FM August 2026

THE COMMUNITY ISSUE NEW YORK LOS ANGELES MIAMI THE HAMPTONS

FASHION MANNUSCRIPT

A TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL SACCO INSIDE

DEREK LAM 10 CROSBY NYC ALLIANCE ACQUISITION USHERS IN A NEW CHAPTER

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PRESIDENT/CEO Jeff Mann EDITORIAL Editor Rose Leveen Editorial Consultant Debra Hazel Associate Editor Penelope Herrera Director of Communications and Marketing Penelope Herrera Graphic Design Virginia Sanchez Director of Newsletter Division Kristen Pooran

West Coast Office: 578 Washington Blvd., Suite 827 Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 866-306-MANN (6266)

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COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Derek Lam 10 Crosby

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CONTRIBUTORS Catherine Geewax Dan Jablons Debra Hazel Disney Petit Dominic Forth Jono Blackmore Lauren Savage Manik Bhatia Merilee Kern Olga Gonzalez Paul Magel PJ Smith Ron Friedman Shahrooz Kohan Shannon Hynds Vale Siegrist

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The opinions expressed by our columnists are not reflective of the views and opinions of the publisher or the editorial staff of Fashion Mannuscript. Publication of such views and opinions does not constitute endorsement by Fashion Mannuscript. Any reproduction, including but not limited to internet usage, is prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher.

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ONE MANN’S OPINION I don’t think I can begin my monthly column without sharing my heavy heart over the tragic passing of Mike Sacco, my dearest friend and a dear friend of the entire industry. I cannot put the loss into words, but I can tell you all about what a wonderful person he was. I’ve known him since he first entered the business over two decades ago. He was a shining star then, and his impact on his colleagues and loved ones only grew. Mike can never be replaced, and I will have him in my thoughts forever. His impact on the industry is undeniable, and I wanted to honor his life and legacy by dedicating the magazine’s final six pages as a tribute to him.

— Banana Yoshimoto Over time, one by one, they come back to life.”

“Truly happy memories always live on, shining.

I hope you enjoy our newest issue of Fashion Mannuscript, and I hope you’re having a great summer!

Antonia Saint NY and Wacoal leading the way. more always at the forefront. This month, we’re specifically highlighting innovations in garment and shoe construction, with brands like As always, I am committed to bringing readers the newest and coolest information about fashion, with topics like AI, 3D printing and are solely dedicated to connecting with followers and promoting our content.

We’re also working on expanding our social media presence on Instagram, X and LinkedIn. We’ve brought new people onto the team who Miami Swim Week, SwimShow and Atlanta Apparel, while August is bringing shows like Curve, WWIN and Magic.

Summer trade shows are already underway, and they’re ramping up as we roll into August. June and July brought exciting shows like Paraiso me at even moreSacco tournaments in August to support important organizations like the Jewish Children’s Museum and Sephardic Bikur Holim.

Michael Merilee Martin Fund, BigKern Brothers Big Sisters and more. You can read about these events and see great photos from them in the magazine. You’ll find Marshal Cohen While we’re in the process of planning our golf outing for October, I have been attending several charity tournaments, including for the Jack Krieger Worldwide its own,Frank fillingDeLucia an important niche that brings law and fashion together. I can’t wait for you to read about Francesca and Nicole!

Dora Lau kind firm that specializes in intellectual property (IP) and brand protection—something vital to the fashion industry. Esca is in a league of Debra Hazel We have a spectacular cover story about Francesca Witzburg and Nicole Dolgon, two talented lawyers from Esca Legal. Esca is a one-of-aDavid Harouche Daniella Platt even busier, but I’ll tell you about that after we talk about the most exciting part of Fashion Mannuscript’s August issue: our cover story.

Annabella Lawlor mannpublications.com The summer is coming to a close, but things haven’t slowed down at Mann Publications. This month was a whirlwind and August will be CONTRIBUTORS

There’s no easy transition from such a heavy topic, but I want to discuss the rest of the magazine as well. This month, we’re sharing highlights and photos from major industry events, including Delivering Good’s Women of Impact Summit, Two Ten’s annual gala and a recent golf outing organized by the Jack Martin Fund ( JMF). JMF is special to me because my father was one of the earliest members of the organization, founded in 1950 in honor of Jack Martin, a friend in the garment business. The most recent outing raised over $500,000, which will do so much good for Mount Sinai Hospital.

Before I conclude my article, I want to thank the team I work with on each issue—the editors, the graphic designers, the marketing team and every friend who contributes. As the saying goes, “Teamwork makes the dream work,” and that’s something I’ve always believed in.

“Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.”

— Richard Bach

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August 2026

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Hi readers! Welcome to the August 2026 issue of Fashion Mannuscript.

It’s been a long wait since the last issue, so I’m thrilled to share a standout collection with each of you, featuring inspiring brand stories, new columnists, trade show features and more.

This month’s cover is twofold: a spotlight on a great fashion brand and a deep dive into a major strategic decision that could transform fashion and retail ecosystems over the next decade. The story covers NYC Alliance’s acquisition of Derek Lam 10 Crosby, a contemporary fashion line that has enjoyed more than a decade of success. This acquisition aligns with the multichannel apparel company’s recent strategic direction, emphasizing the addition of established, well-loved brands to its roster. For Derek Lam 10 Crosby, the deal marks a new phase of growth, backed by NYC Alliance’s operational support. I’m excited to share this story because it fits beautifully with the purpose of Fashion Mannuscript—a magazine by and for the industry’s decision-makers.

To close this issue, I’m honored to pay tribute to Michael Sacco, a longtime contributor and dear friend of the magazine, who recently passed away. The reflections from his friends and colleagues underscore the profound impact he had on those around him. Michael was charismatic, generous, passionate and deeply devoted to the people in his life. His passing is a huge loss, and I hope this tribute offers a small way to celebrate his life, honor his legacy and preserve the memory of someone who meant so much to this industry.

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AUGUST 2026

FASHION FAVORITES

44 ON THE COVER: Derek Lam 10 Crosby: NYC Alliance Acquisition Ushers in a New Chapter

14 NYIC Hosts Annual Banquet Awards, Honoring New York’s Top Credit and Financial Leaders

COVER FEATURE

16 Two Ten Gala Raises Nearly $650,000 for Relief, Hardship and Education Programs

18 Giving Confidence, Giving Hope: Delivering Good Hosts 2026 Women of Impact Summit

20 The Jack Martin Fund Raises $500,000 During Annual Golf Outing

Photo courtesy of Derek Lam 10 Crosby

FASHION FABULOUS

76

5 One Mann’s Opinion

6 Editor’s Letter

24 411 Executive Changes

58 411 Tech

Photo courtesy of Jenni Garces

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FASHION FORWARD 38 Silpada: Transforming Community-Driven Craft Into a Modern Growth Model

40

THE DEPARTMENTS 29 Logistics

55 Techwear

56 Tech Feature

Fair Harbor and Mikey DeTemple Celebrate a Shared Love of the Ocean With a New Limited-Edition Collection

42 Tabbe Designs: Fueling Fashion Through Creativity, Community and Connection

50 Sunshine Society: How Two Lifestyle Enthusiasts Built a Brand Rooted in Joy and Everyday Comfort

56

Editor’s Picks

Jewelry’s Next Digital Transformation: How Overnight Mountings Is Bringing Custom Engagement Rings Into the Connected Commerce Era

76

76

61 Columns

75

Fashion Sphere

81 Mann’s Tradeshow Connections

90

In Memory Of: A Tribute to Michael Sacco

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Sigal: Redefining Resort Wear Through Art, Travel and Personal Storytelling

78 Luli Fama Celebrates 20 Years of Swimwear, Resort Wear and Miami Glamour

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FASHION FAVORITES Harvey Gross and Brendan Shannon

Photos courtesy of Justin V. Gross

NYIC Hosts Annual Banquet Awards, Honoring New York’s Top Credit and Financial Leaders 14 | FM

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Brendon Shannon, Michael

GoodmanFAVORITES and Martin Efron FASHION

Vincent Roldan, Harry Malinowski and Jeffrey Cooper

Lori and Michael Goodman

The New York Institute of Credit (NYIC) welcomed members, colleagues and industry leaders to Inside Park at St. Bart’s in New York City for an unforgettable evening of networking, celebration and recognition at the 2026 Banquet Awards.

The event brought together professionals from across the credit and financial communities to celebrate the accomplishments of distinguished individuals whose leadership, dedication and service have made a lasting impact on the industry. The evening also provided an opportunity for attendees to reconnect with peers, strengthen professional relationships and recognize the importance of collaboration in advancing the credit profession.

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 18th annual Conrad B. Duberstein Memorial Award to Judge Brendan L. Shannon of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This prestigious honor recognizes outstanding achievement, integrity and compassion within the bankruptcy judiciary. Shannon’s distinguished career, commitment to mannpublications.com

Frank Turner and Peter Brockmeyer

fairness and dedication to public service exemplify the values that the award was created to celebrate, making him a truly deserving recipient.

The event also marked a significant milestone for NYIC with the presentation of the 50th annual Leadership in Credit Education Awards. This year’s honorees, Martin Efron, managing director and head of factoring at White Oak Commercial Finance, and Michael S. Goodman, founding partner and managing director of SSG Capital Advisors, were recognized for their exceptional contributions to the credit profession and their longstanding support of NYIC. Through their leadership, mentorship and commitment to advancing credit education, both honorees have helped strengthen the industry and inspire future generations of professionals.

Mark Chesen, Matthew Karlson and Michael Goodman

Raffi Azadian, Jessie Szemraj, Alexander Kayfetz-Gaum and Harvey Gross

Brendon Shannon

By honoring individuals who have made meaningful contributions to the field, the evening reinforced NYIC’s ongoing commitment to fostering education, professional growth, leadership and collaboration throughout the credit community.

August 2026

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Photos courtesy of Dirty Sugar

FASHION FAVORITES

Two Ten Gala Raises Nearly $650,000 for Relief, Hardship and Education Programs 16 | FM

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FASHION FAVORITES

Joy Batra

Nearly 750 people from the footwear industry came together for a night of celebration, community and philanthropy at Two Ten’s annual gala. Leaders from across the industry convened at The Glasshouse in NYC to raise critical funds for the foundation’s hardship and disaster-relief grants, educational programs and community initiatives. The program also honored industry veterans Mark Lardie, former president and CEO of Rack Room Shoes, and Tacey Powers, executive vice president and general merchandise manager for shoes, accessories, home and kids at Nordstrom.

The program kicked off with a video highlighting the story of Rebecca Felger Romano, a relief grant recipient and the manager of Felger’s Shoes in Houma, Louisiana. Romano received a grant from Two Ten in 2021 after Hurricane Ida wrought damage to her home and forced her family business to close during storm recovery.

Mark Lardie and Shawn Osborne

Mark Lardie

“Asking for help from Two Ten was humbling,” Romano related. “I never thought I was going to be the person that needs help. Luckily, it was there in my greatest time of need, and I’m extremely thankful for what Two Ten was able to provide.”

Shawn Osborne, Two Ten president and CEO, recapped the foundation’s most recent year, sharing that it awarded nearly $2 million to families facing hardships due to medical bills, housing insecurity and tuition costs.

He also announced the launch of a new pilot program designed to provide increased financial assistance for colleagues facing extraordinary life challenges like medical diagnoses, the loss of a loved one and other devastating circumstances.

President of Aldo Product Services and Two Ten board chair Jonathan Frankel also emphasized the importance of Two Ten in his remarks and encouraged gala attendees to continue supporting the foundation in any way they can.

“Everyone in this room is very likely one degree of separation from someone who has turned to Two Ten in a moment of real need,” Frankel remarked. “Those moments are often private, when people have exhausted every option and simply need help getting back on their feet. When that moment arrives, Two Ten answers the call.”

He later announced several live fundraising updates, including an additional $25,000 from Ortholite, $10,000 from Foot Locker Foundation and $25,000 from Aldo Group.

Two Ten scholars Joanna Ezzard and Joy Batra shared how receiving college scholarships from Two Ten helped them flourish in their respective fields. Ezzard, who worked as an associate at Foot Locker during high school, will be pursuing a master’s in data analytics this fall after recently graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University. Batra, a past Two Ten scholar, spoke about how a scholarship made it possible for her to attend graduate school at both Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School and spend nine months acting in Bollywood before starting her own consulting business and becoming a published author.

“I can say with confidence: Without Two Ten, none of that would have been possible,” Batra said.

Lardie was presented with the A.A. Bloom Memorial Award in recognition of his extraordinary service to Two Ten and the industry for three decades. Powers was presented with the 2026 WIFI Impact Award in recognition of her leadership and dedication to advancing women in the footwear community.

Frankel closed out the evening by thanking the 2026 gala sponsors, including Micro-Pak, Bordan Shoe, Power Rich, Zilsen, Alliant Insurance Services, Bay Rag and more.

Susan Itzkowitz and Tacey Powers Joanna mannpublications.com Ezzard

Mark Lardie, Tacey Powers and Shawn Osborne

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FASHION FAVORITES

Photos courtesy of Delivering Good

Karyn Schoenbart, Melis del Ray, Jill Granoff and Deirdre Quinn

Giving Confidence, Giving Hope

Delivering Good Hosts 2026 Women of Impact Summit

By Lauren Savage 18 | FM

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FASHION FAVORITES

Melissa Campanelli and Karyn Schoenbart

Danielle Garno, Maria Hedian, Angela Tandy and Stephanie Unwin

At a moment when leadership is being redefined across industries, Delivering Good is shaping a more human conversation grounded in purpose, connection and action. Through the Women of Impact Summit at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, leaders across retail, fashion, finance, media, technology and philanthropy gathered for conversations on leadership, innovation, mentorship and purpose.

Anchored in a mission of “giving confidence, giving hope,” the summit highlighted how influence can uplift others and drive impact.

Guests experienced the mission through a “fill the closet” activation, using QR codes to donate essential new items. As the closet filled, it became a reminder that every donation delivers confidence, dignity and hope.

The day opened with “The Power of Generational Perspective: A Conversation with Mothers and Daughters,” which was moderated by Alessandra Piotti (David Yurman) and featured Jill Ehnes (Delta Faucet) and her daughter Clare Ehnes, alongside Jennifer Andrew (Bank of America) and her daughter Olivia Andrew. The conversation set a reflective tone, highlighting how leadership is shaped across generations. As Ehnes shared, “When you take up space, you give other women permission to do the same,” a message that resonated throughout the summit.

Throughout the day, panels explored how purpose shows up across industries and career stages. “Women Behind the Brand: Where Purpose Meets the Customer,” moderated by Allie Canal (NBC), featured brand leaders Heather Salvatore Gruccio, Trish Donnelly, Mary Castilow, Erin Landon and Barbara Wagner from the presenting sponsor KnitWell Group.

They discussed how purpose continues to shape retail engagement. “Purpose and Profit: Women Leading Financial Change” brought together Seana Smith (Global X) and Sonali Basak (iCapital) to explore the alignment of financial performance with impact.

In “Designing a Career with Purpose: Your Path, Your Impact,” Danielle Garno led Maria Hedian,

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Sharon Osen

Stephanie Unwin and Angela Tandy in a conversation on building careers with intention. Panelists reflected on mentorship and risk-taking, emphasizing that meaningful careers are shaped as much by guidance as by the impact leaders create for others.

Innovation and influence emerged as throughlines of the day. “Innovators Shaping the Future,” moderated

by Danielle Schmelkin (J.Crew Group), Rosalia Bucaro (QVC/HSN), Denielle Finkelstein (Unicorn in Every Stall) and Corina Marshall (Another), explored how bold ideas and adaptability are reshaping industries.

This continued in “Using Your Voice for Good: Influence with Impact,” where Hili Banjo (Accenture) moderated a conversation with leaders from Accenture, Droga5 and QVC Group on how authentic storytelling can drive meaningful change.

Genevieve Koch and Juan Delgado Martinez

In “Women Rising Together: Mentorship, Advocacy and Allyship,” moderated by Sharonda Weatherspoon (Michael Kors), leaders from Centric Brands, KeyBank and WHP Global highlighted the importance of support systems in advancing women’s leadership.

The summit concluded with “Leadership Unscripted: A CEO Q&A,” moderated by Karyn Schoenbart (Duo Partners), featuring Melis del Rey (Supergoop!), Jill Granoff (Eurazeo Brand), Deirdre Quinn (Lafayette 148 New York) and Mary Beth Sheridan (Guild Brands). The session invited audience participation and unfolded as a candid conversation on leadership, resilience and navigating complexity, with moments of humor that kept it refreshingly unguarded.

A highlight of the day was the launch of the Delivering Good Awards Series, honoring leaders driving meaningful change. The inaugural Woman of the Year Award went to Andrea Weiss, followed by a surprise Women of Impact Award for Hili Banjo and a Future of Good Award for an emerging student leader.

Across every conversation, leadership emerged as rooted in connection, courage and care, reinforcing that when we give confidence and hope, we create impact beyond ourselves.

Rosalia Bucaro and Denielle Finklestein

August 2026

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FASHION FAVORITES

Photos courtesy of Joseph Sorrentino, JAS Photo

Russell Wilson

The Jack Martin Fund Raises $500,000 During Annual Golf Outing 20 | FM

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FASHION FAVORITES

Keith Rosen and Scott Rosen

Max Rosen, Scott Rosen, Jordy Heller and Keith Rosen

Dun Zhang, Peter Genatt, Marc Rothschild and Jason Walker David Henchel, David Greenberg, Mark Weiss and Harvey Mutterpearl

The Jack Martin Fund (JMF) hosted its annual golf outing at Fresh Meadow Country Club and Deepdale Golf Club.

patients at Mount Sinai and supporting the children and families served by the JMF Division.

