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“The days of easy money are over,” according to Jon Kossow, managing partner at the investment firm Norwest Venture Partners.

In the years after the pandemic, the fashion industry fell into a frenzy of investment into new technologies, including NFTs, cryptocurrencies and the metaverse. While some of those — NFTs, namely — ended up being a flash in the pan, cryptocurrency and its adoption among fashion brands has remained a small but present part of the industry. Brands including Balenciaga, Tag Heuer and Nike currently accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

This week, a look at Nuuly’s rise to popularity — the company has more than 300,000 subscribers and saw nearly 50% net sales growth in its most recent quarter. Also, early holiday sales data and stats from Nordstrom’s recent earnings.

Luxury handbag prices have been rising at a significant rate over the last few years. Since 2019, luxury prices overall have risen by 52%, on average, according to the British bank HSBC. Consumers, meanwhile are flocking to more affordable options in response.

On November 27, Tadashi Yanai, CEO of Uniqlo and GU parent company Fast Retailing, publicly commented on a hot-button issue for the first time. In an interview with the BBC, he confirmed that the company does not source any cotton from China’s Xinjiang cotton industry, which has been accused of using forced labor from China’s minority Muslim Uyghur population.

The French company Back Market has been a household name in Europe for secondhand tech for close to a decade, and now it’s set its sights on growing in markets outside of its home country like the U.S. and the U.K.

This week, Chanel announced that Bottega Veneta creative director Matthieu Blazy will be taking over as artistic director for the brand.

Branded resale tech company Trove has had a busy 2024. In May, Terry Boyle took over as CEO, and in August, Trove acquired its competitor, Recurate. Last month, Trove rolled out a new feature with Patagonia, one of its earliest clients, called the Resale Plugin. It allows brands to seamlessly slot in secondhand options alongside new products on their e-commerce stores.

This week, a look at the large number of acquisitions and sales happening in fashion, including what’s causing them and how they will change the fashion landscape in 2025.

The latest Week in Review podcast highlights the complications around the ongoing merger between Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.