innerwear

Walmart is proving that even the nation’s largest retailer may not be immune to the economic pressures that are causing consumers to reevaluate their spending habits. 

Rising food prices meant more shoppers flocked to Walmart in the most recent quarter in search of grocery deals.
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The Bentonville, Ark.-based firm revealed quarterly earnings Tuesday before the market opened, improving on top-line revenues, but failing to meet Wall Street’s expectations after falling short on bottom-line profits. Company shares fell nearly 9 percent at the start of Tuesday’s trading session. 
“Bottom-line results were unexpected and reflected the unusual environment,” Doug McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart, said in a statement. “U.S. inflation levels, particularly in food and fuel, created more pressure on the margin mix and operating costs than we expected. We’re adjusting and will balance the needs of our customers for value with the need to deliver profit growth for our future.”  

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For the most recent quarter, or the three-month period ending April 30, total revenues grew 2.4 percent to about $141 billion, up from more than $138 billion a year ago. Comp sales at Sam’s Club grew 10.2 percent, and 17.4 percent on a two-year stack. Membership income rose 10.5 percent. 
Walmart U.S. e-commerce sales increased 1 percent, or 38 percent on a two-year stack. Last August, McMillon said the company’s global e-commerce business was on track to reach $75 billion in revenues by the end of the year. The company still hasn’t said whether it has reached that goal yet.
Meanwhile, ​​net sales at Walmart International fell $3.5 billion during the most recent quarter, or 13 percent to $23.8 billion, negatively impacted by $5 billion, due to divestitures. The retailer logged $2.05 billion, down from $2.73 billion during last year’s first quarter, as a result. 
The results are a mixed bag. Walmart’s affordably priced food selection means consumers are increasingly flocking to the mass channel for their grocery needs. But McMillon added on Tuesday morning’s conference call with analysts that inflation is also lifting the average ticket price. Shoppers are responding by purchasing fewer discretionary items, resulting in smaller overall basket sizes. 
“As expected, consumers are increasingly drawn to the lower price points that Walmart can offer for groceries and Walmart is taking market share in food, but higher food sales is also putting pressure on gross margin,” Moody’s retail analyst Mickey Chadha wrote in a note. He added that the higher inventory levels “could lead to increased promotional cadence in the coming quarters if consumers continue to pull back, which could increase pressure on earnings. It is increasingly difficult to pass on higher prices to consumers while dealing with higher wages and employee costs.”
In terms of food costs, McMillon said there’s been double-digit inflation. “And I’m concerned that inflation may continue to increase. As it relates to Walmart U.S. general merchandise sales, we knew that we were up against stimulus dollars from last year, but the rate of inflation in food pulled more dollars away from [general merchandise] than we expected as customers needed to pay for the inflation in food,” he said.

Aside from rising consumer food and gasoline prices, executives on the call told analysts that additional headwinds came from higher-than-expected inventory levels (up 32 percent for the quarter, year-over-year), added fuel costs in the supply chain and increased labor expenses. 
“As the Omicron variant case count declined rapidly in the first half of the quarter, more of our associates [who] were out on COVID-19 leave came back to work faster than we expected,” McMillon said. “We hired more associates at the end of last year to cover for those on leave. So we ended up with weeks of overstaffing. That issue was resolved during the quarter, primarily through attrition.”
In addition, U.S. fuel cost the retailer more than $160 million more during the quarter than originally expected.

Doug McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart
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Still, McMillon expressed optimism for the future. 
“Across our businesses, we had a strong top-line quarter,” he said. “There were some things that happened during the quarter that were different than we expected and we’re trying to be very transparent about those things. There seems to be more uncertainty now in a very fluid environment. And so, we’ll just deal with that.”
One way will be by slashing prices in high-margin areas, such as apparel, in an effort to manage excess inventory. While this might seem counterintuitive, McMillon said shoppers on a budget are more likely to notice. 
“Part of what’s at play here is [that] you’ve got food inflation moving up, but we’ve got general merchandise categories, like apparel and some of our hardlines categories, to play with,” he said. “And the beauty of it is [that] customers are even more price sensitive right now. They’re attention to fuel prices and high-food prices is high. And so when you bring [a price of] something down in sporting goods or hardware, one of these other categories, they notice even more than they would notice before and that makes the elasticity impact be different than it would be otherwise, which blends the mix up.” 
In addition, some tailwinds for the quarter included things like game consoles, as well as patio furniture, grills and gardening supplies, thanks to warming temperatures.

