The Sakspocalypse and a Burberry Question Mark

Summary

Podcast Summary: Fashion People – "The Sakspocalypse and a Burberry Question Mark"

Release Date: February 25, 2025
Hosts: Lauren Sherman and Becky Malinsky
Podcast: Fashion People by Audacy | Puck

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Introduction

In this episode of Fashion People, host Lauren Sherman is joined by writer and stylist Becky Malinsky to delve into the latest happenings in the fashion industry. They explore a range of topics from the recent Burberry show to significant shifts in the retail landscape, including the tumultuous merger between Saks and Neiman Marcus. The duo also examines the strategic partnership between Nike and Skims, offering insights and personal anecdotes from their experiences in London Fashion Week.

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Burberry Show Review

Lauren and Becky kick off the discussion with their impressions of the Burberry show.

• Lauren Sherman ([04:04]): "I thought it was great coats. It looked like the wardrobe of a British woman... lots of long skirts and boots, which is a thing we are seeing a lot this season."

• Becky Malinsky ([05:18]): "I especially loved those barn jackets, the floral barn jackets. And then they were decked out in diamonds."

They commend the show for its modern take under Christopher Bailey's direction, highlighting the quality of fabrics and the cohesive British aesthetic.

• Lauren Sherman ([05:44]): "I felt like a good Christopher Bailey show. If Christopher Bailey was the designer of Burberry now, I don't think it would look that different from what we saw tonight."

The hosts appreciate the balance Burberry maintains between tradition and contemporary fashion, noting the practical yet stylish outerwear showcased.

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London Fashion Week and Street Style Observations

Transitioning to London Fashion Week, Lauren shares her bustling itinerary, including interviews and gallery visits, while Becky discusses her return to London after a decade.

• Becky Malinsky ([12:15]): "It's really exciting to be back on the street and seeing what people are wearing and being in all the little shops because there's so much more discovery here than in New York."

They compare the street style dynamics between London and other fashion capitals, emphasizing London's acceptance of diverse and experimental fashion choices.

• Becky Malinsky ([20:40]): "I think it looks less out of place to be dressed up during the day here. So like when I'm in New York I always feel like I have to have an element of casual or you feel slightly out of place."

Lauren adds her observations on the evolving retail spaces in London, reminiscing about iconic stores like Topshop and lamenting their closures.

• Lauren Sherman ([24:09]): "The basement, where they had all the sort of outside vendors was so fun. They had amazing shoes. It was a great store."

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Retail Developments: The "Sakspocalypse"

A significant portion of the episode tackles the "Sakspocalypse," referring to Saks Fifth Avenue's recent merger with Neiman Marcus and the ensuing financial turmoil.

• Lauren Sherman ([23:09]): "Saks did this merger with Neiman Marcus Group. They acquired it. They had to raise $2 billion in debt to acquire it."

The hosts dissect the implications of Saks' decision to extend payment periods to vendors from 30 to 90 days, discussing its impact on designers and the broader retail ecosystem.

• Becky Malinsky ([30:11]): "There is just no inventory in stores. And it's really hard when someone wants to go to a store and try something on and the answer for every single thing becomes, well, we can order your size because in that case I could stay home."

They explore the challenges faced by both retailers and designers, questioning the sustainability of such financial maneuvers and their long-term effects on the fashion industry.

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Nike and Skims Collaboration

Shifting focus, Lauren and Becky delve into the groundbreaking partnership between Nike and Skims, analyzing its potential to reshape the athleisure and intimate apparel markets.

• Becky Malinsky ([39:15]): "At first I found it slightly annoying. Like my first reaction was, why can't Nike just do a good job designing Women's? It just doesn't seem that complicated."

However, Becky acknowledges the strategic alignment of Nike's brand strength with Skims' market understanding, ultimately endorsing the collaboration.

• Becky Malinsky ([40:19]): "So it's sort of like a very easy way to capture that audience. So I don't know. I'm into it."

Lauren contemplates the future of this partnership, speculating on potential acquisitions and its significance within Kim Kardashian's expanding fashion empire.

• Lauren Sherman ([42:01]): "My whole thing is like, I wonder if this would lead to an acquisition because the reality of it is that would be an amazing exit for the greeds and also for Kardashian."

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Personal Anecdotes and Final Thoughts

Throughout the episode, Lauren and Becky share personal stories that illuminate their professional experiences and observations.

• Lauren Sherman ([14:25]): "I wrote exactly what she was wearing, but it was so... it looked perfect."

They reminisce about favorite London stores, discuss the changing landscape of high street fashion, and express optimism for future industry developments despite current challenges.

• Becky Malinsky ([36:33]): "It's the industry at an impasse. I don't think anyone really knows the answer."

