2025’s Best Fashion Marketing Moments: Gap x Summer Fridays, The Devil Wears Prada, The Row & More

0:02Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Let's Get Dressed. It's your host, Liv. Perez. I hope you all having a great start to your week, staying warm wherever you are. I cannot believe that we only have three episodes left of 2025. We have a great lineup coming up, so definitely make sure that you're subscribed to the show. A little bit of housekeeping. I'm going to be off the show on December 29th, enjoying my holiday, and I hope that you guys will be too. But we will, of course, be back for our top of the new year episode on January 5th. With the year coming to an end, there is so much to review and talk about and take into consideration.

0:40And so for today's episode, I brought on my good friend who also happens to be on my team and a social marketing guru, Lydia Berry. She was on the show in September. We recapped New York Fashion Week together, and I'm so excited to have her back on today. If you are someone who you can say yourself to be chronically online, join the club. This episode is very much for you because we are going to break down the biggest and best fashion marketing moments of 2025. The best drops, collabs, and launches that the two of us probably couldn't shut up about and shared numerous times with each other. We get into the Summer Friday's Gap collab, which just dropped Crown Affair, The Row, The Devil Wears Prada, Chanel, and so much more.

1:22Plus, we chat TikTok shop being maybe Gen Z's QVC, how Substack became everyone's new diary this year, wild postings being back, archives, and the one trend that we hope to see never return. I hope you guys love this episode. Let's go get dressed with Lydia Berry. So I thought it would be fun to open this episode up by asking you, gut reaction, what were the top three things that caught your eye this year? I'm trying to even think when we were preparing for this episode, I was thinking too, it's been such a dense year. Okay. The first brand that comes to mind, there's three brands that come to mind, gut reaction, things that happened this year.

2:05First gap, I think we're seeing talk about nostalgia, the play into bringing back their dancing campaigns and people are loving it. And I just think they've done a lot of great collaborations and they feel like somebody when I think about this year, that's really like reinvented themselves. I think of Crown Affair. They're another brand that continuously, I feel like almost like one ups themselves every time. Whoever's doing their creative over there, I think I need to meet them because I think you do too, because knowing both of you, you guys would really. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I just, there's something very intentional and slow to me.

2:47I don't know if slow is the right word, but just very thoughtful about their creative in an Instagram world where everything is so fast and so clickbaity. They, to me, stand out as somebody who is able to still get conversions and sales while still having very beautiful produced content. And I think we've seen a lot of great just creative and collabs come from them this year. And then the third thing, kind of still in the Gap era, but a little different, J.Crew, which J.Crew has been on its revival era for a while with Olympia there. But again, we're seeing this. I think this like play into, again, like the nostalgia of the vintage catalog.

3:30And they also are doing it very thoughtfully. And I think Olympia is doing a good job curating. And this year, I think we've seen a lot of that. And as someone who never really, I feel like paid that much attention to J.Crew, now I'm like, oh, maybe I should get in on that. And I love following Olympia. She's an amazing follow. She's one of my favorite social media follows. Yeah. Her brain. She just curates so well. It's insane. I'm like, wow, does the inside of your brain look like that? Because the inside of my brain would look like a dumpster fire. Yeah. Well, something to, I don't know if she said it on your podcast or if she said it in an interview.

4:06I don't remember, but what I thought was really interesting is as she makes these mood boards, she said she gets so excited when she's collaging, she finds a reference or an image that hasn't necessarily been circulated before. She said that on our pod. Oh my gosh. I don't know that like altered my brain chemistry. I was like, oh yeah. Like I'm on Pinterest every day, all day. We're all looking at the same imagery. Like how do we get back to as creatives and people who are living on social, like original imagery that isn't reposted 10 million times. And where are we finding that? And I feel like she finds that, which is why she's exciting to follow.

4:46Treasure hunt for her probably. J. Crew has so many archives that just haven't been tapped. And I'm sure she's just having the best time. I want that to be my job. I've always said I just want to be a professional mood board curator. If I could just do that every day and make money somehow. I, yes, but I also think that there's probably such a fun job, like managing those archives. I would love to be the person that manages a J.Crew archive, both in terms of clothing, but in terms of imagery, like, yeah. And I'm sure that that's not, I would thrive, but I'm sure that's also not even, I think what most people don't realize is that's not even really as fully formed as it should be for most brands.

