The Glossy Podcast

Episode: The Biggest Questions Around the Fashion Industry as We Head Into 2026
Date: January 2, 2026
Host: Danny Parisi (Senior Fashion Reporter)
Guests: Zofia Zviglenska (International Reporter), Jill Manoff (Editor in Chief)

Overview

This forward-looking episode dives into major questions the fashion industry faces as it moves into 2026. The panel discusses recurring cycles of nostalgia, the ongoing casualization in fashion, the rise of AI-driven shopping and luxury resale, and the looming influence of the global economy—especially as it relates to an AI-fueled bubble. The episode is structured around each host bringing a “macro trend” or big-picture question, leading to a conversation rich with both practical insights and astute predictions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Is Fashion in 2026?

(Jill Manoff, 00:50-11:32)

• Designer Turnover & “Blanding”

  • Brands are recycling the same star designers and often relying on archival revivals rather than innovation.
  • Example: Demna's “copy-and-paste” Gucci collection that heavily referenced 1990s Tom Ford-era Gucci.
  • New, innovative designers often face short tenures (e.g., Sabato De Sarno at Gucci—two years with mixed reviews; Dario Vitali at Versace—nine months).

• Safe Bets Over Originality

  • Brands prioritize retention over acquisition: “It seems like for customers, retention is easier than acquisition, and that means playing it safe.” (Jill, 01:55)
  • Stifling of newness as brands play it safe, hesitating to take creative risks.

• Consumer Response: Resale Boom

  • Authenticity-seeking consumers often prefer original vintage items over new "revivals".
  • Platforms like Fashionphile and The RealReal enable access to genuine archive pieces.
  • Prediction: “Luxury resale will boom, and luxury is going to continue to kind of struggle until they maybe do something else or maybe give a new designer a chance.” (Jill, 02:53)

• Originality vs. Business Needs

  • Tension between creative innovation and the need for financial predictability.
  • Quote, Danny:
    “I wonder if there's a little bit of disconnect with what the creative people know or believe people want and then what the business people are willing to fund.” [04:16]

• AI-Driven Personalization

  • AI is making it easier for consumers to find exactly what they want; personalization is rising.
  • “Brands we know are investing really big in personalization to deliver to customers what they browse, the brands they love…so this discovery, it’s increasingly taking more effort.” (Jill, 05:46)
  • Result: A potential “fashion rut” as both technology and algorithms reinforce sameness.

• Rise of Niche Brands

  • Substack and direct-to-collector communities offer originality to those willing to search for it.
  • Smaller, non-referential brands (e.g., Janessa Leone, Metier) gain passionate, loyal followings.

• Casualization Remains Supreme

  • Despite some runway signals, Gen Z’s influence ensures casual fashion continues to dominate.
  • “Gen Z … what they’re wearing is big jeans, big tees, style sneakers, sneakers to homecoming, zit stickers out of the house. It’s as casual as you can get.” (Jill, 07:59)
  • Social influence keeps the community in sync; standing out too much is perceived as negative.
    “They want to stand out, but they want to fit in.” (Danny quoting Bain’s Federico Lovato, 11:09)

2. How Has Shopping Changed? (AI & The Resale Revolution)

(Zofia Zviglenska, 11:38-21:49)

• AI Transforms Shopping & Discovery

  • Expansion of Google’s AI shopping features: try-ons, price ranges, stock availability.
  • Platforms like Daydream allow for highly contextual, occasion-based searches.
  • Price comparison is streamlined; brand and resale options now surface together in a consumer’s journey.

• Luxury Resale Becomes Mainstream

  • “Resale is now the place to go to, to find that, to find unique pieces, archive pieces.” (Zofia, 14:43)
  • Platforms such as ThredUp, The RealReal, Vestiaire, Vinted, Depop, and eBay thrive globally.
  • Vinted becomes Europe’s most downloaded shopping app, Depop surges under Etsy, and eBay reports record luxury resale activity.

• Brand Involvement in Resale

  • Initial assumption: resale platforms needed brand partnerships.
  • Now, “...it's notable to me that it feels like a lot of the big resale companies are getting huge without much involvement from the brands…as long as like the brands don't interfere legally, I don't think they really need much support.” (Danny, 16:12)
  • Some brands now seek partnerships for data (e.g., Chloe and Vestiaire).

• Consumer Behavior Evolves

  • Many shoppers now cycle purchases: buy new, resell, fund the next purchase.
  • AI-powered search/image tools make finding exact or similar pieces easier than ever (e.g., Google’s improved image search, dupe.com).

• Gen Z’s New Relationship with Luxury

  • For younger consumers, buying pre-owned is “cool,” often becoming their first point of contact with luxury.
  • Suggests brands should rethink how they approach the next generation:
    “...a lot of younger customers, especially Gen Z now don't even think it's cool to buy new items from the brand.” (Zofia, 19:04)

• Increased Transparency, Lawsuits, and Pricing Scrutiny

  • More lawsuits over price fixing, price gouging, especially in the EU.
  • Resale pricing structures and the fashion economics of 2026 will be heavily scrutinized.

