attention: The Row boots, and the mohair scarf, adding these great Proenza Schouler ballet flats go in the high vamp flats category I wrote about this weekend, but these Jil Sander flats with the vibram soul feel like a totally different category, I need to try this Agolde t-shirt because it looks like possibly the best grey t-shirt ever (this is my current all time favorite best grey t-shirt), and if you like Literary Sport I think you would be into the new delivery from Rier.

• Clare Waight Keller’s latest delivery at Uniqlo, new sweats, have arrived. My personal favorite is this quarter-zip sweatshirt.

• Our cool, fresh, modern QVC host is hosting a Free People Archival Collection live on Wednesday 7/29 at 6:45pm ET on Substack and Free People’s TikTok. Be there or be square.

• Jelly fruit for your feet. Loewe’s Pineapple Paula’s Ibiza peep toe sandals.

• Hitting another Nostalgia x Teen collaboration: Hello Kitty x MadHappy. This follows their collab with Roxy. The Hello Kitty collab is ideal for the teenager who loves back to school shopping for stationery in particular.

• Launching on July 30th, Hill House Home x Hart Jewelry. The collection includes charms, playing off of both of their seaside collections with a mermaid and a special pink bezel. Cords are made from fabric in Hill House prints.

• And find fresh receipts at the new Hill House Home that just opened in Georgetown.

• L’agence launched petite denim.

• Nour Hammour jackets have started arriving and assuming they will be as popular and in demand as LY (last year) you should make your decision soon. This suede is gorgeous and I’m expecting the funnel neck to make an impact this fall. My early Forecast.

• Congrats on the launch of Chellams. Read more here on her Substack. For someone who covers small brands from really cool female founders this launch makes so much sense! So proud of you.

• Lola Blankets launches a bandana print on July 31st. My kids love Lola Blankets. At this point I’ve bought an XL for my parents that started the obsession. I’ve now influenced their friends to buy and my kids now each have their own blanket.

The Look Of Loving Hands At Home, But Luxury

The 🌀 Fashion Spiral 🌀 Prints, Patchwork, and Talking Crafts

This spiral started with a comment from a Private Label reader “why isn’t Vera Bradley capitalizing on this moment” caught herself scrolling eBay for vintage Vera Bradley bags and wasn’t sure why and then she traced it back to and her comment on Substack that Celine’s new quilted patchwork tote looks like Vera Bradley. We all had this collective moment but others might go a bit further back and remember Pierre Deux. The quilted bag with a Provençal print that launched in 1967 (before Vera Bradley’s debut in 1982) but filed for Chapter 7 in 2011. Fear not, Pierre Deux is also taking this quilted pattern moment to stage a comeback. Stay tuned. And for a great explainer on Vera Bradley check out ’s breakdown on Instagram. I’ll likely write more later as to what is going on at Vera Bradley. That is a different story — audience and brand positioning versus product/merchandise.

As I had this little spiral in my head and both added to it. Waller posted over the weekend that the pre-orders on the exact Celine bag were through the roof and totally unrelated (most likely) Sundberg mentioned in Monday’s Feed Me with a stat about Liberty London’s fabric department. I remember this department from when I was studying abroad at the London College of Fashion. I would regularly channel check (I’ve been channel checking since birth) Liberty London and visit the fabric department and pick up Fat Quarters1 with my small student budget. It was what I could afford but I knew I had to sew something cool with it. I often made tiny handbags which is possibly why I love Valesque so much right now. All of this is how I ended up in a spiral connecting the Celine tote to sewing classes at a London department store. Bear with me, there’s a thru-line I promise.

Prints Charming

The Celine bag — quilted, patchwork, and in what I often refer to as a ditzy-print — is besides the Chanel and Hermès handbags, what people are excited by. I asked Gab Waller who sources in-demand products for what shoppers can’t locate on their own (and since this item is not sold online and a limited amount were made you will likely need the service of a sourcer to locate) and she told me that the moment Celine posted on their Instagram May 27th — and it was the second image in a carousel — she immediately received several requests for this tote. Currently Celine is Waller’s second best selling and most requested brand at the moment with the handbags and the oversized (what are being referred to as bug-eyed) sunglasses as the in-demand items. Since this bag was produced in such limited quantities and won’t launch online she isn’t surprised demand has been through the roof.

