In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, A&M’s Joanna Rangarajan and Mohit Mohal joined Chris and Anne to discuss Nike x Skims partnership implications, Jaden Smith's appointment as Christian Louboutin's first men's creative director, AI search queries in daily life, and more! Our panel analyzes which brand benefits more from the Nike-Skims collab, the generational shift in luxury creative leadership, and shares personal AI search experiences. Plus, Star Wars movie plans and weekend cooking adventures!
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Transcripts
Speaker A:
Let's move on to the lightning round.
Speaker A:
Joanna, first question comes to you.
Speaker A:
Nike and Skims are finally set to launch their product collab this week.
Speaker A:
Who stands to benefit more from this partnership, Nike or Skims?
Speaker B:
I mean, I think this is, it's clearly Skims.
Speaker B:
From my, from my perspective, I think three, three quick reasons.
Speaker B:
Distribution and scale.
Speaker B:
Nike's in 190 countries, global wholesale, global D2C.
Speaker B:
Skims plugs right into that two category expansion.
Speaker B:
Skims has been signaling they're really trying to move, you know, out of body, body wear and loungewear and really get into this performance active wear space.
Speaker B:
And this gives them the ability to do that with legitimacy.
Speaker B:
Which brings me to point three, which is around credibility.
Speaker B:
I think Nike's athlete innovation and fitness halo really lends Skims the credibility.
Speaker B:
If you think about the brand launch campaign, 50 athletes in that, I mean, it is, it's, it's tremendous.
Speaker B:
So I think Skims wins bigger.
Speaker B:
Nike gives them the things that, that I referenced.
Speaker B:
But also, you know, for Nike, it does let them stay culturally relevant and in with, with women and, and the Skims.
Speaker B:
Female form phrasing.
Speaker A:
Right.
Speaker A:
Awesome.
Speaker C:
All right, back to you, Joanna.
Speaker C:
Number two.
Speaker C:
Last week, this one's interesting too.
Speaker C:
Jaden Smith was named Cruz Christian Louboutin's first men's creative director.
Speaker C:
Good move.
Speaker B:
So I know he dresses creatively.
Speaker B:
I, I don't know if this translates into a creative director, but.
Speaker B:
Or a brand ambassador.
Speaker B:
Better that.
Speaker B:
That's still a little fuzzy to me.
Speaker B:
But the appointment itself made headlines.
Speaker B:
Right.
Speaker B:
So buzz and got renewed attention to this heritage luxury house, which I think is great.
Speaker B:
Appointing a men's creative director does seem logical for them.
Speaker B:
Men's is still a category that is really under penetrated in the luxury footwear market.
Speaker B:
And there's some, there's some headroom there.
Speaker B:
And I also think, you know, creative directors today are different.
Speaker B:
They aren't just about, you know, sketching and curating the collection.
Speaker B:
They're architecting the brand and they're cultural translators and their social media engines.
Speaker B:
And so having someone who, who can bring that, I think it's about signaling there's a new generation.
Speaker B:
And I think where other luxury houses have made some recent moves with their creative directors, Pharrell at LV or Maximilian Davis at Ferragamo, I think we're seeing just a generational shift in these luxury brands betting a little bit more on cultural resonance than on traditional design pedigree.
Speaker B:
So.
Speaker B:
So seems like maybe that's where they're headed.
Speaker B:
But.
Speaker C:
Yeah.
Speaker C:
Plus he's the new Karate Kid, right?
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker C:
Coach Aiden Smith.
Speaker B:
You got movie promotion in there too?
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker A:
Can't diminish that social presence, that's for sure.
Speaker B:
Headwear based on.
Speaker B:
Based on his Met look.
Speaker A:
Exactly.
Speaker A:
Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:
All right, let's go to you, Mohit, for the third question.
Speaker A:
Last week we shared a report on the show about the increasing number of consumers using AI based search engines to discover new products.
Speaker A:
Mohit, what's the last inquiry you put into a language based search engine?
Speaker D:
Well, this is a new product for me, Johanna.
Speaker B:
Yes.
Speaker D:
And the search was how do you make crispy hash browns from scratch?
Speaker D:
I did it this Saturday.
Speaker B:
That is hard.
Speaker C:
Yeah.
Speaker A:
Did it work?
Speaker D:
It did because the steps were very specific around what potatoes to use, how to grate them, what kind of water temperature you soak them into, how you dry them, what additional products you can add to get the crispiness, and then the cooking process.
Speaker D:
It turned out really well, actually.
Speaker B:
Oh, you'll have to share it.
Speaker A:
I know.
Speaker C:
What did you serve said hash browns with, Mohit?
Speaker D:
It was sunny side up, eggs and some sausages.
Speaker C:
Oh, nice.
Speaker C:
Now you speak my language.
Speaker C:
All right, speaking of speaking my language, I'm curious.
Speaker C:
I'm going to get a good insight into you as a person here on this next one.
Speaker C:
Moet, the first trailer for the Mandalorian and Grogu release this week.
Speaker C:
My question for you is, will you see it in the theater, and if so, how quickly will you go to watch it?
Speaker D:
100%.
Speaker D:
And if Chris, you and I can see it together.
Speaker D:
200.
Speaker D:
Let's lock dates.
Speaker D:
Big fan.
Speaker D:
Big fan of the franchise.
Speaker D:
I actually saw the trailer.
Speaker D:
I'm quite sure there are many which will come between now and next summer to keep our interest piped up here.
