"Weekend Reading" is a weekly rundown of our favorite stories from around the web.
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Ssense’s Billion-Dollar Ambitions: More Than Hype
"The e-tailer that pioneered selling luxury streetwear to millennials is opening a five-storey flagship in Montréal. The next challenge: building a billion-dollar global business while keeping its cool."

via: Business of Fashion

Gareth Pugh on White Noise and Finding Solace by the Sea
"“Coming from a seaside town, the sea is something I really miss when I’m in London,” Gareth Pugh explains. “So I’m drawn to places like Brighton – psychologically, the feeling of being on the edge of something is so interesting for me. I’m actually quite afraid of the sea – I’m not sure whether it’s the depth, or that fear of the unknown – but it’s an important part of who I am.” So when Selfridges invited Pugh to create an installation reflecting on the theme of ‘Radical Luxury’ as part of its new exhibition The Flipside, the noisy seascape in his hometown of Sunderland seemed a natural draw."

via: AnOther

Kanye West, Donald Trump, and the Apex of Reality TV
"The continued “co-signing” between West and the Trump dynasty has sent shockwaves around the world because we like to imagine that our pop icons are liberal, and maybe in a pre-social media era it was easier for artists to keep up that pretence. West and Trump are both powerful iconoclasts for whom reality – the disruption and the harnessing of it – is paramount. Trump is a reality TV star turned president, a pathological liar who has somehow legitimised the concept of “fake news” in order to discredit a litany of allegations against him, a person who openly shows little regard for minorities. West is a musical genius who has found himself at the centre of a family who created a whole new rulebook for consuming and understanding celebrity culture – and distorted reality as we know it. He too alludes to running for office, whether that’s by posting Kanye 2024 pictures or criticising Obama, just like Trump did in his proto-campaigning years."

via: Dazed

Seth Rogen Got Pretty Stylish All of a Sudden
"When Rogen first became a household name in the late aughts, thanks to the successes of Knocked Up and Superbad, he quickly became a god among the everymen who swore by plaid shirts and cargo shorts. Guys loved him in part for his lack of fashion sense, because it meant he dressed just like them: unassuming and unfussed. He was easy to identify with onscreen—and in life. So imagine our surprise to find that, a decade later, Rogen has quietly transformed into a seriously stylish everyman! As menswear has morphed from cult interest to something most dudes have basic awareness of, Rogen has slid right into menswear’s current relaxed-fit wave—and frankly, he’s never looked cooler."

via: GQ

Scarcity is Giving Rise to a Surge in Counterfeits, Supreme Doesn't Seem to Mind
"No longer the well-kept secret of cool, in-the-know New York kids, Supreme is becoming a household name. Thanks to the likes of influencers and celebrities, and big-name luxury goods collaborators, such as Louis Vuitton and Rimowa, the cult brand has become visible to the average Instagram user, who very well may nothave heard of the James Jebbia-founded brand until relatively recently. The result of such growing brand awareness has come a surge in demand, something Supreme has been courting consistently since it got its start in downtown Manhattan nearly 25 years ago."

via: The Fashion Law

At Nike, Revolt Led by Women Leads to Exodus of Male Executives
"It is a humbling setback for a company that is famous worldwide and has built its brand around the inspirational slogan “Just Do It.” While the #MeToo movement has led to the downfall of individual men, the kind of sweeping overhaul that is occurring at Nike is rare in the corporate world, and illustrates how internal pressure from employees is forcing even huge companies to quickly address workplace problems."

via: The New York Times

Today's Emoji Originated From Pixelated Symbols Designed for Pagers
"Conceived nearly 20 years ago by artist Shigetaka Kurita, the original emoji were intended for long-winded users of the “Pocket Bell,” a pager made by Japanese telecommunications company DoCoMo. The Pocket Bell’s digital keyboard included with two pictograms: a heart and a telephone. Seeing the popularity of the heart pictogram, DoCoMo tasked a 26-year-old employee—Kurita—to come up with more symbols that might attract customers to its new mobile internet service, “iMode.”"

via: Quartz

Chris Gibbs Talks Opening UNION Tokyo, Authenticity, and Japan’s Retail Scene
"For a long time, UNION has been a cult hit on the Los Angeles menswear retail scene, mixing the high-low of designer fashion and streetwear. Chris Gibbs, currently carrying the torch passed down from store founders James Jebbia and Mary Ann Fusco, wears his passion for good clothes on his sleeve, which has been instrumental to securing his shop’s reputation as a place for fashion fans by fashion fans."

via: Highsnobiety

Versace's Salehe Bembury Designed the Chain Reaction to Be More Than a Chunky Sneaker
"In September of 2017, Salehe Bembury announced his new role as Versace’s head of sneaker design – an appropriate move after spending some time designing footwear for Kanye West at YEEZY. Fast forward to January of this year, and his first creation under the luxury fashion house surfaced in the hands of the lavishly-dressed 2 Chainz. Since then, the Chain Reaction has been seen on the social media accounts of creatives and tastemakers around the globe, further igniting the love-it-or-hate-it trend of chunky sneakers that started early last year. Versace‘s contribution to the fad calls upon its longstanding heritage with features that include a chain-link outsole, wax-dipped lace-tips and additional high-quality touches. However it’s Salehe’s attachment to the model that makes it that much more desirable, as a young, black designer disrupting the traditions of high-fashion."

via: Hypebeast

How Are Brands' In-House Teams Managing Transition Seasons Without Creative Directors?
"Bally's story is not unlike other luxury brands, whose in-house design teams — the majority of which are largely unknown to the greater public — have been tasked with carrying the brand forward without the clear vision of a single creative director. Such is the case for both Nina Ricci and Lanvin, at least temporarily, whose studio teams will be designing collections in the interim following the exits of Guillaume Henry and Olivier Lapidus, respectively. These transitional seasons, which are typically among the most commercially viable, can cause problems if not handled efficiently. However, houses have certainly succeeded in developing strong brand narratives despite the creative interruptions that occur when an artistic lead departs."

via: Fashionista

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