Last week, rain and floods hammered NYC, causing Sephora to cancel day 1 of Sephoria 2023, Nike saw a return to growth in its DTC channel, and Figue rebranded. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Glossy Podcast for interviews with fashion industry leaders and Week in Review episodes, and the Glossy Beauty Podcast for interviews from the beauty industry. –Danny Parisi, sr. fashion reporter
Rainstorm in NYC canceled day 1 of Sephoria
New York City was apocalyptic Friday morning as heavy rainfall hammered the city and caused flooding across the boroughs. Governor Kathy Hochul called a state of emergency for the city as subway lines closed, cars and homes were flooded, and roads were shut down.
The fashion and beauty industries didn’t escape the damage. Day 1 of Sephora’s Sephoria event, scheduled to happen Friday, was canceled 30 minutes before it was set to begin, leaving attendees angered, especially since some had traveled from as far as Guatemala for the event.
Some attendees didn’t understand why an event held inside would be canceled due to outside rain.
But “outside” was a dangerous place on Friday. Social media platforms were full of videos of people wading through water up to their hips in subway stations and cars submerged past their wheel wells on the road.
Attendees who paid more than $300 to attend were disappointed that they couldn’t see the sessions they planned to see. But Sephora held sessions virtually and will reportedly provide refunds and promised gift bags to day 1’s ticket holders. Day 2, on Saturday, played out as planned.
Nike is back to seeing DTC success
Last week, Nike reported earnings showing revenues that shot past analyst expectations. It had particular growth on the DTC side, which grew by 6% to $5.4 billion, while wholesale revenue stayed flat at $7 billion.
Nike has been flip-flopping on its DTC-versus-wholesale split in recent years. After announcing an all-in effort to grow the DTC business, in 2019, Nike has recently taken a more balanced approach. Last year, the company said wholesale was and would remain a big part of its business, and it expanded its wholesale partnerships after cutting many of its partners in the years prior.
It’s worth noting that large brands including Canada Goode, Under Armour and Skechers have recently seen significant declines in their wholesale revenue.
Figue rebrands
The accessible luxury womenswear brand Figue launched a rebrand last week, in an effort to transition from a resortwear brand to one that can be worn 12 months a year. Among other moves, the brand is introducing knitwear and other fall staples that will make it relevant throughout the year.
In the years since the pandemic, we’ve seen more brands diversifying their product categories to avoid being pigeonholed into single categories and to safeguard for the future. Brands that only made special occasion wear didn’t fare so well when gatherings fell off during the pandemic, for example. I expect we’ll see more brands jumping outside of their comfort zones, much like the brands that recently introduced home goods.
