Marcel Melzig

Marcel MelzigOct 29, 2026

Prada is back at #1 on the Lyst Index. Up five places in one quarter. Lyst Index Q3 26, the Top 10: 1️⃣ Prada (+5) 2️⃣ CHANEL (-1) 3️⃣ Miu Miu (-1) 4️⃣ Gucci (+1) 5️⃣ Saint Laurent (-1) 6️⃣ Christian Dior Couture (-3) 7️⃣ Burberry (+1) 8️⃣ Ralph Lauren (-1) 9️⃣ Chloé (+2) 🔟 Celine (+5) Demand for Prada on Lyst rose 55% in Q3. The hottest product of the quarter is the Wish pouch, searches +498%. A small pouch. People wanted a piece of Prada, and that was the easiest way in. Celine is the other big mover. First time in the top 10, with menswear demand up 62% year on year. Under my Q1 post, someone asked if Gucci was back on track. I said it was slowly gaining ground. It was #5 in Q1 and sits at #4 now. Still slow, but in the right direction. From the buying side, one thing stands out in this Top 10. The brands moving up have a point of view you can explain in one sentence. That is what sells through.

Marcel MelzigOct 28, 2026

ASICS grew SportStyle +83% in the first half, to ¥123.1 billion. The quote that explains it is about distribution. Mitsuyuki Tominaga told The Business of Fashion: „We didn't mass-distribute anything. We worked with selective shops that will build together with us.” The sentence I read twice came right after: “Our wholesalers are not doing a lot of discounts.” Six or seven years ago, ASICS was weak in this space. It built the category with designers and a small group of shops. Running stayed at the centre. The numbers followed: → SportStyle +83% to ¥123.1B → First time above ¥500B in first half sales → First industry-academia lab at the University of Michigan, backed by $25M → Research should feed into running products by 2028 The order matters. Plenty of brands went lifestyle first and lost the runner on the way. ASICS earned its fashion heat by staying serious about running. Then it gave that heat to selective doors, not everyone. From the buying side, that is the brand I want in the store. When other wholesalers don't discount, my full-price pairs stay full price. The next order is an easy decision. Now ASICS is putting money into the US, where Tominaga says its share is still much lower than in Europe. If the selective approach travels with it, a few US retailers are in for a good couple of years.

Marcel MelzigOct 26, 2026

Deckers cut its outlook. And said it won't join the race to the bottom. The owner of Hoka and Ugg now expects full-year net sales of $5.700 to $5.725B, down from $5.86 to $5.91B in July. Q2 still grew 3.5% to $1.481B. Profit went up anyway: → Diluted EPS $2.31 vs $1.82 a year ago → Ex tariff refunds: $2.03, +11.5% → Gross margin ex refunds: +120 bps to 57.4% CFO Steve Fasching credited about half of the margin gain to full-price selling: where we saw others being more promotional or heavily promotional, we stayed out of that. The channel split is the tell. → Wholesale +5.5% to $1.093B → HOKA wholesale +9% → Comparable DTC -6.4% The US got more promotional as the quarter went on, especially in athletic footwear. Deckers didn't follow. CEO Stefano Caroti: we are not participating in a race to the bottom. Two days earlier, Bjørn Gulden said something close about lifestyle footwear on adidas' record day. Too much inventory, too much discounting. Two CEOs in one week putting the long term ahead of the quarter. Out loud. Caroti also said consumers increasingly turn to wholesale partners to explore and compare brands in multi-brand destinations. After years of everyone chasing DTC, that is not a line I expected on an earnings call. From the buying side, the logic is simple. When a brand marks down its own site, my full-price pairs become the expensive option overnight. When it holds price, the next order is easy. Sources in the first comment.