The Glossy Podcast

On this week's Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff discuss three of the biggest fashion news stories of the week.This week, the pair discuss the legacy of the late André Leon Talley, an outsized personality in the fashion world for decades, as well as LVMH's new minority stake in Aimé Leon Dore and Bally's hire of Rhude's Rhuigi Villaseñor as its new creative director.

Ariane Goldman is a serial entrepreneur with a specialty: “I'm always gonna try to create things people need,” she said on the latest Glossy Podcast. In 2007, that meant launching Twobirds Bridesmaid, focused on bridesmaid dresses that women can wear more than once. And in 2011, she introduced Hatch.“I was pregnant with my first daughter, excited about this new endeavor that I was about to embark on. And I was absolutely surprised that there was nobody speaking to me. I didn't know how to speak the language, and I didn't know what to look for,” she said. “That was the lightbulb that went off. I knew that if I was feeling this way, there must have been other women looking for the same companionship and guidance through this next chapter.” She started Hatch as a direct-to-consumer brand centered on clothing women can wear before, during and after pregnancy. Today, 20% of the company’s customers are women who aren’t pregnant, Goldman said. The company has since expanded to product categories including beauty and “fourth-trimester” products, like nursing bras. And in 2020, it launched a content platform called Babe.At the center of the brand’s success is an engaged community that has worked wonders to fuel its growth. Hatch’s annual sales grew 80% in 2021, and Goldman is projecting 40-50% growth this year.  Among other topics, Goldman discussed how Hatch has grown its community using education-focused events, even during pandemic-forced store closures. 

On the latest Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff discuss the biggest fashion news of the week.This week, there was a flurry of news around Yeezy and Gap, including a new TV spot, a new product and the announcement of yet another collaborator -- "Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga" is set to roll out later this year. Also, data from The RealReal's annual consignment report shows a resurgence of ’90s fashion, and Savage x Fenty is opening its first five stores in the first half of the year.

More than seven years after working at J.Jill as CMO, Claire Spofford returned in February of 2021 to take on the role of CEO.“I already knew a lot about the customer and how connected and engaged she is with the J.Jill brand – that’s a strong foundation for any business,” Spofford said on the latest Glossy Podcast. “Plus, its premium casual positioning in the market is really relevant now. And there were all the fundamentals of it being a great brand with heritage.” Indeed, J.Jill is more than 60 years old. But Spofford has moved fast to ensure evolution across the business and adoption of emerging tools and technologies that can contribute to its current growth. Personalization, an optimized store fleet and next-level customer experience – the latter, with the help of a new hire – are among her priorities. In mid-December, J.Jill reported a nearly 30% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue.  “We’ve made great progress against our [pandemic] recovery this year and have gained some real traction,” she said. “And that gives us a much stronger foundation from which to really drive profitable growth as we go forward.”

For this week's Glossy Week in Review podcast, fashion reporter Zofia Zwieglinska joined editor-in-chief Jill Manoff for a discussion on the three biggest stories of the week.This week, a look at the significance of the latest Prada x Adidas collection. Plus, what fashion's presence at CES says about the industry's focus on innovation, and how the Omicron variant is impacting physical retail, IRL fashion shows and beyond.

If you count its unintentional year in beta, The Yes is just eight months old.Retail veteran Julie Bornstein planned to launch the fashion e-commerce platform, which she describes as "a new way to shop," in March 2020 -- but then Covid-19 hit. So, she waited two months and introduced the company in May, just before George Floyd was killed and "the world got even more complicated." As with companies across categories, the plan- and priority-shifting news The Yes faced in the year, and the following year, didn't stop there."We operated in what felt like a beta timeframe," Bornstein said on the latest Glossy Podcast. "We ended up using that year to just improve the experience, onboard more brands, learn [what] our users liked and improve so many things. We decided we needed to launch web, [in addition to an app], which we did."The Yes's big differentiator among fashion marketplaces is the personalized experience it provides shoppers, largely based on individual products they like or dislike via a voluntary click of "Yes" or "No." Bornstein realized the potential for such a platform while holding C-suite positions at Stitch Fix (COO) and Sephora (CMO and chief digital officer). It's worth noting that The Yes rolled out a rewards program dubbed "Yes Funds" on Tuesday, which Bornstein teased during the mid-December podcast recording: "I helped launch Beauty Insider at Sephora, so I'm a big fan of interesting programs that reward your best customer," she said.

In a special edition of the Glossy Podcast, Danny Parisi, senior fashion reporter, and Jill Manoff, editor-in-chief, review the year in fashion news.2021 was eventful for fashion, to say the least. There were high-profile acquisitions, groundbreaking runway shows, notable deaths and abrupt executive departures. In this episode, the pair discuss three big stories from the year, toughing on all the interesting bits of news that fit those larger themes. They include: the growing dominance of resale in fashion; the rise of digital fashion, crypto and NFTs; and the new willingness for traditional rivals in luxury fashion to work together.

After becoming sold on accepting the CEO job at Aerosoles, Alison Bergen is hellbent on selling fashion fans on shopping the brand. “I don’t think I ever thought I would end up at a comfort footwear brand. And I think [Aerosoles] offered me the job twice before I accepted it, because I had to get over my own snobbery,” Bergen said on the latest Glossy Podcast. Prior to Aerosoles, she held lead merchandising roles at Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors and Diane von Furstenberg. “What finally attracted me to [Aerosoles] was the original story about the founder, Jules Schneider,” she said. “How and why he started the brand … felt like it was equally relevant today as it was revolutionary back in the late ’80s when he founded it… He thought, ‘Women shouldn't have to sacrifice comfort for style, or vice versa.’”Bergen joined the brand in 2018 with the goal of modernizing its approach to design and business — which has proven to be quite the feat. “Taking a Titanic and trying to change the course doesn't happen by just hitting one button,” she said. “You’re really repositioning and realigning so many facets of the business. Whether it was distribution, product, branding, team structure -- all of those things were going to change, in order to push this brand into relevancy and a healthy future, from a profitability perspective.”Bergen also discussed the internal changes she’s made and the customer response to the brand's recent updates, including product pricing.

Leena Nair, fashion outsider, is the new CEO of Chanel. Highlights include Nike's acquisition of RTFKT, Shein's new head of sustainability, and Inditex's preparation for new leadership.

Cleobella founder and designer Angela O’Brien built her strong, 15-year-old business from an idea she had while galavanting around the globe.“My husband and I left our jobs in Southern California, and we did a trip around the world for a year -- we lived in a camper van in Europe, and we traveled all through Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. And we felt this freedom that we wanted more of,” O’Brien said on the latest Glossy Podcast. “So the idea became, ‘How do we create a business and keep this journey going?’”Now, she splits her time between living in Bali and doing business in Los Angeles, the headquarters of her globally-inspired, ethically-made fashion brand produced by artisans around the world. The brand has a story worth telling, too, O’Brien said. “The customer cares how her product is made. And having that openness, and telling the story of the people and the hands and the hearts that make our product, that's what's most important to me. And that's what builds a legacy brand.”Currently, the self-owned brand is in growth mode -- for example, it’s grown its DTC business 100% year-over-year, O’Brien said. She also discussed what’s fueling the growth, why she still believes in wholesale and why she won’t be fundraising any time soon.