We Fixed It, You're Welcome - Unraveling High Fashion

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

What happens when luxury brands sell more than products, but the promise of ethics, craftsmanship, and sustainability? In this episode, our panel explores the growing tension between luxury fashion's premium pricing and the increasing scrutiny surrounding supply chain transparency, labor practices, and sustainability claims. Using LVMH and several of its iconic brands as a case study, the conversation examines whether today's luxury consumers are buying status, quality, or a set of values. Joining the discussion is Kirsten K. Harris (Nordstrom, Nike, Amazon), sustainability strategist and founder of eavolu®, who shares insights from more than two decades in the fashion industry. Together, we unpack the realities of ESG compliance, traceability, greenwashing concerns, counterfeit markets, resale opportunities, and the future of ethical luxury. The episode highlights why transparency, authenticity, and accountability are becoming essential business strategies for brands that want to maintain consumer trust in an increasingly skeptical marketplace. Connect with Kirsten K. Harris LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenkharris/ eavolu®: https://eavolu.com Final Thought Luxury brands have long sold aspiration and exclusivity. The next generation of luxury may be defined not by what brands say, but by what they can prove. As consumers demand greater transparency, the future of fashion will belong to companies that can align premium products with authentic business practices. Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives. • Website – www.wefixeditpod.com • Follow us on: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends! Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them. Disclaimer A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We’re here to ask the kinds of questions everyone’s thinking, have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring. By the end, if we fixed it, you’re welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to We Fixed It. You're welcome. The show where we take over companies, you come along for the ride, and we try to put them back better than we found them. When you hear the word luxury, you think of the good stuff. You pay more, and in return, what you get is better, a step up, better materials, better craftsmanship, better everything. Whether you shell out $3,000 for a handbag or $700 for sneakers, you're not just doing it to buy a product.

You're paying a premium on purpose to associate yourself, with the company behind that product, the brand, the label, the prestige. You're saying, I'm extra, I'm hot stuff, this is me, or at least who I aspire to be. But what if it turns out the company behind that product isn't who you'd want to be? What if you love the look, but you're not so sure about the business practices? How far does it have to go before the shine starts to wear off? And how can luxury brands and all fashion brands do better? Well, we're going to address all that. And we're going to do it in style. Joining us to today is Kirsten Harris. As managing partner and chief sustainability strategist of Earth First

consultants, Kirsten has advised Fortune 500 to cross the fashion industry on products, strategies, and also business practices. Throughout her career, she's worked with Nordstrom, Lulu Lemon, Amazon, Nike, and many, many more. In addition, she's the founder of the Sustainable Lifestyle Apparel brand, Evolu. She's impacted global fashion trends, and we've got her. Hey, Kirsten, thanks for joining us. We're so happy to have you. Thank you so much for having me. So excited to be here. Yeah, Kirsten's a little under the weather and she's toughing it out for us. We'll go back to Evalu or just tell everyone just a little bit more about you.

Well, Evalu. I created Evalu because, you know, I've been in the corporate world for over 20 years and then created Earth First consultants to help Mills, manufacturers, and brands become more sustainable authentically. That's a big thing for me. And I was running into the issue where a lot of smaller brands thought they could not be sustainable because they didn't have the capital behind it. So I wanted to prove that they could. So to lead by example, I created Evalu, Evolution of You, and it's made in the USA. It's comfortable,

premium quality and sustainable and impact-driven. So. Thanks, Kirsten. You bring a ton of category experience and all this, and I'm suddenly feeling underdressed for the occasion. But we can't stop now. Chino, take us into the world of luxury and high fashion. There's nothing for us to fix there, right? Maybe a little bit. And as you said to Aaron, let's really supposed to mean better when we talk about the materials, but specifically the standards when it comes to responsibility and sustainability. And when you're paying that premium on a handbag or whether it be a sneaker, you're not just buying the product. You're buying the ethical prestige. So here's the uncomfortable question that we want to ask. You know, what happens when

And the sustainability story doesn't match the proof when it comes to that cost of the premium. And this week we're really going to be diving into the LVMH brand, which is the world's largest luxury group controlling a portfolio that includes Louis Vuitton, Dior, Sephora, Loeve, Tiffany's, Bolbury, so many to name of, and those are just a few of them. And the reason that they're at the center of this conversation is not because they're the only company that's under scrutiny, but it's because they're the biggest. And when a conglomerate of that scale sells craftsmanship and it tells you that they're being responsible and they're having a premium price and they're repeatedly facing scrutiny over their labor practices and supply and transparency and other ESG claims, it's no longer a PR issue. It's a credibility issue for their entire portfolio. And so I'm going to take it back a little bit and share some context here. So in 2024, Dior, which is an LVMH brand,

investigators found in an Italian court that they uncovered labor exploitation within their subcontracted suppliers. So subsequent reports flagged that there was also gaps in the UK supply chain as well. And they had outdated sustainability statements on their public page. And by 2025, Dior agreed to contribute to $2 million euros, which is around $3 million USD, towards victim support, and to help really monitor their supply chain. But just this year in March, Sephora, which is also owned by the LVMH brand, has now also faced scrutiny over their regulatory practices as well with unfair commercial holdings.

