Join us at Glossie's Beauty and Wellness Summit from November 11th through 13th in Napa, California. Influential beauty and wellness leaders will meet to discuss strategies and pain points, discover innovative tech, and ultimately make valuable business connections through one-on-ones and casual networking. For a limited time, we're offering $200 off with promo code GBS24, No Spaces. Again, that's GBS24 with No Spaces. Go to Glossie.co/beautysummit for more information and to secure your past today. Join us September 12th in New York City as Digiday, Modern Retail, and Glossie bring together brand and agency leaders to connect, as industry experts from Colgate, PepsiCo, and more dive into the rise of retail media and how it's begun to mature, providing an exclusive, deep dive into the best practices and winning strategies. For a limited time, we're offering $100 off with promo code retailmedia, No Spaces. Again, that's R-E-T-A-I-L-M-E-D-I-A with No Spaces. Learn more and register today at digiday.com/retailmedia. Hello, and welcome back to the Glossie Week in Review podcast. I'm your host, senior fashion reporter, Danny Pirese, and I'm here with my co-host, our editor-in-chief, Jill Manoff. Hello, Jill. Hello, it's been a bit. How are you? It's been a little bit. Our last episode was recorded in Miami at the Glossie Summit, which both of us had a horrible time getting home from because the weather was so bad. Wait, was that last week or was that two weeks ago? Oh, my God. I know it was last week. That was last week. Time is a blur. That is crazy. Well, I'm happy to be here. We have a lot of fun stuff to talk about today, and it's all luxury-related, actually. We're going to first talk about Golden Goose postponing their IPO, which was supposed to happen soon, and now it's on the shelf. We'll talk about Gallery Lafayette, seeing a big bounce back, and also I want to tie that into some stuff going on in Paris this summer with the Olympics, which I think will play a role in that. Finally, we're going to talk about Celine's new Pilates collection, which I think is very funny. Let's start with Golden Goose. I think it's brilliant. I can't wait for that conversation. No, I think it's cool. We'll get into it. I just think the leather and chrome dumbbell is very funny to me. No, I don't disagree. That's true. We'll get to that in a bit, though. Let's start with Golden Goose. Obviously, we all know Golden Goose Italian luxury sneaker brand that's been around, I think, since the early 2000s. They have been on the verge of declaring an IPO for the last couple months, I feel like, and they had their shares priced out already. It was going to be about 10.50 a share, which is a little bit on the lower end, but it seemed like it was all a go. And then this week, according to Bloomberg, the IPO has been put on the shelf and who knows for how long. The only reason given was that I think it was political uncertainty in Europe was leading to a drop in luxury stock valuation, which I think is true. I mean, even LVMH's shares were down like 11%. In the last year, caring was down 12%. There was Burberry issue to profit warning earlier this year. So I think it's to them just not the right time, I guess, to be doing that. And I think if they had gone public maybe a year or two ago, it probably could have been a big bonanza and lots of positive press and everything. And then they just decided that it was probably going to be a little bit of a dud and they didn't want that kind of vibe for the first couple of weeks as a publicly traded company. So it's on the shelf. Who knows if it will be back on later this year or maybe next year or what's your take on that, Joe? Yeah, I mean, even more so than a dud vibe, let's get all the money we can. Let's make it this a successful launch into the stock market. I was thinking about it in comparison to the housing market and for years, a couple of years now, prices have been sky high, interest rates are at a high, people aren't buying my brothers in real estate. So it's like, why would you buy now? It's the worst possible time to be buying a house. So I think that they're probably just waiting it out and they do say like it's still coming. We're just not doing it now. Very recently, there's a lot going on in France with this whole snap election announcement that's really putting everybody in an uproar. So yeah, it's supposed to be a very bad year for IPOs in Europe. I think it's set to be the slowest is what I read. So I expect it will revisit it probably 2025. The brand that they were comparing their pricing to for going public was Montclair and their shares were also down about 3% last week. 6% down 6% since Golden Goose announced its IPO plans is what I read. So it's just a shitty time. I don't blame them. It is surprising since they were supposed to like tomorrow, Friday is when they were supposed to go live. It's kind of, it seems kind of sudden and I don't even know the logistics and how that's possible. But yeah, it's not happening tomorrow. No, you're right. I think from what I've seen similar thing with like the whole European market is I think is going to be a lot more difficult to go public in in the next year. It kind of feels like if you're a European company and you wanted to go public, you should have done it like a year ago or you need to wait till next year. It's just like not a good time. And we've also talked about how the first kind of couple of weeks when a brand goes public or company goes public is pretty crucial. Something you ought to remember is that the investors are regular people and they're susceptible to sort of narratives. If it's if a company goes public and it's a kind of a flop and they were they're stock tanks in the first