5:26Like a lot of high-end designers are having to buy back their archive from vintage sellers or places because back in the day, they would just have a model come in. And instead of paying them, like Versace would have models come in and gift them a dress as their fee for walking in a show. And now they're, you know, having to kind of end over backwards to build back their archive on things and have it as a part of like a brand's heritage. Sorry, no, this is not the topic of this conversation, but is that because like did Versace just not know that like they were valuable? yeah valuable but like I think you don't know how some how iconic something's going to be in the moment like that yeah you just don't yeah and so in their mind you know Versace is trying to you know do things scrappy and then 20 30 years later it's like these are the most iconic things in the world that we reference all the time it's just like hard to think of a world where like Versace wasn't like iconic I just think in terms that people didn't back then weren't as focused on maintaining an archive as they are now.

6:26Do you think brands like Kate and The Row are actively building their archive? I would hope so because now they know that these brands are trying to figure it out. Right. We did have someone actually at the top of this year. She is a professional archivist here in Los Angeles and she manages the archives of, she won't explicitly say, but to my knowledge, like Adele, Beyonce, and it's all based at a very nondescript place here in LA. and it's like maintaining a museum. And she's also, she built her career actually doing brands archives. So I think she did the archive for Ralph Lauren. What a niche.

7:03A lot of New York brands, I'm forgetting off the top of my head, but it was a great episode and so, so, so fascinating. Wow. But there's a world that exists solely for archives. Like that needs to - That's so crazy. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the brands that we love now are really maintaining their archives. You brought up Gap and let's talk about Gap because today's a big day for Gap. a lot of you who are in New York and Europe that are listening probably noticed that this podcast was released a little bit later than usual. It probably wasn't in your feed when you woke up this morning.

7:30And that's because we had to hold the pod for a very special embargo that went live today that I think is one of the coolest brand collaborations of the year. So we had to keep it quiet until the embargo is lifted. And that is Summer Fridays and Gap. So insane. I think it's their first ever beauty collab. So everything is in the Summer Fridays colors. So like the jet lag mask blue, the cloud do pink, the lip butter bombs, which you know that I can't leave the house without. Me either. Literally in every bag. But so the clothes match those colors and everything says like summer Fridays. So good.

8:01Very cute and like perfect right before the holidays. Yeah. No, it's interesting. I was in Texas for Thanksgiving and I was with my boyfriend's two nieces. They are like 12 and 14. And they're like, what do you do for work? and I told them and they were like, well, who do you work with? And I'm like, you know, saying the names of celebrities. They don't know anybody we work with. And then I said, well, do you know what Summer Fridays is? And they were like, oh my God, yes. And I said, when we work with, you know, Mariana, she's a client. They're like, oh my God. Like they, she's like, I have to go FaceTime my friend.

8:35Like that's incredible. And I, I'm never, I told Mariana that. And she said, what's really, you know, what's really so amazing is that the products are multi-generational and it's something where you have these like Gen Z, you know, 14 year olds, people in high school who are obsessed with the product, but then you and me just said, we can't leave the house without it. And you have also like our moms who are also obsessed with it, which is just a testament to the brand that those girls have built because it's so hard to build a multi-generational product. And then also what an amazing alignment with Gap that also I would argue is multi-generational in a sense.

9:13So I think it's a very genius, genius collab. I had the exact same experience with my nieces on Alex's side and I told Mariana about it. So Mariana is getting a lot of 14 year old info recently. All of Alex's like cousins, kids came in town and before they even said hi to me, they had heard through our family that like I work with summer Fridays or like I know the girls. And these girls were at my door every single day asking if I had any leftover summer Fridays in my drawer. They were feral. What's an equivalent for us growing up? I was trying to think of this. Lip smackers? Yeah, maybe. What was the beauty that you used growing up?

9:56Like anything at Target? There wasn't anything like... I think the industry has changed a little too. I don't have a distinct memory of a brand dominating my high school beauty cabinet. Like once I got to college and Glossier popped up, okay, Glossier was everywhere. But before that, I would say like a lot of the things that I wanted were things borrowed from my mom, like Maybelline Great Lash. Yes. A L 'Oreal. A L 'Oreal. Yeah. Lancome Juicy Tubes. Yes. but those it's drugstore yeah like it's things that we were like it wasn't a singular brand no that people my age I was born in 94 were obsessed with I think Glossier like maybe I'm wrong if you were born in 94 like slide into my dms right now because maybe I'm forgetting it was just so valid if I am but yeah there there wasn't really a brand that I was like I need that under eyeliner it was just that like I needed eyeliner exactly yeah and I mean we were just like excited to be using makeup in general.

