The Best One Yet - BONUS 👗 “The Fashion Pod” — Our Best Fashion stories yet from 2023

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

A bonus episode featuring 3 of our top pop-biz news stories on the fashion industry from 2023. So toss on a cute top and iron those jeggings, let’s jump into our 3 Fashion stories…1) Lulelemon, from May 9th: Lululemon showed us the rise of Dupes — In fashion, Dupes aren’t a scarlet letter - they’re a badge of honor.2) Aldi, a story from March 29th: The German grocery chain, moved from food into fashion — The fastest growing grocery chain in america is selling apparel, because merch is the new moat.3) Allbirds, a story from July 18th: Allbirds created the weirdest shoe of 2023 — We introduce the weirdness rule of fashion, and whether Allbirds violated it.Subscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And today's fashion pod is the best one yet. It looks fantastic. T-Boy is the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. But this year-end bonus episode is our top three fashion stories from 2023. So if you've got a buddy deep in the fashion industry, send them this episode. Hey, Calvin Klein, we know you're a Yeti.

We know you're enjoying this show. If your buddy designs dresses, cute tops, or it sconces themselves in Velvet, they got to hear this episode. So Yeti's show us. your share. Like, show is that you shared this with a buddy and you could win something, right, Jack? You'll be entered to win a free kit of T-boy merch and two tickets to a live T-boy show next year. In the meantime, slip into some overalls and Jack, what are our three stories for today's fashion pod? For our first story, it's Lulu Lemon from May 9th. Lulu Lemon showed us the rise of dukes. In fashion, doops aren't a scarlet letter. No, no, no, no. Doops are a badge of honor.

For our second story, it's Aldi, from back on March 29th. The German grocery chain moved from food to fashion. The fastest growing grocery chain in America is selling apparel because merch is the new moat. And our third and final story is Allbirds from July 18th. Allbirds created perhaps the weirdest shoe of the year. It was insane. So we introduced the Weirdness Rule of Fashion and whether Allbirds broke that rule. Didn't Allbirds invent that rule, actually?

Do as I say, not as I do, Alvards. That's called an own goal. But yet he's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a beautiful looking mix of stories for today, Jack. If we could only use one word to define the fashion industry in 2023, ridiculously good-looking. We covered so many luxury, fashion, and apparel trends this year on the pod. Jack, take us back.

Birkenstock became the oldest company ever to IPO. That shoe company was founded in 1774. Yeah, the creator of the Jesus shoe is almost as old as Jesus. We also covered Michael Coors and his $9 billion company acquisition. He's never looked better. You're looking great, Mikey. Then we covered Kim Kardashian's. Her Skims brand broke Victoria Secrets Thongopoly.

And then Skims expanded into menswear. But collaborations were king in 2023. Because Tiffany collared with Nike. And then Crocs collabed with McDonald's. And now McDonald's is going to collide with Tiffany. We also covered TJ Max, whose stock hit an all-time high thanks to treasure hunting. From inflation-pitched bargain shop. Jack, you walk in for the pillows, you walk out with a polo shirt.

In 2023, Old Navy became bigger than the Gap. Which is funny because Old Navy is owned by the Gap. But besties, the three most interesting stories aren't on New York Fashion Week right now. No, Yetis, the top three fashion stories of 2020 are off the runway this year. So Mugatu, should we cover the fashion pod now? Hansen, so hot right now. Let's hit our three fantastic-looking stories. We're going to need more makeup, Jack.

Let's hit him. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm, they had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go.

We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. For our first story, it's Lulu Lemons Doops. This story is originally from May 9th. The number one trend on TikTok right now is also the number one threat to Lulu Lemon. We're talking about doops. Doops aren't about the price, though. Doops are about being in a club.

Yetis look around you right now. You don't even realize it. You're not even aware of it, but you are surrounded by doops. Those pants, it's a dupe. That shirt, it's a dupe. That cooler, it's a Yeti dupe. Yeti's doaps. The hashtag doaps has gotten 4 billion viewers.

views on TikTok and doops, think of it as duplicate. That's what it stands for. It's a duplicate. We're not talking about a knockoff product. Like, this isn't the counterfeit Louis Vuitton handbag that some guy is trying to hawk you on Canal Street, New York City. Goiard Schmojard. This isn't a pair of Focles in the Caribbean you bought for like 12 bucks.