3. Trust, Influence, and Affiliate Commerce

(group, 21:49-24:57)

• Rise and Fall of Influencer Recommendations

  • Affiliate platforms (Shopify, LTK, ShopMy, Substack, Reddit) are growing, but authenticity is increasingly questioned.
  • “Recommendations from influencers across socials are starting to kind of wane.” (Zofia, 22:10)
  • Monetization’s impact: as affiliate links saturate platforms, consumers feel overwhelmed by ads, decreasing trust.

• Curation vs. Algorithm

  • Authentic curation—recommendations from people, not algorithms—regains value.
  • “I personally find [human recommendations] more fulfilling. It creates a better sense of community…” (Danny, 21:29)

4. How Much Will People Spend? Economic & AI Bubble Warnings

(Danny Parisi, 24:57-34:13)

• Precarious Global Economy

  • The US economy is increasingly reliant on AI speculation and investment, drawing parallels with previous tech bubbles.
  • “90% of the US’s GDP in the first half of 2025 was software related.” (Danny, 25:09)
  • Warnings that if the AI bubble bursts, spending could drastically decrease—impacting all levels of consumerism, even among affluent cohorts.

• AI’s Real Economic Challenges

  • AI companies are extremely expensive to run (data centers, Nvidia hardware, energy) and dependent on unsustainable investment.
  • “Even if OpenAI can make billions of dollars, it also costs even more billions of dollars to do what they're doing.” (Danny, 27:54)

• Layoffs & The Disappearing Middle Market

  • Massive layoffs across fashion, tech, marketing, consulting are straining middle-class spending.
  • “Those middle jobs…are the ones which are most at risk of AI. And therefore if you don't have those workers… you end up with a much lower rate of growth.” (Zofia, 31:53)
  • The logic gap: “...but you can't replace your customers with AI.” (Danny, 29:44)

• Tariffs, Onshoring, & Political Uncertainty

  • Potential for significant tariff rollbacks within the year, due to economic pressure and upcoming elections.
  • Onshoring creates its own mismatch: lack of skilled labor and rising costs complicate US manufacturing efforts.

5. 2026 Trend Predictions: “Ins and Outs”

(group, 34:42-37:55)

• Out: Buying cheap things and over-consuming; In: Skipping purchases entirely if quality is lacking.

  • “At a certain point I'm like, I just will skip that thing. I don't need to buy it...” (Danny, 34:52)

• Out: Blind trust in retail pricing; In: Discerning, value-driven comparison shopping.

  • “Shoppers are just going to be far more discerning about what they're buying, what price they're buying it at and what's the real kind of value...” (Zofia, 36:20)

• Out: Brands absorbing costs; In: Passing costs on to the consumer, especially by spring 2026.

  • “There's only so long that they can not just absorb the cost...the big price increases in categories we haven't seen yet.” (Jill, 37:34)

• Fun one: Out: Standing in line for Black Friday deals; In: Standing in line for photo ops, free stuff, or Instagram moments.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Creative Stagnation:
  “I don't know, it could be that in my take, like, fashion is going too deep into nostalgia and kind of losing the plot.”
  — Jill Manoff, [02:10]

• On Disconnection Between Creative and Business:
  “Brands seem to know that...originality, or at least they say originality...is what people want to see. And then they kind of just like recycle and do the same old boring stuff.”
  — Danny Parisi, [04:12]

• On Gen Z and Fitting In:
  “Gen Z, they want to stand out, but they want to fit in.”
  — Quoting Federico Lovato, Bain & Company, [11:09]

• On Shopping Evolution:
  "Resale is now the place to go to, to find unique pieces, archive pieces, something that you might not be able to get on the high street."
  — Zofia Zviglenska, [14:43]

• On AI’s Economic Risks:
  “You can replace...your workers with AI, but you can't replace your customers with AI. And it's sort of like who's going to buy your stuff if like nobody has a job?”
  — Danny Parisi, [30:39]

• On the Future of Price Transparency:
  “...there won't be this kind of blind trust in retail pricing... shoppers now have all of the different platforms at their fingertips so they can compare those prices.”
  — Zofia Zviglenska, [36:05]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:50 — Macro Trend 1: What is fashion in 2026? (Jill)
• 11:38 — Macro Trend 2: AI, shopping, and the luxury resale boom (Zofia)
• 21:49 — Platform fatigue: curation, affiliate, and influence (transition to next macro topic)
• 24:57 — Macro Trend 3: Economic risk and the AI bubble (Danny)
• 34:42 — Rapid-fire: 2026 Ins and Outs
• 37:55 — Wrap up

Tone and Style

Conversation is candid, lightly irreverent, and practical—balancing macroeconomic cynicism with nuanced optimism and humor. The hosts are seasoned reporters and editors who use industry references and personal anecdotes to make the discussion engaging for insiders and casual listeners alike.

Conclusion

The 2026 fashion landscape is at a crossroads—squeezed between creative nostalgia and innovation, changing how and where consumers shop, wrestling with economic instability, and facing generational shifts in values and perception. The panel’s predictions emphasize consumer discernment, the resilience of casualization, continuing growth of resale, and the necessity for brands to balance authenticity, originality, and economic realities. Fashion’s future, they argue, is about being both adaptable and intentional—because if the industry fails to keep up, consumers will simply opt out.