Lord & Taylor is freshening up its men's assortment.

Last year the retailer launched Design Lab, an in-house contemporary label for women, and now it's following a similar blueprint for men's wear with Laboratory, a private men's label that caters to the Millennial customer.

The department store will still produce Black Brown 1826, its private label line that focuses on classic styles, but Laboratory speaks to a different customer.

The collection, which retails under $100, includes key pieces of the season including souvenir bomber jackets, printed button-up resort shirts and drop crotch pants. There will be eight deliveries a year.

This launch coincides with Lord & Taylor's renewed focus on its men's contemporary offering and the Laboratory section, which is currently at the brand's New York City flagship and 19 other stores across the country

A capsule of calm lands in select Nordstrom stores via Australian skin and body products company Aēsop.

The latest installment of Nordstrom's pop-in program brings Aēsop to customers as the beauty brand seeks to open more doors in America. The push into Nordstrom is seen by the company as a good way to get into markets not familiar with the brand and its simplistic philosophy on skin care and retailing.

The company fashioned bamboo into archways to create a semi-enclosed space in Nordstrom stores where Aēsop consultants will be on hand to assist customers with products.

"The driving thought is to convey our approach to skin care, creating a shelter in which we could explore skin rituals," said Stuart Millar, Aēsop general manager and president of the Americas. "We really wanted to create a space for a moment of pause. All of our retail stores, as they stand now, all kind of aim to offer that moment of pause so that we can almost slow down the pace of the customer service engagement that we have."

The company's pop-ins at Nordstrom range from 450 square feet up to 900 square feet

Target is piloting a connected care program that will bring a range of wireless-enabled medical grade devices to select Target pharmacy departments.

The connected care sections, expected to roll out across 550 Target pharmacy departments this May, span roughly six feet wide and contain about 14 different connected products like blood pressure monitors and pain management tools.

Each product included in the Target pilot is capable of securely transmitting personal health updates to smartphones and other connected devices, making it easy for customers "to keep track of important wellness information and data," a Target spokeswoman said.

Crystal brand Swarovski has launched its debut homeware range with products by designers including Raw Edges, Aldo Bakker, and the late Zaha Hadid.

Products in the Atelier Swarovski Home range from vases, bookends and candleholders to an architecturally themed chess set, and have been launched to "address a global interest and customer demand for design objects within the home".

Zaha Hadid, architect and designer who died suddenly last month, has contributed a crystal and metal centrepiece composed of several conjoined curved columns that reference "the process of crystallisation occurring in nature".

Among others, London design studio Raw Edges has created a set of bowls that mark its first collaboration with the brand. The pieces are made using a laser-jet crystal printing technique, and feature coloured hatched patterns on the interior that are warped by the surrounding crystal.

Each of the pieces features surfaces made of scattered crystals, which apparently reference star formations and space photography.

The entire collection was on show in an exhibition held at Cusani 5 in Milan's Brera district, during the city's design week, and will be available to buy later in the year. Prices for products will range from €150 (£120) to €20,000 (£15,900).

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They have performed together on the Grammys. Now Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John are taking the Macy's stage.

The pop icons are teaming on a limited-edition line of clothing and accessories called Love Bravery which will be sold exclusively beginning April 30 on macys.com and in about 150 Macy stores beginning May 9.

Twenty-five percent of each purchase will support the charities championed by the celebrities, the Born This Way Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The message behind the Love Bravery collection is to "inspire compassion and combat prejudice," according to the performers.

In association with NGO Care, Galeries Lafayette creates an exclusive collection with Living Blue, for eco-responsible fashion. This is a fantastic collaboration that unites fashion and ethics. With a strong team behind it of 240 craftsmen and 2,700 farmers in the north of Bangladesh working daily to improve the cultivation of the indigo-plant, and especially its transformation into dye, Living Blue is creating an exclusive collection for Galeries Lafayette.Silk dresses, cotton ponchos, scarves, jewellery, espadrilles, cushion cases and coversmake up this collection of unique pieces, each of them dyed indigo blue. This eco-responsible line is completed by hessian baskets, also made in the artisan tradition in other workshops in the north of the country.Bringing together a total of 36 fashion and interior design pieces, this initiative has promoted a rediscovery of ancestral techniques such as tie-dying and embroidery.

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Saks Fifth Avenue's Canadian debut has been hailed "a huge success".

