The North Face x Skims. Photo: Vanessa Beecroft/Courtesy of Skims
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Thursday.
Skims collaborates with The North Face
The North Face and Skims teamed up for a limited-edition capsule collection featuring archival styles from The North Face, reimagined in Skims’ fit and color palette. With prices ranging from $60 to $1,200, the collection includes head-to-toe winterwear looks, mules, gloves and beanies. The North Face x Skims collection will be available to shop at select The North Face retail locations, skims.com, at Skims owned retail locations and in select luxury retailers from Dec. 10. See the collaboration’s campaign imagery featuring Kim Kardashian, above. {Fashionista inbox}
Swarovski joins Coty’s beauty license portfolio
Coty and Swarovski have signed an agreement for a long-term beauty license, bringing the Austrian crystal house under the beauty conglomerate’s stacked portfolio to produce a line of fragrances. The first offerings under this agreement are expected to launch in 2026. “Partnering with Coty is a significant step for Swarovski as we continue to expand our brand into new product categories,” Swarovski’s Chief Commercial Officer Michele Molon said in a statement. “This partnership allows us to bring Swarovski’s unique positioning of Pop Luxury — a luxury that is creative, fun, colorful and joyfully extravagant — to the world of beauty and fragrances whilst leveraging Coty’s extensive industry expertise.” {Coty}
How “pink tariffs” plague U.S. fashion
The U.S. is the only nation that charges gender-based tariffs on apparel (aka “pink tariffs”), and this practice dates back to at least 1989. Women pay on average 3% more in tariffs than men, which adds up: Women paid $2 billion more in these tariffs in 2018 than men, according to the Progressive Policy Institute. U.S. Representatives Lizzie Fletcher of Texas and Brittany Petterson of Colorado have proposed a bill that would require the U.S. Treasury Department to study pink tariffs, but they note this bill is unlikely to pass with Republicans ruling the house. “Pink tariffs reflect a disparity in our trade system and a larger, systemic issue. And although the tariff system isn’t something most of us are thinking about when we are shopping for products, we are experiencing the impacts in our carts in the form of higher prices,” Fletcher told Vogue Business in an email. “This is a cost of being a woman that we should address.” {Vogue Business/paywalled}
Retailers are using AI to manage the holiday shopping season
Though artificial intelligence (AI) has been involved in the fashion retail industry for years, this holiday season marks the first time many companies have a strategy to implement it into their businesses. As retailers put AI to the test this season, Dr. Rebecca Homkes, a high-growth strategy specialist who helps CEOs think about how to use the technology, tells WWD that “very, very few companies are nailing it” in regards to AI. She notes the best AI is personalized and that some executives are using the tool to help workers be more productive. One example is Amazon‘s newly-launched shopping assistant called Rufus, which offers shopping guides based on questions a consumer types in. {WWD/paywalled}
Off-price retailers aren’t too worried about tariffs
During Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, he spoke about placing 60% tariffs on China and 10% tariffs across the board, which have left some retailers uncertain and preparing for heightened prices. But for off-price retailers like TJX, Ross and Burlington, their merchandise pipelines (obtaining excess inventory from other retailers) serve as a cushion against tariffs and may even give them an advantage. If full-price retailers move to stock up on inventory before potential tariffs, it could bolster the off-price merchandise pipeline. {Retail Dive}
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Source: Fashionista.com