As our friend Kim Britsiller explains in her newsletter, doaps are products that try to be just like another premium product, but at a lower price. And a dupe is not illegal. It's a legitimate brand. It's not trying to trick you into buying it by pretending to be Oakley. It's the same quality product. It's just a different brand at a lower price. We actually covered a dupe on our pod once.

Those Trader Joe's facial sunscreen products. Yeah. And they were duping Supergoops facial sunscreen. Right. Both Trader Joe's version and Supergroup's version were effective, legitimate products that worked. But Jack, what were the prices of those two different sunscreens? Trader Joe's made a $9 version. of Super Goops $36 original.

Yetis, that is a dupe. And Jack, why are you and I noticing more and more doops around doping around these days? In this economy? Yeah, in this economy. Yeties, when times get tough or prices rise, so do the doaps. You get the fooyard, not the goyard.

You get the Fucci, not the Gucci. You're looking for the RITC cooler, not the Yeti cooler. But here's why Jack and I wanted to cover this story. Lulu Lemon just became the first big brand to take on doaps. And they're taking on doaps by embracing dupes. By hugging the doaps.

Yeti's Lulu Lemon knows that dupes are a problem. They say that videos with the hashtag Lulu Lemon dupe have 180 million views on TikTok with a link on where to buy a cheaper pair of Lulu Lemon pants. Honestly, as far as we can tell, Lulu, maybe the most duped brand we could find out there. The classic product getting duped is the Align Leggings, those classic $98 tight leggings that Lulu sells.

However, if you go on a lot of... Amazon, you may notice a very similar dupe legging that will cost you just 32 bucks. Nick, I see it blatantly on Instagram. I'm seeing ads that say Lulu, but half the price. That is a dupe that I saw an ad for. Definitely a dupe. So on Sunday, Lulu finally did something about it. They're launching what they call a dupe swap.

It was a dupe swap. Yeties, if you were in Los Angeles, you could go to a Lulu Lemon, bring your dopes, and they would swap them for the real Lulu leggings. hand over the product you bought for half price, and they hand you the real product in exchange for free. It's like one of those amnesty programs you see around. You know what I'm talking about? It's like you voluntarily bring in the contraband, and instead of punishing you,

they're like, thank you. Here's your reward. Thank you for the counterfeits. Here's the real thing. Lulu's trying to turn lemons into Lulu lemons. Yeah, it'll cost them in the short run, but these dup swaps, they think in the long term will pay off. They think after you wear the real Lulu leggings for the first time, you'll know.

never buy a dupe again. Oh, Jack's still going to try to slip into some align liking. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Lulu Lemon? Doops aren't a scarlet letter. They're a badge of honor. Here's the surprise about dupes, Yetis. One of the few forces that transcends socioeconomic differences, it's being an insider. Whether you're wealthy, middle class, or lower income, everyone wants in on a secret deal. That's the real power of the dupe. Wearing a dupe doesn't signal cheapness, it signals that you're part of a club in the no. That's why you don't just wear the dupe, you share the dupe. And that is why Lulu Lemon isn't fighting the dupe.

It's embracing the dupe. Because dupes aren't a scarlet letter. They're a badge of honor. Dupes aren't just about the price. They're about being in the no. If you know, you know. For our second story, it's Aldi and the grocery store merch. Take us back to March 29th, Nick.

America's most popular new grocery chain, it's Aldi. Aldi. Aldi. So Aldi is pivoting from food to fashion, from groceries to galoshes. It gets me every time, Jack. Now, yet he's... From celery to sandals. Oh, before we jump into this story, Jack.

