The Glossy Podcast

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.

This week, we discuss the rumor that Kylie Jenner is allegedly planning to launch a “quiet luxury” brand with Jens and Emma Grede, the executives behind other brands in the Kardashian universe including Skims and Good American. Later, we talk Rolex buying Bucherer and the troubles facing Lanvin.

Emma Grede, Good American | Glossy 50 2022

Can Rolex’s new resale program and booming secondhand market coexist?

Fashion Briefing: Lanvin Group stokes growth with fresh talent, celebrity faces and bags

LoveShackFancy's tenth year in business has been a busy one. This month alone, the fashion brand has launched a product collaboration with Gap and announced an expansion to the beauty category. Its first fragrance will hit Sephora stores on September 6, six days before its New York Fashion Week presentation-slash-party. 

It's safe to say that LoveShackFancy's feminine, flirty, vintage-inspired look has caught on. And steering its popularity is founder and creative director Rebecca Hessel Cohen. As she describes on this week's episode of the Glossy Podcast, her growth strategy for the brand includes "taking its iconic prints, colors and sensibility, and bringing it to life in different categories, price points and markets." 

Before Gap, LoveShackFancy's brand collaborators included Target, American Girl, Bogner and Ford Bronco, among others. And, following fragrance, there's no telling what categories the brand will tackle next.

"Our customers want [LoveShackFancy] wine, champagne, and even hotels and restaurants," Hessel Cohen said, referencing a recent social media poll by the brand. "So, you never know. It's just all exciting and fun — and sometimes, the more unexpected, the better."

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, fashion reporter Danny Parisi and Glossy Pop reporter Sara Spruch-Feiner break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.

On this week’s episode, we discuss Abercrombie & Fitch's comeback over the last few years, including its ability to shed the exclusive, elitist image it held in the 2000s. Later, we talk about community building in fashion and how brands are using live events to build loyalty.

Emily Oberg, founder and owner of the 5-year-old wellness-based brand Sporty & Rich, wants to change the definition of success. 

"Never not working isn't cool. … You don't need to have a crazy work schedule, where you feel like you can't keep up, [in order] to be successful," Oberg said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. "At one point, that was the definition of success, but it's changing. And I want to be part of that change." 

After starting her career in streetwear, working as a video personality at Complex before heading up womenswear at Kith, Oberg saw the opportunity to build an owned brand based on the success of her mood-board-style Instagram account, Sporty & Rich. She co-founded the brand as it stands in 2018. It has since earned fans including Hailey Bieber, collaborated with brands like Adidas, opened an experiential store in NYC's SoHo neighborhood and reached $30 million in annual revenue. Along with building Sporty & Rich to a $200 million brand, Oberg has big plans for its future. 

"It's my vision to make a Sporty & Rich country club, where you have everything: colonics, your naturopath, you can do your blood work, you can do your tennis lessons, you can go to the pool, you can see your trainer, you can do a Pilates class," she said. "It would take a lot of resources and a lot of investment, but I hope to have these in every major city. That's [a place] where I'd want to spend my time."

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.

On this week’s episode, we talk about the Gen-Z DTC underwear brand Parade selling itself off to a more established underwear licensing company, the reason so many people have abandoned Meta’s Twitter competitor Threads in the last month and the $13 sneaker line released by grocery store chain Aldi.

How Parade is building an underwear brand based on Gen-Z values

Fashion Briefing: Are text-based social platforms still valuable for brands?

After 20 years at the helm of 60-year-old British footwear brand Kurt Geiger, Neil Clifford is more than halfway to leading the company to a record sales year. 

Kurt Geiger has already made big, impactful changes. For example, five years ago, Clifford hired Michael Kors alum Steven Sousa to lead Kurt Geiger's North American expansion; the market now drives bigger sales for the brand than the U.K. The company has also expanded to other international markets, with its Dubai-based store quickly becoming its most successful, in terms of its sales per square foot. Kurt Geiger has 70 stores in the U.K.

