This week, a decades-old bridal company is hitting the gas on modernization; unpaid fashion internships are becoming a thing of the past; luxury is facing new challenges, according to a new industry report; fashion and furniture are getting cozier; and short shorts — for men — are trending.
83-year-old Kleinfeld Bridal introduces e-commerce and resale
On Tuesday, 83-year-old Kleinfeld Bridal launched e-commerce for the first time with Kleinfeld Again, an online consignment shop allowing brides-to-be and one-time brides to shop or sell pre-worn wedding gowns. Based on retail trends, its proprietary customer research and the company’s global awareness, largely through the popular TLC show “Say Yes to the Dress,” its executive team sees “huge potential” in the new business venture.
“Even before announcing the site, we’d already shipped customer orders to Europe,” said Ronnie Rothstein, CEO of Kleinfeld Bridal. “Nobody has the reach we do.”
“Say Yes to the Dress,” which centers on brides choosing their wedding gown at Kleinfeld’s NYC-based store, has rolled out new episodes since 2007. According to Rothstein, it airs in 165 countries and, every day, fans stop by the store to take pictures. Kleinfeld Bridal currently has 1.5 million followers on Instagram and 520,000 on TikTok.
According to Jen Shipe, Kleinfeld Bridal’s consulting CMO who led the customer research and marketing plan leading up to Kleinfeld Again’s launch, the resale site answers the growing need among brides for dresses with accessible price points and short lead times, among other demands.
Kleinfeld Bridal’s core assortment includes gowns by 55 designers, all sold through IRL appointments. Kleinfeld sells upward of 20,000 dresses per year, Rothstein said.
The bridalwear market has evolved since Kleinfeld Bridal opened its doors in 1941. Along with several online-only bridal brands joining the competition during the direct-to-consumer boom, bridal resale has slowly begun to gain traction. Along with dedicated sites including StillWhite and PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com, general resale e-tailers including Poshmark and ThredUp have become go-to bridal gown sources.
Kleinfeld Again’s biggest differentiator is its certification process, Rothstein said. Before a dress is sent to a buyer, it is sent to the company for review by one of three full-time authenticators. They verify that the condition of the dress matches the seller’s description.
“Facilitating authentication is the luxury industry standard, whether you’re talking about Rolexes or sneakers,” Shipe said.
Kleinfeld does not take a commission on sales, but rather charges sellers $9.95-$11.95 for every month a dress lives on KA.com. Sellers, who choose their gown’s price, can opt to spend more for prominent placement and promotion.
Along with the gown’s size, to account for alterations, the measurements of the original bride at the time of her wedding — typically documented by the retail source — are included in product listings. According to Shipe, the site — powered by Shopify — was designed for ease. For example, sellers can paste a link to a product listing on a competing site to auto-populate required fields for a listing on Kleinfeld Again.
“For years, after a bride wore her dress, she would clean it and preserve it and store it with the hope that her daughter would someday wear it,” Rothstein said. “But in all our years of doing this, maybe three brides have worn their mother’s dress — and we had to restyle the dress, recut the dress and make modern modifications to it.”
Today, with new levels of access to “great pictures and videos,” the bride is “less invested” in making sure her daughter even sees the actual dress, he said.
At the same time, not every bride has dreamt of a traditional gown-shopping experience, inclusive of bridal salon-hopping with family members and friends and lunching with champagne.
“We did a lot of research and found that it’s much like the car market: There are two types of buyers,” Rothstein said. “A big part of the [car] business is the customer who gets a certified pre-owned car, and that doesn’t affect new car sales.”
As described by Shipe, Kleinfeld Again expects its customers to largely be brides who want a dress beyond their budget and brides who have purchased a new dress for their ceremony and “love luxury,” but want a more affordable style for their second or third wedding night look.
Currently, Kleinfeld Again offers 135 styles, including a $10,000 Reem Acra gown selling for $1,400 and several Danielle Frankel styles selling for about $50% less than their retail price. The site welcomes styles not originally purchased at Kleinfeld Bridal, as well as brands the core company does not offer. Therefore, along with extending Kleinfeld’s relationship with current clients, Kleinfeld Again opens the door to relationships with other former brides, as well.
In years past, Kleinfeld Bridal experimented with renting gowns, but, based on the constant need for alterations, the company wrote off the opportunity, Rothstein said.
Along with Kleinfeld Bridal’s email list, website and social channels, Kleinfeld Again is being promoted through paid media. In addition, on Thursday, the company will officially launch a partnership with Lindsay Hubbard, star of Bravo’s “Summer House.” On the platform, Hubbard will be selling the three styles she planned to wear to her canceled wedding, with proceeds going to a non-profit.
