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Fashion collaborations are nothing new, but 2025 felt like a year particularly stuffed with branding matchups. Theres a reason why this might be happening. Online platforms have become crowded, [there are] rapidly accelerating trend cycles, [and] its become more challenging than ever for brands to stand out, Cassandra Napoli, a head culture forecaster at WGSN, says. Collaborations continue to be a unique and important tool for marketing and maintaining cultural relevance. The best lead to attention-grabbing virality, as was the case with Nike x Skims first drop, Sandy Liang x Gap, and Willy Chavarria x Adidas. Collaborations have become so important because brands have a need to attract new cohorts of communities and consumers . . . as well as provide a new expression of brand DNA and satisfy many customers need for newness, Gemma D’Auria, global leader of apparel, fashion, and luxury at McKinsey, tells Fast Company. But the truth is fashion has become inundated with collabs, and the net result of so much noise has ultimately had the opposite effect: We’re numb to them. A collaboration alone is no longer enough to excite. To sell, theyll have to resonate with a brands core audience, while also tapping into culture and surprising consumers with something new. What brands could break the internet together? Insiders reveal their blue-sky collaboration ideas for 2026. [Illustration: FC] 1. A Gap collab with a luxury design partner Gap has been on a roll. The American fashion brand not only wooed shoppers this year with the aforementioned Sandy Liang drop, but its denim campaign with Katseye went viral for good reason: an incredible campaign spot that called back to its Y2K days with rising talent and fresh choreo (unlike the controversy-laden American Eagle good jeans mess that dropped weeks before). Multihyphenate host and former Essence editor Blake Newby wants to see Gap bring more designer partners on board. I feel like theres a synergy in the brand ethos of a Loewe girl and a Gap girl, Newby says, adding that Loewe has already proven it’s comfortable with collabs thanks to its drops with On Running, for instance. (Plus, Loewe has its own denim with real brand ID.) Gap has also just been doing such cool creative things. We would of course expect this to be at a higher price point [than normal Gap], but it would be so fabulous to see Gap merge their love for denim and basics with the way Loewe does [a similar thing]. [Illustration: FC] 2. A Chanel partnership that scales smaller masters of the métier People are expecting a lot from Chanel right now. The French luxury house is freshly under the creative leadership of Matthieu Blazy, who made his runway collection debut in October. Hes being celebrated for breathing new life into the brand, and fashion people are curious to see a Chanel collaboration. Technically, the brand edged into collab territory in October: Blazy revealed a white button-up on the runway in partnership with 187-year old Parisian shirtmaker Charvet. But for Blazy, it wasnt a collaboration as much as it was highlighting a house of craftsmanship, as the brand already does in its Métier dArt collection. Itll be interesting to see what other things [Chanel Creative Director] Matthieu Blazy taps into because hes really attuned to craftsmanship, Jalil Johnson, author of the Consider Yourself Cultured Substack says. It would be more interesting for these storied houses to give resources to smaller entities to see what they can produce on a bigger scale, like if Chanel worked with Gee’s Bend quiltmakers, referring to the intergenerational group of women in a rural Alabama town crafting brightly hued and intricate patterned textiles. [Illustration: FC] 3. A pairing that dares to expand Herms sportswear Adjacent to Chanel, strategist and collaboration expert Bimma Williams wants to see a storied house work with an unexpected brand. For Williams, the dream would be to see Herms and its recently appointed Mens Creative Director Grace Wales Bonner do a collaboration with Adidas. (Believe it or not, Herms already offers an HermsFit line, and Wales Bonner and Adidas have already done drops.) Adding Herms to that mix, he thinks, would be a masterclass in craft and restraint, merging heritage, sport, and contemporary cultural intelligence. Perhaps what people are craving is for an uber high fashion house to finally cave and break its mold to collaborate with another brand that seems out of the high-end purview. A spin on the Birkin would inject some much-needed energy into the highly coveted bag for Amy Odell, a New York Times bestselling author and writer of Back Row on Substack. I think the Birkin is getting stale, and theyve got to mix it up, Odell, who wrote biographies on Anna Wintour and Gwyneth Paltrow, tells Fast Company. Herms wont sell the Birkin to Nike . . . but what if you had a Birkin you could take to the gym? I feel like everyone would talk about that. Or, they could collaborate with Tiffany & Co.opulence is coming backand do a fully glittery, diamond bag. The economy is recovering in a biforcated K-shape, meaning that while inflation and a tight job market has led to less spending among lower-income consumers, America’s wealthiest shoppers are still buying, so there could still be a market for what would surely be an exorbitantly priced luxury good. Elsa Peretti jewelry on display in New York, circa 1970. [Photo: PL Gould/Images/Getty Images] 4. A collaboration that revives ’70s era Elsa Peretti x Halston The Italian jewelry designer and fashion model Elsa Peretti has had a legendary collaboration with Tiffany & Co. since 1974. Peretti, who passed away in 2021, is behind the American jewelers popular bone cuffs and other sculptural pieces. But what some may not know is that Peretti also worked with Halston to design not only a fragrance bottle, but jewelry and accessories, too. A re-edition of this duos work would be a dream come true for The Millenial Decorators Julia Rabinowitsch, who recently collaborated on a shoe collection with Reformation. Id love to see a revival of the pieces Peretti did, especially as I collect vintage Elsa for Halston pieces, and they are becoming increasingly rare, she adds. [Illustration: FC] 5. A duo that offers a new take on classic Missoni patterns Across the board, experts want one thing in a collaboration: for it to be unexpected. For stylist and founder of experiential shopping platform Sweet Like Jam, Mecca James-Williams, designer-led collaborations with bigger luxury houses would catch her eye. Imagine Christopher John Rogers, known for his unique technicolor touch and bold silhouettes, with Missoni, she says. James-Williams isnt the only one interested in merging Missonis signature zigzags and geometric patterns. British TV exec June Sarpong would be interested in the brand working with British artist Yinka Ilori, known for his savvy use of bright colors, evident in his collabs with The North Face and Bloomingdales. Across both fashion insiders, theres a real interest in seeing how the brand would keep the foundations of its signature while playing with a more flexible element, namely color. Whatever brands decide to do in 2026, its important that their collaborations form with intention and a real understanding that to land well, they have to make us wish we thought of the pairing first.