Blessed with good weather, the day was defined by friendship, generosity and a shared commitment to supporting the Jack Martin Division of Pediatric HematologyOncology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Wilson first visited Mount Sinai in 2014 following the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory at MetLife Stadium. Since then, his longstanding friendship with Dichter, JMF’s special envoy, has helped foster a lasting connection with both the hospital and the Jack Martin Fund.

This year, JMF honored Scott and Keith Rosen for their longstanding dedication to the organization and their tremendous support of this year’s outing and fundraising efforts.

Through the generosity of sponsors, supporters and participants, the event raised more than $500,000 to be donated to Mount Sinai Hospital.

The organization’s leadership team is headed by chairmen Mark Zeller and Chris Mongeluzo, along with board members and officers Kenny Dichter, Mitch Grabow, Glenn Reisender, Allan Trompeter and Jeff Gabel, whose continued leadership and dedication help guide the fund’s mission forward.

This year’s outing also featured a special appearance by Russell Wilson, who has devoted meaningful time to visiting mannpublications.com

Aaron Winston, Chris Mongeluzo, Morgan Griffith and Gerry Mongeluzo

Most importantly, the Jack Martin Fund’s work continues to bring hope, advanced care and compassionate support to countless children and families facing pediatric cancer and blood disorders.

Now celebrating its 76th anniversary, the Jack Martin Fund represents one of the most remarkable stories of volunteerdriven philanthropic support in American medicine.

Cory Hershkowitz, Alesia Kleiner, Lewis Hershkowitz and Scott Little

Since its founding in 1950, JMF has contributed nearly $55 million to Mount Sinai Hospital, helping advance pediatric care, medical research, education and technology in the ongoing pursuit of improving human health.

Mitchell Grabow, Kenny Dichter, Chris Mongeluzo, Russell Wilson, Mark Zeller, Gary Spitalnik and Marc Rothschild August 2026

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FASHION 411

EXECUTIVE

SASHA PRIMAK APPOINTS ALICIA ARNOLD AS DIRECTOR OF DESIGN

Sasha Primak announced the appointment of Alicia Arnold as its new design director, who will lead the company’s aesthetic with a fresh perspective. With over two decades of fine jewelry and luxury product development experience, Arnold joins at a pivotal moment for the manufacturer, which is currently expanding its offerings and partnerships.

“Our heritage has always been rooted in quality and manufacturing excellence,” said David Primak, chief operations officer of Sasha Primak. “With Alicia joining the team, we are expanding upon that foundation in a meaningful way. Her balance of artistic vision and technical craftsmanship creates an opportunity to provide independent retailers with true creative partnership.”

Arnold’s appointment signals the beginning of a new chapter for the manufacturer, with new fine jewelry and bridal collections in development. The company will build upon its legacy while introducing new design narratives and expanding customization capabilities for retailers.

Respected for her sophisticated taste and technical expertise, Arnold will lead creative development across fine jewelry and bridal. She will collaborate with retail partners on custom programs and capsule collection development. The appointment reflects Sasha Primak’s investment in personalized support for independent jewelry retailers seeking elevated design and unique manufacturing solutions.

Prior to joining Sasha Primak, Arnold served as director of custom design at Tiny Jewel Box in Washington, D.C., where she led the design and development of the company’s successful in-house bridal collection, Roslyn.

During her tenure, she also created bespoke jewelry for private clients, public figures and think tanks, as well as official gifts of state. Classically trained at the bench as both a goldsmith and platinumsmith, her background includes hand rendering, computer-aided design (CAD) development, product conceptualization and creative direction across both fine and high jewelry categories.

“I’m incredibly excited to join Sasha Primak with their extraordinary legacy of craftsmanship and manufacturing excellence, and I see tremendous opportunity to build upon that foundation through fresh design, strong storytelling and beautifully executed jewelry,” said Arnold. “I’m looking forward to creating collections that feel luxurious, distinctive and deeply connected to the artistry of fine jewelry.”

With Arnold now leading design initiatives, Sasha Primak continues to reinforce its position as a premier partner for independent retailers, where exceptional craftsmanship meets personalized manufacturing support.

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Photo courtesy of Sasha Primak

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FASHION 411

BRAND PARTNERSHIP

TOMMY HILFIGER NAMES ZHOU GUANYU GLOBAL BRAND AMBASSADOR

American fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger named Zhou Guanyu as its newest global brand ambassador. The announcement builds on Tommy Hilfiger’s existing partnership with the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, for which the brand serves as official apparel partner.

Guanyu is China’s first Formula 1 driver and is currently a reserve driver for the Cadillac team. He is regarded as one of motorsport’s most influential contemporary voices, and the brand says his personal style brings global appeal and a fresh perspective to the Tommy Hilfiger family.

As Tommy Hilfiger’s role as official apparel partner already puts its designs trackside with the Cadillac team, the ambassadorship extends that relationship from sponsorship into a more personal, style-driven collaboration with one of the team’s own drivers.

“Zhou Guanyu represents a new generation of talent with inf luence that reaches far beyond the racetrack,” said Tommy Hilfiger, founder of the brand. “What excites me most is the way he approaches style: with confidence, individuality and authenticity. I’m looking forward to seeing him bring that modern perspective to our vision of ‘prep made current.’”

“Fashion is part of my DNA. I’ve grown up understanding that clothes are not just practical; they are an entire language,” said Guanyu. “Style is an opportunity to tell your story without words. For decades, Tommy Hilfiger has helped show the personality beyond the helmet, opening the door for individuality to become part of the sport. I’m proud to be part of that legacy and to represent the brand on and off the track.”

The partnership strengthens Tommy Hilfiger’s position at the intersection of sport, style and contemporary culture.

As motor racing continues to grow in global popularity, the brand says Zhou’s connection with younger, styleaware fans will help expand its reach. He joins a lineup of ambassadors that includes Lewis Hamilton, Checo Pérez, Rafael Nadal and Thierry Henry, underscoring Tommy Hilfiger’s continued focus on sporting figures whose influence extends beyond their own discipline.

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Photo courtesy of Tommy Hilfiger

August 2026

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FASHION 411

COLLECTION

ADIDAS ORIGINALS, BRAIN DEAD AND DISNEY COLLABORATE FOR A SOCCER-THEMED COLLECTION Adidas Originals is continuing its ongoing collaboration with Brain Dead and Disney, bringing the three creative powerhouses together once again for a collection that celebrates vintage soccer culture through a playful, streetwear-inspired lens. Blending Adidas’ rich sporting heritage, Brain Dead’s experimental design language and Disney’s iconic characters, the latest capsule reimagines classic soccer aesthetics with a fresh contemporary twist.

At the heart of the collection is a street-ready reinterpretation of the very first Adidas Predator shoe from 1994. Rather than recreating the legendary soccer cleat outright, the Adidas Predator x Brain Dead by Disney is transformed into an everyday lifestyle silhouette.

The shoe replaces traditional studs with a durable, heavy rubber outsole while retaining the instantly recognizable molded rubber upper that made the Predator a soccer icon. The design also features two interchangeable foldover tongue f laps, allowing wearers to switch between faux crocodile leather and glossy patent leather finishes depending on their style. The patent leather tongue is perforated, making it possible to customize the shoe with six vintage-inspired collectible pins featuring beloved Disney characters. Completing the design are exclusive Brain Dead and Mickey Mouse keychains, adding an extra playful finishing touch.

The accompanying apparel and accessories continue the nostalgic soccer theme, drawing inspiration from classic ’90s kits. The collection introduces three cobranded soccer uniforms, each consisting of matching jerseys, shorts and socks in distinctive colorways: yellow with green and black stripes, white with green and red stripes, and blue with white and red accents. Every kit prominently features both Disney and Brain Dead branding throughout. The jerseys feature f lock-printed Disney characters on the sleeves, a f lock-printed Disney logo across the chest, a Brain Dead logo inside the neckline and an all-over Mickey Mouse print. Matching shorts continue the all-over graphic treatment, while the socks are finished with embroidered Disney character details.

Rounding out the collection are several lifestyle pieces, including a Donald Duck graphic T-shirt, crinkled nylon shorts, a track jacket decorated with Disney character patches and a bold graphic scarf that ties the collection together.

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Photo courtesy of Adidas

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FASHION 411

EYEWEAR

TRUE RELIGION EXPANDS EYEWEAR PRESENCE THROUGH FGX PARTNERSHIP

FGX International has entered into a new licensing agreement with True Religion to design, manufacture and distribute fashion sunglasses and eyewear accessories for men and women, expanding the lifestyle brand’s presence in the eyewear market.

The partnership combines True Religion’s cultural relevance and bold design language with FGX’s expertise in eyewear development, consumer insight and retail distribution. The debut collection draws on the brand’s heritage through a contemporary interpretation of Y2K-inspired style, featuring tinted lenses, statement logos, gold accents and crystal embellishments. The styles ref lect True Religion’s longstanding emphasis on individuality, confidence and self-expression.

Founded in 2002, True Religion established its identity through distinctive denim construction, signature stitching and an unconventional approach to design.

The company has since developed into a broader lifestyle brand spanning apparel and accessories. The eyewear agreement provides another opportunity to translate those recognizable elements into products that can appeal to existing customers while reaching new audiences.

From a licensing perspective, the collaboration allows True Religion to grow its accessories business with support from an established eyewear company capable of managing design, manufacturing and distribution at scale. For FGX, the agreement adds a fashion-forward global lifestyle brand to a portfolio that spans fashion, heritage, functionality and innovation.

The partnership also ref lects FGX’s focus on developing licensed collections tailored to the identity and audience of each brand. Consumer research and retail insights help shape product design, pricing, merchandising and channel strategy, allowing the company to create accessible eyewear while preserving a clear connection to the partner brand.

The companies plan to develop additional eyewear collections that ref lect True Religion’s brand DNA, strengthen consumer engagement and support the brand’s global expansion.

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Photo courtesy of True Religion

August 2026

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Photo courtesy of Adobe/moofushi

THE MOVEMENT OF FASHION

SUPPLY CHAIN, LOGISTICS AND FINANCE mannpublications.com

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LOGISTICS

The Future of Fashion, According to the People Actually Living It

By Paul F. Magel, President of BlueCherry by CGS Fashion people have a reputation. We are supposedly obsessed with hemlines, color palettes and whether “mocha mousse” is the new black.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world assumes that technology people spend their days trying to replace humanity with chatbots named after fruits.

So, at BlueCherry’s recent “Future of Fashion” event in London, we decided to ask the audience a few simple questions about what they thought the next five years would bring.

The results were enlightening. They were also gloriously contradictory—which, if we’re being honest, is the most authentic thing imaginable in fashion.

Consumers Have Entered the Chat When asked what would most impact the fashion industry over the next five years, the overwhelming response wasn’t artificial intelligence, supply chain transformation or even sustainability. Instead, 50% of attendees pointed to changing consumer expectations.

Another 29% cited economic and geopolitical uncertainty, while 17% selected sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements. A mere 4% believed artificial intelligence would have the greatest impact, and not a single respondent chose supply chain transformation.

Poor supply chains. After years of being blamed for everything from empty shelves to delayed deliveries, they have apparently become the fashion equivalent of the bass player in a rock band—essential, but rarely the focus of public attention.

The message was clear: fashion leaders increasingly believe the real disruption isn’t coming from technology itself. It’s coming from customers who expect personalized experiences—those who discover trends on Tuesday and want them delivered by Thursday, or those who demand transparency, ethics, convenience and competitive pricing, preferably all at once. In other words, customers have become fashion’s equivalent of Olympic judges.

What Excites Us Isn’t Necessarily What Scares Us The second poll revealed another fascinating contradiction. When asked which future trend

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excited them most, 54% chose more personalized shopping experiences. Thirty-three percent selected sustainable and circular fashion, while 8% pointed to greater product transparency. Only 4% chose AI-powered innovation.

Again, artificial intelligence found itself sitting alone at the lunch table. This is particularly amusing given that hardly a week passes without headlines proclaiming that AI will revolutionize fashion, retail, design, sourcing and planning, and perhaps eventually teach your washing machine how to judge your outfit choices.

Yet the people actually working in the industry don’t seem dazzled by the technology itself. They seem far more interested in outcomes and want shoppers to feel understood. They want sustainability to be practical rather than performative. They want transparency to build trust. Technology matters, but mostly when it quietly enables experiences people genuinely value.

Perhaps that is the difference between industry reality and conference hype. Executives don’t wake up thinking, “How can I deploy more AI?” They wake up wondering, “How do I grow profitably while keeping increasingly demanding customers happy?”

AI may be part of the answer, but nobody wants to buy the hammer if they are really trying to build the house.

Surprisingly Optimistic Given today’s headlines on trade disputes, inflation, geopolitical tensions, shifting regulations and enough economic uncertainty to keep financial analysts permanently employed, you might expect fashion executives to be deeply pessimistic.

Apparently not.

When asked whether they were optimistic about the future of the industry, 26% described themselves as very optimistic, 30% as optimistic, 22% as neutral, 13% as concerned, and 9% as very concerned.

That means 56% expressed optimism about fashion’s future, which feels distinctly on-brand for an industry built around reinvention.

Fashion has survived recessions, pandemics, tariff battles, supply shortages and decades of predictions that this time consumers would surely

stop caring about what they wear. They never do.

Fashion has never been simply about products; it’s about identity, aspiration, creativity and human connection.

The Great Fashion Balancing Act Taken together, these results tell a compelling story. Fashion leaders aren’t ignoring technology.

They’re simply refusing to worship it.

They’re acknowledging economic realities without surrendering to them. They’re embracing sustainability while recognizing that customers remain at the center of every decision. Most importantly, they’re optimistic, not because the road ahead looks easy, but because this industry has become remarkably good at adapting.

Fashion’s future will involve AI, automation, circularity, digital product passports and entirely new operating models. According to the people shaping that future every day, those capabilities matter enormously, but not as ends in themselves.

They are the infrastructure that allows brands to understand customers more quickly, respond more intelligently and pivot with greater confidence when tastes, markets and conditions inevitably shift.

The uncomfortable truth about fashion is this: consumers rarely stand still. They discover trends overnight and expect personalization as a standard. They want transparency without friction and convenience without compromise. The brands that thrive won’t simply be the ones with the most sophisticated technology. They will be the ones that use that technology to become more connected, more agile and more responsive to the people they serve.

In other words, the future of fashion still belongs to those who listen carefully to their customers. The difference is that increasingly, it will be intelligent technology behind the scenes—connecting design, sourcing, production, planning and commerce— that enables brands to hear those signals sooner and act on them faster than ever before.

In fashion, customer expectations no longer evolve season by season. They evolve somewhere between an Instagram scroll and a Thursday afternoon meeting, and the brands prepared to respond at that speed won’t just survive the future. They will define it.

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LOGISTICS

Branding on the World Stage: Not What It Seems

By Marshal Cohen This summer, we found ourselves watching the progress of the World Cup, with teams doing the unthinkable and keeping pace with the powerhouse countries favored to win. But it isn’t just about who wins on the field; it is about the brands that capture the mindset of the consumer. Remember, this is a business, not just a sport, and many companies are investing sizable dollars to participate in many ways.

Some brands even chose not to participate, feeling that the required investment wasn’t worth the return. Just look at several of the arenas where games were being played. Some brands that pay big dollars to have their name on a stadium opted not to pay the fee for the billboard nameplate this time around, leading the stadium to cover the brand’s name with a generic stadium name. For example, MetLife Stadium, located in New Jersey, went by the name “New York New Jersey Stadium” during the World Cup, rather than MetLife, the name it is known as for most of the year. This is because brands have decided that the lift from the event isn’t worth the investment.

Many categories see a boost during the World Cup period, ranging from T-shirts, jerseys, hats, banners and flags to food and beverage products like chips, condiments and beer/lager, as well as entertainment décor like paper products, balloons and decorations. The average elevations we see

in World Cup-related products hover around 2% during the games. Some grow in the regions where the games are held, and as those national teams continue to prosper, they can grow at a feverish pace, with up to 10% elevation. However, once regional teams start to get eliminated, so does the desire for product.

In today’s environment, where consumers are looking to save, we saw more and more watch parties hosted at home, but we also saw more fans gathering at bars. As the World Cup progressed, we saw fans gather for even larger events, which boded well for businesses that catered to them.

You should also keep in mind that four years ago, in 2022, we were just coming out of our COVID cocoon, and gathering was at a premium. So, we were rushing to be with others, and watch parties were everywhere, even for non-fans. This year, we had consumers who were looking to celebrate, gather and save.

Another challenge for brands was aligning with challenging demands. As countries advanced in the tournament, demand for the product grew, as did the fan base. But as soon as a country’s team lost, demand dropped off the map. So how well brands were positioned to support fans’ teams was key to maximizing the event’s potential and the investment.

Success for brands was measured not only by how much product they could sell because of the World Cup, but also by the image they created during and beyond the games themselves. Can the brand deliver a message that lasts beyond the finals? Can they elevate their brand awareness to become a household name? Compare it to the NFL Super Bowl, where you see brands pay big dollars for a 30-second spot on TV. Some are brands we have never even heard of, but if done right, they get great mileage from their investment.

