Jill Manoff

Launched last week, with three clutch handbag styles priced $5,800-$7,800, Eittem was intentionally designed to straddle the line between fashion and art. Its pieces can just as easily be worn about town or placed on a coffee table as decorative objects. “They’re functional sculptures,” said Erin Saluti, the brand’s founder and creative director.

Discover how MeUndies CRO Ariel Stoddard plans to grow the brand while maintaining high customer loyalty.

Even in today’s unpredictable retail environment, it’s a safe bet that 42-year-old jewelry brand Pandora will have a successful fourth quarter. With charms as a company signature, the trend cycle is working in its favor. Plus, as of 2022, it’s behind a growing lab-grown diamond jewelry business, as people are pinching pennies and the stigma around the lab-grown option has all but faded. In diversifying its offerings, now catering to more customer demographics, it’s landed on “it” items at different ends of the pricing spectrum. And, at the same time, it’s been on a growth trajectory that’s expected to stick.

Brandon Brubaker, co-founder of the 10-year-old SoCal sneaker brand Clearweather, is somewhat of a sneaker legend. In the sneaker game for 30 years, he first designed iconic sneaker styles for Vans after being recruited by the company at age 20. He then went on to launch the multimillion-dollar skate sneaker division at Nike-owned Converse.  Today, Brubaker is hitting the gas on growing his own company, with a fresh round of funding, a new business partner, a relaunched website and big plans for international expansion.

Billy Reid, who started his company 20 years ago, welcomed 300-500 out-of-towners plus crowds of locals into his world set two hours away from the closest major airport — all Florence hotels hit capacity, he said. The brand’s best customers forked over at least $1,000 for an all-access pass, while ramped-up quantities of influencers and press were granted complimentary access.

It’s repeatedly been said that today’s brands and retailers must also be media companies, regularly producing and distributing multimedia content across marketing channels. That pressure has, at minimum, held true for most sectors. But, rather than exclusively a play for engagement, the latest luxury deals show a business demand for the necessary one-two punch of culture-fueled content and aspirational customers. The two go hand-in-hand, according to involved executives and recent research.

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Six months after being named president of the travel retail company Duty-Free Holdings, fashion industry veteran James Mullaney has defined a five-year plan to grow the company — currently doing $200 million in annual sales — to a $500 million business by 2026. The vision includes accelerating the growth of a new business division catering to private-jet travelers and boosting skin-care, cosmetics and fragrance sales to at least 30% of the business in the next year. Alcohol is currently dominating sales, followed by tobacco. 

To get in front of target audiences and forward their aspirational alignment, fashion and Porsche are increasingly, officially and unofficially, getting in bed.

Assouline, the publishing house turned luxury lifestyle brand, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year — but, it seems, it’s just getting started. Largely driven by Alexandre Assouline — the company’s chief of operations, brand and strategy and the son of its founders — Assouline is in growth mode: In addition to rolling out new product categories and services, it’s expanding its physical footprint and introducing new digital products, including a digital magazine and podcast.