Connect with us

Fashion

Levi’s and Aritzia test full-price strategy as affluent shoppers stay loyal

Published

on


By

Reuters

Published



September 5, 2025

A handful of apparel retailers, including Levi’s and Aritzia, are introducing more full-priced products—testing how much wealthier shoppers are willing to pay, despite the impact of tariffs.

A Levi’s logo is displayed on a shirt inside a Levi Strauss & Co. store in New York City, United States, on March 19, 2019. – Reuters

So far, they haven’t been disappointed.

Levi Strauss, for example, raised prices on some products in July but saw no slowdown in demand, according to chief financial officer Harmit Singh, who spoke at the Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference in New York on Wednesday.

“We are making a full-court press in selling higher full-price than we have done in the past,” he said. “The Levi’s consumer largely earns $100,000 or more. And that consumer we are seeing is generally resilient.”

Aritzia’s finance chief echoed this view, noting that there had been minimal impact on U.S. customer spending since the high-end clothing company raised prices earlier this year.

The brand—worn by celebrities including Beyoncé, Bella Hadid and Pamela Anderson—does not plan to chase promotions or deep discounts this holiday season. Instead, it will run only one week of sales during Black Friday, followed by full-price offerings after Cyber Monday.

“With every passing week, we become more confident that consumer resilience is going to hold,” said Canadian retailer Aritzia’s CFO, Todd Ingledew, at the same conference.

While lower-income households continue hunting for bargains—especially as companies raise prices in response to former President Donald Trump’s trade war—wealthier consumers are still spending steadily, mostly unaffected by the softening labor market.

Strong stock market gains and relatively low credit card debt have helped cushion the finances of the affluent. According to Moody’s Analytics, the top 10% of American earners—those making at least $250,000 per year—now account for half of all consumer spending.

Loyal shoppers

Retailers such as Ralph Lauren, Under Armour, and Abercrombie & Fitch are also adopting the full-price model, according to their recent earnings calls.

“We’ve been shifting our business towards a more elevated full-price consumer base, and this has served us well as our core consumer around the world remains resilient,” Ralph Lauren CEO Patrice Louvet said in early August.

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank also highlighted the importance of pricing flexibility for loyal shoppers.

“We’re seeing success testing new key items at full price, including our $45 Self-form hat and our heat gear collection—both strong examples,” he said in August. He added that the company is evaluating raising prices for “the embedded consumer with whom we have pricing power.”

Improved consumer-tracking technology now enables retailers to adjust quickly, offering targeted discounts only when necessary, which helps maintain profit margins.

“In the old school way of doing things, you would get a circular saying everything is 25% off,” said Kate McShane, managing director at Goldman Sachs. “Now, if they’re selling North Face fleece jackets and it’s 60 degrees in New York, they can offer it on sale only for a couple of days in New York,” while keeping prices unchanged in other regions.

According to analysts, many companies have already absorbed significant tariff-related costs and plan to minimize discounts during the holiday season. In contrast to past years, they are now less likely to slash prices just to move leftover inventory.

“If you look at Summerween and back-to-school this year, the strategy was to put the seasonal items on the shelves at full price to start,” said Alison Furman, retail consultant at PwC, referencing Halloween-themed shopping earlier in the year.

“You’re kind of testing the waters around what a consumer will pay full price for. And then when it doesn’t move, you very quickly go into your promotion strategy.”

© Thomson Reuters 2025 All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Fashion

It’s official, Next wins race for Russell & Bromley in pre-pack deal

Published

on


Published



January 21, 2026

Next has won the bidding race to take over the Russell & Bromley premium footwear business, ending almost a century-and-a-half of family ownership.

Russell & Bromley

Working with bidding partner and stock clearance specialist Retail Realisation, it’s set to takeover the 147-year-old retailer under a pre-pack administration deal.

Crucially, it means 33 of the company’s standalone stores/outlets and nine concessions (many of them in Fenwicks branches) are likely to eventually close.

The extent of the challenges Russell & Bromley faced can be seen from the fact that this is only a £2.5 million cash deal. Next is also paying £1.3 million for some of the retailer’s current stock with Retail Realisation handling the clearance of the rest.

Assuming the deal gets court approval on Wednesday afternoon, Next will own the intellectual property and just three of the stores.

Those stores are in London’s Chelsea and Mayfair, as well as the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent. Interestingly, that Bluewater store is just a stone’s throw away from the former House of Fraser branch that this year will reopen as a Next megastore.

The remaining stores and concessions will continue to trade for “as long as [they] can” as Interpath’s Will Wright and Chris Pole “assess options for them”. Russell & Bromley currently has around 440 employees.

A source close to another bidder, Auralis, told The Times it was disappointing that its offer, which aimed to safeguard jobs and stores, wasn’t given greater priority by those running the sale.

Russell & Bromley CEO Andrew Bromley called the sale decision a “difficult” one but insisted it’s “the best route to secure the future for the brand… we would like to thank our staff, suppliers, partners and customers for their support throughout our history”.

So what are Next’s plans now. That’s not clear. There had been a lot of attention focused on its likelihood of closing the store chain in the run-up to the sale but on Wednesday, Next said that it will “build on the legacy” of the business and “provide the operational stability and expertise to support Russell & Bromley’s next chapter”.

