Trend report: Copenhagen fashion week and the Gen-Z heels

0:14This is Stylish, the podcast for all things fashion, brand, business and beauty. My name is Madison Sullivan-Thaw. My co-hosts today are Annika Joshi-Smith and Joanna Fleming. Hi. Hello. That was very sweet. Hello. Are we all having a lovely week thus far? Just splendid. Yeah, Annika and I are recovering from the cold. I think we both shared. We did. I am spending too much time together. I brought a stunning accent to the show today. So if you love my Kiwi accent, well, this one's just a little bit more twangy. I definitely got on our whip on Friday before we record. We always catch up just to chat what we're going to talk about.

0:51And I was like, yeah, any chance we can just pull the chairs back a little bit? And then we're like in robes, in their bed, like, oh, yeah. And we could, I was like, ah, okay, bring my Glenn 20. Jo, what are we talking about today? Okay, so today we're talking about our experience previewing the new Mecca Mega Store last week, where the fitness culture is making us sad and boring, Skim's face wrap, including my take on it, and why Gen Z is bringing back Louboutins and what this might mean for footwear trends. But first, the swap. Annika, I'm looking at you. Thank you. Okay, so I don't know about you guys, but my feeds have been filled with everything Copenhagen Fashion Week related and for good reason.

1:33I actually went to Copenhagen for the first time in 2019 and fell like literally head over heels in love with the city. The people are so fucking cool. Like, you think you're cool, you go to Copenhagen and like you get put in your place. Did you go to Fashion Week? No, I was actually working a trade show called SIF and it was insane. It was like such a vibe. There was like big stalls by Rotate and they're like big experiences. Like speaking of experiential retail with Mecca, it's like that vibe and on steroids, every brand goes all out. They do so many concepts and it's just like, I think arguably the fifth fashion capital of.

2:10Love that, the world. The world. I was like, what of the world? But I think as well this year, just looking at fashion as a whole, I think we kind of go through cycles. And we've talked about the secular trends before. But I really felt like Copenhagen Fashion Week was like a breath of fresh air. And everything felt like a real palette cleanser. And I think something I love about Scandi design as a whole is how they make it practical, wearable, but still quite aspirational. Yeah. And there were some really good examples of that. like Cecily Banson, they did these big voluptuous, like oversized volumous dresses and they were really intricate, but then they all paired them with Essex.

2:47So it's like taking kind of like, you know, aspirational design, but making it really practical at the same time. Opera Sport, they showcase the most beautiful, actually you can see both of you guys in these collections, but like intricate detailing, really beautiful pastels. I'm looking at you, Jojo. Don't look at me. And they had like the most stunning femme intricate detailed outfits. And they were all paired back with Javianas. And they actually did something really cool, which was like a chunky 3D printed flip-flop. And it was like one of its only kind. You might have seen them on socials because they kind of looked like Yeezys.

3:23I haven't seen them yet. I didn't see this. You'll have to show. We will. We'll have to link it because they were quite like a statement in itself. But then Rotate closed Fashion Week. And always, I think Rotate just does an exceptional job at like joyful and playful, but really kind of fun and aspirational dressing. And they kind of had their boho revival nod. So we're still seeing that come through for the trends in SES 26 next year. But there was a lot of the trends we've spoken about to polka dots, metallics, chocolate brown. We're seeing so much chocolate brown, you guys. Joe's so happy. Yay.

3:56And also an array of muted tones. And I think we've also talked about how we're seeing flip-flops everywhere. But flip-flops now, we're in like pony hair kind of styles as well. Oh, that feels like a bit of me. Yeah. And like cute kitten heels, which I can totally get around. Stiletto, no. But the kitten heels, I will be around. So that's my little CPFW train report for you. Love that. It has been all in my feed. I just feel like the textures, the patterns, the color, no other fashion week does it like Copenhagen Fashion Week. It's just so much more interesting to watch, I feel. It's so interesting.

