an eventful day in the fashion world for good reasons?
buckle up babies!
Before we begin, you may notice a few changes around here— I decided to take this Substack thing a bit more seriously, so thought I’d spruce things up. Kinda cute? idk.
THERE IS SO MUCH to write about today!!!! I am currently in a WeWork because I didn’t realise how much I would hate working from home despite presently living my dream job life. There is a man at the table next to me who apparently has a lot of calls today and, unfortunately, lacks the concept of an “indoor voice,” but here we go.
I haven’t published what I wore about the Palace x Vivienne Westwood collab the other night because I realised after a night's sleep that it was largely illegible. However, I have edited it and will post it separately to this.
Today was the Proenza Schouler show, which kicked off NYFW early (but let’s not forget Harlem’s Fashion Row is the actual unofficial kick-off to NYFW!!!).
I started my morning by reading my queen, Chloë Sevigny’s very Chloë interview for The Cut.
AND Haider Ackermann is going to Tom Ford.
Proenza Schouler showed their SS25 ready-to-wear collection today with some familiar faces on the runway– hi Petra Collins and Devon Lee Carlson. The collection was nice, there were some interesting uses of leather and grommets, but for the most part, it felt like I’d seen it all before. I know everything has been done, and nothing is new, and that’s probably one of the worst parts of being a designer today, but this collection left me without much to say. I could easily be missing some nuances to some of the looks, but besides their desirable construction, the pieces aren’t doing much for me.
Look 31 was one of the weakest– I feel like I’ve seen this dress on a million red carpets, and as someone whose favourite time in fashion history is the 1760s, anything even slightly neoclassical bums me out. A lot of the collection reminded me of Riccardo Tisci-era Burberry (negative connotation) but looks 18, 19, 23, 33, and 38 made me happy.
The collection is well done and objectively nice, but it just felt a bit tired. I’m also not entirely a Proenza Schouler girlie, though, so like I said above, I could be missing something. I suspect this nice will be a similar theme for the forthcoming NYFW shows, though—toned down with a focus on tailoring and more conspicuous allusions to wealth than what has been present in NYFW seasons past. That isn’t to say nice clothes need inconspicuous signifiers of wealth, or any signifiers of wealth at that, but in New York you can sense a hesitancy from designers to play and explore because of the dwindling economy.
New York was once the darling city of the fashion world but lost that title years ago and has been slipping further and further down the rankings. The US economy is bad, but so is the UK’s, yet I believe the resurgence of twee, indie sleaze (although primarily started through a Brooklyn-heavy lens), and the defeat of the Tories has people shifting towards a more British approach to music, style, and culture. Personally, I’m much more excited for LFW than NYFW, but still have hopes for Tanner Fletcher to save NYFW for us.
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The Cut published its first stand-alone cover, and it was only fitting that the ultimate NYC it-girl Chloë Sevigny, shot by Nadia Cohen, blessed us with her presence on the cover. Sevigny turns 50 this year, and although I don’t have much to comment on in terms of this article (why am I writing this then?) the classy, slightly buttoned-up, yet still cool appeal of Sivigny oozed through my phone screen as a read the article in bed this morning. Sevigny always seems to convey this effortlessly, and her style rounds her out as nothing short of iconic. I love her! Read the article, that’s all!
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This morning, I was absolutely delighted to receive an email from the Business of Fashion with “BREAKING NEWS” in the subject line—always a promising treat– announcing Haider Ackermann as the new creative director for Tom Ford.
When Tom Ford sold his stake in his band to Estée Lauder and the Ermenegildo Zegna Group in 2022 for $2.8 billion I had a similar BOF subject line in my inbox announcing Ford was leaving his CD position, and in turn, Estée Lauder, who had previously only invested in cosmetics, would enter the apparel game through their acquisition of Ford’s label. Ford’s right-hand man Peter Hawkings took over as interim CD while the brand searched for a more permanent solution. The brand Tom Ford is known for its sexy but cool garments, astronomically priced perfumes, and overall sensuality, so the prerequisite of the CD also having a sexy approach to design was an unspoken expectation from fans of the brand. It felt like a tall order to replace the tall glass o’ water that is Ford as a figurehead and an even taller order to expect someone to be able to continue Ford’s design legacy, but it seems they kind of nailed this one with Ackermann.
There has been a lot of shuffling at luxury brands in recent years, and fashion fans have thrown Ackermann’s name into the ring for just about all of the open CD roles. However, I think Tom Ford is the right home for Ackermann. This then leaves a lot of questions of who will go to Chanel, Givenchy, and Jean-Paul Gaultier as Ackermann was cited by Karl Lagerfeld himself to be his choice of successor for Chanel– instead, it was Virginie Viard who announced in June that she was leaving the brand– and guest designed Jean-Paul Gaultier’s Spring 23 couture collection that was widely praised.
According to a NYT article, it was Ackermann’s tenure at Berluti that caught the attention of Ford and his team. Ackermann’s Berluti designs were routinely worn on red carpets by Timothé Chalamet, including his notorious red, backless top he wore to the 2022 premiere of his film Bones and All. Ford gave his blessing to Ackermann today in a statement saying, “I have long been a great fan of Haider’s work. I find both his womenswear and menswear equally compelling. He is an incredible colourist, his tailoring is sharp, and above all, he is modern. We share many of the same historical references, and I could not be more excited to see what he does with the brand. I suspect that I will be the first on my feet to applaud after his show in March.” Ackermann’s first Tom Ford collection will be shown in Paris during the AW 25 shows.
Ok, well that’s all I got for today. See yuh!
All the girlies over here with our espressos and copy of The Cut - FTW.
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