Ari Bloom

👟 Trove is spot on. The future of footwear retail is circular, and infrastructure is the unlock. 🔓 Resale in footwear has massive untapped potential. But it takes the right infrastructure to turn challenges like sizing, condition variability, and refurbishment into strategic advantages. Condition variability and damaged returns don’t have to mean a loss. With the right repair and refurbishment infrastructure, brands can turn this inventory into a profitable revenue stream. 👉 That’s exactly where Coblr comes in. We’re building the infrastructure for repair and refurbishment — digitizing and automating the process and building a vetted nationwide repair network to make it more accessible, affordable, and scalable for brands. Historically, footwear repair has been overlooked because there was no infrastructure — it’s been fragmented, offline, and manual. Coblr brings this process online and distributes it through our network — bringing repair to where the inventory is. ✨ Repair infrastructure is a key pillar to unlocking footwear resale.

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🔥 US Apparel Brands Demand Supplier Discounts Amid Tariff Crisis 🔥 Does this surprise anyone? Leading US apparel brands including REI, LL Bean, VF Corporation, Cotopaxi, Burton, and Vineyard Vines are pressuring suppliers for significant discounts (3-10%) to offset recent US import tariffs, according to Ecotextile News reporting. This cost-shifting approach threatens already thin supplier margins (often low single-digit percentages), however suppliers are naturally reluctant to speak openly for fear of damaging business relationships. Having worked for years in a factory in Far East and having been at the receiving end of blanket discount requests a number of times, I know how damaging these are. 🤷‍♂️ Are short-term financial adjustments really worth risking long-term supplier partnerships, worker wellbeing, and environmental commitments that define modern responsible business practice? Read the full article at Ecotextile News. It is behind a paywall, but consider to subscribe. https://lnkd.in/gJWkfwRp

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Tibi strikes a rare harmony between product vision and commercial precision. As President Elaine Chang shared in a recent Vogue Business feature, Tibi uses Style Arcade to free up time spent on manual reporting and data collection, giving the team back valuable hours to focus on strategy and product vision. With Style Arcade’s Forecasting & Assortment Planning, Tibi is able to keep creativity at the center of every decision whilst anchoring the business to a data driven merchandise plan. This protects margin and brand identity, proving that precision doesn’t limit creativity. It’s an industry shift we're seeing. Forward-thinking brands moving from reactive to predictive planning. Guesswork and spreadsheets are now replaced by insight and confidence. When tech gives teams back their time, creativity leads. Read the full Vogue Business feature here to see how Tibi is redefining forecasting with Style Arcade: https://hubs.ly/Q03RL7xR0

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What can I say ? The announcement that Saks Global has hired advisors to shore up liquidity comes as no surprise and only underscores how the transaction was highly problematic from its inception . The owners worked on getting the transaction done but not on actually fixing a stagnating business at Saks . The actions that have been taken on cutting costs and combining customer facing functions have only served to weaken the Neimans and Bergdorf business , which was actually doing ok before the transaction . Saks global will now be spending many millions hiring the most expensive ( and I might add the most sophisticated and successful ) advisory team on the planet to deliver added liquidity and they had better do it fast before the bonds sink even further . What Saks is NOT doing is fixing the deplorable payment terms which is at the heart of its problems going forward . The article stated that 90 day terms will still be in effect and that means 120-150 days in reality . Vendors can’t survive with those terms in effect and many are already looking at other channels of distribution both in the US and abroad . The relationship of any retailer with the vendor community is the foundation of its long term success especially in luxury, and Saks seems to be tone deaf in that regard, which is very disheartening. The slippery slope is getting slippier by the minute .