And so what's interesting about this is this is not an isolated event just about Dior. It looks like to be a broader problem within transparency and compliance across that portfolio. And when we zoom out further, across the luxury sector, brands are increasingly being challenge to prove that their net zero pledges, their worker protection, their sustainability narratives are more than just marketing language. Regulators are watching. Investigators are watching, and so are the investors, along with the consumers. And so why does this all matter? In today's episode, we're not just saying and asking, is LVMH greenwashing? A lot of people are. But we're asking the harder and arguably the more important question in modern luxury, what is the premium that

we're actually buying? And so we're going to jump into LVMH and help them get ahead of the scandal before they start seeing their luxury brand, not looking any better than the fast fashion of the world. We look at the Zara and Shien. So let's get into it. Kirsten, I'm very excited to have you here to dive in with us. Well, thank you, Chino. Yeah, this is definitely probably a great example because it's such a large branding, covers so many different types of companies. One thing that's important to separate here is that Louis Vuitton is more of an labor issue

versus Sephora is more of a regulatory issue. But you are correct in that they all fall under ESG, and it neither should be happening. This should be very specifically spelled out in their plan up front and not an afterthought. And that happens a lot with luxury brands and other brands as well.

This first got really noticed, I would say, in the mid-90s. And since then, because, you know, this has to do with third-party contractors. They really, a lot of companies, brands, apparel brands, especially have really, really tried to work on transparency and, you know, being clear, but, you know, defining sustainability is really difficult for a company to do internally and then to know their

consumer does it or define sustainability because it can be two very different answers. So it's important to understand what their definition is and to build the structure in place in that. that includes the workers, that's a very important part of it, the workers' voice, to make sure that these types of things don't happen. It's interesting. Thanks, Kirsten. The LVMH is one of those conglomerate companies you don't think about, and you hear those names in that brand portfolio.

There's not a dud. There's not a dud in there. They've done a great job of curating and cultivating their brand family. But I wonder, you know, with a company of that size, you hear about these things, these situations come up. Industry-wide, maybe this company may be outside, but are these systematic issues across, you know, the speculation, you know, the parent company and the way that they reinforce running the businesses or with a company that size, where it's, there's a name, an umbrella name over everything. Are these individual companies acting, you know, the way that

they companies act? And is it just a matter of timing or, or it's, just a matter of timing or the, you know, the recency that these things have happened, well, not simultaneously, but pretty, pretty close together. I think there's a couple things that we have to unpack here, because I think that there's the sustainability issue, traceability, et cetera, which is definitely one part of it. But, Aaron, you bring up a very good point. LVMH is huge. The number of houses underneath it are in of itself, each of them stand alone, right, and are their own brand. And so as you get bigger, that oversight over each of those areas is just practically almost impossible.

And so when we're talking about the screenwashing Chino and the problem that we're trying to fix around sustainability, it really seems like that visibility into real time, what's happening tighter subcontractor controls, documented wages and labor practices and working conditions. All of this is really difficult to unpack. And it ends up being more of a compliance issue, which when you're talking about a luxury brand and you're paying a premium, you want it to be more than just a compliance, right? You want it to be built into the brand. And so I do feel like they're in a difficult position because, you know, it's like whackamol. You got one brand that's on track.

Then you got another that's not. And it's, you know, you're dealing with other countries where it's very loose, you know, how it's happening. And then on top of that, I really think a big component of that is when we think about today's customer, do customers care. Okay. And I mean this in a very, you know, I have luxury brand items as well, you know, but I think they care differently. I don't think it's that they don't care. I think they care differently. And data suggests sustainability is still super important, very top of mind.

But consumers now are more skeptical, right? Because of these types of situations that they're in. They're more price sensitive. We're in this economic world where, you know, I may not want. want to be spending thousands of dollars on a purse, you know, and I'm less willing to accept the vague claims that have been out there for the last couple decades, right? So what's changed is really that behavior gap. People say they value sustainability, but they're not willing to pay more unless there's the product delivers on that quality, convenience, and proof. So, for example,

PWC did a data survey and found 85% of consumers say climate impacts affects their lives and their willingness to pay for sustainability was only at 9.7%. Support for today's episode comes from Square, the business platform that helps sellers become the best in the neighborhood. Whether you're growing your business or just trying to keep up with it, Square knows what you need. You can take payments, online orders, manage your inventory, staff and more all in one place. That means that when you're with a customer, you're actually with that customer, and they can tell you've got things under control. For one, you're focused and not running around like crazy. That's because the whole thing's designed to be easy to use. The last time I stopped

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maybe there's a quality or a perceived quality or what it represents. But yes, take my money. I will pay more for the same, you know, the same red shirt just because it's got this, this cash air on it, you know, in a pie chart. Or it's like, like, what are the driving factors of? Yes, I'll pay more. You know, brand being one, materials. Like, how do we kind of quantify that in our heads?

