Watched the McQueen documentary this weekend. Genuine recommendation. It's a story about talent, yes. But also about what talent alone can't do. Lee Alexander McQueen had the vision — but he also had the charisma to make people follow him, work for him, believe in him. That combination is rarer than either on its own. What struck me: while he was alive, McQueen said the brand couldn't exist without him. The shows (somewhat disturbing) were how he processed his traumas, his grief, his life. They were deeply personal. And yet the brand lived on for fifteen years after his death. Now it's on Kering's kill list — two years to turn profitable or out. The same Kering that McQueen was once so grateful to for giving him backing and freedom. The business proved it could survive without him. And now the business might not survive at all.

Caught my eye

HR Giger Bar Museum - the creepiest bar in the world

Trends — what’s bubbling underneath the headlines

• Resale is coming for retail

  ThredUp's 2026 Resale Report: the global secondhand market reached $393 billion, now 10% of total apparel spend. Thrift store traffic up 25.6% since 2022. Traditional retail down 7.8%.

  The driver isn't sustainability — it's the economy. 72% of consumers say rising prices are hitting their fashion budgets. Gen Z and Millennials will drive 71% of market growth through 2030. For them, fashion is even an asset — more than half resell for extra income.

  Discovery is shifting too. 46% now find secondhand through social feeds and creators, not marketplace apps. It's like a full-scale competitor to fashion brands — but to date, hardly anyone has figured out how to run that business profitably.

• And if your feed was full of Coachella like mine, you probably noticed: celebrities are now wearing vintage.

  Hailey Bieber showed up in a vintage Dior slip dress from 1998. Kylie Jenner wore a vintage Chanel bra top from 2005, sourced from a secondhand store in Salt Lake City. Her sister pulled out a vintage Katharine Hamnett sequin fringe top. Looks like cool girls are now wearing vintage - interesting where the “impression dollars” are going.

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

• From wool sneakers to GPU rentals. Two separate things happened to Allbirds. Both worth understanding.

  First: American Exchange Group bought the Allbirds brand for $39 million. American Exchange collects faded labels (Ed Hardy, Aerosoles, Jonathan Adler) and keeps them alive through licensing. The wool sneaker will live on — just not as a company.

  Second: the corporate shell that was Allbirds Inc. — now stripped of its brand — announced it's raising $50 million to become "NewBird AI," a GPU rental business. The founders are tech guys. GPU demand is through the roof. So they're pivoting to the hot thing.

  Shares surged 500%. Retail traders piled in. Then the stock dropped 20% the next day.

  A strange ending for a company that once made Time magazine's "most comfortable shoe." Then again, comfort was never the point for investors.

• Kering can double targets on paper. Kering held its Capital Markets Day in Florence this week. New CEO Luca de Meo laid out his plan. It read like a management consulting textbook.

  Step one: give it a memorable name. "ReconKering."

  Step two: define the ambition. More than double 2025's operating margin of 11.1%. Double everything else: the jewelry business, Gucci's sales density, Saint Laurent's menswear and Asia footprint. Double Bottega's non-leather categories. Double Balenciaga's leather goods and US business.

  Step three: lay out the timeline. Reset by end of 2026. Rebuild by 2028. Reclaim leadership by 2030.

  Step four: kill the darlings. McQueen, Brioni, Ginori, Pomellato — two years to return to profitability. "To be a luxury brand, you need to make money," de Meo said. "Otherwise, I eject them from the system."

  Analysts left lukewarm. The strategy is clear. The execution is unproven.

• Tory Burch is buying out General Atlantic. The company is raising a $700 million loan — $346 million to repurchase the PE firm's stake, the rest to refinance existing debt.

  General Atlantic came in back in 2012, when Tory Burch's ex-husband Christopher Burch sold his stake following their divorce. Fourteen years later, the PE firm is cashing out. Once the deal closes, ownership consolidates around the designer, her family, and BDT & MSD Partners.

  The company has done this before. In 2018, Tory Burch borrowed to buy out early investor Tresalia Capital. Same playbook: take on leverage, concentrate control. The risk: more debt in a soft luxury market.

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!

• Ongoing | London - Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life In Style exhibition

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