Is Apple's Fashion Crown Slipping? - Forbes |
- Is Apple's Fashion Crown Slipping? - Forbes
- Extinction Rebellion: 'Fashion week should be a declaration of emergency' - The Guardian
- All The Best Fashion Moments From The Orange Is The New Black Premiere - Refinery29
- The Fashion Critic Gen Z Deserves - Papermag
| Is Apple's Fashion Crown Slipping? - Forbes Posted: 26 Jul 2019 06:59 AM PDT  People walk past the Apple Store in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan. Apple Store Ginza is Apple's 73rd retail store, and it is the first store outside the U.S. GettyApple, the first public company to be worth $1 trillion, has come a long way since college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded it in 1976 with a vision to make computers more accessible and small enough to have in homes and offices. Clearly business visionaries the pair set about changing the way people viewed the humble computer and then mobile technology by focusing on the design element of the products rather than merely their functionality. They understood that to drive consumer want and build a differentiated brand, they had to attribute desirability to products in a category (tech) that had previously competed on functionality alone, for them this was achieved by largely focusing on design. Their focus on developing stylish and identifiable products which drove consumer want based on aesthetics and personal style aspirations took design thinking and design innovation to new levels. They even went as far as to drop the word computer from their marketing and branding back in 2007 as they focused on building their design-led brand...the term computer having never really been synonymous with style! Whilst Apple is undoubtedly one of the most successful technology companies ever, to my mind, it can also teach many in the fashion industry a thing or two—fashion revolves around predicting what people want and designing and stocking these products before consumers even realize they want them. Apple has remained at the forefront in terms of technology trends but, as someone who can remember a time before tech became trendy, their real strength is that their product design is fashion-forward and aspirational appealing to different customer segments with differentiated technology products which allow for personalization to reflect consumers' aesthetic affiliations. Don't believe me–the proof is in the way Apple positioned and marketed their products back in 2014, when Apple launched their smartwatch at an exclusive launch event. It wasn't just the usual technology journalists that were invited there were also a number of high-profile fashion editors attending from the very epicenter of the fashion industry, publications such as Vogue. Amongst tech analysts Apple faced some criticism that their smartwatches didn't have greater functionality than other products already available–but that didn't matter to consumers as what they did have was design desirability–they looked more like watches than tech gadgets, Apple certainly benefited from lots of positive fashion and lifestyle coverage which has driven their mass-market appeal. Since then there have even been Apple launch events purely to launch new watch bands and bracelets and the rose gold-colored Macbook hardly tech innovations. For their watch lines, Apple has also focused on forging relationships with companies such as Hermes and Nike, both held in high accord by the fashion crowd. Apple has long blurred the lines between fashion and tech combining expertise from both industries as they continued to grow, in recent years senior hires from the fashion industry have included: Paul Deneve, CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry chief Angela Ahrendts and Lance Lin, previously fashion editor at GQ, as senior PR manager. Apple at their prime delivered a product development masterclass. They developed products and a brand that was stylish, desirable and was one step ahead of consumer wants, but what now that there is more competition and consumers have grown more demanding? The latest financial results showed a 5% decline in the second quarter, not something Apple has been accustomed to in recent years, and a clear indicator that their products are losing that all-important fashion item desire. Whilst new releases used to see lines around the block, in locations all around the world, this is now no longer the case. Whilst the iPad Pro and AirPods are clearly great products, can they really be considered fashion items in the same way that the original iPhone was, or the Apple Watch? Their adoption might be strong but they haven't got that same "cool" factor that saw iPhones mentioned in rap songs, not that long ago. It seems Apple may have lost their design and thus fashion focus–with the departure of Angela Ahrendts, senior vice president retail, and the shock news that Jony Ive, Apple's chief design officer is leaving the business after 30 years, what direction will Apple take next—only time will tell. But its tech fashion crown? That seems to be slipping.  |
