The New Gatekeepers: How Capital Now Decides Fashion’s Breakout Brands
In today’s luxury market, the next “it” label is rarely left to chance. Behind cult brands and sudden global expansions sits a quiet network of investment arms and strategic funds deciding which names, categories and experiences receive the capital to scale. As growth slows and risk rises, these gatekeepers aren’t just backing fashion’s future — they’re actively scripting it.
Luxury’s Rescue Act: Why the High Street Is Now the High-Fashion Lifeline
Luxury’s newest lifeline isn’t a runway fantasy but a high-street handshake. In 2025, relevance outruns exclusivity — and every capsule drop becomes a wager: gain heat, risk mystique. The question now is who can dance with the masses without losing their aura.
Dupes, Design and The Law: When Is Inspiration Theft?
When Dunnes Stores released a €15 tote in 2024 that looked strikingly like Longchamp’s iconic Le Pliage, the debate reignited: where does inspiration end and infringement begin? Dupes aren’t counterfeits, but they blur legal and cultural lines—praised as accessible by some, condemned as theft by others. The Longchamp case may reshape fashion’s uneasy balance between originality and imitation.