Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet, where we’re pro
original teeth. Today, Sarah “SShapiro@puck.news” Shapiro is here with the week that was in shopping and retail—from a state of the union at Nike (Tariffs! C-suite firings! Corporate cosplay!) to the
latest in trickle-down trends (peach is the new pink, apparently), plus what you actually need to know about the Printemps store opening at 1 Wall Street. At Puck, we’re most excited about the food. (And the shoe room.)
Thanks to everyone who traded up to the Inner Circle yesterday to read my take on Richard Dickson’s strategy for Gap Inc., and especially those
who also admitted that they didn’t like the Parker Posey ad. (The truth will set you free…) If you want more intel and analysis on what’s happening there, it’s not too late: Subscribe here.
Mentioned in this issue: Elliott Hill, Nike, Veja, The RealReal, Noah Cyrus, Anna Wintour, peach, Jean-Marc
Bellaiche, White Lotus, Chemena Kamali, J.Crew, Coach, Barbiecore pink, Thom Browne, Emily Sundberg, Alex Mill, Toteme, and many more…
P.S.: Rachel and I will be back on Monday to discuss the Skims acquisition of Skkn by Kim, Kardashian’s beauty line, which was previously funded by Coty.
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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Sarah Shapiro
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Three Things You Should Know…
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- Still tryin’ to do
it: The message from Nike’s latest earnings call: Things will get worse before they get better. Of course, they’re already pretty bad. Revenue declined by 9 percent year over year in Q3, and e-commerce fell by 15 percent. The company expects an even steeper drop in Q4 revenue, somewhere in the mid-teens, with margins declining 4-5 percent. Not good!
Still-new C.E.O. Elliott Hill tried to placate investors with a clear strategy: Namely, getting the
company back to its sporting and performance roots, focusing on product innovation, and cultivating the U.S., U.K., and China markets. Meanwhile, the other big news this week, which came out right before earnings, was that the company was eliminating its chief strategy and transformation officer role. The chief communications officer is also leaving. The timing isn’t great.
Against this backdrop, I stopped by Oakland’s Renegade Running for a channel check, which showcased what
Nike should be tapping into: passionate athletes engaged with performance products. The shop’s locals-first approach reflects a desire to reach serious runners and beyond—the market that Nike claims to be focused on re-engaging. Nike sneakers were on the shelves, but the innovations were elsewhere: brands like Norda for trail running, Mount to Coast, and even Veja, which launched a running sneaker in
2019, for distance running. Nike apparel was nowhere on the racks; instead, the store was unboxing very fresh Parisian running brand Satisfy. (Recall that Nike was accused of knocking off Satisfy’s MothTech
apparel.) I was intrigued by the trompe l’oeil denim track shorts from Japan’s Mountain Martial Arts, even as an incredibly slow, non-performance runner.
Meanwhile, as Hill was announcing a redoubled focus on sports and performance, Nike launched its Corporate Core
collection, which feels antithetical to their stated priorities—more akin to a Vuori play (i.e., clothes for sideline parents and/or the W.F.H. crowd). Plus, there’s the added pressure of the NikeSkims launch next quarter (see Lauren’s scoop here), which needs to
be additive—as in, actually bring in new consumers to Nike.
The company’s plan to clean inventory, reduce promotional days, and elevate the marketplace makes strategic sense, but these are things that had to be done no matter who was in charge. If you want to drive full-price sales, you have to have a product that consumers want to pay for, and that takes a bit of merchant magic.
- A consignment mystery: As more consumers warm up to
secondhand buying, an aesthetic gap is widening between buyers and sellers, according to ThredUp’s resale rankings. Consignors are clearing their closets of classic and traditional brands (The Limited, Soft Surroundings, J.McLaughlin, Max Studio). But buyers are still skewing toward the more trend-conscious and influencer-y (Alo, Lululemon, Sézane, Farm Rio, and Reformation). The risk, of course, is that secondhand retailers will accumulate too much inventory in the brands that consignors
want to offload, and that shoppers aren’t actually searching for.
That said, Quince’s strong presence on the resale market raises a different question. Customers are snapping up the product—their cashmere sweaters are especially popular—which may indicate that bargain hunters are specifically seeking the brand at even more
discounted prices. But why are consignors so quickly offloading these so-called “quality basics”?
