Editors' Top Reads: News from Marc Jacobs, Eme Studios, Osprey London and more...

Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.fashion team.

Burberry returns to profit as turnaround bears fruit

After a painful £100 million cost saving exercise, during which it cut 1,700 staff worldwide, Burberry is back in profit for the year to March 2026. The British luxury house has also been doubling down on outwear and its quintessential Britishness, which has been going over well with consumers. Sales have been broadly flat for the full year, but were unticking in the final quarter.

CEO Joshua Schulman, who arrived from Coach in 2024, appears to have been able to tread the fine line of making touch decisions but also remaining a popular and inspiring figure, while also winning the confidence of the City. He also seems to be working well with Chief Creative Officer Daniel Lee.

Burberry has always been at its best when it has an American CEO paired with British chief designers (think Rose Marie Bravo or Angela Ahrendts and Christopher Bailey), so I have a good feeling about this.

Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.

LVMH to sell Marc Jacobs after 30 year ownership

After 30 years, luxury conglomerate LVMH is selling the American label Marc Jacobs to a joint venture between a brand management company and a licensee business. The 50/50 joint venture will see WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group raise $425 million (£314 million) each to fund the acquisition.

G-III, which owns brands such as Karl Lagerfeld and DKNY, is looking to acquire and operate certain parts of the brand's global direct-to-consumer and wholesale businesses, while WHP Global will oversee licensing, making the brand a core part of its premium fashion portfolio, which already includes Vera Wang, Rag & Bone and G-STAR.

This is an interesting move in the context of the luxury industry facing increasing pressures due to the Middle East conflict. LVMH reported that organic growth for the first quarter of 2026 was reduced by approximately 1%.

Looking ahead, LVMH stated that it remained attentive to the evolving environment while continuing to focus on brand development through investment, product innovation, and controlled distribution.

In April, LVMH competitor and owner of Gucci, luxury group Kering, announced a similar move with the publication of its new strategy. This looks to reignite "desirability" while prioritising "agility and execution", and was introduced following the group reporting a 6% decline in revenues over the past year, noting a "backdrop of ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty".

Kering also announced how the strategy would be implemented for its struggling McQueen brand, which announced wider restructuring, redundancies in its UK office, and the relocation of its flagship Old Bond Street store earlier this year. The brand would be reshaped into a "leaner, more disciplined model", according to Kering, with more focused collections centred on women’s ready-to-wear, tailoring and eveningwear, as well as a "rightsized retail network and organisation".

With current industry pressures weighing on the luxury sector, it looks like both LVMH and Kering are focusing on sharpening their portfolios to ensure they are concentrating investment where it delivers the strongest return.

Camilla Rydzek, Senior News & Features Writer.

Streetwear giant Eme Studios to open debut UK store

Spanish streetwear label Eme Studios has signed for a 1,500 sq ft retail space on Carnaby Street in London, marking its UK brick-and-mortar debut and its first permanent store outside Spain.

The new store will present the brand’s full menswear, womenswear and unisex offer, spanning knitwear, outerwear and ready-to-wear collections, bringing its online offer into a physical retail environment for the first time in the UK.

The opening is part of a broader influx of international brands expanding into the West End, reinforcing Carnaby Street’s position as a global destination for contemporary fashion retail.

Alongside this, outerwear specialist K-Way has launched a 1,400 sq ft flagship store in the West End as part of its continued international growth, while Kookaï has also recently opened a new location on Carnaby Street in Soho.

Gabriel Morón, co-owner of Eme Studios, said the brand’s strong online performance and success in Spain underline its long-term potential. He added that establishing a presence in Soho is a key step in strengthening its position in one of the world’s most competitive retail markets, with Carnaby Street offering a fitting entry point alongside established names such as Aries, END. and Supreme.

Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer. 

The Interview: Osprey London founder Graeme Ellisdon on learning from the past and looking to the future

If you love a good “started from next to nothing” fashion story, then you really should read my interview with Graeme Ellisdon, founder and CEO of Osprey London. It’s fascinating stuff.

From starting the business in 1980 with £500 in a rented hayloft, handcrafting leather belts, to expanding into bags and other leather goods after spending time in Italy learning traditional saddlery techniques from some of the finest artisans in the world, the story is one of real endeavour, best described as “a love story in leather”.

Along with his wife, Alex Ellisdon, who he met 12 years after starting the business and who is Osprey London’s COO and CCO, they have a team of 35 working from the company’s HQ, The Hoo Estate, a historic country house and 125-acre estate they acquired in 2016, which they have lovingly “brought back to life”, along with its ancient woodlands and parkland. That’s a story in itself.

But what is really infectious is Graeme Ellisdon’s unrelenting passion for the business, always striving to take it forward, expand product ranges, and grow internationally. At 71, he’s also very savvy about how useful AI can now be, though he maintains how important it is that people stay at the heart of the business - and every decision they make. “The key is to look at how we can use it to enhance, not replace,” he says. Words of wisdom from a man who’s really made his mark in the ‘affordable luxury’ leather goods sector and is hungry for more.

Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor.