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 fashion reporter Zofia Zwieglinska break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week. This week, they discuss Abercrombie’s continued earnings winning streak and how its sub-brand, Hollister, and NFL partnership are helping the company scale without overextending. They also look at how American Eagle is bouncing back from a misfired campaign with Sydney Sweeney with a strategically timed Travis Kelce collab, reflecting a bigger shift toward athletes acting as creative partners. Finally, they explore Marks & Spencer’s new resale storefront on eBay and how it ties into eBay’s growing role as resale infrastructure.
Later in the episode, Glossy brings you a Back-to-School Trend special, where Zofia Zwieglinska sat down with the founder of the After School newsletter and Gen-Z consumer trends expert Casey Lewis. Launched in 2021, After School has become a trusted source for brand marketers and editors, thanks to its sharp insights on everything from TikTok hauls to youth retail habits. This year, Lewis tracked thousands of back-to-school hauls on TikTok to decode what Gen Z is buying for back-to-school and why.
Below are a few highlights from the conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity.
Why back-to-school shopping seems recession-proof
Lewis: “This was the first year of the years I’ve been doing this that I actually saw girls put items into bags that they had ordered online for the sake of the haul. Some of them do a preamble ahead of jumping into things, where they say, ‘I’m very grateful to my mom and dad for giving me this amazing experience.’ And then this year, I did hear more say, ‘I worked really hard this summer for this.’ I also heard a couple of kids who were clearly micro-influencers say, ‘I’m grateful to you, my followers, for helping me pay for this.’”
The denim comeback
“Girls are buying five, six pairs of this very similar baggy low-rise jean. I was also seeing experimentation with more flare Y2K-ish jeans. So, sort of like the True Religion style, the Gap Long and Lean style, which we saw Katseye wearing. There is more experimentation. And I think that, with denim as a category, … now there’s more variation.”
The brands Gen Z is actually buying
“Hollister has totally replaced Abercrombie, in terms of the cultural conversation. I think part of that has to do with the economy, just because Hollister is a much better price point. Brandy [Melville] and Garage, I would say, are the big Gen-Z brands that are just extraordinarily popular. Garage’s sweatpants, in particular, came up again and again [in hauls]. … [They come in] really beautiful, rich colors, and you can get the sweats with the matching baby tee.”
