Dior Lands in Orlando, the Sound of Sephora, Ciara Talks The Gap – WWD

DOWN IN ORLANDO: Advancing its agenda of brick-and-mortar retail growth, Dior has opened in the Mall at Millenia in Orlando, Florida.

The shop, which opened Friday, is highly decorative, consistent with the luxury brand’s standard interior store design based on the Dior flagship at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris. The women’s area is filled with textured decorative paintings in different shades of off-white, silver, and light gold, and there is a touch of color. The women’s VIP room is covered in pink toile de Jouy.

The men’s space includes off-white decorative paintings, wood, and a touch of blue to create a warm atmosphere, and the facade is developed with a new concept, called “Pleats.” Its folded metal sheets, perforated with Dior’s signature cannage pattern, and fully backlit. The inspiration is from the pleats on the women’s skirts.

The Orlando store features men’s and women’s merchandise including ready-to-wear, bags, small leathers, exotic leather goods, shoes, accessories, and sunglasses. There is also fine jewelry, timepieces, and Dior Maison.

This year, Dior opened stores in Michigan, in the Somerset Collection shopping center in Troy, and in Hamburg, Germany. Dior also opened a new store on London’s Sloane Street, which doubled the size of its previous store on the other side of the street. Dior is also featuring its capsule collection with cult label Denim Tears with a series of pop-ups around the world featuring giant inflatable installations. — DAVID MOIN

THE SEPHORA SOUND: Sephora is making musical moves.

The prestige beauty retailer has teamed with creative music agency SixtyFour Music to launch Sephora Sounds, a collective of up-and-coming musical artists whose songs will be harnessed in the company’s TikTok videos and campaigns.

“We wanted to come up with our unique way to participate musically on the platform,” said Brent Mitchell, Sephora’s vice president of social media and influencers.

Because TikTok doesn’t allow companies to use songs for promotional or commercial purposes, the program allows Sephora to lawfully put tracks to use on the platform, while helping underrepresented artists gain visibility.

“It’s well documented that creators of color — especially Black creators — struggle to get the acknowledgment and the compensation that other creators get on [TikTok],” said Mitchell, noting it’s one of Sephora’s goals to challenge this norm.

More than half of the 55 artists who comprise Sephora Sounds so far are female and Black, Indigenous, or people of color musicians. The initial cohort includes girl band Ain’t Afraid, formed by twin sisters Inah and Yahzi; Ellie Kim, whose music touches on her experience as a transgender woman, and Nigerian-American pop singer Precious.

“We do want to develop relationships with these artists, so we are asking them to join us for a year amount of time,” said Mitchell, noting Sephora Sounds will inaugurate new musicians on a rolling basis and implement at least one song by each artist to the retailer’s music library.

So far, there are more than 500 songs in the Sephora Sounds music library. In soft-launching the program over the last few months, the retailer has found that its TikTok videos using these tracks have “driven more than double the views of our average TikTok,” said Mitchell, adding that the program’s artists, too, have seen spikes up to 30 percent on music listening platforms like Spotify as a result.

“It’s a Sephora-built program and we’re excited to see those results, but we’re equally excited that the artists are also seeing these benefits,” Mitchell said. — NOOR LOAD

CIARA LOVES GAP: “You know what’s so funny?” asked Ciara, eyebrows raised. “I’m always a little funny at times about listening to my music, but now and then I indulge.”

She swayed her shoulders as her 2004 hit “1, 2 Step” played at Harriet’s, the cocktail lounge atop the 1 Hotel. On the dance floor, the crowd was going wild.

The music star and entrepreneur, who’s busy working on an R&B record, took a break from the studio to join the party. She was the focus of the night, a celebration of her campaign for the Gap and LoveShackFancy collaboration — a family affair.

“I used to always dream of being a part of something with Gap when I was young, and it’s kind of amazing how my son gave me that opportunity because he did a campaign in 2017,” she said. Three years old at the time, her son Future Zahir was tapped for a back-to-school ad.

“He was the first in our family to do that,” she went on. “I was looking at my daughter, and I go, ‘Gosh, I hope she can do a campaign like her brother did with Gap.’ And then I get a phone call like a week later after actually talking about that, manifesting that, [telling me], ‘Gap has an amazing collaboration with LoveShackFancy and would love for you and your baby to be a part of.’”

She’s featured in the new campaign with both of her kids, Future and Sienna, ages 9 and 6 respectively.

“I go, ‘That’s crazy!” she added. “Talk about timing and the power of manifestation.’”

Ciara was wearing a look inspired by the partnership, made in the same denim material and floral print as many pieces in the capsule.

“I’m a tomboy,” she said, in an oversized denim dress, adored with pockets and zippers and matching stiletto boots. With the help of her stylist, Deonte “Deo” Nash, she called up designer Kwame Adusei to create the look.

“I’ve been becoming a fan of his,” she said. “One, he’s a Black designer. And Kwame has this cool, elegant, chic touch, and his silhouettes are amazing.”

It’s a one-of-a-kind, not-for-sale in the 76-piece collection — which features women’s, men’s, kids, and baby apparel and accessories priced between $13 and $248. It’s a marriage of Gap’s known styles, classic cotton and denim, and LoveShackFancy’s girly silhouettes and details, full of ruffles, florals, and bows.

“I was so excited because Gap has been so important to me my entire life, and I grew up going to that Gap on 74th [Street] with Lexington,” said LoveShackFancy designer Rebecca Hessel Cohen, who dove into Gap archives (and found inspiration from the ’90s). “It was like a rite of passage. I lived in it.”

“We’re committed to the L.A. market,” said Gap chief executive officer Mark Breitbard. “It’s a market where denim is big. Floral is big. We’re a California brand…But I look at this collab and I don’t look at it as really market specific. It’s going to every store, online. It’s going to be big.” — RYMA CHIKHOUNE

VINCE’S NEW DEAL: Peerless Clothing has snagged another high-profile license: Vince.

Through a newly inked long-term agreement with Vince’s owner, Authentic Brands Group, Peerless will design, manufacture and distribute the brand’s men’s tailored clothing, dress shirts, neckwear, and neckwear accessories across the U.S. and Canada.

“We are very pleased to announce our newest partnership with Peerless for Vince,” said Jarrod Weber, group president of lifestyle and chief brand officer of Authentic. “This partnership will introduce products that embody the brand’s essence and the functional elements that today’s consumers demand. Peerless’ expertise in tailored clothing is second to none and we look forward to expanding our relationship.”

Peerless serves as the licensee for several other Authentic-owned brands including Hickey Freeman, Hart Schaffner Marx, Van Heusen, and Shaquille O’Neal.

“We are thrilled to welcome Vince to Peerless, a brand that exemplifies contemporary luxury,” said Dan Orwig, president of Peerless. “Our pledge to deliver an exceptional product at the highest standards of craftsmanship makes this partnership a natural fit. We are excited to partner once again with Authentic to help progress the brand’s long-term strategy and legacy.”

The collection will debut in the fall of 2024.

Authentic formed a strategic partnership with Vince Holding Group earlier this year under which it transferred the brand’s intellectual property to a newly formed Authentic subsidiary, ABG Vince, in return for $76.5 million in cash and a 25 percent membership interest in the subsidiary. — JEAN E. PALMIERI