Next had also been reported to be eyeing a similar deal for LK Bennett, but Sky News reported that it has stepped away from this.

It remains one of the most acquisitive retailers on the UK high street, however, and in recent years has bought brands such as Cath Kidston, Joules, FatFace, Made and Seraphine. It also has deals to handle other key brands in the UK market such as Gap, Victoria’s Secret and Laura Ashley.

Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Fashion

GoldenTree to buy about $200 million of Saks Global bankruptcy financing, Bloomberg News reports

Published

on


By

Reuters

Published



January 21, 2026

Global asset management firm GoldenTree will buy a chunk of a $1 billion ⁠bankruptcy financing for luxury retailer Saks Global, Bloomberg ⁠News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with ‍the ‌matter.

A Neiman Marcus store, part of the Saks business – Neiman Marcus

GoldenTree, which is founded ⁠by billionaire ‌Steve Tananbaum, has committed ‌to buy a roughly $200 million portion of the so-called debtor-in-possession financing, according to ‍the report.

Saks Global and GoldenTree did not ‌immediately ⁠respond ​to Reuters requests for ⁠comment.

The ​high-end US department store conglomerate filed for Chapter ​11 bankruptcy protection on January 13, after ⁠a debt-laden ⁠takeover.
 

© Thomson Reuters 2026 All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Fashion

Warped begins worldwide debut in Italy with its menswear line

Published

on


Published



January 21, 2026

Warped, a proudly Australian menswear brand, made its debut at the recent Pitti Uomo 109, unveiling its first-ever collection for Autumn–Winter 2026/27. Warped channels a strong, functional and authentic masculinity, free of artifice: a man capable of moving with equal ease through the Australian outback or a metropolis, without ever betraying himself. This vision translates into a collection that combines ready-to-wear, streetwear and active-functional pieces, underpinned by rigorous material research, responsible production, and a strong connection to Australia’s history and identity.

Jack Cassidy Williams, right, wearing Warped alongside one of his sons

The brand is so steeped in the free-spirited, authentic ethos of Mitch “Crocodile” Dundee, a cult figure of 1980s cinema who helped shape the image abroad of the no-nonsense Australian, that even the founder- who arrived in Milan with his two sons, aged 18 and 15, already active in the company- looks like the very character created by Paul Hogan.

“Crocodile Dundee is not just a film to us; it’s a way of being in the world. It’s about a man who hunts crocodiles with his bare hands in the outback and stays true to himself even under the dazzling lights of the metropolis,” Warped founder Jack Cassidy Williams explained to FashionNetwork.com. “It’s the story of a man who enters a sophisticated system without changing who he is. Functional, direct, honest. This is who we are. We’re not here to bend to fashion’s unwritten rules, but to bring our own way of doing things: less artifice, more reality.”

Warped

“Everything in the collection is handmade by my family. We design it, select the fabrics, create the patterns, and develop everything together- my children and I- in Australia. Traditional garments with modern finishes, in terms of handle and functionality; we even offer waterproof clothing, such as GOTS-certified waterproof cotton. Then there’s denim. All the fabrics are 100% made in Italy,” Cassidy Williams continues. At the heart of the collection is extensive fabric research: 100% RWS wool; high-stretch scuba fabrics and bi-stretch wool; cotton denim with a 3D weave effect; water-repellent cottons, viscose and viscose/linen blends for suits, jackets and trousers; high-performance, ultra-comfortable fabrics; and kangaroo-leather laces- a material five times as strong as cowhide- hand-finished with raw edges and authentic details.

“The collection is, in a way, a tribute to America, because the theme is the so-called ramblin’ man, or the free man; it’s basically about my whole life,” says the Australian entrepreneur. “All those people who decided to forge their own journey, to walk the path of life without following someone else. Like Hank Williams, Jack Kerouac, Duke Ellington, Bird, Muddy Waters, Pinetop, or Woody Guthrie- men who honoured life. Nowadays it’s so difficult to be free that freedom really is a state of mind. It’s our first collection through and through; we practically finished it before boarding the plane,” Cassidy Williams laughs heartily, then slips on a floppy wide-brimmed hat, slings a kangaroo hide over his shoulder and, as he pretends to crack a whip in the air, looks even more like Mitch Dundee- all after letting us taste a kangaroo salami and crocodile snacks…

Warped

“Our family has a textile tradition of great depth- more than sixty years- so Warped also works with the best global manufacturers in the mid-luxury segment: lace from France, fabrics from Italy, and other high-quality materials sourced from factories in Turkey, Japan and Korea,” Jack Cassidy Williams continues. “These factories were chosen not for trend’s sake, but because they’re unique- each one different from the next.”

Warped’s menswear collection for Autumn–Winter 2026/27 comprises around 40 looks spanning ready-to-wear, streetwear, and active-functional pieces. Jackets, suits, trousers, shorts, shirts, and T-shirts sit alongside a street and sportswear offer that includes hoodies, joggers and technical garments, all designed to be comfortable, durable, easy to care for, and genuinely wearable day to day.

Alongside the Warped men’s line, the company presented the Golden Age Sportswear (G.A.S) label in Milan, while the Warped Woman, and G.A.S Woman’s Street collections will debut in Italy from next Spring/Summer.

This article is an automatic translation.
Click here to read the original article.

Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Miami Select.