4:29And I feel like as well, even just the whole culture, like they ride their bikes to the show, they park up outside. They're just very like, that's just how they are. It's a way of life. And I'm like, sign me up to this way of life. When we were talking Scandi fashion, Ali Whittle, who is a Sydney creator, she's there at the moment. They feel like she just blends right in. Like she was born to be there. She's a vibe. Yeah. And her outfits were absolutely immaculate. And she was there with her husband. Like they're the coolest couple I've ever met. I'm like, yep, they fit right in there. They look right at home.

4:59Love that. Merds, what are you going to swap in today? So my swap is a nice, easy one. You know, I love a hot girl walk with George. and I feel like as it's warming up a little bit in Melbourne at the moment, I'm struggling because I'm used to wearing my puffer jacket with my leggings. But, you know, obviously after we have the debate, still have not broken up with them. But it's the Windproof Stand jacket from Uniqlo. It's$79.90. It's such a goodie. It's quite chic. It's got like a funnel neck around it, also a hood in case there's a little rain. But I've got it in a top. I'm usually an exclusively all black active wear.

5:32I'm shocked to hear this. I know. Guys, she's got a small pajamper over her shoulders. are weird. She would normally do black activewear though. She used to do ridge jumpers as well. Yes. Look, she's growing up. Jo, what have you got for us? So my swap is a beauty product. Great. Because I just started using it recently and I'm like, why does my foundation look so good? It was because I started using a new brush. Yeah. It's by a brand called La Base. Yeah. I don't know if you know this makeup artist. Her name is Serena Wiley. She's pretty well known for doing Zoe Foster-Blake's makeup. She's a very well-established makeup artist in Australia and she created a brand called La Base.

6:12And it has like a complexion product and then it's got, I think, like a clutch kind of thing to carry your stuff in, kind of like a makeup bag. And then she does a makeup brush as well. And the blend on this brush, it's quite fluffy for a foundation brush. I love a fluffy foundation. See, I've never... Feel free to say that again if you'd like. Yeah, if, you know, always good if I can speak in English on the podcast. I love a fluffy foundation brush. I have never really dabbled in a fluffy foundation brush. It's really hard to say. Fluffy foundation brush. But the blend that you get out of it, I will say I feel like I'm using more product.

6:51Yeah. But it just blends so seamlessly on my skin. So, highly recommend. Have you used it today? Great hot tip. Yes, I used it today. Your skin looks impeccable. Thank you. You literally look like... I mean, it always does. Flawless. It's just not hard to blend with. So if you find that you get streaky marks and your foundation clings in certain spots, obviously a little bit of that is around skin prep and skincare, but also your tools are very important. So I would recommend that foundation brush. I love that. Really good quality. I'm very passionate about a good makeup brush, so I will definitely be checking that out.

7:23Anyway, speaking of makeup recommendations, let's recap the Mecca opening because much like Copenhagen Fashion Week, I feel like the Mecca, Bourke Street opening was absolutely dominating my feed. Oh, yeah. And I was there. So it was just that like my phone knew that I was in the vicinity. And so every second video I got was from creators that were at the event and shooting content while we were there. I feel like I saw more of it on my feed than I did being in the space. Yeah. You genuinely need to be in there for three hours to see the entire thing. So a few weeks ago, we covered what their new Melbourne megastore would be like.

8:01And each of us was lucky enough to attend the actual special media preview. And so we got a sneak peek at what to expect from the store. And I think all of us could say that we were absolutely mind blown. Oh, yeah. Like I was completely overwhelmed. I had to go home and have a lay down. It was a lot. There's just, it's almost like absolutely no expense was spared. Yeah. And it probably wasn't looking at the interiors and the technology and all of the separate spaces that were created to come up with this holistic experience that I've just yet to see anywhere else in the world. Yeah. I think the only thing that's orbiting anywhere near what we saw on the Wednesday is the Selfridges beauty floor.

8:44I've never been. Yeah, I would say that's the only thing going anywhere near it, but it is out of this world phenomenal. Incredible. I honestly feel I was so overwhelmed for all the right reasons, but it was just like, there was so much to take in, like such a sensory overload that I'm with you guys. I felt like I saw more on social than when I was physically there and we spent a decent amount of time there, but like that amount of time was just not enough. Like there was so many, I think surprise and delight elements, so many things that I just did not expect. And it was just such an experience.