It's really interesting because I have run into this with, you know, building my own small sustainable brand and the challenges around that. When you're talking about the luxury market, you are absolutely correct that there is enough margin, there's enough premium built in there. They're buying the status, they're buying the heritage, they're buying, you know, they're just buying it for having that luxury piece and being part of something special. And there's room in there. Unfortunately, a lot of those brands are older brands because they've been.

built up this heritage. So in the beginning when they first did their compliance plans or did their working on their ESG, they did not take into consideration everything that's come forward in the last 20 years, let's say. There's a lot more visibility and transparency now. And we're really seeing that in the luxury brands. When you're talking about more of a mid-tier or lower brand, not fast fashion. We won't go fast fashion. It gets difficult for the consumer. Chops at Nordstrom, shops at Target, gets home with both their bags,

and they're like, okay, I want to be sustainable. I want, you know, I love it. But then they're like, but I need to take something back. And so a lot of times sustainability falls down on the list. And I think that came up in Melissa's statistics, especially for the United States, is that the consumer usually puts comfort quality over sustainability at this point in time just because there's such a premium charge on creating that sustainability. And then there's also the white noise that there is.

A lot of consumers are just like, okay, sustainability, I don't believe it. You know, it becomes a lot of white noise. So it's reframing the issue, defining what sustainability is and using different terminology and just being very direct with your consumers about your policies and what you stand behind. And it's very different in the luxury market versus other markets. Yeah, I want to tap in here too because I think focusing on the LVMH brand, right, that's luxury. And as you said, Kirsten, there's a premium. Like people are spending $3,000 for a sock, you know, some brands, right?

And we know that it doesn't cost $3,000 for a sock. And so they have the margins to do the sustainable thing. And it goes back to the question of this ethical prestige. If I'm spending $3,000 for a sock, I'm wanting it to be crafted from someone, you know, maybe in home base or in Europe, knowing that it is not the slave trade labor. That is the point and why the cost is so much higher versus, yeah, that I can go to the fast fashions of the world and spend $2 on a sock. And I know kind of what I'm purchasing with that versus, again, that ethical prestige. And my question to LVMH as the biggest congoberant in luxury is, do you not have a responsibility to do the right thing? So yes, things have changed, which I, again, you also am hoping are hiring the best people.

You're making sure that the talent in the pool was there. You're hiring Kirsten to make sure that your sustainability efforts and consultants are up to date in 2026 standard and that you're not sharing something on your website that is completely a false narrative of what is what the investigators found. And so for me, it goes back to if you, don't do these things, I don't really want to be spending $3,000 on a sock anymore if it's the same slave labor as a $3 sock. And I think that is the question to LVMH of how much does your brand and that luxury feel is important to you because otherwise, then you just become a part of the lower tier like the Zara's, like maybe the second tier even. But again, at that premium, we're expecting more.

my question, I guess, to the team, and I think, Aaron, for you too, from a branding perspective, like, if they keep having these scandals, I'm going to start looking at these really notable brands a little differently and pause. And maybe I go to another luxury event because I'm like, you know, maybe it isn't what you're saying that it is. Maybe it isn't as crafted as well if this is what's being investigated. Yeah, totally. You know, if you're voting with your wallet as a consumer, especially as you hit the upper echelons, and you care of sustainability and fair sourcing and all those things just is one of those conditions you care about.

Then you want to be sold a story, not just a product. So you want to know, this is from, I don't know, yak in the Himalayas that is only born every 200 years. And, you know, the yakfer just drops off naturally in the wind. And it's gathered and by people who are paid well for it, you know. And it took that journey to arrive to me. And you know what I mean? Like you're, whether a sock or a coat or whatever, if that's what you care about,

you're going to care about the evolution of what you bought and not just the finished product. So voting with your wallet, we're looking at those different triggers. Like, is it the sourcing of the material that's important? Is it the integrity of the material and what they call it cost per use, cost per wear or something like that? Where how long it holds up over time? Is it the exclusiveness? There's only one yak in the world that does. So, you know, whatever those conditions are, I think that adds the premium to the premium to the exclusivity, which is what what people pay for in marketing, right?

