This Week In Fashion

Their struggling, often bloated businesses and valuable properties make them tempting targets for investors. Selling off these assets can be lucrative, but rarely produces retail success stories.

Nike’s shuttering of RTFKT, the virtual sneaker brand it acquired in 2021, highlights a perennial problem for companies that want to remain innovation leaders: Rush in and potentially make a costly mistake, or hang back and risk being late.

This week, US President-elect Donald Trump singled out Canada, Mexico and China for early action on tariffs, Walmart joined businesses in cutting back DEI programmes, and Black Friday offered a glimpse at how the election is shaping consumer sentiment.

Value for money matters, even at high-end brands. This week, Mulberry joined Burberry and Capri in admitting rampant price inflation has contributed to a collapse in demand. Will others follow suit?

On Haul, Amazon’s new rival to Temu and Shein, nothing costs more than $20 and items typically arrive in one to two weeks — not days — as they ship from overseas directly to US customers.

It will be tempting for some to retreat further into their bubble after Tuesday’s election, or adopt an “it’s just business” attitude. Dig deeper.

The dream of creating an American answer to LVMH and Kering faced a major setback this week after a federal judge championed the Federal Trade Commission’s narrow definition of the sub-luxury handbag market.

Response to the lingerie giant’s fashion show Tuesday night has been mostly positive, but its new CEO Hillary Super has her work cut out in order to steer the company toward growth again.