Puck

LoveShackFancy, the decadent, aspirational vision of Rebecca Hessel Cohen—who launched the brand in 2013 after failing to find sufficiently girlie bridesmaid dresses for her wedding—is intentionally *not* for everyone. “The distinctiveness of the brand has lent itself to an unusually aggressive partnership and licensing strategy,” Puck’s Sarah Shapiro writes. “Indeed, LoveShackFancy seems to announce a new partnership every week…” Sarah examines the strategy behind these collabs, as well as the financial benefits and brand pitfalls, here: https://lnkd.in/eMFN2RVD Photo: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for LoveShackFancy #Fashion #Retail 

Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman sat down with a trio of industry insiders to discuss the future of the business: Nicholas Brown a managing partner at Imaginary Ventures; Maria McManus the creative visionary and founder of her namesake luxury brand; and Todd Snyder, the legendary fashion designer. Their rollicking, invite-only conversation traversed the macroeconomic challenges facing e-commerce, the evolution of brick-and-mortar retail, emerging pressure on the venture environment, and how the industry is responding to the ongoing threat of tariffs. Read their full discussion here: https://lnkd.in/eJTaaSSb Photos: Jason Lowrie/BFA.com #Fashion

Ever wondered how a brand built on wedding-worthy ruffles and unapologetic femininity grew into a business worth an estimated $100 million annually? In my latest piece for Puck's Line Sheet, I dive into Rebecca Hessel Cohen's strategic brand extension. From the Fifth Avenue mansion fashion presentations to the strategic licensing model that's flooding the market with pink confections (without the overhead costs!), LoveShackFancy has cracked the code on monetizing aspiration. What I found most fascinating? The brilliant risk mitigation strategy behind those seemingly endless collaborations - from Hunter Boots Ltd to Rosé magnums and press-on nails. Those partnerships aren't just marketing candy - they're carefully structured revenue streams with guaranteed floors that provide stability in an increasingly volatile retail market. But at what point does ubiquity threaten the exclusivity that makes the brand so coveted? That's the billion-dollar question I'm exploring. Link to full article in comments below.

Boy Smells 2.0 is SEPHORA’s newest pet project, one of a handful of mid-tier ($100 or below) indie fragrance brands that the LVMH-owned retailer is throwing its weight behind in what’s being described as an all-out “fragrance war” against TikTok and Ulta Beauty. “While Ulta has long been Sephora’s biggest U.S. competitor, the explosive growth of TikTok Shop over the past 18 months—Americans spend more than $11 billion a year on the platform, according to Capital One—has made the situation more acute,” writes Puck’s Rachel Strugatz. “And fragrance remains a priority for Sephora’s parentco.” “Sephora does have reason to feel threatened: Beauty is the bestselling category on TikTok Shop by a mile. In fact, the category accounts for 20 percent to 30 percent of total sales...” Read Rachel’s full dispatch here: https://lnkd.in/enmKa78s Photos: Courtesy of Phlur, Kayali, & Boy Smells Photo-Illustration: Isabella Lichauco/Puck #Fragrance 

Trump is coming off what was unquestionably the worst week of his still-new presidency, having launched a trade war that’s spooked global markets and made voters question whether he’s actually up to the task of lowering costs and supercharging the economy, as he promised during the 2024 campaign. Changing the subject to immigration puts him on safer ground. “But polling numbers are showing that while Trump might be trying to change the subject—to illegal immigrants or Harvard or NPR—economically anxious voters aren’t interested in the sideshow,” Puck’s Peter Hamby writes. Peter shares polling data from Puck’s exclusive partnership with Echelon Insights: https://lnkd.in/e-Ujmd-M Photo: Olivier Touron/AFP/Getty Images

On opening night of The Human Situation, the well-heeled collectors at Lévy Gorvy Dayan were helping to drive the market’s historical turn. But works by Marcia Marcus, Alice Neel, and Sylvia Sleigh told a bigger story.

Back in 2022, ESPN was reportedly paying Liberty Media about $90 million per year for U.S. media rights to Formula 1 One. But these days, amid the league’s cultural resurgence and broader, always-in-overdrive hype machine, many assumed that the Liberty would seek a much richer payday on its new U.S. rights deal, to the tune of $150 to $180 million. “Alas, that has not been the case,” writes Puck’s Julia Alexander. “As analytics firms like Ampere Analysis have valued the league’s U.S. rights closer to $100 million, deal activity has reached a stalemate.” So, why isn’t the F1 package more valuable? Allow Julia to explain: https://lnkd.in/e7NefYSn Photo: Clive Rose/Formula 1/Getty Images #Sports #Media 

Two of Paramount’s three co-C.E.O.s, Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy, are not expected to remain when (or if) Skydance finally takes over, but the third, George Cheeks, is expected to stick around. Jeff Shell, the former C.E.O. of NBCUniversal, would assume the role of president, but exactly what he will oversee isn’t clear. It appears that none of the top creative execs will report to Shell. “That’s a pretty powerful trio that would not be reporting to Shell,” Puck’s Kim Masters writes. “But recall that NBCU fired him for improper conduct two years ago, which means that getting this job is a big break, and he doesn’t have a lot of leverage.” “It appears Shell will be more of a sounding board for Skydance C.E.O David Ellison, and that might be a good thing given that Ellison’s experience in management has been confined to his own company…” Read Kim’s full dispatch here: https://lnkd.in/eUy65cT5 Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images #Entertainment #Leadership 

The town had already concluded that Warner Bros. Discovery studio co-heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy were destined to be replaced due to a few big-budget flops and exceedingly generous deals with auteur filmmakers that haven’t exactly paid dividends. Then ‘A Minecraft Movie’ came roaring out of the gate (it’s already raked in $550.6 million globally), and the Mike-and-Pam chatter suddenly died down. Their next test comes in just days with ‘Sinners,’ a film with a $90 million budget from director Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan as twins in a period vampire movie. Puck’s Kim Masters explores how the film might do, and what it’ll mean for Pam and Mike’s future: https://lnkd.in/eUy65cT5 Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures #Hollywood 

The Democratic establishment has traditionally tried to clamp down on primaries for U.S. Senate races, to conserve money in what can turn into $50 million races. But early jockeying for open seats suggests that ambitious politicians are in no mood to take orders from Chuck Schumer… Puck’s Abby Livingston examines the surprisingly laissez-faire primary strategy emerging among Democrats as the party eyes multiple open-seat Senate races for the first time in years: https://lnkd.in/eEek4umq Photo: Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow is running for U.S. Senate, likely against fellow Democrat, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)