And what companies hope for, especially in this type of industry is, and is, do we have something that has an exclusivity to it? Are we creating, you know, some type of rarefied air? If you own one of these, you're one of us, and there's only a few of us. Kirsten, I want to get your opinion on this because you brought this up about your company, about the authenticity and the messaging, is to keep sustainability from becoming just marketing and brand wallpaper, we really need to tie, you know, measurable proof and evidence that from a product level and from third party and all it and compliance, I've talked about this again, about making sure that they're actually doing the right things. And I think that to Aaron's point, we need credibility. Like, we need that the gap is right now those brands, even though their luxury brands are facing a credibility issue, authenticity issue, right? And so how do you frame that narrative when research is showing there's more and more skepticism rising sharply around the world around these brands and around the nature of sustainability initiatives. Are they vague? Are they unverified? How do we verify them? And how do,

you know, we focus on not allowing greenwashing to be rewarded, but really focusing on, you know, the authenticity and what it is supposed to be standing on and that platform around sustainability. So, Kirsten, what would you walk into that boardroom and say, how do we change that narrative? Melissa, you bring up a really great point because a lot of times in the board room, it depends how connected they are to the actual product. You know, there's a long line there from the people making the decisions to the people that are talking to the factory workers and making those decisions. And there's a lot of price points in between. And unfortunately, that's where a lot of the problems come into play. But I think.

think it's critical that, you know, transparency is always part of your plan and third-party mapping and audits. I've always said, you know, if you have a factory, you need to have boots on the ground and you need to be checking that factory. You can't rely on somebody else all the time. And like LVMH, you know, they got, it was more of a third-party contractor. And just I just want to make sure that everybody knows. You know, you mentioned something about me and LVMH. I have not worked with LVMH at all. So just to clarify that, if that was thought.

But, yeah, it's getting that message across and keeping up with the technology because technology is changing so fast. I mean, right now you can get a hang tag or a garment tag scanning. and you can go all the way from fiber to the end. You will have the complete story of that garment. That technology is expensive, so a lot of brands cannot afford it,

but it's worth putting the money into and hopefully will become less expensive as it becomes more available to more people and more brands, I should say. But technology is changing just so quickly that I think a lot of the older brands like the big conglomerates have so many different brands doing so many different things that they have so many different supply chains that they can't keep up. It's not just apparel. It's not just cosmetics. It's alcohol. It's, you know, whatever. It's all of these different things that really take. It's basically the same concept. You've got to be aware of your suppliers. You've got to know who your workers are. you need supply chain transparency throughout audits, you know, the whole thing.

So it comes down to the same story, but when it comes to premium brands, there is absolutely no excuse that they can't just sit down one by one and go through where their brand is, what they believe in, what they're telling their customers, and that they're towing the line. What they're telling their customers is matching what they're actually doing. And that's a lot of times where the disconnect is, is the marketing is actually not going back into the words that were put into place years ago. Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive.

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Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 2025. Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19-speaker AKG surround audio system. This city demands agility, and Optic delivers with precision. decision to make every drive extraordinary. Let's take the Cadillac. Find out more at Cadillac canada.ca. Luxury sales claim based on S&P Global Mobility Canadian New Vehicle Total Registrations for calendar year 2025 for the Cadillac definition of luxury. Okay, but I like what you're saying. I like everything you're saying, but that's a lot of soul searching. That's a lot of stop the presses. That's a lot of self-analysis and self-critique. Companies aren't known for that. So,

you know, why would they put themselves through that? Do consumers really care about that's tracing the origins and sources or do they care about is it here is it in Dallas that is it getting to my house in two days do they care about you know the there's price there's transparency and markups like everyone knows shark tank shark tank right they one of the main questions is what does it cost you what do you sell it for consuming like we're all hyper aware that companies make you know especially with a slap a label on something that means something um that has prestige around it there's a you And there's a multiple attached to that.

But you still see it in a store and a well-lit showroom and you say, ooh, I want that. And you understand the company's making money off you. So, you know, let's just play it out. Like, why should companies put that much work into something? Quebec consumers might not even care or do they care about, but maybe they don't. I think they do now because I think luxury used to rely on mystique and that it was a name. It was a brain, right?

But now it also has to rely on that verifiable data. Brands that can show credible product histories, just like Kirsten mentioned, you know, the journey from fiber to actual end product can strengthen that loyalty. While brands that stay vague risk looking polished on the outside, but on the surface and underneath, they're empty, right? So traceable luxury items let a shopper or a customer scan ask and very. where it came from, who made it, what standards were used, etc., etc., and what happens next, especially as it goes on that journey, from repair to resale, all of those kinds of things. And so it's increasingly becoming a part of the product experience and the whole life cycle of that product, not just the supply chain component of it, where it starts, you know, which is really

what we're talking about with the sustainability. But I do think when you're talking about luxury items, it's kind of like Carfax, right? Like you go on and you go to buy a purse, you know, you want to know, like, oh, was this water damaged and it's all been fixed? You know, like, I don't really want that. Like, same thing with a car. Like, has it been totaled? And I'm not, I don't really want a car that's been in an accident like that, right? You know, that kind of thing. So, I do think that like when you're thinking about that you're really making an investment in something, when you're talking about these luxury products. It's not, you know, for some people, yes, the minutia that can afford to buy a bunch of

Armaze, you know, bags, whatever. But like, I do think that for most people that, you know, purchase, it's a very meaningful, emotional purchase. And so you've got to rely on that. And as that brand, you need to think about that, like, I don't want to spend my money. If I'm going to, I'm going to pick a different brand. I feel aligns with what I want my personal mission, right? I agree with everything.

