This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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On the Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.
This week, Zofia is reporting from Abu Dhabi, where Shoptalk Luxe is bringing together luxury brands from around the world. In between reporting stories from the event, she stopped by the Glossy Podcast to share some of the business themes and trends she’s hearing from the luxury brands in attendance.
A common theme this year: the changing importance of department stores in the luxury fashion business and the way brand leaders are thinking about and implementing AI in their businesses. Below are a few highlights from the conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity.
Zwieglinska: “There’s a lot of talk about AI integration and the ways you connect it to your e-commerce and the retail or store experience. But it’s extremely obvious that the human element has become more important. The more people use AI for efficiency and systems, the more important the human element of storytelling and clienteling becomes. The store, the relationship with the customers — in just about every conversation I’ve had here, brands have talked about how important that side of it is, as well, in luxury.”
Parisi: “It’s interesting what use cases brands are finding for AI. I think it makes the most sense for me, especially in luxury, to keep it away from the consumer-facing side. Things like marketing and design, where consumers are seeing the end product, that’s when you get people angry about ‘AI slop,’ like the Coca-Cola commercial for example. It maybe makes more sense for some of the boring, sorting-through-data, behind-the-scenes kinds of tasks.”
Zwieglinska: “I also wanted to hear from the brands about wholesale and department stores. I spoke with Julie Bourgeois of Anine Bing and Albin Johansson, the co-founder of Axel Arigato, and they both felt that the problems with department stores today are more of a delayed reckoning than a sudden onset. Neither has had many interactions with the department stores in the last year, but the demand for wholesale seems to be quite significant. So they’re looking at other channels and being a lot more selective and specific when it comes to what they want from their wholesale partners.”
Parisi: “The wholesale relationship on the luxury side seems like it’s shifting a lot. The Saks bankruptcy made a lot of people want to rethink the relationship they have with wholesale partners. I’m hearing from brands that they want fewer, but better relationships with partners who really work with them and are the right fit. Luxury brands obviously have more leverage on that side.”
