TOP10 NEWS OF THE WEEK / 02.16.2025
THE RISE AND FALL OF FASHION EMPIRES
Key Takeaways from WWD by Evan Clark:
?? The idea of owning and operating a big house of brands is on the wane as fashion’s traditional consolidators struggle.
?? There’s something about building a big portfolio of brands that’s like catnip for the fashion C-suite. It could be the sense of forward momentum and the promise of new opportunities. The high of winning a big deal. Or maybe it’s just a quick fix to drive sales. As sales go higher, organizations can cut costs and operate more efficiently. Margins expand. Profits pile up. The future looks that much brighter. Or that’s the idea.
?? But buying growth can be a dangerous game as one brand becomes two and then three and so on. The business case for building big houses of brands is easy to see, but the reality has been something different lately. And the empire builders are almost all resetting, scaling back or struggling.
?? Coach-parent Tapestry dropped its $8.5 billion deal?to buy Capri Holdings Limited under pressure from regulators and has sworn off any other acquisitions until it gets kate spade new york back to growth. (Its smaller Stuart Weitzman business could be sold off).
?? Capri is focusing on a Michael Kors turnaround while sources say?Versace and Jimmy Choo are on the block.
?? VF Corporation.?spun off Supreme?as part of a far-reaching corporate reset.
?? And even the luxury giant Kering is struggling?to make its portfolio work with Gucci, its largest brand, down 23 percent last year.
?? “As is often the case, your strengths are your weaknesses,” said Jonathan Lazarow, a fashion attorney who previously ran an investment fund. “A couple of uniquely American concepts took hold. “The first is that American businesses — especially publicly traded companies, but also those controlled by financial sponsors — needed to continually deliver increasing profits, quarter after quarter, year after year,” Lazarow said.
?? One thing is certain: For every empire that takes hold and then adjusts and fades, someone will be there to pick up the pieces.
?? And as big companies look to trim down and focus and focused companies look to go big, the fashion wheel spins around one more time.
WHY LUXURY IS BROKEN
Key Takeaways from The Business of Fashion:
?? The sheer number of changes at the top of big brands this week is a sign the industry is still searching for a way out of its current troubles. We’re just one month into 2025, and the wave of changes in fashion’s executive and creative leadership ranks continues unabated. There is so much change that it can be hard to keep up, so here’s a quick recap:
??♂? Sabato De Sarno?is out?as Gucci’s creative director, effective immediately, Kering announced this week. The Autumn/Winter 2025 collection will be led by the “design studio” and the search is on for a new creative director.
?? Marco Gobbetti is?leaving Ferragamo,?earning a €4.5 million ($4.7 million) payout after the chief executive’s three-year effort at revitalizing the family-owned Italian luxury brand stalled. Ferragamo shares lost 66 percent of their value under his tenure.?? Serge Brunschwig was?appointed CEO?of Jil Sander?amid speculation that designers Luke and Lucie Meier are leaving after their show later this month. Brunschwig is also taking the role of chief strategy officer of OTB Group, where?Glenn Martens has been?appointed?creative director of Margiela?in addition to his role at Diesel, which is currently without a CEO after Eraldo Poletto left seven months into his tenure.
?? Kim Jones?exited?Dior Homme?last week, ending an eight-year collaboration at the menswear brand he helped to grow into a juggernaut amid the Covid luxury boom. His next move is not yet known.
?? What does this signify? While some of the creative directors and CEOs clearly failed to deliver on expectations, taken together the raft of changes are also reflective of an industry that feels increasingly lost and unsure of itself. Some of these people are taking the fall for a luxury business model that is broken. Simply changing leadership at the top will not be enough. We need a wholesale reevaluation of the luxury fashion sector’s meaning and purpose for customers who are seeking value, creativity and transparency.
