The Titian Thread
The month in fashion, condensed.
Hi ,
Have you been keeping up with Fashion Month? When I first started out, attending fashion week was the biggest perk of the job. Sacrificing every weekend to work for months on end was so worth the thrill of squeezing into Charles Jeffrey's extravagant shows at LFW, frantically navigating Paris' metro system to make appointments that were booked at opposite ends of the city, or cycling across Copenhagen because some cool brand decided they wanted to show their collection in a desolate barn on the outskirts of town. One season, Anna Wintour & her security elbowed me out of the way at a Richard Quinn show and honestly, I bragged about it for a week.
In the last two years, so much has changed. But fashion month ploughs on business-as-usual like a chic travelling circus, and I can't help but feel increasingly disenfranchised by it all. What happened to all the talk of a fresh start for fashion post-Covid? A slower pace for the industry? A less wasteful way to showcase new design? In the context of the climate crisis, the spiralling cost of living, an ongoing pandemic, and now a devastating war in Ukraine, fashion week feels so pointless, so excessive, so out of touch.
Don't get me wrong. I love fashion shows, I love designers, the creativity, the glamour, the free champagne, you name it. Who wouldn't? But the space between fashion week and reality is widening. I don't want to read gushing reviews that spend one line mentioning that recycled fabrics are in this season or see which influencers sitting front row at Versace. Honestly, who cares? It feels like in our haste to get back to some semblance of normality, we forgot that the good old pre-pandemic days weren't actually that good – for us or for the planet.
When you boil it down, who is fashion week really for? And why can't we seem to redesign it into something that serves the world we live in now? One of my favourite podcasts, Wardrobe Crisis, dived into this question with the CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week this month – you can find the link below.
As always, I love to hear your thoughts. Hit me up with the reply button at the bottom of the newsletter.
Until next month,
Meg X
Stories I Wrote
Are Take-Back Schemes From Fashion Brands Truly Sustainable? for EcoCult
Ever walked into a store and spotted a clothing collection bin, or been encouraged by a brand to send them the unwanted pieces in your wardrobe? Clothing take-back schemes are on the rise, as the fashion industry grapples with the challenge of reducing its clothing waste crisis. But what happens to your clothes after you hand them back to the brand? And are these initiatives actually an impactful way to tackle fashion’s waste crisis?
Stories I didn’t write
An Interview With a Ukrainian Designer Stuck at Milan Fashion Week by Samuel Hine for GQ. There's nothing I can add to the barrage of hot takes around the war in Ukraine right now. What I will share is this heart-breaking interview with Ukrainian designer Dima Ievenko, from Ienki Ienki.
‘Modest Fashion’ Only Works In A World Where Muslim Women Aren’t Criminalised For It by Adama Juldeh Munu for Gal-Dem. "From snoods to scarves, head coverings might be in vogue, but what does that mean for the Muslim women continuously targeted for doing the exact same thing?"
That Organic Cotton T-Shirt May Not Be as Organic as You Think by Alden Wicker, Emily Schmall, Suhasini Raj and Elizabeth Paton for the New York Times. So impressed at the amount of reporting that went into this fascinating investigation into the world of organic cotton.
22 Fast Fashion Alternatives You Need To Know by Solene Rauturier for Good on You.
The Moral Quandary of ‘Slow Fashion’ Influencers by Isabel Slone for the New York Times. Can being influencing ever be sustainable if the only way to monetise it is by selling stuff to your audience?
Brands are Moving from Fast to ‘Forever Fashion’ – but are New Clothes Ever Sustainable? Jess Cartner-Morley for The Guardian.
I Staged a Protest Against the Pretty Little Thing Fashion Show. This is Why. by Venetia La Manna for the Independent. So much respect for the gang that braved London's stormy weather to protest Pretty Little Thing's London show a few weeks ago.
Paying For It: How Worried Should We Be About The Rise Of Buy Now, Pay Later? by Vicky Spratt for Refinery29. Do Buy Now, Pay Later platforms like Klarna encourage overconsumption and normalise going into debt for fashion? Or are they helping people invest in more expensive pieces that will last longer?
Hustle and Hype: The Truth About the Influencer Economy by Symeon Brown for the Guardian. Lord knows I love a long read, and this Guardian piece is super fascinating. Brown discusses the strong connection between fast fashion and the influencer economy.
Who Buys All the Clothes? by Amy Odell for Back Row. Department stores filled with stuff, but not a shopper in sight. Odell investigates who is actually buying all the clothes, and breaks down why the heritage physical retailers are getting left behind in a post-Covid world.
The To-Do List
Speaking of fashion week, I loved learning more about how Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week, is holding brands accountable for their social and environmental impact. To show at CPHFW, brands have to meet a set of ambitious sustainability requirements, making it undoubtedly the most eco-conscious major fashion week in the world.
I recently came across the Reclaimery, a company that is all about repurposing your old clothes into bespoke pieces. Working with people from vulnerable communities in London, the Reclaimery can alter, embellish, or completely redesign unloved pieces from your wardrobe into something new. Circular fashion at it's finest.
This month, I discovered the Back Row newsletter by American journalist Amy Odell, and I look forward to every edition. Odell perfectly dissects the fashion industry, from understanding 'It' bags to getting the scoop from ex-luxury retail employees on who actually buys all the stuff in the department stores. Well worth a read.