“In terms of the consumer themselves, we’ve seen strong growth with higher-income consumers, middle-income and lower-income, but we do see a definite strength with high-ticket items,” John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., said on the call. “With some consumers and others, we do see some switching, which would include switching specifically from brands to private brands. And where we see the switching from brands to private brands, we’ll continue to watch that for a group of customers, but we’ve got to all work harder to keep prices low for the American consumer.”
McMillon added: “It’s important to recognize that there’s more than one consumer. We serve the whole country. [With] the U.S. in particular, we’ve got a breadth of customers and they behave differently. [With] some customers, we are seeing some indications of change throughout the quarter, but that’s not true for all of them.”

Pieces from Walmart’s Love & Sports brand.
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Walmart has worked hard over the last few years to expand its assortment of merchandise, particularly in fashion. The big-box retailer now sells more than 1,000 third-party apparel, accessories, and beauty and wellness brands — such as Levi’s, Reebok, Free People, Jordache, Eloquii, Space NK and Kris Jenner’s home cleaning brand Safely — and continues to add to the scale and breadth of its portfolio of brands each quarter. Earlier this month, the firm expanded its distribution of period-panty brand Proof to approximately 4,000 Walmart stores.
In addition, Walmart has an extensive list of its own apparel brands, three of which are worth more than $2 billion, although the company declined to say which ones. The list includes sustainable innerwear and maternity brand Kindly, swimwear and activewear brand Love & Sports, and apparel brands Free Assembly and Scoop, of which luxury designer Brandon Maxwell serves as creative director.
“Maintaining price competitiveness is the key risk for Walmart in today’s inflationary environment,” Landon Luxembourg, senior analyst at research firm Third Bridge, wrote in a note. “As consumer wallets come under pressure, private brands will likely take the stage as consumers trade down from a pure decision of opting for lower-cost items. Walmart’s private brand portfolio, which was a focus area over the last four to five years, has now doubled its assortment. However, it has not grown consumer mind share and lack recognizability versus Target and Costco’s competing private assortment, which may be more sought after by consumers.”

Walmart anticipates current quarter revenues will increase more than 5 percent, excluding divestitures. U.S. comp sales are also expected to grow — between 4 percent and 5 percent — excluding fuel, while earnings per share are expected to be flat to up slightly, excluding divestitures.  
For the full year, the company expects net revenues will rise about 4 percent, excluding divestitures. Walmart U.S. comp sales are expected to increase roughly 3.5 percent, excluding fuel, while earnings per share for the year will decrease about 1 percent, excluding divestitures.
The company ended the quarter with $11.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and more than $32 million in long-term debt. 
Shares of Walmart, which closed up 0.11 percent Monday to $148.21, are up 6.7 percent, year-over-year.
“We don’t expect this miss to become a norm, seeing that Walmart has historically outperformed competition during tough economic times,” Arun Sundaram, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, wrote in a note. His firm maintained its “buy” position on Walmart’s stock, but cut the 12-year price target by $3 to $162 a share. “The good news is most of these issues seem to be isolated to the quarter and margins should improve in the second quarter and the back half of the year as Walmart works through excess inventory and better matches pricing with costs.”

Cosabella’s men’s division has a new creative director.Starting this month, Roman Sipe will take the helm as creative director of the men’s division at the Italian innerwear and underwear brand, as well as creative director of men’s at luxury boutique Journelle. Both firms are owned and operated by the Campello family. 
“Roman is a pioneer in men’s underwear; he’s a true creative,” Guido Campello told WWD. 
Campello, whose parents Valeria and Ugo Campello founded Cosabella in 1983, currently serves as creative director of women’s at Cosabella, as well as co-chief executive officer, along with his sister Silvia Campello. “And Roman is an operator,” Campello continued. “He runs his business.”

