We’re slowly emerging from an age where quality didn’t really matter. The way to succeed over the last half century was to have a good-enough product, and the best marketing and the right price. That era is over, Google killed it. A couple searches and suddenly you’ll find rarefied zones where products are dissected and analyzed in exacting detail. To win in that environment, you need to put quality first and foremost. | | Faustine Steinmetz at LFW, Feb. 18, 2017. (Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images) | | |  | “We’re slowly emerging from an age where quality didn’t really matter. The way to succeed over the last half century was to have a good-enough product, and the best marketing and the right price. That era is over, Google killed it. A couple searches and suddenly you’ll find rarefied zones where products are dissected and analyzed in exacting detail. To win in that environment, you need to put quality first and foremost.” |
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| rantnrave:// Welcome MILAN. GUCCI gave us a kaleidoscopic, hallucinatory, 119-look ride through the ALESSANDRO MICHELE universe (120 if you count Michele, and you should). I love how Michele’s collections traverse time and flatten magnitudes of reference into a single, thrilling, look. The eye travels. Bursting at the seams with history, cultural references, brand DNA—it’s all there. Fashion needs the kind of exuberance, matched equally with craft, that Michele is serving up. He’s on to something beyond the “geek chic” interpretation that's followed his work. It’s timely. This flying saucer look is timely too, no? Because there are planets out there. P.S. nobody, and I mean nobody does trompe l’oeil effects better than Michele right now… TANK’s GOSSIP issue looks fantastic. The "Gossip Protocols" editorial is a perfect encapsulation of fashion amid the realities of the internet. In honor of the #gossip theme, here’s some buzz: TOM BRADY and GISELE (being a fashion newsletter, she will be known only as “Gisele”) are co-chairing this year’s MET GALA. The co-chairs of last year’s gala made a stellar lineup: SILAS CHOU, JENNIFER LAWRENCE, GONG LI, MARISSA MAYER, WENDI MURDOCH and WINTOUR (fashion newsletter, so “Wintour”). Let’s see how it goes. I'm more interested in the exhibition, although Tom Brady in the spring/summer 1997 “bump” collection from COMME DES GARÇONS would be an absolute vision. Let’s make it happen. VOGUE, where are you on this? HAMISH BOWLES, can you lend one from your archive?… Thanks to M. PAUL MUNFORD and COLIN NAGY for this LEAN LUXE chat. OUTLIER co-founder ABE BURMEISTER is marking the turn toward “Radical Quality,” and I say, amen. Thank you. If we go back to quality and a strong product, we go back to the belief that people's time is worth the effort, on both the supply and demand sides. Certain American department stores should be taking notes… TROY PATTERSON breaks down a HUBLOT watch and talks to the very cool LUCA RUBINACCI… JEREMY SCOTT says he's like a farmer bringing his vegetables to market, and I love it. Tell me more. Scott respects the legacy of FRANCO MOSCHINO, a serious fashion OG. The NYT In the Studio series strikes again... Here’s the only listicle you need to read today, possibly ever. | | - HK Mindy Meissen, curator |
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|  | The Business of Fashion |
Without first ladies Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron, the fashion industries in the US and UK are missing strong political advocates. | |
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 | T Magazine |
Before his London Fashion Week show, Christopher Kane and his sister Tammy do last-minute fittings along with a Boston terrier named Bruce Tito. | |
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 | The New York Times |
As creative director of Moschino, Jeremy Scott brings his signature brand of pop culture to high fashion. | |
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 | Esquire UK |
Sir Paul Smith long ago earned his stripes as the quintessential British fashion designer. Today, as he enters his eighth decade, he still has plenty of tricks up his elegantly tailored sleeve (rubber chicken included). | |
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 | Lean Luxe |
Burmeister discusses why scale is a false benchmark, why Google has him obsessing over product quality, and the reasons behind his hot 'n heavy Apple fetish. | |
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 | Daily Front Row |
He’s a prep-school kid turned multihyphenate fashion influencer/DJ/streetwear fixture turned designer of HPC Trading Co. Now, Heron Preston is officially a guy that even Anna can’t help but talk about. Surely you’ve met? | |
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 | Racked |
Swap groups and resale communities have cornered the customers baby brands want. | |
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 | Boston Magazine |
A presidential tweet. Boycotts. Buyouts. 2017 is off to a rocky start for New England’s most iconic brand. Can new CEO Stephen Smith help his company get back on the right trail? | |
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 | The Fashion Law |
The fast fashion concept is backed by two such fundamentally good ideas that it seems only natural that it would be the shape of things to come in retail. A product of its times, fast fashion taps into its millennial core audience’s two favorite things: frequent novelty and affordability, allowing it to wreak havoc on the traditional model of mass market retailing. | |
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 | WWD |
“Diana: Her Fashion Story,” which opens to the public on Feb. 24, showcases looks she wore during daytime public engagements as well as for evening occasions. | |
|  | New York Magazine |
The First Lady and First Daughter have shed their sex-sells pasts. So now what are they hawking? | |
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 | McKinsey & Company |
The traditional shopping mall is under threat. Here is how to meet the needs of digital customers. | |
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 | Racked |
The beloved plus-size startup went under after failing to nab investors. | |
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 | Apparel |
Owned by Authentic Brands Group, MISOOK is the exclusive apparel partner of Texas-based Ming Wang, which innovates with unique retail partnerships and supply chain innovations that drive strong sales at both department and specialty stores. | |
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 | The New York Times |
Design can be intoxicating at the company’s spare new store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. | |
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 | Reuters |
Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said on Tuesday it planned to have elected committees and proper pay structures for workers in its main supply factories across the world by 2018 in a bid to curb labor exploitation. | |
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 | South China Morning Post |
At least 65 applications have been submitted for products ranging from supplements to alcohol and wallpaper | |
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 | Fashionista |
Pinay pride forever, baby. | |
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 | Quartz |
The magazine that documented Harajuku style for 20 years says it's closing because there aren't enough fashionable people to photograph. | |
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 | Co.Design |
Retouching is its own form of fake news. Can an oath change a problem that stretches from fashion to product design? | |
|  | YouTube |
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