Hi — I spent the weekend writing, a lot. From Skims advent calendar drama to diving into Ossou (it seems like everyone loves the brand or hasn’t tried yet but is super curious). Plus this time of year the email inbox is in overdrive with marketing emails. How many have you unsubscribed from this week? Hang in there.
In this send: Free People’s Q4 revenue is a lower percentage of the total year than other brands. How does this play out for the retailer and what does gift-giving season look like without heavy promotions? Plus: Brock Collection, Aurora James, NikeSkims Waffle Racer, Swan Sack, Savette on sale, Singles Day, Ralph Lauren, Coach, Husbands, and what can David Schwimmer’s Dream Sweater do for Quince?
The Rundown
Fresh Receipts — Brock is back and plenty of new deliveries
Forecasting — a silly little pouch explosion
Feeling Gift-y — Free People’s pajama-heavy gifting
Sales Alert — Savette, Alo, and Poshmark’s $0.99 shipping
Free People’s Anti-Holiday Focus — how Q4 stacks up for Free People versus other popular mall brands
Quarterly Earnings — thoughts while looking at Ralph Lauren & Tapestry from last Thursday
In My Feed — TRR’s Subway Takes, Husbands (suits), and Quince makes Friends
Fresh Receipts
Brock is back at Moda Operandi and Aurora James recently wore at the CFDA.
The brand was beloved for their special pieces, evening wear, and filled the gap for women looking for delicate and feminine prints and details. From Mark Rofsky, Moda Operandi’s VP of Buying for Ready to Wear:
“We were the first to see the re-launch and immediately upon seeing the collection we negotiated securing it as an exclusive for Moda. We know we have an established client for the brand, and we see they continue to search for it on the site, even with Brock Collection no longer in existence. Brock is at a more contemporary price positioning, allowing a wider client base to buy into the brand. Knowing our client and what worked so well in the past, we also worked with the brand on additional product developments for this first drop.
The performance doubled our expectations for launch week, landing in our top 5 brand performances for last week! We are working quickly on a restock to continue the momentum. We have SS27 drop, also exclusive to Moda, launching in January, and we will also exclusively start to Trunkshow the brand thereafter.”
Brock is back at Moda Operandi. New Parker Thatch handbags including this fun Zebra tote with cobalt straps.
Margaux released their party shoe edit. Jewel tones, satins, and velvets. The Vesper has a 1.5 inch wedge heel in satin, the Colette is a pointy toe slingback pump with a 2.5 inch heel, the Billie Derby is a square toe lace-up flat in a velvet, the Fonteyn reimagines the popular ballet flat in velvet, and the Alba is a pointy toe flat in suede and satin.
NikeSkims is launching the Waffle Racer today. Considering how quickly the Jacquemus x Nike Moon Shoe sold, I expect this to be sold out the second the bots grab them at launch.
Wow! Nour Hammour’s leather midi dress. And we are circling back to leather skirts, Nili Lotan’s is fantastic.
Not to pit brands against each other, but here is a This or That. Phoebe Philo loafer with a little detail or Tory Burch loafer with a little detail?
Emme Parsons hit 10 years of business (congrats!) and the holiday collection is out now. Check out these kitten heel sparklers with basically a brooch attached, the same style kitten heel but in a leopard calf hair, the high-stretch tall boot, and a western low-heel bootie that would look great with denim.
While at Hero Shop I tried on the High Sport corduroy pants, and I’m afraid to say, they are pretty fantastic. They are absolutely way too long on me but this style you can actually hem. They are wide leg and so comfortable. An excellent choice for a cooler fall/winter pant.
Forecasting: A silly little pouch explosion
It was really in late spring and over the summer, during Q2, that we saw the drawstring pouch taking off. Prada’s Wish Pouch led the pack — in both nylon ($875) and silk duchesse ($1,320). But the shoe-dust-bag-as-a-handbag has been making the rounds. See also: Loewe, Isabel Marant, La Double J’s version is even named “dustbag”, Etro bandana print at Evereve, and Ganni. I often think of these bags as the casual version of Loewe’s Flamenco too, especially in the canvas material. (Also, have you seen this. Lol. A++ song choice too.)