Luxury lingerie brand Cosabella offers underwear in sizes that fit across all body forms.
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Sipe’s business ventures include luxury men’s underwear brand Menagerie Intimates, which he launched in 2015. The designer said he was excited to work with Cosabella — and Campello, in particular — because of the company’s nearly 40-year history. 

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“I’m a self-taught designer. I’m a self-taught brand owner,” Sipe said. “And to have Guido [Campello] as a mentor, as well as Giorgio [Latini], the production manager that we work with in Italy…the research and the knowledge that these men bring to the industry that I’m new to is key. I focus on the beauty of my lingerie and who I am trying to reach. But in order to scale and in order to build brand awareness and grow, I need a mentor within our [intimates] world.”
But Sipe, who is based in Fabriano, Italy, near Cosabella’s factories, is not completely new to the industry. In fact, he’s been in the fashion scene for at least 10 years, between L.A. and New York. His résumé includes celebrity stylist, fashion stylist (with brands such as G-Star and Seven For All Mankind), designer and founder. He also has a bachelor’s degree in finance, styled music videos, contestants on “America’s Next Top Model” and won Macy’s The Next Style Star Competition, a reality show competition that gave him the chance to produce a fashion campaign for the department store. 
“And that is exactly when I decided I wanted to design,” Sipe explained. “And I was like, what am I going to design? The first thing that came to mind was underwear. And I was googling underwear and I didn’t see anything that I would wear.”

Luxury lingerie brand Cosabella now offers underwear in sizes that fit across all body forms.
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In the new role, Sipe has been tasked with building out the male body form division, starting with the spring 2023 collections, across Cosabella and Journelle. (Campello and his wife Sapna Palep purchased luxury lingerie boutique Journelle, which has locations in New York and Chicago, along with the e-commerce business, in 2019.) Sipe will also assist Campello on creative direction for Cosabella’s and Journelle’s women’s collections. 
“I always thought I would be the creative director [of Cosabella] forever,” Campello explained. “I thought I had enough creative direction in understanding trends and movement, because I’ve been in this space forever. But very clearly, I think the speed at which the last two years moved, I realized there’s all these worlds out there now that are getting exposure and they need premium products, better products. And one of those places is men’s. The biggest step I took was to understand that I can’t speak to everybody. I know my world. 

“Ultimately, [Sipe] has a comfort level with teaching and talking about that product that’s different from other people,” Campello continued. “I’ve learned a lot already from him, about utility, solution underwear, solution undergarments in that space.”
Campello, who is based in New York, will continue to act as creative director of women’s, with some input from Sipe on the division. He added that it makes sense for Sipe to be based in Italy, near production facilities, in order for him to gain a better understanding of the entire process, starting with the supply chain. 

Luxury lingerie boutique Journelle in New York City. Campello and his wife Sapna Palep purchased the business in 2019.
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Meanwhile, Cosabella continues to build out his assortment for men, which launched last fall. Campello is quick to point out, however, that it’s not so much for men, as it is for the male body form. That could take the shape of underwear — which is cut in the same style and fabric across both men’s and women’s — but with added volume in the crotch area to accommodate for men, or bras for men, he explained. 
“We’re a very inclusive brand at Cosabella,” Campello said. “Journelle is becoming inclusive. But to truly be inclusive you need to bring in the people who do those things. Journelle does it by bringing in other brands that we sell. But Cosabella needs that influence,” he added, explaining the need to onboard Sipe. 

