This Week in Review☕️: From TikTok to a global fashion powerhouse | The Kardashians dominate the world | Back to school boosts denim sales | Big Pharma looks at 70% price cut amid economic uncertainty

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Quick Bites:

Fashion🧦: Kim Kardashian’s Skims has officially been valued at $5 billion after its latest funding round– which, in startup terms, means she’s basically lapping half of Silicon Valley while contouring 💄 

And to think it all started with a PG-13 tape with a C-list rapper. GLORIOUS turn of events

The fresh capital comes as the brand is aggressively scaling its physical retail presence, moving from being a “TikTok-famous basics brand” to becoming a full-blown global powerhouse. 

Umm at this point, there are only two constants in life: 

Death, taxes, and the Kris Jenner’s kids getting rich

What’s driving the hype?

• Skims stores are popping up everywhere- NY, LA, and soon cities globally
• The branding? Minimalist, beige, chic
• Demand keeps exploding, especially from younger customers
• The brand keeps expanding into categories that consumers didn’t even know they needed- bras, cotton basics, loungewear, swim, men’s etc.

Why the valuation matters:

This round cements Skims as one of the most valuable fashion startups of the decade-an industry where valuations usually go to die, not multiply. 

A $5B price tag puts Skims in the same league as legacy fashion houses that took decades to build.

The company is reportedly on track for more than $750M in revenue this year- which means those stretchy soft bras are doing the kind of numbers founders dream about when they manifest in front of their Himalayan salt lamps 🙏🏻 

Our Thoughts:

With this new funding, Skims is accelerating:

• Flagship store openings (think Apple Store meets Kris Jenner aesthetic)
• International expansion
• Category growth
• Product innovation
• And probably another Super Bowl ad because why the f**k not
• At this point Skims isn’t underwear- it’s an economy.

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Retail: 📈 Back-to-school boosts Abercrombie’s sales, CNBC reports.

Abercrombie & Fitch just dropped its quarterly report showing 7% sales growth, beating Wall Street’s expectations- and proving that 2000s nostalgia and autumn flannels are a recession-proof combo.

While Abercrombie’s main label saw a slight 2% dip (maybe Gen Z finally realized $90 jeans don’t come with personality), its cooler sibling Hollister saved the day with a 16% jump in sales. 

CEO Fran Horowitz credited the strong back-to-school and fall seasons, hinting that the brand’s rebrand is finally working. 

But profits took a bit of a hit thanks to tech investments and the newest US tariffs 

The only thing tighter than Abercrombie’s jeans right now? Their profit margins.

Meanwhile, federal data out this week revealed that overall retail sales slowed in September, proving that while most Americans are tightening their belts, Abercrombie’s customers are still shopping.

Our Thoughts:

Remember when going into Abercrombie meant walking through a cloud of cologne and pretending not to stare at shirtless dudes folding denim lmao

“Abercrombie models in 2009💡: abs you could grate cheddar on
Abercrombie customers in 2025💡: buying sweaters thick enough to hide all life decisions.”

And honestly the rebrand is working. They traded torso-marketing for TikTok-friendly basics and somehow… it’s paying off.

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Healthcare💊: Medicare Just Negotiated a 71% Price Cut on Ozempic- Here’s What That Really Means

Starting 2027, Medicare will roll out government-negotiated price cuts on 15 widely prescribed drugs– and the headline names are exactly who you expect: Ozempic and Wegovy.

The discount?
71% off.
Yep, seventy-one.. Somewhere, a pharma CEO is stress-drinking a massive celery juice

The US government estimates these cuts will save Medicare $12 billion, which is massive when you consider the US pays more for prescription drugs than almost any other developed country.

However, the actual revenue impact on drugmakers will be pretty small.
Analysts told the WSJ that Medicare plans already receive quiet rebates and behind-the-scenes discounts- the kind that never show up on TV debates but change everything about pricing.

Big Pharma reacting to a 71% “price cut”: “Take it. We already marked it up 400% to begin with.”

Other drugs with newly negotiated prices include Pfizer’s Ibrance, a major breast-cancer therapy, along with several high-use medications for seniors.

This all comes from the Inflation Reduction Act’s first round of direct US drug-price negotiations- something the government literally couldn’t do for decades because lobbying laws didn’t allow it.

The broader takeaway:
2027 is the first real crack in Big Pharma’s pricing armor. And if this round works, more drug categories could follow.

For now, it’s a rare healthcare headline that ends with: Patients win.

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Economy: Consumer Confidence Just Hit a 7-Month Low.

The Conference Board dropped its November consumer-confidence reading and the index slid 6.8 points to 88.7, its lowest since April- and way below what economists in the Dow Jones and Bloomberg surveys had predicted. 

The Board’s chief economist told CNBC that Americans are now “notably more pessimistic about business conditions six months from now.”

So basically: everyone’s looking at 2026 like a Marvel sequel they didn’t ask for.

But wait, there’s more: expectations for higher household income didn’t just fall- they shrunk dramatically to their lowest point since February 2023.

“My income expectations fell so fast even my avocado toast got cheaper.”
(jk nothing makes avocado toast cheaper)

Our Thoughts: Ok let us explain it to you:

💡High interest rates → higher borrowing costs → SH*T vibes
💡Inflation → still annoying af
💡Recession chatter → very much ON.

When consumer confidence dips THIS low, peeps usually ease up on spending, and that’s when economists start stress-eating trail mix & boozing on Pinot

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Quicker Bites:

• COP30 ended with a compromise- but no fossil-fuel phase-out. The final agreement tripled climate adaptation funding by 2035.
• Pope Leo XIV begins his first trip to the Middle East, visiting Turkey and Lebanon to push interfaith dialogue.
• A massive fire in Hong Kong high-rises kills at least four. The blaze hit residential towers in the Tai Po district.
• Global markets and currencies shake ahead of economic and geopolitical moves. 
• UK’s upcoming budget under Rachel Reeves has markets on edge.
• Iran and French Foreign Ministry ministers meet in Paris to push for renewed cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

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