Meanwhile, The RealReal’s prom prep selection looks like a smart strategy for engaging younger shoppers with curated “special occasion” looks that are unique and a little preppy (listen to
Lauren’s discussion of teen-specific preppy on Fashion People, and read my breakdown from last week). If I were prom-bound today, I’d relish the thrill of finding a standout, pre-loved designer piece that no one else has.
- Here’s what you haven’t already heard about Printemps: Is the
decadent not-a-department-store the best gift that the French have bestowed on Lower Manhattan since the Statue of Liberty? For last night’s opening party at 1 Wall Street, Noah Cyrus (Miley’s sister) performed for guests including Parker Posey, Katie Holmes, and Ivy Getty, who milled about with fashion insiders and American and French brand partners. Requests for invites had mostly been turned down. They were
at capacity with 1,000 attendees. This morning, Anna Wintour showed up at 9 a.m. with Printemps C.E.O. Jean-Marc Bellaiche to cut the ribbon. “It was amazing,” Bellaiche told me. “She came early and we did a tour of the store so she could appreciate the architecture, the offerings, and the food. I have to say, she was very positive about this new concept.”
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Anna Wintour and Jean-Marc Bellaiche. Photo: Courtesy of Printemps
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- Is
Printemps a Gallic iteration of Barneys? The bygone Manhattan landmark was very much on Bellaiche’s mind as he plotted the chain’s U.S. expansion. “Many of my American friends would say, ‘I miss Barneys,’” he recalled. “So we knew there was a space to be occupied.” And, as Lauren recently noted, the store is focused on providing a level of discovery that Barneys offered in its heyday: Printemps is stocking 25 percent exclusively new-to-the-U.S. French brands. It’s important to avoid the two
“extremes,” Bellaiche noted, of only stocking “big brands” or “niche brands that no one knows.”
As a merchant, I know how difficult it is to strike this balance: Stocking exclusively familiar labels wouldn’t have offered much of a draw, but offering only new brands would have been too much of a risk. Bellaiche told me that by being collaborative, and someone vendors new to the U.S. could trust, Printemps should be able to keep exclusivity for a year, and ideally up to three years
at least.
For those who don’t live in the city or rarely visit New York, the website will be shoppable by autumn. U.S. Printemps plans to ship products from both the U.S. and France. For now, though, the immediate focus is driving foot traffic to the store to see the historic architecture, dine at the restaurant, try on pieces in person, etcetera. So, what did you get tipsy and buy? Tell me.
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News and notes on Chemena Kamali’s peach revolution, Toteme handbag pricing speculation,
Mar-a-Lago’s retail explosion, and J. Crew’s gender gap.
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Spring is springing, and the early signs are mercifully in evidence—no, not the daffodils (though
those are nice) but the start of the season’s deliveries. Those are, if you will, the first shoots of the trends we’ll be seeing as the days warm up. So far, there are several fashion perennials on our radar, albeit with some fresh twists: the latest shade of pink, the inevitable return of crochet and raffia, and a White Lotus–fueled fascination with resortwear. I’ve also got a theory on Toteme’s pricing strategy, intel on Palm Beach retail, and news of a strategic change at J.Crew,
which may tick off a select group of people who remember the era of #menswear.
Another thing to note: Peach is the summer’s preferred pink-adjacent color. It’s not neon, rosy, or Millennial, and it’s certainly not Barbiecore pink. It’s likely that Chloé designer Chemena Kamali’s well-reviewed Spring/Summer 2025 debut helped inspire its current ubiquity with mass brands, as this
particular shade is the Richemont-owned fashion house’s signature color. Peach’s presence immediately indicates a floor reset into pre-Easter near-pastels. It showed up in my channel checks at J.Crew, which has a cotton t-shirt in pointelle and satin pants; U.K.-based work-to-weekend brand Me+Em’s maxi
skirt; Staud’s silk set (top + maxi skirt); Rixo’s vintage-inspired silk top; and Cos’s linen
dress. It has made its way to accessories, including Savette’s new suede and mesh top-handled structured clutches. As with all new deliveries, the thing to watch is how quickly these items sell and show up on the
street. Look also at the timing of markdowns, which can indicate when retailers have overindexed on a shade that’s hard to wear.
