The Drg Style Index: Wales Bonner, Muji, Chanel, Shiseido, WeChat, Nike and more…
Here’s the latest weekly DRG STYLE INDEX ranking, a round-up of the brands and industry stories currently buzzing on my radar…
WALES BONNER WINS
It’s been a big old week for Grace Wales Bonner. On Wednesday she was named as the winner of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund £200k prize, while also collaborating with Dior on its 2020 Resort collection and hosting a ‘devotional meditative sound experience’ in New York with Solange Knowles, as part of Frieze. The prize win is a pretty good accolade, not that it’s the magic bullet people assume it is. Thomas Tait, who won the LVMH Prize in 2014, opened up recently about the reality behind the facade of young designer ‘success’. It’s still tough out there…
MUJI’S ANTI-CHEAP HOTEL IS OPEN
If you’re visiting the new Muji global flagship in Tokyo, know that you can book a room to sleep in, should the urge take you. Muji has just opened its third hotel (its first in Japan) in the Ginza district, occupying the 6th to 10th floors of the store. In typical Muji style, it’s all very minimalist and no-frills, a concept it calls ‘anti-cheap’, despite the price being super-affordable. The decor is lovely if you like the Muji aesthetic (I’m a fan). I love this cosy nook (above), while the concept also includes two galleries, a salon, library and a lounge. A kind of Mujiworld theme park for the Kinfolk set. (Related: Shinola just opened its first hotel in January. In Detroit, of course. You can buy everything in the room, from the speakers, to the Runwell desk clock, to the Shinola Cola.)
FIRST LOOK: CHANEL RESORT 2020
First look at a new, simplified Chanel, under the creative direction of Karl Lagerfeld’s long time studio director, Virginie Viard. This week’s Resort 2020 show at the Grand Palais in Paris was a notably less-is-more turnout for Chanel, which I quite liked. My favourites include this utilitarian patch pocketed coat (above) and the appliquéd camellia bib-front dress at the end. I think the styling could be a little less laboured but I love the relaxed hair and make-up…
SHISEIDO UNVEILS THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
Shiseido recently unveiled an impressive new research centre in Japan, setting out a blueprint for future experiential retail for beauty and beyond. My colleague at The Beauty Conversation, Katie Service wrote about it in our recent newsletter (sign up to our monthly digest here if you’re a beauty-phile), but suffice to say, if you like the idea of co-creating your own bespoke skincare with a trained researcher by your side, book a trip to S/PARK in Yokohama ASAP!
IN OTHER NEWS…
This is an excellent interview with WeChat founder Allen Zhang. His views on social media are refreshingly humanist…
Nike is in my top five fashion brands, and it’s pretty much all down to this guy
Martin Parr shot the new Gucci beauty campaign
I love the Glossy.co business of beauty podcasts. Erno Laszlo’s CEO Charles Denton had lots of good insight on retail, customer loyalty and navigating the Chinese market. Listen here
A.P.C U.S. will let you swap your pre-owned stuff for store credit
Influencers are conning you… and bring back slackers!
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Wales Bonner/Harley Weir; Muji; Chanel/Vogue Runway; Shiseido S/Park
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