Luxury Briefing: Golden Goose partners with Instagram account ’90s Anxiety to launch NYC store

It’s also the unlikely collaborator for Golden Goose’s latest concept store opening in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. On March 27, the Venice-born brand will co-host, along with ’90s Anxiety, a day-to-night immersive event dubbed “Dreaming in New York City.” to celebrate the store launch. The store’s Con Amore concept combines personalization, hospitality and emotional connection, with the intention of creating a slower, more meaningful in-store experience. The brand initially tested the concept in a pop-up at the Selfridges department store as part of its U.K. expansion, where it is opening a flagship on London’s Mount Street later this year.

“This isn’t just a store, it’s a love letter to New York,” said Silvia Merati, CEO of the Americas at Golden Goose. The opening will feature the Instagram account as a cultural partner featuring NYC’s famous shopping areas and moments.

Inspired by the brand’s heritage in Marghera, a post-industrial port town outside Venice, Italy, the NYC store features an Artisanal Lab for sneaker customization, a Music Room with curated vinyl selections and the Con Amore Corner, where visitors can sip espresso, browse fresh flowers and receive gifts wrapped by hand. The intention is to create a space where visitors will linger, guided less by transaction and more by experience.

Golden Goose’s choice location of the Meatpacking District is a nod to the brand’s Italian roots. “The industrial heritage of Meatpacking aligns perfectly with the Golden Goose DNA,” said Merati. “Historically, it was a hub for craftsmanship, just like Marghera. Meatpacking represents New York like Marghera represents Venice.”

Some luxury brands, like Burberry and Gucci, have struggled in North America over the last year, amid inflation and muted consumer demand. In the November full-year earnings call for Burberry, CFO Kate Ferry said sales in the Americas declined 21% in the first half of the year, with the second quarter down 18%. Burberry’s sales decline in the Americas was driven by soft luxury demand and internal execution issues, according to Ferry, including poor category focus and pricing strategy.

In contrast, in its earnings call on March 12, Golden Goose reported €587 million ($635 million) in revenue in 2024, an 18% increase year-over-year. The Americas accounted for nearly a third of that growth. Owned by private equity firm Permira since 2020, the brand has taken a steady approach to expansion, now counting 59 stores across the region. Last year, Permira postponed a planned IPO for the brand. Blue Pool, a Hong Kong-based investment firm backed by Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, bought a 12% stake in the Italian group in January.

“We feel good about our positioning in the market,” said Merati. “Now we want to continue to foster that customer-centric approach through personalization and immersive experiences.” 

A central component of the strategy is the bespoke sneaker program, led by Dream Makers, Golden Goose’s in-store artisans who are trained at the brand’s academy in Marghera. “We invest a lot in travel to Italy,” said Merati. “We teach them the Golden Goose heritage and push their artistic touch.” In the stores, customers are guided through a co-creation process that merges technical materials with personal storytelling. “The artisans guide our clients to express themselves,” she said. “The reaction is absolutely incredible. Our clients are engaging with us not just to shop, but also to share their personal stories and memories.” According to the company, 90% of its sales come from sneakers.

The company’s retail philosophy aligns with the strategies of other high-performing luxury brands, including Hermès, Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli. Each of these has resisted rapid scaling in favor of slow luxury, investing in artisan-led experiences and tactile storytelling. Loro Piana launched its “Workshop of Wonders” at U.K. department store Harrods in November. Meanwhile, Hermès hosted “Hermès in the Making” in Zurich, Germany in March, and Brunello Cucinelli continued its “Talking Hands” project throughout the year, pairing students with master artisans to preserve and share traditional craftsmanship. Golden Goose is applying a similar logic through a streetwear-adjacent lens rooted in sneakers, craft and a focus on sentimentality.

Luxury shoppers are increasingly seeking bespoke experiences that feel both elevated and emotionally rich. According to consultancy Bain and Company’s November 2024 report, global luxury spending is projected to reach approximately €1.5 trillion ($1.63 trillion), with consumers increasingly favoring luxury experiences such as travel, dining and wellness over traditional product purchases.

“In North America, what really matters for us is to create meaningful connections,” said Merati. “Sales are important, but we look very closely at the time spent in the store and whether clients come back.” While the brand declined to disclose exact sales for North America, its latest earnings indicate that its direct-to-consumer sales in North America grew 14% year on year.