| Extinction Rebellion: 'Fashion week should be a declaration of emergency' - The Guardian Posted: 26 Jul 2019 10:58 AM PDT On Friday afternoon, two members of Extinction Rebellion, Tamsin Omond and Sara Arnold, spoke at Port Eliot festival in Cornwall to Emily Sheffield, a former deputy editor of Vogue, about the role of the fashion industry in the climate emergency. Addressing an orangery packed with people who looked as if they knew their way round a vintage boutique, Arnold talked of the need for a "complete cultural change around clothes". She also listed a number of facts to convince even the most diehard fashion fan that change is necessary: the industry is set to grow by 63% by 2030; 100bn items are produced each year, "far more than we need"; fashion is a contributor to about 10% of carbon emissions; it is one of the biggest polluters, responsible for the release of a huge amount of microfibres and plastics into the ocean. Extinction Rebellion, she said, is promoting a fashion boycott, urging people not to buy any new clothes for a year. "We must curb our consumption very, very rapidly … We already produce enough clothes. We can swap clothes between one another, we can customise clothes, we can upcycle them."  The talk took place as part of the festival's Fashion foundation, where events are taking place all weekend, including from the likes of designer Alice Temperley, and Turner-prize winning artist Jeremy Deller, as well as workshops in brooch-making and "energetic drawing". Speaking after the event, Arnold explained more about the boycott's aims, saying it does not need to mean going without. Indeed, she loves clothes. She trained in fashion design at Central Saint Martins in London and dreamed of being the next Alexander McQueen; she is wearing what Sheffield described as a "frow-ready" outfit – 50s glasses, her mum's old dress and red lipstick. It comes down to "challenging your relationship with clothes", she says. Arnold points out that even with secondhand clothes there are problems, such as whether they are being shipped from afar. "With everything you do, you need to ask questions and challenge … The best thing we can do is swap things with the people that are close to us." Sheffield broadened the discussion by asking environmental questions of the audience, including: "How many single-use outfits will the British purchase this summer?" and "How many of those are for festivals?" The answers are 50m and 7.4m respectively. She followed by asking people to raise a hand if they bought a new outfit for the festival. Predictably, no one put their hand up. There was scope for taking heart, though, given the fact that doubling the useful life of clothing from one to two years reduces emissions by 24%.  Extinction Rebellion is planning disruptions for London fashion week in September. It used direct action last time, blocking roads across the city to hinder those trying to travel from one show to another. For the next instalment, it is planning a funeral for fashion week, because, according to Arnold, "that should be where it stops for ever … During this absolute emergency, celebrating new fashion, which is essentially what fashion week is doing, is not relevant." Arnold looked to the example of fashion during the second world war, when, she says, it was frowned upon to wear ostentatious dress. "Yet we are in an existential crisis and fashion weeks are going on as usual," she said. For Arnold, it is not business as usual. She was working for a luxury brand when the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report saying there were 12 years to limit climate catastrophe. The sense of emergency took hold and she "walked out of the job leaving a resignation letter that said 'we have 10 years left to fight for the planet so, goodbye'". Omond agrees that the conversations the industry has need "to be about how we are dealing with the climate emergency and nothing else. That is the state of the emergency we're in. We need to focus on how we can transition, not in 10 or 20 years, but today or tomorrow. Into a future where we are regenerating the earth rather than ransacking it." They looked to the example of the recently cancelled Copenhagen fashion week, pledging instead to become a platform that helps the industry be more sustainable. The next London fashion week, she says, "should be a declaration of emergency, not a celebration". It should "be the death of fashion", after which there will be rebirth.  Omond spoke more broadly about the Extinction Rebellion movement, about its origins and how its rapid growth and success was rooted in the research of two academics, Roger Hallam and Dr Gail Bradbrook, into non-violent civil disobedience. As the black civil rights and Indian independence movements were the defining issues of their era, so climate change, she said, is the defining issue of ours. "What we see is that climate change is not a once-in-a-lifetime or once-in-a-generation or once-in-a-century issue. It is a once-in-a-species moment. It will be our defining moment."  |