And I want to go back to Aaron's point of why do this? And I think where LVMH has missed the mark, particularly with your, is they had statements on their website saying, we are doing this. And that's the trouble. So I agree with Kirsten and Yem-Miless, it's the ideal for some customers, it's going to be very important to walk through the entire life cycle. I would love to know that my sock is the one yak out of 10 years given. That would be so cool.

And again, why I would pay for that premium? Sometimes it's just the heritage and it's the brand. It's having the swag with the Loewewe logo on it, right? Like, sometimes that's all that is. And where I think LVMH can, you know, protect the halo of the portfolio of the portfolio is saying, okay, if we're going to make a statement, we're going to make a statement, we're going to to make sure we're going to back that statement up. We're going to, and I want to also clarify, not saying you worked at LVMH, I'm saying they should hire you to be their third party consultant

because it is important to have Kirstens of the world to make sure that if you're going to make a statement on sustainability, you're actually walking the walk in 2026 standards, right? Bring your brand up to where we are today. And if you're not going to do that, that's okay. not everyone's going to claim to be sustainable, right? We do have this white noise that is happening, and that's also fair too. But the point is of the ethical prestige, if you're saying, you know, I'm paying a premium because you know you're going to get the very best and, you know, all of these fixers are going to handcraft a beautiful woven sock for you. But actually, it's not. We're outsourcing that and doing slave labor.

That doesn't feel well. And you're also like, then why am I paying? Again, $3,000 for a sock. It doesn't make sense. And I think the big thing that LVMEHs and a brand needs to do is get ahead of these scandals before it impacts the rest of other brands to lower that credibility. Because if we just feel like this is what you're doing, you're just telling us something, but you're doing something subpar when you're supposed to be luxury, I'm not trusting your brand anymore as they're just telling us something. But you're doing something subpar when you're supposed to be luxury. I'm not trusting your brand anymore.

LVMH. And again, I love Lleve. I think they're doing really cool design and things pushing boundaries. If you're a part of LVMH, and I'm seeing this, I might not want to buy that Raleve bag anymore. And so I think that's where they need to get ahead of it. And either take some of these statements down, bring people like Kirsten in to make sure you're really holding yourself accountable at the production line. or quietly walk it back, right? You know, if people really don't care, then fine, but just don't make a statement that you can't upkeep. You know, I have a line story to that, you know,

I think you brought up a really great point, is that, like, you need to be honest with your customers about what you can deliver, right? And set that expectation right away. One of the things that I thought was really interesting in one of my previous roles was that we had a really high expectation for something that we were going to fix. We were going to fix your car in less than a week. Okay. That never happened because we had to deal with subcontract. We had to deal with an auto shop.

We had to deal with, you know, we didn't, we couldn't control all of that stuff. Paint, whatever it might be. So I went in there thinking, okay, like, if I'm a customer, if you told me my car could get fixed in two weeks and it gets fixed in 10 days, I'm excited. Right? And all of a sudden, our scores, our NPS, and everything went through the roof. And I'm just saying, but we were honest and we, and it was so interesting because I had a lot of these national companies coming in and asking us about that because the average time to fix your car was seven days, right? And we were, we were telling customers, we can get you that car in 14 days. And we had better scores because our customers were happier because we were hitting. 10 days. You know what I mean? And it was funny because I said, it's because we were being honest with them. And so they knew not to expect their car back, right? They knew they knew that. And so I think that's the same type of idea there, Chino, where we're saying, we know that you understand the sustainability is important. Traceability is important. All of these things, working with your third-party

vendors. We also know that there are things outside of your control. So why don't you be honest about what you can control and what you want that narrative to be. And, you know, and so maybe you go from this number of like 100% of our labor forces, you know, above the age of 18 and da-da-da-da-da, you know, yeah, right, okay, not, maybe not there, right? But you can say that we're working to constantly improve working conditions. You know, if there are children working in these areas. We are identifying those areas and building schools and trying to, you know, whatever they're trying to do so that they're being realistic that like we can try to control what we can control, but we can't control the fact that we go to Vietnam and everybody is under the age of 18 that's

working in this, you know, sneaker store, you know, whatever it might be. So I love that, Chino, because I do feel like that is the key about authenticity, Kirsten that we've talked about, right? Like how do you use that narrative in a way that helps you? And I think that like by just posting something clearly that it's like a decal on the wall, right, but you can't live to it, it just feels very false. I think a lot of people are really beginning to see through all of this as well. They're tired of just seeing the pretty picture. They know it's not as pretty as it looks. It's almost like you're looking at a Assad, you know, just this pretty building, but it's just hollow inside. And I think consumers are getting wiser.