10:58Like I didn't really have a preference. It was, you know, but I feel like Glossier, yeah, to your point was the first to really do that. And now we're seeing obviously the after effects of that and Summer Fridays, man, they're crushing. Really cute stuff. I'm looking at the collection now. Like these PJs are really cute. And I also am like obsessed. They have these Summer Fridays Gap headbands that are in the colors of like all the Summer Fridays colors that I could see so many girls putting on when they're doing their beauty routine. Yes. This is so genius. Genius. I'm so excited for them. Like truly so excited for them.

11:33What do you think about Shay Mitchell's beauty brand for kids? It's interesting. I honestly, I see, I see both sides because on one hand, I completely understand that your kids are going to ask about skincare. Like when I was, you know, a kid and I saw my mom. I wanted to do the same thing. I have friends whose kids are seeing them do their makeup and I understand. And it's like, okay, well, I want them to do this ritual with me and I want to have them be a part of it and give them that same fun. We love doing it, whatever. So I understand that when that happens and it's like, okay, well, what can I give them?

12:14And it's like, well, the chemicals I'm putting on my face maybe are too harsh and the things on the market already aren't really good for them because it's just kind of like junk. So I understand Shay carving that niche. At the same time, I do think that with social media, we have a consumerism problem. And it is, I don't know how we stop it. Like, I don't know the answer, but it is at the same time, you know, we're seeing girls skip the awkward phase and the teenage phase. And I did not look like that as a teen. Oh my God, me either. Are you kidding me? It was scary. And that's a, you know, they're scrolling on TikTok.

12:54They're seeing the get readies with me. Like we're the world that we live in is just shifting so much because of that influence. So it's a little like uneasy to think about. But I wouldn't be surprised that if in 10 years from right now, it's like the least surprising thing ever. I think she I think the first person to do anything is the one that's going to get the most shit. Absolutely. And I whether she was going to do it or somebody else. Yeah. It was going to happen no matter what. It's at the end of the day. Not saying that I think it's great, by the way. No, yeah. I just think that it was inevitable.

13:27It's like, honestly, I think the conversation around it is showing consumers and the audiences that like, we are here now. Like, there's no going back. Like, this is the state of consumerism and this is the state of audience and social media and young girls and boys. And Shay, I think, was like, we're either going to pretend like it's not here or we're going to actually give them something that is going to be good for their skin. And you're right. In 10 years, it'll probably be so normal. I love that you brought up Crown Affair too. What I do think Crown Affair is doing is, to me, Crown Affair represents how Glossier was kind of the first of this kind of beauty and cult beauty and doing beauty thoughtfully and different.

14:13to me, Crown Affair is that. I think they represent a shift in hair care and the way that like Gen Z and what's our demographic? Are you millennial? You're Gen Z, babe. I'm Gen Z. I'm a millennial. That's crazy though. No, it's not. It's like a Zillennial vibe though. Yeah, I'm on the cusp. Anyways, funny fish in the sea. I do feel like they, before I think this year, Crown Affair was kind of like a, if you know, you know. And now I think they're really on the map and they're one of those cult beauty favorites. And it looks beautiful on your shelf in the shower. I think that's another thing that we're seeing and saw a lot this year was this shift back to like ritual relaxation, like the overwhelm of wellness and like bed rotting and almost, I mean, you just have to balance everything.

15:08But I just think it's a slippery slope on social media because now it's within the beauty and the wellness and all these industries. It's like these big kind of pendulum shifts and trends that are all around a recurring theme. And this year, it was really like the return of wellness. So I'm curious what next year is going to be. But I think I'd love to see a world in which we return back to balance. Anyways, back to Crown Affair. They're doing incredible. I think I need to meet Diana. I just think her background is really interesting. Like to me, she is someone who knows how to build a brand. Obviously, I think it's one thing to know how to build a brand.

15:46But I also think it doesn't matter how good your branding is or how good the positioning is if the product doesn't live up to, you know, the hype and the brand that you've built. And I think Crown Affair does both. And Diana's done an incredible job. Diana and I like were passing ships at Glossier and she was very much trained in the Glossier school of world building, as I like to say. I actually love that she hired a CEO years ago to run Crown Affair. I think that that's where like in my experience of watching a lot of founders fall is like you could be a creative beast, like have the best ideas, but like you need someone to execute on them.

16:20And sometimes I think it's very hard to be both. And I think she acknowledged that difference right off the bat. I also think she did such a good job of like disrupting a lot of the common hair care routines, right? But she didn't also reinvent the wheel. Like we all as girls put our hair up in a towel and that's just like a thing that we do, right? But she gave us a better way to do it where it didn't feel like I'm completely disrupting my routine. I use the crown of hair hair towel literally every day. It's my favorite thing. I just feel like she's made the things in my beauty cabinet better, which I mean, again, credit to her as someone who's at her core, I think is like entrepreneur, right?