Unpaid fashion internships are set to become a thing of the past
On Monday, LIM College, the 85-year-old school preparing students to work on the business side of the fashion industry, announced a new policy requiring partner companies to pay its students for internships completed while at LIM.
“A key impact this … could have is increasing diversity in the fashion industry,” Scott Carnz, provost at LIM College, told Glossy. “Offering unpaid internships favors students with the financial means to support themselves. … This shuts a wide swath of highly talented students out of key opportunities to get experience and make connections that can advance their careers.”
The new policy will be implemented in three stages through the 2026 school year, starting in the 2024-2025 school year with internships that are part of a required senior co-op program. Undergraduate internships will be paid by the 2025-2026 school year, followed by graduate internships in the 2026-2027 school year.
According to Carnz, about 47% of LIM student internships are currently unpaid, which is on par with the national average. The school’s bachelor programs require students to complete three internships, including a “full-semester co-op that is meant to simulate professional entry-level work experience,” he said. Meanwhile, during their final semester, master’s students can either complete a 21-hour-per-week internship or take an advanced management course. Required internships also earn LIM students course credit.
LIM alumni currently work at Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Michael Kors and Saks Fifth Avenue. The school’s Career Outcomes Rate for the Class of 2023 was 97%.
Sports and ‘small indulgences’ are working to win aspirational shoppers
On Tuesday, in collaboration with Altagamma, Bain & Company released a Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study breaking down the state and direction of luxury based on 2023 industry trends.
According to the report, the global luxury market drove a record €1.5 trillion in 2023 sales, aided by a resurgence in luxury travel and a strong U.S. holiday season. Among other trends during the year: Consumers favored experiences over tangible goods, exchange rates for the Yen drove up tourism in Japan, and the spending power of Gen X and Baby Boomers fueled industry growth — younger generations, meanwhile, paused their luxury spending, owed to economic pressures.
According to Bain & Company analysts, striking a balance between catering to top clientele and reaching new audiences will continue to be a necessary challenge for luxury brands.
In 2023, effective strategies for expanding brand reach included taking fresh approaches to the sports marketing opportunity, including investing in less expected sports like padel, racing and football.
In addition, brands offering “small indulgences” effectively lured aspirational shoppers. While the demo shopped less for shoes in 2023, they increased their investments in the makeup, fragrances and eyewear categories.
Selling fashion alongside furniture is catching on
Strategic partnerships between fashion and home brands show no signs of slowing down. For example, early this month, Crate & Barrel announced a product collaboration with Laura Kim, co-creative director of Oscar de la Renta and Monse. And Rove Concepts recently revealed partnerships with Beis and Rare Beauty — its furniture outfits both brands’ headquarters, as shared on its website and social channels.
Now, luxury home retailer Perigold, owned by Wayfair Inc., and direct-to-consumer workwear company M.M. LaFleur are working together to inspire the shoppers of both brands through “The Fashion of Home Shop.” Now found on both companies’ e-commerce sites, the curated product selection offers guides to getting dressed or decorating one’s home according to three timely trends, including “off-duty luxe” and “high-contrast” confidence.” In addition, Perigold furnishings are now shoppable via QR codes at M.M. LaFleur showrooms based in NYC, D.C., Philadelphia and Boston.
According to Nancy Soriano, head of brand, editorial and partnerships at Perigold, the partnership was driven by the brands’ shared mission of “making luxury living more accessible.” Connecting and inspiring “modern luxury consumers” are among the goals.
As discussed by executives during Glossy’s E-Commerce Summit last week, evolving merchandising processes to increasingly inspire shoppers is catching on. For example, according to CMO Elizabeth Preis, Anthropologie is now selling dresses alongside shoes, beauty products and even sofas.
Stat of the week
41: the number of short shorts worn on Gucci’s spring 2025 men’s runway
The evolving inseam length of men’s shorts has been a trending topic on Washed Media’s Retail Therapy podcast for months. But the topic hit a cultural fever pitch this week, thanks to the shorts worn to and in Gucci’s spring 2025 men’s runway show in Milan on Monday. Only five of the 46 featured runway looks featured pants, with most instead including a pair of tailored shorts with an inseam that seemed well shy of five inches, the length men have (very) slowly embraced since being backed by Prada. Actor Paul Mescal attended the show, supporting the trend in striped shorts mimicking boxers. If the popularity of Mescal’s haircut is any indication, short shorts for men are set to catch fire.
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