Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet. Happy Fourth! I hope you’re relaxing, no matter where you are in the world. Next week is a big one—we’ve got Celine, Couture, and Sun Valley—so we’re taking it easy today for your pleasure and ours.

Up top, for your perusal, I’ve rounded up the best of the best of Line Sheet’s 1H2025. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many audience favorites are centered on companies and people rooted in the good (?) ol’ U.S.A.

And since shopping is the great American pastime, Sarah “SShapiro@puck.news” Shapiro looks at what this sales season betrays about the state of the American consumer—and the retailers that sell them stuff.

Programming note: I’m on The Powers That Be today with my bud (and Puck media correspondent) Julia Alexander, talking Bezos-Sánchez, Dior, and more. Listen here and here.

Mentioned in this issue: Anna Wintour, Skims, Kim Kardashian, Jens and Emma Grede, Vuori, Rhode, Glossier, Kyle Leahy, Saks Global, Marc Metrick, Dôen, Margaret Kleveland, Holly Soroca, Coach, Anthropologie, Athleta, J.Crew, Toteme, Tory Burch, and many more…

Make every purchase feel like a win with the free Carted app. Save any item from any store, and we notify you when prices drop or items restock. Keep all your shopping finds in one beautifully organized place. It’s part wishlist, part shopping sidekick—perfect whether you're a collector, hunter or intentional shopper.

We live for shopping wins. And we all deserve more of those. To celebrate the Carted x Line Sheet week, download Carted for free and you’ll go in the draw to win a $500 voucher to shop your wishlist.

Every now and again, I hear a grievance from a well-meaning reader who wishes that I didn’t write so much about Europe, when there are so many Great American Brands. (I promise, this person owns zero red baseball caps.) The reality is… I follow the money, and more often than not, that happens to take me to LVMH, which has a market cap of $288 billion on a bad day.

But combing through our greatest hits, you’ll find that Rachel Strugatz, Sarah Shapiro, and I actually write about U.S.-based companies more often than not. Herewith, a selection of the best scoops, insights, and just really good American stories that we shared during the first half of 2025.

Scenes From the Kardashians-Grede Marriage
I’ve been tracking the evolution of Skims for years, and am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the NikeSkims sub-brand, which you heard about here first. But the evolution of the partnership between Popular Culture’s Jens and Emma Grede, and the Kardashian family, which I analyze here, is at the center of it.

The Vuori Reality Distortion Complex
If LinkedIn had a clothing line, it might look a lot like Vuori: bland, technical, sufficiently breathable for crushing those quarterly all-hands from your remote location. But with a big bet from SoftBank (and others) and a $5.5 billion valuation, can the San Diego brand sell enough comfortable, forgettable clothing to keep its investors happy? Sarah followed up her own Vuori coverage with a piece this week looking at the various exit scenarios.

Rhode to Retail
Rachel is the voice on the business of beauty, and I get a little thrill every time she has an incremental update on Rhode or Glossier, in particular, two generation-defining brands. Not only did she break the news that Rhode was selling to e.l.f. Beauty at a billion-dollar valuation, but she followed up with the definitive explanation of how Rhode beat Glossier to an exit. Rachel was also the first to reveal that Glossier’s once-$2 billion valuation had been cut in half. Just weeks later, Glossier C.E.O. Kyle Leahy announced her exit.

Saks to Grind
The Saks Global saga really started in February, when C.E.O. Marc Metrick sent his now-infamous love letter to vendors, notifying them of further delayed backpayments and new 90-day payment terms. Since then, our partner Bill Cohan, who writes Puck’s Dry Powder private email, has tracked the evolution of Saks’s debt more closely and authoritatively than anyone, and Metrick even joined me on my podcast, Fashion People, to say his piece.

Make every purchase feel like a win with the free Carted app. Save any item from any store, and we notify you when prices drop or items restock. Keep all your shopping finds in one beautifully organized place. It’s part wishlist, part shopping sidekick—perfect whether you're a collector, hunter or intentional shopper.

We live for shopping wins. And we all deserve more of those. To celebrate the Carted x Line Sheet week, download Carted for free and you’ll go in the draw to win a $500 voucher to shop your wishlist.

Amazon’s Prime Day is a week earlier this year, and the calendar shift is creating ripple effects across retail. And yet, when you dig into the data, the timing—July 8 through the 11—makes sense. According to McKinsey’s 2025 State of the Consumer report, published last month, nearly half of all shoppers are actively hunting for deals; and according to BMO’s retail tracking, mall staples (Banana Republic, Old Navy, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, etcetera…) are running significantly more promotions than last year. With Trump’s 90-day tariff “pause”—scare quotes because 10 percent across-the-board tariffs have been in effect since April—ending next week, an accelerated back-to-school push, and consumers tightening their belts, retailers are trying to move merchandise now rather than risk getting stuck with inventory later.

These earlier, deeper markdowns could be the result of slow-selling merchandise, over-bought inventory, or just bad seasonal timing. Anyway, brands are clearly feeling some pressure. Plus, with July Fourth landing on a Friday this year, the long weekend has potentially delayed the temptation to shop—yet another twist to the promotional calendar. (Of course, retail predictions can literally turn on the weather: Rain might ruin your barbecue, but it will send people to the mall.)

More American Vogue content head nominations: “I feel like no one has floated Kristina O’Neill”; “What about Kristina O’Neill?”; “Selby Drummond would be a strong candidate!” —Two O’Neilliacs and a smart person

Another nomination for best press trip of the year: “What about the Ritz-Carlton cruise? They deserve an A+.” —A business developer

On Vuori: “I can’t stand Vuori, and every time I read how much the company is valued at, a part of me dies.” —A brand manager

A dissenting opinion on Dior: “Neither I, nor any of my male friends who love fashion more than me, liked the show. I just felt it was really disappointing somehow. I did like the jeans, but that’s not enough for Dior. I didn’t like any of the bags… More interested to see the women’s, anyway.” —A fashion insider

Another reason for those premature back-to-school promos: “We start the promos when we notice the online searches start!”  —A big-box executive

On Meryll Rogge to Marni: “Have you ever talked to Meryll Rogge? The pragmatism, the ambition… she’s a dream.” —A journalist

Have a great weekend,
Lauren

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An essential, insider-friendly Hollywood tip sheet from Matthew Belloni, who spent 14 years in the trenches at The Hollywood Reporter and five before that practicing entertainment law. What I’m Hearing also features veteran Hollywood journalist Kim Masters, as well as a special companion email from Eriq Gardner, focused on entertainment law, and weekly box office analysis from Scott Mendelson.

Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman and a rotating cast of industry insiders take you deep behind the scenes of this multitrillion-dollar biz, from creative director switcheroos to M&A drama, D.T.C. downfalls, and magazine mishaps. Fashion People is an extension of Line Sheet, Lauren’s private email for Puck, where she tracks what’s happening beyond the press releases in fashion, beauty, and media. New episodes publish every Tuesday and Friday.

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