Hi — I watched the election results on Tuesday evening with my family. The polling results over the years have started to give me PTSD, but this week it felt like a complete change. Looking at that data was almost as fun and entertaining as a P&L spreadsheet or sell-thru numbers. And fashion did play into the excitement this election cycle too. The fashion as a form of identity came from seeing Rachelle Hruska MacPherson’s Lingua Franca on the news anchors and Argent suits on Minnesota Governor-elect Peggy Flanagan and Deb Haaland, Governor-elect of New Mexico for their big nights. Also, Viv Chen identified Nithya Raman’s top as a Cleo Camp t-shirt.
In this send: Ossou is the denim everyone seems to be trying and linking to. I tried on a few pairs, and reached out to the founders to get the inside scoop. Did you know it is from the people behind Fforme? Plus: Aviator Nation goes courtside, Kujten takes a trip to Brazil, denim board pants, Goop’s Red Lip Edit, striped pants on Mott Street, Leset spotted on Madison, Tecovas x Anine Bing, the Ossou jeans petites can wear, a citron velvet “coat is the outfit,” Martini Bear, Rhode breaks more Sephora records, and what that Allure Best of Beauty badge could cost a brand.
Deep Dive
New Collabs — collabs in time for Holiday shopping
New Launches — knits, denim, and something for the guys
Sale Season & Feeling Gift-y — A few more gift guides and the Goop Gift Guide is out
New Store Openings & Pop-Ups — It’s Pop-up season
Tecovas x Anine Bing — a merchant POV on this collab
Label Check — Ossou: A new denim (and more) brand on the block
People in the News — Ralph Lauren hires an AI Chief (from LVMH)
In My Feed — the revenue driving “the best of” awards
New Collabs
Aviator Nation has continued their collabs with sports and universities. Aviator Nation x NBA collection with 6 teams and all made in the USA.
Ouai and Heaven Mayhem collabed on a long necklace with a fragrance component. It is $125 and you fill it with the Ouai fragrance, or add whatever fragrance is your style/taste.
I like it when brands with two different styles pair up. I think of Kujten as cashmere neutrals and bandana prints. Farm Rio is tropical brights. Kujten x Farm Rio puts Brazilian prints on cashmere.
More knits, Amsterdam-based wool brand Clòimh (which means wool) launched a collab with Rixo. Fair Isle-heavy and easy knits to wear with Rixo’s popular coats.
Later this week Parke x Stoney Clover Lane launches their next collab.
New Launches
Comme Si launches knitwear! Even though they have excellent button-ups, I very much think of them for knitwear because of their socks.
Lisa Yang, maker of some of the most elegant cashmere pieces (including this sweater and the cashmere barrel-leg pants), just launched a new collection that includes silk organza and cotton poplin for the first time.
Made Some Sportswear, the board shorts and board pants you saw everywhere this summer, launched denim. I asked Madelyn Somers, the founder, about the launch and she told me the denim is 100 percent cotton and made in Turkey. It takes the signature surf pant silhouette and translates it into denim. New fabrications for the brand, like wool, leather and more denim, coming soon too.
In 2024 Soeur launched a men’s capsule. They’ve returned with the collection annually. Frère, the men’s section, is back at select locations and online.
Sale Season & Feeling Gift-y
If you are shopping the Sephora sale, perhaps take a peek at all the new Holiday Beauty launches I’ve been tracking. Sephora has the Hourglass Palette with the packaging designed by Lauren Rubinski (owner of Rubirosa in Paris and jewelry designer) and you can stock up on super moisturizing facial moisturizer* ahead of the temps dropping.
There is also a 60 percent off sale at Organic Basics. I like and wear this oversized t-shirt*.
Accessory brand Aureum Collective has also already launched their Black Friday Sale with 25 percent off everything.
Goop’s Gift Guide is out, and while it might not pack the punch it first did, I did find something interesting. They are doing their own “curated” beauty kits. Very similar to how Sephora will package multiple brands together in gift/value sets (this example is $140 value for $45). There is the Red Lip Edit with a Fara Homidi lip pencil, Westman Atelier lipstick (I have and wear this exact color as a statement lip), and an Ilia gloss. There seems to be no bundling discount and there is already a waitlist. It might be that they are manually having to pull over the inventory so they don’t oversell from the eaches that they own. It’s like having two different product pages for the same items. Another example (also appearing already “sold-out”) is their all-stars skin edit at over $1,000 with a few Goop items in there too. Other Goop gift guide thoughts:
The Louis Abel necklace gave me a four’s-a-real-trend moment for comb necklaces. See J.Crew, Parker Thatch, and The Row.
Esha Soni x Furtuna Skin kit was interesting because I love the Esha Soni accessories and like seeing the brand used as an elevated GWP1.
Blinged out Oura ring covers (remember, Gwyneth Paltrow is an investor in Oura). And overall none of the wellness items feel so fringe anymore because of the whole industry explosion.
And all my Gift Guides for Holiday 2026 can be found here.
Cheryl Wischhover asked an excellent question:
My response: This is a great point! Why use the term Black Friday when it is almost a month before! My thoughts: 1) for SEO/search because people search for that and they might run another BF sale again during actual BF [People will search “Black Friday Sale” when they are looking for the best deals.] 2) shoppers understand and expect that to be the big sale 3) encourages bigger shopping hauls. Any other reasons why brands are calling early November sales “Black Friday” when Black Friday doesn’t happen until November 27th this year?