week, that's like will imprint in people's mind. And you know what I mean? It's like they're susceptible to panics and, you know, I don't know, narratives, I guess. So it's not like this impersonal, you know, the market is just deciding. It's like made up of people and there they can be spooked by stuff. Yes, I agree. A couple. There was some hope for the market in Europe, a couple of IPOs at the beginning of the year. We know with somebody corrected me and now I forget. A pweg pwej anyway. In Spain, they went public, a Galdurma group. There are a couple, but yeah, no longer happening. And this was no like small cookies IPO like the largest in Italy and over a year. So yeah, we'll see. I think we'll be talking about this again in 2025. And there is definitely a kind of a hard time for for luxury like we've talked about. Definitely like seeing some slowdown across the whole market. However, our second topic, we should talk about gallery Lafayette kind of having the opposite experience, which is that they saw their revenue up to like $3.8 billion last year, I think, which was a high for them and also a higher sense pre pandemic and brought them back to profitability, which they were not profitable since the pandemic. So they're like riding high right now they're planning to invest like $428 million, I think, into renovating their stores and their tech stack and all that kind of stuff. I think they had a from what I read a really good holiday period last year, which like set them up for success this year. I've heard this from retailers all the time that obviously holiday so important, not just because. It's where a lot of revenue comes from, but also then you're starting the next year, kind of like with your bank account, full and, you know, ready to invest and spend on all sorts of things. So I just reiterate how important that is for retailers. But yeah, gallery Lafayette, I think, is kind of having the opposite experience of some of the other luxury companies we're talking about. Yeah, it's good to see it and they're doing, again, they're not remaining stagnant. They're trying a bunch of things over the last couple of years since 2019. They've given well, first of all, I would just say they're de-risking the business in terms of reliance on China and Chinese tourists. There was a lot of talk about for a long time they had tour buses, basically of Chinese tourists coming in and shopping the store. And that's not happening as much. I think that 20% of their business is now Chinese tourists in this community and now, no, no, no, it was 33%. Now it's 20%. 40% of sales are going to locals, so they're focusing more on VIPs, loyalty, some great in-store personalized services. And they talked about a more balanced clientele. And so that has to do with kind of shuffling their brands that they're carrying. They lost some of the brands that were only appealing to Chinese consumers. They gave more space to Chanel and Rolex. Also brought in some new brands, Botega, Ferragamo, Victoria Beckham, and some contemporary brands. I really like this brand Rouge. They picked that up. And also doing very cool things with very buzzy brands, like they're the exclusive retailer of Giacomoos and of the Nike and Giacomoos collab that just happened and the exclusive retailer of Skims and Pera in France. So anyway, I think that they're just doing all the right things and moving forward. And the overreliance on any community is just not a good thing this day and age as we've learned. Yeah. And also, like you said, they're not resting on their laurels or they're trying new things. And I think especially at a period when maybe luxury is slowing down or Europe is having a harder time, the instinct might be to like, we made a bunch of money last year. Let's just hang on to it just in case. And I think they're kind of doing the opposite of let's be bold and invest and spend this money and try to set ourselves up for more success. So, I think that's a good idea. Also speaking of tourism, we should talk about how a big thing that will be affecting the Paris retail market is going to be the Olympics, which you'd think would lead to more sales, having all these people there. They think they said, Zofia wrote a story in April that I think at that time there were 7 million tickets already sold to the Paris Olympics. You know, somewhere around 7 million people will be coming into the city for that. And you'd think like all that more, all that foot traffic, more sales. But from what I've seen, some people expect it'll decrease sales just, or at the very least disrupt things so much that even if you do make more money, it might not be worth it because of just like how crazy and wild the Olympics are. I know a lot of cities after they host the Olympics or the World Cup, it ends up sort of being a net negative for them where it's like, we spent so much money doing this and had to deal with all the chaos of all these people that maybe it wasn't worth it. But I don't know, I still feel like if I'm in town for the Olympics, I'm going to like go shopping too while I'm there if I'm in Paris for sure. Yes. And there, the Champs de Lise apparently has been undergoing some like revamps, some makeover, and that will be completed by the time of the Olympics. And so there's expected to be some kind of, I don't know, hoopla there. So maybe that will help. But I think the CEO of Galleries Lafayette was saying something to the effect of, yeah, our sales, we expect them to go down, but this is an awesome PR opportunity for the city. We expect them to bounce back at the end of the year, September to December and that kind of make up for what happened during the Olympics time, which I could see that happening so we should track that for