Great read Alec and 100% agree, innovation in the industry comes from movements questioning and changing the shitty & dirty system behind fashion, not from the next cruise collection of brand X that is forgotten after 1 day of Tik Toks and Stories.
“But also, get over it. There’s never going to be another McQueen or Gaulthier or Margiela to glide in and save us from the it-bags and cruise shows, because fashion is big business now. Bernard Arnault, who owns Louis Vuitton, is on and off the richest man in the world, up there with Musk and Bezos. Do you think he misses the good old days?“.
Hahahahah, loved this! You just summarised my feelings on fashion. It is true, though, that the most exciting things on fashion at the moment are within the work of all the dissident voices that refuse to keep upholstering things for brands that care about nothing except making even more money. Well said! 🤍
Celebrity overexposure has created an overwhelming banality of branded products and clothing that completely lack (or disguise) a creative process, shrinking them to its most superficial. I still remember frequently what Tomas Maier’s philosophy about design and consumerism was at Bottega Veneta. Fashion was intellectual.
Alec, what you say equally applies to beauty industry too. I have been covering it for well over a decade and remember the time when small 'market' brands started becoming popular and 'green, organic, natural etc - just don't call it clean .) brought excitement, built communities and became a place with lots of interesting conversations. If you look at a post I recently wrote about Ilia Beauty on Instagram you will understand what I mean. So I completely agree with you, too much greed replaced so many truly valuable things - I hope wonderful collectives and communities, small to start with, will build up and help those of us longing and willing for meaningful change to grow and expand.
That feeling over things being stuck in place might be true for big fashion houses, but I refuse to place small, independent creatives under the same fatalistic view. I'm so excited about the work of countless people in the industry coming up with ideas and solutions that are both tremendously interesting and seriously assessing their impact on the planet, human animals and non-human animals.
Dior, Balenciaga and Margiela might be close (or already) to a creative dead end, but the work done by Botter, Bettter and The Ziran (and so many others) proves that innovation, creativity and environmental action can be weaved together and poses us the question about on how the future fashion's glory days might look like.
Hey, thanks Alex for this brutally honest yet hopeful insight. I have long held a love for clothing, something i inherited from my mother, but any attempt i have made to get closer to the industry professionally i have been met each step of the way with snooty egos and honestly, very covert racism (i’m ethnically chinese). I found it all so discouraging, because while I wanted to explore and grow in an industry i was so enamored by, I felt that I could not possibly be happy surrounded by such egos. So as an outsider it’s refreshing to hear from someone who has lived it all, and to know that there are pockets of good out there still. Checked out 1Granary per your rec and it was great.
I am so curious to hear (sorry if already covered in separate post, i am a new reader) - if there are deep rooted problems in the fashion industry, what would wanting to contribute to the solution look like?
thank you,so inspiring. just dropping here a few more inspiring things you may already know. the or foundation and clean clothes campaign. it would be interesting to think about what would happen if creatives in the fashion world started to unionise or organise themselves (especially freelancers). i am in fashion retouching but i feel the exact burnout because of stressful turnarounds and insane amount of work... the overproduction cycles are felt at all the levels of the chain.
This rules. Your honesty and bluntness is appreciated. I’m 100% on the same page and working actively on solutions. I left the mainstream industry in 2014 as I no longer felt comfortable being complacent in an industry that was outdated in its operations and model fast-tracked to burnout and a lack of inspiration. I sought to be a part of the solution, not the problem. And I feel 100% confident in my decision. Sincerely, a dedicated fashionphile from the womb.
This is such a great newsletter Alec, it me feeling optimistic for the year ahead. Fashion is dead, long live something better!
Great read Alec and 100% agree, innovation in the industry comes from movements questioning and changing the shitty & dirty system behind fashion, not from the next cruise collection of brand X that is forgotten after 1 day of Tik Toks and Stories.
“But also, get over it. There’s never going to be another McQueen or Gaulthier or Margiela to glide in and save us from the it-bags and cruise shows, because fashion is big business now. Bernard Arnault, who owns Louis Vuitton, is on and off the richest man in the world, up there with Musk and Bezos. Do you think he misses the good old days?“.
Hahahahah, loved this! You just summarised my feelings on fashion. It is true, though, that the most exciting things on fashion at the moment are within the work of all the dissident voices that refuse to keep upholstering things for brands that care about nothing except making even more money. Well said! 🤍
Celebrity overexposure has created an overwhelming banality of branded products and clothing that completely lack (or disguise) a creative process, shrinking them to its most superficial. I still remember frequently what Tomas Maier’s philosophy about design and consumerism was at Bottega Veneta. Fashion was intellectual.
Alec, what you say equally applies to beauty industry too. I have been covering it for well over a decade and remember the time when small 'market' brands started becoming popular and 'green, organic, natural etc - just don't call it clean .) brought excitement, built communities and became a place with lots of interesting conversations. If you look at a post I recently wrote about Ilia Beauty on Instagram you will understand what I mean. So I completely agree with you, too much greed replaced so many truly valuable things - I hope wonderful collectives and communities, small to start with, will build up and help those of us longing and willing for meaningful change to grow and expand.
That feeling over things being stuck in place might be true for big fashion houses, but I refuse to place small, independent creatives under the same fatalistic view. I'm so excited about the work of countless people in the industry coming up with ideas and solutions that are both tremendously interesting and seriously assessing their impact on the planet, human animals and non-human animals.
Dior, Balenciaga and Margiela might be close (or already) to a creative dead end, but the work done by Botter, Bettter and The Ziran (and so many others) proves that innovation, creativity and environmental action can be weaved together and poses us the question about on how the future fashion's glory days might look like.
I would love to see your list of some good indie fashion designers.
Omg the round up of balenciaga, margiela, and Prada had been ROLLING 😂 thank you for this piece!!
Same - came here to say this! Dead at "Prada is a collection of metal triangles."
Me**
Hey, thanks Alex for this brutally honest yet hopeful insight. I have long held a love for clothing, something i inherited from my mother, but any attempt i have made to get closer to the industry professionally i have been met each step of the way with snooty egos and honestly, very covert racism (i’m ethnically chinese). I found it all so discouraging, because while I wanted to explore and grow in an industry i was so enamored by, I felt that I could not possibly be happy surrounded by such egos. So as an outsider it’s refreshing to hear from someone who has lived it all, and to know that there are pockets of good out there still. Checked out 1Granary per your rec and it was great.
I am so curious to hear (sorry if already covered in separate post, i am a new reader) - if there are deep rooted problems in the fashion industry, what would wanting to contribute to the solution look like?
thank you,so inspiring. just dropping here a few more inspiring things you may already know. the or foundation and clean clothes campaign. it would be interesting to think about what would happen if creatives in the fashion world started to unionise or organise themselves (especially freelancers). i am in fashion retouching but i feel the exact burnout because of stressful turnarounds and insane amount of work... the overproduction cycles are felt at all the levels of the chain.
This rules. Your honesty and bluntness is appreciated. I’m 100% on the same page and working actively on solutions. I left the mainstream industry in 2014 as I no longer felt comfortable being complacent in an industry that was outdated in its operations and model fast-tracked to burnout and a lack of inspiration. I sought to be a part of the solution, not the problem. And I feel 100% confident in my decision. Sincerely, a dedicated fashionphile from the womb.
Great read!
Loved reading this, and have signed up to the Fashion Act!