Opening in February, Saks' flagship store in Toronto had one of the highest performing openings in the retailer's history, and the adjacent Hudson's Bay location has also seen a subsequent increase in traffic and sales.

HBC opened another Saks in Toronto's west end later that month and in March opened Canada's first four Saks Off Fifth outlets in Ontario.

Early sales results for Saks Off Fifth are also "on the very strong side," said HBC governor Richard Baker. "We have long believed that Canada is underpenetrated in the off-price marketplace," he said, adding the "Off Fifth investment presents a low risk and high opportunity for reward."

Proclaiming that "every body deserves great style," J.C. Penney is the latest retailer to realize it's leaving money on the table by neglecting women who wear plus-sized clothing, tapping "Project Runway" winner Ashley Nell Tipton (the reality television competition's first plus-size designer champion) to create capsule collections for the fall and holiday seasons as well as a full collection for spring.

Tipton's designs headline the launch of J.C. Penney's new in-house plus-size brand, Boutique+, which the company said is aimed at millennial women. Teens alone spend $20 billion annually on plus-size apparel, according to the Dallas Morning News. The Boutique+ collection also features contributions from brands such as Liz Claiborne and Bisou Bisou. J.C. Penney is additionally introducing "The Boutique," revamped areas in 200 stores with improved fixtures and signage along with plus-size mannequins to show off outfits and accessories.

Macy's has added Kelly Ripa to its stable of celebrity lines.

Kelly Ripa Home, a collection of bedding sets, furniture and area rugs, is being rolled out exclusively at the retailer, across channels. While some product is already available, the full collection will be available in select Macy's stores and on macys.com for summer.

"Home is where personal style truly comes to life, so I think a well-loved home is where great design counts most," said Ripa. "This collection is designed to inspire and light up a room with truly versatile pieces that change up a room effortlessly."

This is Ripa's first foray into the home and interior design arena, though she often talks product on the "Live with Kelly and Michael" talk show she cohosts with Michael Strahan on ABC.

The collection launched about a week ago with 10-piece bedding sets with subdued floral prints and brighter whimsical prints. The sets include a comforter, two standard shams, two European shams, three decorative pillows, a bed skirt and a plush throw. Ripa's rugs fuse contemporary and traditional elements including damasks, medallion and blossoming vine motifs, ranging from rich navy to ivory and grey.

Later this year, Ripa is adding furniture for bedrooms, dining and living rooms, including contemporary dressers and sofas.

Credit ratings company Fitch affirmed the BBB+ rating for Nordstrom but downgraded both Macy's and Kohl's. All retained their stable outlook.

Nordstrom was set apart from its retail peers with its recent sales growth as well as sales growth projections. Analyst Monica Aggarwal noted that even though there had been a general slowdown in apparel and accessories sales, with only 2 percent sales growth in 2015, Nordstrom's overall sales grew 7 percent — indicating strong share gains.

The challenge for Nordstrom is that its investments to support online sales growth will put pressure on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, margins. This is expected to decline to a range of 11 to 11.5 percent from 12.8 percent in 2015.

Nordstrom's growth investments are also expected to limit the free cash flow over the next 24 months.

Macy's and Kohl's both got downgraded from BBB+ to BBB as both suffer from weakness in the mid-market apparel category.

M&S has launched two major celebrity-linked clothing ranges with the much-hyped debut of Archive by Alexa in a deal with Alexa Chung, and the Lil' LonDunn by Jourdan Dunn, a kidswear offer.

The more high profile Archive collection mixes archive-inspired pieces and direct reproductions of vintage M&S items. Star pieces include a 1981-inspired piecrust frill blouse, a classic khaki trench coat and a late-60s-influenced spotted minidress.

The company had announced the Chung and Dunn lines earlier this year, since when it has been building buzz around them, aided by Chung and Dunn's not-inconsiderable celebrity status.

For instance, Chung unveiled the campaign images for her archive-influenced offer on her Instagram feed and gave a number of press interviews.

Dunn has also been doing the interview rounds, accompanied by her six-year-old son Riley who was a major inspiration for the 22-piece unisex line.

Before the Archive launch, 34,000 customers had put their name on an M&S waiting list for the collection. Reports suggested there were queues at a number of M&S store while online, several of the key pieces for the Chung collection, sold out in many sizes.

Chung, whose appearance in an M&S suede skirt last year led to major press coverage and a complete sellout, has signed up to oversee further collections for the retailer.

