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

Rei Kawakubo and the Met’s Impossible Task
"Kawakubo's work and politic as a 'public' figure is about refusal, mystery, deconstruction and a constant reimagining. She isn’t well known to the public at all, she is adamantly private, even her own employees rarely see her; she flits through Dover Street Market like a ghost. She has said time and time again she feels disappointed when many people like her work immediately because it means she did not push far enough. She imagines artistry as a battle; in an interview with the New York Times, she said 'With creation as my sword, I could fight the battles I wanted.'"

via: Racked

The A-Z of Supreme
"Supreme is a lot like The Simpsons: both are incredibly nuanced cultural encyclopedias that soak up a wealth of diverse inspirations and refract these references through their own unique lenses. But what makes each entity brilliant is that you don't need an extensive literacy in The Simpsons's or Supreme's web of references to be a fan (in other words: you can laugh at Mayor Quimby without knowing he's a JFK caricature, just as you can fall in love with a Supreme tee without knowing its graphic is based on Amadeus). This is especially true when it comes to Supreme's art collaborations. Late artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, and Keith Haring have seen their work featured on clothing; living ones including Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Christopher Wool, and Urs Fischer have participated in the brand's skate deck collaboration series, coveted by skaters and art collectors alike. 'What's important for us is the kid who comes into the store,' Supreme's founder James Jebbia told Glenn O'Brien of the brand's art world crossovers."

via: i-D

Nike is suffering as Adidas and Under Armour gain momentum
"Under Armour’s Chief Executive Kevin Plank said on the third-quarter earnings call that the company’s footwear business, along with its international business, will be key revenue growth drivers going forward. The business grew to nearly $1 billion in 2016 from $239 million in 2012."

via: Market Watch

Fashion shows prove less important to affluent millennials: Shullman
"Luxury Institute’s '2016 State of the Luxury Industry' report shows that consumers are spending much less in the luxury market compared to two years ago, but luxury marketers will have an uphill battle to determine how to combat this. While digital and mobile avenues are vital to success for any retailer or brand, it seems that affluent consumers are interested more in shopping with luxury brands at bricks-and-mortar locations."

via: Luxury Daily

2016: the Year the Gvasalias Conquered Fashion
"So it's true: I, like the rest of the fashion industry, have been enchanted with the Gvasalia effect throughout 2016. Why? Because the breakthrough of Vetements in 2015 represented a bright new light in a fashion industry often too focused on the establishment. Even experimental London had become gentrified—not on purpose, but because the young designers, who created the city's new fashion scene around 2005 had grown up and started real businesses—real brands. Elsewhere in the fashion landscape, we'd grown tired of those endless musical chairs of designers being hired and fired from the big houses, re-ventilating the same energy through the industry on repeat. We were dying for something new: something authentic, which wasn't pretentious or snobby or wanky, but inclusive and exciting—and still intelligent. And although Vetements came with more than a few nods to the legacy of Martin Margiela, which some would argue contradicts said authenticity, its arrival served as our latest Second Coming; a kind of saviour in a time of despair."

via: i-D

Though Awash in Fakes, China Rethinks Counterfeit Hunters
"Even as China grows and matures, and moves to protect brands and ideas, it still struggles with how to get rid of fakes. Overseas governments, overseas companies and even its own increasingly choosy consumers complain that China’s counterfeit products hurt brand names and common people alike. Chinese leaders have stepped up efforts to cull them, in part to protect homegrown companies that are starting to produce their own innovative products. Last year, China’s courts handled about 120,000 intellectual property cases, up 9 percent from 2014, according to official media."

via: The New York Times

Pro-tips for buying clothes that will last years, not weeks
"Not all clothing is made to last. The quality of our clothes is in decline, some argue, and the culprit is a global fashion system that prioritizes lightning-fast production and a cheap price tag. We shop constantly, and always want more new stuff, creating a culture of disposable, low-quality clothes."

via: Quartz

Hermés: Time is a Luxury
"For nearly 30 years, Nichanian has been in charge of the French luxury brand’s men’s offering. She started it, famously, by pitching the idea in 1988 to Jean-Louis Dumas, the former chairman and artistic director of Hermès, over a rooftop coffee and croissants. Since then, Hermès has been a staple on the Parisian shop floors, and a favourite among editors finishing off another packed show day with the brand’s signature, understated luxury."

via: Port Magazine

This is how retailers should cater to the Gen Z shopper
"When they shop online they have no problem buying more items than they want, and returning what they don’t want. In fact 28% of Generation Z agree that they buy lots of things online knowing they’re going to send most back – compared with just 10% of older shoppers."

via: WGSN

Retail and apparel industries take wait-and-see approach to Trump’s talk of tariffs
"But his statements were not especially specific, fueling a fair amount of uncertainty for the retail industry, which relies heavily on imported goods to fill store shelves. And Trump hasn’t backed off this kind of rhetoric since his surprise win, most recently issuing a series of tweets on Sunday in which he said that companies that move jobs overseas will be subject to a 35 percent levy."

via: The Washington Post

Tags: weekend-reading