Retail demand from consumers has changed. It is now more evenly paced, with “mini holidays” outside of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas playing a bigger role than in previous years. As consumer demand for products and food increases, we find that these mini holidays deliver growth opportunities that, though small in lift, add up. Without them, there is no overall growth in retail. Add up 2% here and there, and we find that is where the growth is today. Outside of new and innovative products, tapping into mini holidays like the World Cup presents small but ever-so-important growth opportunities. But choose wisely, as these boosts last only as long as the market you are appealing to. Pick a country with a long run, or the Cinderella story team, and you will get rewarded. Short and sweet, but worthy if done right.

Photo courtesy of Erman Gunes/Adobe

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LOGISTICS

The State of In-Store Retailing—Why Technology Sequencing Is More Important Than Ever

By Manik Bhatia, Head of Custom Research, Coresight Research Retailers are increasingly moving beyond pilots The report outlines a sequencing roadmap starting and scaling investments in store intelligence with shelf digitization and progressing through data technologies, according to “The State of Inanalytics, inventory management, assortment and Store Retailing 2026,” a Coresight Research allocation planning, pricing software and ultimately report conducted in partnership with Simbe and supplier collaboration platforms. Shelf digitization Relex Solutions. The study unveils that 60% of acts as the foundational layer, monitoring store surveyed retailers are either scaling or have fully shelves and powering every downstream decision scaled store intelligence investments, up from 42% with accurate SKU-level data in real time. Shelfin 2025. Despite this progress, 90% of retailers level data helps in unified decision-making across report at least slight challenges in managing store business functions, accurate forecasts and fuels operations, up from 88% last year, and the average pricing software with the shelf-level visibility they share of gross sales lost to inefficiency has risen need to eliminate errors and optimize markdowns. from 5.5% in 2025 to 6.4% in 2026.

U.S. retailers across grocery, mass Photo courtesy merchandise, DIY, drugstore and of Coresight Research warehouse club sectors are on track to lose an estimated $196.4 billion in gross sales this year due to in-store inefficiencies, a 21% increase from $162.7 billion in 2025.

These heightened challenges are particularly striking because retailers’ investments in store intelligence technologies continue to rise—60% of retailers cited currently investing in store intelligence technologies, up from 57% in 2025 and 54% in 2024. Thus, it becomes critical to understand the reasons behind widening operational losses as more money continues to flow into store intelligence technologies.

The research points to a critical structural issue at the heart of store technology adoption: the problem lies in investment sequencing, not the level of investment.

Retailers are deploying store intelligence technologies—including shelf digitization, inventory management software, data analytics, pricing tools, assortment planning platforms and supplier collaboration platforms—but not always in the optimal sequence. Pricing software ranks first in investment priorities, yet shelf digitization, the foundational layer enabling accuracy across downstream tools, ranks third. Only 33% of retailers are investing in shelf digitization, the lowest share across six technology categories.

Pricing software without real-time shelf visibility and reliable inventory data lacks critical stockkeeping unit (SKU)-level insights, limiting its effectiveness regardless of how sophisticated the software itself may be. The mispricing rate, rising from 10% in 2025 to 13% in 2026, reflects this gap.

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Skipping or deprioritizing this foundation means building a technology stack on unstable ground.

also enhance customer experience and labor productivity. Retailers recorded an 11% average increase in customer lifetime value (CLV) since implementation, with 56% reporting CLV gains of at least 10%. Improved conversion rates were cited by 50% of respondents, followed by increased loyalty program enrollment (48%) and enhanced shopper reviews (47%). On the labor side, retailers reported a 14% average reduction in frontline labor hours allocated to manual tasks since introducing store intelligence technologies, with 86% reporting at least some decrease. These saved hours are being redirected toward higher-value, customerfacing activities. Lowe’s perpetual productivity improvement (PPI) program illustrates this shift in practice. The retailer has used store intelligence technologies to reduce nonproductive labor hours at scale, and it recently announced discretionary bonuses for store associates attributable to productivity gains achieved through the program, underscoring that the benefits of technology investment extend to frontline teams, not just the bottom line.

Looking forward, the key to success with store intelligence investments lies less in what technologies retailers choose and more in how they prioritize their implementation.

Sequencing foundational technologies first ensures that downstream tools deliver maximum impact on operational efficiency and customer outcomes. In 2026, the retailers that pull ahead will not necessarily be those that invest the most—they will be the ones that invest in the right order.

The report delves into real-world examples of investment sequencing and its critical role in maximizing returns on technology investments.

For instance, BJ’s Wholesale Club deployed shelf intelligence technology to improve inventory and price accuracy, and subsequently used that data foundation to create a digital twin of each club location. This enabled the company to optimize pick paths for buy online, pick up in car (BOPIC); curbside; and same-day orders, improving picking efficiency by approximately 40% year over year. Store intelligence technologies

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LOGISTICS

Can Fashion Be Transparent When the Rules Keep Changing?

By Jono Blackmore, Enterprise Account Executive, TradeBeyond Just as fashion brands are being asked to provide unprecedented levels of supply chain transparency, the challenge of accessing key information may become harder. Recent regulatory developments highlight these growing challenges, as governments seek greater control over supply chain data and regulators demand increased visibility into sourcing practices. China’s newly enacted supply chain security measures, for example, could create new limitations around supplier information and auditing activities, while European due diligence and forced labor regulations continue to push brands toward deeper traceability and oversight.

For fashion companies operating globally, these competing pressures underscore a great difficulty.

Organizations are expected to know more about their suppliers, products, materials and production processes than ever before, yet gathering and managing that information is becoming more complicated.

The challenge extends far beyond compliance.

Whether responding to geopolitical disruptions, evolving sustainability requirements, changing trade policies or shifting consumer expectations, brands can no longer afford fragmented systems and disconnected data. Modern success depends on the ability to access accurate information quickly, understand how decisions impact the broader supply chain, and coordinate action across internal teams and external partners.

Yet many organizations still rely on a patchwork of spreadsheets, emails and specialized applications that manage only one part of the product life cycle. Supplier information lives in one system, product development data in another, quality records somewhere else, and shipment updates in yet another platform.

As regulatory complexity grows and supply chains become more interconnected, leading brands are investing in end-to-end digital infrastructure that connects every stage of the product journey, from line planning and product development through sourcing, production, quality management, compliance, traceability and final shipment.

Disconnected Operations Are Expensive Most fashion brands have spent years layering technology onto existing processes. A sourcing platform may sit alongside a separate product development tool. Supplier compliance information may be stored in another system, while logistics data lives somewhere else entirely.

While each solution may address a specific business

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need, the lack of connectivity creates information silos that prevent teams from working from a single source of truth.

Product development teams often lack visibility into sourcing decisions. Sourcing managers may not have immediate access to compliance data.

Quality teams may identify issues too late in the production cycle, while logistics teams are left to react to disruptions rather than proactively manage them. When information is fragmented, organizations spend valuable time chasing updates rather than making informed decisions. Delays compound, costs increase, and opportunities for optimization are missed.

Moving Beyond Visibility Organizations need connected workflows that enable action. An effective digital foundation does more than aggregate data; it creates a continuous flow of information across departments, suppliers, factories and logistics partners. Product specifications, supplier performance metrics, cost data, production milestones, inspection results, compliance documentation and shipment status all become part of a unified ecosystem. This connected approach allows teams to identify issues earlier, collaborate more effectively and respond faster when conditions change.

For example, if a supplier experiences a production delay, sourcing, quality and logistics teams can immediately assess downstream impacts and adjust plans before disruptions affect delivery timelines. Similarly, changes in material costs can be evaluated against sourcing alternatives in real time, helping organizations protect margins while maintaining product quality.

The Importance of Connecting Line Planning to Delivery Many discussions around supply chain digitization focus on manufacturing and logistics. However, true end-to-end transformation begins much earlier.

Line planning and product development decisions influence nearly every downstream outcome, including sourcing strategy, production timelines, supplier requirements, quality expectations and ultimately profitability. When planning data remains disconnected from execution processes, organizations lose critical context as products move through development and production.

A connected infrastructure ensures that information established during planning remains accessible throughout the product life cycle.

Teams can track how decisions made during concept development impact sourcing costs, compliance requirements, production schedules and delivery performance. This continuity creates greater accountability and enables more informed decision-making at every stage.

Supplier Collaboration as an Advantage Success in fashion supply chains depends not only on internal efficiency but also on effective collaboration with suppliers and manufacturing partners. Traditional communication methods (including spreadsheets, email chains and manual document exchanges) make it difficult to maintain alignment across complex supplier networks.

Digital platforms that facilitate supplier collaboration can streamline communication, automate workflows and provide real-time updates on production progress, compliance requirements and shipment readiness. More importantly, they create transparency that benefits all parties.

Suppliers gain clearer expectations and faster communication, while brands receive more accurate and timely information that supports proactive decision-making.

Preparing for a More Regulated Future Regulatory expectations continue to expand across areas such as sustainability, traceability, product safety and responsible sourcing. Fashion brands are required to demonstrate where products originate, how they are manufactured and whether suppliers meet specific environmental and social standards.

Meeting these requirements is difficult when data is scattered across multiple systems and stakeholders.

An integrated approach allows organizations to centralize supplier records, audit results, certifications, chain-of-custody documentation and product information within a single framework.

This not only simplifies compliance efforts but also strengthens risk management and supports more credible reporting. As regulations evolve, companies with connected data ecosystems will be better positioned to adapt without significant operational disruption.

Ultimately, the goal is to create a connected operating model that enables smarter decisions, faster execution and stronger collaboration across the entire product life cycle. For fashion brands seeking to compete in a complex market, the future belongs to those that can transform fragmented operations into a truly end-to-end supply chain ecosystem—one that extends seamlessly from line planning to final delivery.

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LOGISTICS

Your T Next Buyer Might Be a Bot

hink about the last good order you wrote. A buyer found your line, liked what they saw, asked a couple of questions and committed. Somewhere in that chain, a human being made a judgment call in your favor.

Now run it again with the human removed.

That is where we are headed, and it is coming faster than most people in this business want to admit out loud.

Shoppers are starting to hand the work over to AI. It’s not just asking a chatbot a question but actually letting an assistant find brands, weigh options and line up the purchase. McKinsey said it plainly in its latest “State of Fashion” report: the industry is drifting away from human-first shopping toward agent-first. The agent knows your customer’s size. It knows her taste. It knows her history, and it is allowed to make the call for her.

If that sounds like a problem for the marketing department, look closer. It is an operations problem. It might be the operations problem for the next five years.

Here is the part that the trend pieces skip: a human shopper is forgiving. If your website is a little clumsy, the fit notes are vague, or “oatmeal,” “natural” and “ecru” all show up for what is obviously the same sweater, a person shrugs and figures it out. They zoom in on the photo. They email a rep. They give you the benefit of the doubt because they already like you. A bot does none of that.

A bot reads data. It reads your color, size scale, fabric content, fit and price, in addition to whether an item is actually in stock. If that data is wrong or thin, or if it contradicts itself from one channel to the next, the agent does not squint and work it out. It moves on to the brand whose data it can trust, and you never even know you were in the running.

Apparel is unusually exposed here because our data is messy by nature. We do not sell a single stock-keeping unit (SKU). We sell a style in nine colors and seven sizes, recut every season, and describe it one way on our own site, another way in the wholesale catalog, a third

By Shahrooz Shawn Kohan CEO, AIMS360

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LOGISTICS

way on the marketplace, and a fourth way in the electronic data interchange (EDI) feed going to the retailer. Every channel is a chance for the record to drift. For years, that drift was survivable because there was always a human at the end to paper over it.

Take the human out, and the cracks start to show.

And it is not only the consumer. Apply the same logic to your own floor—the wholesale floor—and it becomes sharper.

A retail buyer used to learn about your brand from a rep, a line sheet, a showroom appointment or a few minutes of conversation at a trade show. Now, the buyer can type your name into an AI and ask, plainly, “Tell me about this brand,” before they ever shake your hand.

What comes back is not a product list.

It is a profile. Run a brand through one of these tools, and you get a tidy dossier: where it sits on price, value, contemporary or luxury; how it makes its money, whether that is through wholesale, direct or licensing; who is behind it and what else those people have built or been attached to; the sister labels; and the past ventures.

The machine assembles it all in seconds from whatever it can find and hands the buyer a confident summary.

Here is the catch. That summary is built from the scraps the internet happens to hold about you, not from what you would say about yourself in the room. If a stale press hit still pegs you as the discount line you left behind three seasons ago, then as far as the buyer is concerned, that is your positioning today. If a founder is tied to a label that folded, the association rides along, whether it is fair or not. And if your own “About” page is thin while your story lives mostly in other people’s coverage, you have handed a stranger the pen. The buyer forms a first impression before you get to make one, and you may never know which version of your brand walked into the meeting ahead of you.

I have been writing software for fashion brands for a long time, and I have watched plenty of “this changes everything”

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technology change almost nothing. So I am not going to tell you the robots are coming for your job tomorrow or try to sell you panic. Most of what gets hyped fades, but this one has a tell that the fads never had: there is already money behind it. The visible edge today is AI working its way into the buying decision, and it is already moving the numbers. One virtual try-on company recently reported that shoppers who use its AI tools are far more likely to buy, with conversion among luxury customers climbing several times over. When a behavior moves the sales numbers, it stops being a gimmick and becomes a channel. Channels do not disappear. They get optimized.

So what do you actually do? Not much that is glamorous, which is usually how you can tell the advice is real.

Get your product data clean and keep it consistent everywhere. The same garment should carry the same name, the same color, the same fiber content and the same measurements, whether a customer is on your direct-to-consumer (DTC) site, a buyer is on your line sheet or an agent is reading a feed you will never see. Treat your attributes as something a customer reads, because more and more, the customer doing the reading is a machine that takes you literally. Stop letting every channel keep its own slightly different version of the truth. Pick one record that is correct and make everything else point to it.

we optimized so Google would show our pages to people. Now we optimize so that an AI will put our products and our brand in front of an agent shopping for someone else. Same idea, higher stakes, far less room to be sloppy. The page used to be the storefront. Before that, it was a window display. Now the storefront is a data feed, and the shopper reading it has no patience and no imagination. It has only your numbers and your words.

The brands that win the agent will not be the ones with the cleverest campaign.

They will be the ones whose back office is boring and correct: one accurate record of every style, color and size, and one clear, current account of who the brand is, kept in sync across every place they appear.

Keeping that record clean and consistent across every channel is the entire job of an apparel ERP, which is what we build at AIMS360. I will be the first to admit it is not the part of the business that anyone gets excited about. It is about to be the part that decides whether a machine puts you on the list or skips you for the brand next door.

Your next buyer might not have a pulse.

Give it something it can read.

Shahrooz Shawn Kohan is the CEO of AIMS360, an apparel enterprise resource planning platform used by more than 10,000 fashion brands and backed by more than 45 years in the industry. He spent years building software for fashion labels before taking the helm.

Then, do the same thing one level up for the brand itself. Make your own site say clearly who you are, how you sell and where you sit in the market, in plain words that a machine can lift without guessing.

Keep it current. If your positioning has moved, update the language everywhere a buyer or a bot might look, not just in your own head. The test is simple. When someone asks an AI to describe your brand, the answer should sound like you wrote it.

This is the unglamorous cousin of search engine optimization (SEO). For 20 years,

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LOGISTICS

New Forced Labor Tariff Proposal Adds Fresh Uncertainty for Fashion Importers

By Shannon Hynds, CEO, Quickcode For importers hoping for greater certainty in the near future, the latest proposal from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) suggests trade compliance will remain a moving target. The USTR has proposed new Section 301 tariffs of 10% to 12% on imports from 60 trading partners, citing concerns that countries have failed to adequately prohibit or enforce restrictions on goods produced with forced labor. The proposed action, launched under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, would apply broadly across many of America’s largest trading partners and could create another layer of cost and compliance considerations for importers already navigating a complicated trade environment.

• • •

While the proposal remains under review, it serves as another reminder that trade policy is intertwined with supply chain transparency and labor practices. For apparel companies sourcing across complex global networks, compliance now extends beyond product classification and duty calculations to include deeper visibility into supplier operations and country-of-origin risks.

Why Technology Is Essential

Compliance Complexity Continues To Grow Over the past several years, importers have had to adapt to an expanding web of tariff programs, including Section 301 duties, Section 232 tariffs, reciprocal tariffs, International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)-related measures and product-specific trade remedies. Each new development introduces additional reporting requirements, sourcing considerations and landed cost implications.

The proposed forced labor tariffs add another dimension to an already complicated environment.

Unlike traditional tariff measures focused solely on economic competition, these duties are tied to supply chain transparency and labor practices, further emphasizing the need for organizations to understand not only what they import, but where products originate and how they are produced.

For many trade compliance teams, the challenge is no longer finding information. The challenge is keeping up with the volume of changes while ensuring every product classification, tariff assignment and customs filing remains accurate.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong As tariff programs multiply, so do the risks associated with misclassification, incorrect duty calculations, and missed regulatory updates. Even experienced compliance teams can struggle to manually track:

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• • •

New tariff announcements and revisions Chapter 99 reporting requirements Changes to Section 301 and Section 232 measures Antidumping and countervailing duty cases Partner government agency requirements Country-of-origin impacts on duty exposure

A single missed update can result in unexpected duty costs, shipment delays, customs audits or compliance penalties. The challenge becomes even greater for organizations managing thousands (or tens of thousands) of stock-keeping units (SKUs) across multiple sourcing regions.

As trade regulations continue with ongoing uncertainty, many organizations are finding that traditional approaches to compliance management are no longer sufficient.

Manual reviews, spreadsheets and periodic audits can struggle to keep pace with the frequency and complexity of regulatory changes. Even highly experienced compliance teams may find it challenging to continuously monitor thousands of products against evolving tariff requirements.

