These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday.
Nike Cuts Jobs Under New ‘Pace’ Restructuring Plan
On Thursday, Nike announced a restructuring plan called “Pace” that will cut jobs next year and consolidate its four geographic regions into three, after quarterly sales fell 4% to $11.2 billion. The company expects the plan to save $2.5 billion by fiscal 2031 at an implementation cost of $1 billion, including $300 million in severance. Sales in Greater China dropped 22% — the fifth straight quarterly decline in the region. Nike expects full-year revenue to fall by a high-single-digit percentage. {Nike; Business of Fashion/paywalled}
Sycamore Close to Selling Boots for $9 Billion
Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm that took control of Boots by acquiring its parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. in 2025, is nearing a deal to sell the chain to the Canadian Weston family. The sale would hand over more than 1,800 U.K. stores just weeks after new CEO Alex Baldock started and would end speculation about a London IPO. Boots reported revenue of £7.5 billion ($9.9 billion) in its latest year’s accounts, up 3.2%. {Business of Fashion/paywalled}
ChatGPT Adds Virtual Try-On to Its Features
OpenAI updated ChatGPT Images to version 2.5, adding a virtual try-on feature and a way for shoppers to save items they like in a personal library. Users can upload a selfie and tap “try on” in shopping results, or upload a photo of a style they want to see on themselves. {WWD/paywalled}
How the Target Boycott Impacted Black Beauty Founders
In January, consumers began boycotting Target over its rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Since then, the retailer has not restored the programs. Sales and traffic have rebounded from the initial slump, but Black-owned brands that rely on Target shelf space may have taken the hardest hit, according to several beauty founders and executives. The debate has been sharpened by the launch of Target Beauty Studio, where only two of 90 brands are Black-owned or Black-founded. {Beauty Independent/paywalled}
Business of Fashion Unveils the BoF 500 Class of 2026
The Business of Fashion unveiled The BoF 500 Class of 2026, adding 100 people to its index of figures shaping the global fashion industry and bringing the total to 1,713 members. Among the new class are designers Dario Vitale and Foday Dumbuya, executives Luca De Meo of Kering and Hillary Super of Victoria’s Secret as well as athletes and entertainers Eileen Gu, Naomi Osaka and Teyana Taylor. All of these new entrants will be honored at a gala at the Shangri-La Paris on Saturday. {Fashionista inbox}
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