The Monday Morning Edit: What You Missed in Fashion This Weekend

Another fashion tech scam, $1K rubber flip-flops and more in 5 minutes or less.

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Good morning to my favorite fashion girlies who are likely already two coffees deep and wondering what the hell happened this weekend! I'm here for you!

I'm launching something new because let's be honest - by Monday, you've already glossed over 17 group chats you missed this weekend and we both know you're not scrolling back to read them OR the breaking news emails flooding your inbox (I, too, am guilty of muting Aaron every now and then).

Consider this your Monday Morning Edit – the quick-hit, slightly gossipy fashion news roundup that gets you caught up before your 10am meeting. No deep analysis (we save that for Thursdays), just the essentials you need to know (maybe some you don't NEED to know- but they're fun anyways).

Sip your coffee, silence your Slack notifications for five more minutes, and let's get you up to speed on everything you missed while you were enjoying your weekend. The tea is good.

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• Nate App's Human-Powered "AI" Fraud: The Justice Department just charged Nate CEO Albert Saniger with fraud after the discovery that his "AI shopping assistant" was actually hundreds of Filipino workers manually placing orders (the company ran out of funds and was forced to sell its assets in early 2023, leaving investors with "near total" losses). The company raised $51M claiming revolutionary AI checkout technology... which didn't exist. Beyond the obvious ethical issues, this exposes how many AI startups are playing a shell game to secure funding before actually building the tech they're selling. After launching in 2018, they've had multiple years to develop actual tech—proving this wasn't a stopgap but their entire business model.

• The Row's $990 Rubber Flip Flops: Not new news but now that these are actually on people's feet in the wild, we need to talk (Kendall Jenner @ Coachella to name one). The Olsens have convinced the fashion crowd that rubber flip-flops are worth nearly $1K, proving once again that luxury is whatever Mary-Kate and Ashley say it is (I mean, I get it?). Their continual ability to transform basic items into luxury status symbols demonstrates how value in fashion is increasingly divorced from materials and manufacturing—it's purely about who tells the story.
  

• Kris Jenner Joins Phia as Investor and Advisor: The queen of monetizing her children has expanded to monetizing other people's children, with Kris joining Bill Gates' daughter Phoebe's startup Phia as an investor and advisor. The momager continues to prove that no industry is safe from her business touch, and honestly, smart move by Phia - who knows brand building better?
  

• Shein's IPO Reality Check: Shein scored UK approval for its London IPO, but now their valuation dance gets complicated. Trump's elimination of de minimis exemptions means their direct-to-customer packages from China (hello, entire business model) will now face hefty tariffs starting May 2. While analysts say it's not a death blow—Shein's been diversifying with nearshore production—it definitely throws shade on their previous valuation dreams. The IPO is still happening, but their $66B number is possibly in limbo.
  

• Odd Muse's Radical Transparency: Odd Muse just shared the behind-the-scenes KPIs for their upcoming launch, and THIS is the kind of building-in-public content we need more of. In an industry where performance metrics are typically guarded like state secrets, seeing real strategies and benchmarks creates a foundation for collective industry knowledge. This transparency movement might actually be the antidote to the endless cycle of failed fashion startups repeating the same operational mistakes.
  

• Lyas TikTok's Fashion Industry Confessional: If you weren't in the fashion industry comments section this weekend, you missed an unprecedented insider view. The "most unhinged thing that happened to you in fashion" prompt created a rare moment of (alleged) collective industry catharsis. If you were a 2010s Condé girlie like me, you might find your people (and trauma) in that comment section. If you need a scroll break at some point today- start here.
  

• Record-Breaking Blue Diamond Heads to Auction: Christie's Geneva sale will feature "The Golconda Blue," a 23.24-carat fancy vivid blue diamond expected to fetch over $50 million. As the largest diamond of its kind ever to appear at auction, it represents both incredible rarity and the continued strength of the ultra-high-end collectibles market amid broader luxury slowdowns—proving that true scarcity still commands seemingly unlimited price potential.
  

• Forever 21's Final Markdown: The videos of empty Forever 21 stores with "fixtures for sale" signs are hitting different for those of us who remember spending our allowance there. As someone whose first retail job was at F21, watching these closures feels like the official end of an era. While fast fashion has migrated to digital-first business models, these empty retail carcasses represent the physical manifestation of a larger retail transformation—one where anchoring a mall no longer provides the foot traffic advantage it once guaranteed.
  

• Peppermayo's Vanishing Act: TikTok is blowing up with customers who've made purchases from Peppermayo only to receive... absolutely nothing. No products, no shipping updates, just a black hole of customer service. Their Instagram comments are flooded with complaints, yet they were alive and well at Coachella with a house full of influencers fresh off their Tulum activation. This disconnect between brand perception and operational reality is exactly why DTC brands are facing a trust crisis and ruining it for the good ones.

• Coach x WNBA Partnership: Coach just became the official handbag partner of the WNBA, and they're going ALL IN on Monday's draft night with their own "Orange Carpet" featuring Paige Bueckers, Kiki Iriafen, and other top prospects. This isn't just another lukewarm sponsorship—Coach is getting in at the perfect moment when WNBA ticket prices have jumped 50% and draft tickets have literally doubled since last year. Fashion and women's sports power couple moment continues, and Coach is smart enough to be first through the door.

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Consider yourself officially caught up — you now have at least five things to casually drop into conversation this week and sound like the most dialed-in person in the room.

If you heard anything good over the weekend (or have tea you want to spill anonymously), you know where to find me.

See you Thursday.
xx
Carly