Hey, Safeway, you're not so safe. Hey, Costco, be careful. Hey, Wawa, you better watch out. Because the fastest growing... grocery store in the United States by new stores is not those three cult classics. Jack, who is it, man? It's Aldi. Aldi. Aldi is now the third biggest grocer in the United States after Walmart and after Kroger's. 2,270 U.S. locations. Boom, this company, they are punishing publics. Born in Germany, Aldi is expanding across the United States like Hasselhoff. Hey, Jack, why is this German grocery store so

suddenly beloved in the United States? Ruthless German efficiency. Yeah, because Yetis, all these value proposition happens to be Germany's top skill and top export. Frugality. Or as the Germans call it, Deutsche Sparsam Kite. Yeah, exactly. Just like Jack said, Deutsche Gazuntite. Now, Yeti's Aldi keeps prices low by eliminating all the joy and service that comes from a traditional grocery chain. My hometown, Brattleboro, has one and I went there. Here's the experience I experienced. Okay, so, Jack, let's say you want lettuce? Go get it yourself.

Let's say you want someone to bag the bananas for you? This isn't a spa. Do it yourself. Jack, can you share what our personal favorite is? If you want a shopping cart at Aldi's, you must insert a quarter to unlock the shopping cart. And then you only get that quarter back when you return the cart in the stall area.

Deutsche Sparsam Kite. That combo of lowest price and convenient location, that's what's made Aldi the fastest growing grocery chain in America. Yeah, customers don't hate it. They actually kind of love it. But here's the real surprise yet. And this is what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. This Uber efficient German grocery chain is now pivoting from food to fashion.

Here's the news. Aldi just dropped an Aldi branded apparel line. We're not just talking about like just some clothes that they're selling. This is a literal a leisure line from a grocery store. Aldi is selling Aldi branded pullovers, track suits, joggers, hats, and sandals. Forget Adidas. This is Aldi Das. Aldi Das. All of that merch is featuring the signature Aldi blue, yellow, and red colors all across it.

You walk into the store for a wild melon. You walk out with a windbreaker. Oh, and Jack, you know how we've said pricing is a signal? Every Aldi merch item is priced under $10. To align with the brand's frugality value proposition. And to align with the brand's value proposition, you basically have to sew the buttons in yourself. Like we said, this isn't a spa. It's Aldi. And this merch has already sold out. The Aldi sandals, they're selling on eBay now for five times the sticker price. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Aldi? Merch is the new moat. Now, yet is Jack and I've noticed a trend here. A trend in commodity industries. And that trend is merch. In commodity industries, if every company sells similar stuff, it's hard to win loyalty

from customers. But apparel, thoughtful, curated fashion-focused quality apparel, that actually prove something. It gives customers a chance to commit and show their love for the brand. So the way, Jack, and I see it, merch is the test that proves you don't just have customers, you actually have fans. And that's key, because fans are loyal, while customers are fleeting. Besties Aldi is pulling off fashion. Price Chopper can't. Because merch is the new moat. For our third and final story, it's all birds, which I'm actually wearing right now, Jack. This one's from July 18th. Allbirds just unveiled a revolutionary new shoe. But here's our question.

Does it violate the weirdness rule? Customers will accept one element of weirdness, but not two. Yeah. Two strikes and you're weird. That is the Allbirds sneaker, the Silicon Valley uniform. If you're wearing a Patagonia fleece, you better be pairing this thing with some shoes below from Allbirds. If you're wearing Allbirds, it screams, I can code, but I compost, too. You cannot raise V-Squist.

money unless he got six pairs of the Heather Gray. Albirds, the nine-year-old company, we've been tracking it for a while, and this is their most extreme product yet. It's called the moonshot. The shoe is literally a moonshot. Albirds calls it the first ever net zero carbon shoe. Because most shoes are made out of rubber and foam and plastic, the kind of stuff that's basically eating away at the planet.

Those are petroleum-based materials, so the average pair of sneakers has a 30-pound carbon footprint, according to Al-Birds. On the other hand, these new Allbird shoes sound like they were whipped up in Mother Nature's pantry. These new Albirds moonshot sneakers use wool, sugar cane-based foam, and plastic derived from methane gas. Yaddy's, what we're saying is that part of these shoes is derived from sheep burps and sheep farts. Right. The methane that comes out of the sheep becomes your shoes. That's how they made a met zero carbon.