Other brands have also been leaning into print and pattern and collab. Think of Hunza G x Burberry at the beginning of the summer. I still think that was an excellent mash-up and well executed. To bring it back to other recognizable prints and a collab, Adidas x Liberty very recently had a high conversion of clicks when I wrote about it earlier this summer. (Ohhh! A Hunza G x Liberty collab would be very fun!)

Crafting the Story

This isn’t just a print story, it is a DIY and analog story too. From in Feed Me this week: “Fabric sales at Liberty London rose 11% YoY. In response, the department store doubled its fabrics department, and plans on hosting sewing classes this autumn.” The data shows us that it isn’t just Liberty London that is experiencing this. Needlepoint searches are up 251 percent and sewing is up 152 percent year-over-year per Michaels’ 2026 Creativity Trend Report.

I’ve been tracking and wrote about the crafting and repair trend earlier this summer. Fendi’s needlepoint baguette, FXRY’s repair services, the Nest partnership with Tory Burch and Dôen. The print revival and crafting boom are the same instinct and all the look of the crafters circle. My algorithm is also filled with other crafting moments. Will we see Longchamp or other brands take on bags like this or That Crochet Guy’s Birkins launch the next not-an-actual-Birkin-but-close?

Ending This Spiral

A little shoppies moment for what is on my mind as I pulled this together:

• Celine’s Quilted Jacket seems to be almost as popular as the totes

• Ralph Lauren’s Quilted Jacket, another prep staple

• The Great has a great bandana print bomber jacket

• Veronica Beard’s cropped jacket also has bandana vibes

• A Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA based store — House of Cardoon — sells these one-of-a-kind quilted jackets.

• Lily Eve’s repurposed Hermès blanket jackets bringing crafting and prep together again

• Call It By Your Name now has apparel and of course all of their quilted bags fit in here too. And the Mini Coton stroller bags

• Farm Rio on final sale and ba&sh has a quilted jacket on sale too.

• I love Dôen’s quilted toiletry bags for travel

• Vintage!!! eBay Vera Bradley Jacket, Etsy, Poshmark, or just look in your closet. Believe it or not I still have this and the matching garment bag similar to this. And I still use this (in a different pattern) for my flat iron. It has outlasted the 4 or so flat irons I’ve owned since high school. I am so not a print person, but I am a fashion hoarder and grew up in the suburbs with a mom who loved Vera Bradley.

🛍️ Quick note: I write a lot (too much good stuff to share!) If you’re reading via email only, you may need to click through to the web version or read on the Substack app. I promise it will be worth it. 🛍️

Influencers vs Shops in Nantucket

There has been a battle brewing on Instagram between Four Winds Craft Guild — which sells the $2,100 to $4,400 handmade baskets (Nantucket Friendship Baskets) that are made locally — and Influencers. The store has been around since 1948 but it is their “No Influencers” sign that has gotten them into the news lately.

Read more

Read more

In this send: Target nails it with three new collabs on my radar this week and World Cup fans can check out American Eagle’s ongoing 5 year partnership with Lamine Yamal. I take a deeper look in this week’s Deep Dive behind the paywall. Plus: Agolde, Hailey Low Rise Loose, Rosie Assoulin, Target, Olivia Culpo, Picolette, Tuckernuck, Nili Lotan boots, Aflalo, Base-K Beauty, scalp care, Manuscript, Lexie Hull, “sweat adaptive,” Ariel Gordon Jewelry, Alo sunglasses, $3,600 shoes, Parke, the 19 jean, Keyne, Lamine’s Eagles, Country Marts, Schiaparelli, South Coast Plaza, Rubirosa, and a tip if you are bothered by no mirrors in the Aritzia dressing rooms.

• How Hailey Bieber’s Jeans Measure Up 👖

• New Collabs 🎯

• New Launches

• American Eagle x Lamine Yamal ⚽

• New Store Openings & Pop-Ups

• Martha’s Vineyard Channel Checks

• People in the News

• What Else I Loved

How Hailey Bieber’s Jeans Measure Up

All the (wrong) sizes of the Hailey Bieber x Gap denim I ordered for my daughter arrived. My teen tried to tell me that all of my denim is way too tight (I wear mostly straight legs and love my newest pair from Agolde and these from Khaite) so I figured I would humor her and try on the Hailey Low Rise Loose. My honest assessment is that they are great jeans. Not too low rise on me thanks to my 5 ft 2 inch petite frame. Yes the legs were baggier than I usually wear but they did feel cool. But alas, not cool or me enough to keep. So I’ll be returning 5 pairs of HB Gap denim this weekend and in the end we kept one pair of the Baggy in my daughter’s actual correct size.

