The Glossy Podcast

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, hosts senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff discuss the biggest fashion stories of the week.This week, they discuss Ralph Lauren's metaverse ambitions, timed with a new Roblox activation, Pete Davidson's partnership with Calvin Klein and Chanel's Advent calendar controversy.

Norma Kamali may have launched her namesake fashion brand more than 50 years ago, but the last two years have presented challenges like she’s never seen before. Luckily, working through them has had positive effects on her business. “Covid and everything that went with it was -- for me, in the workplace -- like nothing [that’s come before it]. We’ve all experienced this for the first time,” she said on the latest Glossy Podcast. “It really got me to fast-forward the company to where we should be. Plus, it made us more efficient and it made us better strategically.”It's paying off: The business has grown by almost 3X since 2019, she said. Kamali can be credited with pioneering such timely industry trends as athleisure and an e-commerce focus. And, she said, though her business has evolved, she’s held true to her core focuses. In terms of her designs, that means sticking to “clothing you feel good in, that isn’t crazy expensive and that you wear a lot,” she said. She talked more about her “classic, timeless style,” plus she explained why she’s dedicated to e-commerce channels, and how she's incorporating wellness into her fashion business. Below are additional highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

On this week's episode of the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi is joined by editor-in-chief Jill Manoff and fashion reporter Zofia Zwieglinska to talk about some of the biggest news in the fashion world.As the biggest story of the week was the tragic passing of Virgil Abloh, we discussed his life and his influence on fashion. Also this week: a lackluster Black Friday and a report from Glossy's first U.K. event.

Luxury fashion has quickly morphed away from Old Hollywood glamour to sneakers and nylon belts. But for online retailer Mytheresa, that air of sophistication and charm is still the heart of its business."We love the true luxury part of the [fashion] business," said Michael Kliger, CEO of Mytheresa, on this week's Glossy Podcast. "It is by definition a limited set of brands that you could count as luxury."With roots as a boutique in Munich starting in 1987, Mytheresa has evolved alongside changes in luxury, including with its launch of a menswear category in 2020 and the company's IPO in January. Although the retailer maintains a focus on "traditional" luxury brands, like Valentino, Prada and Gucci, as well as occasions, like a "garden party," Mytheresa also carries "cooler, new [brands] like Jacquemus," in response to evolving customer tastes, which accelerated during the pandemic, said Kliger. In contrast to other luxury retailers, Mytheresa carries fewer than 250 brands, living up to its tagline of, 'The finest edit in luxury fashion.""We always say the journey of our customers starts with an occasion in mind, not with a product in mind," said Kliger.Mytheresa's focus on occasion did not falter during the pandemic, when sales of cashmere, knitwear, sneakers and slide shoes boomed as shoppers traded in galas for the living room couch. And on the other side of luxury, categories like vacation wear, formal dresses and party clothes have rebounded more recently, he said.

Although "The World's Most Comfortable Thong" may seem like an oxymoron, intimates and sleepwear brand Hanky Panky continues to hold the title unironically 35 years after the release of its cult-favorite 4811 thong.While the brand celebrates its heritage with the anniversary of the iconic one-size-fits-all thong, which makes up over 60% of Hanky Panky's sales, it's simultaneously going through a brand refresh, said Brenda Berger, co-CEO of Hanky Panky, on this week's Glossy Podcast. Berger, who served as the head of sales and marketing from 2004 to 2013, rejoined Hanky Panky as co-CEO in 2019 when the "rebrand conversation" started, she said. After 44 years in business, Berger and the Hanky Panky team are focused on refreshing the brand while maintaining its sense of heritage, she said. Berger has overseen the launch of Hanky Panky's new website, logo and digital marketing strategies, as well as its new influencer partnerships and TikTok and Instagram strategies. "[These tactics] better tell the stories of our core products," said Berger. "What was happening prior was word of mouth ... [We shifted our] marketing content to storytelling, and we're now taking more ownership of it and placing it on our platforms."

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, hosts Danny Parisi and Zofia Zwieglinska break down some of the biggest fashion news stories of the week.In this week's episode: Nike paused its Travis Scott collaborations, wholesale marketplace Faire raised $400 million and Bottega Veneta got a new creative director (while rumors swirled about why Daniel Lee left so abruptly). Plus, a closer look at Shein's massive -- and unethical -- growth.

