The Indicator | February 28th, 2025

By Sonal Gandhi
Chief Content Officer at The Lead

Target announced two noteworthy partnerships this week with Champion and Warby Parker. Tariffs remained top of mind as brands look to diversify their supply chains and URBN’s rental service turned a profit, a first for the business model.

'INNOVATION MOVES'

Target has struck a deal with Champion to carry an exclusive line of sportswear, including baseball caps, sweatshirts, skorts, and duffel bags. The collaboration is a way for the retailer to drive higher sales, especially in more profitable categories like apparel. The retailer is also adding Warby Parker stores inside select stores. (CNBC)

For most fashion brands, the hit will come from any tariff increases from China, which remains one of the biggest sources for textile and fabrics. It’s why some fast fashion retailers such as Shein are getting ahead of any permanent changes and are reportedly urging many of their apparel suppliers to diversify production to countries like Vietnam. The retailer is also offering “higher procurement prices” of up to 30%. (Retail Brew)
Nuuly, Urban Outfitters’ clothing rental platform, turned its first annual profit with an operating income of $13.3 million last year. This is a milestone that has eluded many of its competitors. (Business of Fashion)
TJX, parent company to off-price leaders like TJ Maxx and Marshalls opened its 5,000th store, a milestone for the company. This year it plans to add 130 more stores and expand into Spain. (Glossy)
Simon Property Group, developer and operator of shopping centers, is collaborating with Shopify, the global e-commerce platform, and Leap, a platform for physical retail, to provide brands with the technology and operations they need to open brick-and-mortar locations, in particular e-commerce-only brands or brands with limited experience or resources to deploy physical stores. (WWD)
Michael Strahan brand has launched Michael Strahan Design Lab, an online way for men to personalize their tailored clothing. In partnership with Custom Wrkshop, a technology platform for customized apparel, the Michael Strahan Design Lab uses off-the-rack sizing and allows customers to select details specific to their personal taste. That includes patterns and linings, fit, lapels, thread color, monogramming and other special tweaks. (WWD)
Big name celebrity campaigns were trending this week including Levi’s second phase of its Beyoncé-driven campaign, with the singer delivering a pool-hall defeat to actor Timothy Olyphant and Parker Posey in the Gap campaign, titled “Feels like Gap”. The Gap campaign centers around self-expression and includes a 90-second spot, set to the Mette track “Mama’s Eyes”. In addition, British footwear label Jimmy Choo is highlighting legacy styles with the aid of American actress Chloë Sevigny stars in the maison’s spring campaign, entitled Hyper Glamour. (Media Post) (Retail Dive) (Luxury Daily)

'Financial Moves'

Pari Beauty (“pro-aging” skincare) was acquired by Luxury Brands LLC in partnership with The Dodo Group.
Alani Nu (energy drinks) was acquired by Celsius Holdings for $1.8B.
Northern Reflections (Canadian womenswear retailer) was acquired by Putnam Investments.
Blue Monkey Beverages (tropical fruit juice) was acquired by Boyne Capital.
Deconstruct and Arata (Indian beauty brands) both raised investments from Bold (L’Oréal’s venture fund).
SNUGGS (period underwear) raised €5M from TripleB Capital.
Fara Homidi (makeup brand) raised funding from Sandbridge Capital.

Financial Moves Powered by MMG Advisors

'Career Moves'

Technical Designer | Children’s Apparel – New York, NY
Operations Floor Lead | Jewelry – New York, NY
Data Entry Clerk | Apparel – Kenilworth, NJ
Beauty Retail Sales Manager – New York, NY
Buyer, Athletic Footwear – South Bay, CA
Senior Marketing Manager, Beauty – New York, NY

Career Moves Powered by JPSearch

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