"Weekend Reading" is a weekly rundown of our favorite stories from around the web.
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At Paris Couture, a Return to Elegance
"Set before the slightly cold, if genuinely heartfelt, homage to Hubert de Givenchy that Clare Waight Keller devised for the revered French house that bears his name — softening up a bit would help her hone a new Givenchy signature — the archly autobiographical Vetements show, inspired by Demna Gvasalia's experience of the Georgian conflict, felt frankly de trop. Too many spikes, too many masks and ultimately too many concessions to a language Gvasalia certainly invented, but which, by now, has become common. The time is ripe for him to test new grounds and prove he is not a one-hit wonder."

via: Business of Fashion

Why Virtual Reality Won't Revolutionize Retail, But Scan-and-Go Will
"While not as flashy as mixed reality technologies, the practicality of scan-and-go checkout systems, along with other mobile POS systems, is leading to a reality in which waiting in line at the checkout counter no longer fits. While Amazon Go is the obvious forerunner in the cashierless checkout space, the movement has also spawned efforts from Walmart (which have since ended) and even Dollar General, which recently announced it was testing the feature.
Being able to order on mobile, pick up mobile orders in stores, and go through the entire shopping experience without standing in line — or even talking to anyone if the customer doesn't want to — is becoming a focus for many retailers, especially grocery stores and mass merchants, where both customers and checkout lines are often numerous."

via: Retail Dive

How Palace and adidas Are Making Tennis Cool Again
"What Palace have done best of all with this collection is seemingly do very little at all. Tennis fashion is always at its worst when it tries to be too 'fashion' (see Venus Williams’ lace look, Maria Sharapova’s tuxedo dress and Roger Federer’s military jacket), so thankfully Palace have gone light on the details. Of course, they had to stick with the tournament’s prescriptive white, but that’s only served to create a nice, fresh contrast to their own largely colourful collections. The fact that players can only wear white at Wimbledon always poses brands questions about how to make their kit stand out. Palace have done it with smart use of retro terry towelling, perfect logo placements (I admire the discretion on most product, as well as the sweet subordination to adidas) and neat accessories, from a cheeky umbrella (Wimbledon was once famous for its showers, but is currently enjoying a scorcher) to a bucket hat."

via: i-D

What Does 'Made in USA' Mean Without White Oak Mill
"Since the closure of Cone’s White Oak Mill in Greensboro, North Carolina at the end of last year, denim brands have been left in a difficult position in continuing their Made in USA product lines in a market without an American selvedge denim mill.
'People always think Made in America is a romantic endeavor,' Christian McCann, founder of Left Field NYC, said. 'We have been doing this for 20 years and although some understand the needs of the modern American manufacturer, most don’t.'"

via: Sourcing Journal

Caroline Brasch Nielsen's New Vintage E-Shop Is Your New Destination for One-of-a-Kind Summer Outfits
"'Every time I would travel, I would find out where the vintage shops were,' says Caroline Brasch Nielsen, the 25-year-old Dane who has traversed the globe modeling for the likes of Chanel, Christian Dior, and Valentino. It’s a habit that has amassed her a treasure trove of second-hand designer pieces, which she’s recently opened up to the public through her new e-boutique, CBN Vintage. 'I never thought I was going to open a vintage shop. For a long time, I just had a lot [of vintage] myself,' confesses Nielsen over the phone from Copenhagen, where her online-only collection will be available to shop in person, come September, at a pop-up held at the popular eatery Atelier September."

via: Vogue

Meet the Man Behind the Moody Visual Style of "Atlanta"
"Since FX’s Atlanta premiered, creator/star Donald Glover and series director Hiro Murai have been lauded not only for bringing much-needed diversity to the small screen, but also for broadening the visual parameters of what a TV show is capable of. With episodes like 'The Streisand Effect,' which featured a black personification of Justin Bieber, or the curveball horror show of 'Teddy Perkins,' in which Glover played a reclusive white man, Atlanta is constantly bending genres and teetering on the edge of surrealism—not unlike Glover and Murai’s bold music video for 'This is America,' which went viral."

via: Fast Company

This Summer's Best Sandals Got the Big Ugly Sneaker Treatment
"There are three categories of high fashion flip flops: the reinvention of a classic silhouette, the sanctioned collaboration with an established sandal purveyor, and the original, a take on the sandal so wild it just may be the first of its kind. Some of these iterations have already peaked: the Gucci flip flop, which Future wore to bed your girlfriend, and has been name checked by Outkast, Method Man, and 2Chainz on various songs. These fall into the first category, as do Louis Vuitton’s 'logo-loving Daytona beach dad' (according to GQ’s Matt Sebra) version, both of which are transparent takes on the Adidas Adilette silhouette. Sanctioned collaborations include Rick Owens x Birkenstocks, which birthed a pop up filled with monochromatic grey takes on the famous hippie shoe, many rendered in fur (the very idea that designers believe we should wear fur in sandal weather deserves its own eyebrow raise). Another example would be Opening Ceremony x Tevas, which produced colorful creepers or Opening Ceremony x Birkenstock, which produced rhinestone encrusted Birks (wallflowers need not apply)."

via: GQ

Collectors' Edition: Patagonia Fans Are 'Part of the Mission' to Leave the Planet Better than the Found it
"In terms of Patagonia's more cultish products, the Nano Puff is up there, alongside its R1 Regulator Fleece Pullover (which celebrates its 20th anniversary next spring), Snap-T Pullover (which has seen up to 17 styles in 61 colorways) and Baggies Shorts. The Baggies — fast-drying and Fair Trade Certified with roomy front pockets, which are enjoying something of a moment on the menswear scene thanks to the popularity of 'dad fashion' — are some of Watson's favorites, which says a lot. Of the 60-80 pieces of clothing he estimates he owns and wears on a daily basis, 80 percent of that figure is made by Patagonia. ('I mean, the only things that aren't are my suits that I wear for weddings and some nice shirts I wear for work, and shoes,' says Watson. 'Basically, stuff they don't make.')"

via: Fashionista

A Japanese Retailer is Using this Polka-Dot Suit to Bring its Custom-Fit Clothe to the World
"Start Today spent seven years developing its clothes-sizing process, which begins with the Zozosuit—a bodysuit covered in more than 300 stretchable markers that the Zozo app reads to come up with detailed measurements of your body. Today, the company announced that it’s expanding Zozo and its unique sizing solution to 72 different countries around the world. Right now it’s running a campaign to give away 100,000 custom-fit denim and t-shirt sets to promote the global rollout. Full, shoppable sites will go live in all the countries, which include Australia, China, Brazil, India, the US, the UK, and more, on July 30."

via: Quartzy

John Fluevog Is Cool Again. Maybe He Always Was.
"In today’s trend-averse fashion universe, that may be the key to this brand’s endurance in a skittish retail world. Business doubled over the past six years, according to Stephen Bailey, Fluevog Shoes’ chief managing officer. And Claire Foster, the director of accessories and footwear at WGSN, a global trend forecasting company, predicted that 'we will start to see more of his current and past designs in the fashion media and among influential tastemakers in the coming couple of seasons.'"

via: The New York Times

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