Read my full Retail 101 on Q4/Holiday Shopping Season (for shoppers and retailers) here:
Retail 101: The 2026 Holiday Calendar
Consider this your Holiday planning guide. If you are in the retail industry we will have fun getting into the weeds together — fashion nerds unite! If you are an influencer, creator, stylist, or personal shopper you can use this to help guide your work. And aren’t we all shoppers? For those that are shopping I’m bringing you into the stockroom to explain why we retailers think the way we do. Sure, some things should change (okay, fine, many things…) and there is always a case of last-year-itis but this helps explain where we get these retail quirks from.
New Store Openings & Pop-Ups
Another data point about the strength of the travel industry — By Malene Birger opens in the Copenhagen Airport. Oh, this jacket is nice! Totally my style.
The T/shirt Shoppe opened on the Upper East Side in NYC, they have a location in New Jersey and Brooklyn. The only reason this store is on my radar is because multiple brands that have t-shirts you love to wear have mentioned that they do major business for their brands and move a lot of product and have a great eye for what their shopper likes. Worth checking out.
Completedworks is opening a boutique on Chiltern Street in London. If you aren’t familiar with the brand, they have unique jewelry that mixes materials and shapes — everything seems slightly “off” in a really interesting way. Mismatched earrings, CZ organic shaped dangly earrings, and a necklace with the pearl and CZ combo.
Bloomingdale’s opened a small format store just for men. Bloomies Men’s in Shrewsbury, NJ.
Soeur opened two stores in Switzerland. Hoi Geneva.
Leset has been spotted on the Upper East Side (this makes me sound like Gossip Girl, I’m not as snarky). 79th and Madison. Word on the street is it will be opening this spring. xoxo, Retail Girl
Oner Active opens November 7th at 0 Bond Street in NYC. 4,700 square feet of activewear.
Mark the Tailor just opened their first boutique less than a mile from the original Mark the Tailor location (one of the founder’s Grandfathers was a tailor in Boston). Along with their own clothing (including a collab with Jake Woolf) the location will also sell shoes by a variety of brands and home items. 250 Newbury Street.
Pop-Ups
Ali LaBelle is opening a Holiday Shop! 2148 W. Sunset in Los Angeles. You know from her gift guides and hopefully already read her Substack, so you know she has excellent taste!
Giving you time to RSVP and prepare. Erede, the gorgeous fine jewelry with ethically sourced materials, has a trunk show by appointment only with Fforme and Ossou November 12th and 13th in NYC. Find all details here.
& Daughter (some of my favorite sweaters and a brand that I think really leaned into the triangle scarf first) has a pop-up hosted at Shreeji’s News on Chiltern Street in London from November 11th until November 22nd.
If you’ve had striped pants on your mind, it is likely because of La Veste. They will be bringing their striped pants and more to NYC. Their pop-up is now open through November 22nd at 262 Mott Street.
Ahead of the NYC Marathon, District Vision opened a pop-up that will remain open through December 23rd. 321 Canal Street.
Vibi Venezia, the Venetian shoe brand, has a pop-up at Beverly’s 1975 through January 7th. 27 Orchard Street.
Cecilie Bahnsen shopping event at Modern Appealing Clothing (MAC) in San Francisco on November 10th with 50 percent of all purchases going to the San Francisco Arts Education Project.
Not fashion per se, but I love the CJ Hendry Flower Shop. Pop-ups planned in Phoenix, Portland, Venice and Texas. Over multiple days in November. If you are local, check it out!
A Collab Deep Dive: Tecovas x Anine Bing
When I heard that Tecovas and Anine Bing were doing a collab I had a few questions. I always have questions. For Anine Bing I was curious why a brand that already had a shoe collection needed to partner with Tecovas for Western boots. And for Tecovas, they have already proven they can launch their own ready-to-wear categories. What does Anine Bing bring the brand?
The collection: two boots, two belts, two cowboy hats. (A two-step, if you will.) It will be available to shop online at both brands as well as in limited boutiques: Tecovas in SoHo and Austin, and 16 of Anine Bing boutiques.
Anine Bing has the style and international reach. Boots were part of Anine Bing’s early launch and have always been part of the DNA which also includes t-shirts, sweatshirts, blazers and studded boots. Today the biggest categories for the brand are denim, t-shirts, sweatshirts and blazers. I spoke with Liam McKessar, the Chief Marketing Officer, and he talked to me about the limits of the brand: “We’re not at the size of a Kering or LVMH brand, and we’re certainly not resourced and staffed in the same way.” McKessar said the team considered where they had more authority and who else they could partner with to bring more. Since Western boots weren’t in the mix yet they chose to find the right partner in Tecovas. Next year is also Anine Bing’s 15th Anniversary. This partnership will hopefully help acquire more customers to go into the big anniversary with.
Behind the paywall: more details on the collaboration between Tecovas and Anine Bing plus my merchant POV. A Label Check on Ossou, the brand all the fashion insiders are shopping (for good reason). The brand launched in June 2025 and already has 75 wholesale accounts. The hero styles from the brand include: the Noon, the Drift, the Rider, and the Jane.