In concluding remarks, they highlight upcoming events like Milan Fashion Week and express excitement for future episodes that will continue to unpack the evolving narratives within the fashion world.

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Conclusion

"The Sakspocalypse and a Burberry Question Mark" offers listeners an in-depth look at pivotal moments in the fashion industry, from high-profile runway shows to seismic shifts in retail operations. Lauren Sherman and Becky Malinsky provide expert analysis, enriched with personal insights and firsthand experiences, making this episode a valuable resource for anyone keen on understanding the intricate dynamics of fashion today.

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Notable Quotes:

• Burberry Show Quality
  Lauren Sherman ([04:04]): "It looked like the wardrobe of a British woman... lots of long skirts and boots, which is a thing we are seeing a lot this season."

• Retail Challenges with Saks
  Becky Malinsky ([30:11]): "There is just no inventory in stores... we can order your size because in that case I could stay home."

• Nike and Skims Strategy
  Becky Malinsky ([39:15]): "At first I found it slightly annoying. Like my first reaction was, why can't Nike just do a good job designing Women's?"

---

This detailed summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting key discussions and insights shared by Lauren and Becky. Whether you're a fashion enthusiast or industry professional, this episode provides valuable perspectives on current trends and challenges in the fashion world.

Transcript

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[Lauren Sherman]

Hello and welcome to Fashion People. I'm Lauren Sherman, writer of Puck's Fashion and beauty Memo line sheet. And today with me on the show is writer and stylist Becky Malinsky. We're talking Sax skims by Nike, London street style, the Burberry show and so much more. Happy Tuesday everyone. I am in London. It's been a busy few days. I landed in New York very late on Friday night. Then Saturday morning I went up to Columbia Business School to interview Alex Mill chairman Mickey Drexler at their annual Retail and Luxury goods conference. Thank you to everybody at the Retail and Luxury Goods Club for having me. And thank you to Mickey for inviting me. It was. We had a really good chat. It was not recorded, so I hope you were in the room then. I spent all day Saturday going to galleries and shopping and eating. I loved my sandwich and salad at Gem Home. I highly recommend it. It's on Mott Street. Although I will say I felt incredibly old. I would say it's really good to Go there if you want to see how young people dress. Young, affluent, cool people dress. But the key I, I've heard is if you are older like me, go in the mornings during the week or at night. It ages up a bit. Don't go at noon on a Saturday if you are a 42 year old mom. That night I flew to London. I landed in London on Sunday morning. I went to the Amelia Wickstead show and then Simone Rocha and then I had dinner with my friend Emily Cronin and then we went over to Session Arts Club for the British Fashion Council's London Fashion Week cocktail. Then on Monday I did meetings, I did some people watching and then I went to Burberry. So Becky and I are gonna get into all of that and more and be sure to check out line sheet this week I've got some updates on Saks Global, a very interesting look into the Murakami by Louis Vuitton strategy, what else is planned, how the deal is structured, that sort of thing. And I am also looking at what's happening behind the scenes at Savage by Fenty, including a fundraise, executive changes and more. And be sure to check out Sarah's Tuesday story on madewell. I'm recording this on Monday, so if it doesn't go through, we are writing something about madewell someday. But I hope you enjoy this with Becky. Becky Malinski, welcome to Fashion People.

[Becky Malinsky]

Thank you. Lauren.

[Lauren Sherman]

I just saw you five minutes ago or 30 minutes ago.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah. Great to see you digitally.

[Lauren Sherman]

Thanks for the ride home.

[Becky Malinsky]

You're so welcome.

[Lauren Sherman]

So we just got out of the Burberry show.

[Becky Malinsky]

We did. We liked it.

[Lauren Sherman]

I thought it was great. Yeah, I thought it was good. I don't, I don't want to get. You know when you go to something and you have no expectations and you're like, that was actually really nice. And then you get very excited about it and then you think about it three months later and you're like, I need to chill out.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yes. But it was a really lovely show. There were beautiful coats, there were dresses which we talked about last time I was on the podcast talking about Burberry.

[Lauren Sherman]

Great boots.

[Becky Malinsky]

Great boots.

[Lauren Sherman]

It felt like to me like a good Christopher Bailey show. Like a modern. If Christopher Bailey was the designer of Burberry now, I don't think it would look that different from what we saw tonight. And I mean that as a compliment. Like, it was great coats. It looked like the wardrobe of a British woman and what she would wear, lots of long skirts and boots, which is a Thing we are seeing a lot this season. But, you know, the one thing about Burberry and I haven't gone to a show since Daniel Lee was the designer. And I don't think I ever went to a Ricardo Tisci show. Cause I never come to London Fashion Week normally. But I just think the fabrics are really nice.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah, the fabrics looked great. I especially loved those barn jackets, the floral barn jackets. And then they were decked out in diamonds. And it just. Yeah, it looked like what these girls are going to want to wear.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah. I think I would like a pair of. I definitely need thigh high boots. And I was like, yes. Don't you feel like it feels like the right boot right now to wear with the pencil skirt?

