Nike AM270 Designer Departs Amidst Lay Offs
As required by the state of Oregon, Nike announced last week it will lay off 740 employees by the end of June at its Portland headquarters. Given his talent level, I doubt star designer Dylan Raasch was among those let go, nonetheless the news he’s departing comes amidst the news of the lay offs and speaks to the ongoing changes taking place at Nike above and beyond just staff cuts.
A Nike employee for over 16 years, Raasch is the designer responsible for two of the brand’s most iconic silhouettes: Roshe Run and Air Max 270. Formerly senior creative director of Air Max from 2017-2020, he’s stepping down from his role as senior design director of footwear for women’s sport style innovation, a role he’s held for just over four years. (For a deeper dive on his resume, SneakerFreaker has a in-depth profile.)
JD Sports Consumes Hibbett Sports
In related Nike news, U.K.-based JD Sports has acquired Hibbett Sports, a chain boasting over 1,100 doors, in a $1.1B transaction. I say it’s Nike related because I assume given the brand’s dominance at Hibbett, it gave JD Sports the go ahead to buy the chain.
In the past, retailers that assumed Nike would grant them the favor of door expansion have been unpleasantly surprised when Nike laughed in their faces and left them out to dry. I can’t help but think of one regional chain, a favorite of Nike at the time, which purchased another small chain, only to discover after the fact that Nike wouldn’t grant allocation to the newly purchased doors. As well, a private equity firm that purchased a small urban sneaker chain with the intent to expand also received a rude awakening when Nike informed new ownership it wouldn’t grant it additional allocation for new doors.
Mark Parker’s Sister-In-Law
Oregonian reporter Matthew Kish delivers a scathing exclusive documenting former Nike CEO Mark Parker’s then sister-in-law Pam Parker’s time working at Nike from 1989 to 1998. The story is now behind a pay wall (the horrible Daily Mail has a summary) but basically she confirmed a lot of what’s already been documented about the company fostering a hostile work environment for women, which spurred a sexual-discrimination lawsuit the company is in the midst of resolving.
Of course it’s a very big deal when a former CEO’s former sister-in-law goes on the record, but in my opinion it’s also noteworthy as it relates to any whispers about Parker returning as a CEO. Like just no!
King Of Pickleball Delivers
Skechers reported Q1 sales were up 12.5% to $2.25 billion, part of a just peachy quarter with just about every metric strolling confidently past expectations. Challenged throughout 2023 from declines in North American wholesale, brand execs crowed about domestic revenues being up 8%. The stock soared in response to the news and ended Friday just shy of $70, putting the name at a five-year high.
Sounding like the head of a performance brand, CFO David Weinberg on the call highlighted Skechers roster of athletes, including English soccer player Harry Kane, Ukranian soccer player Oleksandr Zinchenko, NY Knicks Julius Randle, Los Angeles Clippers Terence Mann, Canadian golfer Brooke Henderson, English golfer Matt Fitzpatrick and Canadian pickleball player Catherine Parenteau. I’m not sure what other brands were in the running, but Skechers also let it be known Shape selected the brand’s Viper Court as the top pickleball shoe in 2024.
I Still Have To Laugh!
Another bummer quarter for Kering, which freaked out analysts with news that operating profit would decline 40%-45% during the first half of 2024, signicantly below expectations. Closing out Friday priced at just under 330 euros, the stock is now sitting at a just-yowza five-year low.
As in prior reports, management keeps saying that the issue is that stores aren’t fully stocked with new Gucci designer Sabato De Sarno’s offerings, but once they are everything will be just fine!
And while not so long ago the stock received a nice bump when news of De Sarno’s debut runway was announced, analyst now are no longer so enthused with half a dozen firms lowering price targets following the earnings announcement.
I know I sound like a broken record but I’ve been saying for a long time that former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele is a generational talent and forcing him out will go down in history as one of Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault’s biggest mistakes. When Michele left, a lot of talent followed behind him, not to mention all the lost relationships with celebreties and stylists who liked him personally for a multitude of reasons above and beyond just design.
Side note: While Kering doesn’t break out numbers for Balenciaga, the company said on the earnings call that the brand is back to positive sales in the United States with Western Europe improving though still negative. It was also noted the brand’s newly-launched Rodeo bag is now sold out at retail. I’m a big believer in Balenciaga designer Demna Gvasalia’s talent, so this makes me happy!
