In this send: When might the tides turn for Nike and what Abercrombie can tell us two years into Elliott Hill’s tenure as CEO? Plus: Target Beauty Studio, Uniqlo U’s quasi croissant bag, my plane pants (really my everything pants), packing handbags matryoshka style, Naomi Osaka, Elliott Hill, Fran Horowitz, Icicle, Quince, Ginori 1735, Tuckernuck, WYouth, and who is ready for new runway and street style images this week?
Update: With NYFW I’ll be running around NYC more this week — meetings, Channel Checks, observing what is going on in retail and ready to report back here! Private Label send timing, days, and length might vary.
The Rundown
Fresh Receipts — Target’s new Beauty Studio and more
Travel Notes — my uniform for a red eye
Nike is ready for a Second Serve — CEO Elliott Hill is entering year two as CEO
Home Decor Field Notes — A new category expansion coming for Quince and looking into the Ginori 1735 strategy
In My Feed — two podcasts I recommend
Fresh Receipts
Hitting the Target in Beauty: Target Beauty Studio is launching September 10th. Remember, there was a major deal between Target and Ulta for shop-in-shops. When that didn’t work out, one reason being cannibalizing Ulta’s own stores, Target came back with this expanded Target Beauty Studio. Brands you will find in the Studio space: Tula, Briogeo, Sunday Riley, Manucurist, Mixik Skin (my daughter loves these), StriVectin, Supergoop! (my forever favorite and consistent repurchase), and First Aid Beauty. Buff Beauty, Katia Beauchamp’s new “skincare for nails” brand will be launching at Target too.
Uniqlo U’s new coated cotton shoulder bag is like the designers Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran were inspired by both their Lemaire Croissant Bag and the famous (and a personal favorite) Uniqlo mini-round bag. It’s a bit bigger so could be a fantastic travel option.
On Wednesday Harlems Fashion Row x American Girl Brand collab launches. The preview will be live Tuesday (today).
I’m always curious about new-to-me brands on my algorithm. I saw an Instagram ad for these printed easy pants with a presale shipping this week. Have you tried the brand Cadets? Their tagline is “for the Moms, Tomboys, Boys & Men too”.
Jacques Marie Mage sunglasses deserve their own accessory.
Travel Notes
My flight plan (aka, what I plan to wear on a flight) is pretty much always the same. I only like to use carry-on. I rarely check a bag because I prioritize being neurotic/keeping my stuff/not waiting for a bag, over traveling with extra stuff. Also, since I pretty much have a uniform1 I don’t need to bring a ton of extra shoes etc. Here is the plan for my red eye:
High Sport Pants (navy, regular length) — I prefer the short length, but for the flight the regular length are still fine for me (I’m 5 ft 2 inches) and the longer length keeps me more covered for the flight. If you found the navy surprising for me, yes, me too. I’m packing the black short length I have to wear on the trip.
Compression socks. I have no clue if these work, but I don’t want to take chances. Plus they are cozy for an overnight flight and keep me warm. I’m always freezing on a flight.
Top layers — I want lots of layers on a flight. I start with a t-shirt, I’ve been loving the Literary Sport Cardigan and will wear again for workouts during my stay. I sometimes opt for a La Ligne sweater or a High Sport sweater instead.
Blazer — I love wearing my blazer on the plane because it means I don’t have to pack it and gives me extra pockets. This one* from Argent is perfect and has a pocket for everything from my AirPods case to my lip balm. For travel this time of year this will be my only jacket. Whew.
Wearing my bulkiest shoes, for this trip it is my sneakers.
Plane accessories — my travel scarf (doubles as my plane blanket). During the warmer months I use this one instead. I’ve had each of these scarves for about 15 years, perhaps I should call them my security scarves. This is a bit of an uncommon accessory, but I do like it for the plane: a necklace that my AirPods pop into** so if I take them out on the plane I don’t lose them.
For a red-eye I find this posture bra* so much more comfortable than an underwire and it is the sports bra I’ll use on the trip. It’s all about efficiency when packing in a carry-on.
My handbags I pack matryoshka/Russian doll style to get four size options:
This bag is best for packing for evening — packs completely flat or doubles as another pouch for travel
Then this incredibly light shoulder bag (perfect for channel checks) fits inside of my…
Work bag — filled with my computer and chargers
Inside of my larger, and expandable, travel tote. Zipped up for the trip there. We shall see if I find anything worth unzipping and expanding for the trip home.
Second Serve, Nike
Elliott Hill is approaching the start of his second year as CEO at Nike, and the headlines are asking how long should a CEO get to turnaround a brand? See this article from Fortune. I started thinking about another brand we’ve witnessed with a major retail turnaround that took three years to rev-up. It took CEO Fran Horowitz three years to turn Abercrombie around. It took longer for the stock to bounce back. Nike seems to be planning for a similar trajectory.
Over the weekend, Naomi Osaka walked onto the U.S. Open court in a look stylist Law Roach engineered. In Vanessa Friedman’s NYTimes article (gift link) Osaka is referred to as “the fashion Queen of the tennis court”. Roach connected Monse and Nike to build a bespoke piece around Nike's Sportswear Studio Fleece. The same fleece Nike used weeks earlier at sorority rush activations at Alabama and Arizona State customizing and giving away. All of it is happening against the backdrop of Nike being removed from the S&P 100 for the first time in 18 years.
