Brands like Bubble, Starface and Byoma rode TikTok-native aesthetics to win Gen-Z hearts and Sephora shelf space with plush mascots, playful stickers and sensorial jelly textures. Founders close in age to their audience moved fast, crowd-sourced ideas and mastered algorithms. Now the oldest Gen-Z consumers are nearing 30 and looking for fewer gimmicks and more proof that formulas work.
In this episode, senior beauty correspondent Daniela Morosini unpacks what still resonates, where the “dopamine” look carries a credibility tax, and why channel strategy, product performance and smart casting matter more than ever.
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📷 Bubble Skincare, Starface, Byoma
This fashion month arrives after years of post-pandemic boom giving way to a sharp slowdown in luxury demand. Weaker consumer confidence in China, pressure on aspirational shoppers and a wave of price hikes have left many brands struggling to keep momentum. To win back customers and justify higher prices, luxury houses are turning to new creative leadership. Runway debuts won’t provide complete solutions, but they will offer early signals of strategy, with some brands leaning into craftsmanship and heritage while others chase louder fashion moments.
Alongside executive editor Brian Baskin (@bbaskin512 ) and senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young (@sheena.butler.young ), luxury editor Robert Williams (@robert.williams.writes ) details why the real test will come in the weeks after the shows, when follow-through determines whether excitement lasts.
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📷 BoF Team
After a post-pandemic high, the fashion industry is facing a hard crisis. Growth has cooled, prices have surged, quality is under scrutiny and aspirational shoppers feel shut out, all while macro uncertainty dents confidence.
The industry is focused on a slew of shows where new designers are set to debut their visions, but this will not be enough to break out its malaise. Over the summer, the BoF editorial team has been working hard on a series of articles breaking down the various challenges that are facing fashion, from macroeconomic challenges, to trust issues and yes, a creative slump.
This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed (@imranamed ) switches roles, inviting executive editor Brian Baskin (@bbaskin512 ) to lead the conversation. Amed shares his views on one of the most consequential fashion seasons in years, with the luxury industry in a phase of deep reflection and potential transformation.
Drawing from months of reporting and industry insight, Amed and Baskin outline why inflated prices, diluted creativity and a lack of connection with next-gen customers have created a perfect storm — and how the debuts of new creative directors at major houses could be a beginning of fashion’s great reset.
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Nike has been synonymous with sports for decades, but that cultural and commercial cachet has mostly been driven by male athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods (Serena Williams being a prominent exception). As a result, despite substantial sales, Nike historically struggled to resonate authentically with women, and has at times faced pointed criticism from female athletes, employees and consumers.
That appears to be changing. Nike’s “So Win” campaign, which launched with the brand’s first Super Bowl ad in decades, centres entirely on female athletes. A’ja Wilson’s sneaker release was a smash, and a new brand with Kim Kardashian’s Skims will be out soon. The head of Nike Women’s now leads the entire Nike brand.
Sheena Butler-Young and Brian Baskin delve into whether this year’s high-profile campaigns, critical executive changes and a blockbuster sneaker release signal a newfound focus on female athletes.
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📷 Courtesy/Nike, Getty Images
President Donald Trump announced an unprecedented wave of tariffs on April 2, imposing duties as high as 54 percent on fashion imports from key manufacturing countries, including China and Vietnam, and 20 percent on goods from the EU. These measures immediately sparked panic across global markets, ratcheting up the odds of a US recession and causing sharp stock price declines for major fashion brands such as Nike, Victoria’s Secret and VF Corp.
Sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent and luxury correspondent Simone Stern Carbone join executive editor Brian Baskin and senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young to break down the tariffs’ effects on manufacturing, luxury brands, consumer behaviour and potential future shifts within the industry.
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📷 Getty Images
After a prolonged slowdown, fashion’s M&A market is springing back to life. A combination of falling interest rates, shifting investor sentiment and optimism around economic policy has fuelled a wave of early 2025 deals. Within the first few weeks of the year, brands like True Religion and Kapital were acquired by private equity firms and holding companies, signalling renewed confidence in fashion investments.
This week on The Debrief, executive editor Brian Baskin and senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young sat down with e-commerce correspondent Malique Morris to unpack the forces driving new deals, which brands could be next, and what buyers are looking for in 2025.
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📷 @truereligion
The fashion workplace is evolving at a rapid pace, shaped by a wave of technological advancements, leadership changes, and shifting cultural dynamics. Hybrid and remote work, economic uncertainty, and generative AI are reshaping how teams collaborate and engage. For many employees, adapting to these changes has become a defining challenge, while employers must navigate how to foster connection, retain talent, and drive innovation.
This week on The Debrief, executive editor Brian Baskin (@bbaskin512 ) and senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young (@sheena.butler.young ) sit down with BoF’s commercial features editorial director Sophie Soar (@sjsoar ) to unpack how businesses can create thriving workplaces in 2025, the role of soft skills in a tech-driven era, and what it takes to re-engage an increasingly disconnected workforce.
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The influencer landscape has shifted dramatically over the last decade. While the image of influencers posting flawless selfies on exotic, brand-sponsored trips still resonates, the reality has become far more complex. Influencers now host live shoppable streams, publish newsletters on Substack and engage in intimate group chats. Their goal is not just to build a following and wait for brands to come calling, but to establish multiple sources of income through affiliate links, brand deals, and subscription models.
In this episode of The Debrief, BoF's executive editor Brian Baskin sits down with senior news and features editor Diana Pearl to discuss how today’s influencers are attempting to assert greater control over their content and revenue.
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Proud to be making my acting debut in this fabulous show with this fabulous cast! War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast opens at The Studio Playhouse in Montclair on 2/29.
