Month: May 2020
This month, many states will start easing stay-at-home restrictions set because of the coronavirus pandemic, permitting businesses nationwide to begin reopening their doors.
Fashion retailers have been heavily impacted by the pandemic, which has forced many to shutter their doors, furlough their staffs or reduce operations. Several companies, including J. Crew and Neiman Marcus, have filed for bankruptcy due in part to the virus.
After nearly two months of limited operations, major retailers such as Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, among others, have started implementing reopening strategies, which include resuming operations in states with relaxed restrictions, offering curbside pickup or by-appointment services.
Check back on this post, as it will be updated as news develops.
Here, WWD looks at the major U.S. retailers that have started reopening their doors.
Abercrombie & Fitch:
The fashion brand reopened an undisclosed number of locations in states that have eased stay-at-home restrictions.
American Eagle Outfitters Inc.:
The company has reopened 207 American Eagle and Aerie stores across the country. The stores will be practicing social distancing and will offer curbside and in-store pickup options.
Belk:
The department store chain reopened stores in Arkansas and South Carolina and will be operating at limited capacity. Belk also offers curbside pickup.
Bluemercury:
The beauty retailer will reopen
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RAINBOW BET: Retailers are embracing well-being trends — meant as an antidote to the coronavirus gloom — including Le Bon Marché, which plans to work a color theme with a hippie chic bent across the store starting May 16. The tony, Left Bank institution will offer tie-dye hoodies, T-shirts and bathing suits, as well as earrings — and sneakers — with a dream-catcher motif.
Channeling the original, hippie spirit, the product mix will be eclectic, but sleeker, and more modern, naturally, geared toward fashion-conscious Parisians.
Loewe’s tie-up with the fabled Paula’s Ibiza will figure prominently, with a large space on the third floor, offering clothing and accessories for men and women, while Antik Batik will draw on Mongolian vibes and Farm Rio will attempt to capture the feel of a Brazilian beach.
Jérôme Dreyfuss is selling a colorful, fringed handbag while Isabel Marant is offering feathered earrings. Aurélie Bidermann and Sylvia Toledano are two other fine jewelry labels taking part, while on the higher end, Bulgari and Tasaki are focusing on color. In the dream-catcher department, Notify offers an embroidered jean jacket or sneakers.
The department store’s food hall next door, La Grande Epicerie, will also take part, offering Bloom energy balls and Les Fleurs
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TAKE ME HOME: Sézane is bringing its covetable brand of French chic to the home.
The digital-native fashion brand, founded in 2013, has introduced a new lifestyle range called La Maison Sézane “to bring some magic to our homes, when we may need it most,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.
The collection channels the same vintage-inspired aesthetic as its ready-to-wear and accessories: think hand-painted crockery and vases made out of recycled glass. Limited-edition mugs are hand-painted with Italian phrases.
Items from Sézane’s new lifestyle range.
Photographed by Herve Goluza/Courtesy of Sézane
Founder Morgane Sézalory said the prints hand-drawn by Argentine artist Maia Bunge, a regular collaborator of the brand, were designed to create a “Parisian-inspired oasis” — a timely proposition as consumers emerge out of coronavirus lockdowns keen to improve their homes.
Sézane has collaborated with French homewares e-store Beldy, known for its Berber-inspired designs, on velvet cushions, and with paper goods brand Hôtel Magique on floral wallpaper.
Its in-house wallpaper, available in several colorways at 45 euros a roll, sold out instantly when it was made available for preorder on Sunday morning, the brand said on its Instagram site.
Items from Sézane’s new lifestyle range.
Photographed by Herve Goluza/Courtesy of Sézane
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GOLDEN GIFT: Closed is betting on the increasing self-gifting trend among female consumers after months of confinement.
The indie denim contemporary brand launched a capsule collection of demi-fine jewelry in partnership with Berlin-based label Maximova.
The capsule called Clsd x Mxmv marks Closed’s foray into the category, with a range of nine jewelry pieces in gold vermeil handmade in Germany and designed by jeweler Dari Maximova.
“At Closed we love collaborating with brands which produce products we love, but where we are missing the expertise to do it ourselves. Dari is such an inspiring, lively and creative person and her jewelry feels very organic. Her approach and her local production made her a perfect partner for a collaboration,” said Gordon Giers, one of the three owners of Closed.
Maximova was inspired by nature for the lineup, which features charms in the shapes of leaves, buds and twigs hanging from paper-clip chain necklaces and a matching bracelet. Earrings, too, come in similar shapes, sometimes hanging from irregular hoops.
Retailing at between 115 euros and 255 euros, the collection is available exclusively on Closed’s online store, at select flagships and on Maximova’s e-commerce.
Inspired by her Bulgarian upbringing and the travels she made as a model, Maximova founded
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Categories
Rewiring Social Media
No matter how you want to slice the quarantine cake, one thing is undeniably certain: social media has undoubtedly experienced a renaissance. For about a decade we’ve been accustomed, and dare I say conditioned, to exude an unrealistic and “perfect” glimpse of life on social media. But since we’ve been quarantined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has taken an expected, albeit much needed, turn to realness.
In the wake of this movement, engagement has skyrocketed for the majority of influencers and brands are shifting their messaging accordingly.
Throughout the 10-plus years to which I’ve dedicated my life to top-tier talent management and brand-influencer consulting, showing some form of authenticity and a “bigger purpose” has always been at the core of my business. How do we show our perfectly imperfect selves on social media while still being able to land those luxurious dream jobs? How do you take social media and actually use it for something bigger than ourselves? Sure, let’s make some money. It’s tremendously foolish to not recognize its powerful ability for posts to be largely monetizable. The elusive questions remain, though: What more can we use social media for? How much longer can we keep portraying an unrealistic
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