Louise Trotter’s New New Bottega hasn’t launched yet, however, we’ve all been swooning over her first campaign*, which went instantly viral last week.
Seeded with a series of close-up hand gestures photographed by Jack Davison, we soon identified the owners of those hands, revealed in videos accompanied by their poetic musings on the power and symbolism of hand work. (more…)
“Rachel Cusk and Zadie Smith have become, in effect, literary brands — once their names are removed from the context of a book’s cover and placed on a hat or a tote bag.” Terry Nguyen, New York Times.
The merch machine refuses to die. In fact, I would argue it’s only just getting started. The New York Times recently published this article on literary merch, explaining the relatively new popularity of #litcore caps (and totes and tees) that show allegiance to revered writers while telegraphing the wearer’s (perceived) intellectual superiority. The Guardian calls this “consuming culture as a performative act”, while comedian Dan Rosen simply calls it “liberal cringe” (ouch #guilty).
It’s also rampant in media, with mainstream and niche publications going all out on taste signallers. (more…)
While newsletters may be the new blogs, I still have a solid reader base and for that I thank the regulars who revisit and even subscribe. You know who you are! (Reminder: you can subscribe here to receive my weekly blog digest.) But in case you missed any, here are a few of my favourite posts from 2022…
The trend round-ups are always popular. 2022 was the year of Miu Miu chinos, designer water bottle holders, Mary Jane shoes and Khaite everything. Revisit the reports here and here. (This month I also chimed in on the Miu Miu micro-mini craze for BBC Culture.) (more…)
Props to the NYT for this fine history lesson on the mullet. One of my least favourite hairstyles, the do has been resurrected on the catwalk by none other than Guido Palau, whose photo of model Arina Besedina from the Alexander McQueen SS22 show has an otherworldly Bowie-esque beauty. (more…)