The Aspirational Customer Takes Baby Steps
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton reported Q1 revenue was up 3% to 20.69B euros falling short of expectations of 21.12B euros. Alcohol continues to be the company’s problematic child with sales down 12% versus expectations of down 5.2%. The stock took it on the chin earlier this year in January when it hit a low of 644 euros, but even after reporting a just okay quarter, it’s now priced at 792 euros.
Across the aisle in the company’s fashion and leather goods, the division racked up sales of 10.49B euros also slightly below expectations. Among U.S. and European aspirational customers, the company has identified inflation as hurting demand, an explanation it feels certain about because the same thing isn’t happening in China, where inflation isn’t a thing.
Commenting on the ongoing challenges with the aspirational customer, LVMH CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony noted a “slight improvement in the numbers,” adding, “I’m not saying this is there for good and we’ll be showing double-digit numbers in the near future. I’m just saying that there is a gradual improvement in the situation, which obviously comes from a less impactful aspirational customer in the total of the business. So, our scenario would be a continuous strength from the top end customers, and a gradual, very gradual improvement from the aspirational customer.”
LVMH is massive with a lot of companies, so executives talk about a lot (watch the playback here, it’s worth it) on earnings calls. On the latest call, Guiony responded to a question on the so-called quiet luxury trend, and affirmed the poster child for the look Loro Piana is “moving from strength to strength” but provided a much needed reality check on the pervasiveness of the trend by adding, “not all our brands are embracing the quiet luxury trend. So, we need to do different things to different people, and it’s up to our marketing and product team to be able to capture the different trends. And this is what we try to do, but we will not all of a sudden convert a business that is almost 50 billion euros into just quiet luxury.”
Et cetera…
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The Cutting Room Floor host Recho Omondi’s conversation with stylist Dione Davis was a pure delight for multiple reasons, starting with an exchange about American Ballet versus New York City Ballet dancers, which was entirely engaging even know I know less than nothing about dance. They also got into a debate about Beyoncé’s male gaze-y style choices, which everyone whispers about behind closed doors, but is too scared to do so publically because of the power of the Bey Hive.
The entire conversation is available on Patreon (there are preview clips on Instagram), which I resubscribed to hear the exchange with Davis, but also because Omondi has an upcoming exchange with Law Roach!
Adidas Samba lovers are refreshing their shoes by adding pins to the tongue. Apparently this idea has been out there for close to a year, but it’s currently picking up a of steam on Tiktok (Khleo.a was an early adaptor). Not sure if that means the end is near, but I don’t think it would be a bad idea for retailers to do a Samba display featured a pinned out silhouette, and maybe Adidas could spur some additional interest by manufacturing some pins.
Denim Tears designer Tremaine Emory was profiled (gift link) in the NY Times by John Caramonica. My friend Sockjig described it as a puff piece and I can’t disagree! Given how much real estate in the article was dedicated to Emory’s time at Supreme and his decision to quit over an Arthur Jaffa collab that failed to launch, along with the Denim Tears capsule it inspired and the fact that his wife was working there until shortly after he resigned, it seems like it would have been fair to dig up some intel on his time at the brand.
Yes, Supreme was asked for and declined to provide a statement (though it did provide a statement to Business of Fashion when the news broke that Emory was resigning—more on that below), but I don’t think it would’ve been that hard to dig up an off-the-record comment or two. From what little I can surmise from little comments here and there on X, there were bigger issues with Emory than just Jaffa during his time as head creative,
I see that all the time with celebrities and former employees very loudly complaining about a former employer, something they’re able to do with abandon because they know the company won’t clap back like it’s a rap beef and rather will choose to take the higher road and stay silent.
I’m not a public relations expert, so there must be a reason why companies choose to make no comment, but I would like them to at least say something like, “We don’t agree with ex-employee’s version of events—at all—and we’ll just leave it at that!” How much more satisfying would that be??
Addendum: After I finished writing this, I looked back at the statement Supreme provided Business of Fashion (link behind an easily to jailbreak paywall) and the company did challenge Emory’s claim that “systematic racism” was at play in the decision to cancel the Jaffa collaboration.
In its statement, Supreme said, “While we take these concerns seriously, we strongly disagree with Tremaine’s characterisation of our company and the handling of the Arthur Jafa project, which has not been cancelled. This was the first time in 30 years where the company brought in a creative director. We are disappointed it did not work out with Tremaine and wish him the best of luck going forward.”
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