Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. has become the first Major League Baseball player to be the face of Nike underwear.
Nike taps Ronald Acuña Jr. as first MLB player to lead Nike underwear campaign. – Nike
In this role, Acuña Jr. will star in Nike’s Spring 2025 campaign, bringing his signature energy, charisma, and MVP-caliber to the global campaign.
The Venezuelan made his entrance into Major League Baseball with the Atlanta Braves in 2018, just four years after signing as an international free agent. He earned the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year award, followed by four All-Star selections, three Silver Slugger Awards, and two league-leading seasons in stolen bases.
In 2023, Acuña Jr. etched his name into the record books by delivering one of the most dominant individual seasons in MLB history. He became just the fifth player ever to join the exclusive 40-40 club—hitting at least 40 home runs and stealing 40 bases in a single season.
He joins a lineup of previously featured elite athletes in Nike underwear campaigns, including Portuguese soccer star Rúben Dias, Minnesota Timberwolves standout Rudy Gobert, and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
Lululemon Athletica shares fell nearly 13% in premarket trading on Friday, after the sportswear maker provided downbeat annual forecasts as the broader apparel space battles an uneven consumer demand environment.
Reuters
The company, during its fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, flagged that consumers were spending less due to increased concerns about inflation and the economy.
Lululemon joins a list of retailers rattled by uncertainty around U.S. President Donald Trump‘s erratic tariff decisions, which have shaken consumer confidence that was already weak with Americans being careful about shelling out more dollars on everything from groceries to nice-to-have items amid still-high inflation.
The company has also been losing market share to upstarts Alo Yoga and Vuori as it takes longer to rebuild its brand image despite launching a wide array of new clothing.
“Increased newness (is) not enough to offset macro-related slowdown,” Needham analyst Tom Nikic said in a note.
According to Piper Sandler analysts, the debate continues to be whether the real issue is brand maturity and saturation in a competitive market for Lululemon.
Some analysts said there is a growing consumer enthusiasm for Lululemon’s Glow Up tank tops and Daydrift high-rise trousers, but an uncertain environment dims hopes of a rebound in demand soon. “We started this year with several compelling new product launches, but we also believe the dynamic macro environment has contributed to a more cautious consumer,” CEO Calvin McDonald said on Thursday.
Lululemon’s forward price-to-earnings ratio for the next 12 months — a benchmark for valuing stocks — was 21.92, compared with 31.51 for Nike and 25.67 for Adidas.
“Newness restored, but not guaranteed to save current deceleration in growth,” said Jefferies analyst Randal Konik, adding that the theme still remains about growth fading.
Lululemon’s shares were trading at $299 before the bell. They had fallen more than 25% in 2024.
PayPal shares fell 4% on Friday after comments from a European Union lawmaker raised concerns that payments firms could get swept up in escalating U.S.-Europe trade tensions and potential tariffs. Uncertainty over tariffs and mounting trade actions have unsettled global markets, causing volatility, straining supply chains and shifting investor sentiment across industries.
Reuters
Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said larger tariffs could be placed on the European Union and Canada if they both work together “to do economic harm to the USA”.
“In the case of digital service providers, there is also a huge economic interest on the part of U.S. companies,” said Bernd Lange, the head of the European Parliament’s international trade committee. “In this respect, you can also look at charging fees on PayPal or Google.”
If imposed, the measures would pose a new challenge for the payments sector, which is typically shielded from tariffs as it does not depend on trade of physical goods.
Separately on Friday, a German government spokesperson also said “nothing is off the table” with regards to punitive measures in response to the threat of U.S. tariffs.
Dolce Gabbana Srl, LVMH’s Louis Vuitton and Kering SA’s Gucci are set to anchor a new luxury retail development in South Africa’s VA Waterfront, according to the head of one of the continent’s most visited shopping and tourism destinations.
Cape Town’s VA is tripling the size of space available for rent to luxury retailers to almost 4,000 square meters (43,056 square feet) in a dedicated new wing, David Green, its chief executive officer, said in an interview. That comes amid growing demand for high-end goods in South Africa’s second-biggest city.
Representatives for Dolce Gabbana and Louis Vuitton didn’t respond to request for comment, and a spokesperson for Gucci declined to comment.
While the firms already have stores at the VA, these are dispersed among its other retail outlets. The new development will bring the mall’s luxury retailers under one roof, with store space for the three brands set to double, Green said.
In all, the new 207 million rand ($11.4 million) development expects to add as many as six new brands, including Capri Holdings Ltd.’s Versace, to existing offerings like Burberry Group Plc and MaXhosa Africa.
Africa is emerging as a burgeoning market for luxury goods driven by strong economic growth, an expanding middle class, increasing consumer spending power and a rising millionaire population. Output in the sub-Saharan region will probably expand 4.2% this year, making it the third-fastest growing emerging- and developing-market behind India and China, according International Monetary Fund estimates.
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South Africa, the continent’s richest nation, is the most established regional market for designer goods. Trading density for luxury brands in malls increased 171% in the five years through June 2024, according to Clur’s Shopping Centre Index, which tracks 4.1 million square meters of prime retail space in the country and neighboring Namibia.
The VA’s new development will see it “narrow the gap” with the Johannesburg-based luxury arcade known as The Diamond Walk in Sandton City, Green said. The surrounding precinct in South Africa’s economic hub is referred to as Africa’s richest square mile given its concentration of top businesses, high-net worth individuals and opulent homes.
Still, South Africa has among the world’s highest unemployment and inequality rates and is only just recovering from decades of moribund growth.
Demand for designer goods in Cape Town is partly driven by international tourists, including affluent shoppers from the rest of the continent, and the migration of wealthy families from other parts of the country, he said. The metro will overtake Johannesburg to become Africa’s richest city by 2030, according to Henley Partners.
Construction on the VA’s luxury development, located in South Africa’s oldest working harbor and set against the backdrop of Table Mountain, has already started. It will open for business in phases from November through next Easter.
The VA registered record retail sales of 1.4 billion rand in December, its peak period, Green said — up nearly 17% from a year earlier. Stores sold more than 10 billion rand in goods in 2024, about 7% of which were luxury items, he said.
The company is jointly owned by government-worker pension fund manager Public Investment Corp. and Growthpoint Properties Ltd., South Africa’s biggest listed real estate firm. It’s also planning a 20 billion rand expansion of the adjacent Granger Bay precinct, and expects to receive permission for the development, which involves reclaiming land from the sea, from City of Cape Town authorities in the first half of 2025.
Entertainment8 years ago