Fashion is increasingly appealing to consumers — and investors — by very consciously inserting itself into the cultural conversation.
It’s not the culture war that’s overtaken politics, but a war to win in the broader culture.
And it was in full effect as chief executive officers from some of the industry’s biggest companies made their pitch to investors during Day One of Goldman Sachs’ annual retail conference on Monday.
Richard Dickson, CEO of Gap Inc., crowed: “Three years ago, if we said Gap brand was going to be one of the fastest-growing brands and trending brands on TikTok, I don’t think anybody would have believed us. But here we are.
“It’s a testament to the execution of our playbook,” Dickson said. “Our team, in particular, has been relentless and focused not only from a product perspective, which you’ve seen get enhanced, but as well in executing against that playbook with culturally relevant narratives.
“When you look at our product, the culturally relevant storytelling that we’ve been doing and the drumbeat of that experiential moment that ultimately drives traffic … we need to be at the speed of culture,” he said.
Gap struggled, for decades really, to get back the cache it had in the late ’90s, when the brand was cool and business was hot.
Dickson has succeeded in bringing back at least some of the old magic and is looking to keep it flowing.
“Gap is in the zeitgeist. It is part of the cultural conversation,” he said. “And through that, we’re attracting incredible partnerships. We’ve got super influencers and great tastemakers — and all of the attractive ways that we’re driving cultural relevance, that drives revenue.”
At Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein parent PVH Corp., CEO Stefan Larsson is working to rev up a very different company with some of the same cultural magic.
When Goldman analyst Brooke Roach asked Larsson for “the most important proof points” that PVH is “entering a period of sustainable growth and margin expansion,” the CEO leaned on the importance of cultural connection.
“Calvin Klein in over the past few years has become — we have built up to the most followed and engaged brand in fashion of all our competitors in social media, all platforms,” Larsson said. “And Tommy is the third most engaged and has the biggest reach on social media.
Stefan Larsson
courtesy
“Why that matters and what makes us excited today is that social media engagement has built real strength with a young customer,” he said. “Then we see the traffic to e-commerce going up significantly. …And then you see that translate to midsingle-digit growth in e-commerce.”
Calvin Klein’s global campaigns have featured BTS star Jung Kook and Barcelona soccer player Raphinha while Tommy Hilfiger has partnered with Liverpool Football Club, the Cadillac Formula 1 Team and featured Travis Kelce, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.
“The brands are more relevant than any time before,” Larsson said. “The brand following is bigger than the business performance. And it’s our job now … to build the business.”
Also out courting investors at the Goldman conference was Ed Stack, executive chairman of Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc., who hyped the company’s mega House of Sport, which hits another cultural touch point in what’s been a busy year for athletics.
“Mall developers love House of Sport,” Stack said. “They want a House of Sport in their mall, whether it’s replacing a vacant Sears department store, Penney’s department store…the traffic that’s brought in there, the different consumer that comes in there, has been phenomenal.”
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