And if they truly do care about sustainability, they want that transparency. And there's no reason that a company or a conglomerate like LVMH can't afford to have that traceability on every single one of their products because they have the room in their margins to do so. Not every company can do that, but every company can be honest about what they are doing and what they want to do. And I think people understand that story of, you know, we want to help the little guy. We understand that you're struggling now, but you're heading in the right direction. And that's always been my message when I'm working with smaller brands is, you know, every decision you make, every day, just take it one step in the right direction. Just one step at a time, sustainability. You know, what is your packaging?

You know, what is your shipping? Are you using carbon neutral shipping? You know, just every single step go through the process and have that transparency available if your customers are curious. But make sure that it's kept up to date. And I think that's where a lot of retailers fall short is their websites are kind of this other department.

It's IT. or whoever. And it's like, they live over there. We're over here in the real world dealing with our suppliers, the supply chain. We've got to get this done, this done. Oh, we got to drop that. This dropped out of production, whatever. And it never quite, the message is never quite connect. And I think that people need to all have a seat at the table. Yeah, we, Kirsten, we were talking about, someone mentioned whackamol earlier. Isn't it constant? Or you can add to the whackamol in an ecosystem like this because you know, you have segmented departments and and someone is in charge of supplying and sourcing and someone's in charge of manufacturing and someone's in charge of, you know,

distribution. And you've got the actual suppliers themselves. And you've got a brand family that is under one parent umbrella. So isn't there always a way to shift the responsibility to say, well, it wasn't us. It was this isolated supplier. Or it wasn't the parent company. There was one, there's one company within our portfolio that needs some work. Or, you know, we tried our best as a family brand under this company. We were given, you know, there's some governance issues with our parent company. Can you always just say someone else, someone else? I think if LVMH, again, it's two brands out of a lot.

So there again, it's helping them get ahead of anything worse happening in a world where people are caring more. they have the capital. This is not a small brand. This is someone where you can hire an LVMH specific, you know, internal audit where you're going to all of your bands to make sure you don't have these scandals. That's not a good look. Dior, I love your makeup. I don't want to hear that.

I want to see that. I'm actually going to go to Sephora, even though it's a Ford and go and purchase somewhere else, right? If these scandals continue to pop up under the umbrella, you have the capital to, bring in internal auditors. Kirsten, I think it's beautiful what you share too of just the disjointed conversations. Hire someone to bring it all together, right? That's what they should be doing so that again, we're not focusing the blame and maybe saying in your statement, we're doing better or we're aiming to, or we're just doing one percent better each day of having that transparency across the departments. And maybe that's like their first quarter goal. It's not changing the supplier,

but it's saying, hey, we realize that the boardroom, we're kind of missing marks here and we're not seeing gaps because we're not talking to each other. So this is our first action in Q1, Q2, right? And then continue to build from there. But if the largest conglomerant in luxury is not able to do that, how can you expect anyone else to? And I think, again, in a world where fast fashion is on the rise, if it's not mainstream, and people are starting to look at fast fashion differently, if I'm a luxury van where I'm, again, $3,000 per a sock, I don't want to be associated with that.

I want my demographic. I want my customers to want to spend $3,000 because they know we're not these people. So for that market differentiation, LVMH, it's essential. It's a part of their DNA as a heritage luxury brand. And if they don't do that and they don't take these fixes, you will be no better than Shen. And that will be a really, really, really, really cold day in hell. Yeah.

That is a problem. I, you know, I like what you say, though, Gina, do because, and Kirsten, I think that one of the things is that they do have the capital. They have the power to make these significant changes. and they're a business. Let's get real. Like they're not a nonprofit. So, you know, sustainability is one initiative of many. And so one of the things they could do is look across the table and do more collaboration.

So like, for example, around strengthening, you know, these vendor controls and traceability, build that into a truly trademarked, you know, copyrighted, traceability action and product like QR codes or something like that. So, you know, like I think about your pets, you know, putting a little tracker in your in your pet, but like doing something like that so that like people have the visibility and the transparency to see where their product has been and coming from. But also it helps to eliminate or not eliminate, but like wave off their big issue with counterfeit, right? Stuff. So, like, they could use it as a business platform, not just a sustainability

platform. And I think then they could get more minds thinking about it, more teens thinking about it, working cross-functionally across the table. And I think that we've also seen, you mentioned this very early on, and I, you know, I don't want to, Kirsten, I don't want to not talk about this, but people at the table haven't gone into a store. when was the last time they went into the store? And if they went in there and tried to help a customer, would it look like the CEO of McDonald's eating a hamburger? Like, I have a feeling that, like, if you were to have them actually go into their store

