We asked our reporters, who play so well with others, to choose a favorite story from 2024 by a Retail Brew colleague. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour may have clocked more than $2 billion in ticket sales, but her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, became a money spinner for a relatively small DTC brand called Popflex this past summer, as Erin Cabrey reported. Following Swift’s appearance in a YouTube video wearing a Popflex purple skort, the item quickly sold out. In May, Popflex reported a 700% jump in sales, and received over 10,000 pre-orders for the singer’s purple outfit. For Popflex founder and CEO Cassey Ho, a Swiftie no less, the moment was both cathartic, but also chaotic, as dupes of the item started to gain popularity on TikTok. Ho’s ultimate support came from Swift’s fans. As more dupes go up, Ho said she’s beginning to see more Swifities support her: “That is strength in numbers. I don’t have that, like, Taylor Swift has that.” Ultimately, Ho said that while the new eyes on the brand won’t change her approach to the business or her designs, she hopes the invisible string between her and Swift’s experiences will have an impact on duping. This is a story that covers a laundry list of things this retail reporter would love to write about. In one banger of a piece, Erin covers it all—Swiftie things, activewear, virality, dupes, and more importantly, respect for the art—and does so with ease and fluidity. Swift’s Eras Tour may have ended with the singer tearing up, but this story left this reporter with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Read the original story: Taylor Swift wore this brand’s $60 activewear skort. Here’s what happened next.—VC | 