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Prediction: We’re probably on the verge of an adjustment to Toteme’s handbag prices. Right now, they’re
solidly at an almost-designer price point that feels like it belongs nowhere—not $3,000-and-up designer, and not Coach “mass-tige” accessible in the $295-$895 range. Toteme’s T-lock clutch currently clocks in at $990, but I think this version will head over $1,000 (my guess is $1,190—the woven leather version
is $1,390). The fact that there’s barely a discount when buying it secondhand on The RealReal shows it could command a higher retail price, given the quality and design details.
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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It’s likely that the new mini Toteme shown for Fall/Winter 2025 will become the new under-$1,000 version
(stay tuned for the price, which we haven’t seen yet). Meanwhile, Toteme has introduced more bags at a higher price point (like the new croc-embossed day tote) and also used woven leather styles to inch the price points up. You’ve been warned.
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In January,
I wrote about Mar-a-Lago’s visibility across the political spectrum as possibly driving retail strength in Florida. Palm Beach, specifically, is developing rapidly both in terms of residential and retail real estate. Luxury brands started ramping up in secondary and tertiary markets—including Nashville, Charleston, and Dallas—in the late, go-go era of the
2010s, but it was really the pandemic that made them a priority as the wealth fled semi-permanently to their vacation homes.
Indeed, Palm Beach has had a run of remarkable growth since 2020, so much so that it’s hard to find a parking spot at the Royal Poinciana during the season, and scoring a table at Sant Ambroeus has become a chore. Cue Thom Browne’s new store in Royal Poinciana Plaza’s
Playhouse, the latest addition to the neighborhood, following Loewe.
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Photo: Kris Tamburello/Courtesy of Thom Browne
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Friend of Line Sheet Emme Parsons, who designs shoes worn by thoughtful people with real style, moved to Palm Beach a few years ago and visited the Thom Browne store for us yesterday. She was taken aback (and, as a longtime New Yorker, delighted) by how much the brand’s grey travertine aesthetic rebels against Palm Beach’s traditional bright floral prints. (There’s a LoveShackFancy in the same
shopping center.) The indicator? Not everyone who lives or visits Palm Beach is also visiting Mar-a-Lago.
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J.Crew Unlikes Men’s
Instagram
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J.Crew quietly shuttered its men’s Instagram account, as Emily Sundberg reported, even while Alex Mill is going in the other direction with the early-February launch of Alex Mill Men’s Design on Instagram.
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The consolidation suggests a change in strategy at J.Crew beyond simple resource allocation (although that
could be happening too). While J.Crew has traditionally maintained separate creative directors for menswear and womenswear—and will continue to do so, as far as I know—combining accounts could mean that J.Crew is pursuing a more cohesive brand identity or responding to analytics showing significant follower overlap and variances in engagement that aren’t ideal on men’s.
More than anything, it probably reflects a broader industry movement toward lifestyle-focused marketing rather than
gender-separated content. This divergent strategy raises an interesting question: Will men shopping for themselves now be forced to scroll through women’s content, driving them to browse elsewhere? Or will more women start shopping for their men (and for themselves from the men’s section) instead?
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Re: Dior’s new handbag, the D-Journey: “But do you think Dior realizes that people will call it the d-bag? And not the D-Journey?” —A biz dev person who is not French
Re: the changing definition of “preppy”: “My theory is that people liked the LoveShackFancy, brightly colored, oddly specific decor style look that is associated with some boarding school/private school girls but were too lazy to come
up with a new name. And since the girls were technically in prep school, they called it preppy. This, of course, created the vacuum that allowed ‘old money’ to be the new way to refer to the old prep, which is a shame.” —A person who went to prep school
Re: the Gapaissance: “Nice, honest Gap assessment. Fair and firm. Agree on Scott
S. He would have been perfect.” —A retailer
Re: Taylor and Travis’s bizarre choice to go to Del Frisco’s: “The Brookfield location is like sitting at an airport gate. (The Midtown location is nicer, and has more of a classic, NYC steakhouse vibe.) I used to work at Goldman Sachs across the
street from Brookfield and we would have client drinks there… sometimes, if it was a low-priority person. P.J. Clarke’s in Brookfield is so much better. Actually, P.J. Clarke’s in general would be a much better choice for them. And Travis definitely does not look okay. Have you ever seen the movie Everybody’s All-American? He’s giving me Dennis Quaid’s character.” —A Fashion People listener
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Have a great weekend,
Lauren
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