As hit series always do, the Netflix show House of Cards, which returns today with the release of its third season, has spawned a wide array of merchandise: t-shirts, mugs, digital paintings of its star, Kevin Spacey, and, of course, cards.
Recent fashion runways have been over-saturated with references to the 1970s. Today at Milan Fashion Week, Moschino turned the clock forward—but only by a decade or so, to the late ’80s and early ’90s. Creative director Jeremy Scott sent out a collection filled with Looney Tunes characters, a Crayola-esque color palette, and loads of quilting and backpacks.
The personal uniform has its advantages. Time-starved entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg, who is known for practically living in a gray t-shirt, say having a uniform frees up brain space for more important matters. Arguably he doesn’t look great, but the wardrobe is functional. More image-conscious uniform dressers, such as Tom Wolfe in his trademark white suit or Karl Lagerfeld in, well, whatever it is Karl Lagerfeld wears, leave a lasting impression with their signature looks.
If Gucci’s executives wanted a new direction from their recently appointed creative director, Alessandro Michele, they got it. Today at Milan Fashion Week, Michele debuted his first womenswear collection for the Italian luxury label. It was a complete turnaround from the work of his long-standing predecessor, Frida Giannini, whose abrupt and messy departure from Gucci at the beginning of 2015 after a period of slumping sales surprised the industry.
Ever since an Indiana basketball star named Chuck Taylor laced up the first Converse with his name on them in 1932, it has been clear that athlete endorsements are a good way to boost sportswear sales—so it’s not surprising that Adidas wants more of them.
New York is and always has been a place for strivers, regardless of where they were born, and in fashion it offers a wide open field. Of the major fashion weeks, including London, Milan, and Paris, it offers by far the greatest number of shows and is the most attended by a significant margin. That sprawling character is a weakness in some ways, but it also makes it accessible to those willing to come from all over the world to show here.
A deep vein of Americana runs through the designs of Greg Lauren, the artist-turned-fashion-designer who happens to be the nephew of Ralph Lauren. But unlike the elder Lauren’s polished, romantic ideals of the American woman and the American man, Greg Lauren’s is deconstructed, reshaped, and mashed up.
Fashion Week—which officially finishes in New York today—is a crazy proposition. Designers get about 10 minutes to show the world the creative vision they’ve labored over for months, and have to compete with hundreds of shows for attention in a crowded, noisy market. If they get a little carried away—accessorizing their models with horrifying false teeth or sending a man down the runway in quilted baby-blanket overalls—who can blame them?
Nike and the Japanese fashion label Sacai are working on an eight-piece womenswear collection that will include sneakers, Business of Fashion revealed this morning.
For more than a decade now, menswear has been on a serious diet. The silhouette has slimmed and shrunken, to sometimes parodic proportions. Blame Hedi Slimane or Raf Simons—or really, both—but there it’s been, everywhere you look: skinny suits, skinny jeans, and even skinny sweatpants.
Call it a trend in fashion marketing: Enlisting an older icon for an ad campaign is clearly now the thing to do. The recent gold standard for these moments is Joan Didion for Céline. Take arguably the coolest luxury womenswear label in the world, add one of the most idolized of woman writers, and voilà. If you had an Instagram account, or just a pair of eyes and a Wi-Fi connection, you probably saw it, even if you aren’t into fashion. Last month Saint Laurent joined in, announcing folk legend Joni Mitchell as the star of its spring 2015 campaign.
As gas prices continue to drop, US consumers naturally find themselves with a little more cash in their pockets this year. According to a new report from investment banking firm Jefferies, cheaper gas could mean an additional $120 billion to $200 billion for US consumers—up to $930 per driver.
Kanye West and Adidas have finally unveiled the results of their creative collaboration: a line of men’s and women’s apparel, with plenty of footwear. Despite introducing the collection yesterday (Feb. 12) with a positive message about perseverance and creativity, Yeezy’s subtext was a middle finger raised in Nike’s direction.
As fashion brands go, the American suit-maker Hickey Freeman is old. It has been around since 1899, making it about 10 years older than Chanel. Its suits have hung in the closets of US presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama.