[Becky Malinsky]

Oh, right. To wear with the row pencil skirt.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah, with the row pencil skirt. But the issue is the ones that look good with the real pencil skirt are the ones from the row. And those are not in my budget.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yes. But there's actually. There's a pair from Le Monde Barrel that's not thigh high, but pretty high that looks similar, really straight that I think would look really good with that skirt.

[Lauren Sherman]

Okay. I like how tight the ones from the row are.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yes.

[Lauren Sherman]

But I thought that Burberry did a great high heel, thigh high boot.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah. I loved the flat boot, actually. They had a little riding buckle on the very back. And it had a kind of a. Almost like a hybrid square almond toe. I don't know. It's just like a really nice shape. I really liked it.

[Lauren Sherman]

I also really like the riding pants. Is that what you would call them? The sort of legging and the shorter cropped leather generally. Look, there have been a lot of rumors about whether Daniel Lee is staying or not. Becky, I won't ask you to address them. But what I will say is that there was a report in WWD last week that he is probably gonna leave in August, which seems like such a random month to focus on. But what I will say is look like whatever Josh Shulman is doing there. I thought. I actually have thought that there were a couple of the fall collections for Burberry are always better because it is about outerwear. I think from what Josh Shulman has said in the press, and he's talked a lot about weather and it being about these sort of hero pieces. And they need to do scarves. Well, they need to do jackets. Well, they need to do coats, duffels, trenches, obviously, boots. It wasn't this. The show was. There were lots of nice bags, but it wasn't about the bags. And I'D say whatever he and Daniel Lee have done together, that is moving in the right direction. So whether Daniel's staying or not, I think you can look at this phase of his career and say maybe it didn't get off to the best start, but this is. He's proven with this collection that he can build a commercial collection that is appropriate for the kind of brand Burberry is. And so I thought it was a good direction for the company overall. And it was also just a really fun show. Like, great crowd.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah.

[Lauren Sherman]

The guy from Rivals, not my favorite, but one of the guys from Rivals.

[Becky Malinsky]

I was right behind a few select. I was right behind Nicola Peltz and Brooklyn Beckham.

[Lauren Sherman]

Oh, great.

[Becky Malinsky]

And the guy from the great what?

[Lauren Sherman]

Nicholas Holt.

[Becky Malinsky]

Nicholas Holt, who is so adorable.

[Lauren Sherman]

He's so cute. You know, I think he used to go out with Jennifer Lawrence.

[Becky Malinsky]

Oh, that's cute.

[Lauren Sherman]

I texted my friend about. Did you watch Rivals?

[Becky Malinsky]

No. Should I?

[Lauren Sherman]

It might be too trashy for you.

[Becky Malinsky]

I don't discriminate TV.

[Lauren Sherman]

I think you should watch this. It's like eight episodes and it has really great 80s fashion. But there she was like, it was not my guy from Rivals, but it's the main guy who a lot of people. And he was in a Burberry campaign. Also, lots of stunt casting.

[Becky Malinsky]

Lots of stunt casting. You're right. That was cool. I liked. I always like to see that because I also like to see how quote unquote, real people walk because you notice it so much when they're walking behind a model. It's so interesting.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes. Who is the guy? The producer who's also an actor? Richard, but Richard E. Grant, who's like.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lauren Sherman]

You know, he's like a British actor.

[Becky Malinsky]

Oh, Saltburn.

[Lauren Sherman]

He's in everything. He was in everything. Also the woman from what's the Paul Thomas Anderson movie. Phantom Thread was one of those women was. Oh, here we go. Oh, Leslie Manville and Jason Isaacs, who's in the new White Lotus walked to. He looked great. Leslie Manville is fabulous. She looked really good. She's in Phantom Thread. Right. She plays this. Have you seen Phantom Thread?

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah, but so long ago now that I can't remember anyone except Daniel day Lewis.

[Lauren Sherman]

Very 2017. Oh, yeah. She. I think she plays his sister. I thought it was going to be Kate Winslet for a minute because she's in the new campaign with Richard E. Grant. She was not. So I guess she was like, I'm not going to engage with that. But at Simone Rocha yesterday, Fiona Shaw walked Alexa Chung, that woman, Andrea, who. Who had the sort of half illegal Oscar campaign. Andrea Riseborough. Do you know about that?

[Becky Malinsky]

No.

