Y + O Insight

For more than two decades, my work has required me to understand retail from both sides of the table. I have built international wholesale businesses for luxury brands, worked with retailers and buyers across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US, entered new markets, reviewed sell-through, negotiated distribution and spent years understanding not simply which stores buy, but why certain brands, products and customers belong together. That distinction matters more than eve

As June market approaches, the industry once again enters a familiar cycle of visibility. Collections are finalised.Showrooms prepare appointments.Brands compete for attention across fashion weeks, celebrity placement, retail meetings and social media momentum. But visibility has never been the hardest part. The real challenge begins after the attention arrives. One of the biggest misconceptions in luxury today is the belief that international growth is simply operational — m

Every fashion week, the same pattern repeats. A brand — emerging, ambitious, well-funded — produces a show. The presentation is flawless. The casting is impeccable. Press arrives: Vogue, BoF, FT. The parties are glamorous. For one hour, the brand feels like it has arrived. Then comes the reality. Three weeks later, the orders don't match expectations. The buyer meetings that followed the show yielded nothing. The community that was supposed to materialise never did. The brand