Author: VOG

Maybe it was the snowstorm, maybe it was the American political situation, or maybe it was the absence of some of the city’s most popular names, but New York Fashion Week came in for some sharp critiques this season. It “limped” along. It was plagued by “sameyness.” It was “mostly ho-hum.” But was it, really? Michael Kors, for his part, has had enough of the city’s inferiority complex. “This is New York,” he said. “Why would you chase Europe? I don’t even mean the runways. I mean the streets. Everywhere you go in the world, people want a sense of…

In this sense, flares may give way for a slimmer silhouette in general. “Just as wide-leg shapes caused straight fit to overtake slim as the top invested denim shape, this season, flares could cause a switch back to slimmer-fitting jeans in 2025,” says Karis Munday, menswear analyst at retail intelligence firm EDITED.According to EDITED research, baggy jeans are still on the up (rising 27 per cent year-on-year) — but growth is slowing considerably. The previous year, baggy jeans were up 150 per cent in menswear. Munday says she has noticed “an uptick in slimmer shapes on the AW25 runway”. This…

Lafayette 148 was founded three decades ago in a factory at 148 Lafayette Street in New York, making women’s wear aimed at what was then called “bridge” — making gently minimalist clothes aimed at working women, priced for those who couldn’t afford true designer labels. One thing that made Lafayette stand out was — and is — its inclusive US sizing from 00 to size 18, with petite and plus sizes as well. Another was that Quinn’s co-founder owned the factory, which also turned out items for Anne Klein, Donna Karan and Ellie Tahari. Lafayette 148 is the rare survivor.…

When Eva Serrano arrived at PVH Corporation in 2023, she was given a mission: bring Calvin Klein back to the runway. She chose to accept.“This is the place Calvin Klein belongs. We have a long history,” says Serrano, the global brand president for Calvin Klein, who spent more than a decade working across Zara and parent company Inditex in Asia prior to joining PVH, where she was recruited by CEO Stefan Larsson. “It was something everyone was waiting for — but we needed to come back at the right moment and give it the right image.”

The dream scenario is for customers to dabble in and across Bode’s ranges, if they’re able. “I love dressing the whole family,” Adams Bode Auijla says. “You see mums and kids coming in, and spouses and boyfriends and husbands and whatever, but that’s the goal: to really flesh out this entire universe and to dress the entire family.”This ties into Adams Bode Auijla’s priority as she approaches a decade of business: to flesh out not only what she believes the brand to be, but also how it’s perceived in the wider fashion landscape.“I love dressing the whole family.”Bode is known…

Fashion’s current cacophony of creative correction has reached this fever pitch as a strategy to galvanise sales during a period of wider economic malaise and global uncertainty. But is “newness” per se really such a hot metric during a slowdown? Luxury is an industry predicated on decadence, a core value, which, however rationalised, already sits uneasily in a moment of broader insecurity.The luxury companies that have negotiated 2024 best are among the most stable in terms of brand identity, ethos and offer: these include Hermès, Brunello Cucinelli and Prada Group. As the founder of one independent fashion house told me…

Renzo Rosso’s OTB Group has recruited veteran LVMH executive Serge Brunschwig to become the CEO of Jil Sander. He will also act as OTB Group’s chief strategy officer. Earlier this month, Brunschwig announced his departure from LVMH after three decades with the French conglomerate.Formerly the CEO of Fendi for six years, Brunschwig will bring enormous experience to the table at OTB and Jil Sander. He will report to the group’s CEO, Ubaldo Minelli, who said in a statement this morning: “In his role as CEO of Jil Sander, Serge will aim to further elevate the positioning of this brand with…

Exciting debuts, a growing international guest list and stronger commercial potential from the city’s strongest brands: the latest edition of Berlin Fashion Week (BFW) drew to a close on Monday as organiser Fashion Council Germany (FCG) continues to invest in the event with the hopes of competing on the global stage.This season, there were a few brands missing from the schedule. Shayne Oliver’s Anonymous Club, who brought in a large audience from the international fashion community last season (Kanye West showed up), dropped out of the schedule. Namilia’s spectacle of a show was also sorely missed. Founders Nan Li and…

The official Paris Fashion Week schedule is out. All eyes will be on three key debuts: Sarah Burton’s runway show for Givenchy, Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford and Julian Klausner for Dries Van Noten.Among the most notable absentees from the show schedule is Loewe, which is switching to a co-ed presentation format instead. (Loewe was absent from the Paris Men’s schedule in January, too.) This comes amid swirling rumours that Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, previously of Proenza Schouler, are to succeed Jonathan Anderson at the Spanish house. Expect another season of intense fashion gossip.Altogether, the Autumn/Winter 2025 women’s ready-to-wear…

What’s more interesting is what we consider aspirational and why. In womenswear, body standards are shifting back to a thin-is-in mindset amid the Ozempic boom. Similarly in male body standards, we’re also seeing a shift towards the traditional vision of masculinity, shaped by the rise of conservative ideals. TikTok is rife with content on how to be an “alpha male”, and most of that boils down to being physically and socially dominant.“Thinness is historically related to white supremacy, so if we see a rise of conservatism we will see a rise of people trying to be as thin as possible.…