9:18Yeah. There wasn't a single like square meter that wasn't used effectively. Yeah. Yeah. It's like there was no wasted space. And to recap on what was actually offered or what is offered in the store, which we spoke about a few weeks ago, there's an apothecary, there's like in-house naturopaths, there's a freaking florist. There's a manicurist, there's a cafe, like this list is endless. There are 80 services that are being offered in that space. I felt immense pride going in there, I have to say, because I worked at Mecca for a number of years and this was spoken about from the day that I returned to work on the relaunch of KID.

9:55I've seen sketches, I've seen materiality tiles and things like that. This just surpassed every expectation and I had inside access to what it was going to look like, feel like, sound like and I was just blown away and so many of the team members were there and I've just never seen people look more proud than people that I've worked with and they deserve every ounce of that pride. In the most humble way too, like I caught Jo Horgan as I was walking out who is the founder of Mecca and she got up and spoke at the opening but she was like, what do you think? And she's like, you know, we'll probably get things wrong.

10:30Like, of course we're going to get things wrong but, you know, the team and it's the team and then I ran into Kate Blythe who's the chief marketing officer and they were the same. It's the team, it's the team and it does. like it's no mean feat by Jo. It's exceptional what she's done. But I loved the humility of like it being about the team. Yeah, that's beautiful. A lot of people had to pour effort into that store. Imagine the Mecca team members in there stocking those shelves before it opened. That's all I kept thinking about. There is so much product in this store. So much product. Not to mention all the separate people that needed to be hired.

11:02Like you've got Trophy Wife in there doing nails. They then got an entire clinic dedicated to treatments, which we did speak about a few weeks ago and we were very curious to see what they were going to offer. And luckily we did get confirmation of what was going to be offered. So the Aesthetica part of the store was kind of trialed at High Point. Yes. And so they were offering a few, I think they had the biologic research treatments there. You could obviously buy the product there, which is typically quite hard to get in Australia. Yeah. They also had some exclusive brands like Zoeskin Health and stuff on the shelves when we went and had a look at it at the Bourke Street store.

11:39But they've got seven treatment rooms in this Aesthetica clinic and it really is separated from the store. You feel like you've walked into a clinic off the street, although you've walked through the whole store to get up there. And it's like a space away from the space. So there's seven treatment rooms, there's dermal clinicians, there is injectors there doing injectables, which they did confirm with us. They've got treatments like Clear and Brilliant, which I've spoken about in this podcast before. It's a non-ablative fractionated laser. They've got the BioRepeel, which is a type of chemical peel.

12:09They're doing like Dr. Barbara Sturm treatments. They're doing the biologic research treatments. They're doing... Which I've had, by the way. I've got to say that's one of the best facials I've ever had. So they work on cold theory that the skin shouldn't be hot when you're having a skin treatment. So everything is done with cold water. I like that. It feels amazing. I actually... Like it's very rare for me to go and get a skin treatment and buy into the products because I'm like, yeah, right. And I was like, I'll take one of the three things that you used on me. I cannot afford to buy the full range, but I will take the cleanser.

12:40I will take, you know, the PW50. Like I was obsessed. Yeah, one of the best facials. Noticeable difference in my skin. My rosacea would like the cool therapy. I think I'm a slut for a hot towel. Yeah, me too. Who isn't? Who isn't? But I thought that was really interesting that they're doing these quite advanced treatments in there. They've got dermal clinicians on staff working in the store, in the clinic. It's just like, it's absolutely mind-blowing, this whole thing. The level of service and I think the level of technology is a bold statement from Mecca to say, we are here, we are world-class and we are ready to absolutely take on the behemoths.

13:17And how incredible that an Australian female-founded business is doing that at a time when retail is being talked about as the toughest it's ever been. Bricks and mortar struggling, ASX listed companies openly sharing financials that are showing they are bleeding. Yeah. Yeah. I saw a TikTok in the days after the launch, obviously, where a lot of creators were sharing stuff about it. And the girl that did the TikTok was like, oh, is anyone kind of, you know, eye rolling? I can't remember the exact sentiment of what she said, but are people eye rolling at this Mecca opening when we're in a cost of living crisis.