17:01She's a creative for sure. But again, she doesn't have a hair background. But I think that's what a lot of this, like a lot of the successful brands, that's what it is. It's making a product that already exists that we just kind of accept better. The other thing that I think the other products that Diana came out with that I thought was genius was the dry shampoo. We always spray, spray, spray, spray, spray. She was like, why don't we actually like touch our root with the brush? And that just like, mind blown. She made it with a kabuki brush. And so you actually like dab it into the roots of your hair.

17:32But I think it's funny what you said in the beginning of talking about Crown Affair. It's slow and intentional. Something I've noticed a lot of this year in terms of brands that I love and gravitate towards are brands that are less about like a wide assortment of clothing and more about this very dedicated assortment of things that they sell. Like a good example is when people ask me now, like, hey, where do I get a leather jacket? I'm like, norhamor. When people are like, hey, where do I get a good t-shirt? Or like, where do I get good like lounge clothes? Lisette. Like brands that have found this niche and like really dove in.

18:07Well, I think it's the, again, I think of like all of these fashion trends and beauty trends. I don't want to say trends, but like more like, it's honestly like macroeconomics. Honestly, it's more like these macro trends on like a societal cultural level where like before this era we're in was the era of the department store. And it was mass and there were four floors and it was you could get everything. And they were all equally thriving. And the only thing that really set them apart was, you know, they all mostly carried the same thing. The only thing that set them apart was maybe the branding and people loved it.

18:46And then I think, right, if you think of a pendulum, we went so far on the department store era that then it became, okay, we need to start now niching down. And it's, here's an amazing t-shirt brand. Here's an amazing leather shirt, jacket, brand, whatever. And so I think also at the same time, there's so much saturation now. Yeah. I don't want to sift. I want to know exactly where I'm going and like know that it's the right thing. In order to stand out and I think be successful now as a brand, like you really have to do one thing very well. I think of beauty too, summer Fridays, not to bring them up again, but they launched with just Jalag, right?

19:23They only launched with one product. Right. And they were like, we're just going to focus on doing this really well. And they did that for years. Yeah. Like they didn't expand for a while. No. Yeah. I think that's the way to make it today. People are always like, how do you start a brand in today's world? And I'm like, you got to be really good at one thing. One really great product. Yeah. And to your point, you have to be obsessed with it. As someone who is also building a company, it's your entire life. And I think you can tell the brand owners that maybe aren't fully in it versus the ones that are.

19:53And to your point about Diana hiring a CEO as someone who's a creative, I think there's an over-glorification of the entrepreneur and the cool girl and how she's doing both. And the reality is behind the pretty Instagram post, it's hard work. crazy okay I'm turning it over to you gut reaction top three moments of the year the road sale that's a good one I think the road sale is going to be like the defining sale of our generation yeah she killed it it's great that I mean people are going to study this brand in textbooks exactly the Chanel show Matthews I think debut as a marketing moment I thought was fantastic yes I think the entire internet, that was probably one of the most viral fashion moments of the year.

20:43Yes. And then one that I think really interested me was the Devil Wears Prada press campaign. Oh, that's a great one. Yes. Especially most recently, the Rockstud controversy. Yes. Which I think we should put a picture of the Rockstud depending on who's listening. because if I'm being honest, like I'm like 98 % sure I know what this is, but it was before. This is thrilling. I never owned a Rockstud. Okay. So the Rockstuds are about 15 years old. Okay. They are. Valentino. They are an iconic Valentino shoe. They are probably the most iconic Valentino shoe. I think they came out in 2010. I had a pair.

21:26I was 12. What? You were 12. Yeah. Wearing a Rockstud. I love that. I had a patent leather black pair pointed toe, of course, with baby pink trim. And then I think it wrapped around my ankle, like in one little wrap. And I was feral for them. All the bloggers of that era were wearing them. They haven't been around for like 15 years. The Devil Wears Prada, which I feel like at this point we've seen half the movie. Literally half the movie. Half the movie. They're in Milan. There's an event at the Met. Like I feel like we know all the things, right? But so they release a trailer where Miranda Priestly is walking through the halls of runway and the first 30 seconds of the trailer are just walking in these bright red Valentino rock studs.

22:06And the internet went feral. Is this the clip of them walking into the elevator? Yes. Okay. The fact that they put her in a rock stud, I think the internet was like swirling. Like, was this paid for by Valentino? Is the movie set supposed to take place like multiple years ago? Like, why is she in a rock stud. Yeah. Like she could have been put her in anything. I would have loved to see her in a Prada shoe. Yeah. Like why was she not in a Prada heel? Right. Then apparently it was revealed on LinkedIn by internal at Valentino that the inter integrated marketing team strategized this entire thing with the devil wears Prada.

