Weekend Reading: September 7, 2018
- Words Grailed Team
- Date September 7, 2018
"Weekend Reading" is a weekly rundown of our favorite stories from around the web.
Is there a story worth scoping out that we missed? Discuss this past week's headlines, and share your favorite stories from the week that was in our comments section below.
How Pockets Took Over Men's Fashion
"In 1901, Levi’s gave its famous 501 jean its famous fifth pocket. It wasn’t, as many assume, the teensy pocketwatch slot above the right front pocket—that had been there since the jean’s beginnings in 1879—but rather the back left pocket. That unassuming addition granted generations of men (and eventually women) double the rear-end real estate in which to stash bifolds, bandannas, crumpled bar receipts and, of course, awkward hands. For a mere sliver of space, it marked a revolution in clothing."
American Fashion Must Build Brands as Meaningful as Nike, Apple and Gucci
"The commoditization of the fashion industry, especially here in the US, where desperate retailers have encouraged a lack of differentiation and groupthink among American designers in order to hit quarterly sales goals, is dangerous. In the era of instant access — to information, to a wide range of product, to just about everything — American shoppers are after two things: easy or special."
via: Business of Fashion
Rachel Comey Makes Herself Comfortable
"A lot of people think of Rachel Comey as 'a quirky Brooklyn designer.' Her clothes aren’t actually quirky, and she lives in a converted barn in the Hudson Valley (though she keeps an apartment in New York). But she is cool and she does have a devoted following of offbeat creative types. She is so cool that when she wants to invite artists or actors whom she has never met, but whose work she admires, to her show, she drops them an email — no hustle. They almost always say yes. She is so cool that I know exactly what Maya Rudolph means when she says, about meeting Comey for the first time in her Soho shop, 'I’m such a wannabe fashion designer in my heart—it’s my hidden secret—she was just instantly approachable in a way most designers are not.' Comey has the same face for everyone."
via: The Cut
Rei Kawakubo Revealed (Sort of)
"Early one morning, in the beginning of April, just as the cherry blossoms came into full bloom in Tokyo, 100-odd people gathered at the entrance to an anonymous office building in Aoyama, an elegant and sedate neighborhood known for its designer stores and expensive French restaurants. Unlike the building’s facade (squat, brick, unremarkable) or its interior (empty, beige, somehow even more unremarkable), the people making their way inside were, like the pink petals feathering the city’s sidewalks, impossible to ignore. Some looked like religious fundamentalists or figures from 16th-century portraits, others like extras from 'La Strada.' They nodded and held doors open for one another, but remained quiet and unsmiling."
via: The New York Times
Fashion's Branding Crisis
"Goodbye Céline, hello Celine. The LVMH-owned fashion label unveiled a new logo over Labor Day weekend, and the internet is very divided about the typographic facelift."
via: Fast Company
The Menswear Market is Going All In on Experiential Retail
"When men enter one of the 13 Alton Lane showrooms sprinkled across the country from Dallas to Boston, they are faced with options extending well beyond the look of the bespoke suit they are there to buy. Would they, for example, prefer to sip on a bourbon or a hot tea before stripping down to their skivvies and stepping into the 3D body scanner that will take their measurements? Would they like to select a Migos track to play while discussing lapel width or is it more of an Ariana Grande type of day? Do they want to just put the whole suit business on hold for now, tuck into a side room and play some cards with their bros while someone else gets their inseam checked by lights and sensors?"
via: Fashionista
The Chicest Store in Milan Comes to New York
"When men enter one of the 13 Alton Lane showrooms sprinkled across the country from Dallas to Boston, they are faced with options extending well beyond the look of the bespoke suit they are there to buy. Would they, for example, prefer to sip on a bourbon or a hot tea before stripping down to their skivvies and stepping into the 3D body scanner that will take their measurements? Would they like to select a Migos track to play while discussing lapel width or is it more of an Ariana Grande type of day? Do they want to just put the whole suit business on hold for now, tuck into a side room and play some cards with their bros while someone else gets their inseam checked by lights and sensors?"
via: The New York Times
How Interview Magazine Came Back From the Dead
"Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, owned until last month by the one-time billionaire and art collector Peter Brant, is back on newsstands Thursday, less than four months after filing for bankruptcy. Thanks to the United States Bankruptcy Code and new, undisclosed investors, Interview returns with a younger Brant at the helm. Peter Brant’s daughter Kelly, its president since 2016, and Jason Nikic, its chief revenue officer since 2016, are its new owners. Kelly insists that her father is no longer a part of Interview in any capacity. Nor is her mother, Sandra Brant, who ran the magazine with Ingrid Sischy in the 1990s and 2000s."
via: Business of Fashion
Colin Kaepernick makes Nike Seem More Progressive Than it is
"Nike–a $34 billion company–knew exactly what it was doing when it put Colin Kaepernick’s face on its 30th anniversary 'Just Do It' ad campaign, with the lines “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything” plastered across his face. Unlike the toxic workplace crisis that blindsided Nike earlier this year–in which female employees alleged that they had been systematically mistreated by their company–Nike was prepared for the backlash that would inevitably come when it incorporated Kaepernick into its branding."
via: Fast Company
Burberry Ends Burning of Unsold Goods and Use of Real Fur in Collections
"British luxury brand Burberry says it will no longer burn millions of pounds worth of unsold goods or use real fur in its collections in a bid to improve its socially responsible credentials.The label, which will soon produce its first collection under new designer Riccardo Tisci, said it was committed to becoming more socially and environmentally responsible after its actions sparked an uproar."