Welcome to the third installment of my weekly fashion overview! If you have been following along for the past few weeks, you may have noticed a change in the name of this newsletter. “This Week in Fashion” was a bit of a working title, but as I became more consistent in my writing and research, I landed on one that I find more fitting: The Social Fabric.
The obvious reason for this change is that I — the creator of Articles of Clothing, a Substack where I write articles about clothing — love an efficient pun, but the more important reason was inspired by an unfortunate tweet that made it’s way onto my timeline a few weeks ago:
Clearly, as a fashion journalist, I took offense to this. Not only is this mentality rooted in decades of misogynistic rhetoric aimed to delegitimize the cultural significance of fashion since it historically caters to a female audience, but it is also incredibly misinformed.
Just in the short month that Articles of Clothing has existed, we’ve talked about fashion’s involvement in class performance, the climate crisis, and colonization. We’ve covered fashion that has been inspired by movies, music, literature, philosophy, and art. We’ve seen how fashion is interpreted in pop culture, how fashion is perceived in media, and how designers are leading anti-capitalist innovation out of loyalty to their audience.
Fashion is and always will be part of The Social Fabric.
The Business of Fashion Seeks Applicants for Black Journalist Fellowship:
The Business of Fashion is seeking applicants for their third annual Next Generation Black Journalists Fellowship. The goal of this paid program is to equip and publish young black writers in the field of fashion business journalism.
The fellowship will start on June 1, 2023 and last for six months. All Black writers from any country who work (or aspire to work) in fashion, beauty, or other adjacent industries are eligible for this opportunity. Part-time and full-time positions are both available. Higher-level education and formal résumés are not required to apply.
The application deadline is April 28, 2023, at 5 p.m EST. To apply and learn more, click HERE.
Lizzo x Fabletics brand Yitty Releases Gender-Affirming Shapewear and Receives Backlash from the Trans Community:
On March 30th, the day before Trans Day of Visibility, Lizzo announced the release of a gender affirming shapewear line for her and Fabletics co-created brand Yitty. This line, called Your Skin, is set to launch this summer and will feature different gender-affirming compression garments such as binders and tucking underwear in a size inclusive range of XS-6X.
Although this is a community that is severely underrepresented in commercial fashion (especially within a size-inclusive range) there are currently concerns that Lizzo’s brand stole designs from a trans-owned company and failed to consider trans people in the product-testing process.
Zackary Drucker & the trans and queer woman-owned business Urbody alleged on Twitter that they had previously been in contact with the Fabletics-owned brand, met their team which failed to consist of any trans people, and were only ever asked for consultation services after the product launch announcement on the 30th.
If these allegations are confirmed true, it contributes to a larger cultural problem known as Rainbow Capitalism. Rainbow Capitalism, sometimes known as Pink Capitalism, refers to the commercialization and exploitation of the LGBTQ+ movement, symbols, and identities. This is a way for corporations and organizations to appear as inclusive for monetary gain without truly supporting or advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. Since many of these companies have more wealth and exposure than LGBTQ+ owned businesses, Rainbow Capitalism leads to the erasure of marginalized voices within the queer community.
While queer-inclusive undergarments are something that desperately need to become more accessible within the fashion industry, it is incredibly important to learn how to recognize the threat of Rainbow Capitalism and listen to trans voices, especially considering the rise in anti-trans legislation and hate speech in alt-right media.
I’ve included a few of these voices below:
MX Apparel Design (@mxappareldesign on TikTok): gender neutral clothing brand based in Twin Cities, Minnesota. The brand’s owner Maxine also speaks about trans, size, and disability-inclusive fashion brands on their TikTok.
Zackary Drucker: multimedia artist, cultural producer, LGBTQ+ activist, and trans woman who initially broke the news on this story
Erin Reed: creator of the Substack Erin In The Morning which covers up-to-date trans and queer news and legislation
Vogue Philippines Cover Features World’s Oldest Tattoo Artist:
The April 2023 cover of Vogue Philippines featured Apo Whang-Od, a 106 year-old indigenous tattoo artist from Buscalan in the northern Philippines.
Whang-Od now holds the title for oldest person to ever star on the cover of Vogue, dethroning Judi Dench who was photographed for the British Vogue cover in June 2020 at the age of 85. Whang-Od specializes in a traditional hand-tapped tattoo method known as Batok. She started her career in 1933 under the mentorship of her father and has been a tattoo artist ever since.
Historically Batok has been used to signify bravery in men and beauty and fertility in women, but due to western imperialism, Eurocentric beauty standards eclipsed these cultural practices. In the past 15 years, however, Batok has grown in popularity due to the fascination and talent of the 106 year-old tattoo artist.
