Stephanie Evans

Keeping the Soul in the Sole: BIRKENSTOCK's Remarkable Evolution! How does a 250-year-old heritage brand stay timeless and trend-forward? In the latest episode of The Remarkable Retail Podcast, Steve Dennis and I sit down with David Kahan, President & Managing Director of Birkenstock Americas, for an inspiring masterclass in brand stewardship and purposeful leadership. David reveals how Birkenstock’s unwavering focus on comfort, authenticity, and “engineered distribution” has helped the brand thrive — from the red carpet to the yoga studio — without ever compromising its DNA. 🌍✨ 🎙️ Then, Steve and Michael tackle this week’s biggest retail stories: 📊 U.S. government shutdown implications for retailers & fragile job markets 🚪 New tariffs squeezing retailers and farmers 👟 Nike’s turnaround and Costco’s continued strength 📱 TikTok’s uncertain U.S. future 🤖 AI’s growing impact on retail workforces 💡 Insightful. Relevant. Remarkable. 🎧 Listen now to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/gKwKyh2t #RetailPodcast #Birkenstock #BrandStrategy #Leadership #RetailNews #ConsumerTrends #RetailInnovation #RetailStrategy #RetailStrategy #BrandStrategy #RemarkableRetailPodcast #TRE

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After sharing Steven Worthy’s reflections on the recalibration of classic design, many have asked what that means in practical terms. For me, the answer became Coloro Italia. We did not develop this forecast to follow momentum. We developed it because we could see conviction returning to decision-making. Across categories, colour is moving from accent to architecture. Saturation is embedded rather than applied. Geometry feels deliberate. Material weight is visible. The distinct character of Coloro Italia lies in its control. Blocks instead of blending. Edge definition instead of softness. Confidence instead of caution. It describes a market ready for emphasis, but not chaos. For brands navigating 2027–28, this distinction matters. Coloro Italia provides a disciplined way to interpret that shift. https://lnkd.in/gpM55m4r #designstrategy #trendforecasting #interiordesign #colour #leadership

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Interesting insights on how Signet Jewelers is driving with a clever strategy of using strengths of both natural and lab grown diamonds. In a recent CNBC interview, Symancyk explained why both natural and lab-grown diamonds have strong demand — and it all comes down to price and purpose. 📊 Key Insights 💰 Above $5,000: Customers prefer natural diamonds — they see it as an asset with long-term value. 💞 Below $2,000: Buyers lean toward lab-grown diamonds, especially for engagement rings — it’s about emotional value and affordability. 📈 Market Trends In 2024, 52% of couples chose lab-grown diamonds for their engagement rings. That’s a 40% increase in popularity since 2019. Lab diamonds are chemically identical to mined ones but cost much less — though they have low resale value. 👗 Fashion Boost Lab-grown diamonds are a “category extender” for fashion jewelry. They make diamond jewelry more accessible across income levels. Signet owns brands like Kay Jewelers, Zales, and Jared, and sees lab diamonds as key to growth. 📈 Gold Still Shines Gold hit an all-time high recently. Symancyk says customers understand its value and are willing to invest. 📊 Business Performance Signet beat Wall Street expectations for earnings and revenue. Stock rose 2.74% after the report. 🔍 The takeaway? Natural diamonds = value & legacy Lab-grown diamonds = emotion & access Gold = trust & investment Retail is evolving — and Signet is playing both sides smartly. #SignetJewelers #Diamonds #RetailStrategy #LabGrown #NaturalDiamonds #JewelryTrends #ConsumerInsights 

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It’s always a pleasure speaking with Sarah Shapiro from Puck about retail industry trends. Thank you for including JOOR's data-driven insights in this recent article about the swimwear category. Swimwear is experiencing a powerful resurgence in 2025, with sales up +14% in the first half of the year. What’s driving the growth? Cover-ups are up +44% and bikinis +34%, while one-pieces, tops, and bottoms remain relatively flat compared to last year. Check out JOOR’s latest Swimwear Market Analysis for insights into the trends, regions, and strategies fueling this momentum: https://lnkd.in/dFZ5h2c3

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Elena Bonvicini went from selling reconstructed vintage jeans on her high school locker room floor to Bergdorf Goodman in about five years. EB Denim’s trajectory is a case study in how modern fashion brands scale without following the traditional playbook. She started with a supply arbitrage insight: vintage men's Levis’Store 501s were abundant and cheap, women's vintage denim was scarce and expensive. She bought men's jeans, reconstructed them into women's fits, and sold them to classmates. But upcycling has a ceiling. Vintage supply is inherently limited. You can’t manufacture vintage at scale. So at the point where most upcycled brands plateau, Elena made the move that separated EB Denim from the rest: she launched a contemporary line using new sustainable fabric while keeping the vintage reconstruction line as her brand anchor. Smart sequencing: Use the scarcity and one-of-a-kind nature of vintage to build brand heat and celebrity placement (Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid wearing truly unique pieces). Then leverage that brand equity to launch scalable product lines that can actually fill retail purchase orders. The brand's now carried at Bergdorf, Selfridges, REVOLVE, and Holt Renfrew. All manufactured in LA, which typically kills margin but becomes a brand asset when your customer cares about supply chain provenance. What’s impressive to me is the capital efficiency. Elena bootstrapped this from thrift-store inventory to global distribution without burning VC money. The vintage line generated early cash flow while she figured out manufacturing. The organic celebrity placement created demand before she had retail infrastructure. For brands in the $10M–$20M range trying to solve the retail expansion puzzle: EB Denim’s path shows the answer isn’t always “raise capital and build inventory.” Sometimes it’s “build disproportionate brand equity with limited inventory first, then use that leverage to negotiate retail terms that actually work.”

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