[Lauren Sherman]

You should listen. Google it. Just google Matt Bellamy and Andrea Riseborough and a lot of fun stuff comes up. But it's interesting because I feel like they are riffing on the Prada casting and this idea of like, actors are real people in a way. And so you're right, the walk is always. It's really fascinating. Oh, sheet. Honey, chill. It's just laundry. Not that I'm talking about these Arm and Hammer Power sheets. All the power of Arm and Hammer laundry detergent in a convenient tossable sheet. Oh, sheet. That's what I'm saying. And Arm and Hammer Power sheets deliver an effective clean at a great price. Think of all the laundry we'll do and all the money we'll save. Oh, sheet. Arm and Hammer. More power to you.

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[Lauren Sherman]

You only went to this show, right? So, from afar, what have you thought about London Fashion Week?

[Becky Malinsky]

To be honest, I haven't looked at it all yet. I kind of do. I'm gonna do a little inventory tomorrow. Once it's all over I'm here, I'm trying to do some street reporting and really observe what's happening in the stores. And I haven't been to London in 10 years, which feels crazy, but I guess. I guess Covid was like four of them, so.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes.

[Becky Malinsky]

So it's really exciting to be back on the street and seeing what people are wearing and being in all the little shops because there's so much more discovery here than in New York. You know, like, small retail still exists.

[Lauren Sherman]

Totally. What have you seen today or observed that you think is so? I would say I only went to a couple shows, but I've looked at a lot of them and there's been a. There's a lot of really interesting stuff here. And if you have the time, it's worth coming here. But the thing that I've gotten the most sort of pleasure and information from is just watching people on the streets and going and seeing the different developments in shopping. Like, Sloan Square has become really developed from a retail perspective. And I'm staying near Cold Drop Yard, which has developed over the last decade. And it's interesting to see these pockets of retail pop up and what the local. Like I keep seeing Heidi Klein, like these local brands that I forgot. Oh, yeah, that still exists, that type of thing. But what did you see today that caught your eye?

[Becky Malinsky]

Well, I'm trying to hit all of the little British shops. So I started at Margaret Howell, where I immediately bought the Mizuno Collab sneakers.

[Lauren Sherman]

I also went into Margaret Howell. I have those already. But I saw the Mizuno activewear and I was like, oh, Becky. And then also there was all this green, this very particular green color of a cotton skirt. And I thought of you too.

[Becky Malinsky]

Thanks. Yeah, I love it there. I also love the way that they organize the store. I think everyone now tries to curate home goods, but everything felt. The home goods all felt buyable, if that makes sense. Like, I was like, oh, I want that little knickknack.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes.

[Becky Malinsky]

So that was really pretty. I went to Studio Nicholson, which I wanted to go see in person. I went to this old, old umbrella store today and I ended up talking to the guy there for like a half hour. I googled old fancy umbrella store in London and I went there and it was really amazing. That's why I was a little late to dinner because I was talking to this guy about how they carve the animal heads in the basement of the shop.

[Lauren Sherman]

Oh, my God.

[Becky Malinsky]

Because, like kind of what you were saying about Burberry and focusing on weather, I'm like very focused on how the Brits do weather right now. Like I loved in the show.

[Lauren Sherman]

What is the show called?

[Becky Malinsky]

It's called James Smith and Sons. Like I loved in the show how they had the bamboo handle umbrellas. Like they were carrying that instead of a bag. And it's like, oh, that's so charming at this show. It's amazing. You should all go.

[Lauren Sherman]

I walked past Chiltern Firehouse to see what was going on there. It's all boarded up. Of course, the boarded up is like a really nice brick red.

[Becky Malinsky]

Well, it's going to be that way for a very long time.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah, it's very sad. I went down the street, there's a store that I had not. I went into Trunk, which is like a good menswear store.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah, maybe I should go there tomorrow too.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah, I like, like Just seeing the other ancillary brands they sell and like, what silhouettes there. It's nice. They have the Asahi sneakers that I can't get in my size because the men's are too big and the women's are too small. It's very annoying. But I went to the store called Mookimu.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah, I have that on the list.

[Lauren Sherman]

Mou k I mou a reader or a line or a fashion people listener who know DM me and said, oh, you should go. They sell orally. They did not have any orally, but it's very interesting. So you. You walk in and it's all fine jewelry. And I was like, do you have clothes downstairs? And she said, yes. So you go downstairs and it's a lot of like Casey Casey. And for anyone who's been to Noodle Stories in la, it's very similar. Like they have doosan. So it's like mostly Japanese and then mixed in with like a couple western brands. But there was like a lot of Casey Casey, a lot of Doosan. And then I walk it and then there's all these other rooms. So you keep walking in and you go for more and more rooms. And one room had a very robust rack of carving. And it was interesting because it looked. It was. There were. Because I was concerned about the fab fabrication. There were a pair of pants that were so heavy and I was like, this is not. You can't wear these. They would literally fall off. They're so heavy. But there was a few trenches and some really nice stuff that I thought bode well for Bottega. It was interesting because they bought. And this is. You can tell these. These kinds of stores, they tend to like, not chase trends in any way. And they only buy into stuff that they had a whole. I was shocked. Like, it was. The other brands were all like mixed in. The carbon stuff was. Was one on its own. They also had form.