sure. No, I saw that similar, that same comment about maybe during the Olympics, the sales that don't go up, but after it's, it's not like Paris needs help to sort of like be established as like an up and coming city, the way some. Sometimes I think a country hosts, you know, some big event like that and there may be not a tourist destination and then they become one because they've invested all this stuff. I think that can be good. But I think about all the influencers there and yeah, and people thinking it's cool. It reminds me of like an Emily in Paris moment where people were going to like kind of redo, I don't know, dress up like her and take her photos. True. Or imagine you know someone who went to Paris for the Olympics and they come back and they had a great time and they tell you about it and then that makes you want to go and you're like, I'll go after the Olympics. I can totally see it having a sort of halo effect even if in the moment it's extremely disruptive. Man, the power of social media, I miss the chance to talk about in our Golden Goose discussion. I'm just going to talk about it. I just feel like it's getting backlash on TikTok from, it's funny where I think it's going to do the brand well. It's going to work to their advantage. There are some posts circulating where dads are yelling at their kids. The youth these days about wearing shoes that are meant to look dirty and then there's a mom justifying it going, well, we were ripped up jeans anyway. So anyway, it's getting good. Negative buzz. That's actually good in my eyes. Yeah, negative buzz is a great term. That's absolutely something that exists. Let's talk about our last topic, which we alluded to earlier about the Celine Pilates collection, which they just announced. I had to do some research on this. I was like, is Pilates a company or is it just the concept? It's not a company. It's just, it's capitalized because it's named after a guy. But like, it's a generic term. There's not like the Pilates Corporation or anything. Anyway, Celine is releasing a Pilates themed collection, which includes a baseball cap, a mat, dumbbells and a kettlebell, which I think are very, they're very luxury looking. The dumbbell has like a leather wrap for like the handle and then the weight ends are like chrome with the Celine logo, like etched into it. It's very luxurious looking. I wanted to ask, if you rolled up to the gym and you saw somebody swinging the Celine kettlebell, what do you think? Jealous? No. It is kind of cool. It is cool. I didn't remember when Hermes opened a gym in Williamsburg, like that kind of is giving the same vibes, where I don't even know. I think it was like, look, but don't touch. It was like an art exhibit. But I would just say, yeah, I don't know who's actually like using these things. Probably maybe setting it up. Rich people setting it up in their gym for chic decoration. I don't know. But the clothes are interesting. There's some actually functional things, leggings, cycling shorts, sports bras. It feels so timely. There are all these stats that Pilates was the number one workout, like from Class of 2023, from Class Pass and all of these other workout-focused companies, which no doubt. I've talked about it for years and I didn't do it and I missed the boat, but the power of tapping into a community, which people are so passionate about their workout routines, like, you know, I talk about my Sculpt Society, which is a form of Pilates. But and I was always like, I'm going to start a walking company during the Pilates pandemic, because like, there isn't a brand that's like really like aligns with this community. People are all about it. Like it's Pilates and it's walking in this day and age when like slim is the body shape of the moment, like slender, skinny, like that's what Pilates does. So it makes good sense. Yeah, I feel like it's a way to tap into culture. Like it's just workout is what people are doing. Yeah, no, I totally, I mean, we've talked about how there's so many active wear brands launching all the time or brands launching their active collections, because I think it's such a big part of people's lives. And it's also a big part of their social media too, people love to post about what work out they're doing. So like, it totally makes sense. But I think you're right that for me, not that I buy a ton of luxury stuff, but if I did, I probably wouldn't get like luxury, like running shoes or something. Like something that you buy the nature of it is going to get wear and tear more than like a luxury watch or luxury suit or something. Like I usually buy my my workout clothes, my active stuff from just regular like Nike or Viori or brands like that that are like sort of specialized in that, because like they're not going to last forever. Like for running shoes, you're not supposed to wear them forever. You're supposed to retire them after a couple hundred miles because you could like hurt yourself if you keep burning. But if I spent Celine prices on running shoes, I would keep them forever. I would not want to, you know, retire them. So it definitely feels like I think there are people who would do it, but it's not the aspirational customer. It's like the people who can drop however much they're selling the kettlebell for. And like you said, just set it up and just have it for or they actually use it and actually get it all worn and torn, which would, I think, mean, you're like even richer because you like don't even care that you ruined your Celine kettlebell. I know I'm with you. And probably maybe the leggings and the shorts and the things that are going to get, I don't know if they get faded if they are made so well, but probably the accessories I would imagine would be more