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Sustainability Without Substance Is Just Marketing This RB analysis of Remake’s Fashion Accountability Report delivers a sobering takeaway: even the best-performing global fashion brands scored under 27% of total possible sustainability points. That’s not progress. That’s how low the bar still is. The data matters because it moves past glossy ESG language and evaluates real behavior—wages, traceability, governance, environmental justice, and commercial practices. And it confirms what disciplined stewards of capital already know: most industries are still reacting, not leading. What Multigenerational Families Can Learn True sustainability isn’t a trend—it’s a governance discipline. Families that endure across generations don’t outsource values to PR teams. They: Set clear standards for behavior, not just reporting Demand measurement and accountability, not promises Take a long-term view, even when short-term costs rise Sustainability, like wealth, compounds only when it’s intentional. How the Rockefellers Have Implemented This The Rockefeller approach has always been consistent: Long-term ownership mindset over quarterly optics Institutional governance that embeds values into decision-making Philanthropy, conservation, and capital allocation aligned under one framework They didn’t chase sustainability headlines—they built systems that outlasted them. The lesson is simple: Families who want capital, reputation, and influence to endure must treat sustainability the same way they treat wealth—as something to steward, not signal. #WealthAndLeisure For weekly insight on legacy planning & passion. #multigenerationalwealth #familyenterprise #sustainability #governance #longtermthinking #stewardship #valuesovertrends #WealthAndLeisure

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🚨 Heads-up. The latest Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) Quarterly Executive Sentiment Survey reveals that the footwear industry's outlook remains bleak in the short term. ⬆️ Rising costs and retail prices, driven by tariffs, are expected to hit hard in the second half of the year as both the economy and consumer spending weaken. ⬇️ More than 6 in 10 respondents report lower sales compared to 6 months ago, marking a record share. ⛈️ Respondents’ prospects for the economy are comparably pessimistic from the prior quarter, with 82% seeing the 6-month outlook weaker or very weak. Oh, also: A staggering 88% of respondents foresee a weaker shoe shopper over the next 6 months. As a result a near-record share anticipates lower sales over the next 6 months, while a record 49% fear lower comp sales over the next 6 months. Not a good look. Check out the entire survey results here - https://lnkd.in/et-nuBVj

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The footwear category is rapidly evolving, as consumers prioritize value and comfort in their purchase decisions. JOOR's new Footwear Market Analysis Report leverages our vast platform transaction data to provide exclusive insights into trends in the global footwear landscape. Here are a few key highlights: • 📉 The Price Shift: Demand for accessible footwear is accelerating. The average retail price has decreased 11% over the past five years, with shoes under $250 now making up 42% of global retailer purchases. • 👟 Sneaker Saturation: While still dominant, sneakers are past their peak. The category accounts for 52% of units sold (down from 57% in 2023) as other comfort-driven styles like sandals and flats gain market share. • 🌍 EMEA's Luxury Focus: The EMEA region strongly favors luxury footwear, with 41% of units sold over $500, compared to just 28% in APAC and 17% in North America. Thank you to WWD for featuring my perspective in this great article on our findings: https://lnkd.in/dpynxfmn ➡️ To read the full report, click the link in the comments below. #FootwearIndustry #FashionTrends #RetailInsights #MarketAnalysis #LuxuryFashion

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Post 10/10. Disruption is the most familiar word in fashion, inflating every press release, product promo and media post. The term is innovation theater more than the thing itself. Into this context, “Under the Banyan Tree” maps disruption as technology migration to upstream (first mile) applications. The shift is significant beyond growth alone. Over-production and excess inventory represent lost capital for buyers, suppliers and investors. Toyota in autos and Apple in electronics are supply chain inspiration to reimagine fashion to sell better, not more. Fashion insularity is longer an excuse.   Disruptive technology is clearly defined by Clay Christensen, its foremost scholar. Its basis is process, not features, improvements or branding. Disrupters create superior value, undermining incumbents on a cost or demand curve. Think Shein, Temu, and Quince, et al, following Inditex, Uniqlo and very few others. Platforms are the new competition, distinguished by process and data advantage, not geography, image or heritage. Fashion’s required architecture is first-to-last mile analytics designed to minimize inventory risk, not to lower unit costs. Process is the primary engine to disrupt the world’s most globalized, complex and inefficient industry. James Theuerkauf Ferdinand Stockmann Elena Izakson Shruti Grover Sarah Iglesias Hiller Shelly Xu Aslaug Magnusdottir Brad Ballentine Malik Ahamadeen John Kernan, CFA, CAIA Kate McShane, CFA Edward Hertzman Tricia Carey Matthijs Crietee Matthias Knappe Robert Skidmore Cem Altan Azfar Hasan Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH EURATEX - European Apparel and Textile Confederation Dirk Vantyghem IAF: International Apparel Federation ISAIC - Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center Scott Walton Christiane Dolva Törnberg Kellie Davies Maithili Shenoy Tricia Naden Derek van Bever