and see what a drag it is, is it a luxury experience, and are you listening to what your customers are saying, it also might transform what they decide, how they decide to, repivot or whatever you want to call it, these initiatives, right? Because, you know, if I can go to Canal Street and buy the same Prada purse, okay, you know, and it looks pretty good. Yeah, but it's got two Ds in it. Well, they've gotten better about that. They, like, they're even giving you the little sacks with the thing. So, like, you know, I think that, like, it's, it's definitely, you know, one of those things that you have to think about like i want to know that this is really verifiable

and i have something that you know and it will transform the resale market as well like if it's a traceable article and it's being sold on the real real okay i will list i want to add to that too because i think from a sustainability factor and kirsten jump in any at any point right resale is a huge sustainability opportunity for, again, luxury brands. We have the real real that their whole brand is reselling you luxury goods. And LVMH, maybe this is the way to do that. And from a business perspective, you're not making anything new, right? You're selling your old inventory.

And that's genius business. And don't give it to the real real. And sorry to anyone from the real real that's listening. maybe they should do that internally. And I love the idea of having something traceable where, you know, from tag to store, we'll figure out a better way to market that. But I think that's a great opportunity.

Yeah, I love that idea of them doing the resale within there, right? You know, and it's just showing this 360 view of like the sustainable is not just from where it starts, but from where it ends. and it continues to grow, you know, it continues to have life. And, you know, there are companies that where they say like, hey, if your sizes change or you're doing this or that, you know, like Everline, they'll be like, here, call us, we'll send you a bag, put your old things in here and you'll get a credit and resell them for you. And so I think that there is, I mean, obviously luxury brands like, you know, it makes it way more affordable for people to come into it. And then it also, like I said, controls that counterfeit noise out there. It does and it doesn't because, like on Poshmark, they've done a really good job.

And Wheel Real's done a really good job. And they have very strict policies. But I like to keep an eye on things like this. And every once in a while, you will have some bad actors on there. And they are really good about kicking them off right away and refunding the customer's money. So to your point, Avalu is about to launch Second Chance by Evalu. We originally had it side by side, but because the price points are so different and it's focused on very different things, reclaimed fabrics, dead sock, and then also upcycling garments, second chance by Evalu will be catching that.

And I think a lot more retailers are doing things like that, at Lulu Lemons doing that. They have their, you know, their previously lived in line. And I think it's really successful. But as far as counterfeiting goes, I think it's going to be very difficult. Unless you really are able to trace all the way from the consumer's hand and then all the way into the upcycling process that track, it's going to be difficult for a lot of people to know if it's real or not when you're coming to the luxury, going back to luxury items. Well, and I want to see these $3,000 socks, too. I think we should pool our resources. All right. Well, and one more point to make is that these fashion houses, the legendary, you know, the Gucci's and Pradas and Dior's and all that, they're not just competing against one another. You've got the TikTok style things that.

you know, command of premium all of a sudden and everybody wants them and then they come and go. You've got brand collabs. So you could have Burger King do a collab with a sneaker company and those could go for $2,000. So, you know, you've got that traditional house versus house mentality, but it's, there's a wide open playing field too. So competition could come from anywhere. And especially if you're diluting your, your market appeal or you're giving consumers reasons to not like you, they're probably going to spend their money somewhere else. So, all right. So I think we have enough to fix this.

I'm going to pull it together. So we're saying take accountability for your actions, even if you're the parent company. You took on a big responsibility. You've got a bunch of brand houses under your umbrella, LBMH. There all belong to you. So be a good parent. Do incremental change if you're going to try change, you know, one day at better, one day at a time. and if you walk back policies if you have to take down your pledges and you know some people

understand some people have never looked at those some people will drop you and say sorry you're not who you thought I wore it but so they'll be pushed back and you'll lose part of your customer base but it's it's more true to what you can actually fulfill and uh you know there will be a percentage it'll just say okay no big deal remember or take an opportunity take a marketing opportunity to make sourcing part of your story. So from a point of origination down the line to, you know, how ethically and responsibly the product was handled. And going back to that point by point tracker.

So not just that it came from this factory to here to here, but you know what? Tell me everything. You know, as much as I want to know, if I want to spend a couple hours looking at the sourcing of this garment that I just purposely paid a premium for because I'd not only love the fit and the fabric, but I love everything your company's doing. Fill me up with knowledge. I want to know. Make that part of the premium experience that I purchased. I'm thinking maybe LVMH, they're powerful enough. Maybe they could set some type of industry standard or credential or benchmark or something that says we are stepping up on behalf of our industry and we've created

this new certification. It's achievable. It's attainable. It's attainable. It's not just to force competition out, but let's make our voice heard because we have so much influence over our industry, we're rising to the standard who's with us, you know, and invite competitors to come on board. Why not? And then I love the resale market. So owning your own resale market, I think that's a tremendous opportunity not to put the resale websites and things out of business. But, yeah, if, you know, I know they want to sell us new stuff.

you know, yellow is not in anymore, whatever it is. But still, someone's going to want them. So why not, you know, create this nice little closed loop ecosystem where you're prolonging the useful life of your products and you're finding a secondary audience that maybe we'll never buy your spring collection, but they'll buy something because they want. They want to participate, you know. And okay, so it's slightly loved. Like, okay, who cares?