| All The Best Fashion Moments From The Orange Is The New Black Premiere - Refinery29 Posted: 27 Jul 2019 02:30 AM PDT   |
| The Fashion Critic Gen Z Deserves - Papermag Posted: 26 Jul 2019 01:09 PM PDT  YouTube, with its own ecosystem of celebrities, dramas and franchises, has become such an unconventional alternative to more "traditional" forms entertainment. Viewers come to the website to watch ASMR muckbangers eat aloe vera, non-stop drama in the makeup community (thanks Jeffree Star), or people like Tana Mongeau live their best lives. But for HauteLeMode's subscribers, Luke Meagher is teaching "fashion in the most fun, sassy, bitchy, analytical way," as he says at the beginning of each video. When we think of fashion critics, we expect them to dissect collections with grace and admiration — think Tim Blanks, Cathy Horyn, or Robin Givhan. Though Meagher respects those critics, he's not one of them. He's sharped-tongued and shady, calling industry's favorites out on the regular for cultural appropriation or simply because he thinks their collections are boring. But he's also smart, doing the researching and taking the time to fully dissect his subjects thoroughly with an appreciation for the history of the industry and the art form. After becoming obsessed with YouTube, Meagher decided to create his channel in 2015 because he noticed a gap in the topics he was interested in. "The only fashion content was hauls, try-on videos, and look books," he says. "A), I'm not that aesthetically pleasing, so that's not going to work. B), there's nothing about the actual fashion industry being talked about." From his red-carpet reviews every season, to history breakdowns of legacy brands, to roasting celebrity and YouTubers' style, Meagher is truly creating unique videos. The HauteLeMode channel has recently surpassed 250,000 subscribers, and on Instagram, Meagher shares his opinions on the latest industry news and creates memes — comparing the latest Valentino show to the Dopplebops and using to Michael Kor's words on Project Runway to harshly describe his own collection. PAPER had a chance to speak to the content creator about his place in fashion, Diet Prada, and who he'd like to see leave the helm of a major brand. Why is YouTube your platform of choice to deliver fashion criticism? There's that whole idea of self-production. It makes everything easier, because everybody else's video quality is not professional, TV quality. You don't feel as bad when you're using a shitty little camera. And then, it's also a matter of me being young. I was 17 when I started. I didn't have the money to pay for Women's Wear Daily, the Business of Fashion, or anything like that. If I needed to get my fashion information, there's nothing that is easily available for people to learn about the history of Dior or to watch a review of the most recent Chanel show. So, it was a matter of: how can I make fashion palatable for a younger audience? They might not be buying Chanel haute couture, but they are buying into the idea of the brand and the fantasy of the brand. They might be buying Chanel lipstick at Sephora and because of the most recent collection, they're like, "This is the perfect time for me to buy into the brand." So, I think YouTube is often not thought of as an actual jackpot for the fashion industry, but it has a strong young audience who might not necessarily be fashion buyers, but they buy into fashion brands in a different matter.
Everybody has to start somewhere. Everyone has to be a fashion baby at some point. Exactly. In your videos, you're unapologetic shady and stay very true to your own point of view. In a place like fashion, where it seems like a lot of people are scared to fully voice their opinion, why are you so open, honest, and critical of the industry? YouTube plays a big role. AdSense, which is the ads on the videos, don't necessarily have to relate to fashion. So how a magazine might be bound to Dolce & Gabbana, for instance, I have no ties to any brand unless I chose to interact with them. I've seen that I don't need a brand to deem me acceptable in terms of advertising to be successful. I can keep my journalistic integrity. I can keep that without having to ask a brand. Also, over time, I don't need to be going to London, Milan, Paris, and everywhere to do everything. I can see everything on the internet. I don't necessarily need to buy into the idea of, you're not working in fashion or you're not a fashion person unless you're at every single event. I don't need that to be an acceptable fashion insider or fashion critic. I have my audience, and it allows me to be this independent person that doesn't need to rely on any brand to make me something or anyone.
