Business of fashion

Into this: Air Mail’s new beauty beat



Air Mail look - Barbara Sturm profile

“They bled in velvet-tufted hotel suites and town-house living rooms. They bled in conference rooms at Condé Nast and Net-a-Porter. They bled at the bar of the now- defunct Cafe Clover in New York’s West Village neighborhood while the scents of lavender waffles and quinoa pancakes collided in the air for one of the brand’s earliest recorded press events, in 2016. I didn’t get to go, but my boss at the time did. She returned to the office a few fluid ounces lighter, painted with a newfound glow. Not the glow that could, in theory, be delivered by the blood’s own healing proteins when applied topically to the skin—her blood cream would arrive a week later—but the incandescence of somebody recently exposed to an intense source of light. She had met Barbara, and she had fallen in love. The doctor’s charisma had seared her to the bone.” (more…)



Quote of the day: Emma Chamberlain



Emma Chamberlain Louis Vuitton - Paper magazine

“There’s definitely a formula for getting views. It’s something extreme, something eye-catching. I used to play into that a lot more, and that started to feel inorganic. The formula for growing at an exponential rate — it’s kind of always remained the same. It’s click-baity.”

YouTube sensation Emma Chamberlain, New York Times (no paywall) (more…)



The Burberry dilemma



Burberry AW23

Wow, London Fashion Week came back big time this season. Simone Rocha, S.S. Daley, JW Anderson and Moncler were the buzziest shows, but Burberry AW23* was the one with the highest expectations. Did it deliver? Hmmm, still not sure.

There were high hopes for a repeat of Daniel Lee’s work turning around Bottega Veneta. In particular, new CEO Jonathan Akeroyd is aiming to double Burberry’s leather business, so all eyes were on the bags. (more…)



The art of fashion in the Instagram age



Khaite store SoHo

There’s definitely a synergy between a certain type of upscale American designer and stores that think they’re art galleries. We’ve seen it from The Row, we saw it (briefly) from Raf-era Calvin Klein, and now it’s the turn of Khaite, whose first store opened last week in SoHo.

Think minimalist concrete walls, even minimalist-er merchandising (a lone dress on a rail), contemporary art touches and a general air of austere intimidation. Reader, I love it. (more…)