'Fashion businesses want immediate contributions': An FIT professor's take on the 'challenging' fashion labor market

The AP x Swatch collab is not a wristwatch. Is the hype over?

This week, the hype around the Swatch x Audemars Piguet "Royal Pop" watch built to a fever pitch. In the lead-up to the big reveal, watch collectors were already planning when they would start to line up at Swatch stores to secure the highly anticipated product. But then the watch was fully revealed: not a wristwatch, but a pocket watch meant to be worn on a lanyard, clipped to a bag or snapped into a desk stand. The hype shifted. Earlier this week, before the reveal, Robertino Altieri, founder and CEO of the watch marketplace WatchGuys, told Glossy that he suspected the hype would be subdued [https://www.glossy.co/fashion/why-swatchs-collaboration-with-audemars-piguet-is-creating-the-most-hype-ever-for-a-new-watch/] if the Royal Pop wasn't a classic wristwatch. After the reveal, Altieri joined the Glossy Podcast to talk about how the watch community is receiving the Royal Pop and what the collaboration says about the state of the watch industry. As we've previously covered on Glossy, the Royal Pop seems to be following in the path of the mega-popular [https://timeandtidewatches.com/moonswatch-watch-industry-impact-opinion/]Swatch x Omega Moonswatch from 2022. Despite concerns that the Moonswatch would dilute the value of Omega, sales of Omega's flagship Speedmaster watch increased by 50% based on the popularity of the Moonswatch. So will watch buyers take to the unorthodox new model? While diehard watch collectors may be scratching their head at the funky novelty of the Royal Pop, AP seems to be targeting a more casual consumer, someone who potentially has never owned an Audemars Piguet watch before, in a bid to expand its consumer base.

'Fashion businesses want immediate contributions': An FIT professor's take on the 'challenging' fashion labor market

The last year has seen the U.S. labor market enter a challenging position. Layoffs at major companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Verizon have put more people out of work while costs of living are rising. The fashion industry wasn't spared. Saks Global [https://www.thestreet.com/retail/luxury-retailer-cuts-16-corporate-jobs-as-bankruptcy-exit-nears] is laying off 16% of its workforce, and other major fashion brands, like H&M [https://1granary.substack.com/p/losing-your-job-in-fashion-needs] and Nike [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/business/nike-layoffs-turnaround.html], have made staff cuts. For people just entering the fashion industry, it's a daunting proposition. On this week's Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi spoke with Keith Fraley, a professor of fashion business management, about the challenges facing new graduates and others seeking entry-level roles in the fashion industry. One of the biggest changes Fraley has seen is that the training period for new employees is much shorter than it used to be. "The businesses are expecting immediate contribution from their new hires," Fraley said. "And before you can contribute, you need to show that you know what the job entails, that you understand how the business makes money, because they want to see people making an impact in their role relatively quickly after they're hired." Fraley has seen far more students who are interested in the creative side of the business, including design and product development, taking more business-oriented classes. That reflects a shift in the labor market, where more applicants are competing for fewer openings and need more ways to demonstrate their value and versatility. One of the most pressing concerns in fashion employment is AI. A recent Vogue Busines survey [https://www.vogue.com/article/how-to-start-your-fashion-career-in-the-age-of-ai] of 300 current and aspiring fashion workers found that only 32% of students feel positive about the role that AI will play in their careers. Most believe that AI will further reduce the number of available jobs. Fraley was more optimistic, while acknowledging the concern. "Repetitive tasks, basic analysis might be automated," Fraley said. "But that will just increase demand for strategic thinking and creative interpretation. I don't think AI will replace many fashion roles, but it will certainly reshape them."

Glossy goes to the movies: "The Devil Wears Prada 2"

On the Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week. This week, that news is "The Devil Wears Prada 2," the newly released film that brings back Meryl Streep as the imperious fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly. The first movie shaped popular conceptions of the fashion and media industries for the last two decades, and the new film examines a vastly changed fashion landscape in which print magazines are no longer dominant. In this spoiler-filled episode, we talk about how the industry has changed in the 20 years since the original movie was released and examine what the movie says about the current state of fashion. The Devil Wears Prada 2, unlike the first movie, which was notably sparse on appearances from real-life fashion personalities, is absolutely stuffed with cameos of both people and brands. Donatella Versace, the Cuccinelli sisters and Law Roach all appear, along with product placement from Tiffany and Valentino, and Dior is centrally important to the plot. But do brands really benefit from their placement in the film? And will the movie's box-office success have a broader impact on the fashion industry as a whole? The episode answers these questions and more.

Can Kering's comprehensive plan really turn things around?

Kering's new CEO, Luca de Meo, laid out a sprawling plan to turn the company around. After several years of slow but notable sales declines, particularly at its crown jewel, Gucci, Kering needs a new strategy. On the Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska discuss what was wrong with Kering's previous strategy, what de Meo's new plan entails, and how likely it is to succeed.

The 5 fashion rules for wearable tech

Wearable tech is having a moment. Partly based on early reads about the success of Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, Meta just signed a 10-year lease for a physical store in Manhattan that will sell them. Meanwhile, Apple is set to launch its own competitor smart glasses soon, while Google is teaming up with Warby Parker on a similar product. But wearable tech, especially targeted toward a mainstream or fashion audience, has been hard to crack. For every successful product like the Meta Ray-Bans, there have been expensive flops like Google Glass and Apple's Vision Pro. For the Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi, international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff were joined by wearable tech expert Janey Park to discuss why some products take off and others fail. We broke it down into five rules for a successful wearable tech launch.