In this environment, organizations can no longer afford to rely solely on manual processes and periodic reviews to manage compliance risk.

Regulatory changes can happen quickly, and the financial consequences of missing an update can be significant.

To stay ahead, companies should consider investing in technology that provides greater visibility into their product portfolios, automates the monitoring of trade regulations, and helps assess the impact of potential policy changes before they take effect.

These tools can help compliance teams respond more efficiently, reduce uncertainty and make more informed decisions as trade requirements continue to evolve.

While no organization can predict every regulatory development, having the right systems and processes in place can make it easier to adapt when changes occur. In this time of continuous trade disruption, preparedness is becoming just as important as compliance itself.

Increasingly, importers are adopting technology that can automate portions of the compliance process, monitor regulatory updates, identify affected products and help teams assess potential impacts more quickly.

These tools do not replace trade expertise. Rather, they enable compliance professionals to spend less time gathering information and more time evaluating risk, advising the business and making informed decisions.

Preparing for Continuous Change Whether the proposed forced labor tariffs are ultimately implemented as drafted or modified through the public comment process, trade policy volatility is likely to remain a defining feature of global commerce. Importers should expect continued regulatory scrutiny, evolving tariff programs and new compliance obligations tied to broader policy objectives beyond traditional trade concerns.

Organizations that build visibility into their supply chains, maintain accurate trade data and invest in processes that can adapt to regulatory change will be better positioned to respond when the next policy shift arrives.

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August 2026 FM | 37 June | July 2024 FM | 39

FEATURE

Silpada Transforming Community-Driven Craft Into a Modern Growth Model

By Merilee Kern, MBA

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August 2026

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Photos courtesy of Silpada

FEATURE

In a jewelr y market increasing ly defined by speed, saturation and short trend cycles, Silpada is taking a more deliberate path. The brand is leaning into its origins to shape its future, building a business that b l e n d s h e r i t a g e c r a f t s m a n s h i p, ethical sourcing and community-first engagement into a model designed for long-term relevance.

Today’s buyer is curating rather than collecting, building a wardrobe of pieces that can be layered, mixed and adapted over time. Jewelry is no longer tied to single-use occasions; it is integrated into daily identity. By focusing on modularity, versatility and understated statement design, Silpada aligns with this evolving mindset.

Silpada’s story begins in 1997 with two founders selling their designs at informal gatherings. That grassroots approach was not simply a distribution strategy. It established a relational foundation that still infor ms the brand today. Customers were never treated as transactions. They were treated as participants in a shared experience. Nearly three decades later, that mindset continues to influence how the company communicates, designs and grows.

B e y o n d p r o d u c t , t h e b r a n d ’s positioning is reinforced through a clear commitment to ethics and impact. As part of Richline Group, Silpada adheres to rigorous standards for responsible sourcing a n d m a n u f a c t u r i n g. T h i s i s increasingly critical in a market where transparency is no longer optional.

Consumers and retail partners alike are demanding accountability across supply chains, from material origin to production practices.

The brand’s evolution accelerated in 2016 when it joined R i ch l i n e G ro u p, p a r t of Berkshire Hathaway.

T he acquisition expanded Silpada’s operational capabilities and global reach while preserving i t s i d e n t i t y a s a d e s i g n - d r i ve n , c o m mu n i t y - o r i e n t e d b r a n d . Fo r industry observers, this balance is notable. Many heritage brands lose their distinct voice when scaled.

Silpada has instead used that infrastructure to amplify its core values.

At the product level, the company remains focused on handcrafted detail and material integ rity. Its commitment to .925 sterling silver and artisan collaboration reinforces a positioning that prioritizes durability over disposability. In a category where plated pieces and accessories with short life cycles dominate, Silpada’s emphasis on longevity is a strategic differentiator. The brand consistently communicates that its pieces are designed to last, not simply to trend.

Another key differentiator is Silpada’s continued emphasis on small-batch production and artisan collaboration. In an era dominated by mass production, this approach signals intentionality. It also allows for g reater design f lexibility and s t o r y t e l l i n g, b o t h o f wh i ch a re increasing ly important in digital c o m m e r c e e nv i r o n m e n t s w h e r e differentiation depends on narrative as much as product.

The broader jewelry industry is at an inflection point. Consumers are reevaluating what they buy, why they buy it and who they support in the process. Brands that can deliver quality, transparency and emotional connection simultaneously will have the advantage.

Silpada is not attempting to outpace the market through volume or trend velocity. Instead, it is building a model grounded in consistency, trust and thoughtful design. In a crowded and often fragmented category, that restraint may prove to be its most powerful differentiator.

Silpada’s design approach reflects a broader shift in consumer behavior.

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Fair Harbor and Mikey DeTemple Celebrate a Shared

the f o e Lov n a e Oc

With a New LimitedEdition Collection 40 | FM

August 2026

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FEATURE

Photos courtesy of Fair Harbor Some collaborations begin in a boardroom. Others begin with a shared way of life.

For Fair Harbor and professional surfer, filmmaker and environmental advocate Mikey DeTemple, their new limited-edition collection is rooted in something much deeper than fashion.

It is a reflection of the ocean that has shaped both of their stories, and of a mutual belief that great design should be built to last and made responsibly, while inspiring people to spend more time outside.

The Fair Harbor x Mikey DeTemple collection captures the relaxed spirit of coastal living through elevated everyday essentials designed for life in and around the water. Drawing inspiration from surf culture, timeless silhouettes and well-worn favorites, the collection blends effortless style with functional performance, offering versatile pieces that transition seamlessly from beach mornings to evenings by the coast.

Founded by siblings Jake and Caroline Danehy, Fair Harbor was born from a simple yet powerful mission to create better apparel while helping protect the places that inspired it. After seeing firsthand the amount of plastic pollution washing onto the beaches they grew up visiting, the founders set out to rethink what sustainable clothing could look like. What began with swim trunks made from recycled plastic bottles has since evolved into a full lifestyle collection spanning yearround apparel, all while remaining committed to thoughtful design and environmental responsibility.

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celebrates nature, simplicity and the communities built around life by the water, values that closely mirror Fair Harbor’s own.

Rather than chasing seasonal trends, the collection focuses on timeless essentials designed to become wardrobe staples. The assortment incorporates relaxed fits, heritageinspired stripes, soft sun-washed colors and understated graphics influenced by classic surf culture, resulting in pieces that feel both nostalgic and modern.

At the center of the collection is the debut of the Swell Board Short, a new silhouette created alongside DeTemple. Inspired by vintage board shorts but updated with Fair Harbor’s signature sustainable performance materials, the style features recycled nylon, four-way stretch and a relaxed fit built for versatility both in and out of the water.

The collection also includes elevated staples such as the Salty Oxford Shirt, the Sundown Textured Hoodie and the Saltair Graphic Tee, each designed with Fair Harbor’s signature blend of comfort, durability and understated coastal style.

More than a seasonal capsule, the collaboration serves as a reminder of the connection between the clothes we wear and the environments we enjoy. Every piece is designed to accompany real experiences, whether that means chasing waves, traveling somewhere new or simply slowing down long enough to appreciate a sunset by the water.

Today, Fair Harbor is a Certified B Corporation and has repurposed more than 37 million recycled plastic bottles into clothing, proving that sustainability and everyday comfort can go hand in hand. That philosophy made partnering with DeTemple a natural fit for Fair Harbor.

Built for life around the water, each style incorporates premium performance fabrics and quick-drying materials without compromising on comfort or timeless design. The result is a collection that feels equally at home on the beach, on the road or as part of an everyday wardrobe.

Known for his distinctive visual storytelling, lifelong connection to the ocean and relaxed approach to coastal style, DeTemple has spent decades traveling the world’s shorelines as both a surfer and filmmaker. His work consistently

The Fair Harbor x Mikey DeTemple collection reaffirms Fair Harbor’s commitment to creating apparel that reflects the ease of coastal living while encouraging people to spend more time enjoying the outdoors.

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Tabbe Designs: Fueling Fashion Through

Creativity, Community and ConnectioN

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FASHION SPHERE

Photos courtesy of Tabbe Designs

F

or many people, the COVID-19 pandemic brought life to a standstill. For fashion designer Talia Abbe, it became a period of reflection that would ultimately shape the foundation of her career and inspire the creation of her womenswear label, Tabbe Designs.

Founded in 2024, Tabbe is more than a fashion brand.

It is a creative platform that transforms emotional research into wearable expression, exploring the ways internal thoughts and external experiences shape the human condition.

Through sculptural silhouettes, vibrant colors and expressive prints, Abbe uses fashion as a tool for conversation, connection and self-discovery.

A native New Yorker, Abbe built her academic foundation with a bachelor’s in textile and fashion design and a certificate in entrepreneurship from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She later earned her Master of Fine Arts in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in 2024. Her talent and entrepreneurial vision were recognized with the prestigious $25,000 Bob Fisch Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, an achievement that further validated her unique approach to design.

Ye t t h e i n s p i r at i o n behind Tabbe Designs extends beyond education and accolades. The brand was born from a deeply personal place during the isolation of the pandemic, when conversations surrounding mental health became more urgent and visible than ever before. Like many others, Abbe experienced the emotional challenges that accompanied uncertainty, isolation and disruption. Rather than turning

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away from those experiences, she used them as creative fuel.

The result was a brand dedicated to destigmatizing mental health and creating a more inclusive environment through fashion. Abbe recognized that clothing has the power to communicate emotions that are often difficult to express with words. Through her collections, she invites wearers to embrace vulnerability, celebrate individuality and acknowledge the complexity of human emotions.

At the heart of her work is the belief that creativity can serve as a bridge between personal experiences and collective understanding. Her designs often draw inspiration from cognitive abstraction, a concept that influences the vibrant prints and visual storytelling throughout her collections. At the same time, her voluminous silhouettes and bold color palettes evoke a sense of childlike playfulness, offering a contrast to the heavier themes that inform her work.

This balance between seriousness and joy reflects one of the most important lessons Abbe took away from the pandemic: healing and self-expression are not mutually exclusive. Fashion can be both meaningful and uplifting, encouraging reflection while also inspiring confidence, optimism and connection.

For Abbe, community has become an equally important part of the conversation. Through Tabbe Designs, she aims to foster an environment where people feel seen, welcomed and understood. Her collections are designed not only to make a visual statement but also to spark dialogue about mental health and emotional well-being.

In a fashion industry often focused on appearance, Talia Abbe is creating something deeper. By transforming personal experiences into artistic expression, she is proving that clothing can do more than make people look good; it can help them feel understood.

The pandemic may have inspired the founding of Tabbe Designs, but its mission continues to resonate far beyond that moment, encouraging a future where creativity, mental health awareness and community are woven together.

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NYC Alliance s e r i u Derek q Ac Lam 10 Crosby BETTING BIG ON THE FUTURE OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FASHION

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August 2026

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COVER FEATURE

A

s consolidation continues to reshape the fashion industry, established brands with strong consumer recognition have become some of the market’s most valuable assets. Rather than launching labels from scratch, companies are increasingly investing in brands with proven equity, loyal customers and untapped growth potential. NYC Alliance’s acquisition of Derek Lam 10 Crosby is the latest example of this evolving strategy—and one that signals a promising new chapter for the contemporary American label.

The New York-based apparel company has officially acquired the brand assets of Derek Lam 10 Crosby, the contemporary fashion label founded by acclaimed American designer Derek Lam. Completed in May 2026, the transaction marks another milestone in NYC Alliance’s ongoing expansion strategy, strengthening its growing portfolio of fashion brands while positioning Derek Lam 10 Crosby for renewed growth across wholesale, retail, licensing and new product categories.

Although financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, the deal represents far more than a change in ownership. It brings together one of American fashion’s most recognizable contemporary labels with a company whose expertise lies in scaling brands through vertically integrated operations, global sourcing and extensive retail partnerships.

For an industry navigating shifting consumer behavior, evolving wholesale dynamics and increasing operational complexity, the acquisition reflects a broader trend: the next generation of fashion growth may belong not only to visionary designers but to companies capable of pairing creative heritage with world-class infrastructure.

A Contemporary Label With Lasting Appeal When Lam introduced Derek Lam 10 Crosby in 2011, the intention was clear: create a contemporary collection that captured the sophisticated sensibility of the designer’s luxury line while offering versatile wardrobe staples at a more accessible price point.

Named after the brand’s original studio on Crosby Street in downtown Manhattan, the collection quickly established itself as a favorite among professional women seeking refined, wearable pieces that balanced polish with practicality.

Rather than chasing trends, Derek Lam 10 Crosby became known for elevated essentials—tailored separates, feminine

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dresses, modern outerwear and understated statement pieces designed to move effortlessly between work, travel and everyday life.

The brand’s philosophy centered on designing for the accomplished urban woman: confident, independent and constantly in motion. Clean silhouettes, luxurious fabrication and subtle design details became signatures of the label, earning it placement with leading department stores and specialty retailers while cultivating a loyal customer base around the world.

Over the past 15 years, Derek Lam 10 Crosby has maintained its position as one of the defining names within contemporary American fashion, demonstrating the enduring value of thoughtful design over fleeting trends.

A Strategic Home for the Brand’s Next Chapter For NYC Alliance, acquiring Derek Lam 10 Crosby represents a natural evolution of a business that has steadily transformed from an apparel company into one of fashion’s more sophisticated brand operators.

Headquartered in New York City, NYC Alliance has built an expansive multichannel platform spanning design, product development, sourcing, wholesale distribution, retail partnerships, logistics and technology. Its portfolio includes established names such as 525 America, 89th & Madison, NXT Labs, and several licensed and owned brands serving multiple consumer categories.

Unlike traditional fashion companies that rely primarily on seasonal collections, NYC Alliance’s competitive advantage lies in its operational ecosystem. By integrating product development, supply chain management and distribution under one organization, the company is able to bring products to market with greater speed and efficiency while supporting long-term brand growth.

That infrastructure ultimately made Derek Lam 10 Crosby an attractive acquisition.

“Derek Lam 10 Crosby already has everything you hope to find in an established fashion brand—strong recognition, a clear design identity and years of trust with consumers,” said Wen Huang, head of marketing at NYC Alliance. “Our role is not to reinvent that foundation but to build upon it.

With our global sourcing capabilities, retail relationships and

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COVER FEATURE operational platform, we see significant opportunities to expand the brand while remaining true to the qualities that made it successful in the first place.”

The acquisition also reflects NYC Alliance’s broader business philosophy of investing in brands with authentic heritage rather than creating entirely new labels in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Building for Long-Term Growth According to the company, Derek Lam 10 Crosby will be supported by an entirely new leadership structure assembled specifically for the brand’s next phase of growth. Sales operations will be overseen by Michele Marzullo, vice president of sales at NYC Alliance, while dedicated design, merchandising, product development and operational teams are currently being established.

The company plans to significantly expand the brand’s wholesale and retail footprint while exploring new distribution channels that can introduce Derek Lam 10 Crosby to a broader global audience.

Beyond apparel, NYC Alliance also intends to pursue licensing opportunities across categories, including footwear, handbags, accessories, home and additional lifestyle products—a strategy increasingly common among heritage contemporary brands seeking to deepen consumer engagement beyond ready-to-wear.

The first collections developed entirely under NYC Alliance’s ownership are expected to reach retailers in 2027.

Why This Acquisition Matters The timing of the acquisition is particularly notable.

Across the fashion industry, companies are placing greater emphasis on acquiring brands with existing awareness rather than launching entirely new concepts. Consumer acquisition costs continue to rise, wholesale channels remain increasingly selective, and retailers are prioritizing brands with recognizable identities and proven demand.

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COVER FEATURE For companies with strong operational capabilities, established labels offer something difficult to manufacture overnight: credibility.

“Derek Lam 10 Crosby already has an emotional connection with consumers,” Huang explained. “That kind of brand equity is incredibly valuable today.

Our investment is about creating the infrastructure that allows more customers to discover the brand while preserving the design philosophy that existing customers already love.”

Industry observers increasingly view this model as one of the defining growth strategies for the next decade of fashion, where operational excellence becomes just as important as creative direction.

NYC Alliance’s Expanding Vision The Derek Lam 10 Crosby acquisition is unlikely to be NYC Alliance’s last.

Over the past several years, the company has steadily expanded both organically and through strategic acquisitions, building a diversified portfolio that spans contemporary fashion, essentials, lifestyle apparel and emerging technologies. Executives have indicated they remain actively focused on identifying additional brands capable of benefiting from the company’s vertically integrated platform.

Photos courtesy of Derek Lam 10 Crosby

Rather than pursuing growth for growth’s sake, the strategy appears centered on identifying brands with authentic stories, strong market recognition and meaningful long-term potential.

As the apparel landscape continues to evolve, NYC Alliance is positioning itself less as a traditional apparel company and more as a modern fashion platform—one capable of supporting brands’ growth while providing the operational resources required to compete in today’s increasingly complex retail environment.

For Derek Lam 10 Crosby, the new ownership offers an opportunity to introduce its signature blend of effortless New York sophistication to an even wider audience without sacrificing the qualities that made the brand distinctive from the beginning.

For NYC Alliance, it represents another step toward building one of the industry’s most dynamic multibrand portfolios.

And for the broader fashion market, the acquisition serves as another reminder that in today’s business environment, the future often belongs to companies that can successfully unite creative legacy with operational scale.

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FM | 47

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UNSHINE OCIETY

How Two Lifestyle Enthusiasts Built a Brand Rooted in Joy and Everyday Comfort

50 | FM

August 2026

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Photos courtesy of Sunshine Society

W

hen Louisiana friends Alli Sims and Lexie Polito launched Sunshine Society in November 2023, they set out to create more than a clothing brand. They envisioned a lifestyle centered on joy, comfort, connection and the simple moments that make everyday life feel a little brighter.