13:52And I went into the comments and one of the most liked comments was basically saying, well, hang on a second, this is creating a lot of jobs for people. Yeah. And so you've got to think about the economic benefits that's bringing to Melbourne as a city and all of the other benefits that come around employment. Yeah. And I'd love to touch on that because I think a big one is the CBD in general. So the traffic for the CBD has been down post-COVID. And so according to data from the Tourism and Transport Forum, total visitation, which is workers plus visitors to Melbourne CBD, have only reached 84 % of pre-COVID-19 levels.

14:30And that was as of mid last year. Yeah, wow. But it's pretty astronomical that we're still not back at 100 % pre-COVID. Yeah. And the Melbourne CBD used to be so buzzy. Yeah, bustling. Like it was such a heartland. I know, I grew up in regional Victoria and I know when I was quite young, like my nana and my grandmother, like it was a really big deal to get the train in to the city, get off at Flinders Street or Southern Cross, totter down, go shopping. Like it is a really big deal. And people travel from, you know, smaller areas or smaller regions, country towns, whether it's on a train or on a plane, to go and visit things like this.

15:07What this will do for the Melbourne CBD economy cannot be ignored. And I think the only other person that I look at who has driven a lot of buzz into the Melbourne CBD and is very passionate about injecting back is Chris Lucas, who has a lot of restaurants with the Lucas Group. And I think about the cafes and the restaurants around Mecca's store that will have natural buzz and foot traffic because you grab a coffee on the way. I know Mecca have the cafe, but the reality is people will totter from the train station or where they've parked their car. The car parks. People will be parking their cars there.

15:41Like there's so many different avenues that will be like haloing this support. Yeah. Not to mention like the GPO and Melbourne Central and what's the other one called? Emporium. Emporium. Yep. All of the traffic that they will get as a result of people traveling through there from Melbourne Central train station, for example, to get to Mecca Burke Street. I feel like even from a tourism perspective, people will be traveling from regional Victoria or maybe from other states just to go there. Like that 90-minute service where they do your hair, makeup and nails all at once. It's incredible. Absolutely iconic.

16:14School formal. Why did anyone think of that beforehand? One thing that I loved about it as well that I do hope has additional traffic because I think it is world-class is the NGV. So Mecca have had a long-standing relationship with the NGV. Jo Horgan is very passionate about women in the arts. Of all of the international galleries, women are less than 1 % of the artists featured within those galleries. Wow. So that's a personal passion project of hers and in turn Mecca's. So there are 24 female artists who have been featured within that space who have commissioned works for the flagship. And I really hope that that partnership helps bounce people from Mecca to the NGV.

16:54Yeah. Because I just think the NGV is spectacular. It's one of my favourite places to go. I could talk about it all day. But I'm hoping there's a better bounce back there too. Gosh, it's honestly just so nice, I think, listening to the passion coming from both of you right now as well. And I think they have really disrupted in the best way possible. And everything about the experience was just so curated. Like, I actually think my favorite part was actually talking to the staff. Now, we don't call them staff. We call them hosts, don't we? Hosts. The hosts. And I actually think Jo and I had a beautiful tour in the Aesthetica.

17:26And just listening to that woman, I was like, you can do whatever the hell you want to my face. Like, I trust you. She was so informative. And I felt like even listening to you talk to her, like you were just in your element. It was actually the best thing. It was literally like... Just two skin nerds jamming out. I was firing off the questions. She really was. And even though like I actually had a moment in just like the makeup section and I found this gorgeous girl who had very similar tones and complexion to me. And I literally bought everything that she was telling me to purchase because I was like, make me look like you.

17:57But they were just the most informative, educational, soft and genuine people. And speaking with them, I was like, okay, this is going to bring people back. This is what MECA stands for. This is about that customer first attitude, which I think we've seen roll out through the stores. We've seen how loyal people are to the brand. And I honestly just like was speaking to people from New Zealand as well. It's all over like New Zealand feeds and people were like, Annika, this is outstanding. Like, I cannot wait to visit. And it made me feel proud. Like, I know I'm a token, but like... No, you're a jewel.