Sapna Palep and Guido Campello.
Courtesy Photo

For his part, Sipe’s wish list for the company includes creating sizing guides for men, adding in more lace and bra options, as well as bra fittings for men, while breaking down long-held societal stigmas around men — or the male form — in the lingerie space. He also wants to help expand the range of women who feel comfortable at Journelle by adding more choices for plus-size and transgender shoppers, among others. 
“The most exciting part is coming in and optimizing the male shopping experience: the product, the styles, what we want to do,” Sipe said. “And building what men’s lingerie actually looks like and what it means to actually design for the male form. We have the opportunity to expand what men’s lingerie means. 
“For instance, the fit chart is a really interesting thing for me,” he continued. “Because I know a lot of men who say, I wear a boxer brief. I want to build out a men’s fit guide that lets you know what is proper for what style of pants you’re wearing. I think that’s where my styling experience comes in. And to create a shopping space for men, because most of the time they’re shopping for their partners, their girlfriend, wife, for a woman. But now the goal is to have them come into the store [independently] for Cosabella’s men’s line and with my line. 

“I knew starting my brand, the gays were going to love it,” Sipe added. “The fashion men and women were going to love it. But as my brand grew, I started getting contacted by all different men. And [that experience] has been so much fun. Because all it takes is for people to see [men’s lingerie], to accept it. But also, to see it done right. To understand it and to break down all the walls.”

HOT LEGS: Milan-based Brazilian accessories designer Paula Cademartori experimented with a new product category this fall: tights.Cademartori teamed up with Italian legwear brand Oroblù on a capsule collection that includes seven styles available in several color combinations, ranging from sorbets to more wintery green and black tones.
Available at Oroblù online stores, as well as selected physical shops, the capsule combines the legwear label’s Made in Italy quality with Cademartori’s color sensibility and graphic exuberance.

Oroblù by Paula Cademartori fall 2021 legwear capsule collection.
Courtesy of Paula Cademartori

Retailing from 19.95 euros to 22.95 euros, the designs include tights embellished with a range of motifs, spanning from sensual graphic wavy lines and revisited British checks in pastels to leopard spots, geometric motifs and lace floral textures. Among others, the capsule also includes a Lurex style with a subtle sparkling effect.

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“Looking at tights as a new accessory has been extremely interesting and exciting,” Cadematori said. “As an accessories designer, also delivering shoes, it was fun to look at tights as an extension of my work with footwear. And, it was also a huge honor working with Oroblù, a pioneering, leading Made in Italy company in its segment.”
Oroblù, which operates six brick-and-mortar stores, is controlled by CSP International Fashion Group, a leading company producing and distributing legwear, underwear and beachwear through a range of brands that include Luna di Seta, Perofil, Lepel, Sanpellegrino, Cagi, Well and Le Bourget. In 2020, the group reported net sales of 82.9 million euros, 57 percent of them made in France, the company’s biggest market.
Cademartori, who introduced her namesake luxury line of bags and shoes in 2011, recently developed a footwear capsule collection for Italian shoe label Scarosso.
SEE ALSO: 
Neiwai Launches Sustainable Capsule With Wolford
Bombas Expanding Into the U.K. With Socks and Underwear
Eduard Both Started With Socks — Now He’s Totally Into Shirts

Target has some new designer friends, including Rachel Comey, Victor Glemaud, Sandy Liang and Nili Lotan. 
The big-box retailer revealed its Fall Designer Collection on Monday. The limited-edition assortment consists of more than 180 pieces, ranging in price from $15 to $80 and sizes XXS to 4X.  

Looks from the fall 2021 Target Designer Collection by Victor Glemaud. 
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“For the past 20 years, our guests have continued to express excitement when we introduce them to new and emerging designers from across the globe, all at an incredible value,” Jill Sando, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Target, said in a statement. “This fall, we’re building upon that legacy and bringing together four dynamic and highly regarded designers to introduce a collection of inclusive, on-trend and timeless fashion staples to re-energize guests’ wardrobes for the fall season.”

The retailer has a long history of showcasing designers in its stores and online. In April, Target tapped Christopher John Rogers, Alexis and Rixo for its 2021 Designer Dress Collection. The company has also previously worked with LoveShackFancy, Cushnie, Lisa Marie Fernandez, Zac Posen, Anna Sui, Rodarte, Missoni, Phillip Lim, Jason Wu and Lilly Pulitzer, among others.

