The Super Bowl’s commercial breaks have become a launchpad for fashion and beauty brands with designs on the mass market: e.l.f.’s Jennifer Coolidge-starring ad in 2023 paved the way for a host of affordable beauty brands to try their luck last year. And Temu introduced itself to America with its “Shop Like a Billionaire” campaign two years ago, before doubling down last year.
Temu might need a new slogan — shop like a billionaire will land differently if the retailer is forced to raise prices should the Trump administration close an import loophole that exempted many shipments from China from customs duties. So far, it seems fashion and beauty brands will mostly sit out the game this. year, with the exception of Dove and Hims and Hers, which is running a 60-second spot (which costs a reported $14 million) to push for broadening access to its GLP-1 products.
Off screen, some more high-end brands are getting in on the big game action. Emily Adams Bode Aujla held a sportswear show in New Orleans on Friday, and streetwear label Rhude also hosted a presentation in the city. Meanwhile, Willy Chavarria and halftime headliner Kendrick Lamar dropped a Super Bowl-themed capsule collection. With the Kansas City Chiefs back yet again, expect another round of breathless coverage of tight end Travis Kelce’s pregame wardrobe (last year he wore custom Amiri). His girlfriend might draw some attention too.
Fashion’s infiltration of the sports world is more or less complete, and the Super Bowl is now just another opportunity for brands to make a play for the spotlight.
Kering’s Earnings
It’s a time-honoured tradition for companies to announce big news during the supposed “quiet period” before quarterly earnings, especially when the numbers are going to be bad. Sabato De Sarno’s abrupt exit from Gucci last week is a stellar entry in the genre.
Analysts are taking as a given that the fourth-quarter numbers will, in fact, be bad on Tuesday. There are questions about practically every brand in Kering’s portfolio, whether it’s Saint Laurent’s slow fade, uncertainty around the McQueen reboot, the designer succession at Bottega Veneta or Demna’s future at Balenciaga.
But it’s really all about Gucci. The brand made up half of Kering’s revenue and more than two-thirds of its operating income in 2023, and has performed disastrously ever since. Sales plunged by about 25 percent in the third quarter. Worryingly, the decline accelerated from the first half of the year as more of De Sarno’s collections hit stores. Kering named Prada and Louis Vuitton veteran Stefano Cantino as Gucci’s CEO in October (about two weeks before reporting those disastrous third-quarter results) and has made other changes at the brand.
The designer’s departure was therefore no great surprise. His exit is timed to render Gucci’s holiday season performance moot, and for speculation about his successor to overshadow whatever Kering reports on Tuesday. Hedi Slimane leads a pack of star designers floated for the job that include Maria Grazia Chiuri, Jonathan Anderson and Kim Jones.
We probably won’t get answers on that front on Tuesday. That doesn’t mean you should just tune out the earnings call. The usual questions about the luxury slowdown — Chinese and American demand, spending patterns among the ultra-rich, and ordinary consumers’ appetite for high prices — still apply.
Kering is also taking drastic steps to compensate for shrinking sales and profits, including selling majority stakes in some of its marquee real estate holdings in Paris as well as a pair of Italian outlet malls. The company has talked about closing stores, and could use Tuesday’s call to lay out its plans to weather the wait for the next Gucci designer.
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