"I have my audience, and it allows me to be this independent person that doesn't need to rely on any brand to make me something or anyone."You're still one of the only people that's covering these topics on YouTube in a non hypebeast-y way. Tea. [Laughs] Very much so. Tea. You've been running the channel for four years — what's changed since you started? In terms of the fashion industry, we are going through a time where people are like, "Everything is boring. Everything sucks." For pretty much my entire channel, it's like "Everything is boring. Everything sucks." So, after a while, probably two or three months ago, I was like, why don't I actually start to look deeply into the industry a bit more, and so that maybe if the major brands suck, at least I'm unmasking a small group and sharing people a group of cool young designers, who are doing actual amazing work? The more and more I see the gatekeepers of fashion fading away, the younger people are starting to come into their own and create their own specific thing: their signature pieces, their signature talents, their signature photos, and their signature models. There are these groups of people that are coming out together. That is definitely happening. I can't put a lot of names to faces right now, but I definitely think the industry is starting to create its own culture again. People are coming together. Personally, I use to care about what people in the industry thought about me. I use to be like, I want to go to everything and I wish I would be brought onto every press trip. Now, I realized that honestly it doesn't fucking matter. I don't care. It's not something I have to have in order to feel relevant or anything like that. As long as I'm content with what I create, the message I put out, and people are happy with it and are learning from it. That's my job and that's cool. I'm very happy with that. That was a personal thing that I've gone through over the past few months. Shout out to YouTube for making me feel great about myself. You talk a little bit about fashion being at an interesting period. Why do you think it is at this point and what do it will look like in the future going forward? I personally speak for myself. I grew up at the beginning of Gen Z. Probably around 14 or 15, I was getting into social media. Seeing how my childhood was to how the culture of the world is now, it's so different. I think a lot of young kids don't understand that it's different, so the fashion industry has never had to deal with people saying that what they're doing is cultural appropriation, racist, and discriminatory. They never had anybody put their feet to the fire, ever. Magazines would never, because they're getting paid and brands are showered with praise. So, it's a matter of this whole new generation saying, "No, that's gross. What you're doing is disgusting. That's racist. That's wrong. Why are you doing this? We won't support you." The industry is changing in that way. More and more every day, I think we're getting better. PAPER, like the Aaron Philip cover, is the thing I've been talking about recently.
Aww. Love that! No really. The cover and every single photo were amazing. Two years ago, when she was out on Twitter doing her thing, I was like, "I don't get it." It was just something the industry I know would just never allow for a trans, disabled person to walk a runway show. I couldn't conceive that in my mind, based on the knowledge of the fashion industry that I had. Now, since that time period, her photos have gotten stronger. She's doing covers. She's doing shows. I think the idea of diversity is going to be pushing us forward instead of just the supermodels and '90s fantasies that we are always thinking about when we think about fashion. We're coming into an industry that looks at itself and understand itself. It's intelligent and trying to tell a realistic story about the world and what's at hand. Personally, what I look for in strong designers is someone that tells an amazing through clothing, like Mowalola Ogunlesi. She did these amazing, beautiful bloody gunshot motifs on her suits for London Men's Fashion Week. She's telling a story there. She's not just putting bloody gunshots for no reason. That's where fashion is going.
