Luxury Loses Streetwear

LVMH shakes off streetwear, Instagram guides creators, and Sony switches out CEOs

How is it midweek already? If you’re in Los Angeles this weekend, here’s a fun experience to check out: LEGO is launching a family-friendly event for the rollout of its latest toy collab with Pharrell on the Over the Moon set. On October 5th, kids and adults can enjoy music, customize T-shirts, and of course, build LEGOs. All-ages fun, if we do say so ourselves.

DAILY TOP TRENDS

LVMH Offloads Off-White

Courtesy of Off-White via Amazon

French-fashion juggernaut LVMH is selling the Virgil Abloh-founded streetwear label Off-White to brand management firm Bluestar Alliance.

The Big Picture: The sale of Off-White shows how founding designers and their labels are often intrinsically combined. When talent has left, the brand may be little more than just a name.

Between the Threads: Bluestar Alliance — which counts Hurley, Scotch & Soda, English Laundry, and Bebe in its portfolio — is now charged with finding a new life for Off-White.

  • Bluestar acquired the brand from LVMH for an undisclosed amount (LVMH owned 60% of Off-White, while Farfetch owns 40%).

  • The brand, which now counts stylist and magazine editor Ib Kamara as creative director, hasn’t regained its cultural footing after Abloh shockingly died from cancer at 41 in December 2021.

  • While Bluestar says it plans to “honor and build upon the enduring legacy of Virgil Abloh,” Abloh’s estate no longer has any affiliation with the brand. Virgil Abloh Securities, run by Virgil’s widow Shannon Abloh, concluded its partnership with Off-White in 2022.

The Future: LVMH acquired Off-White through Abloh’s LLC in July 2021 when Abloh was already acting as the artistic director of LVMH’s flagship brand, Louis Vuitton. The luxury house hoped to bring more of Abloh’s creations into the fold and have him play a bigger part across all of its brands. That, unfortunately, never came to pass. 

The sale of Off-White is a rare divestment for LVMH, demonstrating that without Abloh’s fame and creative vision, streetwear may no longer be of much interest to the conglomerate… or to the luxury industry at large.

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Instagram Gives Creators A Blueprint To Go Viral

InstaWin // Illustration by by Kait Cunniff with DALL-E 3

Instagram rolled out a new tool called “best practices” that coaches creators and businesses on how to optimize their content to be most successful on the platform — tips cultivated by Instagram itself and from surveying creators.

Why It Engages: When creators are successful, so is the social platform on which they post. Instagram’s new feature could spark other platforms to give creators the inside scoop on how to game the system… ensuring that no one complains about the mystery of the “algo.”

Behind the Scenes: Every professional account on Instagram is getting some professional help when it comes to making, posting, and monetizing their content.

  • The tool is accessible through the professional dashboard, so sorry to all the regular users out there.

  • But Mia Sato of The Verge shared some of the tips, including the obvious like “track long-term follower growth” and “consistently post more,” and the more curious, like Reels being over 90 seconds will keep them from being recommended to new users.

Closing Thoughts: Instagram’s priorities seem to be always shifting, so seeing what “best practices” recommend is a great way to stay on trend. The 90-second Reel suggestion shows that Instagram is focused on promoting short short-form content. That makes sense when “views” and “how often content is shared” are now the top metrics for success on the platform — Instagram wants TikTok-like virality. Don’t be surprised if you see creators following the recommendations to the letter to make that dream come true.

DEEP DIVES

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55.5% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Did you take a slow vacation this summer?

“I hate the word ‘itinerary.’”

“I did not take any vacation this summer. I can’t afford to vacation. I work seasonally in a resort town; summer is when I manage to work. I’m now working part-time minimum wage until next summer. I can’t afford a vacation.”

“It started on Jan. 1st. I’m retired, and every day is a holiday vacation.”

“I took two! And I have never felt so refreshed.”

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QUICK HITS

→ Entertainment / Media

🤝 Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra is stepping down and being replaced by president and COO Ravi Ahuja in a planned succession move.

📺 Disney is folding ABC Signature into 20th Television, fueling further consolidation in the entertainment industry.

🎞️ Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror movie The Substance is upstart distributor Mubi’s biggest box-office success to date with $14.8 million in 10 days.

→ Technology

🤖 AI-chip startup Cerebras, a rival to Nvidia, has filed to go public in 2025.

👨‍⚖️ Epic Games is suing Google and Samsung for allegedly colluding to block third-party app stores.

🔘 After a decade of touch-screen dominance, tech companies are rediscovering the joys of physical buttons.

→ Fashion / E-commerce

🪧 Union dockworkers at several US ports have gone on strike after failing to reach a contract deal with employers… which will most likely kneecap the supply chain and your holiday shopping.

⌚ Tom Brady is teaming up with Sotheby’s to sell several of his watches and other personal items. (Side note: the auction is titled “The GOAT Collection.” Amazing.)

⚽ FIFA is kicking off its own fashion line next spring under the brand FIFA 1904.

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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.

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