So over the weekend when I spotted Catbird marketing their new Swan Sack (also available in Ghost Rose and black) it was like a little light bulb 💡 went off in my fashion spiral 🌀. Here is a jewelry brand basically doing branded merch around a pouch. They could have just done a small jewelry pouch but here they wanted to crossover into the handbag territory. We will also see lots of fancy personalized dust bags/lingerie bags in gift guides this season. (I’m not mad at it, I get the trend. And I’m sure I’ll be guilty of it too.) Maybe also just use these for gift wrapping too.
Lizzie Fortunato also has beaded versions of this pouch, another accessories brand mostly known for their jewelry. But they have plenty of great handbags for dress-up. Their mother of pearl version here.
The Porto leather version also helped usher in this trend of cinch handbags.
Feeling Gift-y
You can find all gift guides this season here including: Gifts for the Jewelry Obsessed (that aren’t jewelry), Everyday Luxuries, Personalized Gifts, and plan your Holiday PJs now.
Inspired by my deep dive into Free People’s Q4 (see below), here is a little teen focused Free People gift round up:
The cozy pajama pants I was told everyone needs. Super soft.
Other popular PJs: the On Repeat pants, the oversized pj shirt, a henley you can always layer with, and top it all off with the coat style of the season to wear over the pajamas or anything else.
Free People has upped their shoe game and has exclusive colors of the Birkenstock Wrapped Amsterdam Clog. This is my favorite indoor to outdoor shoe. I keep a similar pair in my front closet for when I need to run outside. You might as well throw in some socks too.
A $30 triangle scarf that would fit in the “Good” section of the Good — Better — Best pricing matrix for triangle scarves. Or a $38 bandana print.
A suede crossbody slouchy handbag for just under $100.
100% cashmere sweater that looks as cozy as a vintage sweatshirt.
The teens love a value set, and this travel pouch has a bunch of great products in it including Salt & Stone body wash and Manicurist Active Glow.
Free People and FP movement are separate brands now, but I’m still including this fleece from FP movement because last year I gave it to my daughter and it helped me win Hanukkah gifting.
It is gift guide season and there is always heated debate around the content. I absolutely love how Alisha Ramos laid out the case. Also, people love the content which is why creators and the media return to the format year after year.
Sogole Kane published her gift guide and warning, it is drool worthy! She took such an original approach and I love all the items, the way she laid out the grids, and the personalities for each. But I bet a lot of readers will admit to having multiple personalities and wanting everything. Read (and open all the links) here.
Sales Alert
Savette: I recently did a Label Check on the brand and I’m a huge fan of her handbag designs from structured to slouchy. The brand currently has an end of season sale that is worth checking out. I’ve owned mine for a year and still carry it all the time.
Alo: Singles Day is November 11th (11/11 is a massive shopping day in China and bigger than Black Friday — it celebrates people who aren’t paired up) and Alo is holding a 30 percent off event but you have to be a member to shop it. They are using this as an acquisition strategy.
Poshmark: Currently Poshmark is running a $0.99 shipping promotion for a limited time only. If you are looking for little handbags here are a few I found: vintage beaded bag, Loewe striped pouch, a black beaded clutch, and who remembers Le Sac handbags? The crochet bags. I keep wondering if they will be making a comeback.
Free People’s Anti-Holiday Focus
Winning Q4 is important, but is it really that important? American Eagle does 32 percent of its annual sales between November and January and Abercrombie isn’t too far behind with nearly 32 percent. Free People is much less reliant on Q4 and has a more balanced business year round. And that number hasn’t moved much over the past four years. Even their sister brand, Anthropologie, also owned by Urban Outfitters, Inc., runs at around 30 percent.
I looked at quarterly earnings from the past few years, and Free People (one of the hottest Gen Z brands consistently over the years) really shies away from promotions beyond end of season markdowns. Behind the paywall let’s dig deeper into the brand and what Q4 looks like for them and compare their Q4 to other retailers.
