Glossy

“Flankers are a pure commercial strategy, because you don’t need to redevelop the bottle. You just change the color, and you keep the brand awareness, which is already here. So usually you do flankers when your brand is quite major and you don’t want to take a risk,” said Johanna Monange, founder of bespoke perfume house MAISON 21G and former creative director for International Flavors and Fragrances. “When you start to do flankers, when you start to do promotion, you’re killing your brand in the long term. You’re making short revenue, but you kill brand equity.” https://lnkd.in/ecrKWVk5

Trump’s tariffs are ostensibly meant to bring manufacturing back to the US, and LVMH chief financial officer Cécile Cabanis gave an update on the company's feelings on that during their first-quarter earnings call. Louis Vuitton has three manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and makes around a third of its volume of U.S.-sold products in the states. Tiffany & Co. also does the majority of its production of U.S.-sold products in the U.S., although both brands rely on materials brought in from other countries. “There is still capacity to increase, still room to move more production from Europe to the U.S.,” Cabanis said. “We are looking at that, obviously, but it’s not something we can do overnight. It takes quite some time to prepare. We will see at what pace we want to evolve that.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/eYsWgM2t

Glossier, Inc., which first began its partnership with the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) in 2020, hosted a glam room at New York City’s Equinox Hotel ahead of Monday evening’s WNBA Draft orange carpet event. Along with WNBA hair-care partner Mielle, the glam room hosted roughly a dozen WNBA draft prospects to have their glam done by professional makeup artists and hairstylists. But Glossier has far more competition for capturing the burgeoning intersection between beauty and women’s sports than it did five years ago. “The sponsorship has evolved into a full-fledged partnership featuring players cast in multiple product campaigns over the years, courtside signage, gifting products to players, hosting press and influencers at WNBA games, being the beauty partner of the 2024 and 2025 WNBA draft including Caitlin Clark’s look last year as well as being the first official beauty partner of the U.S. women’s national basketball team when they participated in the 2024 Olympics,” said Glossier CMO Kleona Mack. “Glossier celebrates beauty in real life, and our ethos of ‘You Look Good’ champions women in sports.” In this piece by Emily Jensen, we also speak to Jennifer Fleming. https://lnkd.in/eKg4Eamq

On LVMH’s first-quarter 2025 earnings call on Monday afternoon, the French luxury giant revealed slightly lowered sales while highlighting recent successes like the debut of Sarah Burton designing for GIVENCHY and TAG Heuer’s return to sponsoring Formula 1. But the question on every analyst’s mind was: How is LVMH feeling about tariffs? President Trump’s rollout of disruptive tariffs has been causing headaches for fashion brands for weeks. LVMH is a leader in the fashion space and its CEO, Bernard Arnault, has close ties to Trump. Its reaction to the tariff rollout could serve as an indicator for the rest of the industry of just how dire things could be.

Brands and retailers routinely look for ways to combat excessive returns, especially in the beauty and fashion spaces. One major component brands and retailers need is a flexible, lean tech stack that can integrate the features they need to connect online and offline stores to manage stock, especially when handling in-store returns for online purchases. Sponsored by @Scayle. https://lnkd.in/gQSzKYsh

Many fashion brands have spent the last month recalculating their global strategies due to the sudden, sweeping escalation in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. But not everyone hit the panic button. “Our licensing model is naturally resilient,” said Jack Cheika, CEO of New Jersey-based WSG BRANDS , which owns the global licensing rights to Von Dutch. “Each of our fashion license partners operates independently, within their own region. They’re already navigating local market shifts and making smart sourcing decisions without waiting for top-down orders.” It’s been just under a year since WSG acquired Von Dutch in July 2024, and in that time, the brand has been rebuilt with one goal: to scale globally without being vulnerable to global shocks. WSG’s 25 regional licensees are given autonomy not only to design and distribute within their markets but also to source locally and pivot production quickly, which is already proving invaluable. Read the full story by Zofia Zwieglinska here: https://lnkd.in/gVFYUfXj

TikTok Shop is likely to see a dramatic change in assortment and pricing after the planned May 2 cancellation of the tariff loophole known as ‘de minimis’ on goods from China and Hong Kong. On April 7, TikTok emailed business leaders warning them of the upcoming change. “…Duties will be applicable to all impacted shipments regardless of value, and additional supporting documentation may be required to import, previously exempt, goods into the U.S.,” the letter read. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eufKSak8

This month, Glossy brought together a group of executives from the fashion industry to talk about issues related to product development and manufacturing. The executives compared notes on topics like expanding into new categories and balancing between creative vision and the realities of manufacturing and tariffs. Here is a recap of a part of the discussion focusing on how the implementation of tariffs is affecting product development and the lack of infrastructure to support making apparel at scale in the US: https://lnkd.in/gYwFiuPj In this piece by Danny Parisi, we speak to Melanie Travis of Andie, Athena Wrann of Parade, and Mallorie Dunn of SmartGlamour.

As U.S.–China tariff escalations ripple across the fashion industry, brands from startups to heritage houses are scrambling to adapt. The new policies, including the rollback of the de minimis exemption and intensified duties on Chinese imports, have created a chilling effect on global logistics and sales. While some brands are rethinking supply chains and pricing strategies, others are left with few viable alternatives. Across the board, clarity is scarce and margins are thinner than ever. “This is effectively an economic Cold War,” said Juan Pellerano-Rendón, CMO at logistics platform Swap. “Tariffs aren’t just back, they’re evolving. Brands need to treat compliance and cost mitigation like a daily discipline.” In this piece by Zofia Zwieglinska, we speak to Dacey Trotta of Rumored, irene chen & Matthew Grenby of Parker Thatch, and Jackson Wood of Descartes Systems Group. https://lnkd.in/gSReDzCH

TikTok Shop is likely to see a dramatic change in assortment and pricing after the planned May 2 cancellation of the tariff loophole known as ‘de minimis’ on goods from China and Hong Kong. On April 7, TikTok emailed business leaders warning them of the upcoming change. “…Duties will be applicable to all impacted shipments regardless of value, and additional supporting documentation may be required to import, previously exempt, goods into the U.S.,” the letter read. A representative from TikTok did not immediately respond to Glossy’s request for comment on exactly how many sellers this would impact. The nearly 100-year-old law allows packages valued at less than $800 to receive tariff exemptions and less oversight from U.S. customs. This reversal on de minimis, announced by President Trump on April 2, only applies to China and Hong Kong but could be expanded worldwide. In this piece by Lexy Lebsack, we speak to Yuriy Boykiv of Front Row, Rachel Roberts Mattox, Kimber L. Maderazzo, and Nick Benson. https://lnkd.in/eufKSak8