GUCCI'E STRUGGLES WEIGH ON KERING AS REVENUE DROPS 12% IN 2024
Key Takeaways from Metaverse Fashion MAGAZINE:
?? French luxury conglomerate Kering has reported a challenging financial year, with revenue declining by 12% year-over-year (YoY) to €17.2 billion (~$17.7 billion) for the full year ending December 31, 2024. The downturn reflects both reported and comparable basis figures, driven largely by underperformance at Gucci, its flagship brand.
?? Gucci Leads Declines While Bottega Veneta Gains Ground
With Gucci’s struggles weighing heavily on Kering’s performance, the luxury giant faces an uphill battle to restore growth in 2025. Whether its strategic shifts will yield results remains to be seen, but the company’s future trajectory will likely depend on its ability to reinvigorate its star brand while maintaining momentum in other key segments.
?? CEO’s Outlook and Future Strategy
Reflecting on the challenging year, Kering chairman and?CEO Fran?ois-Henri Pinault?emphasized the company’s commitment to revitalizing its brands.“In a difficult year, we accelerated the transformation of several of our houses and moved determinedly to strengthen the health and desirability of our brands for the long term,” Pinault said.
?? Gucci’s Metaverse Missteps: Hype Without Lasting Impact
Gucci’s ventures into the metaverse have struggled to deliver sustained engagement, revealing the challenges of luxury branding in virtual spaces. One of its earliest experiments,?Gucci Garden on Roblox (2021), aimed to recreate the brand’s Florence-based exhibition as an immersive digital experience. While it initially attracted attention, the activation was temporary and lacked deeper interactivity, leaving many users underwhelmed. In The Sandbox, Gucci launched?Gucci Vault Land?(2022), an interactive space featuring NFT wearables and gamified experiences tied to its archival collections. Despite leveraging blockchain technology, the initiative struggled to maintain long-term user engagement, as players saw little incentive beyond brand storytelling. Most recently, Gucci partnered with Apple’s Vision Pro, unveiling an?immersive digital experience?aimed at integrating luxury fashion with spatial computing. While positioned as a groundbreaking move in mixed reality, early reactions suggested that the experience was more of a conceptual showcase rather than a functional or widely accessible application. While Gucci positioned itself as a pioneer in digital fashion, its metaverse initiatives often felt more like temporary marketing stunts than long-term brand extensions. The brand’s struggles illustrate a larger issue in luxury’s transition to Web3—without a clear utility or sustained community engagement, even the most prestigious names can lose relevance in the fast-evolving digital landscape.
STEVE MADDEN ACQUIRES KURT GEIGEER FOR 289 MILLION POUNDS
Key Takeaways from FashionUnited:
?? Steve Madden is acquiring British footwear and accessories retailer Kurt Geiger.
The US fashion company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Kurt Geiger for approximately 289 million pounds (approximately 360 million dollars), Steve Madden announced Thursday. The group is acquiring the footwear retailer from a group led by the British private equity firm Cinven.“We are thrilled to be adding Kurt Geiger London, a brand that has experienced exceptional growth in recent years, with this acquisition,” said Edward Rosenfeld, CEO of Steve Madden. “Its differentiated and aspirational positioning in the market – coupled with its alignment with our strategic initiatives to expand in international markets, the accessories category, and direct-to-consumer channels – makes this a highly attractive and complementary addition to our portfolio.”
?? In addition to its core Kurt Geiger London brand, Kurt Geiger's brand portfolio also includes the KG Kurt Geiger line and the footwear brand Carvela. The company also operates shoe concessions in British luxury retailers such as Harrods and Selfridges, offering both its own brands and other labels. In the twelve months ended February 1, 2025, Kurt Geiger achieved estimated revenue of approximately 400 million pounds (499 million dollars).“ We couldn’t be prouder of the progress our team has made in recent years to build Kurt Geiger London into a globally recognized fashion brand,” said Neil Clifford, CEO of Kurt Geiger.
?? Despite the growth of recent years, Clifford sees the company in an early stage with significant expansion opportunities. Therefore, they see Steve Madden, with its global infrastructure, as the right strategic partner to realize this potential. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025, subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
TESTING THE FRONTIERS OF DIGITAL PRODUCT CREATION AT DECATHLON
The Interline sat down with Cyrille Ancely- Component Digital Twin Leader at Decathlon – and Frederic Frache, Modelling And Texture Artist for Decathlon’s Product Asset Team.