22:45And then when you went on the Valentino Instagram, when this went live, there was all new content of the rock. Oh, wow. I think what's really interesting is I haven't I think from a content perspective it did really well but it wasn't like on social I see people wearing the Rockstead like I don't know if this I don't have the data behind like the sell-through of it like if people are wearing it or still talking about it or if I even think it will be a shoe that is going to become an issue of the moment Alessandro Michele is currently the creative director of Valentino who was formerly at Gucci and I would love to see him reinvent the Rockstead like if he came out with a new version of it I think that would be so cool it needs to be a reinventing.

23:23We can't do like the same thing. And I hope that this was like a tease to that. Yeah. Let's see. I don't I think that like there's a very big distinction between something that goes viral and people seeing a lot of like seeing it and talking about it versus actually liking it and bringing it into their lives. I really love what Chanel is doing from a marketing perspective. Yeah. Every touch point to me is working. What they're doing is great, too, because it's still it's not lo-fi either. No, it's super luxury. Yeah. But there's something about the approach that feels younger and cooler. Yeah.

23:58It's aspirational, but still gritty. Right. That show in the subway was a perfect example. Yes. I don't necessarily think the Chanel woman is using the subway. No. But maybe we're talking about an old version of the Chanel woman. Like maybe the new Chanel woman does take the subway. Yeah, that's a good point. And I love that change in archetype. Like I think it's important to change that archetype from something that was mature and very luxury focused. Like every touch point that they've released since Mathieu's debut to me has felt so inviting and so fun and so joyful. And like reinvigorating.

24:33Yes. Like that moment at the end of the show where like everyone was clapping. I haven't seen something like that in fashion in my entire career. And I haven't seen something like that resonate so deeply. Like maybe I saw like one video of someone being like, I didn't like the Chanel show. And I was like, rage bait. Rage bait. There's no one who didn't like the Chanel show. Rage bait. But yeah, like I just I think that what's happening there is so exciting. It is. I think for us to feel that through a screen too says a lot. It's very much escapism a little bit. Yeah. Which I keep bringing everything back to social media, but in a world where I've seen so much more conversation around pendulum swing, we are so far in the social media hole right now that it's like, let's now the pendulum swinging back to audiences and people wanting that escapism and brands to capitalize on that and give us that are the ones that are successful right now.

25:37And to do it in a very thoughtful and still high level way that feels luxury and not a departure from like the Chanel that we know, I think is really smart. You are chronically online. Yeah. And there's something that I am dying to talk about that I'm wondering if you see a lot of where it's not on your radar at all, live shopping. on Instagram or TikTok? TikTok. Yeah. I don't think you can. You could technically. So the reason I'm bringing this up, live shopping was almost a thing during COVID. Kate Bartlett and I were talking about it like a couple of weeks ago on the podcast where she's like, why isn't that more of a thing?

26:15Kim Kardashian is doing Kim's Miss on TikTok and she's doing a whole live shopping segment. And I've wondered for a long time what is going to be the modern day QVC for Gen Z and millennials. But I also think that a lot of people don't realize that like QVC would not resonate with Gen Z because Gen Z can see through like when they're being sold. Yeah. It's produced. It's like, yeah, it's like, you know what I mean? We get it. It does not feel like a FaceTime call. Right. A TikTok live does feel like a FaceTime call. TikTok shop has been trying to really blow up and like be a thing since, I mean, I remember being at Dear Media when they first rolled it out and them really trying to push.

26:57Obviously, it was a new initiative, but I know there's like incentives for creators to be on it right now, kind of like the Snapchat play where like if you use our platform and our tools will give you money to try and get audiences over there. When I think of TikTok shop, I think of James Charles. He does a lot of TikTok lives and TikTok shop. I'm trying to think of the right word how I feel about it right now. I also sometimes with the new things, I get a little like I'm like one foot like baby steps into something before I full I'm not the person that like something new comes up and I like dive right in, which it's you kind of should be.

27:35You should be. So one of my favorite things ever said on the podcast that I remember to this day in the five years of doing the pod, we had Tamara Kalanich, who is a massive fashion influencer on the podcast years ago. And this was right. This was like months into Reels having launched. And I'd asked her about her strategy. Like she's grown so much. She's got so many great different platforms. She's got an amazing YouTube channel. She's on TikTok, Instagram. And I said, what's your best advice? And she was like, you have to be a first mover to things. That is true. No one's going to remember if you tried it and flopped.

