There’s no question that contemporary vendors will face numerous challenges in the new year, but they also see multiple opportunities for growth.
Potential tariffs and inflation are seen as key potential hurdles, along with keeping their pricing competitive. Among the opportunities are global expansion, growing their e-commerce channel, adding more brick-and-mortar stores, and expanding their businesses into categories such as home, footwear, childrenswear and beauty.
Here’s what a handful of leading contemporary executives had to say about the year ahead.
Related Articles
Rebecca Hessel Cohen, founder and creative director of LoveShackFancy
Challenges: The biggest challenges we face in 2025 are competitive pricing and margins in this market. Keeping up with rapid growth is also challenging, as we want to continue growing the business and brand strategically while always being thoughtful.
You May Also Like
Opportunities: We have many developing categories that we expect to see explosive growth in in the first six months of the year, including home, beauty, active, kids and swim. We also have some major collaborations coming that we know our customer is going to love.
Jonny Slaven, chief executive officer of L’Agence
Challenges: With our substantial presence and business in the U.S., we are looking to expand our footprint internationally. There is always a challenge with new territories and markets, but are seeing a strong initial reaction to the opening of our stores in Paris and Seoul. We approach everything with an open mind and know there is a learning curve as we align with the right partners on the ground and understand the market’s needs and wants. There is currently much conversation regarding the stability of the global sourcing landscape, with concerns around tariffs and a possible impact on inflation. This creates uncertainty heading into early 2025. We are approaching this by getting our internal and external partners all aligned on any contingencies with the utmost amount of full transparency.
Opportunities: We are always looking to maximize the omnichannel approach to our business, finding the balance between key wholesale accounts and growing our retail footprint alongside our fast-growing e-commerce business. We are making sure that all channels support each other and are additive to the total brand footprint and collective story. We see the challenges of the luxury space but we feel that the luxury-adjacent space we sit in has been a sweet spot for our consumers who are looking to buy timeless pieces that have a better value-price proposition. We are continuing to further our digital approach and connect with our customers more deeply through their customer shopping experience utilizing new technological capabilities and advancements and stay ahead of new trends to ensure we are providing the best personalized experience. Through new product categories that we are bringing to market, we can share more with our customers, or the kinds of products they are asking for from the brand. She trusts the brand and is quickly adopting new categories that are working for her style and fashion needs.
Ramy Sharp, CEO and founder of Ramy Brook
Challenges: One of our biggest challenges is navigating potential tariffs that could impact our business. We are diligently monitoring the situation and strategizing on how to adapt our operations if necessary. Additionally, we’re focusing on expanding our brick-and-mortar presence. Finding optimal spaces has been a challenge. We’re leveraging customer data to identify ideal markets and spaces that truly reflect the Ramy Brook brand. I’m incredibly focused and excited to open more stores.
Opportunities: In the first half of 2025, we’re focusing on scaling key growth categories, particularly denim and sweaters, which have shown significant momentum. Jewelry, initially launched as a passion project, has grown into a strong revenue driver and I’m committed to expanding this category with the goal of becoming a key player in the space. On the digital front, we see significant opportunities to boost customer engagement through innovative direct mail programs. We’ve also been meeting exciting AI companies and learning about how AI can support our business. It’s such an exciting time and we have already begun to integrate elements of AI into our operations.
Jane Siskin, CEO at Cinq à Sept
Challenges: Whenever we turn the corner into a new year, we always expect a level of uncertainty, and this year is no different. There is a lot of discussion around potential tariffs, but until we know more, we will continue to monitor the situation to see what, if anything, develops. We’re staying focused on the growth we’re experiencing and on servicing our consumers in new and different ways.
Opportunities: We’re excited about our recent shoe launch, which received exceptional initial response. We’re also thrilled about our denim business, which continues to achieve double-digit growth. In 2025, we are expanding our retail presence with our newest store opening soon in Aventura [Fla.] and have plans for a store in Southern California, which is expected to open in the first half of 2025. We remain focused on growth as we expand our product offerings and retail footprint, while continuing to support the momentum in our wholesale and e-commerce channels.