[Becky Malinsky]

Oh, really interesting.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah, it was. It was interesting. You're right that there are. There's more discovery here. And you can just tell looking at people on the street. Like, the first thing I noticed yesterday is every. The guy's hair is more styled. Like they use more hair product. There's more like mullets. Like the guy at Margaret Howell has a mall had a mullet. There's more like effort made into grooming and things. And like the women that do wear makeup, it's a little more obvious, I would say. But then it was also interesting. I observed this one woman that reminded me of you and leandra in terms of just having great personal style. She was wearing a pair of boot cut jeans, a pair of very simple black boots and then a black turtleneck. And she was carrying a vintage class bag that reminded me of that old Celine clasp bag, kind of one of those lady bags. And hers was vintage and in brown. And then on top of the turtleneck she had on a short cape that was in burnt out velvet. Do you remember that like burnout velvet leaf pattern that was very popular, has like gone in and out of style over the years. And the thing is like you have to make an effort to put that together. And it looked perfect. It looked good.

[Becky Malinsky]

Did you take a picture?

[Lauren Sherman]

No, I wrote exactly what she was wearing, but it was so. And her boyfriend looked good too. He had on like a worn out rugby and chinos and a worn out hat. And he was wearing that boot brand that that LVMH used to own, that's called. It's Australian RM Williams. And so they just looked and this was in Sloan Square. But then on the other hand I saw on the way there getting off the train, there was a woman who was in all black, she was wearing fake the row loafers, she had a fake black Bottega bag. She had a wool coat that had sort of a fringe at the bottom that reminded me of like a totem type style thing. And then gold earrings. And I looked at her and I thought she technically has all the right things. But it was like the high street threw up on her in black. But it's just interesting because like in New York people have amazing style too. And maybe it's because I'm coming from LA where there are people with great style, but you just don't see as many people. But I do think here people put more into it and have a little more fun with clothes. Not as precious maybe.

[Becky Malinsky]

I think it looks less out of place to be dressed up during the day here. So like when I'm in New York I always feel like I have to have an element of casual or you feel slightly out of place. And here I could wear a heeled boot all day long and never feel awkward.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes.

[Becky Malinsky]

So I think there's a bit more acceptance for getting dressed still here that allows people to experiment a little bit more.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes. And I, yeah, I met with some people from ME and M today and they were saying here it's like anything goes. Whereas in America in particular it's much more focused on outfits and finding the right, the head to toe look. And yeah, it's just, it's fun and you can have, you can mess up here more and that's sort of acceptable of that's part of like play where I don't feel like that in France. I think in France you're supposed to look like chic all the time, whereas here you can kind of try different things and push a little further and it's, it's acceptable which is, it's nice. It's, it's so fun and also it's so pretty here, which is another.

[Becky Malinsky]

We'Re.

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[Lauren Sherman]

So we have much more to discuss. Also, there was a tracksmith on Chiltern, right next to Chiltern Firehouse, which I thought was interesting. Congrats to them. The one other retail thing. And then let's talk what the rest of the news is. I walked out of. I was going to Arquette to buy my kid a whole new wardrobe yesterday and I went to the Regent street one. So I got out at Oxford Circus. I step out and I've. I lived here for two years in the 2000s. I worked for a company here for 10 years. I would come here three or four times here. I've probably been here 30 times in the last 15 years. Maybe, maybe more. Honestly, I walked out. I know Topshop is done, but I walk out and the big top shop on Oxford street is now an Ikea. And I was like, oh my God, my whole life. Like it was such a big part of my life and it's just gone. It's an Ikea.

[Becky Malinsky]

I still remember this dress I bought in college in the basement of that Topshop in the vintage section Remember that? It was like. It was his shirt, I think. But I wore it as a dress, like, out every night my entire junior year.

[Lauren Sherman]

The basement, where they had all the sort of outside vendors was so fun. They had amazing shoes. It was a great store. They had such good stuff. And I remember there would be. There was, like, a quote from Gwyneth Paltrow being like, I love. And she was already in her, like, late 30s. She's shopping at Topshop. It was just so communal and there was so much cool stuff there. There's not like that right now and maybe there will be again, but it was such a. Just such a fabulous place where, like, everybody shopped and everybody. You found, like, you found treasures. Even though it was high street and it was accessible, it was just super fun and it's such an amazing experience. I remember when I studied abroad here, I had to get a job at the Gap because I spent so much money on Top Shop. Like, I spent all my savings. So I was like, I guess I'm going to just get a job at the Gap because I, like, spent all my savings that I should have got.

