Ralph Lauren’s Oak Bluffs Collection Elevates Black Heritage

Plus: Balenciaga turns grocery tote into luxury provocation

Author

Zihan Lyu
August 20, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Fashion Broadcaster

Here's what's happening this week in the world of fashion eCommerce:
- Ralph Lauren centers Oak Bluffs with HBCU storytelling
- McDonald's x PacSun revives McDonaldland for merch-fueled reach
- Balenciaga turns grocery tote into luxury provocation

💸 The $200B Miscalculation Marketers Can’t Afford

On stage at eTail Boston, Fospha’s Chief Product Officer, Dom Devlin, warned that retail’s reliance on last-click metrics is outdated, and it’s costing brands $200 billion in under-credited sales.

The missed connection is clear: shoppers often discover on TikTok, Meta, or Snap, but complete their purchase on Amazon, Walmart, or Target. Traditional attribution frameworks rarely connect those dots. As a result, channels that spark demand are stripped of credit, while budgets overweight the “closers” - whether or not they truly created the sale.

Dom called this the bottom-of-funnel trap: over-investing in channels that finish the purchase while underfunding those that generate demand. The fallout is higher acquisition costs and shrinking pipelines of future customers.

Fospha’s Halo platform was built to break that cycle. By integrating marketplace and DTC sales into one unified ROAS, it captures the full impact of discovery spend across the funnel. For brands like Nécessaire and Give Me Cosmetics, that visibility has unlocked the confidence to double down on demand generation while protecting profitability.

📥Download Fospha’s Halo Report to see how leaders are funding growth where it really starts.

📌WEEKLY MUST-KNOWS

Ralph Lauren launched the Oak Bluffs collection with HBCU creatives and community partners, shifting from past appropriation controversies to collaborative authorship and cultural investment. The drop blends coastal prep with HBCU style, backed by documentary content and nonprofit support. It signals a durable playbook for culturally grounded storytelling that de-risks backlash and strengthens brand equity with affluent Black consumers.

An executive order will close the de minimis loophole on Aug 29 for packages outside the international postal network, exposing low-value imports to duties. Expect pricing and conversion shifts for cross-border fast fashion, affiliate traffic, and marketplaces reliant on ultra-low-cost China supply. Temu, Shein, and US consumers are directly impacted, with broader implications for DTC importers and paid media efficiency.

LeSportsac aims to restore travel retail to 20% of sales via airport corners, airline partnerships, and collabs tailored to Gen Z, led by upgraded durable materials and recycled inputs. With strong Asia momentum and a New York cultural stance, the brand is leaning into modular, multi-functional design. Airport retailers, distributors, and brands eyeing TR should note the pivot from standalone stores to flexible branded spaces.

🧐 What Does Brand Building Really Mean in eCommerce?

I had an engaging conversation with Alex Brownsell for the latest episode of the WARC Podcast. | Sam Carter, CEO at Fospha

We discussed where most brands get it wrong when it comes to brand building, with bad measurement and poor organizational structure amongst the biggest contributing factors - and how Fospha is aiming to solve the biggest questions around brand measurement with Glow.

Thanks Alex and team again for having me (and for offering a brief airconditioned respite from the intense heat and chaos of Cannes!)

⚡QUICK READS

McDonald’s and PacSun Revive McDonaldland for Gen Z: A nostalgia-fueled merch drop ties apparel to an adult Happy Meal and experiential content, signaling QSRs will use fashion collabs to drive basket size and cultural reach. (More)

Balenciaga’s Grocery-Chic Tote Sparks Debate: The Marché Packable Tote turns a plastic bag silhouette into luxury, fueling irony-driven virality and offering a template for retail theater and social storytelling. (More)

ClickZ is a ClickZ Media publication in the DTC eCommerce division