, of course wearing her merchandising hat, pointed out that the leg openings on the two styles were nearly identical. 19.5 inches on the Low Rise Loose and 19.25 inches on the Extra Baggy. Since I had both pairs and a trusty measuring tape I lined up the same sizes and noted that at the knees the difference is 1.5 inches of extra fabric on the Extra Baggy. The Extra Baggy is also more of a mid-rise and has a 12 inch rise while the Low Rise only has 10.25 inches.

New Collabs

• Hitting the Target: Target has a trio of new collabs recently announced:

  • Rosie Assoulin for Target — I expect this colorful collection, especially the striped clothing, to go fast.

  • Target partnered with Olivia Culpo on Picolette, a baby clothing collection.

  • More options for tween clothing! Pacsun Kids will be a new kids clothing collection between Target x Pacsun. [Glossy]

  • Worth noting that Isaac Mizrahi officially started on June 15, 2026 in his role as Creative Director at Large so it will be interesting to see what the retailer and merchandising looks like once he has had some time to impact the collaborations.

• Tuckernuck x Mubadala DC Open — Tuckernuck is an official sponsor of the tennis tournament. Makes sense for a brand with deep Georgetown roots.

New Launches

• Nili Lotan launches shoes. On Monday Nili Lotan boots were featured on Net-a-Porter as an exclusive pre-launch. The collection is made in Italy and Spain. A few styles in the full collection include a cowboy style for $1,390, a lower heel for $990, and at $1,290 a high heel bootie. This launch follows the fall 2025 Handbag category expansion.

• Aflalo launched on Net-a-Porter this week expanding their distribution. The long satin shorts are already almost completely sold out. There is this gorgeous green plisse set (skirt — the matching tank is currently not available at NAP but you can find it here), capri board shorts, and of course their balloon pants.

• Emerging brands launching in Sephora: Sephora just announced their next cohort of Accelerate beauty brands. Two trends worth watching:

  • Scalp care coming in strong. 25 percent of the brands focus on scalp care. Base-K Beauty (this brush looks like it would feel so good!) Moré Beauté built for textured hair and launching soon. Manuscript is also coming soon and focuses on longevity — scalp care, thinning, and greying.

  • Performance wins the medals. Two performance brands are launching — Forta and Mowe. Forta was co-founded by Lexie Hull, a WNBA player, and recently launched a make-up setting spray. Mowe is “sweat adaptive” skincare made for movement.

• Curious what $3,600 plastic shoes look like?

• Shortly after I noted that while Shopbop sold Parke, they didn’t have any of their sweatshirt styles. Following the sweatshirt exclusive to Martha’s Vineyard pop-up they now have a few other “exclusive” mock neck sweatshirts on their site (more colors here and here but selling fast.) Order via Shopbop to skip the insanity of sell-outs that break the DTC site, no returns, and long wait pre-orders. More on the Martha’s Vineyard Shopbop pop-up below — a reader sent me some great flip-flops on the ground reporting.

• Ariel Gordon Jewelry has an Online Archive Sale that launches today! A few of my favorites include this minimal diamond pendant to add to a chain, diamond studs, a tiny birthstone hoop, and stacking a pearl and a turquoise bracelet together.

• Alo launched sunglasses. The styles (cat-eye, aviator, shields) are priced $250 to $375 are designed in-house in Los Angeles and assembled in Japan. What is most notable is that they did not partner with the big-names in eyewear production. No Luxottica (Ray-Ban), Safilo, Marchon or Marcolin.

• Congrats to and Donni on their site relaunch. I especially like this display of the fabrics highlighted below with the images. Closest you can get to fabric swatches online.

