For Many Brands, It's Still Chasing Summer Vacations What is Q2 2026 telling us? The latest Lyst Index (https://www.lyst.com/the-lyst-index/) is out for Q2 and if there is one overriding message from fashion consumers, it's simple: We're hot. We're going somewhere dreamy and please stop showing us wool coats in July. 2026 Q2 Searches Chanel remains No 1. Chanel could probably release a $2,000 beach towel and have a waiting list by Thursday. Its Coco Beach and Métiers d'Art 2

The Snobs, Pageantry and Pony Moms of the Hamptons Classic The Pony Mom Illustration by Trivia Draws Every summer, as August burns itself out and Labor Day looms like a threat to linen pants, the Hamptons Classic Horse Show gallops into Bridgehampton, and with it comes an elite stampede of high-society posers, passive-aggressive riders, champagne-sipping nouveau snobs, Pony Moms and influencers Wouldn’t know a crop from a crop top. Some will tell you the Classic is one of the

Isaac Mizrahi Comes Home to Target Issac Mizrahi Some designers make fashion, but not many make fashion fun. Isaac Mizrahi has always belonged in the second category. His return to Target (this time as the retailer’s first Creative Director at Large) feels less like a corporate appointment and more like an old friend coming home. An old friend who knows exactly where the good stuff is hidden. But there’s another reason Mizrahi’s return is so interesting. Target may be the ret

Apparently, We’re Shopping, Obsessing and Going Back to School. The TikToc Numbers Are Staggering If you ever wanted a snapshot of what America is thinking about (without having to talk to America) then TikTok has graciously provided one. The results are fascinating, occasionally predictable and just a little disturbing. Let’s start with the undisputed heavyweight: #TikTokShop with 148.9 million posts. Not views. Posts! Apparently, TikTok is no longer merely where people wast

Why Brands Are Courting Customers On The Way Up Challenger Brands Are Delivering For years, luxury retail operated according to a simple rule: follow the money. The best sales associate, the private shopping room, the first look at a new collection, invitations to dinners and special events… all were generally reserved for the customer already spending enormous amounts of money. But something interesting is happening in fashion. Some of the smartest brands are beginning to re

Amazon Essentials Crush in Price and Value Stretch Leggings $9.00 There is something mildly irritating about paying $89 for a workout shirt and $69 for shorts to sweat in. Yes, the fabric is technical. Yes, it wicks moisture. Yes, somebody in the marketing department has given the material a proprietary name that sounds like it was developed for NASA. But I'm walking five miles and dripping in sweat in it. I'm not climbing Everest. Which brings us to Amazon Essentials activew

Has anyone noticed? From the Wrangler x LoveShackFancy Campaign On paper, this collaboration should have been a runaway success. Wrangler, an American icon with nearly eight decades of authentic Western heritage has teamed up with LoveShackFancy, the darling of feminine florals, vintage romance and Instagram-worthy style. Sure, seems like the perfect marriage. Denim, embroidery, boots, lace, bows and a touch of ranch life? What's not to love? Yet somehow, the Wrangler x LoveS

Camiceria Artigiana The Finest Shirtmaker in Italy Mother and Daughter in their Turin Shop In an era when so much of luxury has become mass-produced, there are still a handful of places where craftsmanship reigns supreme. Tucked away in the heart of Turin is one such treasure: Camiceria Artigiana, a family-owned shirtmaker that has quietly built a reputation for producing some of Italy's finest bespoke shirts. Carmen. Il Maestro The story begins with Carmen, who entered the

Watery Blues Capri, Azure, Coastal and Aqua Have Become Luxury's Defining Color Family Every few years, fashion crowns a color that seems to appear everywhere at once. Not because designers secretly conspire behind closed doors, (the mills do that!) but because the mood of the moment changes. Summer 2026 belongs to blue. Specifically, that brilliant family of shades somewhere between the Mediterranean Sea and a cloudless Caribbean sky. Call it Ca

Fall 2026 Fashion is tired of screaming short term trends Stella McCartney After several years of oversized logos, viral TikTok outfits, and trends that lasted about as long as a carton of milk, Fall 2026 has decided to grow up. Luxury has veered into the proper lane of wearing impeccable tailoring and carrying a handbag that matters…and that means no Bu Bu charms! This season isn't about owning more. It's about owning better. The biggest runway story from New York, London, M