"It's a very necessary era in fashion because a lot of the brands, a lot of the people that work in fashion, and even cultures that revolve around fashion, especially the Western culture, need to come to terms with how the world has changed and how the new generation is going to be going forward in the fashion industry."In that vein, do you think this idea of "woke fashion" is a trend? Will it eventually pass or will it stay and continue to facilitate this conversation? I think of fashion in terms of eras. You have the 1940s to 1970s, where fashion was extremely closed off like haute couture — very white privilege and extreme amounts of money. When you hit the '80s to the mid-2010s, it's the era of fantasy and globalizing the fashion industry and still working on that narrative, still controlling how fashion is deemed by the public, customers, and clients, but opening the door for it to be something much more visible to the everyday person. We're still beginning the new era of fashion where everybody can speak about fashion. Everybody has an opinion about it. Everybody's allowed to discuss it. I don't think the idea of "woke fashion" is a trend. It's an era. I don't know how long the era is going to be around. I don't know if it is short or it is long. It's a very necessary era in fashion because a lot of the brands, a lot of the people that work in fashion, and even cultures that revolve around fashion, especially the Western culture, need to come to terms with how the world has changed and how the new generation is going to be going forward in the fashion industry. You've spoken about how within the fashion landscape, you're on the fringe. Where do you feel like you stand now? YouTube as a platform is not something that was recognized until maybe six months ago, literally barely recognized. The more and more I do what I do and spread my wings, the more and more fashion people are watching my videos. People that work in the industry are recognizing that, and that's nice to see. I'm becoming a little less fringed because a lot more people are understanding what I do and are happy to see what I do. But, the fringe thing comes from being one of the only people that says anything ill of the industry. A lot of the time, you're standing there and not everybody is saying, "Oh, I totally agree." You're there and like, "Ahh! Did I piss PR people that I know off?" or "Is the creative director that's following me going to upset that this is what I said about the collection?" Just being a critic is not always easy, and I learned that more recently. You can't always be the super fun guy saying every collection is great, but then also, that's not my job. My job is not to say everything is major. My job is to tell a designer what I personally think and hope that's something that they hear. They take that advice or they don't, but at least they heard it from me. Very rarely is it coming from an ill-willed place. The fringe thing is a combination of being on YouTube, which is some that fashion people are like, "What's that?" still to this very day and a matter of being a critic that on a lesser-known fashion platform. So, even if I do get invited to a show, it's standing room. I can't stand and see the clothes. I'm still figuring out how I go about those situations, as well. Definitely in the fringes, but it's also something I'm becoming more comfortable with. I remember in your video with @PamBoy, you talked a little about Diet Prada. Some say it's lost a bit of its edge as soon as they started to do sponsored posts. Where do you think the accountability stands for a critic when you include #ad or #sponsored in content, when they're supposed to voices commenting on the industry? No comment. Listen, everyone has to do their own thing. That's that. What's the future of HauteLeMode? Where do think this is going and where do you see yourself going in the near and distant future? I'd like to turn HauteLeMode into a publication. Not something that is monthly or has to have a cover every month. But something that happens every once in a while, if we do something exceptional. About the sponsored thing, honestly, as long as you're not necessarily working with a major brand all the time, as long as you're outlining your contract like, "I can say whatever the fuck I want about you. You're paying me to say whatever I want." That's how I'd take it if anything like that ever happens. Let me do me. That's what you want, that's what you get. But, if I get somebody that is super amazing, that I love, I want to work with, and we have the budget to do it, I would like to create cool editorial content because, in reality, the fashion industry is also lacking that. People had amazing '80s, '90s, early 00's covers. I don't think any of these young kids ever get much like that. It's a matter of also providing that content. But, I'm going to try to chug along slowly. Do my thing.
If you get one rid of one designer at the helm of a house, who would it be? And who is a designer that more people should be following? Easy peasy. Maria Grazia (Chiuri), and the thing it's nothing personal against Maria Grazia. But it's like, girl, thank you so much for your tenure. It will go down in history, definitely, but it's about time we all cut our losses and move on. For a designer I think is amazing and should be getting more credit, there are a lot. I don't want to single one out. I'll do three. My good girl Tia. She runs Slashed by Tia. It's this amazing, beautiful frilly two-piece sheer set moment. It's my favorite thing. I'm obsessed with her and her work is amazing. She created this amazing brand signature at a young age, and I love that. Tolu Coker, she's another one. I saw her recently when I was in Paris, and she has taken re-dyed, recycled lace and create beautiful portraits of people from her neighborhood in London on garments. It mixes sustainability with beautiful portraiture made out of textiles waste. Amazing. I was talking about Mowalola Ogunlesi before. That most recent menswear collection, I was like, "You fucking go off, please. I need 17 halters in leather in these colors in my wardrobe, and you're giving me a narrative about culture." Those are three peeps that I'm really about right now. Photo via Instagram  |
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