This is a classic THE EDIT newsletter edition: a round-up of what I’ve been reading, watching, listening, shopping and more. I started doing this on Instagram and then brought it over on Substack which is how I got my start, if you’ve been around way back when.
It is long. Please click expand to read, particularly the SHOP section at the end.
Enjoy!
The hypothesis of a recent fashion podcast I was listening too had that fashion needs fixing and there’s a lack of creativity.
Basically, that fashion is boring, which I’ve written about previously here. It was a conversation between fashion business writer Lauren Sherman and Eugene Rabkin, a fashion writer who was first and foremost a fashion fan on the forums, The Fashion Spot.1
Rabkin posits that in our post-modern era, fashion design are now empty pastiches of the past with an over-reliance on empty signifiers that the designers themselves don’t even understand. Backgrounded with many people being unaware of historical background or context, the clothes being designed now are empty. He gives an example of meeting young designers who say they’re inspired by the street and are counter-culture, but, struggled to define what counter-culture actually means.
Sherman on the other hand argues that it’s because everyone is over-stimulated and there’s too much choice, that nowadays, we think we know a lot about how something is stitched because we saw something on social media. (They both agree social media has ruined everything, although we use it). However, both land on Matthieu Blazy’s work for Chanel, which is purely joyous and is more than just clever merchandising; Blazy has really put out something that is full of joy, that doesn’t look like it was created by AI or an algorithm since some of those combinations seem nuts in theory but work in actuality.
Fashion does need fixing, but I think what we see how is that it’s getting there. Romance and desire are returning to fashion, and I hope this newsletter can add a bit more of it into your life.
DETAILS OF NEW YORK FASHION WEEK
The last few seasons have seen a return to a sense of opulence that harks back to the 1920s — it’s an easy trend to reference for this moment.
But there’s something more to it now, and there’s a languid opulence that I’m attracted by. Fabrics have a lustre, anything that can hold a fringe detail has it, everything from jewellery to clothing have been gilded. Yet it’s undone whilst not being soft; I keep on landing on the word languid.
It’s only human nature to seek out pattern recognition, and a cursory glance would reveal that we are currently not quite in the economic boom of the 1920s which eventuated into depression in the ‘30s and WWII in the ‘40s anyway.
So why now: while it is not a repeat of economic growth, we have been in a moment of intense innovation. And while machine learning isn’t exactly the cause of a rise of more personality-driven fashion, it has definitely made us reflect on what is made by hand.
Here are some of my favourite details of New York fashion week that to me are an evolution from what’s happening in fashion now. There’s a few more fashion weeks to go, too, so it’ll only get better and better. New York fashion week is generally perceived to be the more commercial of the main fashion weeks, but within it is it filled with a bounty of ideas. Add it to your internal moodboard.
Watch this space, cummerbunds are here. I am already searching for them on Etsy. This is from Kallmeyer.
Fringed bags that won’t fit an iPhone at Kallmeyer. How ‘20s.
Obsessed with silk moire. Here it is at Ossou. Also their cotton peplum shapes which are also on their jackets. Peplums usually read as fussy to me, especially when they are attached to the body of the garment through ruching or pleating, but this sculptural shape is PERFECT.
I kinda am obsessed with this crazy cacophony of a look on the bottom right of the above image from Altuzarra. Embellished skirt, studded belt, animal print jacket — so wrong, it’s right.
I screenshot so much from Chan Luu, I would wear EVERYTHING. Embellished but not fussy.
As a longtime fan of Proenza Schouler, Rachel Scott reinvented some of my favourite signatures of the brand: texture, drapery and rich colours whilst still making it very wearable and downtown.
The layers, the curved hems, the buttons, not prissy, undone, perfect. And Liu Wen!
Layered lace at Magda Butrym.
VINTAGE YVES SAINT LAURENT
I went to visit Galerie S by Sophie Darling, which specialises in rare and interesting vintage pieces. She has a penchant for good outerwear, Jean-Paul Gaultier for Hermes, 90s Yves Saint Laurent, Mugler and so much more, like this insane 90s Versace dress.
It made me look back at vintage Yves Saint Laurent; Darling is a big fan of it personally and for Galerie S. The haute couture shows are something else, but the ready-to-wear (Rive Gauche) is really where you can see so many other brands are taking their inspiration from at the moment.
DOUBLE EARRINGS
For whatever mood you want to be in: earrings worn conventionally across two lobes reads pulled together and conventionally polished, but doubled on one ear gives it more of a twist. And more, eye-catching sparkle. These are the Georgian-cut heart lab-grown diamond earrings from HEIREST where you can choose your type of gold, shape of the stone and sizes.
I’ve been wearing them daily and have had so many questions about them from friends.
THE BEST EYELINER
I was recently told by a beauty industry friend that eyeliner sales are down because Gen Z don’t wear it. But as a Millennial with many different eyeliners, the Victoria Beckham one lives up to the hype. (VB website link, here it is on at MECCA.)
Yes, I have four shades. I really like eyelienr
EMBELLISHED BAGS
This dark red embellished bag is from The Hold, an Australian brand. I just saw on their website they also have this white ivory tassel one.
SHOP
From top left clockwise: Chan Luu skirt (honestly could wear everything this brand is making now), Friends With Frank pants (it’s in a satin jacquard; I saw its founder Julia McCarthy wearing it on her IG stories), flower earrings from Etsy (I’ve been wondering whether to just add to cart or try to make these myself), Dissh top and pants (no brainer, wear it together, wear it apart), Toteme sandals (would wear these with EVERYTHING), Roucha button jacket, Tigra Tigra bag (LOVE).
Clockwise, from left: Posse jacket (we’ve seen this jacket shape before but look at the BEADED FRINGING), Isabel Marant earrings (it’ll go with everything), Reformation jacquard pants (have been searching for this colour), Julia Kegel skirt (can you tell I’ve got something for jacquard at the moment), Carelli jacket (John Galliano for Dior-esque without the premium), Le Sundial carnelian necklace (again, dress it up, dress it down), Wolf & Badger bag, Reformation coat (this printed velvet is just dreamy).
I used to be a moderator on there too, which cultivated my interest in fashion especially through the lens of history, culture and understanding of the industry. I will never tell anyone my username though.
Here for the return of opulence!