Professional Digest

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The RealReal released its 2024 Luxury Resale report this week, highlighting the “top brands and trends shaping the market.” The San Francisco-based resale giant stated that data derived from its sales over the past year indicates that “investment-worthy pieces, such as high-value fine jewelry and timeless handbags dominated, alongside trends ignited by TikTok and the revival of nostalgic TV shows in the cultural spotlight.” More broadly, the company’s President & Chief Operating Officer, Rati Sahi Levesque, said, “Fashion is undergoing a seismic shift. Trends less frequently flow from the top (runways) and are now emerging from the ground up through things like TikTok and everyday street style.”

In addition to identifying Prada as Gen Z’s “most searched-for” brand, and Chanel and Gucci handbags as the top two most-searched-for items across all demographics, The RealReal revealed trends in trademarks – or more specifically, counterfeiting. According to TRR, the reverberations of the onset of “quiet luxury” are still being felt – and the impact of the trend that eschews bold branding is not only being seen in the products that consumers are buying but the products that counterfeiters are targeting.

While the most commonly counterfeited items that land before TRR’s authenticators (namely, bags from Hermès, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci) are “still the usual suspects” when it comes to the fakes that it is fielding, TRR says in its report that it has seen “a major uptick this year” in “knockoffs” from companies like Celine and The Row as a direct result of the increase in demand for “quiet luxury” products.

– Julie Zerbo
Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Here are TFL’s top articles of the week …

1. Vans and MSCHF Settle Lawsuit Over Infringing Wavy Baby Sneakers. The parties notified a New York federal court on August 20 that they have reached a resolution in the trademark-centric lawsuit, which includes a permanent injunction.

2. Plaintiffs Fight Hermès’ Bid to Escape Birkin Bag Scheme Lawsuit. The plaintiffs that are suing Hermès for allegedly violating U.S. antitrust and competition laws in connection with its “unlawful” tying scheme involving Birkin bags are pushing back against the brand’s attempt to get the case tossed out.

3. Adidas Beats Securities Fraud Case Over Ye Partnership. Adidas and one of its executives have successfully fended off a securities fraud lawsuit that accused them of misleading investors in connection with adidas’s fraught relationship with former partner Ye.

4. SHEIN Doubles Down on Temu, Accuses Rival of Running a “Fraud” Marketplace. Shein accuses Temu of counterfeiting, trade secret theft, and trademark and copyright infringement, as well as intentionally confusing customers with a misleading and fraudulent business model.

5. Tapestry, Capri Slam Regulator’s Attempt to Stall Their $8.5 Billion Merger. The Federal Trade Commission’s effort to block the merger between two fashion groups lacks teeth, according to a new filing in the closely-watched case.

6. A New EU Law is Targeting AI & Other Countries Can Learn From It. Around the world, governments are grappling with how best to manage the increasingly unruly beast that is artificial intelligence.

7. Un-Branded: How Consumers Outgrew Traditional Branding. We simply might not need – and certainly do not engage with – branding in the same way as we used to.

8. In case you missed this PRO+ exclusive… Shein: The Latest Look at the Legal Landscape for an Ultra-Fast Fashion Giant. We looked at the cases waged against Shein to get a handle on what the legal landscape looks like for the co. that has nabbed the title of “the largest and fastest-growing apparel company in the world.”

9. Our Running Timeline of Fashion, Luxury Funding and M&A is up to date. The newest deal on this list: Chanel has acquired a 25% stake in high-end watchmaker MB&F.

10. Snapshot: The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The CSDDD will require companies to conduct environmental and human rights due diligence across their operations, subsidiaries, and value chains.