Built from their shared love of colorful living and intentional design, Sunshine Society reflects the way Sims and Polito approach life themselves—embracing happiness, celebrating meaningful connections and finding beauty in everyday experiences. Together, they transformed that mindset into a brand that blends style, function and inspiration, creating pieces designed to bring comfort and confidence to daily life.

At its core, Sunshine Society was born from a simple idea: ordin ary day s des erv e a little extra sunshine. Guided by their belief in “living brightly and intentionally,” Sims and Polito have built a brand that feels cheerful, approachable and authentic.

Every collection captures a sense of optimism without feeling overly polished or unattainable. Instead, Sunshine Society embraces the realities of everyday life while making getting dressed feel effortless, fun and moodboosting.

The founders describe Sunshine Society as “a space where imagination meets everyday living,” a philosophy that is woven into every product they create.

Their pieces are designed to be worn and enjoyed, not saved for special occasions.

From slow mornings at home and weekend getaways to family photos, girls’ nights, beach vacations and holiday traditions, Sunshine Society creates clothing that becomes part of life’s most memorable moments.

Comfort remains at the heart of the brand. Its signature silky sets, crafted from lightweight satin, combine softness, breathability and practicality with effortless style. Machine washable and easy to wear, the sets offer the relaxed

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FEATURE

feel of loungewear while maintaining the versatility and personality of a complete outfit. Whether worn for a cozy night in, a casual brunch or a family gathering, they embody the brand’s balance of comfort and confidence.

A defining element of Sunshine Society is its collection of custom, hand-drawn prints inspired by travel, nature and everyday experiences. Each design tells its own story, bringing a sense of artistry and playfulness to every piece.

Vibrant colors, whimsical patterns and unexpected details give each collection a distinctive personality while capturing the joyful spirit that inspired the brand from the beginning.

That same spirit extends into one of Sunshine Society’s most beloved offerings: its mommy-and-me collection.

Designed to celebrate family connections, the matching pieces create meaningful moments for mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins and loved ones. Whether worn on Christmas morning, during a family vacation or for a special celebration, the collection reflects the brand’s emphasis on togetherness and creating lasting memories.

As Sunshine Society has grown, so has its product offering.

What began with signature sets has expanded into activewear, streetwear, children’s apparel, accessories, bags, hats and hair accessories. Yet despite its growth, the brand remains rooted in the same mission that inspired its launch— bringing happiness, ease and connection into everyday life through thoughtfully designed products.

For Sims and Polito, Sunshine Society is more than a business; it is an extension of a lifestyle they genuinely believe in. By creating pieces that feel personal, giftable and effortlessly wearable, they have built a brand that encourages people to embrace joy in both the big milestones and the everyday moments. Through every collection, Sunshine Society continues to deliver on its promise of making life feel a little brighter, one comfortable and colorful piece at a time.

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THE FASHION MANNUSCRIPT PRESENTS:

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August 2026

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Jewelry’s Next Digital Transformation How Overnight Mountings Is Bringing Custom Engagement Rings Into the Connected Commerce Era

By Olga Gonzalez

T

he future of jewelry retail may not be found in the software powering it. As consumers increasingly expect personalized products, seamless digital experiences and near-instant gratification, the jewelry industry is undergoing a quiet but significant transformation. While fashion brands have spent years investing in customization platforms, omnichannel commerce and digital product visualization, much of the fine jewelry sector has remained dependent on fragmented systems, manual workflows and lengthy production timelines.

Now, one of the industry’s longest-standing manufacturers is betting that technology will become just as important as craftsmanship. New York-based manufacturer Overnight Mountings has unveiled its ring builder, a digital platform designed to connect engagement ring customization, computer-aided design (CAD) development, rendering services, pricing, ordering and production into a single retailer-facing ecosystem. The platform debuted at the jewelry industry’s largest trade event, JCK Las Vegas, signaling a broader shift in how fine jewelry may be designed, sold and manufactured in the years ahead. For consumers, the

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launch reflects a growing industry movement toward more personalized shopping experiences. For retailers, it represents a push to modernize the complex process of turning a customer’s dream ring into a finished piece of jewelry.

The Rise of Customization in Luxury Retail Across fashion and luxury, customization has become an expectation. Consumers now personalize everything from sneakers and handbags to skin-care regimens and home furnishings. Jewelry, particularly engagement rings, sits naturally within that trend. Yet despite the emotional significance and high value of the purchase, the process often remains surprisingly outdated.

Many custom jewelry transactions still involve multiple vendors, lengthy email chains, manual quotes and disconnected production systems. A customer may fall in love with a design in-store, but the retailer often must coordinate separately with CAD designers, rendering specialists, stone suppliers and manufacturers before an order can move forward. The result is a process that can feel slow and cumbersome in an era shaped by Amazon-level convenience and digital-first

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TECH FEATURE

Photos courtesy of Overnight Mountings

shopping experiences. “Retailers today need more than product,” said Mitch Adwar, chief operations officer of Overnight Mountings. “They need speed, digital selling tools, manufacturing confidence and a partner who can help them convert interest into orders.”

Bringing Technology and Manufacturing Together What makes Overnight Mountings’ approach different is that the company is not a technology startup entering the jewelry space; it is a manufacturer with more than 75 years of production experience. For decades, the company has supplied bridal mountings, custom manufacturing services, CAD development and finished jewelry to retailers across the United States. The new platform builds upon that foundation rather than replacing it.

The ring builder allows jewelry retailers to guide customers through an engagement ring design process that includes mounting styles, center stone selections, setting variations and made-to-order configurations. Instead of relying on disconnected software systems, retailers can manage the process through a platform directly connected to manufacturing capabilities. The goal is to reduce friction between inspiration and execution.

“A lot of technology in this space looks impressive on the surface but still leaves stores dealing with disconnected workflows, delayed quoting or uncertainty around production,” Adwar explained. “We wanted to create a system where the selling experience and the manufacturing process actually work together.” That distinction is increasingly important as consumers move fluidly between online and in-store shopping. A customer may begin browsing engagement rings on a retailer’s website, continue the conversation in a showroom, and expect a customized design without delays or confusion along the way.

Portions of those systems are expected to begin rolling out later this year. While artificial intelligence has become a buzzword across nearly every industry, its potential application in jewelry may be particularly practical. Faster rendering generation, automated pricing workflows and improved production coordination could dramatically reduce the time required to move from concept to finished product.

What It Means for Consumers Although the new ring builder is designed for retailers rather than direct consumer use, shoppers are likely to experience the benefits indirectly. Faster custom design approvals, more accurate visualizations, clearer pricing and shorter production timelines all contribute to a smoother purchasing experience. Retailers gain tools that help them deliver the level of personalization consumers increasingly expect while maintaining confidence that custom designs can actually be produced efficiently. In many ways, the technology mirrors the evolution already seen in fashion.

Consumers no longer separate digital convenience from luxury service. They expect both simultaneously.

As younger generations make up a larger share of engagement ring buyers, those expectations are likely to grow. The companies best positioned for the future may not simply be those that create beautiful jewelry. They may be the ones that build the digital infrastructure necessary to support how modern consumers shop. Overnight Mountings’ ring builder marks a strategic shift from manufacturer to technology-enabled partner, reflecting a future where customization, commerce and production operate as one connected ecosystem. In an industry built on timeless traditions, that may be one of the most significant innovations of all.

The New Infrastructure of Luxury Commerce The launch also reflects a broader trend taking place across luxury retail: the growing importance of operational infrastructure. For years, brands competed primarily through product design and marketing. Today, customer experience often depends on what happens behind the scenes. Inventory systems, customization technology, fulfillment networks, AI-powered tools and production visibility increasingly influence whether a customer completes a purchase.

Patrick Bennett, who oversees strategy and growth for Overnight Mountings, believes the jewelry industry is heading toward a more connected model. “We think the industry is moving toward integrated systems,” Bennett said. “Retailers don’t want to manage five different vendors to complete one custom engagement ring order. They want speed, consistency, accountability and simplicity.”

To support that vision, Overnight Mountings is already developing additional AI-assisted capabilities intended to streamline quoting, rendering, custom order intake and communication between retailers and manufacturing teams.

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August 2026

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TECH 411

BEYOND YOGA LAUNCHES GLOWZONE, BLENDING PERFORMANCE INNOVATION WITH JOYFUL MOVEMENT Beyond Yoga announced the launch of Glowzone, the brand’s first dedicated high-sweat performance line and its most significant technical innovation to date.

Designed to support higher-intensity movement without compromising comfort, style or confidence, Glowzone marks a pivotal category expansion for Beyond Yoga, further deepening its presence in the performance apparel market as demand grows for multifunctional, technically driven products.

Developed in response to consumer demand for apparel that can support everything from heated studio workouts and strength training to everyday movement, Glowzone was engineered with moisture-wicking technology, four-way stretch and UPF 50+ protection, all in a lightweight fabric designed to move without restriction or excessive compression. The result is a new expression of performance—one that delivers technical function while preserving the signature softness Beyond Yoga is known for.

Glowzone is built around a coordinated system of fabrics and silhouettes that work together across intensity levels and use cases, balancing support, breathability and ease of wear. The line introduces both sculpted performance essentials and hybrid shapes, including seamless construction details and relaxed, away-from-body silhouettes that ref lect how consumers are dressing for movement today.

“At Beyond Yoga, innovation starts with our community and by listening to their needs,” said Nancy Green, CEO of Beyond Yoga. “Glowzone represents an exciting milestone for our brand and is the result of a highly collaborative development process. Through ongoing customer feedback, wear testing and iteration, our community helped shape every aspect of the line, allowing us to create one of our most technically advanced performance lines to date while staying true to the comfort, style and softness that define Beyond Yoga.”

The campaign features movement leaders, long-time Beyond Yoga advocates and entrepreneurs—including Hilary Hoffman, founder of SotoMethod, and content creator Jada Covington—who embody the brand’s philosophy of joy and progress over perfection.

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Photo courtesy of Beyond Yoga

August 2026

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TECH 411

RYKA LAUNCHES ITS MOST PERFORMANCE-FORWARD RUNNING SHOE FOR WOMEN

For nearly 40 years, Ryka has built its name on a simple premise: women’s athletic footwear shouldn’t be a resized version of a men’s shoe. It should be designed from the ground up around how women actually move. Ryka continues to bring this philosophy to life with every shoe it makes, including the Windswift LX, the brand’s most performance-driven running sneaker to date.

Women in sports are in the spotlight, and Ryka continues to champion female athletes by addressing a woman’s unique foot shape, muscle movement and build. The Windswift LX is designed around the Q angle—the inside angle of the quadriceps muscle that is 3% to 4% greater in women than men. This critical difference impacts stance, weight distribution and, ultimately, running efficiency.

By utilizing a female-specific last featuring a narrower heel and wider forefoot, the Windswift LX provides a secure, high-performance fit that prevents foot sliding and maximizes comfort.

“I’ve been personally wear testing the Windswift LX from our very first prototype, logging countless miles to ensure every single detail was perfected for the female runner,” said Chelsea Aaberg, general manager of Ryka. “The stepin comfort is immediate, but what truly sets this shoe apart is how the new Q-foam technology and our women-specific last respond over time. It completely changes the game for your running endurance and support, allowing women to run further and train harder without compromise. This is truly our strongest run yet.”

The Windswift LX has also been independently validated

by Heeluxe, a third-party footwear testing lab, which found that the shoe performs comparably to top market running competitors. This is a notable benchmark for a brand stepping into new competitive territory, backed by wear testers who logged well over 300 miles during development to ensure the shoe holds up to real-world training demands.

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Photo courtesy of Ryka

August 2026

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COLUMNS

DEB’S RETAIL DISH AND DEALS: HOT OFF THE GRILL

By Debra Hazel

Ulta Beauty has taken 26,000 square feet at 1551 Broadway. Fragrance brand Jo Malone is coming to 200 E. 57th Street.

Hot in the Hamptons There’s still plenty of time to visit the numerous boutiques that made their debut this year in the Hamptons and nearby. In East Hampton, Chanel’s seasonal pop-up is at 17 Newtown Lane, Tom Brady’s CardVault is at 47 Newtown Lane, and Violet Grey’s cosmetics and skin care can be found at 66 Newtown Lane.

DEBRA HAZEL Debra Hazel Communications North Las Vegas, Nevada 201-618-5247 This month sees a number of new eateries and (perhaps not coincidentally) retailers focused on fitness and beauty. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

To Your Health and Beauty Paragon Sports announced a series of in-store transformations and brand partnerships that underscore what it called “the company’s strategy as the definitive sports specialty retail authority of New York City.” The announcement coincides with the company being voted the No. 1 sporting goods store in the United States by the USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards. The store has undergone a series of immersive build-outs with a curated assortment of merchandise. The Merrell build-out on the second floor features Paragon’s outdoor footwear assortment, technical apparel, and camping and hiking equipment, curated specifically for the New York adventurer.

JLL has arranged two fitness leases totaling more than 31,000 square feet in northern New Jersey, reflecting continued momentum in the wellness retail sector as operators prioritize high-visibility, conveniencedriven locations. Elev8tion Fitness leased 14,750 square feet at Bergen Town Center in Paramus, and Planet Fitness leased 16,561 square feet at 663 Main Ave. in downtown Passaic.

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In Sag Harbor, find Rag & Bone at 95 Main St., Henry Lehr at 103 Main St., and Madewell at 102 Main St. In Southampton, Lauracea’s luxury bags are at 47B Jobs Lane. Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace is making it even easier for Fire Island residents and weekenders with the return of its Uncle G’s Ocean Beach Pop-Up inside Ocean Beach Trading.

Food, Glorious Food Viva la France! French café L’Ami Pierre is coming to 400 Madison Ave., while bistro Pardon My French will open at 373 Broome St. Junk Smash Burgers will make its U.S. debut at 452 W. Broadway, according to Commercial Observer. Last Crumb, the cultfavorite luxury cookie brand, opened its first physical retail location at 144 N. Eighth St. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, between Bedford Avenue and Berry Street.

Founded in 2020 by Derek Jaeger in Los Angeles, Last Crumb was the first direct-to-consumer food brand to execute a scarcity drop model at scale.

Just Gems Marli New York has expanded its retail presence with a 2,418-square-foot flagship boutique at 785 Madison Ave. Leading Marli’s portfolio of 16 locations worldwide, the new flagship marks the brand’s second Manhattan destination, hosting various collections and the brand’s newly launched timepieces.

Wining and Dining Airport hospitality group OTG welcomes the recent addition of three celebrated dining brands to John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 5. The openings of Melt Shop, The Halal Guys and Nom

Wah Tea Parlor will offer a taste of New York City’s diverse and iconic food culture as part of an ongoing commercial redevelopment of Terminal 5. Drāvida, a chef-driven restaurant disrupting traditional Indian dining, offering an intimate, transportive experience rooted in South Asian diaspora culture and craft, opened in Manhattan’s East Village. The concept, from acclaimed chef, television personality and culinary entrepreneur Aarthi Sampath, is an intimate journey through the South Asian diaspora and influenced by the cuisines of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Trinidad, Guyana and beyond.

Felice has opened its new flagship restaurant at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 26th Street in the Flatiron District, bringing the family-run Italian brand to one of Manhattan’s most design- and culture-driven neighborhoods. The space is built around a simple idea: a restaurant designed to feel like part of daily life, not just a place for occasions.

Wingstop, a leading national fast-casual brand, has signed a 1,848-square-foot lease at Rutgers Plaza, a 268,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by Stop & Shop at the intersection of Easton Avenue and JFK Boulevard in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey.

Talking Tech In partnership with Meta, Best Buy is bringing Meta Lab @ Best Buy to more than 50 of its stores this summer. The 900-square-foot experiential spaces give customers a hands-on way to explore Meta’s full product lineup of AI glasses and VR headsets through interactive demos and displays, smart mirrors, personalized fittings and more.

Around the US Little Greek Fresh Grill, the Mediterranean brand serving cooked-to-order dishes with an American twist, is expanding its footprint in Florida, having recently signed a deal with an area representative for the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas. The franchise partner will develop up to 30 locations across the markets over the next 10 years, following the recent reopening of their Tropicana Field location.

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COLUMNS

WHY ANIMAL FUR BECAME FASHION’S FAUX PAS

By PJ Smith

what issues they cared about. These companies soon realized that by taking a stand against animal cruelty, they were not only creating a better image for their brand but securing long-term financial prosperity by garnering goodwill and brand loyalty from younger generations. This quickly offset the relatively small number of sales that came from animal fur.

PJ SMITH Principal of Fashion Policy, Humane World for Animals A little more than a decade ago, the fashion industry was still a major promoter of the fur trade. Luxury fashion houses flaunted full-length fox or mink fur coats up and down the runway, outerwear brands trimmed parka hoods with raccoon dog or coyote fur, and fast fashion companies attached cheap fur trinkets or poms to handbags and hats. Fueled mostly

by China’s economic prosperity and thirst for luxury goods, animal fur had gained a mass market share that resulted in over 140 million wild animals being cruelly confined in small cages on large-scale farming operations—solely for fashion.

Fast forward to today and most fashion companies— including Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Burberry, Canada Goose and Michael Kors—have implemented furfree policies, and fashion trendsetters like New York Fashion Week and Vogue have policies to no longer promote animal fur on runways or social media. As fashion brands and retailers increasingly took their stands against the fur trade, the numbers started falling. Today, 20 million animals are still farmed for their fur—an 86% decline—but that number is expected to continue its downward trend.