[Becky Malinsky]

A job at Topshop, got a discount.

[Lauren Sherman]

I know, but it was like, I was American. It was easy to get a job at the Gap.

[Becky Malinsky]

I'm trying to think of what the equivalent now would be that everyone shops at. I think it's Uniqlo, but it's not exciting like that.

[Lauren Sherman]

It's not fun like that. And there's nothing.

[Becky Malinsky]

It's the only place now that everyone shops at it. Yeah.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes. But there was something about it that. That stuff felt really special. And I don't think there's anywhere on the high street now where the stuff feels so special because also it's so much more accessible to us online. So it did. It was also a thing of, like, you only could get it in the UK for a long time. And so remember when they started selling internationally, it was this huge thing and it kind of lost a little bit of the allure. Like, as much as I want Arquette to sell, at least ship internationally because I need to clothe my child and that it is the only acceptable clothing. I don't like. I kind of don't want it to because it's. Then it won't be special, that sort of thing. I don't know. So let's talk about the sex situation. Talking about retail. Let's move to the us. I've been writing about what's happening at Saks and so have many other people. There was. We don't need to go into it. You can go on Instagram, Google, Saks global letter or something. But essentially Saks did this merger with Neiman Marcus Group. They acquired it. They had to raise $2 billion in debt to acquire it. They did a deal with Amazon, they did a deal with Shopify. Maybe not Shopify, but there's a lot of people involved in this whole thing. They owe a lot of their brands, which they call vendors, money from back payments. So Mark Metric, who's the global CEO of Saks, sends this letter out on Valentine's Day saying, we're gonna start, we, they, they never totally stop paying, but essentially saying, we're not going bankrupt, you're gonna get your money, but we need to figure this out, all out. So we're not gonna start paying you until July for the stuff we owe you. And we're gonna give you that money in monthly installments for a year. We'll split up. If we owe you $2 million, we'll split that up over 12 months. The other point that he made was that instead of paying people within 30 days, which essentially the way retail works is you pay people half up front and then you pay the rest. It depends. Every deal is different. But a lot of times you pay people half up front and then you pay people within 30 days of receiving the shipment, the other half. So the half up front allows them to produce the garments and then the other half is the. They delivered them, you get it within 30 days. They are now saying that it's not going to be 30 days, it's going to be 90 days and that's forever. That's a permanent change. They're not going to pay people in 90 days. Essentially. I think the reasoning behind it, if you, if you want to get technical, is that a lot of product sits on the floor for a long time, doesn't get paid. And the system as it works right now doesn't work. People ship late, they get paid late anyway. This, Saks believes, will allow them to more to manage their cash flow better and therefore hopefully manage the cash flow of their partners better. The challenge with that is that like a lot of these companies do not have cash flow that's easy to like. They don't. They are not very liquid. So they rely on these, this money and they're also owed so much on, from, from before in back payments. So I think the biggest issue, honestly, I think if he had said the 90 day thing and gave a good reason, I think if he had also said, we are also gonna just Pay you all immediately what we owe you. I don't think it would have been a big thing, but it has basically become like the craziest situation. Everybody's talking about it, everybody won't shut up about it. I'm getting texts constantly. There's articles. Every website has eight articles. Then there's also this issue where they've been taking longer to refund customers. They don't have invent. Like there's, there's inventory issues because people aren't shipping to them because they haven't paid them. It's. It's a catastrophe for sure. And I have one item on Monday. I'm hoping that I don't have to write about this for a few weeks and give it a beat and maybe things will settle. But I'm curious from your perspective, what you think generally, but also as someone who. Your personal stylist, you help people, real people shop for clothes. Like, what is your experience of all this from that side?

[Becky Malinsky]

I mean, that is not the most customer facing issue. I know about it obviously because of my reporting background and you know, people jock. But in terms of clients, clients aren't aware of that. I think what clients will start to become aware of and have already become aware of, and this is a retail problem that is not just with Saks, but is that there is just no inventory in stores. And it's really hard when someone wants to go to a store and try something on and the answer for every single thing becomes, well, we can order your size because in that case I could stay home.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah.

[Becky Malinsky]

So that's kind of freaky about this. It's looking at all of this and how upset all the designers are. I don't, I can't imagine designers are going to ship clothing to them this upset.

[Lauren Sherman]

And well, here's the issue for the designers is that like the designers aren't wrong, but also Saks is not wrong. Like it doesn't work the way all these other, literally everyone else shut down. If it worked, if it were. Yeah, if it worked, Barney's would still exist. Matches fashions would still exist. Opening ceremony would like it. Well, opening ceremony is a little different, but you know what I mean, like these places need supply would still exist.

