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This week, luxury brands look to US consumers to drive recovery, Spinelli Kilcollin, Anine Bing talk retail expansions, and more.
RETAIL NEWS
Simon to Build Premium Outlets in Nashville, With 75 Retailers, Restaurants and a Hotel
Simon, the nation’s largest owner of shopping centers and mixed-use destinations, is bolstering its presence in the fast-growing metro Nashville market. Simon said that it agreed to purchase a large site in Thompson’s Station, Tenn., at the intersection of Interstate 65 and Interstate 840, where it will develop a “luxury shopping and lifestyle destination” known as Nashville Premium Outlets.
Inside Ralph Lauren’s American Tradition
Ralph Lauren’s corporate purpose is “to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style.” To me, this is not a vague platitude, but the authentic underpinning for the most successful lifestyle brand in American history.
Kering Sells The Mall Luxury Outlets to Simon Property Group
As Kering focuses on its core luxury brands — including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta — the company is handing off some of its landlord duties to an American expert. Simon Property Group bought 100 percent of Kering’s The Mall Luxury Outlets, which it established in 2001. The Mall operates two outlet centers in Italy — one near Florence in Leccio and another on the Italian riviera in Sanremo.
Jenni Kayne Wants to Be the Californian Ralph Lauren
The 23-year-old brand is evolving into a true lifestyle label, offering fashion, homewares and most recently, beauty, selling a relaxed ideal of West Coast allure.
Kim Jones is exiting the brand, with Maria Grazia Chiuri expected to follow suit in the coming months. Will a creative shakeup reinvigorate excitement for LVMH’s second-biggest brand?
Luxury’s new reliance on the US, & the new threat to Net-a-Porter and Farfetch
According to this week’s earnings reports by leading luxury groups, growing sales in America are making up for declines in China, equating to overall growth — if only in the low single digits — and appeasing investors.
Anine Bing Divulges Ambitions to Double Revenues and Store Count Globally
The Los Angeles-based Danish designer has set in motion a three-year plan to double her revenues and global store count; amplify and sharpen the brand’s image; and expand her leather goods offering via a new design studio in Paris, which is becoming her second headquarters. The privately held company recently crossed the $100 million revenue threshold, and is forecasting double-digit growth in 2025.
Luxury brands look to US consumers to drive recovery
The luxury industry is looking to the buoyant US market to spur growth in 2025 after a testing year for the sector, which is still grappling with the retrenchment of Chinese shoppers.
Fine Jewelry Brand Spinelli Kilcollin Opens First Retail Stores in New York City and Los Angeles
After roughly 15 years in business, Spinelli Kilcollin is embarking on its first solo retail venture. The fine jewelry label helmed by designers Yves Spinelli and Dwyer Kilcollin is opening its first retail stores this month. The brand’s first store is opening in New York City, located at 91 Crosby Street, on Wednesday. The brand will then open a store in Los Angeles, located at 747 North Western Avenue, on Feb. 18.
Versace Parent Capri Says Turnaround to Take a Year
The parent to Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo brands expects fiscal 2025 revenue of $4.4 billion, below the $4.5 billion average analyst estimate.
BEAUTY NEWS
Vacation’s Internet-breaking Whipped Sunscreen Just Got a Shimmery Makeover
Life is sweet in the best of cases, which is a motto the sunscreen brand Vacation takes to heart with its “dessert for the skin.” After launching the Classic Whip — an SPF 30 sunscreen with a whipped cream–like consistency and application that immediately sparked commotion on the #BeautyTok side of TikTok — in 2022, Vacation’s back with a new-and-improved offering. Holding your breath? It’s the Classic Whip Glow sunscreen (made for the body and face), which comes infused with foam-whipped gold shimmer that treats skin to a radiant glow.
Super Buzzy TikTok, Gen Z Brand Bubble Is Heading to Target
Bubble Skincare, the TikTok-beloved brand founded in 2020, has tapped Target as its latest retail partner.
Next Gens’ Subversive Take on Skincare Routines
When it comes to beauty, next gens focus on joy and fun, rather than responsibility or using beauty products as a prerequisite for societal acceptance. It’s common to see Gen Z wear bright, architectural eyeliner with otherwise bare skin, for instance; and one size, look, or product doesn’t fit all. This is partially due to next gens’ focus on individuation, but it’s also due to their evolving concept of gender and orientation.
New brands at Target are navigating their launches at a tricky time for the retailer, which is dealing with a backlash from the rollback of its DEI programs and consumer caution. Despite the DEI rollback, the chain continues to pick up Black-owned brands, including Alodia and Chéribé. They’re building Target’s presence in haircare. Target is addressing consumer caution by introducing a slew of dupes from brands such as SLF and NatureWell (SLF’s $99 LED Face Mask is a dupe for Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare's $455 DRx SpectraLite FaceWare Pro) and sticking to sharp price points.
How Eos Went From Spherical Lip Balms to Becoming the Fastest-growing Body Lotion Brand in Mass
The brand, whose body care business boomed in 2020 with the launch of its now cult-favorite body lotion, is looking to double down on the category with its first body wash launch.
How Bliss and Laura Geller Beauty Are Redefining Beauty Standards for Women Over 40
Aging is a natural part of life, but for many women, it comes with societal pressures to maintain unrealistic beauty standards. Brands like Bliss and Laura Geller Beauty (both owned by AS Beauty) are leading the charge in embracing aging with confidence, authenticity, and humor, proving that beauty doesn’t have an expiration date.
Why Drugstores Still Aren’t Beauty Hubs
American pharmacies once aimed to transform their stores into beauty destinations, but after years of unmet promises and underwhelming results, beauty brands are reconsidering their reliance on the drugstore and are exploring different avenues for growth.
Estee Lauder expands restructuring plan, to cut up to 7,000 jobs
The beleaguered US cosmetics company expanded its profit recovery plan and posted a smaller-than-expected drop in sales to $4 billion in its second-quarter earnings.
The Top 10 Hair Care Brands on Social Media in December
Data from CreatorIQ shows that when it comes to the category’s top brands by earned media value — a metric measuring the value of a brand’s mentions, impressions, likes and other social engagement — the same three brands have traded off occupying the number-one spot for three consecutive years, since January 2022. Those are: Olaplex, K18 and Redken.
Is DTC Dead? Not To Emerging Beauty Brands
Even the hottest beauty company understands its growth will be hindered if it doesn’t enter brick-and-mortar retail, which commands about 60% share of beauty sales in the United States. Emerging beauty brands are keenly aware of customer acquisition costs, but they're also increasingly conscious of the tremendous expenses involved in supporting retail rollouts. Most these days are seeking balanced contributions from different distribution channels, recognizing that DTC remains crucial to their overall success.
How Maesa Beauty Fills the Gap Between Masstige and High-end Luxury (Brand-building Secrets)
Maesa Beauty's Q1 2025 launches, including Being Frenshe, Fine'ry, and Kristin Ess+, showcase the beauty incubator's expertise in delivering premium-quality products at affordable prices, perfectly aligning with consumer demand.
COMINGS & GOINGS
