Welcome in, today is Monday, August thirty first, and we begin with Gap, where a sales decline lands alongside a new chief at Old Navy, per Drapers. Drapers reports Gap posted a two percent year on year decline in net sales, to three point seven billion dollars, for the second quarter to August first. That is about two point seven billion pounds. Per the same report, the retailer named Michael Francis president and chief executive of Old Navy. That is the group's largest banner, so its merchandising direction reads through to a wide set of brand and wholesale partners, and Francis has yet to set out a strategy. Industry reaction leans toward reading the market's response as a bet on the incoming Old Navy leadership rather than on the quarter itself, and a recurring observation is a widening split inside the portfolio, with some framing that divergence as the question any turnaround has to answer. Also today, a development in the Shein story. Following our earlier report on investor doubts ahead of the Hong Kong listing, The New York Times sets out what the company is offering as a second act, and how little it has returned so far. Per that reporting, Shein is selling other brands access to the system it built to design, produce and deliver quickly. Since that pilot opened in twenty twenty three it has signed about twenty brands and generated less than one percent of net revenue last year, on the company's own figures. Non-apparel goods, from furniture to electronics, made up more than a third of first quarter revenue. The same account reports founder Sky Xu pledged about one point four billion dollars over three years for a supply chain hub in Guangdong. For competitors who built assortment and pricing strategy around trend to shelf in days, the durability of that model is the open question. Separately, Harvey Nichols. Following our earlier report on Frasers Group's move for the chain, the Mail on Sunday reports that clothing brands are increasingly cautious about dealing with it under Mike Ashley's ownership, over the risk of late payment. We have not seen that account matched elsewhere. One unnamed fashion executive told the paper brands would at least require stricter payment terms, citing the abrupt closure of Matches, which Frasers took over in twenty twenty three and which collapsed owing two hundred ten million pounds to some five hundred forty one creditors, among them Burberry, Gucci and Prada. Per the same reporting, the tracker PaymentCheck recorded thirty four percent of Frasers payments as late. Harvey Nichols went into administration this month before Frasers bought it in a forty million pound deal. Frasers has not commented on how it intends to regain supplier confidence, that report says. Also today, resale is moving up the luxury purchase journey. The Business of Fashion reports the RealReal's chief executive says more than eighty percent of the company's fastest growing segment, Gen Z and Millennial buyers, scan the secondary market before buying new from luxury brands. The figure is the company's own. Industry reaction leans toward reading that as a due diligence step rather than a discount hunt, with some arguing steep primary market price increases are pushing buyers to check residual value first, and the implication for brands being longer product lifecycles and defensible resale value. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. WWD frames the slowdown at Dick's Sporting Goods and Foot Locker as a footwear hangover after the sneaker boom, with the stock down thirty percent, though executive chairman Ed Stack says it is not all bad news. Glossy reports a wave of fashion brands opening Los Angeles stores this summer, noting New York, Los Angeles and Miami together account for more than eighty percent of United States luxury retail. Drapers reports Frasers Group has criticised the Advertising Standards Authority's approach to recommended retail prices in an open letter, saying it has serious concerns. Also per Drapers, United Kingdom consumer confidence hit a two year high in August, on the GfK index for the month. And finally, The Business of Fashion reports Purple Style Labs, the Bollywood backed owner of Pernia's Pop-Up Shop, will launch its share sale next week, tapping demand for luxury wedding and occasion wear.