Let them in. So let's do that. let's just give them that grab bag and say, here you go. Melissa, did we fix it? I think we gave them a lot to think about. I think it's a lot to fix. I do think that they need to work on proving the traceability, making sure it's visible, it's authentic, and it's in language that is an experience for the actual client.

So kind of a show me experience. So like you can scan something when you go home and you can see, you know, start to finish. I would love something like that, like tells the story of the product. It would be pretty cool. You know, sometimes you get those cards in a package you get from after you bought it and it says, packaged by Melissa, right, you know, or whatever, or this was carefully cracked by Melissa. You know, that would be, you know, a fun thing to kind of put some identity around the product. I do agree that I love, you know, adding repair, resale, all of those to that entire experience as well. You know, I think it's easy to say audit more, strengthen those subtractor

controls. I don't know how easy that will be, especially, you know, Chino, you mentioned, like, the number of brands under LVMH, you know, they've got to send some accountability. And you want it to feel like from a customer's side, it's not just a checklist of things that they've done. It feels more authentic to the entire initiative. Lastly, something that you didn't mention, but I think, you know, we kind of touched on a little bit, but is also really training the people and the staff that are dealing with the customers. So the client-facing staff in the stores, where, whether it's online or, you know, in person, to really be able to talk to some of the claims that have been coming up, you know, Chino,

like, oh, you know, I'm, you know, kind of questioning whether this, you know, Dior purse or tie is really worth it, you know. and really being able to have a common story to tell and also being able to share that information upwards because oftentimes we focus on fixing something that actually now no longer matters to the customer. It's something else, right? So I think that would be a good way of connecting

the executive table to the actual customer and I think that's something that needs to be done. All right. Good stuff. Thanks, Melissa. Chino, your topic, did we fix it? I think we did. Luxury should always mean better quality, period. LVMH, you built a brand around that.

And I think the same way you look at and you tell the story of a $3,000 wool sock and the craftsmanship that goes around that, I want to hear how that came to me. And I love this idea of trading the people, having that a part of your brand. story within all of your family of brands. It's imperative for you to do that to stay luxury, right? I don't think there's going to be a day anytime seen where this is good, you will not be luxury with any of these brands, but I think with repeated scandal, that can happen, right? There's more competition and, you know, the market share is getting smaller. And I think to continue to stand out is be the standard in the industry knowing that you are the biggest.

Put a claim and just be honest. We are not asking for perfection. We're asking for honesty. And if you can do that and you can put some resource into making sure that, you know, the parents are keeping all the kids in line. I think you can get ahead of this. And you will continue to thrive as a heritage brand, you know, 200, 300, 300 years for now. Thanks, Chino. That's great.

Kirsten, we are asking LVMH to spend money and put themselves under the microscope and create a ripple effect across the industry. Not just, you know, there's the high-end ultra-premium, but it's going to go, it's going to permeate. Like, this would, everything we're saying, it's kind of seismic. Do we, is it worth doing? Do we fix it? I think we fix the direction. I think the real fix is moving luxury from the storytelling to actually controlling the systems and having fewer claims, stronger evidence, titers, subcontractor governance, auditing, worker protection, public accounting, and yeah, this is how luxury protects the premium.

So still work to do? Yes. All right. Well, that's going to button up this episode. We tried to tie up all the loose threads. Before we sashay away, I'd like to give thanks to Chino and Melissa and to our wonderful guest, Kirsten Harris. Kirsten, how do we check out Evalu and how do we keep up with what you're doing? You can find Evalu at Nordstrom or eavalu.com, E-A-V-O-L-U dot com. And basically we are foundational apparel, so we don't have, we're not just. changing collections and styles. We're legacy apparel, basically. Foundation of your wardrobe. You put your unique style on top of Evalu, and that way it'll stay in your closet for years until you want to upcycle it. Oh, very cool. All right, go check out Evalu, and thanks, Kirsten. Thank you to our listeners, our fixaholics. Whether you're high cocher, you buy off the rack

or the clearance tags in the back, we're glad you tune in. You can listen in sweatpants. We won't even know. As long as you listen, we're happy. Remember that trends come and go, but good business practices are always in fashion. We will see you next time. We hope you enjoyed this episode of We Fixed It. You're welcome. We go into every episode somewhat cold, and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice, or anything that would get us in trouble. All trademarks, IP, and brand elements remain property of their respective owners. Hey, y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair.

Ever order furniture online and wonder, what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what-if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home.