[Becky Malinsky]

But so what does the 90 day thing change in terms of inventory?

[Lauren Sherman]

I think what it does is allow. It's a good question and it's. But I think what it does is a lot of brands ship very late. So like what it will allow is to better manage the cash flow. I think because your product takes a While to sell on the floor, it's just. It will be more sort of. At one point, I had heard that the jewelers on consignment were also going to be subject to this. That doesn't make sense. I was told from people from Saks that that's not true. Consignment will still. When you do consignment, you give them product and they sell it, and then they just take a commission on this, on the sale. But you pay for everything. In those cases, it's almost like, well, your stuff isn't selling. Why would you get a payment for it yet? I don't know if it's going to fix it, but I think the idea is they ship fur coats in June. They don't sell to the fall. They've tried to change the way the cycle works, where stuff is more in season and it's never worked. They tried. During the pandemic, there was a big group of designers and retailers who tried to change it. And it. And it didn't work. The cycle didn't change. So I think this is. And I. Is to just better manage the flow. I don't know if it's going to work, but what I do know is what worked, what is happening now doesn't work. I think for me, the bigger issue is. And we should talk about is the fact that they haven't paid. Like, what I see as the bigger issue with the designers is that they haven't paid this back thing, which, like, small brands.

[Becky Malinsky]

Are they going to survive?

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah. So that is something that I think Mark Metric and the team there, and Richard Baker, who is the chairman and sort of. And who Mark answers to, are gonna have to figure that out. That part out. Like. But the part about not having inventory in stores. It's such a good point and is such a. It's a real challenge. Like, it's a huge challenge because I understand why they don't have stuff in stores, because people don't really buy clothing in stores. They go on, try it on and leave. So you need to. It's showrooming or whatever, create a situation where that's what. And Brian is it. Brian Boyki is his name, who used to be at 4510, which I don't know if that still exists. He had a store in Hudson Yards, which I don't know if it's still open, but it was essentially like a showroom. You could try it on. And then he did drop ship.

[Becky Malinsky]

Oh, I remember that store.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah. I think it was called Conservant.

[Becky Malinsky]

The conservatory, right?

[Lauren Sherman]

Conservatory, yeah. He may still have it. Please don't fact check me.

[Becky Malinsky]

Or.

[Lauren Sherman]

Or do fact check me. But the. But the challenge is like the. That's not the experience. Like, when I go in a store, I want to go home with something. So it's like. But also you want to try a bunch of stuff on. When you go to the mall, you go to a store they don't really have. They don't even have all their selections. So you can't really even if they have the item you want, but usually they don't because they only have, like, this very small amount of stuff. And Sarah Shapiro, our retail correspondent, said when she worked at Bloomingdale's, the whole thing was like, women went there to buy tights. So it's like, you need to have all the tights, but now no one has all the tights. Like, it just isn't. And that I think. I think the only solution I see is having much fewer stores and making those stores really robust. Because the thing is, wealthy people will travel. They go to Amoree's in Newport beach, that they'll go to a great store to shop. We are lucky enough that we travel for work. But I pretty much only shop in Europe. Cause I'll buy a couple nice things in Europe.

[Becky Malinsky]

I need Bergdorf and Sat in New York to have full range of size. Because for me, as a. As a stylist, I have clients whose bodies are not, you know, sample size, and things need to be tried on. And so it can be such an overwhelming and frustrating experience for people, and it just turns them off to the stores. So, yes, I think. I agree. It just has to be a place where there can be discovery for all sizes. That's super important. I mean, all the sizes they're planning to carry, at least. But that is frustrating for me personally. Shopping and shopping for other people, like, it's just. It's become almost impossible.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah, yeah, it's. The industry is at an impasse. I don't think anyone really knows the answer. And so I would say that I don't. The back. I don't. The back payments, they need to figure that out. But the other part of it, I do think it doesn't work. So let's try something else. And if that doesn't work, I just think we can't go back. And there's a lot of conversation about going back. I was just talking to someone on the phone about London Fashion Week and so much conversation. How can we get more people here? How can we get more international press. And it's like, maybe not. Maybe you don't need that. Maybe that's not what it's about. Like you and I were talking about the, the video, the Burberry video is going to be great. Like they're, they'll have that as an asset. And yes, it's great. I'm really glad I was able to come this time because of the way the schedule. Love the break between New York Fashion Week and London. And it's valuable for us as reporters, but like the world doesn't work like that anymore. And so you, instead of thinking about how do we get it back to what it was, let's think about how can we make this fun and a pleasurable experience and worthwhile in the future. And so I hope that the industry, what I would hope for the industry is that more people who look ahead start wanting to work in fashion. So we'll see. I don't know. One company that I think looks ahead pretty, pretty carefully and sharply is Skims, which has only been open for open. Which has only been around for five years or maybe six. Yeah. In 2019 and has become valued at $4 billion in its latest round of funding. I think if it sells to someone, it'll sell for far more and Also if it IPOs, it'll IPO for more than that. But they announced last week a massive partnership with Nike. I had heard about it and heard it was like a big deal, but didn't know if it was just like a one off collaboration or a long term collaboration. It's more than that. It's a sub brand. So like Kim Kardashian is the new Michael Jordan. So wild. There's a totally different team working. I mean not different, but separate management team for it. It's gonna be a big thing. And I'm curious, what do you think of Nike Skims? Do you are excited for it as a customer? Do you think it's a good idea?

