I’m back on the NYC street Channel Checking this week. More to come this weekend. I visited Rùadh, Róhe, Suzie Kondi, Desert Vintage, Extreme Cashmere (finally picked up this striped t-shirt sweater), Don’t Let Disco, and I’m just getting started.
I’m also excited to share this special campaign that I was honored to be a part of. Frances Valentine worked with some really cool women in media who were inspired by Mary Tyler Moore for their campaign with the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Foundation.
What else am I thinking about?
Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg hosted his Meta Connect in Menlo Park and wore a t-shirt that said “Building is my love language”. I typed in “Mark Zuckerberg building…” to Google Search to research the t-shirt and the first thing that popped up was this:
Plus look at the things AI can now do for us:
In this send: Skirts take over the fashion conversation, but don’t worry. I have the data and merchant insights to explain it all. Plus: A Label Check on build-your-own-outerwear brand Marfa Stance. Sneakerina, Sneex, Substack gets Goop-y, Friends & Family lore, how many skirts are we talking about, Lyst, Prada, Róhe, Dries Van Noten, self-tanner, biker style shapewear, pantyhose, Madison Ave, Mexico City, Absolutely Fabrics, Marc Metrick, Evereve, Sarah Clary, Law Roach, Spread the Jelly, Gloria Steinem’s townhouse, Argent, Gregg Renfrew, beecee, and how many skirts do you own?
Deep Dive
New Collabs — delicate beauty this week
New Launches — Sports!
Friends & Family — What is the deal with this sales event?
Skirting the Issue — The real data on skirts
Label Check — Marfa Stance opens their new store on Madison Avenue this week, I’ve got the data and strategy behind this brand
New Store Openings & Pop-ups — Madison Avenue & beyond
People in the News — Congrats! and Questions.
In My Feed — Podcasts from retailers and Spread the Jelly covered Argent/Sali Christeson’s Talking Circle at Gloria Steinem’s Townhouse
New Collabs
Miu Miu x New Balance sneakerina. A sweet little ballet sneaker.
Merit x Erdem — this collab is hauntingly beautiful. A signature lip trio, make-up set, and soaps. The fact that Holiday is out now, in mid September, makes me think that something more could still be coming for the Holidays. I do love their lipsticks and blushes, but my new favorite is their mascara*. I consider it my everyday “mild” mascara.
New Launches
The launches this week are out of control about the eye patch dispenser packaging in beauty. Many brands are also playing along with the virality of it all even if they aren’t launching eye patches from a grinder dispenser. They at least still promoted their eye patches on instagram. Read more here to understand what is going on.
These Sneex up on you: Sneex boots. Does anyone wear Sneex? If so, jump in the comments to share your experience and let’s discuss.
On the heels of launching football (soccer) On is launching Golf as a category expansion too. For(e) 2027. (These puns are fun.)
Aviator Nation launches their NFL collection. Aviator Nation could have slipped in relevance this year as a popular Gen Z-Alpha sweats brand, especially with Free City’s momentum, but I think collabs like this and the University partnership will help make this up. [NYTimes gift link to read Rory Satran from The Hamptons Chronicle article on Free City sweats.]
Goop, with Gwyneth Paltrow writing, is launching a Substack. Which feels so wild that the newsletter that started 18 years ago is now launching on Substack with the same type of coverage. I want to understand how these newsletters will be different, if at all. Welcome to Goop’s Substack. Interesting for retail brands, the $150 founding member rate gives you 15% off all Goop Beauty and GWYN products, free content, and access to two live Substack in platform events.
Friends & Family - History & PSA
Mid to late September, to get ahead of Black Friday and Holiday sales, many retailers and brands host their Friends & Family sales. Friends & Family events started as exclusive, insider events where department store employees could offer discounts to their personal networks. When I first worked at Bloomingdale’s in the Buying Office, each employee was given 40 cards. We were expected to send them to our key vendors/partners and then we could send to our actual friends and family. We would hand address each one and then put them in a box to be mailed out. In 2008, I remember sitting in a C-Suite executive’s office when she received a phone call with on-the-ground reporting that Saks Fifth Avenue was offering everyone a Friends & Family discount even if they didn’t have the coupon to scan. Immediately other department stores started honoring the same deal (then we all ran over to Saks to shop, at the time they offered a deeper Friends & Family discount and had brands we didn’t carry at Bloomingdale’s). This quiet, and only offered to customers with an actual connection to an employee event became public. It soon became one of the deepest discounts of the season. You no longer needed that special postcard with a promotional code to show you were in the inner circle.
Looking for where to shop Friends & Family this week?
Tuckernuck — Use code Family to activate the sale. Grab a peacoat, or a shirtdress. My tip here is just beacause you click on “friends & family dresses” doesn’t mean everything is discounted. Many of the products are excluded and as I was searching Wednesday night it was a little confusing. The F&F deals are mostly on their Private Label merchandise which has a higher margin and they have more control over.
Frame — try their high-rise classic wide leg jean.
Bloomingdale’s — a good time to stock up on kid’s clothes (my son would wear this t-shirt), a men’s Polo Ralph Lauren sweater (that anyone can wear), Gucci sunglasses, or a pair of Mother denim. 25 percent off!
Banana Republic — I’m very into the high profile flats, a pair of highly rated ponte pants, a pair of boots that will get you through a lot of bad weather, and crew neck sweaters.
Plus plenty more — like Saks, Neiman Marcus, and Madewell called theirs an “Insider Event”.
This report is lightly edited and updated from reporting I did in September 2024.
Skirting The Issue
Prada’s show had skirt dominance, and it is typically a skirt heavy brand, so not surprising. As I dipped into the data I still found some interesting details and had plenty of thoughts about how this is playing out for merchants and your favorite retailers and brands right now.
Prada and skirts feel like a no-brainer because Miuccia Prada has been making the case for skirts for many many seasons. She personally wears a lot too. But if skirts haven’t flooded your algorithm this week then we have very different media diets.
Behind the paywall I have exclusive data from Lyst for Private Label on what the skirt category is already showing, how merchants are adjusting their buy, and what else we can expect from skirts going forward.
Also, a deep dive on the brand Marfa Stance. If you aren’t familiar you are going to want to read this. If you are familiar, I breakdown the trunk show strategy and how the modular outerwear brand is expanding in the U.S. with more stores and increasing their attachment rate.
