The Executive Briefing: Trump’s Tariffs Overturned; Luxury’s Reset Takes Shape; The Creator Economy’s Evolution

The Uncertainty Trade Returns

What happened: In a 6-3 ruling, the US Supreme Court found President Donald Trump can’t impose most tariffs without the consent of Congress, in a stroke undoing last April’s Liberation Day duties and much of the trade policy that came after.

What’s the catch: Trump didn’t waste time announcing his countermove, a temporary 10 percent global tariff, which he quickly threatened to raise to 15 percent.

Shares in fashion retailers plunged; apparently investors in the sector somewhat naively believed Trump would take his licks and go home on one of his signature issues. The mood in the industry is similarly gloomy, with Steven Madden citing tariffs in its decision to withdraw guidance on future profits. Few relished the idea of paying 45 percent tariffs on Chinese-made luggage or 20 percent on Vietnamese sneakers, but at least you could plan for it.

No wonder then that brands aren’t rushing to roll back tariff-induced price increases. And though the list of companies suing to recoup now-unconstitutional tariff costs keeps growing, nobody’s waiting by the mailbox for their refund check.

Cheer up: Fashion should take the win. The UK aside, most fashion imports were being taxed at 15 percent or above anyway. And while it’s true we’re in for plenty of uncertainty around trade this year, that was bound to be true regardless of what the Supreme Court ruled. It’s better to navigate those waters in a world where Trump can’t unilaterally slap punishing tariffs via giant posterboards or Truth Social.

Checking In on Luxury’s Reset

What happened: Designers have now shown their Autumn/Winter 2026 collections in New York, London and Milan, with Paris Fashion Week kicking off today. As brands aim to re-ignite sales amid a persistent luxury slump, they must strike the right balance between runway storytelling and practical considerations about who will actually buy their products.

How it’s going: The first collections from new designers at Dior, Chanel and other big brands are now in stores. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault said Jonathan Anderson’s products are “off to a good start,” though we won’t know how good until the company reports first-quarter results in April.

How it’s going for Gucci: Kering’s biggest brand, where sales have halved since their 2022 peak, is a particular problem. Demna’s first runway show for the label on Friday was polarising (here’s Tim Blanks’ take), as was the AI-generated campaign leading up it (more on that below). But, as Bernstein analyst Luca Solca put it in a note after the show, there is a big contingent who are “wanting to believe” in the Gucci turnaround story. Time will tell if consumers open their pocketbooks, but demand for the “see now, buy now” drop that immediately followed the show will be one early indicator.

Solving the value equation: Of course, the collections are only half the story; major luxury brands need to do better at creating products that customers want at prices they are willing to pay. Even the biggest luxury labels know that they overdid it with their price hikes and need to win back entry-level customers to grow. The Business of Fashion found Chanel and Dior, for example, have dramatically expanded their selection of sub-€4,000 ($4,700) leather goods.

We won’t have to wait nearly as long to see how this plays out at Gucci, which is taking a “see-now, buy-now” approach to Demna’s first full collection. It’s a mix of items priced at the high end of Gucci’s range and mini bags, sunglasses, belts and jewellery aimed at the entry level customer.

This Month in AI

What happened: Synthetic consumer research – where brands talk to AI aggregates of real consumer archetypes – is becoming an increasingly common tool in marketing and product development.

How it works: This is one of those concepts that may not be on the general public’s radar like AI models, but could have an enormous impact on the fashion industry. The idea is simple: Use AI to simulate real customers, then ask them what they think about a product, your brand or, well, anything. Brands are reportedly having one-on-one chats with AI consumers, surveying thousands of them, and everything in between. Doing so takes half the time and costs one-third as much as assembling actual human focus groups, Bain found.

Bots welcome: Meanwhile, retailers are preparing for an onslaught of shopping agents, which are already surging in volume now that all the major AI platforms have rolled out capabilities to browse and buy. Each brand has its own decision to make about whether and how to engage with these shopbots, but simply ignoring them is no longer an option as more consumers warm up to making purchases through their favourite LLMs.

Behind closed doors: At the same time, AI continues to stir up controversy whenever the public catches a glimpse of it. Gucci was the latest to draw heat, with a pre-show campaign that was loud and proud about its use of AI imagery. Online commenters were not amused, though given Demna’s track record, provocation was perhaps the point in that instance.

Driving that anxiety is the quality of the imagery itself. AI work is often difficult to spot in a sea of cookie-cutter product photography on a retailer’s website, but often reads as slop when presented as art. Gucci’s use of AI is innovative in that a major luxury brand is apparently unapologetic (as of the sending of this newsletter) in the face of backlash.

Keep it secret, keep it safe: There’s another reason brands are reluctant to talk about how they deploy AI that has nothing to do with consumer backlash — the technology is new enough that bragging risks tipping off rivals, UBS analyst Jay Sole theorised in a recent report. Of 45 fashion companies he follows, 43 have talked about using AI at some point, but the vast majority are reluctant to elaborate in public settings, or even private conversations.

The Creator Economy Unleashed

What happened: Influencers have graduated from a curiosity to the fashion industry’s go-to marketing tool. But while the creator economy is maturing, it continues to evolve rapidly.

A whole new world: Affiliate links remain the coin of the realm, but influencers have more control over which brands they work with and on what terms via rival platforms LTK and ShopMy. But they’re also contending with new competition from AI-generated content. TikTok, now under new ownership in the US, drives trends, but brands are giving YouTube’s longform content a fresh look, while keeping a wary eye on what’s being said about them on Reddit.

And while Millennial and Gen-Z shoppers live their lives on social media, Australia has banned Gen Alpha from following in their footsteps, at least until they turn 16. Other countries are almost certain to do the same.

Read more: Last month, BoF looked at how the creator economy is changing from a variety of angles. Our latest case study tells you the new rules for influencer marketing. Haley Crawford talked to creators about how they’re fending off the AI threat. Joan Kennedy checks in on the next generation of influencers, currently in their tweens — or younger — and Malique Morris tells you which metrics actually matter when measuring creators’ impact. Check out the whole package here.