"Weekend Reading" is a weekly rundown of our favorite stories from around the web.

Finding ​a New Vision of Luxury in Fashion’s Imitation of Cheapness
"Luxury is protean; it's an industry usually full of innovation and experimentation. It introduces new concepts to the market, which then tumble down to the mainstream, and it continually does this. But today's version of luxury has a very different surrounding to adjust to. Our society thrives on a strange mix of high-low. It's partly the result of our collective move to the egalitarian, equal-opportunity pastures of the internet, and of a shopping culture where all demographics exploit the convenience and consistency of mega-corporations. The brightly-lit language of branding and ads has become a ubiquity for every class of consumer, and fashion designers have loved to dramatize the high-concept intensity of the days of our lives."

via: i-D

The Sacai Century
"Chitose Abe’s world is one of intuitive balance, and this outlook has served her well. Over the last few years her Sacai shows have become Paris Fashion Week must-sees, her clothing a staple of striking, off-beat, 21st century femininity. Her design language is complex and sophisticated, reflecting, as she puts it, 'the multidimensionality of modern women.' She has just launched a new line of bags, and earlier this year her menswear line made its runway debut. Her list of collaborators is large and ever-growing, from established names like Nike and Tatami by Birkenstock to budding cult labels like Ambush and Hender Scheme. The story behind Sacai actually starts back in 1999, when Abe had just launched the label as a knitwear brand. It was around this time that we first met. 18 years later, Sacai has come a long way, but Abe’s work is far from over. Abe welcomed me into her Aoyama offices and shared her formula for balancing art and commerce. In true Tokyo style, she greeted us with gusto despite recovering from a late night out."

via: SSENSE

How Rihanna and Puma Dreamed Up the Most Desirable Shoe of 2016
"This year brought plenty of great shoe styles, but Rihanna’s Fenty Puma Creeper was the clear, absolute choice for Shoe of the Year. The sneaker had universal appeal to both men and women, and with the help of mega-star Rihanna’s celebrity platform, generated tremendous hype and strong global sales."

via: Footwear News

No logo: Why un-branded luxury goods are on the rise
"The anti-branding trend pans across generations. Sales of handbags with no visible logo were highest amongst those aged 50 and older, but the phenomenon gained the most traction with Generation Z – those aged 17 years and under – whose unit sales of handbags with no visible logo rose 8 percent year on year."

via: CNBC

Will Fashion or Art Get Top Billing at Basel Miami?
"In the past, Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein and other luxury brands have collaborated with art’s inner circle to host top events at Miami’s annual Art Basel fair the fair, most of which take place at the newest hotels along the strip or in-store. Who will forget Jeremy Scott and Moschino’s Barbie party at the renovated Raleigh Hotel in 2014, when the brand erected an all-pink dream house for real life Barbie doll Paris Hilton? Or the debauchery at the Chrome Hearts store when the brand enlisted Atlanta de Cadenet (daughter of Duran Duran bassist John Taylor) and Zoë Kravitz along with Kravitz’s band, Lolawolf, to perform at its opening in the Design District?"

via: Observer

How apparel brands can defend against Amazon's fashion rise
"With foot traffic at malls, department stores and specialty shops on a steady downward trajectory in recent years, apparel brands have had to look for new ways to drum up growth. Clothing brands including Gap and Lands' End have taken the plunge with Amazon in hopes of expanding their customer bases. Their focus is to be where the consumer is, and that’s on Amazon."

via: Retail Dive

Radical Transparency? H&M and Zara Are Actually More Transparent Than Everlane
"However, despite such seemingly straightforward dealings, Everlane is cloaked in quite a bit of mystery, itself. As retail-focused website Racked noted in an article last year, 'For all its talk of transparency, Everlane is extremely tightlipped about internal goings-on. Preysman was the only Everlane employee offered up for this story, and no one from the design or creative teams was made available to be interviewed. Repeated requests to visit the brand's New York office were declined.'"

via: The Fashion Law

Designers’ clothes worth thousands stolen by fraud stylist
"Major warning for all fashion designers out there: a fraud stylist and editor has stolen thousands of pounds worth of clothes after tricking several designers and brands into sending out pieces, under the pretense they were for major magazine photoshoots."

via: Dazed Digital

Count Tom Ford As a Member of the Won’t-Dress-Melania Camp
"But Tom Ford was ahead of this debate years ago, in his Tom Ford-ish way. Today on *The View — which played him on to the strains of his eponymous Jay Z song — the designer said he actually refused to dress Melania Trump when asked to years ago. 'She’s not necessarily my image,' he said."*

via: The Cut

This Successful L.A. Clothing Brand Pays Female Artists To Create--Not Just To Pose On Instagram
"The Los Angeles-based clothing brand doesn’t pay bloggers, YouTube stars or other so-called influencers to post shots of themselves in its clothes on Instagram and the like. Instead, it uses its marketing dollars to support female artists on creative projects distributed on BB Dakota’s site and social channels."

via: Forbes

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