So this cover of Vogue Philippines challenges societal beauty standards in more ways than one!
Dior in Mumbai (Revisited):
Last week Dior hosted a landmark fashion show in Mumbai. I wrote in the last newsletter that this show was historic since it was the first official calendar show for a European brand to present in India. The show was also in collaboration with the Chanakya School of Craft, meaning that this show recognized India as a global powerhouse in both fashion production and consumerism.
The Chanakya School of Craft has an extensive client list that includes brands like Chloé, Balmain, Balenciaga, Versace, Celine, Saint Laurent, and Ralph Lauren. They are no stranger to the fashion scene, but since the fashion industry has a long history of exploiting Indian artisans, some people like to pretend that isn’t the case.
After the show ended, many fashion industry professionals ran to social media to praise Dior for being among the few fashion houses that have acknowledged the fact that their textiles are made in India. Although it is due time for this acknowledgement to be made, this self-congratulatory celebration feels inappropriate since the ones celebrating are the very ones who perpetuate it.
Fashion journalists like Suzy Menkes, who you’d assume would understand this commonly known fact since she worked for 25 different international editions of Vogue, rhetorically exclaimed on her Instagram, “Who could have imagined that humble Indian handwork could develop into Dior's haute couture?”
First of all, I could. Frankly I could imagine 3 toddlers with a Fisher-Price sewing machine, a Yoplait Go-Gurt, and a dream could develop into Dior’s haute couture. But more importantly, deviating from European craftsmanship is not charity work. The western fashion industry has an extensive history of “drawing inspiration from” (mostly appropriating) Desi culture, so, yes Suzy Menkes, I do think skilled artisans can develop their regional crafts into haute couture better than the people who have been failing to replicate it for years.
It felt necessary to return to this event for a second week in a row because we hold a large responsibility in the way we discuss fashion online. Yes, cultural acknowledgments are great, even necessary, but what progression is made when it comes from an industry righting their wrongs through a white-savior complex? None, Menkes, none.
[UPDATE] My friend Hiral wrote a great analysis on this show. You can read it on her Substack here:
Massive Fire Destroys 3,000 Shops in Dhaka’s Clothing Market:
On April 4, 2023, a mere 20 days before the 10th anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse — the deadliest garment factory event in history, Dhaka’s clothing district suffers another major tragedy.
The Bangabazar market, home to around 3,000 locally owned shops, is a popular destination for discounted western fashion brands that outsource labor from nearby factories. Most of which, like Rana Plaza, fail to provide safe labor conditions for their estimated 4.4 million Bangladeshi workers.
The Dhaka garment district is the second most prolific in the world and produces clothing for brands like H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, Zara, Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Hugo Boss. But despite generating $34 billion annually for the fashion industry, local shop owners like Mohammed Yousuf are no longer capable of clothing their family for Eid.
Non-profit organizations such as Fashion Revolution have been created to raise money and awareness for the fashion industry’s involvement in the labor exploitation of the Global South. Starting on April 24, 2023, on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy at Rana Plaza, Fashion Revolution will be hosting their annual Fashion Revolution Week. The goal of this seven-day event is to concentrate awareness for worker’s rights, teach consumers about garment traceability, and hold the fashion industry accountable for their colonialist practices in exploited countries.
To donate, learn more, and participate in Fashion Revolution Week 2023, click HERE.
Fashion Exhibits:
This was a major week for news related to fashion and art exhibits, so here is a comprehensive list of everything you need to know:
India in Fashion: The Impact of Indian Dress and Textiles on the Fashionable Imagination (OPEN)
Date: April 03, 2023 - June 04, 2023
Location: Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC). Mumbai, India.
The India in Fashion exhibit open on April 3rd at the NMACC with a very star-studded gala that included celebrities such as Zendaya, Shraddha Kapoor, Gigi Hadid, Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, and Penelope Cruz.
This costume exhibit, curated by Vogue’s Global Editor-at-Large Hamish Bowles, explores the layered impact of traditional Indian dress, textiles, and craft in the global fashion industry. India in Fashion will feature western couture and ready-to-wear designs from the 20th and 21st century that are inspired by traditional and contemporary Indian fashion
This exhibit will showcase pieces from Western designers such as Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Coco Chanel, Jean-Philippe Worth, and Yves Saint Laurent. The exhibit will also feature the works of pioneering Indian designers such as Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, Anamika Khanna, Anita Dongre, Anuradha Vakil, Manish Arora, Manish Malhotra, Rahul Mishra, Ritu Kumar, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Sanjay Garg, and Tarun Tahiliani.