Key Takeaways:
?? We first focused on the Design community, because our driving principle?is that every step in 3D should be towards the?creation of?an ideal, “dreamed” seamless workflow that will allow us to create digital twins at the start, that then serve every requirement along the entire value chain. Quite quickly, though, we realised we had to also focus on the marketing part, which is the visible part of the 3D iceberg. We also use CGI content to give the entire company visibility into what our strategic goals with DPC are, to demonstrate what’s possible, and to align everyone on the vision for why we need digital twins of not just our finished products but also our components – materials, accessories, spare parts and so on.
?? We are at the beginning of a new area for digital design. For the past six years, lots of software companies have invested in the building or translating solutions and capabilities from other sectors into product-centric industries. Companies from video games, like Unity, Epic or Adobe (with Substance) clearly see a lot of potential in those fields.
?? I also see AI opening up new horizons that will help us transform our processes at a larger scale.To be clear there are still lots of things to work on, especially in creating standardised protocols like mechanical measurement to simulate apparel consistently in different software and file formats – to give us a standard material that can be transferred. But if we want to accomplish that, then it will require technology companies, suppliers, and brands to work together.
?? On the consumer end, we have nearly no technical limitations. We can showcase digital products, we are able to do face swapping, we can create realistic avatars and animations.
?? AI could give us the capability to more quickly generate some types of data, such as the mechanical properties of components, or enrich other types so that we can build fewer prototypes than before, meaning less production and less pollution. The difficulty in the AI field, for me, is that there is a very thin frontier between beautifying a render and moving, consciously or unconsciously, away from reality – to the extent that sometimes a brand could end up over-indexing on a sub-optimal design and putting it into production. The goal of DPC, of course, is to reduce lead time and to increase the confidence in our design choices, and the use of AI cannot end up being adverse to that.
A COMPLETE GUIDE TO AI AGENTS: THE NEXT WEB3 REVOLUTION
Key Takeaways from NFT Plazas:
?? In 2025, AI combined with Web3 to create an innovation that could reshape the internet once again. That innovation is?AI agents.
?? What are AI agents?An AI agent is a software tool, powered by AI, that can learn from and automate user actions and behaviour.
?? One of the most common use cases for AI agents so far are on social media. These AI agents interact as though they were human on social media networks, posting ideas, replying to other members of the community, and engaging in the camaraderie of the industry.
?? Gaming is another major application for AI agents. Gaming-focused AI agents are made to replicate human inputs into a video game, similar to a bot. This allows users to progress through games, complete quests and earn rewards on a 24/7 basis, removing grinds and allowing players to enjoy the parts of games that they enjoy the most.
?? Trivia and contests have also seen much adoption by AI agents. Instead of directly performing player actions, these AI agents typically impersonate a character from a given game, project or franchise, with users tasked with interacting with these characters to achieve particular results – such as convincing them to perform particular actions, or give up important information. ?? How do AI agents work?AI agents are typically built using popular AI models, such as ChatGPT.Developers will take the base AI model, and train it on a particular use case. This could be the entire social feed from an influencer, the typical gameplay loop in a game, the mannerisms of a livestream content creator, or many others. Once the AI has been sufficiently trained, it can be released for public use. This typically involves the creation of a token via a platform, which is then used to hire the AI agent for deployment.
?? The history of AI agentsAI agents hit public consciousness in October 2024, when Virtuals Protocol launched their?AI agent co-ownership service?on the?Base blockchain. Virtuals allows users to purchase tokens from existing AI agents, allowing them to share in the success of some of the most prominent AI agents around. The platform dominated from its debut through to the end of 2024. January 2025 saw AI agent adoption take off. On the gaming front, Super Champs Foundation, KGeN Game Partnerships, Illuvium.io, Nifty Island
??, ForgeFun (Avarik Saga) and RONiN all debuted or revealed AI agent products or services during the month – with Ronin revealing that their own AI agent SDK would be made available to the public later in 2025. January also saw Avalanche partner with Aethir to launch a $100 million USD ecosystem fund – with AI agents set to star. New platforms also rose to challenge Virtuals, with the most notable being HoloWorld.