Now, these shoes are a huge accomplishment. This is a powerful new creation, but there is one problem with it. the shoe and what is that jack if you look at the shoe you don't want to look at the shoe anymore no the shoe kind of looks like a sock that ate a boot yeah if you're watching on youtube or spotify we have it up on the screen right now the shoe looks like it was designed for the moon like it's impressively a shoe that saves planet earth but you'd only wear the shoe on another planet and this is adding insult to injury because the stock is down 95% from its 2021 ipo it's just a dollar and 30 cents a share and that's not even the worst part financially for all

Birds, is it, Jack? Revenues aren't slowing at Allbirds. They're shrinking for two straight quarters. Allbirds is becoming smallbirds. So, Jack and I are staring at this freaky shoe, and it has one more thing that has us scratching our heads. The preference totem pole. The preference totem pole. It turns out sustainability is at the bottom of the preference totem pole for footwear. Okay, besties will explain. Customers can buy shoes for many reasons. There are a lot of value propositions for shoes. Like there's price, there's style, there's comfort, there's sustainability. And of four reasons to buy a pair of shoes, sustainability is the least important of them all, according to WebBush security. And yet, Auburts keeps marketing focused on sustainability, even though the data

shows that sustainability is not that marketable. According to the Wall Street Journal, Aubirds knows that shoe buyers don't prioritize sustainability for their purchasing decisions. And yet, even though sustainability is at the bottom of that totem pole, it's at the top of the marketing for this brand new shoe. Like we said, it has a scratch in our heads. Jack, I'm wearing in Allbirds right now. It's a great podcasting shoe, but I'm still confused. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Allbirds? Customers will accept one element of weirdness, but not two. One element of weirdness, but not two. Yeties, that is the weirdness rule. And Jack and I didn't make the weirdness rule up. Here's the funny thing. The Albert's co-founders made it up.

Albert says that a product should have one weird thing about it, because that one weird thing makes it exciting, makes a product intriguing. However, a product won't work if two things are weird. Two strikes and you're weird. But if you look at the latest Allbird shoe, the Moonshot, it definitely violates that design rule. Jack, I'm looking at the shoe right now. It looks like a sock. It's shaped like a space boot. And its laces, laces kind of just look like weirdoed laces. This new Albert shoe has three degrees of weirdness and it can only have maximum one. Which means all birds is violating the very rule it made up. The weirdness rule of design. Two strikes, and you're weird.

Before we go, time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me because we could not wait to share this one with you again. This is so good. Good this. We have nearly reached in America, perfume parody. Perfume parody, Jack, go on. I got to hear more.

In 2023, perfume and fragrance sales were on pace to be 60% higher than in 2019. 60% higher than pre-pandemic. But Jack, here. The big question, who's driving those higher sales of delicious smelling scents? Dudes. It's dudes. It's men. It's guys.

According to Cody's CEO, Gen Z and men are the reason that fragrance sales are looking fabulous right now. We have nearly reached perfume parity thanks to guys buying more perfumes. We've nearly reached perfume parity. Yeah, it is if you're looking to get a gift for the guy in your life, buy them some T-boy merch, and then buy them some Chanel number five. And then spray that Chanel number five on the T-Brives. MyDegis, you look fantastic for our fashion bonus pod.

And Jack, what should you do if you enjoyed that fashion bonus pod? If you got a buddy who likes fashion or works in fashion, Gucci or Fucci doesn't matter. Send them this episode. Even if they just wear clothing, we don't care if it's just a cute top. They're going to love this episode. And if you show us your share, you'll be entered to win a free kit of T-boy merch and two tickets to a T-boy live show of your choice.

A fashion pod where you can win T-boy fashion, Jack. That is meta and that is deep. We got another bonus pod coming tomorrow. Nick and I, we'll see you there. I got to put on something new if we're going to do a new bonus pod, Jack. Can't wait, yet, we'll see you there. Wrap it up, Nick, wrap it up.