Coach and Ralph Lauren are lifting their outlooks. How far ahead can fashion’s winners pull? This is Fashion Business Daily. Coperni’s shutdown and stores at risk at David Jones put the other side of that divide in view. First up: Tapestry—what’s behind the higher outlook?
This one's from Tapestry, Inc.:
“Our first quarter marked a powerful start to the year, with revenue, margin, and earnings growth ahead of expectations and strength around the world. Our Amplify strategy continues to bring new consumers to our brands through our distinctive combination of creativity, craftsmanship, and value. Building on this outperformance, we are raising our full year outlook, reflecting our confidence in the durability of our growth.
Coach up 16%, according to Tapestry. That earns a little more airtime than the release calling its own brands iconic. Coach is giving this group something to work with. And the company-reported margins back that up: GAAP gross margin expanded 230 basis points. Revenue reached $1.9 billion, up 11% reported; the 12% figure is pro forma. Keep those labels attached. The $2 billion full-year capital-return outlook gets my attention, too—raised through extra buybacks. Coach growing 16% makes me want to see the next product investment at least as much as the next share repurchase. Both can fit, but the distinction matters: that $2 billion is an outlook. About $700 million was actually returned this quarter. Tapestry also raised its revenue, operating-margin and earnings outlook—management's committing to more than a buyback.
Brisbane Times, with Dominique Tassell:
Analysis by financial services firm MST Marquee identified all but two stores in Queensland as facing closure. There are four David Jones stores in Brisbane, located in Carindale, Chermside, the CBD and Indooroopilly. There are also two stores on the Gold Coast, at Pacific Fair and Robina, and one store in Sunshine Plaza on the Sunshine Coast. MST Marquee expected all stores bar Chermside and Pacific Fair would close.
Following David Jones into administration, the footprint question is getting sharper: MST Marquee expects five of its seven Queensland stores to close. That's an analyst forecast; those closures aren't confirmed. At QueensPlaza, the Brisbane Times found staff pulling down displays and shoppers trying to spend gift cards. One shopper said they'd been told a pair of shoes couldn't be sold. That's a miserable shift for the people on the floor. Chermside and Pacific Fair are the two stores MST expects to survive. If QueensPlaza closes, Brisbane's CBD could lose its remaining department store—so the stakes extend well beyond David Jones's own sales. A department-store-sized hole at QueensPlaza would be a brutal leasing problem. Queen Street Mall is already struggling, according to the Brisbane Times; losing that shopping stop would give people one fewer reason to make the trip.
From Ralph Lauren:
NEW YORK — Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global leader in the design, marketing, and distribution of luxury lifestyle products, today reported earnings per diluted share of $4.87, up 47% to prior year on a reported basis and $4.64, up 22% on an adjusted basis, excluding restructuring-related and other net benefits, for the second quarter of Fiscal 2027.
Ralph Lauren's average unit retail rose nine percent, and its direct-to-consumer comps still climbed ten percent, according to the company. Customers haven't exactly fled the polo pony. Careful—average unit retail includes product mix; it isn't a straight price-hike measure. But those company-reported comps grew across both digital and physical stores, with Asia leading revenue growth. That's a broader result than one hot channel. And Ralph credits strong full-price demand for the margin gains. With those comps, I'll give the product some credit before handing the trophy to expense discipline. The earnings distinction matters, too: reported earnings per share rose 47 percent; adjusted earnings rose 22 percent, stripping out restructuring-related and other net benefits. Still substantial—and Ralph raised its full-year constant-currency revenue and adjusted operating-margin expansion outlook.
From Lorenzo Salamone at nss magazine:
Yet the news was confirmed just today: Coperni has closed. It was known that the brand was in crisis and, at the beginning of October, nss magazine had published an analysis of the circumstances that had led Coperni into crisis. Today, however, it was co-founders and creative directors Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer who drew a line under it, in a personal memo shared on social media.
Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer signing off from Coperni with a personal memo—that hurts. According to nss magazine, the house has closed after months of unresolved tensions with Tomorrow London. Those two still talk about having ideas; getting those ideas into clothes is where the business relationship broke down. And look at how much sat with Tomorrow. Nss reports it had been Coperni's licensee, exclusive distributor and majority shareholder since 2019, receiving revenues and paying royalties. That's a remarkable concentration of control over a designer's route to market. Majority shareholder and exclusive distributor. A dispute with that partner reaches straight into the machinery that keeps the label alive. The founders describe months of tensions over unpaid sums—how do you keep creating through that? Nss puts the blame on Tomorrow; that's the publication's assessment. The founders' account identifies a prolonged payment dispute. I'd be careful with the headline's broader luxury-crisis explanation when the operating arrangement here is so specific.
Steven Madden Ltd. writes:
Income from operations totaled $73.2 million, or 9.5% of revenue, compared to $31.4 million, or 4.7% of revenue, in the same period of 2025. Adjusted income from operations totaled $78.9 million, or 10.2% of revenue, compared to $46.3 million, or 6.9% of revenue, in the same period of 2025.
Steve Madden's revenue up 15.7%, and gross margin up too? Okay, you've got my attention. But I'm not crowning a hot shoe off a company-wide sales number. The company reports $772.6 million in third-quarter revenue. And adjusted operating margin reached 10.2%, versus 6.9% a year earlier—so there's substantially more operating profit coming through each sales dollar. That earns more attention than the release calling the product 'fashion-forward.' The shoes can audition for that adjective separately. They can. One comparison to keep straight: reported gross margin rose to 44.6% from 41.5%, but last year's adjusted figure was 43.4%. The reported jump looks much bigger against that lower base; the adjusted operating-margin gain still gives this quarter real substance.
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Links to every story are in the show notes, so take a look at the ones that caught your attention and dig a little deeper when you have a moment. That’s Fashion Business Daily for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.