The Monday Morning Edit: What You Missed in Fashion This Weekend
Labubu is basically a slot machine for Gen Z, TheRealReal's data breach disaster, and Apple's retail strategy finally goes mainstream
Happy Monday you angels!
Would you believe me if I told you that it’s only 8 p.m. on Sunday night and I’m done writing this newsletter? Revolutionary, shocking- she’s a brand new bitch!
Today is all about consumer psychology, retail experience updates + understanding Labubus as a millennial.
Let’s get right into it: here’s everything you missed in fashion this weekend in 5 minutes or less!
@localkoreangirl posted a TikTok about TheRealReal canceling her orders 15 minutes after purchase - twice - only for the items to mysteriously disappear from the site entirely. Her theory? An employee was using customer data to cancel orders and snag the good stuff for themselves. Plot twist: TheRealReal confirmed her suspicions, admitting an employee had abused their access to personal information to manipulate the system. This isn't just bad customer service - it's a massive data breach where staff used order numbers, emails, and purchase details for personal gain. The fact that this happened twice to the same customer suggests either terrible internal controls or this behavior was more widespread than they're letting on. TheRealReal's whole value prop is exclusive access to authenticated luxury pieces, but if employees are cherry-picking inventory using customer information, what exactly are you paying premium consignment fees for?
Shein's transport emissions jumped 13.7% in 2024 to 8.52 million metric tons - more than triple Zara's parent company Inditex - because their business model literally depends on air-freighting $5 tops from China to everywhere else on earth. While normal retailers use container ships, Shein flies everything to meet their ultra-fast fashion promises, which is about as environmentally friendly as it sounds. France's Senate just unanimously voted on an amended bill to ban Shein advertising entirely over environmental concerns, and honestly, when your transport footprint alone is triple your biggest competitor's, the "we produce-to-demand with less waste" defense starts looking pretty weak. They're promising to produce closer to customers through Brazil and Turkey facilities, but you can't build an empire on airplane-shipped fast fashion and pretend physics don't apply to your carbon footprint.
Apparel prices fell 0.4% in May despite tariffs kicking in, which tells you everything about how terrified brands are of losing customers right now. Instead of passing along costs, retailers are choosing to sacrifice margins in the name of retention - but this is all pain delayed, not avoided. Brands stocked up before tariffs hit (i.e. we saw GDP shrink but brands have been able to hold pricing steady), but the real impact will come when that inventory runs out and they're forced to either raise prices (risking customer exodus) or keep absorbing costs (killing margins) which feels like the most gnarly game of heads or tails ever. What's strategic here is that brands clearly learned from post-pandemic pricing backlash (hello the collapse of the luxury market over the last 18-24 months) and know exactly where their limits are (maybe) - they'd rather eat tariff costs than test customer tolerance again. The bigger warning sign is China, where $30 Coach bags are showing up at discount retailers amid deflation (woof), proving that no market is immune to broad economic pressures.
Labubu's psychological warfare on your wallet is a masterclass in addictive product design that every retailer should study (and consumers should probably fear). The blind box + artificial scarcity combo creates a variable ratio reinforcement schedule - literally the same reward system that makes slot machines so addictive. You're not just buying a $25 plush toy; you're buying a 1-in-72 lottery ticket for the rare one that resells for $500+ on StockX. Pop Mart has essentially gamified (gag me) collectibles by combining FOMO (gag me again but: limited drops that crash websites), mystery (blind boxes), and status signaling (celebrities wearing them = social proof) into one perfectly engineered dopamine trap. The genius is that "failure" still gives you something cute (???) to keep, so the psychological sting of not winning is softened just enough to keep you coming back. When your product strategy depends on customers buying dozens of $25 boxes chasing a rare variant, you're not really selling toys - you're selling the chance of getting something special, which is infinitely more valuable (and profitable) than the actual product.
Glossier and Mejuri figured out how to solve retail's most annoying problem - though let's be real, Apple pioneered this approach - and the broader industry is finally catching on: the pushy associate making random, impersonal suggestions the second you walk in. Their mobile POS strategy isn't really about the technology itself, it's about completely reimagining the brick & mortar sales psychology to feel less transactional and more “consultative” i.e finally catching up to what consumers have been asking for since the dawn of time. Instead of corporate-mandated sales scripts based on imaginary ICPs, associates actually take time to understand individual shoppers and their specific needs (groundbreaking). Rather than being stationed around a store waiting to pounce, they roam and let customers explore first, then engage when there's genuine interest - ie someone actually needs to see a product or has questions. It's such a simple concept for a better sales funnel, but somehow revolutionary in practice. The checkout-anywhere model removes that artificial herding feeling that makes shopping feel transactional; modern consumers want to discover on their own terms, not be immediately categorized and pitched to by someone who knows nothing about them. The business benefits are obvious: better customer experience drives retention, associates who understand browsing behavior give better recommendations (hello increased AOV + UPT), and you reclaim valuable square footage for brand-building instead of dedicating it to a glorified cash register. In an era where customers can buy anything online instantly, the in-store experience needs to offer genuine discovery and connection - not just another place to complete a transaction.
If you want to fill out this survey for me I would love you 4ever!
I’m taking advantage of all the extra time I left myself in the day today and signing off from this quick. See you Thursday!
xoxo,
carly