18:32I am. You're a jewel. I was born here. What am I talking about? I never knew that about you. Yeah, I know. Hi. I'm actually Aussie. But I actually think it's just something that in a time where retail is suffering, and we're hearing about it constantly from our buyers, from our retailers, people are really trying to push the needle and get creative about how to draw traffic in. and I think this is just going to set us up for like our spring summer. It's going to be so good for retail as a whole and I'm genuinely so excited for what this is going to do for Melbourne CBD as a whole. That will be bloody buzzing when the Australian Open is up.

19:07Buzzing. By my words, they will be activating hard in that space at that time. Yeah. I'm glad you brought up it making its way to New Zealand because Sophie Hood, who is an Aussie, she has a brand, she's living over in London at the moment and she had a TikTok talking about how proud she was as an Australian just seeing this brand all over her feed when she's in the UK. But we've got to talk about this being a marketing masterclass. Like, there is no mistake that this just happened to be on your feed. They invited like 300, 350 people to that opening from Melbourne, from Sydney, from Adelaide, from New Zealand.

19:40They flew people in. They wanted to make sure that that was on everyone's feed. And kudos, Mecca. I always forget the clap can't be heard. It sounds like a little shout. There's my pixie clap. Well done, Mecca. That would have been no easy navigation to be doing. But yes, safe to say it was over every single feed. And we know that other brands changed around their events because they found out this is going to be on the same day. So yeah, there was a little bit of shuffling in the PR world. There was. One thing I did say last week to a friend who's also in the industry was, oh my God, if I was working in PR this week and had a cosmetic launch, I would be hating life.

20:22Yeah. I'd be saying to my brand client, oh, I might just hold that one a week or two if I could, you know, softly suggest. Next, we're going to be discussing whether fitness culture is making us sad and bored, but that will be right after a word from today's sponsor.

20:45Next headline, could fitness culture be making us sad and boring? Yes. Absolutely. Yeah? Okay. Well, it goes without saying that exercise is incredibly important and it's essential for both physical and mental health. And for many, well, maybe some of us, it's also an enjoyable activity, only if it's Pilates for me personally. But a recent Dazed article written by Laura Pitcher posed a question that caught our attention. Is fitness culture making us sad and boring? To be clear, the article isn't referring to a balanced, healthy approach to exercise, it's referring to a more obsessive approach to things where people become so fixated on meeting fitness goals that they cancel their plans, they socialize much less, and they don't allow themselves little treats like we do every single Monday.

21:30I'm staring at the snakes in this studio. My Coke Zero and my sugared clouds next to me. Laura writes, while the broad consensus is that 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, or half as much if it is intense, is enough to lower with a risk of premature death and many diseases, this is rarely the message we see plastered across gym inspiration posts online. As fitness influencers proudly proclaim their gym addiction causes them to work out twice a day every day and high schoolers gloat about skipping prom for a workout, getting sucked into extreme gym culture can pull your goals and aspirations away from being well-rounded, interesting and socially connected.

22:06Well, the article goes on to explain that the subset of people who over-exercise is relatively small and that many people don't actually exercise enough. Due to the nature of our social media algorithms where extreme content is often prioritized, it's easy to become overexposed to overexercise culture online, which I would agree with. I think that it's, you see these 5am wake ups, you see the clean eating around the clock. Like I personally could not do steamed chicken in the mornings. I really couldn't. No. Or like ate egg whites. I'm like, hell no. Yes. I'd gag at the thought. Yeah. We were just talking about how we go off eggs sometimes.

22:44Laura points to the Daily Steps recommendation as an example of the way our expectations around exercise and how much of our lives it should consume have ramped up. The bar for how much exercise you should be getting is constantly raised across social media. For years, everyone posted about getting 10 ,000 steps a day, but now many are swearing by 20 ,000 being the key. That's so unattainable. I think I've only Have you ever done 20 ,000 steps when I've been like in Europe? Like you're like a tourist. Yeah. I did 20 ,000 steps yesterday. What? Oh, my gosh. Doing what? I just went for a couple of walks.

23:16A couple? How many? Two. How long were they? We're two. Was it a date? No.