Set Your F*$!ing Alarms: Princess D's Closet Is For Sale
Plus Jonathan Anderson makes history at Dior
Goooood morning!
We woke up back in Miami baby and I could not be happier. It is hot as fuck and it is humid as fuck and my hair is a mile wide and I DON’T CARE! We are committing to daily morning dips in the ocean, over-caffienating on cafecitos and ending the days with La Granja. I feel 16 again! Someone find me a Jetta to drive around, quick!
I have such a fun + busy week planned and am truly trying to commit to documenting it all via TikTok but I already feel my body getting anxious (why is it so hard???) but we can do hard things. Champagne problems- I’m aware.
I’m also aware that I’ve skipped a few Thursday nights recently and that's because I’ve been working on some ~heat~ if you will and it’s taking me some time to get it all out. Can’t rush art!!
But I’m back now and aware I’ve already yapped too much. Let’s just get right into it: your Monday morning edit starts now!
LVMH finally made it official - Jonathan Anderson is taking over ALL of Dior (women's, men's, couture), making him the first designer since Christian Dior himself to unite the entire house. This breaks every rule LVMH has followed since 2001 about no one being able to handle 10 collections for a $9 billion brand, but desperate times call for revolutionary measures. With Dior publicly called out as an underperformer in 2024 and luxury sales stumbling everywhere, they needed someone who can balance high-concept runway moments with commercial gold - exactly what Anderson proved at Loewe (turning a "largely irrelevant"- not my words - Spanish leather house into a $2 billion cultural phenomenon). But can we give Maria Grazia Chiuri ALL her flowers first? The first woman to helm Dior's creative direction brought unabashed feminism to luxury fashion, and that final Rome cruise show was absolutely divine (idc what you say haters! Calling a collection “too bridal” is not a diss to me!). I'm simultaneously devastated and electrified - if anyone can rewrite the rules, it's Anderson, but the pressure is unreal when John Galliano said Dior stress contributed to his implosion (and he only had women's wear).
My final words on the Saks Saga before I also implode: Marc Metrick says Saks has hit a "turning point" with $700M in liquidity, but let me translate this ~finance bro~ speak into English. They just secured $350M in new financing: a $300M FILO facility (first-in, last-out - basically a loan that gets paid back after other debts) carved out of their asset-backed lending (loans secured by their inventory and receivables), plus a $50M secured term loan (traditional debt backed by specific assets). Sounds impressive until you see what's due: $120M in bond payments next month, another $120M in December, plus $275M in back vendor payments. Think of bonds like IOUs to investors - when Saks' bonds trade at 47 cents on the dollar (up from 39 cents, fucking wooooof), it means investors think there's only a 47% chance they'll get paid back in full. The company carries $4.3B in total debt, and vendors literally stopped shipping $650M worth of inventory last year because Saks wasn't paying bills. Their crashout "solution” of extending payment terms from 30 to 90 days gave them a $600M cash boost but caused absolute vendor chaos (and also led to their “strategic move” of 500-600 brands being cut with a cutie little shift to private label that absolutely no one asked for) and a shift to concessions where brands own inventory in Saks stores rather than Saks buying it outright. I envy no one in Saks’ position ATP. This feels less like a turning point and more like buying time to see if you can stop bleeding money long enough to find brand footing again. I really hope they Marco Polo their way to it because we’re severely lacking in the iconic department store sector.
Neena Neena, WARNING!!!! (I prayyyyy you all get that reference): Julien's Auctions is putting over 300 pieces from Princess Diana's wardrobe up for sale June 26th - the largest collection ever offered - with estimates reaching $2M total. This includes pieces from her famous 1997 Christie's sale coming back to market, her "Caring Dress" and that Catherine Walker falcon dress made for her UAE visit. What's brilliant about this auction is the range - yes, one of her dresses sold for $1.14M last December, but they're promising accessible entry points too because all the girls want a piece of our OG baddie. The woman was a strategic fashion genius under Anna Harvey and Catherine Walker's tutelage, and her relatability factor and daily inspo remains unmatched even 28 years after her death. There's literally no bigger icon than Princess D - someone buy her Lady Dior!!!
Anna Wintour, CFDA's Steven Kolb, and AAFA's Stephen Lamar met with Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles Thursday to address a glaring contradiction in current trade policy. Trump recently said "We're not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts (do you think he listened to Stevie M’s podcast ep with Recho Omondi?) - we want to make military equipment, big things, AI, computers, chips, tanks, and ships." So if bringing textile manufacturing back to the US isn't the goal, why is fashion still paying 25% of all duties collected despite being only 5% of imports? And why are tariffs still glaringly high from our largest manufacturing countries? This puts the 10 million jobs that fashion creates in this country in jeopardy for no strategic purpose. Between this conversation, future set meetings, and the recent Arnault visit to the White House, here’s hoping we might actually see some permanent (if such a thing exists in this administration) relief for the industry as a whole.
Ulta reported better-than-expected Q1 results with 4.5% sales growth to $2.8B, beating analyst expectations and raising full-year outlook to $11.7B. Their "Unleashed" strategy is working - fragrance up 11%, skincare/wellness up 25%, though makeup continues struggling (down 2%) as consumers stick with barely-there looks and dupes flood the market. What's exciting is their brand diversification paying off: Tatcha, Naturium, and Inua driving skincare growth, Sol de Janeiro and Touchland keeping consumers engaged, plus the Beyoncé Cécred retail debut and becoming sponsor for her Cowboy Carter tour. CEO Kecia Steelman is rightfully cautious about H2 2025 given tariff uncertainty and wavering consumer confidence, but I've always believed if Ulta could master the in-store experience (still feels v dated on multiple fronts) they'd explode. Tough to put money behind expansion / innovation in this economic climate, but love seeing more premium brands willing to enter Ulta and giving Sephora a little competition.
Praying this ended up being 5 minutes for real today and also pray that my nervous system learns the difference between filming TikToks and being chased by a bear. See ya Thursday (feel free to bully me if I don’t show up!!!)
LYLAS <3
xx
Carly
Love this!