Rebecca Minkoff is expanding across the pond with the launch of her fall accessories collection at Selfridges, dropping in stores this June.

As the label's audience becomes increasingly global, the designer said there is complete crossover between the brand's U.K. and U.S. customers.

A selection of handbags, footwear, small leather goods and jewelry will be stocked in the British department store's handbag and accessories department on the lower ground floor.

The launch at Selfridges is part of an aggressive expansion strategy across Europe, with further plans to build specialty stores and have a dedicated showroom for the European market.

The contemporary sportswear and accessories designer has also been increasing her global presence in a number of other key markets, as of late. She is planning to open freestanding stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as a store in Chicago.

Estée Lauder is set to launch a make-up collection with designer Victoria Beckham.

The limited edition collection will debut in September at select retailers around the world, through her own stores and online through both brands.

Beckham said of the collaboration: "The whole process has been both inspiring and eye-opening - from going back and revisiting the Estée Lauder archives through to working on the product with the Estée team, this feels like the perfect make-up partnership for me and my brand."

Jane Hertzmark Hudis, group president of the Estée Lauder Companies, said: "We are excited to join forces and bring Victoria's take on beauty to her many fans around the world.

"Victoria is an entrepreneur in the true spirit of our founder… with a real understanding of what women want, and a commitment to making women look and feel their most beautiful."

Saks Fifth Avenue confirmed it is closing its full-line store in Dubai.

"Our licensing arrangement for this location expires in the fall and we will be closing the store on Aug. 31," the retailer said.

Bur Juman Centre was a sought-after location when the retailer opened the Saks unit in the port city in 2005.

Saks said there were no plans at the moment to open a new location in Dubai. A 15,000-square-foot men's store that opened in 2008 at the Walk at the Jumeirah Beach Residences was shuttered in 2010, prior to the acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenueby Hudson's Bay Co., the retailer's current owner.

Saks' decision comes as the UAE economy is slowing. Three years ago, the retail market grew by double digits. However, the heated pace that foreign brands entering the market came to expect is flattening out. The upcoming closure of the Dubai store isn't the first time the retailer has shuttered a unit in the Middle East. Saks in 2012 closed a licensed store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after more than a decade.

Macy's-owned upscale department store Bloomingdale's is joining the pop-up festival craze, opening 150-square-foot women's pop-up shops at its 59th Street flagship in Manhattan as well as locations like Beverly Hills, San Francisco and Santa Monica.

The Bloomingdale's pop-ups feature summer music festival-themed fashion from brands like Parker, Chaser, Mara Hoffman, Sunset + Spring, Sol Angeles, Toms, Herschel, BB Dakota and Jet Set Diaries.The department store also is partnering with DJ Hannah Bronfman, who has curated a Spotify playlist and who will appear April 7 at the pop-up in the 59th Street store.

Pop-ups—temporary retail outposts in stores or in temporary commercial spaces or even trucks—are an effective way for retailers to reach shoppers attending major events like music festivals and sporting events, with products geared to those shoppers. Bloomingdale's, however, is limiting its festival-themed pop-ups to its own brick-and-mortar stores.

Chanel opened a fine jewelry-dedicated boutique in Bergdorf Goodman, its first-ever within a multibrand retailer.

The French brand operates a select global contingent of combined jewelry and watch salons within third-party retailers but, prior to this opening, had not unveiled a jewelry-only salon inside a multilabel store. The 134-square-foot space was designed by Peter Marino, and houses an assortment of designs from Chanel's various fine and high jewelry collections.

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Vogue is a magazine, a website, a podcast, and soon a furniture line. The magazine has a 30-piece Vogue Living collection in the works with furniture brand Dorya, so you'll be able to buy a Vogue coffee table to display your tasteful stack of back issues.

The collection launches in October, and it's just the beginning of Vogue's foray into lifestyle goods — it's said that other licensing partnerships with the Vogue Living lifestyle brand are in the works. No pricing info or photographs are available yet for the first furniture collection.

"The launch of Vogue Living allows the Vogue brand to extend its fashion authority and style expertise into the home," Cathy Glosser, senior vice president of licensing for Condé Nast, said in a statement. "The collection will bring the pages of the magazine to life –taking inspiration from fashion to identify new interior design trends while also adding the Vogue touch to classic interior design."

