LV Murakami Politicking, FOG Backs Into NBA And ABG x NGG = Finito!
Earnings: Dick's Sporting Goods and JD Sports
Another Reason Why I Don’t Get Why LVMH Signed Him For Five More Years: Louis Vuitton’s upcoming collaboration with Takashi Murakami hass been leaked on social media (most of the big platforms—lames that they are—are playing their part and refusing to report on it) and are causing no small amount of chatter. The collection will be released in three parts, starting in January 2025. Pricing will range from $495 for a card holder up to $70,000 for a trunk. As with all coveted Louis Vuitton collections, items are offered first to top-spending Louis Vuitton customers so many of these items will never be made available to drive-by Murakami lovers.
This of course is a reprise of Murakami’s much-loved 2003 collaborative effort with the label, which debuted under the creative direction of Marc Jacobs back in 2003. The interesting tea is that this collaboration allegedly was initiated by the label’s menswear designer Pharrell Williams, but will be launched as part of Louis Vuitton’s women’s division, which is directed by Nicolas Ghesquière.
Two things: The collection is largely made up of women’s offerings so it makes sense that Ghesquière would lead, but there are whispers that his side of the business could use a bit of a boost which is why he’s landing the credit even though it wasn’t his idea.
That’s How The Ball Bounces! Los Angeles-based Essentials and the NBA and WNBA have rolled out a collaborative capsule, consisting of elevated apparel offerings for major market teams.
Putting aside the irony given Fear of God Athletics’ and Adidas’ basketball partnership failure to launch, I’ve also heard Essentials is working on a similar merch partnership with MLB, which is expected to be announced early next year.
The Ugly Aspect Of The Cycle That Brought Us Quiet Luxury: On Snobette, Samia Grand-Pierre provided her take on CompleCon, which included the critique that the event was less female-friendly for its debut event in Las Vegas. Given where we are cyclically this tracks, and yet it remains a bummer because platforms like Complex are supposed to buck these setbacks.
Commenting on the change, she wrote:
Though the event still celebrated creativity and diversity, the absence of women’s programming aside from DJs raised questions about the future balance of representation in an industry where women’s influence in sneaker culture continues to grow with talents like Grace Wales Bonner and Martine Rose, among others being the architects of noteworthy sneaker trends and designs.
Run Me My Money! A few weeks back I reported that Authentic Brands Group (ABG) was ending its relationship with New Guards Group, which was handling the brand’s top-tier collaborations. When I asked ABG about the rumor, I was told NGG at the time was still the brand’s partner for “pinnacle” collaborations.
The rep chose not to provide a timeline and two months later, it turns out ABG and NGG are over. WWD ($) reported earlier this month that ABG sent a termination notice to NGG, severing their agreement. At the moment according to WWD, “NGG owes ABG royalty payments of around $300 million, and it remains unclear whether ABG will be able to recoup those funds.”
NGG operated the European operations of Reebok’s branded retail stores and e-commerce, and worked to drive wholesale distribution for the label. The brand also produced and distributed collaborative projects for Reebok in more than 50 countries, including the United States, C anada and Europe.
Finance
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