This fast decline is being driven mostly by consumer awareness, paired with a fateful decision by some fashion brands to ask their customers more directly

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According to surveys by Accenture/Vogue and Boston Consulting Group, animal welfare is considered the most important factor when buying apparel, and Gen Z consumers place more value on animal welfare than all other sustainability issues when buying luxury products. Moreover, a 2025 survey by Research Co. found that 74% of Americans are opposed to killing animals for their fur, and state-wide polling consistently reveals that a majority of voters support bans on new fur sales in states like Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.

In fact, fur is now so out of fashion with consumers that financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, ING and International Finance Corporation (IFC) will no longer fund companies associated with the production, manufacturing or trade of fur products.

This could very well be the strongest indicator that the fur industry’s future is bleak.

of that fur ban on an industry that was already reeling from the wave of corporate fur-free announcements was decisive. Now, especially as other cities, states and countries are following California’s lead, it’s going to be hard for the fur industry to recover.

The advent of public policy initiatives has also reinforced the fashion industry’s search for material innovation that is not only better for animals but better for the planet as well. In recent years, multiple companies have been creating faux fur alternatives using bio-based inputs that have the same look as fur but decompose and don’t contribute to microfiber shedding. This type of innovation is necessary to reach consumers who no longer want to support animal cruelty, and it’s the future of the fur aesthetic.

With 20 million wild animals still confined in small cages, unable to exhibit their most natural behaviors and being killed by electrocution, gassing or bludgeoning, the work isn’t done. But the writing is on the wall, on a global scale. Consumer attitudes and public policy initiatives, together with the fashion industry’s drive to replace fur with bio-based alternatives, make the disappearance of animal fur inevitable, and in the end, there aren’t too many of us who are going to miss it.

With consumers and brands aligned in their efforts to divorce themselves entirely from a trade associated with animal cruelty, and broader awareness of the huge environmental and public health risks inherent to the fur industry, a new front in the campaign to end fur fashion has opened up. It centers on public policy across the globe and on the will of legislators, voters and municipalities taking action to end fur sales, imports and/or production. With the closing of markets for fur products, the value of a pelt will so diminish that fur farmers will concede to reality and look to transition to other livelihoods.

When California, the world’s fourth-largest economy, banned new fur sales in 2019, the state was the No. 1 seller of fur products in the country, accounting for nearly a quarter of the country’s sales in that category, according to U.S. Economic Census data. The impact

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450 Seventh Ave August 2026

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COLUMNS

RETURNS ARE RARELY RESOLD, AND MOST OF US HAVE NO IDEA

By Disney Petit

overburdened warehouse and piles of boxes no one could ever even imagine getting through.

It wasn’t always this way, but it will continue to be this way. The COVID pandemic shot e-commerce rates up exponentially, and with that came learned buying behaviors that include “I’ll just return it if I don’t like it,” leading to where we are today.

DISNEY PETIT Founder and CEO, LiquiDonate

Ask almost anyone what happens to a shirt they send back after the holidays, and they’ll tell you the same thing: it goes back on the shelf, ready for the next shopper. It’s a tidy story. The only problem is it’s also almost never true.

Here’s what actually happens. That shirt travels back to a warehouse, hundreds or thousands of miles from where you are, where someone then has to receive it, inspect it and decide whether it can be resold at all.

For a single item, the labor and shipping often cost more than the shirt is worth. Multiply that across the billions of items returned every year, and you start to see the problem. Returns are one of the most expensive parts of the entire retail system.

I spend my days inside this problem, and I’m still surprised by how shocked people are when they find out. We’ve spent two decades making it effortless to buy something and send it back. Free returns, no questions asked, a prepaid label in every box. What we never built was an effortless way to deal with what comes back. The front end of retail got a glossy app. The back end got a crowded loading dock, an

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The numbers are staggering. Americans return well over $800 billion in merchandise a year. A meaningful share of that never makes it back into circulation. One expert estimated that up to 80% of these items are never added back into inventory.

They get liquidated for pennies, shipped overseas or sent straight to a landfill—not because they are broken or unusable, but because the math of putting them back on a shelf doesn’t work.

This is what people miss when they talk about the circular economy. The dream is beautiful: products f low back into use, nothing gets wasted, the loop closes. But a loop doesn’t close on its own. It closes on reverse logistics and the deeply unglamorous work of moving an item from a customer’s hands to its next best home. Without that infrastructure, “circular” is just a word on a sustainability report.

And now there’s a new force pushing this from the shadows into the conversation: extended producer responsibility, or EPR. If you run a retail or fashion business and you don’t know that acronym yet, you will soon. EPR laws make producers financially responsible for the full life cycle of what they sell, including what happens at the end of life. Several states have already passed packaging and textile EPR legislation, and more are coming. California, New York and others are moving fast. The European Union is already further down this road.

it. The free disposal era is ending. Soon, sending a perfectly good returned shirt to a landfill won’t just be wasteful; it’ll be expensive, reportable and in some cases illegal. Retailers who treat returns as an afterthought are building a liability they haven’t priced in yet.

I find this genuinely hopeful, because it aligns the incentives that have been broken for so long. For years, doing the right thing with returned and excess inventory was a cost center. EPR is turning it into a competitive advantage. The companies that figure out their reverse logistics now—the ones who build real pathways to resell, donate or recycle what comes back—won’t just be ready for the regulation. They’ll be running leaner, wasting less and telling a story their customers can believe.

The technology to do this at scale exists now. We can use AI to look at a returned item, understand its condition and route it to its best possible destination—resale, donation or recycling—in seconds, automatically. The same intelligence that retailers pour into recommending the next purchase can be pointed at the back end of the business, where the value has been quietly leaking out for years.

The returns process has been retail’s best-kept secret for too long. It’s time we stop looking away from it and solve it head-on.

What EPR means in plain terms is this: the cost of waste is coming home to the companies that create

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COLUMNS

WHAT 300,000 PRODUCT CLICKS TAUGHT ME ABOUT THE TRENDS DEFINING BRIDAL NOW

By Catherine Geewax

Trend 1: The Bridal Two-Piece Is the New Format The single biggest shift in our data this year is the rise of the bridal two-piece. Brides are buying matching top-and-skirt sets at a rate that did not exist 18 months ago. The Reformation Mika Two Piece was our single highest-converting piece in the second quarter, and the Anthropologie BHLDN bridal separates category has consistently outperformed dresses within the same price band on a per-click basis.

CATHERINE GEEWAX Founder, The Weddit

When I left my 10-year career in tech to start The Weddit, the one-stop shop for a bride’s full wedding wardrobe beyond the dress, my hypothesis was simple: the wedding industry was massively underserving the bride beyond the wedding dress itself. Two years and more than 300,000 affiliate clicks later, the data doesn’t just tell me what brides are buying. It tells me what trends are actually translating from runway to checkout, and which ones are defining the next era of bridal fashion.

The 6-Outfit Bride Is the Foundation Before any trend discussion, we need to understand the underlying shift. Modern American brides no longer dress for one wedding event. They dress for the engagement party, the bridal shower, the bachelorette, the rehearsal dinner, the welcome dinner, the honeymoon and increasingly, the post-wedding brunch. Even the wedding day itself is now a threeoutfit moment: ceremony, reception and after-party.

That is not a small change. It is a fundamental shift in what “bridal” means as a commercial category.

The retailer who treats her as a one-dress customer is missing 80% of the opportunity. Every trend below has six (or more!) potential memories and moments across her bridal calendar, not just one.

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The driver is rewearability and value: a two-piece can be split and restyled into a nonbridal wardrobe after the wedding. For brides spending across six events, that flexibility is enticing. This choice also creates fashion-forward bridal styling without costing more than a comparable single-dress purchase. Retailers stocking bridal in 2027 should be thinking in sets, not just silhouettes.

Trend 2: Drop-Waist Gowns Are Not Slowing Down According to Pinterest’s 2026 bridal trend report, searches for drop-waist gowns are up 1,405% year over year. That number is reflected in our own data. The drop-waist silhouette is the most-clicked gown shape on The Weddit’s editorial pages over the past quarter.

The why matters: brides are responding to silhouettes that feel less traditional and more editorial. The dropwaist signals “I have a point of view” without requiring a full departure from her personal style. Expect to see it dominate Winter 2026 and Spring 2027 bridal collections.

Trend 3: Statement Sleeves and Soft Corsetry Trends Emerge The two trends that NY Bridal Fashion Week surfaced, which have translated most clearly into consumer behavior, are statement sleeves and soft corsetry. Pieces with structural sleeves (particularly puff and dramatic sculptural shapes) have a click-through-to-conversion rate roughly twice that of comparable strapless or simple-strap silhouettes on The Weddit.

Soft corsetry channels romance without veering into the realm of “too traditional.” That is the exact balance the modern bride is hunting for, and the reason this silhouette is showing up across both editorial and direct-to-consumer bridal collections heading into 2027.

The Bigger Trend Underneath: Unique Beats Viral The most common message I receive from readers begins with some version of, “I keep seeing the same dress, and I don’t want to wear what every other bride is wearing.” This is a market signal, not a complaint.

Brides are explicitly searching outside of the obvious retailers, and the data backs it up.

Smaller designers and international labels consistently outperform mass-market brands like Revolve in revenue per click, despite getting a fraction of the click volume. That tells you exactly where the market is moving: away from algorithm-driven sameness and toward editorial discovery and harder-to-find pieces.

The brands that win the next decade of bridal will be the ones building distribution into editorial creators and Pinterest-native channels, not just the ones running paid acquisition.

What This Means for the Fashion Industry Bridal is no longer a single-product category. It is a six-occasion fashion calendar driven by brides who are increasingly fluent in fashion, increasingly resistant to mass-market visibility and increasingly willing to pay for unique pieces from smaller designers.

The trends moving fastest are the ones that feel editorial rather than traditional: drop-waist gowns, soft corsetry, statement sleeves and the bridal two-piece.

The retailers, designers and emerging brands that understand this opportunity and can show up where the modern bride actually searches will define what bridal fashion looks like through 2027 and beyond.

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WELCOME TO ONE NOMAD. NOW GO PLACES.

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875 Sixth Ave • New York, NY Michael Kaufman • 212.471.4320 • michaelk@kfmn.nyc Ready for what’s next? Visit onenomad.com or kfmn.nyc to get in touch. mannpublications.com

August 2026

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Itinerary 8:30 AM

11:00 AM

Arrival and Registration

6:00 - 7:00 PM

Call to Carts

11:15 AM (Sharp)

9:00 AM

Breakfast/Brunch

Shotgun Start

Dinner and Presentation of Golf Winners and Honorees

5:00 - 6:00 PM

Hors d’Oeuvres and Cocktails

Annual Golf Event

MANN CHARITABLE

The Mann Charitable Foundation is having its annual golf outing this year at the wonderful Fresh Meadow Country Club on Monday, September 28, 2026. Formed by Irving and Marion Mann,The Mann Charitable Foundation supports research to fight life-threatening diseases. Expect another amazing outing, supporting causes of mainly geriatric diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Crohn’s and Colitis, Lymphoma, Macular Degeneration, liver disease and more.

We have our honorees, one of which will be receiving the Michael Kerr Humanitarian Award in honor of one of my best friends, Michael Kerr. We hope to see you there supporting our causes and spreading the awareness for a better future.

Honorees

Jason M. Goldberg Regional Sales Manager CIT Commercial Services (A subsidiary of First Citizens Bank)

September 28, 2026 Location

Tickets

Fresh Meadow Country Club 255 Lakeville RD, Lake Success, NY 11020

Golf $950 per person $3,800 per foursome Dinner and Cocktails Only $300 per person

Brian R. Steinwurtzel CEO and Principal GFP Real Estate Gural Family Properties

Michael Kerr Humanitarian

Co-Chairs Orin Wilf

Mitti Liebersohn

Frank Grimaldi Dean Palin

Aaron Boyajian Managing Partner Goetz Platzer LLP

For more information, please contact: Penelope Herrera pherrera@themanncharitablefoundation.com 212-840-6266 ext.313

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COLUMNS

GOOD VS. GREAT RETAILING

By Dan Jablons

Good retailers can be found everywhere, both nationally and internationally. Their business is healthy, they have loyal customers, and they continue to operate year in and year out.

DAN JABLONS Founder and President, Retail Smart Guys

That said, the world of retail is changing today. Much has already been written about online competition, vendors selling direct to consumers, multichannel and more. And, of course, there is the ongoing debate about artificial intelligence and its contribution to retail. While important considerations, these topics can distract from the core of the retail business: having the right inventory.

Retailers must keep up with technology and shifting trends. They must diligently watch where their customers shop and work to make the in-store experience a fun, exciting event. Interestingly enough, the advent of artificial intelligence has made shoppers hungry for “true, real human experiences” because they can read an AI message from a mile away. There is a growing desire for real humanity in a business where a strong emotional connection already exists between fashion and customers.

As a retail consultant with an international client list, I have a unique perspective. I get to see how different retailers operate and carefully observe the outcomes of those operations. That, in part, is what drove me to write this article.

So, what makes good retailers become great retailers? Here’s a partial list.

They Recognize That Inventory Is Everything It really doesn’t matter how great a store’s marketing is if, when customers arrive, the store doesn’t have what they want to buy. Having a solid merchandise plan is the single most important ingredient in successful retail. (Yes, some will argue that location is most important, but a store in the best location with the wrong inventory never lasts long.) That inventory plan needs to help the retailer forecast sales and optimize inventory, so the right inventory is in the right place at the right time. Remember, inventory is the retailer’s biggest expense. They spend more money on it than anything else, so manicuring and curating that assortment is the most important job any retailer has. Focusing on this area alone will drive cash flow, profitability and market share. (It’s why it’s first on my list!)

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They Host In-Store Events Most retailers don’t love in-store events and tell me how much work they are. But in this day and age, shoppers want to be entertained, and great store events are an excellent way to keep them engaged and coming back. I recommend talking to the top 20 or 30 customers to find out what kind of party, celebration or event they would like to attend. That will help create events with great attendance.

They Understand the Importance of Clienteling Retailers should know their customers, establish personal relationships with them and stay in close contact. Again, in the age of AI, customers really want to have genuine connections. When goods arrive that salespeople know will be of interest to their customers, they must reach out quickly and personally. This makes customers feel special, like they are getting great service, and it makes them loyal to the store. Our best retailers make this a regular practice.

They Establish Solid Partnerships With Vendors Great retailers tell their vendors the good, the bad and the ugly. They tell them when goods are performing well and when they aren’t. They work with vendors to keep their stores fresh, viable and fun to shop. I recommend creating a “vendor scorecard” that shows what has been received, what has been sold and what is stuck in inventory and sharing that with the vendors. Together, retailers and vendors must partner to develop a plan that helps sell through the merchandise. Everyone wins when that happens.

They Participate in Employee Development Employee development involves teaching them how to sell and evaluate the business, while continually giving them new challenges. One of the biggest mistakes I see is that salespeople get hired and thrown onto the sales floor without training or understanding how the customer should be approached. It should also include training employees on how to establish customer relationships, as well as on product knowledge.

These five points are what I have observed to be the keys to great (not good, but great) retailing. Of course, this requires dedicated initiatives to make it happen, but that work is what transforms a “good” retailer into a “great” retailer.

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COLUMNS

ON THE RECORD: SHOPPERS ARE BUYING BEFORE THEY EVER SEE YOUR BRAND

By Dominic Forth

When Shoppers Stop Searching When a shopper goes looking for the right pair of high-rise sustainable denim or a breathable training tee, fewer of them are typing into a search bar and scrolling past a wall of sponsored ads. More of them are asking an AI assistant or searching by image.

DOMINIC FORTH CEO, Thought Leaders America

I spent the better part of 20 years in television newsrooms—BBC, NPR, Hearst, Cox Media, FOX and NBC—close enough to the booking desk to learn one uncomfortable truth. Producers don’t book the best expert. They book the expert they can already find: the founder who’s been quoted before, with a sharp perspective, who can make a point in 40 seconds.

Credentials get you considered. Visibility gets you booked.

The same rule now governs retail. Most apparel brands assume they win the moment a shopper lands on the website or a buyer builds an assortment plan. It rarely works that way anymore. Long before anyone reaches a checkout or allocates a budget, an impression of your brand has already formed, built from what people have read, watched and heard from sources they trust.

And there’s a new gatekeeper helping decide whether your brand makes the list or not.

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And the assistant doesn’t hand back 10 links. It answers in seconds with two or three brands. With Google, there was always a Page 2 to fight your way onto. With an AI recommendation, you’re either in the short answer or you’re invisible to a shopper who was ready to buy.

These systems don’t guess. They compress. They read everything published about you: your materials, your reviews, your press coverage. Then, they fold it into a recommendation. Your AI footprint is simply your public footprint, read back to the shopper. You’re either in the answer, or you’re not.

Here’s what tips the scales. These systems don’t weigh what a brand says about itself as much as what a credible outsider has said about it. Let’s be honest.

Attention is cheap now. You can buy impressions for pennies on the dollar, and it’s getting cheaper by the year. Trust is scarce, though. A single feature in a publication a buyer already respects can outweigh a thousand impressions you paid for, because someone independently decided you were worth the space. The machine inherits that same instinct.

The Question Coming to Every Boardroom Here’s my prediction, and you can hold me to it.

Within the next two years, “How do we show up when a shopper asks AI about our category?” will be a standing item in fashion board meetings. It will sit exactly where SEO and Instagram strategy sat a decade ago.