American Eagle Plays Ball with Lamine Yamal

Read more

Fresh Receipts — another model denim launch & new deliveries

Forecasting — trends I’m seeing instead of a summer cardigan

Balloon Pants — where the trend came from and the latest data

Reformation IPO — the numbers and why sustainability isn’t on the radar

In My Feed — odds and ends (plus a Madewell recall fyi)

What’s Next — what else I’m watching

In this send: Seeing balloon pants everywhere and what is really going on with this trend — where did it come from? A deeper dive into Reformation’s pending IPO. Plus: Posse, Danielle Mulham, Pleats Please, The Upside, Adidas x Farm Rio, shield sunglasses, sheer cardigans, The Park, polka dot bikini, Aflalo, Chava, Donni, Paul Poiret, Pieter Mulier, The Odyssey, Lupita Nyong’o, REF, Edikted, Micaela Erlanger, and let’s get to it.

Fresh Receipts

• Re/done launched the Kaia Edit as part of a collaboration with Kaia Gerber. The Mica Jean, a take on the vintage Levi’s 501, is the hero product of the launch.

• Posse is an Australian label that Danielle Mulham launched in 2016 by designing the linen pieces she wanted after a trip to Bali. The brand has slowly and thoughtfully grown and is now carried at Net-a-Porter, Mytheresa, Shopbop, Revolve, Nordstrom, Tuckernuck, and Bergdorf Goodman. The brand broke through after Sofia Richie wore a Posse linen skirt and vest set to her 2023 wedding weekend at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc mixing it in with designer pieces from Chanel.

  Fast forward to Pre-Fall 2026 and the new sets have launched on Posse’s website. Instead of the summer linen sets, you’ll find lots of plisse sets. An even softer version of an Issey Miyake Pleats Please. The looks also read very ballet and lingerie inspired for day-time casual.

• The Upside — another Australian label — has a new delivery on Mytheresa that made me excited for fitness apparel and athleisure. Thanks to Literary Sport (I just placed an order for a few items — I’ll share more details soon) and The Upside, there are options that are more considered and interesting than plain black leggings and sports bras (though they have those too). A printed fuzzy half-zip (I’d go for this solid black version), track pants for the gym (or travel, or casual WFH), printed leggings here and here, and instead of a sweatshirt try a polo top. I’ve already been wearing this one I own a lot instead of a sweatshirt.

• More for the sports set: Another new fun workout set if you are allergic to plain black, go for a pattern! The new Adidas x Farm Rio set. Designer anoraks from Saint Laurent and Miu Miu with a coordinating skirt. Phoebe Philo satin track shorts, and Loewe shield sunglasses.

• This Fendi Baguette is a literal piece of art. With the price tag too.

Forecasting

• Not a basic cardigan: The summer option for layers was always considered to be the knit cardigan. I’ve noticed this summer the options are more likely to be a few other styles:

  • Oversized button-up. I’m partial to this one that I had made semi-custom on a trip last summer to Mexico City that I basically planned around visiting Olivia Villanti’s Tiendita for Chava. After reading this Substack by you will be convinced to buy this one. Not convinced yet? Another article from . For the true heat of summer, a few sheer button downs like Aflalo, Donni (I own and love this one), Reformation, and Brochu Walker.

  • Oversized long sleeve t-shirt. Mostly in white or channeling Margot Robbie at the airport in black. I also like this gauze-y jersey t-shirt and these cashmere options.

  • A sheer cardigan. From Chloé, Renngli - vest version too, The Park, and pointelle to make it sheer from Anthropologie.

• This Alaïa polka dot bikini had me updating the Polka Dot Trend Forecast. There are a lot of new polka dots I’ve tracked from pants, dresses, and taffeta shorts.

Balloon Pants are Blowing Up

My favorite trends to track are the ones that at once seemed polarizing and then gained a bit more acceptance. Not 100 percent adoption rate, but was given a side-eye one year comes back to be worn by more than just the early adopters. Instead of only being available with designer brands you can find at all price points and the style is usually toned down in some versions too. This season I’m seeing the Balloon Pants hit that trend target, another one has been Capri pants.

• Before they pop: The first ones to blow up last summer were Aflalo, and they are back again this summer. Others include the Chloé bohemian runway and floral printed, Altuzarra (and 60% off here), Loewe, accessibly luxury at Róhe (in an exclusive seersucker red at NAP), Australian designer Zimmermann’s polka dots or paisley printed (on sale here) or lingerie inspired, Reformation’s pretty in pink, Posse’s polka dots, Donni’s version instead of sweat pants, Suzie Kondi has had this version for awhile as they are inspired by her Albanian grandmother’s harem pants, Skall Studio’s Scandinavian basically office appropriate, Aritzia, light blue from Alix of Bohemia, Ronny Kobo super sheer lace or sheer but with bum coverage, printed from Dôen, and on the beach easy as a sheer cover-up. There are also plenty of fast fashion examples.