In addition to stores, the company has upped its investment in marketing, doubling its dedicated budget in each of the past two years. The focus of the strategy is creating compelling imagery.

"It's very British [to be] much better at creativity and fun and joy than making money and [developing] business strategies," Clifford said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. "But look at how many brands around the world have British creative directors. That's not a coincidence."

Moving forward, thanks in part to a new round of funding, more stores are on the way. Kurt Geiger will open a new London flagship in mid-September. The brand then plans to launch 20-30 stores in North America over five years, starting in October. After three locations in Mexico, it will set up shop in Florida, Southern California and New York early next year. 

And in November, it will expand focus to its men's business with plans for a big, product-focused campaign. 

"We focus on design. We spend hours every day talking about product and … great value," Clifford said. "And we hope that formula transpires into something super desirable and super differentiating and disrupting — because we as Brits like to disrupt; anarchy is in our blood."

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.

This week, we talk about Allbirds struggling to stay on top of its declining sales, Victoria’s Secret going back to its old self with iconic models from its past and British celebrity stylists unionizing.

Starting with a website and a tiny budget, friends Henrietta Rix and Orlagh McCloskey launched women's fashion brand Rixo in 2015 while studying fashion in London. Eight years later, the brand is growing, with a 70% revenue increase in 2022, plus it's launching new categories and expanding within the U.S. market. Rixo is best known for its vintage-inspired printed dresses and counts Taylor Swift and the Duchess of Cambridge as fans.

Rixo sells through its own stores, wholesale channels including independent stores and department stores, and its own e-commerce site. During the 2022 fiscal year, it earned $21 million in revenue, compared to $12 million the year prior. In April, the brand launched a flagship store on London's King’s Road, enlisting McCloskey’s twin sister, Culpa Studio's Gemma McCloskey, to design it The 5,000-square-foot space includes a standalone bridal suite that's available for private appointments, as well as alterations services, a coffee kiosk, cocktails and a private events “apartment” space on the second floor. 

In January, Rixo introduced product categories including homeware, nightwear and bridal. Rixo is the only brand on the London Fashion Week schedule producing clothes in U.K. sizes through 24. It will launch its first styles available up to size 26 with influencer Abisola Omole in July. 

On the Glossy Podcast, co-founder Henrietta Rix discusses the brand’s plans for the U.S., its new category strategy, the need for more inclusive sizing in the contemporary fashion market, the brand effects of Brexit and Rixo's mission to redefine accessible bridal shopping experiences. 

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.

On this week’s episode, we discuss Birkenstock's road to IPO, Prada's beauty expansion via makeup and skin care, and Phoebe Philo's return to fashion, set to kick off in September. 

Thirteen years ago, Brett Heyman launched Edie Parker. Focused on acrylic clutch handbags, which soon became customizable, the brand married Heyman’s lifelong love of collecting vintage with her experience in luxury accessories PR, working for brands including Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci. She got the company off the ground by securing retail partners including Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman and leveraging her stylist contacts to get the bags in the hands of celebrities.

“My background was so helpful [in starting the company],” she said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. “I always tell [budding] founders that it's really great to work in the industry that you want to break into, [in order] to meet people and to [make] some contacts and have a leg up. … I knew a lot of people. Plus, I knew what was missing. And I knew how to promote it and who to get to promote it.”

In 2016, Heyman expanded Edie Parker’s product assortment to the home decor category. And three years later, she launched the cannabis-adjacent spinoff brand Flower by Edie Parker. Its products include lighters, grinders and rolling papers, all in Edie Parker’s signature colorful, retro aesthetic. Oh, and there’s also a handbag with a retractable lighter that’s taken TikTok by storm and changed the business. With its growth fueled by the Burn Bag's sales, just four years in, Flower by Edie Parker now makes up 50% of the company’s total sales. 

On the podcast, Heyman discusses how she’s catering to Flower’s “much more engaged,” “much more excited” shoppers, plus how she’s holding true to her brand’s DNA while building a business in a federally illegal industry.