Hi! Paris Fashion Week took over, and 83 looks at Chanel, 83 different pairs of heels, and I'm still in my flattest flats. Now I’m thinking how to keep my feet cozy in shearling and it is still so warm. My inbox has started to slowly flip to holiday with beauty first. Every beauty brand has a mini, a gift set or a Sephora app exclusive this week. Are you ready to think Holiday Gifting yet? But first, have you figured out a Halloween costume?
In this send: How brands protect the thing that made them famous: Nike rethinking their icon strategy, Williams-Sonoma took on Quince and we have a judge’s decision on the claims, and what's in a name for beauty brands? Plus: Coco's own 2.55, 83 pairs of heels, the Glossier mini fragrance math, cling wrap masks, Elmo, Miu Miu x Wrangler, brooches, Courtney Grow, BonBon, 19 shearling shoes, Pillow Talk, Panda Dunks and any Paris runway favorites?
The Rundown
Fresh Receipts — new beauty, new boots, the Shopbop x Courtney Grow edit and sweet treats
Forecasting — Shearling Shoes Go Fancy
Field Notes — merch thoughts from Chanel, Miu Miu, Dries Van Noten, and Celine
Protecting Your Assets — the topics we need to talk about:
Nike — their earnings and what it means for Dunks and Jordans
Quince vs Williams-Sonoma — the latest on the case
Yise Questions to Ask
In My Feed — what I want more of
🛍️ 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. 🛍️
Fresh Receipts
New Beauty
Ahead of Q4 and holiday gifting, huge for beauty, there are so many new launches. I’ve been tracking all of them here. One interesting detail is which brands are launching on their own site first, and which are launching first in the Sephora app.
Fara Homidi is launching their holiday exclusive — a Shine Baume and the Blonzer — first on their own site on Wednesday and then on the Sephora app October 12th. They also have a 3 lip pencil set that is launching for holiday. I have this lip pencil and I’m a fan. It is subtle and stays on.
A lesson in how to expand a category: InnBeauty Project has their Extreme Cream, their popular moisturizer, and then they expanded the Extreme category with Extreme Cleanse. For Holiday they are taking the opportunity to launch three more Extremes — Extreme Lip, Extreme Body, and Extreme Body Scrub — and packing together as a holiday trio. This is the type of category expansion that brands will go after to really build out their revenue. A proven product, that has a somewhat cult following, to try more from the brand.
Glossier is pushing their best asset, the fragrance. The fragrance is even cuter in mini bottles although they have had 8 mL travel sizes, they are introducing a new 5 mL set. Launching first in the Sephora app, then on Sephora and Glossier.
The fragrance math:
This Holiday set: 4-piece mini set: $64 for four 5 mL bottles. $16 per mini bottle, or $3.20 per mL (Not the most expensive, but priced higher)
8 mL travel spray: $32, or $4.00 per mL (the least amount, the most expensive per mL)
50 mL: $82, or $1.64 per mL
100 mL: $116, or $1.16 per mL (go big or go home, the best deal if you know what you like)
Why would Glossier price it this way??: This set is for trying the scents, not value pricing fragrance to give you the best deal. It lands at a magic price point of under the $75 but over $50, and as a gift that could be a target price. At least it is under $100. Sets like this mean the recipient is more likely to find their next favorite fragrance.
Going her own way: Bobbi Brown has been opening her own stores and avoiding Sephora and traditional retail. So no launch in the Sephora app, but she is launching The Bobbi Kit 6.0 this week with her essentials and a few new SKUs and shades.
e.l.f. brands is going where the teens are going — to fragrance and body care. It makes sense to offer an opening price point alternative to Sol de Janeiro. There is an e.l.f. mist for $13 and an e.l.f. body cream for $13.
Along with Yise Beauty’s Holiday launch, they also are launching a new clear hydro-gel sheet mask. Xtreme Glass Sheet Mask. If you see someone who looks like they have cling wrap on their face, it's probably this. Or it's this TikTok trend of people using actual plastic wrap, which makes no sense to me. How is that easier than just putting the product on your face? More on Yise below.
New Fashion
Bummer! This Liberowe velvet blouse sold out fast, but I don’t know how many units they had. It has a beautiful cut, perfect for holiday dressing, and even though it is described as a “top” it looks like a blazer you wear without a top underneath. It’s beautiful. More available here.
Margaux’s new boots. A few styles are carryover (styles that Margaux has had in the past, like the Downtown Boot, and the West Chelsea Boot) but the new boots include an update to the West Chelsea Boot — the City Chelsea Boot is a small heel on the West Chelsea. Other examples of Margaux updating a proven seller is the Phoebe Boot, which is a boot take on their Phoebe flat. According to a source at Margaux, the Phoebe flats are the best selling style in the San Francisco Fillmore location. Merchandise strategy note, the product detail page for the Phoebe Flat should be updated to include the new inspired Phoebe Boot to the “you might also like” section.
Other new boots include the tall Charlie Boot that is in the recently launched Alison Roman collab. The Hayes Boot is a style that my merchant brain tells me is a test, because it is only offered in a single black leather SKU1 and a single brown suede SKU. If the style does well they can bring it back or expand colors.