Kohl's won't be going forward with the "Kohl's Café" experiment the company tested in two southeastern Wisconsin stores for seven months.

The cafes, which were inspired by suggestions from customers, garnered positive feedback, but didn't have the effect on traffic or sales that made it worth it, the company said.

In February, the discount department store retailer, which is the midst of a turnaround attempt, announced it wouldclose stores as profits continue to take a hit.

Anthony Vaccarello has been named creative director of Yves Saint Laurent, the fashion house and parent company Kering confirmed.

As widely speculated, Anthony Vaccarello has been appointed creative director of Yves Saint Laurent. Yves Saint Laurent and parent company Kering confirmed the news in a joint statement. On Sunday April 3, Versace announced that Vaccarello had left his role as creative director of Versus Versace, hot on the heels of Hedi Slimane's exit from Yves Saint Laurent.

see press release

Debenhams, which is due to announce a replacement for its departing CEO at any moment, has made some internal changes. Retail director Mike Goring will leave at the beginning of next month after four years. Ross Clemmow, currently e-commerce director, will become retail director. David Smith from VF Corp will start as international director. Meanwhile, marketing director Richard Cristofoli, will take on additional responsibilities for digital design and creative, online photography, editorial content and print services

What: AI shopping assistants threaten marketplaces' advertising and commission profits by taking over purchase decisions, without needing to replicate their fulfilment networks.

Why it is important: Department stores building retail media revenue face the same exposure as Amazon: if agents intercept the purchase decision, sponsored placement loses its value before sales do.

Marketplaces earned their customer relationships through operational reliability, and those habits now underpin advertising businesses. In 2025, Amazon generated $69 billion in advertising revenue against $34 billion in operating income excluding AWS; at an assumed 70% contribution margin, advertising contributed more than reported operating income. The same holds for DoorDash and Instacart, while Alphabet and Meta took nearly $500 billion in advertising revenue.

Assistants cannot rebuild those networks, but they can compare providers and route orders among them. Whether a platform welcomes that depends on two variables: how much incremental demand an agent brings, and how much operating income rests on commissions and advertising. Instacart, with room to win new grocery baskets, integrated Muse; Amazon, whose breadth makes any assistant that cannot buy from it less useful, blocked it. Shopify, Toast and Square lean in because they earn software and payments revenue without an ad business to defend.

The unresolved question is whether agents create enough new purchases to offset lower margin on orders that would have happened anyway. Airbnb's differentiated inventory gives it leverage, whereas Expedia may swap one acquisition cost for another, and a booking won through an assistant must be won again next time.

IADS Notes: The contest the article describes, over discovery rather than fulfilment, is already measurable at department-store level: at John Lewis, searches originating from AI agents grew from 0.3% to 2.5% of the total in a year, prompting investment in the influencer and video content that AI systems draw on (Reuters, September 2026). The profit pool at stake is the one retailers have been building most aggressively, with retail media now a major earnings engine for thin-margin players and, as a result, exposed to the warning that it risks becoming a money grab if ad revenue outweighs shopper relevance (The Robin Report, August 2026). Sponsored placement also loses its grip when the shopper is an algorithm: research shows only ratings and competitive pricing consistently influence AI-driven choices, while scarcity cues, countdown timers and strike-through pricing are ineffective or counterproductive (Harvard Business Review, May 2026). The bargaining dynamics the article sketches have precedent on both sides: OpenAI's withdrawal of Instant Checkout showed that consumers still prefer retailer-controlled environments for transactions, making data ownership and direct customer relationships the decisive lever as AI platforms mediate the path to purchase (Journal du Net, March 2026), while the 4% fee on OpenAI-powered checkouts for Shopify merchants was judged steep by some yet cheaper than Amazon's 8–15% referral fees by others, provided AI checkout lifts conversion and lowers acquisition costs (Internet Retailing, January 2026).

Who gets paid when AI does the shopping?

What: Central Retail posted 35% net profit growth in H1 2026 as it cuts underperforming store formats, takes a 40% stake in JD Sports, and navigates a weak Thai economy against a booming Vietnamese market.

Why it is important:  The JD Sports stake shows a merchandising weakness being fixed by buying capability rather than building it — a path other conglomerates with underperforming specialty formats may follow.