The brands that win this decade won’t be the ones with the biggest influencer budgets or the deepest discounts. They’ll be the ones that get three things right: •

Be specific about what you make and why you make it: If an AI can’t easily tell what your product is made of or what it stands for, it will point the shopper to a competitor who made that clear. Write your product story for a curious human. The machines are reading the same words.

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Arm the people who sell for you: A sales associate on the floor or a buyer in a meeting should be able to say in one line why your garment matters. If they can’t put it simply, an algorithm won’t either.

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Let your track record speak: Showing up consistently, whether in stock, on time or well reviewed, is no longer just back-office housekeeping. It’s the reputation a retailer leans on when it decides who earns the shelf next season. Communicate it as often as you can, so planners know your performance.

The booking desk taught me that nobody discovers you the moment you become brilliant. They discover the version of you that’s already on the record, and that record is now read by machines as well as people.

While your competitors are squeezed by short-term pressure and going quiet, the smartest move you can make is the simplest one: seek out earned media.

Get published, get interviewed, get quoted. The more credible places your name shows up, the better positioned you are when customers start asking AI who to buy from.

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DALLAS Defines Fashion

Curating the Best Brands in the Best Place Apparel & Accessories Market

AUGUST 18-21, 2026 | OCTOBER 20-23, 2026

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COLUMNS

RETURNS ARE RARELY RESOLD, AND MOST OF US HAVE NO IDEA

By Vale Siegrist

Prevention (CDC), the first year of a baby’s life is the most explosive growth period they will ever experience. On average, an infant triples their birth weight by their first birthday. This reality forces parents to navigate a highly fragmented sizing architecture, cycling through six to seven clothing sizes before their child’s second birthday.

VALE SIEGRIST Founder, Circular Club For the past decade, the fashion industry has treated “radical transparency” as its ultimate sustainable holy grail. Brands have built entire value propositions around ethical supply chains, publishing factory photos and releasing itemized cost breakdowns. Yet, the structural limits of this positioning are becoming glaringly obvious.

Look inside a modern nursery closet in mid-August, and you will see the wreckage of the traditional fashion economy: dozens of pristine summer outfits that fit perfectly in June but are now unwearable because the baby has grown. You can be as transparent as you want about how a garment is made, but if it ends up in a landfill after a handful of wears, the outcome is still the same.

Sustainable fashion’s greatest unresolved challenge may no longer be the supply chain, but ownership itself. Nowhere is this linear “take-make-dispose” trajectory more broken, or more hyper-accelerated, than in the children’s clothing market. What sustainable founders call the “outgrowth dilemma” represents a fundamental, biological incompatibility between traditional retail consumption and early human growth: a child will rapidly outgrow a garment long before its physical utility, structural integrity or aesthetic value is exhausted.

Biology of Waste The global apparel industry produces 100 billion garments annually, generating an astronomical 92 million tons of textile waste. The pediatric segment is a massive, disproportionate contributor to this model due to the sheer velocity of infant growth.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and

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A garment purchased for a 3-month-old infant has a maximum functional lifespan of approximately 10 weeks before it is physically unwearable. When evaluating a baseline wardrobe, an average child uses over 200 individual pieces of clothing in their first two years, forcing parents to buy short-term assets that are guaranteed to depreciate to zero utility within a couple of months.

The Illusion of Resale and the Maternal Mental Load The standard response from sustainability advocates is peer-to-peer resale. While keeping clothes in circulation longer is an understandable instinct, resale has a hard operational ceiling. The logistical friction involved in laundering, photographing, listing and shipping is vastly underestimated by those who do not value domestic labor. When applied to an infant onesie that retails brand new for $15, the return on invested time is virtually nonexistent.

More importantly, traditional sustainability solutions ignore the sociological reality of modern households: the maternal mental load. A recent study by the University of Bath reveals that mothers in heterosexual partnerships still carry the overwhelming brunt of invisible household labor, managing 71% of all cognitive tasks and 79% of daily repetitive childcare tasks.

Constantly monitoring a child’s biological growth, managing sizing inventory and attempting to run a microresale business from the living room isn’t sustainable and often borders on a nine-to-five administrative job. Traditional environmental marketing often relies on “eco-guilt” to shame a consumer’s behavior. But motherhood is already saturated with societal pressure. To achieve actual systemic change, sustainable infrastructure must alleviate the maternal mental load, not add to it.

Flipping the Economic Incentives Solving the outgrowth dilemma requires a paradigm shift from a model of ownership to a model of access.

Circular access models, such as clothing rental memberships, fundamentally f lip the financial

incentives of the apparel industry. In a linear fastfashion model, brands maximize profit by producing the cheapest possible garments designed to degrade quickly, forcing consumers to return and buy more. In an access-led framework, the garment remains the operating company’s asset. Because each garment must survive multiple users across multiple seasons to generate recurring revenue, highquality manufacturing and durability become strict financial requirements for the business, rather than empty marketing claims.

Centralized rental platforms can extend a garment’s functional life by 18 to 24 months, representing a 30% reduction in the overall environmental impact per wear. For the consumer, a tiered subscription model allows parents to retain high-quality, elevated pieces for exactly as long as they fit, swapping them out seamlessly when a growth spurt hits or the seasons change. By handling professional laundering and accepting normal pediatric wear and tear, the infrastructure removes the friction of physical maintenance and inventory tracking for parents.

Critically, a successful circular future must also preserve parental agency. Early algorithmic “mystery box” subscription models failed because they erased the inherent joy of dressing a child.

Providing absolute choice within a rental framework restores that joy without the accompanying financial and ecological guilt.

Redefining Success The next major phase of sustainable fashion may be a transition from ownership to access. Circular business models are projected to grow from a 3.5% market share to 20% of the entire global apparel market by 2030, representing a $700 billion global opportunity.

But building this future requires rethinking how sustainable startups are financed. The decisions that maximize short-term enterprise value are rarely the ones that preserve long-term ecological sustainability or community trust.

The brands that will matter in the next decade are those whose underlying business models require garments to be used longer. By prioritizing access over ownership, we can transform the biological inevitability of pediatric growth from a primary driver of global textile waste into a powerful engine of sustainable, community access.

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Welcome to Welcome to The Entrepreneurial Bank The Entrepreneurial Bank

Helping Our Clients Helping Our Clients Build and Sustain Wealth, Build and Sustain Wealth, One Client a Time.

One Client atat a Time.

For more than 20 years, our bankers have worked For more than 20 years, our bankers have worked alongside middle-market and small business owners alongside middle-market and small business owners during the good times as well as the not-so-good – during the good times as well as the not-so-good – tailoring our traditional and innovative banking tailoring our traditional and innovative banking products and services to meet the challenges and products and services to meet the challenges and seize opportunities in front of our clients seize opportunities in front of our clients.

Laura Capra Laura Capra

Executive Vice President Executive Vice President 212 659-0606 | LCapra@MCBankNY.com 212 659-0606 | LCapra@MCBankNY.com Metropolitan Commercial Bank Metropolitan Commercial Bank Business • Commercial • Personal Banking | Global Payments Business • Commercial • Personal Banking | Global Payments 99 Park Avenue • 12th Floor • New York • NY • 10016 99 Park Avenue • 12th Floor • New York • NY • 10016 © 2022 Metropolitan Commercial Bank | “Metropolitan Commercial Bank” is a registered trademark of Metropolitan Commercial Bank. mannpublications.com mannpublications.com © 2022 Commercial Bank | “Metropolitan Commercial Bank” is a registered trademark of Metropolitan Commercial Bank.

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EDITOR’S PICKS

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EDITOR’S

PICKS

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1. Fibf lx: Linen-Cotton Blend Knit Summer Top in Ivory Made from a breathable blend of cotton and linen, this open-knit top offers a relaxed drape, loose long sleeves and a wide U-shaped neckline. Its lightweight design balances structure with an airy, comfortable feel. $135 | fibflx.com

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2. Meshki: Dollie Sheer Knit Tank Top in Ivory This sleeveless tank is made from lightweight, sheer fabric and features a close-fitting, longline silhouette. A classic crew neckline and breathable construction make it an ideal layering piece. $55 | meshki.us 3. Cos: Pleated Cotton-Linen Midi Skirt in Ivory This midi skirt is made from a cotton-linen blend and features exaggerated pleats that add gentle volume and movement. Asymmetric topstitching and a refined pin hem subtly define the waist. $139 | cos.com

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4. Nest New York: Madagascar Vanilla Perfume Oil Rollerball (6 milliliters) This gourmand perfume oil features Madagascar vanilla blended with nourishing baobab. It combines the warm essence of vanilla bean with the subtle f lorals of vanilla orchid and a hint of coconut, creating a long-lasting fragrance that melts into the skin. $35 | nestnewyork.com 5. Parker Thatch: Tokyo Shopper in Olive This lightweight shopper is crafted from olive nylon netting and espresso vegan leather trim. Its foldable construction allows it to be packed into a larger bag or carried on its own, making it a versatile option for everyday use. $118 | parkerthatch.com

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6. Anthropologie: By Anthropologie Flip-Flop Kitten Heels in Gold Crafted with a leather upper and insole, these slip-on kitten heels feature a rubber sole for traction and durability.

Relaxed straps and a clean silhouette keep the design understated and easy to style. $108 | anthropologie.com

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SIGAL: REDEFINING RESORT WEAR THROUGH ART, TRAVEL AND PERSONAL STORYTELLING Resort wear brand Sigal is known for its hand-painted prints, vibrant color palettes and artistic approach to design. Founded by Sigal Cohen Wolkowiez, the brand draws inspiration from culture, architecture and personal experiences, transforming these into unique collections that feel expressive.

With a background in visual communication and design, Cohen Wolkowiez approaches each collection through the lens of a storyteller and artist. Every print begins as an original painting, created in her studio using watercolor, ink and expressive brushwork before being translated onto carefully selected fabrics. This process has become a defining characteristic of the brand, giving each collection a distinctive point of view and a strong sense of place.

Since its launch, Sigal has developed a reputation for creating collections that go beyond seasonal trends, instead drawing from meaningful destinations, cultural traditions and the people encountered along the way. These influences are woven throughout the brand’s designs, resulting in pieces that celebrate the beauty of discovery.

This philosophy is reflected in the brand’s Resort 2027 collection, Chuao, inspired by the coastal Venezuelan village of Chuao.

Known for its rich cultural heritage, colorful architecture and world-renowned cacao, the village has held personal significance for Cohen Wolkowiez for nearly two decades. The collection incorporates hand-painted prints inspired by local folklore, landscapes and traditions, while accessories feature handcrafted elements sourced from Venezuelan artisans.

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“This collection is rooted in longing—a quiet homage to home, memory and the enduring spirit of Venezuela,” said Cohen Wolkowiez. “Inspired by Chuao, a place rich in culture that continues to live within me, the collection translates warmth, color and emotion into wearable art. Through fashion, I continue telling stories that transcend borders, carrying with them an extraordinary richness of creativity, humanity and beauty.”

As the brand has evolved, Sigal has remained committed to thoughtful production and quality craftsmanship. Collections are produced in limited quantities and incorporate responsibly sourced materials, including EcoVero viscose, recycled polyester, cottonlinen blends and silk. This considered approach allows the brand to maintain its artistic integrity while creating pieces designed to be treasured beyond a single season.

For the brand’s Chuao collection presentation, Cohen Wolkowiez designed a series of statement necklaces featuring hand-painted wooden charms crafted by an artisan from Chuao. She also partnered with Venezuelan brand Hana to co-design a collection of handcrafted belts, each centered with an oversized motherof-pearl shell and finished with four strands of locally sourced freshwater pearls on either side. The one-of-a-kind accessories were styled throughout the presentation, complementing the collection.

“Everything in this collection traveled a long way to be in Miami,” said Cohen Wolkowiez. “Just like the people of Venezuela.”

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FASHION SPHERE

Photos courtesy of Jenni Garces

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Photos courtesy of Luli Fama

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his year marks a major milestone for Luli Fama, a s t h e i n t e r n at i o n a l l y recognized swimwear and resort wear brand celebrates its 20th anniversary. What began as a passion project by Lourdes “Luli” Hanimian and Augusto Hanimian has grown into one of the most recognizable names in swimwear, known for its vibrant prints, signature silhouettes and unmistakable Miami aesthetic.

Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, Luli Hanimian’s lifelong connection to the beach and eye for fashion became the foundation of the brand. Together with Augusto Hanimian, whose family helped introduce European-inspired swimwear design to the Miami market, the duo launched Luli Fama with a shared vision to create luxury swimwear that celebrates c o n f i d e n c e, f e m i n i n i t y a n d s e l f expression. Drawing on more than three decades of swimwear expertise, they built the brand around one core principle: exceptional fit. Every collection is designed with flattering silhouettes, fashion-forward details and thoughtfully perfected patterns that complement a variety of body types.

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For 20 years, Luli Fama has helped shape the swimwear and resort wear landscape with its bold aesthetic, vibrant prints and unmistakable Miami spirit. The Latin-owned brand has cultivated a loyal international following by creating collections that empower women to feel confident, sexy and strong while embracing a lifestyle inspired by color, travel and the energy of the beach.

Over the years, the label’s signature designs have been worn by notable figures such as Lady Gaga, Paris Hilton and Camila Cabello, helping cement its status as a go-to destination for statement swimwear and resort dressing.

While trends have come and gone, Luli Fama has remained committed to original prints, intricate embellishments, impeccable fit and standout silhouettes that have become hallmarks of the brand.

To c o m m e m o r at e t h e m i l e s t o n e anniversary, Luli Fama celebrated throughout Miami Swim Week with a series of events honoring the customers, partners and community that have contributed to its success. As part of the festivities, the brand held its first-ever open casting call at its Lincoln Road boutique in Florida, inviting aspiring

FEATURE

“Luli Babe” models to participate in the anniversary runway presentation and join the brand’s ongoing story.

The celebration continued with a milestone runway show during Paraiso Miami Swim Week, followed by an exclusive anniversary after-party at Harbour Club in Miami Beach, where longtime supporters, the media, creators and friends of the brand gathered to celebrate two decades of Luli Fama.

While the anniversary serves as an opportunity to reflect on the brand’s achievements, it also marks the beginning of a new chapter. As Luli Fama looks toward the future, the brand remains focused on continued innovation, expanding its global reach and delivering the vibrant swimwear and resort wear collections that have defined the brand for the past 20 years.

Twenty years after its founding, Luli Fama continues to represent more than swimwear. It embodies a lifestyle, a community and a celebration of confidence, individuality and the enduring spirit of Miami.

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TRADESHOWS

EXCLUSIVE DETAILS FOR SHOWS IN: • Dallas • Denver • Las Vegas • Los Angeles • Nashville • Orlando • New York

MANN’S CONNECTING THE FASHION INDUSTRY WITH THE WORLD OF TRADESHOWS mannpublications.com

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TRADESHOWS

Curve New York Returns With IndustryLeading Education, Brand Discovery And Networking Experiences

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Curve New York returns to the Javits Center River Pavilion in August, bringing together the intimate apparel and swimwear industry’s top brands, buyers, media and retailers for three days of discovery, education and connection.

This summer’s edition will spotlight a curated mix of immersive activations, educational sessions, emerging designer showcases and networking opportunities—all designed to celebrate the future of intimate apparel and swimwear.

Object of Desire Returns One of Curve’s most anticipated showcases, Object of Desire, returns with a compelling mix of emerging brands and visionary designers.

Curated by Bok Goodall, founder of Ms A London, and Molly Jayne, communications coordinator and brand curator at Curve, the showcase celebrates distinctive creative voices and fresh perspectives. Designed as a platform for discovery, Object of Desire offers retailers, media and industry insiders an opportunity to explore innovative collections, uncover rising talent and connect with international designers. mannpublications.com

TRADESHOWS This edition’s Object of Desire designers include Cisô Atelier, Iteration, Rimoné Paris, Rolling, Somewhere Never, Soreil Lingerie, Springrose, Sugar Candy, Carol Coelho and Cake Maternity.

To kick off the August 2026 edition of Curve New York and celebrate the designers featured within Object of Desire, The Rack Shack will host this year’s Object of Desire party. Serving as the show’s official welcome event, attendees will have the opportunity to connect and celebrate the creativity of the emerging designers participating in the showcase.

Casa Curve VIP Gifting Suite New this season, Casa Curve introduces an elevated VIP gifting suite featuring a selection of lingerie, beauty and accessory brands from across the globe. Conceived as a tactile discovery experience, the suite invites VIP buyers to engage with products firsthand while creating memorable brand interactions.

For exhibiting brands, Casa Curve provides a powerful platform for exposure, placing products directly into the hands of influential buyers while amplifying visibility and extending brand impact beyond the show floor.

Photos courtesy of Mai Tilson

Fashion-Forward Panels Education remains an important component of the Curve experience, and this year’s programming includes highly anticipated panels and workshops.

“Turning Likes into Lingerie Sales,” a practical guide to converting online engagement into real-life fittings, will be hosted by Kimmay Caldwell, founder of Hurray Media, and will feature panelists Libby Basile of Filly Rose, Haley Dauria of Ashley’s Lingerie & Swimwear, and Nicolle Silva of Bella Bra Shop. Sponsored

by Wacoal, the panel will explore how retailers can transform social media engagement into measurable business growth, strengthen customer relationships and drive sales.

“The State of the Industry and the Future of the Brand-Retailer Partnership,” a masterclass by industry

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expert Vanessa Urenda, will explore the evolving retail landscape, shifting consumer behavior and the future of wholesale. Attendees will gain insights into how brands and retailers can build stronger partnerships, navigate industry challenges and drive growth in today’s competitive market.

Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in an all-day care workshop presented by Anita, featuring a fit certification class for retailers and fit professionals. The workshop will focus on specialized fit expertise, customer care, product knowledge and best practices that help retailers better serve their communities and strengthen customer loyalty.

“This August, Curve New York is a celebration of the community that makes our industry so dynamic and inspiring. While business remains at the heart of the event, Curve is a destination for learning, collaboration, and meaningful connection,” said Raphael Camp, CEO of Comexposium US. “Through expert-led panels, educational workshops and initiatives like Object of Desire, we’re creating opportunities for brands, retailers and industry leaders to exchange ideas, gain new perspectives and grow together.

This season, we’re also expanding the experience beyond the show floor with community-driven moments, including Casa Curve, our curated gifting suite, the beauty lounge, networking events and immersive activations designed to bring people together. These experiences reflect what makes Curve unique: a community that values innovation, education and authentic relationships. We’re proud to provide a platform where the industry can not only discover what’s next but help shape it together.”

For over two decades, Curve has served as the premier destination for intimate apparel and swimwear professionals to discover new collections, build partnerships and stay ahead of industry trends.

From emerging designers and established brands to educational programming and networking events, Curve New York continues to create a space where innovation, creativity and commerce come together.

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TRADESHOWS

Photos courtesy of Première Vision

Première Vision Returns to New York, Supporting the New Era of Fashion Sourcing As the North American fashion industry continues to adapt to rapidly evolving market conditions, Première Vision New York reaffirmed its position as the leading international sourcing event connecting brands with the creative, technical and manufacturing partners shaping the future of fashion.

The July edition arrived at a pivotal moment for the U.S. market. While retail sales are forecast to grow by 4.4% in 2026,

consumers remain increasingly selective in their purchasing decisions, prompting brands to focus on delivering products with stronger value through quality, innovation, sustainability, functionality and distinctive design.

Against this backdrop, sourcing strategies are evolving. American brands are moving beyond traditional cost-driven supplier selection, seeking trusted partners that offer greater creativity, flexibility,

reliability, faster development cycles and reduced production risk. Première Vision New York responded directly to these new expectations by bringing together an international community of suppliers able to support every stage of product development.

A Curated International Sourcing Platform Première Vision’s July show welcomed more than 140 exhibitors from 20 countries, of fering visitor s a highly curated sourcing experience across the entire fashion value chain. Reflecting the industry’s continuous transfor mation, nearly 27% of exhibitors were participating for the first time, introducing new expertise, innovative materials and fresh creative perspectives.

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The exhibition brought together a balanced selection of inter national specialists, including:

This carefully selected community reflected Première Vi s i o n’s c o m m i t m e n t t o delivering a premium sourcing e nv i r o n m e n t c a p a b l e o f addressing today’s industry challenges, from accelerating product development and improving quality to supporting sustainability ambitions and creative differentiation.

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International fabric manufacturers and textile innovators Creative studios presenting exclusive prints and original design developments Accessory suppliers and component experts

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Manufacturing partners supporting agile and flexible production Technical textile specialists developing highperformance materials

Vi s i t o r s discovered a comprehensive sourcing offer covering fabrics (44%), manufacturing (24%), designs (16%), sport and tech (7%), accessories (4%) and more.

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TRADESHOWS

Key Themes Shaping the July Edition Agility, Innovation and Creative Sourcing

As sourcing becomes increasingly strategic, Première Vision New York provided direct access to partners capable of supporting collaborative collection development—from creative inspiration and material selection to final production.

By facilitating dialogue between brands, designers, manufacturers and textile innovators, the show enabled companies to identify suppliers able to respond quickly to changing consumer expectations while delivering differentiated products.

Sustainability and Responsible Innovation Environmental responsibility continues to reshape product development across the fashion industry. Première Vision New York featured suppliers with concrete solutions that combine sustainability, creativity and commercial performance, including: • •

Recycled and lower-impact materials Circular sourcing approaches through recycling and upcycling

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Responsible production processes Innovative textiles designed to reduce environmental impact while maintaining quality and performance

More than ever, sustainability was positioned as an integrated sourcing strategy rather than a standalone initiative.

Technical Materials and Performance-Driven Fashion The growing convergence of fashion, sport and technology was reflected throughout the show. Visitors discovered innovative performance fabrics, functional textiles and advanced material solutions designed to meet evolving consumer expectations for comfort, durability and versatility while maintaining strong aesthetic appeal.

Industry Insights and Exclusive Experiences

Bob Kirke, president of the Canadian Apparel Federation, and Mathieu StArnaud Lavoie, executive manager at Mmode, the Montreal fashion cluster, led the conference “Beyond Tariffs: How Apparel Companies Are Reengineering for Efficiency.” The discussion explored how evolving trade measures are encouraging companies to rethink sourcing strategies, optimize production and build more resilient, efficient and competitive supply chains.

Sustainability also took center stage with Liz Alessi, who presented talks dedicated to upcycling and circular innovation. In parallel, Shailah Maynard, from Sew Valley, demonstrated the creative potential of textile reuse by producing Première Vision tote bags using upcycled fabrics.

Through a dedicated booth, visitors discovered the upcycling process and learned more about transforming existing materials into new fashion products.

Beyond sourcing, Première Vision New York offered a rich program of conferences and networking opportunities.

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TRADESHOWS

Fashion by Informa Elevates Industry Connections Through Strategic Brand Curation Program Fashion by Informa has transformed the traditional trade show experience through its brand curation program, a strategic matchmaking initiative that connects retailers and brands through intentionally curated, one-on-one business meetings. The program reflects a growing industry demand for more personalized, relationship-driven commerce in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

At the heart of the program’s success is Fashion

by Informa’s dedicated team of retail experts, who leverage deep industry knowledge and extensive market intelligence to facilitate meaningful business connections. These specialists meticulously match retailers and exhibitors based on category alignment, business objectives, price points and buying intent, ensuring every conversation delivers relevance and value.

“Brand curation has become a major differentiator for our events and one of the most successful programs we’ve launched for the retail community. What started with just 18 appointments four years ago has grown to nearly 1,000 curated meetings annually, reflecting the growing demand for more personalized, intentional and relationship-driven business connections within the industry,” said Ani Karapetyan, director of attendee acquisition and customer experience for Fashion by Informa.

A Year-Round Commitment to the Retail Community The program’s effectiveness extends far beyond the show floor. Fashion by Informa’s retail relations team maintains continuous engagement with the industry through an “on the road” strategy, conducting targeted in-market visits across domestic and international territories. In the second half of 2026 alone, the team will engage nearly 300 retailers across five countries and 10 states through personalized store visits and market meetings.

These face-to-face interactions provide the team with real-time insights into consumer trends, buying behaviors, inventory planning and business challenges— intelligence that directly informs the curation process and ensures the program remains responsive to evolving market dynamics. By understanding which brands are 86 | FM

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gaining traction and identifying emerging labels, the retail experts can create more strategic matches that drive tangible business outcomes.

Creating the Right Environment for Business Brand curation meetings take place within a dedicated lounge environment, providing a comfortable and focused setting away from the show floor. Each appointment gives brands approximately 10 to 15 minutes to present their collections, share their story and discuss business opportunities directly with qualified retailers who have been specifically matched to their offerings.

This curated approach allows emerging and established brands alike to showcase their products in a focused environment where impactful interactions can flourish.

The program prioritizes quality over quantity, ensuring that both retailers and brands maximize their time and investment.

“The brand curation experience was amazing. We saw brands we didn’t encounter on the floor because there are so many out there, but these definitely stood out.

The product categories were 100% on point and exactly what we sell, with perfect variation. I would definitely participate again next year,” said the buyers at 6 Rings Clothing.

Expanding Access Through Strategic Programs Complementing the brand curation initiative, Fashion

by Informa also offers a hosted buyer program designed for new-to-show retailers interested in discovering and sourcing new brands within the Fashion by Informa portfolio of events, including Magic, Project, Sourcing and Coterie. Selected retailers receive travel incentives, creating a more accessible market experience and broadening participation across the retail community.

Through these integrated programs, Fashion by Informa delivers tailored experiences that prioritize value, convenience and genuine business development, positioning its events as vital resources where the industry comes together to build lasting partnerships and drive growth.

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Photo courtesy of Fashion by Informa

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Photo courtesy of Jill Lotenberg

A Tribute to Mike Sacco

By Ronald S. Friedman, CPA, Advisory and Assurance Managing Director, CBIZ

Hello again! I previously wrote about how great the Dodgers are this year as they go for a third World Series in a row and about the World Cup coming to the United States, Canada and Mexico. While each North American team was knocked out of the World Cup, they all made it to the top 16. I really hope the United States can do better at the next World Cup, as the quality of our team keeps improving.

This article will be different from all my other articles, as we recently lost a great partner and friend at CBIZ. Mike Sacco, who was only 49 years old, passed away on June 18, 2026. I want this article to be a tribute to his life and his success in serving his community. I have a number of friends who have contributed to this article, and I thank them for their kind words about Mike.

I will go first and share my thoughts about my relationship with Mike. Before Mike joined Marcum in 2022, Jeff Mann and Jay Silver suggested I should meet him at the Magic Show in Las Vegas. During Magic, many cocktail parties take place, and it was at the Rosenthal cocktail party that I met Mike. We began talking and getting to know each other. Mike was a senior partner at Friedman LLP, focusing on the consumer products industry with a strong apparel client base, just like me.

It was time to move from one cocktail reception to another, and we walked there together. I felt a real connection with Mike, and I suggested that he should consider joining the Marcum team. Mike said nothing as we proceeded to the next party.

I found out a couple of weeks later that Mike went back to his hotel and called Harriet Greenberg, the managing partner of Friedman LLP. He informed her of my recruiting efforts, and they both had a good laugh. As it turned out, Friedman LLP was about to sign an agreement to be acquired by Marcum, and I had no idea.

Marcum acquired a great firm with many superstars.

Mike immediately became a leader at Marcum, and he was the national leader of our consumer and industrial products group. I enjoyed our monthly team calls, and Mike was always available for help when I asked. I will miss his friendly smiles and the great energy that he brought to the office every day.

Michael Sacco June 23, 1976 June 18, 2026

I would be remiss if I did not mention that Mike was a real sports fan. I know he was a Yankees fan, but I am a Dodgers fan, so we enjoyed a friendly rivalry in our many discussions about our teams. While the Dodgers prevailed over the Yankees the last time they met in the playoffs, I am glad that Mike was able to see his Knicks win the NBA championship before his passing.

And now some words from Mike’s friends:

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I had the privilege of knowing Mike Sacco for more than 25 years, beginning when he joined Mahoney Cohen & Company as an intern.

From the very beginning, his intelligence, integrity, humility and remarkable ability to connect with people set him apart. He became an outstanding professional, respected for his exceptional intellect, unwavering ethics and genuine concern for everyone he worked with. Mike was a natural mentor who generously shared his knowledge, encouraged others to succeed and inspired countless colleagues who admired and looked up to him.

We worked together for 15 years before he joined another firm. Although others viewed us as competitors, we never did. We remained close friends, always supporting and respecting one another, and years later, I was proud to work alongside him again.

One of my favorite memories is being at a company picnic when Mike met the woman who would become his wife. It was a joy to watch him become an exceptional husband and devoted father to four beautiful children, who were his greatest pride. Family was the foundation of his character. Mike genuinely cared about everyone, and I cannot recall anyone ever speaking an unkind word about him. His life was a testament to integrity, kindness, generosity and love. I am deeply grateful to have called him my colleague, my friend and, above all, an extraordinary human being.

Jay Silver Managing Director and Apparel Practice Leader, CBIZ Inc.

I had the privilege of working alongside Mike for many years, and like so many others, I am deeply saddened by his passing. He was not only a trusted partner, but someone whose integrity, professionalism and steady guidance shaped the way we approached our work and brought us together. Mike brought consistent thoughtfulness to everything he did—he listened carefully, offered meaningful and helpful advice, and always made people feel respected and supported.

Beyond his professional excellence, Mike was genuinely kind and generous. He built lasting relationships grounded in trust and loyalty, and he had a way of connecting with people that was both sincere and effortless. Whether in moments of pressure or in everyday interactions, his calm presence and steady support left a lasting impression.

Mike’s impact goes far beyond the office. He leaves behind a legacy of integrity, compassion and meaningful relationships. I feel fortunate to have worked with him and to have called him both a colleague and a friend.

He will be deeply missed but never forgotten by those of us who were lucky enough to know him.

Grace Mak Managing Director, CBIZ Inc.

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August 2026

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I had the privilege of knowing Mike for many years, and our friendship only grew stronger over time. His keen business acumen, positive spirit and genuine love for life, family and friends made him someone people naturally gravitated toward.

Some of my favorite memories are the times we spent together talking about sports. We’d debate Yankees games for hours, and I was always so glad to spend that time with him.

Mike was an incredibly proud husband and father. He was always talking about his wife and their kids—their school, their sports and everything they were accomplishing. It was clear that his family was the center of his world. My heart goes out to them and their close-knit family during this unimaginable time.

Mike accomplished more in 49 years than many people do in several lifetimes.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to know him personally experienced not only his remarkable accomplishments but also his kindness, generosity and unwavering support for others. His loss is immeasurable—not only to those who loved him, but also to our industry. No single paragraph can truly capture the impact he had on so many lives.

I am grateful to have known him and to have called him a friend. His legacy will live on through his wife and children and through the countless people whose lives he touched. His kind and generous spirit will never be forgotten.

Andrew D. Rotondi Chief Operating Information Officer, Dynamic Distribution Services Inc.

Mike Sacco was as kind a soul as there was—a devoted and loving family man, a philanthropic leader and a true teddy bear. Among his many wonderful qualities, one of Mike’s superpowers was his ability to build genuine, personal relationships in professional settings. Mike had a unique gift for making everyone feel welcome, regardless of their age or background. While he knew he was good at what he did, Mike always remained humble and grounded.

He was an inspiration to so many, a legend in the industry, and someone I was fortunate to call a friend. You will be missed terribly, my friend. May you rest in peace, and may your family find the strength, comfort and support they need in the days ahead. Your legacy will live on in the countless lives you touched.

Amna Mahmood Northeast Regional Manager, First Citizens Bank

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In memory of my remarkable friend, partner and human being, Mike Sacco.

Mike was my business partner and a member of the Friedman LLP management committee. He was an extraordinary person whose impact reached far beyond our workplace.

As a partner in our firm, he was insightful, dependable and dedicated to excellence in client service. Everyone wanted Mike on their account. Our staff and partners also wanted to work with Mike. He was a patient teacher and always advocated for the advancement of his staff.

Mike was a loyal friend. He became very close to his partners, staff and other members of our credit community. He was the first to help with a job referral or to raise money for the many charities that were important to him.

Mike was a proud husband and father, always talking about his wife and the kids: their school, their sports. We heard it all! My heart goes out to them and the rest of their very close family.

Mike left a legacy through the people he touched. I will miss him. He was one in a million.

Harriet Greenberg

I enjoyed working on many mutual client relationships with Mike, earning each other’s respect while leading to a positive resolution.

Talking baseball, especially the Yankees, and attending Yankees games together was great fun, no matter the outcome.

In the accounting profession, Mike’s career accomplishments mirror those of Derek Jeter in many ways. Mike is a true All-Star and a Hall of Famer.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Marc Heller

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Mike Sacco accomplished more professionally and personally in 49 years than most do in a lifetime. His kind and generous spirit will be missed by so many of us who were lucky enough to know him. This is an indelible loss for our industry and for everyone he touched along the way.

Our hearts go out to your beautiful family. May your happy memories give you peace and comfort during this challenging time.

Rest in peace, Mike. Know you will never be forgotten.

Cassie Rosenthal Executive Vice President President and CMO, Rosenthal Capital Group

Mike, I still can’t believe you’re gone.

We were friends for a very long time, and some of my favorite memories are our lunch conversations. We could spend hours talking about sports—you’d passionately talk about the Yankees, and I’d defend the Eagles. You were always surprised that I followed sports because, as you’d say, “not many women do.”

Those conversations were always filled with laughs, friendly debates and genuine friendship.

You earned the respect of everyone around you through your knowledge, kindness and unwavering willingness to support others. You made people feel valued, and that’s a gift not everyone has.

Your passing is a reminder to never take the people in our lives for granted. Hug your family, thank a colleague, call a friend.

Mike, thank you for your friendship, the conversations, the laughter and the memories. You will be deeply missed and never forgotten.

Karen Giberson President, Accessories Council

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I met Mike about 20 years ago, and we clicked immediately. From the very beginning, I knew he was someone special—not only because of what he accomplished professionally, but because of the kind of person he was. Over the years, we built a friendship that meant more to me than words can express.

We spent countless hours talking sports—his love for the Yankees and my love for the Knicks. Those conversations are memories I’ll always cherish. I also had the privilege of knowing his family. Mike was an incredible husband and father to his four kids. They were his life.

Mike’s rise to the top of his industry was remarkable. Anyone fortunate enough to know him understood what an amazing man he was. He left a lasting impression on everyone he met and always stood out in a league of his own.

Rest in peace, my friend. I’ll love you forever.

Jeff Mann President and CEO, Mann Publications

I thank all the contributors to this tribute to Mike.

Until next time, remember what I always conclude with—if you are not having fun, then do something else! I realize how important this statement is, as we only have so much time on this earth.

We should enjoy that time and give back to our communities, just as Mike did.

— Ronald S. Friedman, CPA, is an advisory and assurance managing director in the Los Angeles office of CBIZ and a practice leader in the firm’s consumer and industrial products group. Contact him at ron. friedman@cbiz.com.

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