"Weekend Reading" is a weekly rundown of our favorite stories from around the web.
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Best-Dressed? It’s All Relative
"But there is one time of year when the comfortable elastic of the psychological waistband that holds up this justification for my lack of dashing personal style suddenly cinches like a too-tight pair of jeans: best-dressed season. For 2018 I nominated the Gucci designer Alessandro Michele to British GQ for its list (he came in 10th). Then I interviewed Charlie Heaton – the handsome young English actor who plays Winona Ryder’s son in Netflix’s 1980s redux horror series, “Stranger Things” – for a cover story naming him as the winner of Italian GQ’s list. He revealed a recently acquired fondness for high-waisted trousers, a long-held reluctance to wear anything that isn’t black or grey, and was generally charming."

via: 1843 Magazine

Polo Ralph Lauren’s Complicated Streetwear Past
"The ads telegraphed the audience that Polo was targeting. But the Stadium collection, of which the windbreaker was a part, found a different audience: a small group of black and Latino Polo enthusiasts who called themselves the Lo Lifes. In the 1980s, the Crown Heights and Brownsville-based crew collected, flaunted, and, most infamously, stole large amounts of Polo clothing—occasionally storming department stores in so-called million-man rushes. Whereas Lauren—who was born Ralph Lifshitz, in the Bronx—had social-climbing ambitions, the Lo Lifes relished the ironic distance. 'You could see me in Brownsville rockin’, then go to Fifth Avenue and see a white person wearing the same jacket,' Thirstin Howl the 3rd, a founder of Lo Life, writes in the book *Bury Me with the Lo On a photographic history of the movement. 'Difference is that they bought it—we weren’t buying shit, we were taking it.'"*

via: The New Yorker

Why is Fashion Embracing the Glare of the Paparazzi?
"Within 24 hours of one another, two new season visuals hit our phone screens – first from Kanye West’s line Yeezy, then from Balenciaga. Both reappraise the role of paparazzi in fashion, paying side-eyed tribute to the seedy power that has made its mark on the way we see the world. At first glance, it’s unexpected that a storied fashion house like Balenciaga might use paparazzi-style photos, associated with the most invasive and dangerous aspects of fame and celebrity, and totally at odds with the exclusive and hidden codes of luxury. Similarly, it’s an inventive move for a brand like Yeezy, which must work to overcome the industry stigma of having a celebrity designer in order to be accepted as a luxury design heavyweight. The paparazzi language the Yeezy shots show is one you might think West would have to leave behind in order to gain a seat at the high fashion table."

via: Dazed

How Ralph Lauren Plans to Be Cool Again
"Back in the last century, Ralph Lauren built a business empire by sketching out a national fashion identity with each design. In recent years, though, the influence of his preppy styles has waned. Sales have fallen steadily as shoppers moved on to casual wear, fast-fashion or even upstart preppy brands."

via: Bloomberg

Only Black Is the New Black: A Cultural History of Fashion's Favorite Shade
"Black clothing has an undeniable power. Unlike red or green, which represent specific wavelengths of light, black isn’t exactly a color; it’s what we see when an object absorbs all visible wavelengths, putting it in a category by itself. Its singular darkness has a unique visual potency, and its adaptability has long made it open to interpretation by the numerous groups that have adopted it. Black connotes seriousness and diligence, as in the black worn by religious orders. It can be sinister or rebellious, like the black cloaks of witches or the black leather jackets worn by biker gangs. In many cultures, it’s the color of mourning. But it can simultaneously be the epitome of chic and sophistication, yet charged with eroticism."

via: Quartz

The Queen of Less
"Jil Sander is known as the ‘Queen of Less’: a designer who achieved a balance between sobriety and elegance in women’s fashion. She’s also known as the designer who returned to her brand twice after it was no longer hers. On view at Frankfurt’s Museum Angewandte Kunst (through 6 May 2018) is Sander’s first ever exhibition ‘Präsens’ (Present Tense). To discuss the show, I met Sander – who gives interviews only very rarely – in the Hamburg villa in upscale Harvestehude district where her consulting firm is based."

via: Frieze.com

How Gore-Tex Infiltrated the Streetwear & Sneaker World
"For a while, it’s been associated with the frumpy, shapeless and practical wardrobes of people who couldn’t care less about style; the antithesis of the sneaker and streetwear elite. But recently, GORE-TEX has done a slick job of straddling both realms, catering to the traditional crowd while earning cool points with a series of sneaker and streetwear collaborations too."

via: Highsnobiety

Hanya Yanagihara Made a Style Magazine for the Trump Era
"In a moment when New York is about to be flushed with the glow of Fashion Week — when stories of politics and news will be placed next to shots of women in luxurious clothes and when some designers will undoubtedly use their runways to make grand cultural statements — it’s fitting that we are getting a newly revamped T Magazine. On Wednesday, the New York Times style magazine, T, goes live online with a new look and feel, thanks to its new editor-in-chief, Hanya Yanagihara. The issue will hit doorsteps of all Sunday Times subscribers on February 18."

via: The Cut

Will the Olympic Torch Burn Brightly for Retailers?
"Unlike the Super Bowl, which impacted the grocery and apparel sectors, along with playing host to elaborate marketing campaigns, the Olympics has a much more limited effect on retail. The apparel sector is still impacted, but the unique opportunities that the Olympics offer tend to center around ad campaigns, where marketers have the opportunity to tell longer stories, and take advantage of patriotic emotions and part-time celebrities."

via: Retail Dive

Menswear Revenues Are Expected to Outpace the Womenswear Market
"On Wednesday, digital intelligence firm L2 released a new report on menswear, delving into how brands are catering to the men's customer online. Nicknamed the "dark horse of fashion," menswear has always come second to the womenswear market, but interest in and investments towards men's products have only increased in recent years. Take, for example, Stella McCartney and Isabel Marant, which are historically known as women's-focused brands, but have recently launched collections for men. (Plus, for the 2017 LVMH Prize Shortlist, menswear designers outnumbered womenswear.) On the retail front, Nordstrom is making its New York City debut with a men's flagship, a first for the department store."

via: Fashionista

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