Golden Goose doesn’t offer a traditional loyalty program. Instead, it relies on what Merati described as “constant reinvention,” which includes surprising core clients with curated activations and intimate brand moments. “We don’t have loyalty in the traditional way of serving clients,” she said. “But we craft innovative and unique experiences for them, especially for our key clients.”

The decision to partner with ’90s Anxiety for the launch reinforces the brand’s direction. “90s Anxiety and Golden Goose are creative cultural brands with very loyal communities,” said Merati. “Our goal is to celebrate the city, and the self-expression and authenticity of our clients.” 90s Anxiety’s photos will be featured in the store exhibit in the opening.

Over the next year, Golden Goose plans to expand Con Amore to select locations in Asia and Europe. For now, the brand’s focus is on deepening its ties with its community and establishing retail spaces not just as commercial real estate, but also as emotional support.

“In a world where everything is fast, we want to be the place people slow down,” Merati said.

Mulberry’s newly-appointed CEO Andrea Baldo makes his first public address at the IPF Forum

At the British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion Forum on March 20, the conversation turned from ambition to infrastructure as brands outlined the real work behind cutting fashion’s carbon footprint. Mulberry CEO Andrea Baldo, in his first public forum since joining the brand last year, set the tone with a call to reframe sustainability as a business driver. “Our exchange program is just 1% of the business now, but it’s the fastest-growing part,” he said, pointing to the potential of circularity when it’s integrated with product design and long-term customer relationships. “We’re not a fashion brand. We’re a luxury brand built on icons, craftsmanship and permanence.”

Prior to Baldo’s appointment, Mulberry had been struggling to stay afloat. In its half-year results reported on November 19, Mulberry posted a 19% revenue drop to £56.1 million ($70 million) and an underlying pre-tax loss of £15.3 million ($19 million), citing weak demand in the U.K. and Asia-Pacific as key challenges. The company brought in Baldo to turn the brand around last June. Under Baldo’s direction, Mulberry is hoping to see a turnaround as it focuses more on sustainability initiatives.

Baldo, who previously oversaw a virgin leather phase-out at Ganni, is now reworking Mulberry’s leather strategy through regenerative farming and European sourcing. “Longevity is our promise,” he said. “You should be proud to wear your bag 20 years later.” Internally, changes like removing red meat from company-paid events function as both cost-saving and culture-setting. “It’s a small signal that something in the behavior of the company has changed.”

From an SME perspective, Phillippa Grogan, sustainability manager at U.K. fashion brand Nobody’s Child, outlined what operationalizing sustainability looks like without the backing of a large team. “We avoid all air freight unless there’s a CEO sign-off,” she said. “And we’ve built a materials matrix tailored by product category — what works for denim doesn’t work for knitwear.” 

She credited the BFC’s Low Carbon Transition Programme with helping the brand demystify carbon accounting and engaging suppliers. “I’m asking [suppliers] for digital product passport data and emissions reporting, but I also promise them something in return: a tailored report they can use,” she said. “It has to feel like a partnership.”

At the event, digital product passports were positioned as a powerful entry point to scalable change. “They’re a Trojan horse,” Grogan said. “They link raw materials, energy use, end-of-life recycling — everything.”

Burberry’s Chris Groves said traceability remains one of the sector’s most pressing, and solvable, challenges. “Fifty-five percent of our key raw materials are now certified or responsibly sourced,” he said. “But without supplier traceability, we can’t identify where the opportunities lie.” He called for shared standards and financial support to remove barriers. “We can advise, but if there’s a capital gap, we need financing models that help suppliers act.”

Van Cleef is in hot water over tarnished jewelry

Van Cleef and Arpels, long known for its pristine craftsmanship and storied heritage, is currently facing backlash following a viral TikTok post on March 18 by creator Monica Hamada (@mangomoniica; 333,000 followers), which has since amassed over 6.2 million views. In the video, Hamada details her disappointment with a tarnished Van Cleef bracelet, which she said tarnished before the one-month warranty period, and a lackluster in-store service experience in a Hawaii-based store, raising questions about quality control at the ultra-luxury maison. The vintage Alhambra bracelet she purchased retails for $6,150.

The brand’s recent Instagram posts have since been flooded with critical comments from followers expressing similar concerns or disappointment, signaling a potential erosion of consumer trust. A brand representative was not available for comment.

