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On Thursday, Saks celebrated the new cohort of celebrities, creators and other tastemakers joining the Saks Social Club, its official members-only club of brand ambassadors originally launched in 2020.
New members include Paris Hilton (26.4 million Instagram followers), Chanel Iman (3.6 million), Shareef O’Neal (2.7 million), Emily DiDonato (2.8 million), Francesca Scorcese (133,000), Soukeyna Diouf (283,000), and Natalie and Dylana Suarez (1 million and 220,000, respectively). They join existing members including Amanda Nguyen (368,000 followers), Ashley Avignone (117,000), Chloe Fineman (775,000) and Leyna Bloom (605,000). Members were selected by Saks’s dedicated Social Club team.
To celebrate, Saks hosted some of the new members on Thursday night at 4 Charles Prime Rib, the exclusive steakhouse in New York’s West Village.
Mariel Sholem, Saks’s vp of client engagement, reflected on the program’s first four years: “The idea was to build this network of really influential individuals who could provide luxury inspiration for our customers,” she said, adding that the program has doubled its membership since its launch. The program aims to enlist members “who have passions and interests of their own that are also reflective of the Saks brand,” Sholem said. Ideally, Club members will inspire customers to “want to be further ingrained with the Saks brand,” she added.
As the Club grows, Saks is upping its focus on male members. The male contingent of the Club, dubbed The Saks Man, includes a number of athletes, like New York Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux and New England Patriots defensive lineman Davon Godchaux. “There’s been so much growth in the intersection between fashion and athletics. … We’re seeing that our customers want inspiration from people in [the athletics] space,” Sholem said.
Perks of being a Saks Social Club member include shopping credits, access to special events, and exclusive gifting and partnership opportunities. Given the caliber of members involved, it’s safe to assume this isn’t the real draw of membership.
Paris Hilton, who’s reportedly worth $300 million, approached Saks about joining the Club. “Kathy and Nicky [Hilton] were in the Club previously, and Paris had worked with us [on] other events in the past. … She saw that we have a platform with interesting events and engaged customers. Plus, she’s thinking about building out her own brands, and she [realized] Saks is synergistic to some of the initiatives she’s [working on]. And of course, she loves shopping and loves luxury fashion.”
The most common draw among members, according to Sholem, is in the way Saks collaborates with its Saks Social Club Partners. The Social Club is still relatively small, with around 80 members — that’s intentional, so that the retailer can “really have relationships with and strategies for each member,” Sholem said, adding, “There’s not a one-size-fits-all deliverable.” In fact, members are not paid and have zero set-in-stone deliverables.
“Obviously, it’s important to us that members use their platforms to highlight Saks and what they’re doing as it relates to Saks,” Sholem said. “And what we’re seeing is that these individuals have an impact by [portraying] Saks as the leading luxury retailer. And our customers are responding to this work and to our partnerships with individuals in the program.”
Saks often has Club members host episodes of its online livestream, with past episodes including “Self-Love with Serena Goh” and “Dria Murphy’s Wellness Essentials.”
Examples of Saks’s dynamic partnerships with members vary. Last season, Saks partnered with Gleyber Torres of the New York Yankees to host an exclusive experience for Saks Social Club members at Yankee Stadium. A group of members had the opportunity to enjoy a game in a private suite and received on-field access. Since then, multiple athletes in The Saks Man have reached out to Saks to inquire about doing similar mini-events to promote their teams.
Casey Fremont, a member of the Club and the executive director of the nonprofit Art Production Fund, said Saks sponsored the Fund’s recent gala. “Being in the Club allows [members] to bring opportunities that are super important to [them] to Saks to get involved,” Sholem said. Yet another example: Maya Jankelowitz, co-owner of Jack’s Wife Freda, was able to promote her cookbook when it launched by gifting it to her fellow Saks Social Club members.
Notably, Saks has found customers have had positive responses to Club-related content, even on its owned channels. A TikTok from the aforementioned exclusive experience hosted by Torres received over 1.1 million views, while an Instagram post from Fremont’s gala received over 2,000 likes.
“I joined the Saks Social Club [because of] the incredible partnership opportunities and exposure available to members,” said Ashley Avignone, fashion expert. “Through the program, I’ve had the chance to meet many influential people in the fashion industry and beyond, and I’m so excited about a few things I have coming up with Saks — including hosting a virtual event on Saks Live this week.”
Another perk of the Club: After they expressed interest in starting fashion ventures of their own, Saks connected two male members of the Club with buyers for advice and mentoring.
Collabs of the week
Gap x Doen
Alert the cult members: ‘It’ girl favorite Dôen has partnered with Gap on a collaboration spanning women’s and kids’ apparel. Launched on Friday, the capsule collections include summery must-haves like eyelet dresses, dramatically wide-legged khakis and darling summer cardis, all modeled in the corresponding marketing by Lily and Ruby Aldridge. “Collaborations allow us to connect with partners who can bring the Gap brand to life in fresh and inspired ways,” Mark Breitbard, Gap’s president and CEO, told Glossy. “This collection perfectly marries Gap’s iconic styles with Doen’s California-inspired aesthetic. … We’re excited for Gap customers to experience this new collection, while bringing our brand to Doen’s community,” If interested, don’t idle before adding this one to cart.
Mindy x Andie
For the second summer in a row, DTC swimwear brand Andie has tapped Mindy Kaling for a collaboration. According to Melanie Travis, the brand’s founder and CEO, last year’s co-creation sold out incredibly quickly. “[We] had such an enthusiastic response from customers that we didn’t want it to end there,” she said. “This time we decided to have even more fun with it, and Mindy came up with this idea of building a collection around the theme of summer camp. … So we channeled our brainstorming around the joy and nostalgia of summer camp, and the result is a collection that’s a little more whimsical with brighter colors, some cover-ups and summer-camp swag.” Shop it here.
Diane von Furstenberg x Luca Gnecchi Ruscone
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic wrap dress, Diane von Furstenberg, founder and designer of her eponymous 54-year-old women’s label, partnered with Luca Gnecchi Ruscone of LGR eyewear to launch a capsule collection of three limited-edition sunglasses. “The wrap dress embodies women’s freedom and empowerment,” Ruscone said, regarding the motivation. For her part, Furstenberg said, “I respect the passion Ruscone has in the [fashion ]business and the quality of his glasses.” Each pair of sunglasses retails for $440 and will be available for purchase on dvf.com and lgr.com. The limited-edition offering will also have a customizable component, allowing shoppers to chooser their lens color. As for the sunglasses themselves, they’ll feature gold engravings on the inner temples of the LGR for DVF logo, along with the hashtag #Wrap50. Shop it here. -Tatiana Pile
Pop-up of the week
Parke
From May 18-19, social media favorite brand Parke will host its first pop-up in Soho. For the occasion, the brand created an exclusive collection of sweats, which pay homage to NYC motifs. The pop-up will also sell the brand’s current denim collection, including an early release of its summer denim collection which won’t officially launch until the end of the month. Founder Chelsea Kramer said she started teasing the pop-up early: “I posted a TikTok releasing our NYC graphic to get our community excited for the weekend. But I didn’t tease too much, so our customers will be excited when they do see it,” she said. The brand had previously popped up within other brands’ stores, eliciting lines around the block. “We knew it was our time to shine on our own. We love meeting our community, and nothing felt more right than spring in NYC.”
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