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E-Commerce
LinkedIns AI-powered job search feature is expanding to new audiences. The toolwhich lets job seekers find relevant open positions without needing to exactly match keywords in the job title or descriptionwill soon be available to all LinkedIn members using the site in English and expanding to Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese. AI-powered job search is already used by 1.3 million people daily, with more than 25 million job searches conducted via the tool every week. And initial data indicates that job seekers without a four-year college degree who use the tool are 10% more likely to get hired than before, according to the company. This is a really meaningful shift, because our vision is economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce, says Rohan Rajiv, senior director of product management and product lead for job search at LinkedIn. We know that in the past, if you were a line cook or a taco chef, it wasn’t that easy to find those jobs on LinkedIn. The AI search tool even lets users specify general properties of a job, like saying I want to protect the worlds oceans, and find relevant listings, he says. Thats a result of careful, iterative development of a large language model-powered system that can parse job titles, descriptions and other data, understanding the nuances of how listings may vary by location and industry. One job listing may refer to partnerships, while another listing for a similar position refers to business development work, for example. And the AI is able to deliver both listings to potential applicants without them needing to search for a specific keyword. Compared to traditional keyword searches, it felt more intuitive and less mechanical, writes Anderson Cheng, who recently found a job at the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency via the tool, in an email to Fast Company. The biggest surprise was how well it surfaced roles I might have skipped over based on title alone, but that were actually a strong fit once I reviewed the description more closely. The AI is carefully designed to be speedy, so users dont have to wait long for results, as well as accurate and internally cost effective, Rajiv says. The results are created in part by LinkedIn staff evaluating them using a second LLM-powered system, then providing the core AI with additional examples in areas where it underperforms. Using AI to evaluate results lets the company check a broader sample than they could practically look at by hand. The magic of building these products is that you’re able to evaluate these products at scale, says Rajiv. The expanded AI access comes as the Microsoft-owned platform continues to evolve beyond a mere virtual rolodex and resume board, perhaps especially in the post-pandemic era. Revenue has more than doubled from $7 billion in 2020 to $17 billion in 2025, according to LinkedIn. It has long been used by recruiters to find potential candidates and vet applicants, making maintaining a profile there critical in many industries. If you say something in your résumé, they might look at your LinkedIn and see if those things line up, says Daniel Usera, a clinical associate professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who has studied LinkedIn. Job searches are also a big part of what LinkedIn offers. The company reports that every minute, nearly 50 new hires are made through LinkedIn and more than 11,000 job applications are submitted through the platform. Its also a social network, where 17,000 new connections are formed every minute. Another recently released AI feature, known as AI-powered people search, helps users find potential connections based on plain language criteria, like investors with FDA experience for a biotech startup or Northwestern alumni who work in entertainment marketing, rather than simply looking people up by name and employer. The platform has also given people new ways to express themselves in recent years, including adding short-form video similar to TikTok. LinkedIn posts are sometimes mocked and parodied for their excessive business boosterism, and cringey work lessons drawn from personal trauma. But the site has become a legitimately unique place for people to share work updates, from promotions to hiring announcements, along with insights about their fields. We kind of have this sense of professionalism in terms of how you’re supposed to post, how you’re supposed to interact, says Usera. And the topics are generally professional in nature. More than 1.9 million feed updates are viewed every minute as of October 2025, according to the company, which reports that comments on the network are up 24% year-over-year. Usera says his research indicates that tagging other people in LinkedIn posts, perhaps in celebrating their achievements and contributions to your own work, can help boost engagement. And while he hasnt yet formally studied the LinkedIn cringe phenomenon, he says awkward posts can result from attempts at modesty, where people allude to personal achievements in roundabout ways, and those forced analogies between the personal and professional. Maybe the lesson is you don’t need to always be creative, he says. You can just be factual and just trust that your network supports you and will be happy for you. And as the platforms AI job search functionality expands, the same lesson likely applies to job postings. While job description language have historically sometimes been an afterthought, providing clear detail about what a position entails helps ensure it shows up in AI-powered searches, says Rajiv. We are moving away from a world focused on keywords to a world where you need to say things as they are, he says.