FIGURE AI IS IN TALKS TO RAISE $1.5B at 15x ITS LAST VALUATION
Key Takeaways from TechCrunch:
?? Silicon Valley-based robotics startup Figure AI is in talks to raise a massive $1.5 billion round at a $39.5 billion valuation, Bloomberg reports. That’s a whopping 15 times higher than Figure’s $2.6 billion post-money valuation for its?$675 million Series B?last year. Figure’s current round is expected to be led by Align Ventures and Parkway Venture Capital, Bloomberg reported.
?? Figure builds humanoid robots for commercial and residential purposes. Humanoid robots are all the rage thanks to the AI boom: Austin-based Apptronik?just raised?$350 million while Meta is reportedly?looking to get into robotics, too.
?? Figure has?already sold?some robots to BMW. Its founder Brett Adcock?posted last month?that Figure has signed on a second (unnamed) commercial customer and sees the potential to ship 100,000 humanoid robots.
HOW AI AND BETTER AFFORDABILITY ARE EMPOWERING SMALL FASHION BRANDS
Key Takeaways from The Interline by Mark Harrop:
?????? The Product Lifecycle Management Gap: Why Smaller Brands Are Left BehindPLM solutions have long been heralded as game-changers for the fashion industry. These systems offer centralised, connected workflows that allow brands to manage the entire product lifecycle—from design and development to production and distribution. However, for smaller fashion brands, PLM remains largely out of reach.
?? The first reason is due to high costs. Implementing PLM is a complex process that requires investment in services and time. For smaller brands with limited resources, these implementation fees are simply unaffordable.
The next issue is around complexity. Many traditional PLM systems are designed for large enterprises with extensive needs and resources. These systems can be overly complex for smaller brands, leading to underutilisation and frustration.
?? A Light at the End of the Tunnel: Next-Generation PLM SolutionsGenerative AI is revolutionising the design and planning process. AI-driven prompts are being designer to dynamically generate new designs and Tech-Packs by leveraging model data from PLM libraries, enabling designers to create comprehensive, highly accurate packs with greater speed and efficiency.
?? Real-World Impact for Fashion SMEsSpeed to market is more critical than ever, the modern PLM systems help brands launch products faster while staying aligned with shifting trends. Perhaps most importantly, these advancements are making sophisticated operations more accessible.
?? A Call to Action for PLM VendorsWhile the progress we’ve seen in recent years is encouraging, there is still work to be done. PLM vendors need to continue innovating with a stronger focus on?the needs of smaller brands. Usability and collaboration remain essential, but the real priority now is delivery. Vendors have made strong commitment to affordability, scalability, and efficiency-now, those promises must translate into real, tangible value for brands.
?? Keep the Faith in What You Are BuildingThe future is here, and it’s fuelled by AI-driven PLM solutions that unlock creativity, streamline processes, and level the playing field for all brands, regardless of size. For vendors, the challenge isn’t just to innovate, but to execute. The future of fashion belongs to those who build for it.
SAFETY SIDELINED AT THE PARIS AI SUMMIT, AND REDUCED DIGITAL ACCESS AT NEW YORK
Key Takeaways from The Interline by Mark Harrop:
?? At the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit in Paris this week, the US and UK declined to sign the final declaration on AI to be open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy.
?? Without a unified global AI framework, fashion may face increased complexity and operational challenges due to varying regulations across different countries, with data security being one of the main reasons for fragmentation.
?? NYFW missed a central platform for wider public access to the shows, highlighting a gap between digital possibilities and the traditional fashion week experience. The rise of wearable tech and mixed reality suggests that future fashion weeks could blend digital and physical experiences, offering viewers unique virtual access while providing brands with valuable consumer data.