Desire leads to purchases. Who is leading the way? Louis Vuitton On Top You likely buy from Luxury brands…you know the ones: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel and others. But purchasing is the end result of desire. Before placing the Black Card down, you probably had an itch, saw an ad or needed some retail therapy. So, what brands lead the half-year mark for desirability? Latest rankings show Louis Vuitton firmly at the top of the global luxury hierarchy, not simply becaus

Luxury and Wealth Surrounds You For decades, polo has occupied a strange place in the sporting world. Everyone knows what it is don’t they? Fast horses, flowing champagne, royalty, oversized hats, high heels in turf? But very few people have ever actually watched a match, let alone swung a mallet. It's been less of a sport and more of a symbol: a shorthand for old money, private jets, and the kind of people whose calendars include "Amalfi/Capri." Yet lately, something curious

Once Glamour and Glitz- Now Blah Vogue Magazine used to make readers dream off Paris, Milan, Ferrari’s and private villas. Couture gowns we all wanted, extraordinary jewelry, beautiful people and dare I say, privilege. Today, Vogue feels like it wants readers to dream of pottery and dry flowers in a milk jar. This seems to be the vision of its new director, Chloe Malle. Malle recently sat down for an NPR interview intended to introduce readers to her vision for the magazine's

Italian Buffalo Walk the grounds of Pitti Uomo in Florence and you'll notice something fascinating. Amid the impeccably tailored Neapolitan jackets, handmade loafers, and cashmere sport coats, some of the most admired brands aren't Italian at all. They're American. No brand illustrates this phenomenon better than Woolrich. Founded in Pennsylvania in 1830, Woolrich is America's oldest outdoor clothing company. Long before luxury became a marketing strategy, Woolrich was supply

SEX SELLS Victoria's Secret looked destined to join the retail graveyard alongside Abercrombie's shirtless greeters, Ed Hardy trucker hats, and whatever happened to Juicy Couture tracksuits. The brand that once ruled American malls with an iron push-up bra appeared hopelessly out of touch. Sales sagged and in the bra business, that’s a bad direction. Cultural relevance evaporated. Wall Street wondered whether Victoria's Secret had become little more than a nostalgic souvenir

Price Yikes! $3,000 Sport vests, $4,500 off the rack suits and denim over $4,000. WTF? Remember when luxury clothing prices made a sort of romantic sense? You bought a well-made cashmere sweater because it lasted 20 years. A beautiful Italian blazer because the shoulders looked like a Napalatano sculpture. A leather bag because someone in Tuscany cried while hand-stitching it to perfection. Those were the days… Now? Somewhere between the pandemic, Instagra

When Did Looking Rich Start Feeling This Comfortable Running shoes…at one point were for, well… running. They lived near the treadmill, smelled faintly of effort, and appeared at 6 a.m. beside people who voluntarily signed up for half marathons. Then something happened. As more would be athletes started walking and training, it seems the sneaker escaped the gym and quietly took over everyday life. Now it appears at luxury lunches, airport lounges, parent pick-up lines and yes

A Clown Show on a Couture Budget Katy Perry Hanging Around The Met Gala is what happens when fashion stuffs itself up an ass and everyone calls it culture. It’s not the Oscars of fashion, it’s Halloween for ideologs who think they matter. Every year, Anna Wintour anoints a theme that sounds like it was lifted from a rejected grad school thesis, and the industry nods along like its gospel. Then the parade begins. Not of style. Not of elegance, but of desperation. Pure, unfilte

<From This To That> There is a particular strain of modern menswear confusion that insists on pairing a tailored suit with a sneaker or as some may call it a shoe, which is usually finished off with a bright, blindingly optimistic white sole. This is not innovation or “elevated casual.” It’s what happens when someone scrolls Instagram for five minutes, sees a venture capitalist in Palo Alto. Let’s be clear: a s

Covid was 6-years ago. Throw the PJ's away Master Class The great return-to-office experiment, once framed as a reluctant march back to fluorescent lighting and passive-aggressive thermostats, has quietly turned into something far more consequential: a full-blown resurrection of the apparel industry’s will to live. For a few bleak years, fashion executives had to pretend that drawstring pants were a “category” and that selling $98 hoodies to people who hadn’t seen a button

Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass Levi’s has always sold more than denim. It’s wrapped its thread around mythology, Gold Rush grit, James Dean rebellion, Silicon Valley casual Fridays, and now, the carefully engineered “effortless” cool of a generation that pretends not to care while caring deeply. But mythology, on its own, is no longer enough to sustain a $6-billion public company. Over the last decade, Levi Strauss & Co. has been forced to confront a harder reality: denim is

Why Suitsupply Custom Suits Are the Best Value in Menswear Tools of the Trade In the strange economics of modern menswear, a man can spend $5,000 on a designer suit that fits like a borrowed tuxedo or $1,000 on a suit that makes him look like he owns the building. The difference often comes down to one brand: Suitsupply. For the last decade, Suitsupply has quietly become the best value in custom suiting. Take it from one who knows. They aren’t the cheapest and not the most t

NOW COMES THE HARD PART The Prada Business Model When the Prada Group dropped its 2025 numbers, the headline was respectable: revenue climbed 9 percent to $6.63 billion. Not bad in a luxury market that has recently been wobbling like a fashion editor in stilettos. But the real story buried in the earnings call wasn’t Prada’s numbers. It was Versace, the Italian house Prada quietly bought and now must fix. Because buying Versace is the easy part. Turning it back into a power

Jewelry designers are jumping in the saddle Hermes Every twelve years the Chinese zodiac hands luxury brands a perfectly gift-wrapped marketing opportunity, so when the Year of the Horse galloped into 2026, jewelry designers jumped in the saddle and grabbed the reins. Horses already live comfortably inside the luxury imagination. They symbolize power, speed, elegance, and wealth, which are keywords to many luxury brands. The top category for this seems to be jewelry, or more

Boggi. The Style Whisperer The Quiet Value Club: Menswear’s Best-Kept Secrets Luxury menswear has always been a curious business. Walk into the right boutique and you can spend $4,000 on a blazer that looks suspiciously similar to the one hanging two racks over for $900. The difference? Completely unknown. Yet, in recent years, a small but growing group of brands has begun quietly disrupting the traditional luxury formula. They deliver exc

Do Fashion Influencers Help Sell Goods or Are They Just a Trend? Tastemakers or Cons There was a time that fashion houses relied on editors, buyers, and the occasional aloof socialite to whisper what was “in.” Now? A 24-year-old with a ring light and a discount code can move more product than a glossy September issue ever dreamed of…or can they? The influencer economy is now a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem that has convinced brands that relevance is only a Reel away. A singl

THE PEA COAT THE PEA COAT is one of the rare menswear pieces that never has to reintroduce itself. It just shows up, especially whenever the weather turns and a man wants to look pulled together without looking like he tried. Originally built for sailors who needed warmth, mobility, and a collar that could stand up to wind, the modern pea coat keeps the same winning formula: a shorter, structured coat with broad lapels, a double-breasted front, and a silhouette that makes yo

Photo: Louis Vuitton Denim has re-entered the room with the confidence of someone who knows everyone is watching. This season, runway collections, boutique edits, and celebrity styling aren’t just flirting with denim; they are building entire narratives around it. And the shift is clear: denim is no longer the casual afterthought. It’s the luxury centerpiece. Let’s start with the silhouettes. The new high-waisted, floor-grazing wide-leg jean has become the quiet status symbol

Hermes, Dunhill, Dolce and Ralph Lauren Once reserved for opera boxes, old-world smoking lounges, and your eccentric uncle, velvet has unexpectedly muscled its way back into the menswear spotlight for Winter 2025. And this time, it isn’t the fussy, over-embroidered version of decades past, but it’s sleek, masculine, architectural, and quietly cool. The season’s runways and collections agree: men are stepping into winter wrapped in rich toned velvet. Everyone from Emporio Arma

The One and Only The 2025 CFDA Awards were held this week under the giant whale skeleton at the Museum of Natural History in NYC. Just hours before the city adorned a socialist with the title of Mr. Mayor, likely sending 6 th Avenue into a spiral yet to be determined. CFDA board member (and the guy that sunk Brooks Brothers in 2006) Thom Brown, decided to award himself Menswear Designer of the Year. Not too obvious, I guess. This guy has been pulling the fleece over everyone