If you are lucky enough to be in the area, you can purchase tickets online HERE. But if you are not, an exhibit book is available online through the Rizzoli Bookstore.
Borsalino Foundation Opens New Museum (OPEN)
Date: April 04, 2023 -
Location: Corso Cento Cannoni, 21, 15121 Alessandria AL, Italy
On the 166th anniversary of Italy’s oldest hat manufacture, the Borsalino Foundation opened the doors to their brand new museum in the city of Alessandria, Italy.
This museum will cover the history of the luxury house from 1857 to the present day. The Borsalino Museum is divided up into three main sections: a multi-media installation called Antica Casa that displays the timeline of the Borsalino brand, a section called Manifattura which walks through the luxury hat design and production process, and a gallery section that will feature more than 2000 hats that are organized into eight different narrative paths such as Divine Hats, Travel with Borsalino, and Borsalino for Women.
Crown to Couture (OPEN)
Date: April 05, 2023 - October 29, 2023
Location: Kensington Palace. London, England.
To conclude the three day fashion exhibit streak was the opening of the Crown to Couture exhibit at Kensington Palace.
This exhibit, which is currently the largest to ever be staged at this historic venue, includes over 200 objects that are from or were inspired by the Georgian era. Crown to Couture will “draw surprising parallels between the intricate preparations for attending the historic royal court and the elaborate styling expected in red-carpet events.” Meaning this exhibit explores the politics of dress and upward mobility through fashion since “a ‘best-dressed’ accolade could get you a career, a knighthood, a marriage proposal, or even a lucrative government position,” as stated on the exhibit’s website.
Key pieces include the likes of Beyoncé’s Peter Dundas ensemble from the 2017 Grammy’s, Katy Perry’s 2019 Met Gala look designed by Jeremy Scott for Moschino, Lizzo’s 2022 Met Gala dress designed by Thom Browne, and Audrey Hepburn’s dress from Roman Holiday (1953) designed by the legendary costume designer Edith Head.
Tickets are available for purchase HERE.
Mood of the Moment: Gaby Aghion and the House of Chloé (ANNOUNCED)
Date: October 13, 2023 - February 18, 2024
Location: The Jewish Museum. New York City, New York.
The Jewish Museum in New York City announced that they will be hosting Mood of the Moment, the first museum exhibit to honor the life and legacy of Jewish entrepreneur Gaby Aghion and her French fashion house Chloé.
This exhibit will display nearly 150 garments spanning over the brand’s 70-year history. This collection will include designs from Chloé’s former creative directors such as Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Clare Waight Keller, and Natasha Ramsay-Levi, as well as pieces from the current creative director Gabriela Hearst.
Although tickets are not yet for sale, an exhibition book and corresponding lectures and performances have already been announced.
Fashion in Motion: Minju Kim (ANNOUNCED)
Date: April 21, 2023
Location: The Raphael Court at the Victoria & Albert Museum. London, England.
The first winner of Netflix’s competition show Next in Fashion will be hosting a series of fashion shows at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The Korea-based designer and Royal Academy of Antwerp graduate Minju Kim launched her eponymous brand in 2015 after winning the H&M Design Award in 2013.
On April 21, 2023, Kim will be staging a fashion presentation called Fashion in Motion which will consist of her Spring/Summer 2022 and Fall/Winter 2022 collections inspired by the Korean folktale of Bari — a goddess known for grace and beauty. These collections display pieces inspired by both traditional and contemporary Korean dress.
Anne Hathaway Becomes Global Ambassador for Versace:
Anne Hathaway has been promoted from Miranda Priestly’s junior assistant to the newest global ambassador for Versace!
Nordstrom’s & Dillard’s Investigated by the US Department of Labor:
A new US Department of Labor investigation of more than 50 garment-sewing contractors and manufactures in Southern California found labor violations in 80% of all investigated cases. These garment factories include some of the nation’s top retailers such as Nordstrom’s, Dillard’s, and Neiman Marcus.
Southern California houses the most prolific garment factories in the American fashion industry. This garment district employs more than 45,000 people, mostly immigrant women from Central America.
The investigation reports that laborers are frequently paid off the books, with records either deliberately forged or completely nonexistent. The most extreme recorded hourly wage being a mere $1.58. This sub-minimum wage is in direct violation of the California’s Garment Worker Protection Act that took effect on January 1st of last year. This senate bill mandates a mandatory minimum hourly wage for all workers, holding brands accountable for labor exploitation.