New York or Nowhere x Sesame Street is a pretty extensive collab. Very SKU heavy with sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats, and stuffies of Elmo and Cookie Monster. I worked with Sesame Street on a collab/licensing deal once and the Elmo styles sell like 4 to 1 versus the others. Everyone loves Elmo!
Call It By Your Name has a cute collab with Timeless Pearly, a jewelry line, for jewelry travel pouches that make a cute holiday gift. Mini round zip and a jewelry roll.
Mini mochi handbags from Parker Thatch. A smaller dumpling of a clutch.
Courtney Grow x Shopbop: Courtney Grow collabed with Shopbop to showcase her edit. When you know an influencer really drives revenue for your brand, it makes sense to take the affiliate link relationship deeper. There are influencers who do really well converting for brands by sharing their hearts or their carts with their audience. Grow’s collab with Reformation I heard did incredibly well. This is another industry ShopMy and LTK can disrupt — playing as talent scout. They have the data around which influencers are converting the best for retailers, and then the retailer can work directly with the influencer (or their manager, in this case Grow works with Brigade). Deals like this mean the influencer can negotiate a larger affiliate commission and an additional fee for being the face of the brand, in the images, and a styling or edit fee as well.
A Lil Something Different
Perhaps there are others reading that have a sweet tooth like I do. I love BonBon and I’ve actually been intrigued by watching the expansion strategy of BonBon, a Swedish Candy shop that started on the Lower East Side in NYC, and Lil Sweet Treat, another sweet & sour gummy candy shop that opened first in the West Village in NYC. But Lil Sweet Treat has been rapidly expanding locations across the U.S. Now BonBon is landing in Target with pre-packaged treats (and here). Two different expansion strategies at play. Lil Sweet Treat has also done collabs with brands like Poppi, Conair, and the new movie from Amazon Prime, The Love Hypothesis. BonBon previously collabed with Tory Burch.
Forecasting
This new Jude shearling style sent me down a fashion spiral of how shearling lined shoes are a whole category now. Consider this how I would edit the assortment if I was the buyer for shoes. Not as strategic as a Style Out, but how I would bring the trend in to make a statement.
Shearling, once just for slippers, then we slipped into Uggs…shearling lined shoes have always leaned more casual until we started to see The Row Stella shearling lined ballet flats and ballet flats and loafers getting more dressed up. But cozy still. Last winter the Aprés by Le Monde Béryl really took off (I blame, in a good way, laura reilly and Magasin for that). So I started digging into the shearling lined shoe trend as I would certainly Forecast this to be a strong Q4 seller and gift giving. While shoes typically aren’t a huge gift category, slippers and Ugg style shoes have been, so this one can slip right in. It is a category that hasn’t blown-up yet so many are still treading lightly and starting to add a few to their closet. There are finally enough options that feels like you can find something no matter what your taste is.
The Luxe are these from The Row. If you can find them. And I love these from Christen too.
In the Good — Better — Best pricing tiers, I consider these to be the most “better” of the bunch. (Let’s call these the “good” option, same with these from Jenni Kayne.)
For Gen Z or anyone who wants to dip a toe in, stick with Ugg’s new version.
For warmer temps, I love this (and own) this pair. When it is still warm outside but I want to feel fall, this is what I wear. Another option here if you don’t want to show your toes.
If you want shearling and everyone to know what brand you are wearing, go for Gucci mules. The Princetown Mules have been around since 2015.
Cosplaying L.L. Bean but more luxe: The Row and Christopher Esber.
The preppiest of the bunch from Emme Parsons.
Shearling lined sneakers: Miu Miu, and Isabel Marant.
Ladylike from Magda Butrym and Jimmy Choo.
And from the designer that put mesh shoes on feet everywhere, Alaïa mary janes and Alaïa mules.
And we haven’t even touched on booties, but I’m sure we’ll get there soon.
19 options, I’m definitely over assorted but I love them all. I’m personally on the hunt for these but likely will end up buying these when I go check out their new store on the UES.
Field Notes
Coco’s Handbag & So Many Shoes at Chanel: So many exciting moments from the Paris runway shows. Since I’ve been pouring over the Chanel looks a few thoughts:
Model Dyanira Hurbuscher opened and closed the show carrying Gabrielle Chanel’s own 2.55, borrowed from the house’s Patrimoine archives. I expect a rush on vintage 2.55’s. If you plan to purchase do it now. The older and more beat up, the better. Here, here, here, and here. Even better, go to fancy estate sales. I wonder if we will see any go up for auction from the 1970s?
And Chanel hauls are not going anywhere. All 83 looks on the runway had a different pair of heels. That is a lot of SKUs to launch. That could be one way to handle scarcity, not to go too deep in units on any one style. But that makes a lot of inventory and styles to manage. Will everyone covet a few styles, or will there be more favorites? Expect diversity across the different boutiques and needing a Gab Waller or The Coveted to help track down a pair.
Behind the paywall: the Miu Miu, Dries Van Noten and Celine details I'd bet on for next year's sales floor, why Nike's scarcity plan might backfire, a former Williams-Sonoma buyer's take on the Quince ruling, and what Yise could learn from Charlotte Tilbury's Pillow Talk playbook.