28:06Like if like, for example, do you remember who jumped on the threads train and now threads doesn't exist anymore? Like, who cares? You have to be the first mover to all of these things and give them a try. I think, and I think that's so true. I agree. I think we live in a day and age now though, where it's not as easy. Like it's exhausting. There's so many new platforms. There's so many new different things that Mr. Adam at Instagram is changing. And it's like, how, how am I supposed to be the first to all of these things and still show up for my core audience and be a good creator and an A-plus student on social media.

28:47And so now I'm kind of at a point where I'm like, okay, with all these platforms that exist, where is the best use of, not personally mine, but clients, whatever that I work with, where is their time and energy best spent right now? And let's find the bread and butter. And then let's test maybe one other thing. I'm really curious to see how Kim's goes. I'm just curious to see what the feedback is from hers and how many people join and if they like it. I'd love to see what the user response is there. Yeah. I'm sure she's going to sell through Kim's really fast, but I'm really interested in these like live FaceTime style videos.

29:21On paper, it makes sense. People love hauls, right? Right. How much better would it be if I could do a haul with people? And people could be like, can you try that on with a boot? Yeah. Like you're wearing flats with it, but I would love to see it with a boot. Like I think that that's great community building and is really fun. That's a really good point. and but then like why aren't people doing instagram live instagram live to me is dead but why is tiktok live not covid killed instagram lives it just got a bad rap like it's also just like it just it's awkward it's awkward but i just think covid really messed it up but how is tiktok live it's just a different vibe maybe there's a maybe there's a case for a revival it's like when you have a fixation food and you eat it for a month and then you can never eat it again that's Instagram live.

30:06I'm so over Instagram live too. It was like a thing that we like pounded to death and then it was like awkward. But I am just curious how TikTok then doesn't become that same thing. I understand it's different audiences, but I also just think the way that I scroll on TikTok and Instagram is different. Like I would join a live and then leave the live. Like, I don't know. Yeah. I mean, Instagram is that more like Instagram feels more of a commitment and like all your friends and like eighth grade bully. That's what I love about TikTok. I know, me too. It's like anonymous in a sense. Some of my friends see it, but the majority is people that don't know me.

30:41Right. You know? That's why I think TikTok has success. And that's also why I think trial reels became a thing because they were like, oh, people are getting like insecure and they're not like posting content that they want to post because their eighth grade bully is seeing it. A lot of good like social media advancements this year. Like trial reels was great. Shopmye is great. This was definitely the year of Substack. Substack definitely took off this year. I feel like we've saw. I started mine last year, but I wasn't even one of the early ones. But we really saw it pop off this year. I'm curious to see how Substack evolves for brands.

31:10Celebs are joining it too. Charlie XCX just joined. I saw that. I'm very curious to see the follow through because what I'm feeling right now is that all the celebs are going to join it like all the celebs started podcasts. And then they're going to realize how much work it is and they're going to fall off a little bit. But it does. There is this other opportunity there where like to me, Substack the feed feels like Twitter. Yeah. So if like you can get celebrities to engage in it like they used to engage on Twitter and then like obviously so many celebrities dropped off of Twitter. Yeah. Then I think you have.

31:40But then like what an amazing. A big opportunity. Totally. Pamela Anderson has one too. Great Substack. Yeah. Yeah. Talk about soft girl, slow life. 100%. Amazing. So I am curious to see, yeah, how, man, it's just like these poor celebs. They have so many, they have a skincare brand and then they have Fashionline and then they have two movies they're working on and then they have their investor in this brand and now I have to do Substack and then they, it's a lot. I think what you said earlier is so right, which is that like you have to be an A plus student in the lane that feels right to you.

32:12Like, and keep that as your core. Yes. And like, obviously as that evolves, you have to evolve too. Right. Like YouTube, I'm not really good at vlogging. So I post the podcast clips on there, but like I got my start right in writing. Like I started, got my start writing for Forbes and working at Teen Vogue. So Substack for me feels so right. Right. But I have friends who are like, I hate writing. I don't even know what to do on there. So don't do it. But I think if like it resonates with you and you feel like you can give it your all, then do it. Because at the end of the day, like this has to be your life as well.

32:42And like how inauthentic of you to be showing up on YouTube in a way that is just not comfortable or native to like who you are as a person, you know, and that shows. Then you're just beating it at horse. I love Substack. I'm such a big fan. Since the day it came out, you were like, oh, I love this thing. This is for me. I just, I like the ability. One, I love how they support independent writers. I think that's amazing. Like for some of the old magazines I used to work at, they would pay nothing. And it was kind of devastating to watch. Like I ended up leaving them because I was like, I can't.