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This really hits home. Premium department stores are being pulled apart from every direction at once. Luxury going direct. Customers redefining what value and loyalty mean. And cost structures that simply don’t fit physical retail anymore. Having lived this inside Stockmann, I don’t see this as a failure of retail. I see it as a sector in the middle of a deep structural redesign. Relevance, differentiation and profitability aren’t side projects anymore. This is the job. And the ones who’ll win are the ones who start from the customer and rethink what a premium multi-brand platform really is today.

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When Stitch Fix reported its second-quarter earnings in March, CEO Matt Baer emphasized that one of the company’s biggest priorities was expanding Fix flexibility: https://lnkd.in/e2tKts-J Fixes are Stitch Fix’s term for the box of personally-styled clothes its customers get with each order. They pay $20 to receive a box of six items, and they pay for only what they keep — the $20 goes toward any purchases made. Expanding the options available to its customers with each Fix was paramount to the company’s efforts to turn around declining revenue and a shrinking audience. Now, Stitch Fix is rolling back the curtain on how it’s making its Fixes more flexible. On Thursday, Stitch Fix unveiled four new strategies to enhance its offerings to customers. In this piece by Danny Parisi, we speak to Tony Bacos.

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Footwear’s biggest week in Vegas is underway. Today’s SDU Dailies covers the Footwear Plus Awards at IR, what brand consolidation means for the market, and why improving labor data matters for footwear demand heading into the year. 🏆 Industry recognition 📦 Brand M&A 📊 Economic signals that actually matter #ShoeDogsUnited #FootwearIndustry #IRShow #FootwearPlus #RetailNews #WholesaleFootwear #SpecialtyRetail #FootwearBusiness #MarketSignals 👉 Join the group: https://lnkd.in/dHMU-Zs 👉 Chiappetta Shoes: https://lnkd.in/gah-R4Gc 👉 Brown’s Foot Bath: https://brownsfootbath.com 👉 Max Retail Affiliate: https://lnkd.in/ga2EUfCY Reference Links Footwear Plus — IR Shoe Show & Awards coverage SGB Media — Footwear industry consolidation news U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Weekly jobless claims & productivity data FOOTWEAR PLUS MAGAZINE

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Gildan $2.2B acquisition of Hanesbrands Inc. —including iconic lines like Maidenform signals a growing trend: as consumers shift toward private label apparel, manufacturers are increasingly acquiring established brands to expand their portfolios and leverage brand equity. This strategy allows private label leaders to offer both value and recognized names, capturing price-sensitive shoppers while retaining premium appeal. Given the success of this model, should we expect more acquisitions of “iconic brands” by private label manufacturers and licensing companies aiming to diversify, scale, and respond to evolving consumer preferences? #retail #apparel #privateLabel #mergers #acquisition #brandstrategy #consumertrends #Gildan #Hanes #Maidenform #intimates #underwear #fashionbusiness #supplychain #2025tariffs

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Executive compensation continues to rise, with notable increases in both pay packages and benefits. Our very own Elaine Hughes, Managing Director of E.A. Hughes, shared her expert insights in @WWD’s latest feature, which explores the findings of their recent study surrounding the top companies within the fashion industry. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/etEi7kau #ExecutiveLeadership #ExecutiveCompensation #ExecutiveSearch #BusinessStrategy

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