Pieces from Target’s fall 2021 Designer Collection by Sandy Liang. 
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Meanwhile, the company’s apparel assortment continues to grow, even with so many consumers working from home over the last year-and-a-half. In the most recent quarter, apparel sales grew 60 percent, year-over-year, thanks to strength across loungewear, innerwear, activewear, men’s wear and children’s apparel. That’s in addition to a number of private-label partnerships at Target, including Levi’s and Journelle, and the mass merchant’s own apparel brands, such as activewear label All In Motion. 
“So apparel has been one of our strengths,” Brian Cornell, chairman and chief executive officer of Target, told reporters in November. “And certainly from a market-share standpoint, one of the real highlights from our business throughout the quarter. And we certainly see that continuing as we finish up the year.”

Leave it to Karl Lagerfeld to narrow the gap between a tuxedo and a lingerie set — along with a wink to the Chippendales.
A clip-on collar and black waist-cinchers with satin buttons are all part of the brand’s latest surprising collaboration: a capsule collection of lingerie and corsetry with Aubade Paris, the ne plus ultra of premium French innerwear.
The new range for fall 2021 retailing dovetails with Karl Lagerfeld’s recent foray into the thriving underwear and loungewear markets. Last month, the brand launched its underwear collection for men and women exclusively on karl.com and German e-commerce platform Zalando ahead of its arrival in stores beginning in January.
Sales of intimate apparel have risen sharply in the wake of this year’s coronavirus lockdowns, as consumers hop on the trend for comfort dressing.

The Karl Lagerfeld x Aubade collection is less about comfort and more about seduction and celebrating the body — with a formal touch.
The premium range — in black or ruby red — incorporates guipure embroideries, mesh embellishments and satin-covered buttons. The satin elements are inspired by the tuxedo jacket, an iconic piece in the Lagerfeld lexicon, while the clip-on collar is a reference to the late founder, rather than those famous male strippers.
Bras are available in cup sizes ranging from A to F, with underwear ranging from XS to XXL.

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“When this project was brought forward to us by Aubade, we thought it would be perfectly complimentary to the underwear launch we already had planned,” said Pier Paolo Righi, chief executive officer of Karl Lagerfeld, which is headquartered in Amsterdam and Paris, noting that the capsule “very elegantly portrays the message of Parisian chic jointly expressed by two fashion houses that have this attribute in their DNA.”
Righi pointed out that Lagerfeld incorporated lingerie into his fashion shows and photo shootings: “He never looked at it as a separate element, but rather as one fashion element of the total picture.”
Ditto for the company that bears his name.
“It was not really a sudden decision to launch underwear, but a result of the fact that underwear is continuously growing as an important element of your self-expression and becoming an integral part of people’s fashion expression,” the executive said.
The average price for a Karl Lagerfeld x Aubade lingerie set is around 169 euros.
Founded in 1958 at the height of girdles, Paris-based Aubade is known for its use of luxurious materials — including Leavers lace from Calais, France and Swiss embroidery — plus expert fitting and cuts. Parisians are familiar with its artful, yet sexy black-and-white bus stop ads, and Aubade produces a calendar of such imagery every year.
According to Karl Lagerfeld, it and Aubade share a passion for photography, elegance, irreverence and their Parisian heritage, while the co-branded capsule “embraces an effortless, rock-chic attitude.”
Coincidentally, Aubade has a collaboration with Baptiste Giabiconi, one of Lagerfeld’s favorite male models and muses.
Honoring its late founder’s penchant for surprising collaborations, Karl Lagerfeld has also cued up a spring 2021 collection with buzzy designer Kenneth Ize, whose colorful, energetic and gender-fluid fashions exalt Nigerian weaving and craft skills, plus a range of environment-friendly accessories with model and eco campaigner Amber Valletta.

The brand has recently done collaborations with beauty giant L’Oréal Paris, fashion entrepreneur Olivia Palermo, and yarn and fabric promoter The Woolmark Company.
See also:

Karl Lagerfeld Brand Powers Ahead, One Year After Founder’s Passing

First Look at ‘A Tribute to Karl: The White Shirt Project’

Aubade Wants Consumers to Talk Back