33:12Yeah. This isn't sustainable. Like the rate that I was getting was just pennies for the amount of work that you were putting into these well-researched stories. So I really appreciate this platform that's come out that rewards writers for writing independent work. But I also think, you know, to this conversation of like, one, this whole, I feel like Substack is the antidote to so many things we talked about in this podcast, which is like, people want community. They want to be part of a world. They don't want to just be sold things on Instagram. And I think Substack is this really a beautiful world for you to enter.

33:43There are so many great people who I love to follow on there. Like I love Leandra Medin's sub stack. I think she writes, she's just such a great writer. And I think her style POV is amazing. Alison Borenstein, who's been on the show, has such a great sub stack. Like you get to know the people on such a deeper level. Right. Cause we're not reading long Instagram captions. No. And I also, we have a chat for let's get dressed on there and people post in there all the time asking like, Hey guys, like what's everyone's favorite cotton underwear? Or like, what's your favorite pair of jeans like that feels real like real community that has not for me I haven't really been able to find elsewhere the equivalent of that to me it reminds me of like a Facebook group yeah but like I don't want to be on Facebook no what like it's just not no anything else you want to bring up looking at my notes just like very like top level just like two like cliff notes that I want to actually call out maybe this is just a personal sentiment.

34:35I'm curious how you feel. This was the year of the like oversized IRL. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. In the garbage. Like if I see one more like oversized bag going down Madison Avenue. No. Like on a car. It's just it's a little gimmicky now. Yeah. I think we've done it. Yeah. We can say goodbye to that. Didn't Kim do the like big skims thing and. Yeah. I think we can say goodbye. It's it's yeah I've seen it well it happens yes like a Ritzia had like the big sweatshirt yes the giant road things what else there was more like that would go down the street and then everybody just did like they were all AI enough yeah we're good and then I do that goodbye I do feel like this was the year of the wild posting like yeah billboards are back baby they are so back which as a creative I'm like yes I love I remember like my first time in New York I was 20 sorry it was 2017 17.

35:30I was 19 years old. And for whatever reason, obviously New York was amazing. Look, the wild postings. I was like, oh my God, I love these big posters. It wasn't like a billboard because billboards were still kind of like, eh. And the fashion brands were doing wild postings. And I was like, oh my God, I'm obsessed with these. And then when I was at Dear Media, I had the chance to design my own for one of the podcasts they did, which was so exciting. But they've been around forever. I just feel like this year, everybody kind of looked at them and was like, oh, I should do that too. And we're seeing like creators do them for like social media moments.

36:03I think for a brand, it's an instant win for so many reasons. One, you get out of home marketing. Yep. Two, if you are doing a collab with a creator, like I think of like the first one that's coming to mind is like the Serena Kerrigan. Yes. Joe's in the juice. Yeah. Collaboration. Right. One, she was probably so I know she was so excited to go and see it IRL. Right. So she would post that. Yeah. You get people walking by it. It's a social media moment. It's a social media moment. Like there's just so much value in that. Right. And I think, again, it plays into the nostalgia. Like we love these things that are out of our phones in real life.

36:36And I've seen them really come back. Like we're talking about something for 2026. And one of the first things on the docket was wild postings. Yes. It's funny to see that those physical things come back. OK, let's close it out. Tell me what you think. And not just from like virality. Like what's a brand that you are excited to watch in 2026? I do feel like the Rose journey has been interesting because it was this I mean it still is obviously very luxury and then we had this whole I think the cut did like I don't want to call it an expose but it was this very controversial like sample sale happened and then I didn't quite follow it all but then somebody spoke out about how they're not shopping at the like it was a whole oh the Rose biggest fan spoke out about how they will no longer be shopping at row and it's now become I did read that I think that was on the cut the row used to be something that like to me and maybe this is me being naive like the only the like inside highly fashionable girls knew about and were actually shopping now like my my my peers who aren't even in the fashion industry at all like know the row like it's elevated I think to like a different tier now and so now with this new kind of like world that they're in I'm curious what they're gonna do with that in 2026 and if it plateaus or if it stays as is I don't know for context that story I think about the woman breaking up with the row I think was about from my understanding she is a shopper at the row but often talks about the row publicly and is like her whole Instagram and socials are like dedicated to shopping and buying and trying on the row.

