Welcome in, today is Tuesday, July twenty-eighth, and we begin with WWD reporting that LVMH's fashion division has finally stopped shrinking. Organic sales of fashion and leather goods rose one percent in the second quarter. That follows seven consecutive quarters of decline, per WWD, which makes this the first positive quarter in eight for LVMH's largest division and the clearest datapoint yet on whether the soft-luxury slowdown has found a floor. The Business of Fashion puts group sales up three percent, and reports Dior's sales back in positive territory a year into the creative reset piloted by Jonathan Anderson. Industry reaction leans toward reading the return to growth as technical rather than a genuine turn. Some in the trade point to an easy comparison base, softer margins, and a still-underperforming core division behind the headline. A recurring framing is that the recovery is uneven rather than broad, with jewellery-led houses seen posting far stronger growth than soft luxury. That split is exactly where the next story sits. Following our earlier report on Morgan Stanley's brand ranking, in which Rolex moved ahead of Dior, Reuters argues category mix is now the dividing line among luxury groups, and that the question shaping the four-hundred-billion-dollar industry's next winners is simply who sells enough jewels. The argument runs like this. Leather bags, long the profit engine, are viewed as too pricey and unattractive to younger consumers, while jewellery, per that reporting, punches well above its weight on steady growth and stronger margins. The same account cites Richemont jewellery sales up twenty-four percent in the quarter to June thirtieth, Kering's new jewellery division up twenty-two percent on a comparable basis in the first quarter, and Barclays lifting its growth expectation for LVMH's watches and jewellery division to eight percent for this year. Separately, seventy-five fashion deals have been struck so far in twenty twenty-six, according to a report from investment bank Capstone, reported by WWD. The more useful finding is who is buying. That report says dealmaking is rising as brand-management companies step into the role private equity buyers had held, which reshapes the exit paths available to mid-market brands and who sits on the other side of the table. Industry commentary is more cautious on price than on volume. A recurring thread questions what is actually being bought, with some framing the most-watched fashion brands as capital structures whose only defensible asset is intangible cultural equity rather than anything on the balance sheet. Also today, the forced-labour tariffs we reported last week are facing a court challenge. Two small businesses have filed suit arguing the new policy exceeds the president's authority to tax imports, according to The Business of Fashion. That account notes the plaintiffs are backed by the group that successfully sued over the previous round of tariffs. The duties stand while the case is unresolved, so the near-term sourcing math is unchanged. What changes is planning confidence, because the legal basis of that landed-duty exposure is now in question. Industry reaction leans skeptical that forced labour is the operating rationale, and a common view holds that courts are now the real constraint on trade policy, but that they move on a lag. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. Shein swung to a net loss of ninety-nine million dollars in the first quarter on slowing US sales, per Drapers, in a filing ahead of its Hong Kong listing. Textiles and apparel fall inside the fifty percent tariffs on Canadian imports, WWD reports, and Glossy reports Canadian brands are accelerating plans for local US distribution. Vietnam is set for a higher minimum wage next year even as trade headwinds intensify, per WWD, shifting the cost math in one of apparel's largest sourcing origins. Deckers' net sales rose five point seven percent to one point zero two billion dollars in the first quarter of fiscal twenty twenty-seven, led by Hoka, per WWD. Sales of gems, precious metals and artwork at Japan's department stores climbed nineteen percent in the first half to two billion dollars, the highest for the period since records began in two thousand eight, per The Straits Times, citing the Japan Department Stores Association. And finally, Tata Group plans to double the opening pace for its premium Westside brand to one hundred stores a year, according to The Business of Fashion.