[Becky Malinsky]

At first I found it slightly annoying. Like my first reaction was, why can't Nike just do a good job? Designing Women's like, it just doesn't seem that complicated. Yeah, like we want to wear Nike. I want to wear Nike. I always feel better in Nike when I'm gonna work out, which is not often, but if I'm going to, I want to wear Nike. So like they have the audience. So I was. That was my first reaction. Why can't you guys just do this yourselves? But then I was thinking about like who the skims girl is and how we were kind of talking about alo. How you say it? Alo. Aloe. And you know, I call them the call her daddy girls. Like those girls who are just gonna wear a set and carry that big water bottle. I don't know what it's called.

[Lauren Sherman]

I don't remember.

[Becky Malinsky]

You know what I'm talking about.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah.

[Becky Malinsky]

And that does make sense.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes.

[Becky Malinsky]

So it's sort of like a very easy way to capture that audience.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah.

[Becky Malinsky]

So I don't know. I'm into it.

[Lauren Sherman]

Do you think we don't remember the name of the water bottle because we're tired or because we are who we are?

[Becky Malinsky]

I'm so, so tired.

[Lauren Sherman]

I can't remember the name of it.

[Becky Malinsky]

But it's probably a combo. I also. But I also remember there was like lead in it, so I like stunned it.

[Lauren Sherman]

I just use plastic water bottles. Sorry, sorry.

[Becky Malinsky]

You shouldn't do that. I yell at my husband all the time. You're drinking credit cards.

[Lauren Sherman]

I use the metal. You know, I'm a big flow person. That's a box, a paper box, water. And I also get the metal ones a lot. But yeah, I go to. I'm very into solid core at the moment. And when I go, it's with a lot of young girls in Pasadena. I don't. They must go to college there or something. I'm like, who are all of you people? Like, why would you live in Pasadena if you were 25 years old? Move to New York City. That's my advice. But they wear aloe and lulu, these cute little sets. And it's just no one. I wear Nike, but I. This will capture that person. And also I think teach Nike something and teach skim something about like Nike is big. Yeah, Kim's Kim skims might be $4 billion valuation, but like they make like a billion dollars a year, which is not small. But Nike, I think their valuation is like 100. They make $50 billion a year in sales. I think their valuation is 108 billion. So like, yeah, it's giant. So and that's including Jordan and Converse or whatever, but it's mostly Nike brand. So. So it's. It's really exciting.

[Becky Malinsky]

I think it's exciting project for them.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah, well, the. My. My whole thing is like, I wonder if this would lead to an acquisition because the reality of it is that would be an amazing exit for the greeds and also for Kardashian. It just depends on do they want. Do the greeds want this to be like their Victoria's Secret in their limited brands? Like, the crown jewel of their empire, or do they want to sell it and do other stuff? What does she want from it? Like, all of that? Yeah.

[Becky Malinsky]

I looked up the water bottle. It's a Stanley.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yes. I always think of Stanley Cup. Like hockey.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah.

[Lauren Sherman]

Yeah. Because it is a Stanley Cup. I think we will. Becky, what are you most excited for? For Milan?

[Becky Malinsky]

Well, always Prada. And of course, Bally. The swan song of Bally.

[Lauren Sherman]

Oh, my God, we love it. I can't wait to go backstage afterwards. It's gonna be swarmed.

[Becky Malinsky]

Yeah.

[Lauren Sherman]

So fun. Jacob's gonna be there, too.

[Becky Malinsky]

I know. I can't believe it.

[Lauren Sherman]

It's gonna be so fun. It was so great to see you. I'll see you in two days.

[Becky Malinsky]

See you.

[Lauren Sherman]

Fashion People is a presentation of Odyssey in partnership with Puck. This show was produced and edited by Molly Nugent. Special thanks to our executive producers, Puck co founder John Kelly, executive editor Ben Landy, and director of editorial operations, Gabby Grossman. And additional thanks to the team at Odyssey, JD Crowley, Jenna Weiss Berman and Bob Tabador.