38:17And there were some moments that I think the row didn't like, and they would personally reach out to her about them. And she was like, whoa, I'm a consumer. So I think that there was this whole conversation about how much they try to manufacture image. But that's what's so interesting is before they probably didn't have to. Right. Now it's, it's just so, yeah. I don't want to say it's mass in the way that a gap is mass, but it is a lot more touchable. Yeah. Like they had to like stop selling the Margos. Right. Like we all know the Margo now. Right. And so now I'm just curious, like how they continue to either continue to censor or yeah and how does it does it become I don't know I want to ask you the same question but I also want to ask you what brand do you think is how do I ask this how I said that the row used to be the the brand that like only the like kind of like fashion people knew what is that brand now totem oh that's a really good one.

39:14Totem. That's a great, yeah. Yeah. I have to like constantly influence and educate people on how fucking good Totem is. Yeah. I think it's really overlooked. I think it's still an insider metropolitan brand and I could see it expanding a bit more. It's still very fashion to me. Yeah. That's, you know, it's still very fashion and I think it could, I think it has the potential to just reach more people. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. What brand are you excited to watch in 2026? Plot twist. Coach. Bear with me. Okay. Tapestry, which owns Coach. Yeah. And also formerly owned Stuart Weitzman. They just sold it off.

39:56Coach has been making a lot of money and has been increasing in profits like quarter after quarter doing very, very, very well. Their strategy has been to tap Gen Z, right? Over the last five years. I think all we've all heard about Coach and their Gen Z strategy, right? Al Fanning, like all of their influencers are Gen Z. Was it the cloud bag that they like came out with? Yes. Yeah. They did massive marketing run with the Summer I Turned Pretty. Yeah. Lola Tongue exclusively wore Coach and Coach bags in the show and during the promotion of it. Interesting. And they've done really an amazing job at tapping into those moments.

40:31Like they're the exclusive sponsor. I think the handbag sponsor of the WNBA, like coach has done a really good job of identifying strategic partnerships. Like I saw the fact that I could watch the summer. I turned pretty and say, that's that bag from coach. Yeah. And like, no, the name of the bag means that their marketing is working. Right. I think I'm curious about a few things. One, I actually just went to one of their press previews and you know, I have one of their bags. Yeah. I have the empire bag that I travel with all the time. Oh my God. That bag. It's a good bag. I dream about. See, nobody else has done a bag like that.

41:02It's a really good bag. And their Brooklyn bag, Morgan Riddle, who was on the podcast last year, brought the Brooklyn bag. She was wearing it to the pod. And I was like, wow, what's that bag? Yeah, I remember. And so many people asked about it when I shared it. So I think in terms of bags are doing really well. I just went to their press preview and their outerwear is really good. Like I was very, very, very impressed by all their leathers. I think one I'm interested to see how they continue to market those items and like carve out that lane for themselves. But I think what I'm most interested in in 2026 is Gen Z's growing up.

41:37So what does Gen Z marketing look like when they're now falling into that category of consumers who don't have that expendable income that maybe Gen Z does online? You know, you're working your like first couple jobs, you're figuring it out. Like that generation is going to hit that point of time. Yeah. So what does it look like to continuously market to Gen Z? Or are we pivoting marketing strategies? Are we pivoting marketing to Gen Alpha? Yeah, I think so. Gen Alpha. So I'm just excited to see that. And Coach does that really well. So I think if anybody is going to be writing that playbook, it's going to be Coach.

42:12Coach. The coach of it all, I think, goes back to the notion of a really great product. Yeah. Like that bag is... Exquisite. Amazing. And we're not saying that because of the brand. No, I want to travel just to wear that bag. If you guys hear like weird grunting or time or like jingles, it's my dog who's stretching by our feet. We love you. I love you, Bodie. Is your red light still going? Yes, it's yours. Okay, cool. Oh, here he comes. We said his name and he's here. Is this his debut? Hi, Bodie. Welcome to the pod. Say hi. Okay. Any lingering questions? I think we covered it. Was my row answer good?

42:50Yeah, I loved it. It's not too basic. No, it's true. What are they going to do? They're in a pickle. I know. Also, I was... What's what I'm trying to say? I'm not... I don't want to say this on the pod, actually. Great. Thanks so much for doing this. I love, love, love recording the pod with you. Seriously, it feels like just all of my favorite things that we can talk about. And I love hearing your take. And it's funny. I know you work in social media on a daily basis, but you are so smart. Wait, same. You're one of the only people that I can nerd out about this stuff with. Well, we nerd out. Bodhi, stop shaking.

43:23I love that we nerd out so thank you so much for doing this I really appreciate it same yay bye guys bye say bye Bodie

43:53Thank you.