Central Retail operated 3,834 stores in Thailand and Vietnam at half-year end, alongside 75 shopping malls totalling 779,000 sqm, jointly leveraged with sibling company Central Pattana. As part of a strategic reset, it has closed 11 Power Buy, B2S and Officemate units over the past year and exited Vietnam's NK appliance business in April, severing 39 stores, while expanding in food, health and beauty, and home improvement. Same-store sales were still down 0.1% in H1, though food grew 3% in Q2 — the first positive result in two years — while hardlines and fashion segments lagged, with two-year stacks of -7.5% and -5% respectively. In fashion, Central Retail took a 40% stake in JD Sports, aiming to improve merchandising at its underperforming Supersports chain by adding athleisure expertise.

Total H1 revenue grew 2.4% to THB123.7 billion (US$3.9 billion), driven mainly by the food segment's 6.1% growth, now 46% of sales. Gross margin improved 110 basis points to 24.8%, and net profit rose 35% to THB5.0 billion (US$155 million). Thailand's economy remains weak despite stimulus and an upgraded 1.9% growth forecast, while Vietnam is experiencing a tourism and consumption boom.

IADS Notes:  The half-year results extend a recovery already visible earlier in the year: second-quarter core profit rose 124% year-on-year on store expansion and private-label growth, building on a broader push into digital transformation, omnichannel integration and a $1.4 billion investment plan through 2027 detailed in Inside Retail, March 2026. That strategy followed a period of operational and governance missteps, with a case study from Inside Retail, May 2026 attributing the turnaround to restructuring and disciplined execution rather than any single new format. On the Vietnam side, the reset has cut both ways: the exit from Nguyen Kim Electronics, a $190 million loss examined in Inside Retail, January 2026 as a cautionary tale on cross-border expansion, sits alongside continued confidence in the market, reflected in reporting on Vietnam's tourism-driven double-digit retail growth from Inside Retail, April 2026. The improvement documented most recently, in Inside Retail, August 2026, places the current H1 numbers within that same arc of pruning weaker assets while expanding food, beauty and home categories.

How is Central Retail reshaping its sprawling retail empire?

What: M&S is reviving its historic St Michael label through a limited-edition streetwear capsule with Aries.

Why it is important:  M&S’s St Michael revival highlights the value of turning brand memory into contemporary product storytelling for younger fashion consumers.

M&S has partnered with London luxury streetwear label Aries on a 26-piece limited-edition capsule that revives the historic St Michael label. Launched on 20 August, the collection responds to renewed interest in St Michael on social media and resale platforms, reinterpreting the former M&S own brand through contemporary streetwear codes. The range spans womenswear, menswear and accessories, with prices from £10 for socks to £120 for a silk dress. It combines tailoring and sportswear, including striped shirts, ties, pinstripe pieces, tracksuits, hoodies, graphic sweatshirts, knitwear, slip dresses and accessories. Archive references include crests, angel motifs, Penny Bazaar imagery and Spencer Bear, blended with Aries signatures such as gothic lettering, Ionic columns, Roman coins and the Temple logo. Aries founder Sofia Prantera said the collaboration drew on personal memories of M&S as part of family life. M&S said the capsule makes Aries’ creative language accessible to a broader audience at a high-street price point while preserving quality and wearability.

IADS Notes:  M&S’s St Michael x Aries capsule fits the retailer’s broader fashion revival, using heritage, collaboration and cultural relevance to reach younger, style-conscious customers. In June 2026, the Financial Times reported that M&S was repositioning itself as a go-to fashion destination through trend-driven collections, influencer marketing, high-profile collaborations, supply chain innovation, digital expansion and store upgrades. Reuters’ March 2026 coverage of M&S’s monthly capsule strategy showed how the retailer is accelerating product drops to respond to fast fashion, Gen Z and Gen Alpha expectations, digital engagement and social media-driven trend cycles. Retail Week’s August 2025 report on M&S’s eBay pre-loved resale store adds context to the renewed interest in St Michael on resale platforms, showing how second-hand demand and circular fashion are becoming part of M&S’s brand ecosystem. WWD’s November 2024 coverage of M&S’s fashion revival through Sienna Miller and Bella Freud collaborations showed how capsules can attract younger shoppers and lift spend in core womenswear. WWD’s July 2026 report on M&S’s London Fashion Week debut further shows how the retailer is turning its 100-year anniversary and heritage into a contemporary, shoppable fashion platform. 

Marks & Spencer to revive St Michael label