• The WHY of Balloon Pants…

Read more

Read more

In this send: Can Gap make me forget that Hailey Bieber loves to wear Vintage Levi’s 501 denim? Plus: Denim by Orlee, vintage Levi’s 501s, Katseye, Richard Dickson, Parke, Splashberry Dunkin’ Zero, Merit Beauty x The Ritz-Carlton, Nicole Chavez, Quince, Beyond Yoga, Uniqlo, rage clicks, Aritzia, Super Puff, ShopMy, Julia Berolzheimer, Arielle Charnas, LTK, Arket, FoundRae, Chanel Ballet Flats, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

New Collabs

• Let’s get right to the Hailey Bieber x Gap of it all. I’ll take you on my full thought 🌀 spiral around this one.

  • First, I mostly identify Hailey Bieber and denim with Levi’s 501s. And vintage Levi’s 501s specifically. She wore them to her 29th birthday party, she shops them at Denim by Orlee, she did a campaign with them in 2021, and even had terms Hailey + ’90s + denim already wrapped up with Levi’s from a previous campaign. In other words, I think of Hailey Bieber and denim and my mind immediately goes to Levi’s. Vintage Levi’s 501s.

  • Then, I googled. I was reminded that after wearing these 90s Gap low rise loose fit jeans she sold them out. (If I can’t snag a pair online at 12pm ET Thursday July 16th I will just buy these instead. Since my daughter isn’t chronically online like I am hopefully she wouldn’t know the difference.) So yes, there is history of Hailey Bieber plus Gap denim. Fair point.

  • It’s money in the bank for Hailey, Gap gets another great moment and so much press, editorial, social chatter and a collab with an in-demand tastemaker. And of course she makes the denim look great.

  • What I think needs to happen for Gap: I hope they bought enough inventory that they can sell and have a meaningful increase for Gap’s denim at the Q2 quarterly earnings in late August. In Q3 2025 when CEO Richard Dickson shared about the Katseye Better in Denim campaign, he cited "significant traffic and double-digit growth in denim". Gap became the number six adult denim brand in the US, up two spots from 2024. Comps that quarter were +5 percent, the strongest since fiscal 2017 holiday. Dickson has continued to share as recently as Q1 2026, last quarter reported at the end of May, that Denim and Active are important categories for the Gap brand. In other words, Gap needs to get a lot of revenue out of this campaign.

• Parke x Dunkin collab launches Friday July 17th at 10am ET. In addition to Parke merch like claw clips, Parke branded reusable cups, and sweatshirts, you can also try their Blueberry Vanilla Protein Latte, Splashberry Dunkin’ Zero, and Coconut Cloud Limeade drinks. If you are curious about Parke, it is one of the brands I often refer to as a “sweatshirt brand” for Gen Z-Alpha. Yes, Parke also has denim and launched with denim, but the mock neck sweatshirt has been a major item when they launch new ones. Likely because of how they buy the inventory, they sell out quickly, and often the website breaks from the traffic during launches.

• Merit Beauty x The Ritz-Carlton launched The Getaway Kit with minis of their popular products, including the new Clean Volume Mascara that recently launched. The collab is more than just a canvas pouch and the mini items, they took a hospitality approach to creating activations at select Ritz-Carlton properties along with ways to test out the products.

• Love Shack Fancy x Hunter (as in rain boots) launches today. Designed especially for the LSF loyal fans.

New Launches

• Stylist Nicole Chavez partnered with Quince to highlight the July/Summer Edit. The pattern has been each month a different celebrity stylist. Jamie Mizrahi (April), Erin Walsh (May), Kate Young (June).

• announced a new e-commerce site, Earl URL to shop her discoveries (I love her cool closet of a shop Earl IRL in Beverly Hills) and a book coming out this fall What To Wear Everyday: A Guide To Timeless Style.**

Retail Report Card

Early in July Levi’s, Fast Retailing (Uniqlo’s Parent Co), and Aritzia all shared their quarterly earnings. A great opportunity to check in on the retailers, review their report card, and share what I’m watching. Note — this is not investment advice. This is Private Label taking a look at retail strategy and how they are taking care of the consumer. Opportunities and challenges.

Read more