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E-Commerce
If youre job searching right now, it can feel like your efforts and outcomes arent lining up. The job search is changing, and competition isnt easing. The result: nearly 80% of job seekers say they feel unprepared to find a new job this year. At the same time, two-thirds of recruiters say its become harder to find qualified talent over the last year. This tension has become a defining feature of the job hunt. Theres no denying that AI is reshaping how work gets done, and in the new year, both recruiters and job seekers are planning to use the technology to gain a competitive edge. The good news is that the fundamentals of what makes for a good hire havent changed drastically. But as AI tools continue to evolve, the way job seekers show up and hirers evaluate talent is shifting. As LinkedIns Career Expert, I have front-row access to how the job market is changing, based on our unique data and member insights, and have spent over a decade helping professionals navigate their careers with confidence as work continues to evolve. Heres what job seekers need to know about how to stand out and make AI work for them, not against them, in 2026. Do focus on your skills, dont try to game the system When job seekers update their résumé or LinkedIn Profile, many fall into the same trap: trying to say everything at once. In the age of AI, that can look like keyword stuffing in hopes an LLM picks it up. But this often backfires, making applications feel inauthentic or mismatched to the role. Instead, what works best is to lead with the actual skills you haveand specific explanations as to what you actually did, how you did it, and what came of it. Saying you led a cross-functional launch that improved customer retention by 2x, for example, gives far more insight than a dense list of generic responsibilities. This level of detail will help you stand out to recruiters, many of whom are already tapping AI to find candidates with skills theyd never have found before. So, take the time to revisit how you present your qualifications. You may even rediscover skills youve been applying for years without realizing theyre in-demand now, like problem-solving and adaptability, so you can stand out more and have an easier time spotting roles that are actually a good fit for you. Dont be intimidated by the AI interview, do practice ahead of time For many job seekers, the first interaction with a potential employer now happens through an AI-led prescreen or interview. That alone can be enough to throw people off. The format feels unfamiliar, but my biggest advice to job seekers is to treat it like a normal interview. Today, AI-led prescreenings help hiring teams manage application overload so they can spend their time evaluating and interviewing candidates who are truly a good fit. In fact, two-thirds of recruiters say AI prescreening interviews can help them get better insights about candidates, even across a large applicant pool. For job seekers, I recommend practicing an AI interview beforehand so youre not caught off guard the first time you encounter one. Use AI tools to practice a run-through, testing out your responses to common interview questions, how youd introduce yourself, and how youd describe your strengths and yes, your weaknesses (aka opportunities for growth!). If youre able to clearly communicate your experience and what youll bring to the role, youll move more smoothly through the hiring process, from pre-screening to live interviews. Do invest in relationships, dont wait until you need them Even as AI becomes more ingrained in the job search process, its still humans who make the biggest impact in your job search and career more broadly. But a mistake people make is waiting until theyve started looking for a new job to tap into their network. Even well-intentioned messages can come across as transactional if you’re only reaching out when you need something. Strong connections often start with shared context, not a specific ask, so reaching out early and often to your network is the best approach. This can be as simple as sending a quick check-in to a former coworker, a past manager, or a recruiter you meant to follow up with. A simple saw your promotion, congrats or this made me think of you goes further than you think. If youre not sure what to say, there are a ton of tools you can tap to help you find some common ground or the right words. The biggest takeaway: when relationships are warm, people are more likely to vouch for you or share opportunities you might not otherwise see. This can make all the difference, especially in a tough job market where many hiring managers give extra consideration to applicants who have a referral. Bottom Line: Use AI to get clearer, not slicker Hiring may look different than it did a few years ago, but the basics havent changed as much as it may feel. Skills, curiosity, and judgment still matter. What has changed is how job seekers can use AI to take charge of their job search. On LinkedIn, you can now describe what type of role you want, using plain language, and jobs you might not have thought to search for will come up. You can take a similar approach when looking for a new connection too, making it easier to build your network. When used strategically, AI can help you job search more intentionally so you can spend your energy where it matters most, and put your best foot forward in 2026.
Category:
E-Commerce
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