Last week, the fashion world was shocked when stylist Law Roach said he was retiring from the industry. He later clarified that he’d still work in fashion, just not in styling. Elsewhere, Mango joined the ranks of brands divesting from China, and Neiman Marcus saw its margins get thinner. 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
Law Roach’s days as a celebrity stylist are over
The fashion world went into mourning on Tuesday night after beloved celebrity stylist Law Roach announced his imminent retirement, barely 48 hours after dressing a number of stars for the Oscars red (or champagne) carpet.
Roach is known for dressing some of the most stylish celebrities in the world. Most notably, he’s had a decade-long collaboration with Zendaya. The reaction was swift as the fashion community lamented his departure. But on Thursday, Roach clarified his statement, not ruling out ever working in fashion again.
In his Tuesday statement, he said, “If this business was just about the clothes I would do it for the rest of my life but unfortunately it’s not! The politics, the lies and false narratives finally got me! You win…I’m out.” But on Thursday, he told Vogue that he wasn’t leaving fashion, in general, just celebrity styling. He said he wanted to focus on other areas of the industry, starting with modeling. He walked in his first runway show for Hugo Boss on Wednesday night. He also remains West Coast Editor at British Vogue, though he said he isn’t sure if he would continue in that role, either.
Neiman Marcus sees sales rise but margins thin
Neiman Marcus revealed some earnings data last week, showing sales increasing modestly by around 3%, but with an accompanying narrowing of margins, thanks to customers spending more on less expensive items. Neiman Marcus Group’s CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said these sales came primarily from online customers.
NMG is planning to correct this by being more selective about the brands it’s buying, namely by narrowing its selection of brands to the ones that are most resonating with customers. That means we may see less of a high luxury focus at Neiman Marcus in the next quarter.
Mango divests from China, finds the market ‘unattractive’
Following the opening of a flagship store in New York City last year, Spanish fashion retailer Mango is officially gambling on a bigger U.S. expansion to make up for pulling out of China.
Now, Mango hopes to have 40 U.S. stores by the end of 2024, in addition to the 10 it has opened so far, since last year. In 2022, Mango closed its last remaining stores in China. Mango CEO Toni Ruiz told Reuters, “We are divesting in China. We find it unattractive and have decided that it is not the priority for the next three years.”
Mango is also one of many brands that has reduced not just its sales in China, but also the amount of manufacturing it does in China, joining the likes of Dr. Martens and Marc O’Polo. French brand Ba&sh used to do almost all of its production in China but now has shifted to a 70-30 split with Europe and China. China’s economic growth significantly slowed at the end of 2022. It still remains a massive player in the global economy and its fashion and luxury business is likely to keep growing in the long term, but the short term looks less favorable.
