Fashion’s Unpaid Influencer

Specialists are catching Nike, the solo economy is booming, a candy company is buying Missoni, Prada is rebuilding Versace — and Mango keeps growing without its founder.

Author

Olga Merzlyakova
March 09, 2026

Happy International Women's Day. To every woman reading this — and to everyone who supports them — thank you for being here.

I couldn't resist watching Love Story. Only Punch the Monkey occupied a similar amount of space on my feed the past couple weeks — though I think Love Story did more. The Ryan Murphy series about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. I wasn't planning to get pulled in, because we all know how it ends. But I got pulled in anyway.

Here's what I keep thinking about: so many businesses and trends trace back to her aesthetic. The headbands. The white t-shirts. The slip dresses. Sales of all of them have spiked in the recent years. The entire quiet luxury movement — Khaite, The Row, Toteme — owes something to the way she dressed.

And yet no one is paying for this. No licensing deal. No estate partnership. No "Carolyn Bessette for Calvin Klein" revival collection. The fashion industry has built an entire visual language around a woman who died 27 years ago — and her family sees nothing from it.

With media costs and influencer fatigue rising, I wonder: is there a business model here? Mining the icons of the past — figures whose aesthetic still resonates, whose image isn't overexposed, who can't say anything off-brand because they're no longer here to say anything at all. It sounds cynical. But someone's going to try it.

Caught my eye

The smoke behind the model was meant to resemble cigarette smoke drifting from her dress at the recent Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show.

Trends — what’s bubbling underneath the headlines

  • Nike still #1 — for now

    L.E.K.'s 2026 Brand Heat Index put Nike at the top spot in athletic footwear for both men and women — which, honestly, is not what I see on my social media feed. But the interesting part isn't who's first. It's who is catching up.

    Among Gen Z women, Nike and On Running are tied for first. Among Gen X women, Hoka has displaced Nike entirely.

    The report's takeaway: "The brands rising fastest are those speaking directly to core sets of consumers rather than trying to be everything to everyone". That's how brands become relevant now.

  • The rise of party-of-one

    The solo leisure market is having a moment. Nearly 20% of Broadway tickets last season were bought by single attendees — double the rate from a few years ago. Google searches for "restaurant for one" hit their highest level since 2004. Solo travel in the US was a $95 billion market in 2024.

    I find this fascinating. Going to the movies alone has always been fine. Going to a play alone? Somehow weird. That distinction is collapsing. ATG Entertainment launched "Solo Seats" — events designed specifically for party-of-one theatergoers. Even fast food is shifting: solo orders at Taco Bell and KFC are up 52% since 2021 and now account for nearly half of all visits.

    More people live alone than ever before. The market is finally catching up to how people actually live.

Business moves, big numbers & “wait, what?”

  • From candy to quiet luxury. The Missoni family exits the business, 75 years after founding. But the interesting story here isn't the exit — it's who's buying in.

    Katjes International, a German group  known for confectionery, is taking 27 percent of Missoni through a subsidiary called — and I love this — Katjes Quiet Luxury. Last year they took a controlling stake in Bogner, the German sports brand that dressed Roger Moore's Bond in those '70s ski scenes. Now Missoni. They also have a call option potentially allowing them to become majority shareholder in the future. A very interesting strategy, a candy company  assembling a portfolio of heritage European fashion brands.

  • Prada’s plan for Versace. Prada Group started pulling back the curtain on what they're planning for Versace. And it looks like the same playbook they ran on Prada itself 10-15 years ago.

    Pieter Mulier will present his first collection in early 2027 and revive the Atelier couture line. Versace Jeans Couture is being discontinued — no more subbrands.They're streamlining the store network, scaling back off-price. Versace incurred operating losses last year and is expected to continue at similar levels in 2026. Prada plans to invest an additional €250 million in relaunching the brand. We will see whether Versace's brand is really bigger than its business.

  • Mango’s post-founder momentum. Mango just posted record results. Revenue up 13% year over year. Net profit rose 11%

    This was the first full year without founder Isak Andic, who died in December 2024 after falling from a cliff while hiking near Barcelona. He was 71. He was Catalonia's richest person at the time of his death. The investigation into the circumstances remains open.

    Companies often stumble after losing a founder, but not Mango. They poured nearly €225 million into expansion last year, opened more than 260 new locations. Online now accounts for a third of total revenue. That's a company that knows what it's doing.

Wish I were there - pop-ups,  collabs, etc.

Pencil in, book the ticket, or just follow on social media — choose your option and let’s discuss afterwards!

Thanks for reading! Have a great week.

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