Design

Trend report: what to wear for AW23



Johnny Dufort for T Magazine

AW23 is emphatically female-focussed, kicking off with supermodel mania – that Vogue cover, the Apple series and a Linda Evangelista book – and continuing with a slew of women-championing exhibitions. We’ve also got the big Phoebe Philo reveal to come, as well as a focus on revivalist classic fashion (aka gentlewoman style). For this you can easily shop your closet, or consider buying pre-loved – the quality may be better and so may the price. “The connection between instability in the economy and consumers’ desire for classic, quality pieces that retain value is certainly at play, as is the cultural zeitgeist,” Kelly McSweeney, senior merchandising manager at The RealReal, told WWD. (more…)



The culture of fashion: kilty pleasures



Le Kilt

It’s 30 years since Marc Jacobs’ fateful Perry Ellis grunge collection, so a good time for one revival in particular. This autumn I’m excited for the return of the kilt, the old money staple that straddles childhood nostalgia and tradition (think school uniforms and the Queen off-duty) and pop culture subversion (70s punk, 90s grunge, Cher from Clueless).

This season, Burberry has cleverly revived it as a youthful house code in an effort to ramp up Daniel Lee’s modern Brit vision. (more…)



Gentlewoman style: Peter Do x Banana Republic



Peter Do x Banana Republic AW23

“I feel like the industry is going through sort of a collaboration exhaustion, and I didn’t want to add any more to that conversation if I didn’t have anything new to say. If we do this, I said, we have to do it in a way where we don’t sacrifice any design integrity…After visiting the stores, I realized the quality is really amazing.”
Peter Do, Vogue.

The Peter Do x Banana Republic collab sounds promising doesn’t it? While we await his debut collection for Helmut Lang at NYFW next month, we’re being teased with this capsule Banana Republic semi-reveal, which lands in October. (more…)



Quote of the day: Tiina Laakkonen on retail for the post-aspirational class



Tiina The Store by Christopher Sturman

“The aspirational retail world has been taken over by big luxury brands. That’s what they’ve done in East Hampton. But my customer is no longer aspirational. They don’t want logos or any of that stuff. They’re done.”
Tiina Laakkonen, New York Times (more…)