Out with the old and in with the ... old? In June 2021, MCM unveiled a novel, but old-school logo for the first time in its 45 year history. Although the new take on the iconic Visetos print signifies the brand’s evolution, the vintage-inspired Italian jacquard fabric is meant to convey MCM’s past in step with the ever-changing fashion industry. “Heritage creates so much emotion for [the] consumer,” said Dirk Schönberger, global creative director of MCM, on this week’s Glossy Podcast. Still, MCM knows adapting is a constant in fashion. Its computer-generated take on the logo and its choice of non-leather fabrics demonstrate the brand’s ongoing need for change.“If you look closer, you see the cubes that we have are consisting of the diamonds from our original logo,” he said, referring to MCM’s new Cubic Monogram, part of the second phase of the brand’s refresh that launched on October 4.In addition to the updated logos, Schönberger has facilitated MCM’s collaborations with Gen-Z heavyweights like Billie Eilish, for example, who starred in the brand’s fall/winter 2019 campaign. Below are additional highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.Luxury fashion’s "ivory towers"“Luxury fashion has changed because of the influence of street and sportswear. That had a major influence. That's why I'm saying Adidas was also fashion, but it was a different kind of fashion. And you could say that luxury fashion’s ivory towers [are] crumbling because of the influence of street and sportswear. But if you see, then, how luxurious the sportswear has become, maybe the ivory tower just got a little bit higher. Because now even the democratic pieces are exclusive and expensive. I wouldn't say that the ivory tower is crumbling, [but] it created little, extra towers that are also growing … With the influence of street and sportswear, it brought luxury fashion into a completely different space. It was not this rich, mature consumer all of a sudden, but it was again, the youth culture that influenced fashion.”A pandemic reset  “How we reacted [in the last two years] was, we focused, we were super concentrated, it was not panic mode. It was, ‘Okay, let's have a good look at ourselves, what could we improve from [the] product, from [the] size of [the] collection?’ The whole sustainability topic became even more important than it was already before. There were a lot of serious conversations, but they were always directed to the future. It was not, ‘How are we going to save the company?’ But it was, ‘What do we need to do to be a better brand once this is over?’ And this is what we've done and I'm proud of all the teams that have been working as if nothing has happened from home. And we still managed to do business as usual. And at the end, we came out as a more sustainable company, a more focused company. It forced us to cut off things that were not as necessary as we thought they would be.

On this week's Glossy Week in Review podcast, hosts fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff review the fashion news that didn't get covered in Glossy's weekly reporting.This week, the biggest news was Daniel Lee's abrupt departure from Bottega Veneta, three years after taking over as creative director and earning the brand wide acclaim. Also on the show: Dior's first menswear show in London since 2016, the future of London as a fashion hub, the big collaborations that dropped or were announced this week, and the keys to a good collaboration.

Fashion has always existed on a spectrum, and right now, that runs the gamut from workleisure to platform Crocs and nightclub-lingerie. For all-American apparel brand Alpha Industries, its military-esque style neatly fits into those intersecting extremes.But, Alpha Industries' evolution from military outfitter to consumer-facing lifestyle brand does not mean sacrificing its roots. "We're never going to stop selling the [military] surplus," said Mike Cirker, president and CEO of Alpha Industries.Alpha Industries, founded by Cirker's grandfather in 1959, expanded the reach of its bomber coats, aviation flight jackets and parkas in the '70s as individuals became enamored by the style of the "American cool guys" in the military worldwide. While the brand continues to associate with service stars, such as with its Heritage Collection that pays homage to its original Mil-Spec Flight Jacket, Alpha Industries has also dipped into the world of entertainment. In 2016, the brand collaborated with Kanye West on the rapper's Yeezy tour merchandise bomber jacket. It also teamed with celebrity stylist Maeve Reilly, who dresses Hailey Bieber and Megan Fox, on Alpha's fall 2021 collection."We're pushing the boundaries on reinventing old military or utilitarian wear for today's [consumer]," said Cirker. "It's about the story for us."

In this week's Glossy Week in Review podcast, which breaks down the biggest news stories in fashion, fashion reporter Danny Parisi is joined by fellow Glossy reporter Zofia Zwieglinska for a discussion on COP26 and fashion's responsibility to the environment.Also on this week's episode: Nike's trademarks signal that it may be entering the metaverse soon, and American Eagle acquired yet another shipping logistics company.