“Luxury jewelry buyers are looking for both emotional and financial value,” said Jennie Yoon, founder and CEO of the fine jewelry brand Kinn Studio. “When a high-ticket item like this tarnishes, it doesn’t just raise concerns about the product, but it also chips away at the brand’s promise of enduring quality.” This comes at a time when gold prices have surged above $2,180 per ounce this week, driven by renewed recession fears and soft labor market data signaling potential rate cuts ahead.

While Van Cleef and Arpels has not publicly addressed the controversy, it did send the creator an apology bag and its coffee table book, “In Praise of Hands.” In the card, it said, “Dear Monica, we genuinely appreciate the valuable feedback you have provided about our brand. Please accept our sincerest apologies and we look forward to welcoming you again in the future.” Louis Vuitton jewelry has also been criticized on TikTok for tarnishing. Gold-plated and entry-level pieces have been key to expanding the luxury brand audience, but the trade-off — if quality or service falters — can be reputationally costly.

Executive moves

• Mugler has tapped Miguel Castro Freitas as its new creative director. His first collection is set to debut at Paris Fashion Week this fall, marking a fresh chapter for the brand after Casey Cadwallader’s seven-year run.
• Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are Loewe’s new creative directors, stepping in after Jonathan Anderson’s celebrated 11-year run and marking a move from New York to Paris.
• Francesca Amfitheatrof is stepping down as Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of watches and jewellery after six years, following a mutual decision.
• Daniel Leppo is stepping into a new role at Macy’s as senior vp and gmm for men’s and kids, bringing his experience from Bloomingdale’s to help shape trend-driven assortments for a larger audience.
• Brazilian brand PatBo has appointed luxury veteran Isabella Baboury as president, succeeding Cara Chen, to lead the brand’s next global chapter.

News to know

• Asian fashion weeks are off and running. Tokyo Fashion Week wrapped on March 22, and Shanghai Fashion Week will run until March 31. At Tokyo Fashion Week Fall 2025, standouts included LVMH Prize semi-finalist Pillings, the edgy debut of Tamme, and the return to the runway by Hyke, plus striking collections from Keisuke Yoshida and Chika Kisada. Shanghai is hosting rising stars like Papi Lav, Le Ngok, Zita Tan and Weiraen, as well as returning favorites Mark Gong and Oude Waag, while Private Policy and Marchesa are adding some international flair.
• Printemps brought a splash of Parisian flair to Manhattan’s Financial District with its first U.S. flagship, which opened on March 20. It features designer exclusives, five dining spots and a Disneyland-meets-haute-couture vibe that CEO Jean-Marc Bellaiche hopes will fill the Barneys-sized hole in New York retail.
• Viktor and Rolf are bringing their avant-garde magic stateside for the first time with “Fashion Statements,” a retrospective exhibition opening October 10 at Atlanta’s High Museum. It features over 100 looks, miniature doll versions of the brand’s looks and Netflix’s “Stranger Things”-style special effects. It is not the only brand focusing on exhibitions — Dior is opening one in Seoul in April, and Loewe is opening one in Tokyo this month.
• Neiman Marcus and Jacquemus have teamed up for a playful, bowling-themed installation at Neiman’s Dallas NorthPark store, open now through April 2. It features a functioning alley and spotlights Jacquemus’s new Le Petit Turismo bag.
• A new HSBC report says U.S. instability is shaking global luxury confidence, thanks to tariffs, weak markets and geopolitical shifts. However, it hints at a possible rebound in China and long-term potential in the U.S. if brands play their cards right.
• Meghan Markle has launched a curated digital ShopMy shop. With her fans on Instagram, she now shares her go-to fashion and lifestyle picks, from Uniqlo trenches to Saint Laurent sandals, and earns commission through affiliate links.

Stat of the week

• Global department store sales dipped by an average of 1.6% in fiscal 2023, according to the International Association of Department Stores, marking a slowdown from the post-Covid growth seen in 2021 and 2022. The IADS cited economic uncertainty and high interest rates as key factors, though U.S. standalone stores and select Asia-Pacific markets like India and the Philippines managed to buck the trend.

Listen in

On this week’s Glossy podcast, the founders of fashion brand Naked Wardrobe, Shirin, Shida and Shideh Kaviani, share their strategies around the company’s rebrand.

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