Hello BoF Professionals, welcome to our latest members-only briefing: The Week Ahead. Think of it as your "cheat sheet" to what everyone will be talking about on Monday.

THE CHEAT SHEET

Is McQueen Kering's Next Billion-Dollar Brand?

Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2018 | Source: Indigital

• Sarah Burton shows her Spring/Summer 2019 collection for Alexander McQueen on Monday
• Kering said the brand has "considerable untapped potential" in a September presentation
• Kering wants to introduce new McQueen product lines and open more stores

At Kering, Gucci is the cash cow, Saint Laurent the dependable earner and Balenciaga the rising star. Then there's Alexander McQueen, which has the name recognition, but has spun its wheels, financially, since the designer's death in 2010. That's about to change. Kering has big ambitions for the brand, including an expanded product range and a realigned network of stores (including the first McQueen boutique in India). McQueen is a powerful brand; a Met showcase of the designer's work in 2011 was at the time one of the museum's 10 most popular exhibits ever. The industry has had success (and failure) driving new momentum at middling performers: Kering did it with Balenciaga; LVMH did it with Celine, for which it has even bigger plans. Burton's McQueen show may offer clues as to how Kering will repeat the same magic.

Fashion is Art and Art is Fashion

Dover Street Market's 2014 Frieze window by Rei Kawakubo | Source: Courtesy

• The Frieze London art fair runs October 4-7
• Brands and retailers like Gucci, Dover Street Market and MatchesFashion are running related programming
• Art fairs have become major sales opportunities for luxury brands, rivaling fashion week

Hypebeast Takes Streetwear Marketing to the Next Level

Source: Instagram/@hypefest

• Hypefest, Hypebeast's multi-day streetwear festival, will take place in Brooklyn next weekend
• The event will combine concerts, art, panels and shopping targeting streetwear fanatics
• A growing share of Hypebeast's revenue comes from branded content

The Bottom Line: Events are a logical next step for Hypebeast, as they've proven to be lucrative for other media organisations; one has only to look across the East River from Hypefest next weekend, where The New Yorker will be holding its annual festival.

Drunk Elephant Stampedes Into the UK

Drunk Elephant's pop-up in Covent Garden | Source: Instagram/@drunkelephant

• Drunk Elephant is launching in the UK, with products widely available Wednesday
• The beauty brand has grown rapidly since being founded by Tiffany Masterson in 2013
• Launch comes one year after Glossier started UK sales; both brands offer tightly edited product ranges and are Instagram marketing masters

It's becoming an annual tradition: every October, a buzzy US beauty brand crosses the pond to conquer the UK market. Last year, Glossier launched with an Instagrammable pop-up shop in London's Marylebone neighbourhood, helping spur an expected $10 million in UK sales in the first year and serving as a template for moves into four more European countries. "Clean-clinical" brand Drunk Elephant is following a similar playbook with a Covent Garden pop-up ahead of the wider launch. One key difference — Glossier sells direct to consumers via its website and a small number of stores, while Drunk Elephant can be found at Sephora, and soon, at Space NK and Cult Beauty in the UK.

The Bottom Line: Drunk Elephant has a simpler road to global conquest as it can let retail partners work out the logistics of international sales. But in bypassing wholesalers, Glossier's path is potentially more lucrative.

COMMENTS OF THE WEEK

"It is very clear that the only way to reach those numbers [$2 billion in annual sales] is by massively increasing distribution and volumes... and that can only be done by democratising the offerings. They will have to target distribution spaces where that target audience shops... maybe not T.J. Maxx but places slightly better may not be far away for them."

-@pinkpeppercorn_sonal, commenting on "Game On: Michael Kors Acquires Versace for $2.1 Billion."

SUNDAY READING

Professional Exclusives You May Have Missed: 

• Hedi Slimane's Celine reboot is here.
• Hermès' anti-marketing marketing.
• Donatella Versace on selling the family business.
• The future of Hearst Magazines.
• Can Paris grow its fashion tech game?
• Gucci's godly garden.

Editor's Note: This article was revised on 30 September, 2018. An earlier version of this article misstated the opening date for Drunk Elephant’s UK pop up is October 3. This is incorrect. The brand’s products go on sale across the UK on that date.

The Week Ahead wants to hear from you! Send tips, suggestions, complaints and compliments to brian.baskin@businessoffashion.com. 

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