Senate Bill 62 also banned the long-standing practice of paying factory workers for the number of pieces made instead of the legally required minimum wage. This investigation discovered that 1/3 of the contractors reviewed were also violating this law.
To Read the Full Report click HERE.
And again… to donate, learn more, and participate in Fashion Revolution Week 2023, please click HERE.
The CFDA Inducts 10 New Members:
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA) is a not-for-profit trade association and network of American designers that consists of over 450 members. In addition to owning and operating the fashion calendar, the Council of Fashion Designers of America also organizes the annual CFDA Fashion Awards.
The CFDA recently added 10 new members to their roster. The designers are as follows:
Former Vanity Fair Editor Michael Roberts Passed Away at 75:
Michael Roberts — who spent decades at the center of the fashion industry working as a writer, editor, photographer, and multi-talented creative — past away from a brain aneurysm in his home in Sicily on April 3rd.
Roberts was a collage artist who illustrated 23 witty and satirical covers for The New Yorker that poked fun at the fashion community. Last year, Queen Elizabeth II made Roberts a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to the fashion world
In 1966, he won J. Walter Thompson’s Travel Scholarship for Fashion Drawing. The award for this competition was a trip to New York City that led to Roberts meeting Andy Warhol and Richard Avedon and eventually publishing his drawings in Women’s Wear Daily. Over the course of his career, he had worked for publications such as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times, and seven different international editions of Vogue.
Bernard Arnault’s Net Worth Exceeds $200 Billion for the First Time:
The French business magnet behind the high fashion and luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH had a net worth spike of $2.4 billion on Tuesday. This put Arnault at a record high fortune of $201.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. This also put Arnault in the company of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as the only people to ever have personal net worths exceed $200 billion.
Since Musk is losing more and more money every day through his Twitter farce, Arnault currently holds the title of richest person in the world. His conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton oversees some of the biggest brand names in fashion such as Celine, Christian Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Loewe, Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Off-White, and Stella McCartney. As recently as last month there have been reports of LVMH looking to acquire Cartier’s parent company Richemont which would also include brands such as Alaïa, Chloé, Delvaux, and Van Cleef & Arpels. This means LVMH could soon see an asset spike of an additional $38.6 billion.
I try my best to articulate my thoughts on these issues, but sometimes I’m just at a loss for words. For now, I hope these numbers speak for themself:
On April 4, Bernard Arnault (one man) was appraised at $201.1 billion. On that same morning, the Bangabazar market in Dhaka, Bangladesh (3,000 businesses) lost a total of $121.7 million in damages. This means that Bernard Arnault is allegedly worth 1,652 Bangabazar markets: the wages, assets, and ultimately the destruction of nearly 5 million businesses.
Burberry Brings Trench Pop-up to Fifth Avenue
After a humiliating season premiere of Succession for Burberry’s ludicrously capacious bags, the British luxury fashion brand shows their face again in New York City. This pop-up, located at 693 Fifth Avenue, spotlights the brand's signature nova check pattern (awkward) and offers trenchcoat bespoke personalization services that will run until May 2nd.
The location of this pop-up space will soon become Burberry’s new Fifth Avenue store opening this June, while their 57th Street flagship undergoes renovations.
A24 Releases A Style Book For HBO’s Euphoria
A24 has released a 273-page book breaking down the sartorial glamor of HBO’s Euphoria. This book examines the looks from the show, curated and created by Heidi Bivens, and features conversations with Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Alexa Demie, Sam Levinson, and make-up artist Donni Davy, plus a forward by Jeremy Scott.
Euphoria Fashion is now available HERE on the A24 website.
Weekly Reads:
Can Yohji Yamamoto Save Fashion From Itself? by Noah Johnson, GQ.
Can Clothes Be “Extremely Offline”? by Mikaela Dery, Harper’s Bazaar.
Succession and the era of billionaire bore-core by Joe Bobowics, i-D.
Why Some Brands Are Thriving in a Tough Economy – and Others Aren’t by Yola Mzizi, The Business of Fashion.
I’m a Wheelchair User. What’s the Best Thing to Wear to a Formal Event? by Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times.
How to Sell Luxury Amid Economic Uncertainty? Ditch the Logos by Julie Zerbo, The Fashion Law.
Weekly Listens:
Fashion Criticism in Crisis Hetty Mahlich interviews Dal Chodha, SHOWstudio.
Being a Poser, Gatekeeping Fashion, and “Quiet Luxury” Mina Le with Rian Phin, the High Brow podcast.
NOTE: past weekly fashion overviews will be renamed The Social Fabric for clarity’s sake