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The 25 Best Bape Items of All Time
"Writing this list was far more difficult than I thought it would be. What does “best” really mean, anyway? There are a lot of angles you could take on that. Being the co-owner of 3peat, a business whose existence is essentially based off of the success of Bape, makes for a unique perspective. In the end, I decided that the pieces that needed to make the cut were the ones that were the best and/or most important for Bape itself. This list does not reflect my personal favorites. It doesn’t only consist of the most coveted Bape items. These aren’t just Bape founder Nigo’s crazy one-off pieces; every single product here was available to consumers. Instead, these are products that I feel impacted the culture in the most significant ways or went beyond what had previously been accomplished by a streetwear brand. We may be living in the “collaboration generation” right now, but Bape, under Nigo, pioneered and set the bar for what seems like commonplace for brands today."

via: Complex

Let’s Stop Pretending Balenciaga’s Meme-Bait Is Cool
"It’s London, June 2016, and Christopher Kane has thrown down the gauntlet. In a modern fashion scene fueled by the pedestrian given a platform, a different Kering-owned designer line has used the world’s footwear punchline to achieve nuclear kitsch. One year later, Kane x Crocs would still grab headlines in British Vogue. And then came Balenciaga. The second Kering-owned designer line to do just that. By walking a 10-inch tall platform Croc at this year’s Paris Fashion Week, Demna Gvasalia didn’t just achieve nuclear kitsch. In one moment of meme-bait, Balenciaga dunked Kane’s alley-oop."

via: Highsnobiety

Amazon Is Testing Its Own Delivery Service to Rival FedEx and UPS
"Amazon.com Inc. is experimenting with a new delivery service intended to make more products available for free two-day delivery and relieve overcrowding in its warehouses, according to two people familiar with the plan, which will push the online retailer deeper into functions handled by longtime partners United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp."

via: Bloomberg

Supreme’s Founder Wants Those Lines to Be Shorter, Too
"The new shop, a wide-open converted warehouse with a massive skate bowl in back, is located at 152 Grand Street in the maybe-too-cool neighborhood of Williamsburg. And it signals just how far Supreme has come in its evolution from skate shop to legitimate fashion powerhouse. This store opening comes just months after its blockbuster collaboration with Louis Vuitton, the release of which went less than smoothly, but undoubtedly legitimized Supreme's higher-fashion bona fides. But Jebbia is adamant that the new Brooklyn store has a much more pragmatic purpose than simply reaffirming Supreme's title as the undisputed champ of streetwear. He just wants more people to have a crack at Supreme—the company that's spent more than two decades establishing itself as deeply exclusive. "I wish people would understand why we have a line," Jebbia says. "Because we don't have many shops, we aren't sold anywhere [but our own shops], and we have good stuff...but it shouldn't be so difficult for people to come into our shops. We just want to have a space that, on a Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday, people can just come to and walk in and check out our stuff.""

via: GQ

The Fashion Dialectic: Thesis and Antithesis at Thom Browne and Miu Miu; Synthesis at Louis Vuitton.
"The last long walk of fashion month took place on an excavated 12th-century moat by the walls of the medieval castle that formed part of the foundation of the Louvre. An uplit passageway lined with metal stools by the Japanese designer Teruaki Ohashi led inexorably to the Great Sphinx of Tanis at the end of the tunnel. Where the Louis Vuitton show began. So what riddle required answering? Not “why are logos back?” (though it’s a legitimate query). Nor “is anyone really expected to wear a turtleneck that turns them into an actual turtle?” (depends on the person). But rather: “What makes fashion meaningful today?”"

via: The New York Times

Is Trend Forecasting Doing More Harm to the Fashion Industry Than Good?
"There is a reason, after all, that we consistently see brands turning out similarly colored garments or similarly cut silhouettes or even like-themed collections (Philipp Plein, Kith, and Gucci used Disney imagery in their Spring/Summer 2018 collections; and Thom Browne included Jodi Benson’s “Part of Your World,” from The Little Mermaid soundtrack in his show), and that is largely due to trend forecasting and the significant role it plays within the fashion industry."

via: The Fashion Law

Supreme Brooklyn Opens With an Epic Party
"“I really needed to skate today.” Wunderkind skater Na-Kel Smith, sweating bullets, had just popped out of the bowl at Supreme’s new Brooklyn store for a refreshment. Smith was one of over a dozen skaters—including real-life legends Eric Koston and Mark “The Gonz” Gonzales—who showed up at the low-slung brick storefront on Grand St in Williamsburg and made a beeline for the raised bowl in the back. Supreme is not like other stores, and this was not like other store openings. The launch of what’s only their third shop in the Western Hemisphere was a family-only affair—the sole aim being to have one hell of a party. (The insane sales will come later). Supreme founder James Jebbia hung out on the floor of the relatively vast space (it’s larger by far than the brand’s original Lafayette St location), while attendees like artist Petra Collins, videographer Bill Strobeck, and former NBA player Amar’e Stoudemire mingled and caught up with Supreme-clad friends."

via: GQ Style

What Makes a Great Magazine Editor?
"In the past month, Condé Nast’s American arm has seen the resignation of two long-serving editors: Graydon Carter of Vanity Fair and Cindi Leive of Glamour. In the same week, Robbie Myers, the longtime editor of Hearst’s American Elle, too, stepped down. Back at Condé Nast Britain, where I edited British Vogue until June, that magazine has rolled out a voluntary redundancy programme aimed at shedding around 20 percent of its editorial staff, while publishing teams across many titles have been merged. At the same time, a massive investment is being made in a digital hub to service titles internationally with an element of one-size-fits-all content. Amidst all the turbulence, the word on the street — and certainly during the febrile month of fashion shows — is that the new guard of editors, who will take the reins going forward, will be less magazine journalists and more celebrities or fashion personalities with substantial social media followings."

via: Business of Fashion

Los Angeles Gets a New Logo to Celebrate Creative Culture and Business
"Ad campaigns around civic pride, no matter how cool the locale, tend to veer into cheeseball tourism territory–the food! The sights! Oh the fun you’ll have! But here we get a campaign that, instead of trying to attract outsiders, is aimed inward at its own citizens. And more specifically, at its creative community. Soundtracked by favorite son Kendrick Lamar, no less. But it’s more than an ad, it’s a partnership with some of these local creative businesses for a line of LA Original-themed products, from Garage Board Shop, Sisters of Los Angeles Glassware, and more."

via: Fast Company

Front Pew: Why Churches Can Make Perfect Catwalk Venues
"Churches are for everyone, not just Christians. The first promise that would-be priests make to the Church of England is “to serve the community in which they are set, bringing to the church the needs and hopes of all the people”. No wiggle room there. And, as unlikely as it seems, that rubric has extended to the world of fashion, with places of worship commonly becoming venues for shows. In most instances, it is hard to see how anyone could be offended by what is on display. Reports on Gucci’s eccentric and colourful pre-spring/summer cruise collection at Westminster Cathedral and Alexa Chung’s quiet, minimal show at the Danish Church of St Katharine in Regent’s Park last summer saw them as suitable venues. Most recently, French label Jacquemus used the Church of Saint-Merri, which openly supports gay marriage, a choice that makes perfect sense. Places of worship are no longer novel venues, but rather good fits for the creative narratives of some fashion shows."

via: The Guardian

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