like popular sellers like the yoga mat, the yoga blocks, things that you can take to your class and flex or whatever. I don't know. The pricing hasn't been released. It comes out in October, but we'll be interesting to see. And this is no nothing new for Eddie Slamon, I butcher. But I'll wait, like came out with a dog collection, came out with a lot of board games happening on the Celine side and like Bat Gammon and like all of these different kind of touch keys for your home. It's fun. I feel like he's creating this world. That's fun to tap into via a piece here and there. And PS, he's rumored to be going to Chanel, but we shall see about that. I'm watching him. Yeah. Yeah, I think you're right. I was actually going to ask you if you thought, I feel like there was the idea of a luxury brand making some sort of item that is not what they usually make a paper clip. I was at a Chanel paper clip, I think a couple of years ago, or like a lighter or a pen or something. That's like not their typical thing, but they kind of really see some of the things. I feel like that's very common. I was going to ask if you thought that was like slowing down. I feel like maybe a couple of years ago I saw tons of those and maybe I don't see it as much, but maybe that's not true. And that's just my skewed experience. I feel like I'm seeing it more with like fashion brands launching like furniture collections or home collections and it's kind of a similar thing. Yeah, I do miss like the days of going into Marc Jacobs or Marc by Marc and seeing all the little, I don't know, grab and go items at the register where you can actually get like, I don't know, a branded little necklace and it's like literally $15. So things that are accessible and yeah, you don't hear about it a lot. At one point, Tibby did, which I was so excited. They kind of set up a little world in their store, which was again accessible items, a water bottle. They like little shoulder pads, which I always talk about because I thought it was so iconic, but like little accessories. And I do think it's smart for the people who want it again at a time when everything is the brand and unboxing and just getting becoming luxury is so like, I don't know, it's put on a pedestal pedestal more than ever. I think it's good to have those little items where people can play in the space. Yeah, I think I've told you this anecdote, Joe, but I have a really nice Gucci pen that I love, but and it's got the Gucci logo on it. But if you unscrew it and open it up, it's just a Parker like pen on the inside. Basically, like, it's was made manufactured by Parker, which specializes in pens and it's just kind of got the Gucci shell over it. Not a bad thing. Like, it's a great pen. But I do think like when a brand is like, we're dropping a pen, we're dropping a yoga mat. And like, do they have the expertise to like actually create their own yoga mat, or do they just like get some company that makes yoga mats? Yes. Not saying this about Celine, but just like something like that is require special manufacturing. Like, is the Celine kettlebell just like the normal kettlebell from the gym, but with the former, like, oh my God, they have to, I bet it's a collaboration. I do know that the headphones are a collaboration. So, yeah, maybe. Yeah, and this, the Pilates thing is not billed as a collaboration, but I wonder sort of who they worked with to manufacture it because like, I don't know if they've got an in-house yoga mat guy or something, or if they had to like go figure that out. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. But they probably, they do certainly have like people in house who work on like buttons and zippers and the stuff that is kind of in their real house. And then when they go out of it, I'm like, they have to have worked with somebody. I doubt they have that. Maybe that for yoga mat. I'm like, throw some foam into it between two pieces of leather. Yeah, true. Well, that's what I'm saying. I don't know exactly how they made it, but I don't know some stuff. I'm like, you have to bring in someone from outside to help with this, I'm sure. For sure. I think it's, I do think it's cool though, just because I'm laughing at it doesn't mean I don't think it's cool. I think that's all the time we have this week, Jill. Thank you for being here. This was a great conversation. It was great. Thanks, Danny. For those of you listening, don't forget to give us a rating and a review on Apple podcast for Spotify wherever you listen to this because that helps us out so much. And don't forget to subscribe to the glossy podcast because you'll hear interviews with industry insiders every Wednesday and week interview episodes with me every Friday. Jill, who's our next guest on the regular podcast? You are our guest host. It is. Oh, it's me. Yeah, from American giant. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes, I just actually recorded it earlier this week with Byron Winthrop from American giant. We talked about manufacturing in the U.S. He has a lot of good advice on that. So if anyone's listening to this, it wants to figure out how to move their manufacturing to the U.S. He had a lot of good thoughts about how to do that. It was a great conversation. He's very smart and very passionate about that one kind of central thing about the brand, which is that they're made in the U.S. and all the challenges that come with it. So it was a really good conversation. He spoke at our very first glossy event even before I was hired. I just remember going to it and anyway, seeing him. He was great. I didn't know that. He was great. Well, thanks for being here, Jill. That's all the time we have. And for those of you listening, we'll see you next time. [Music]
