Green: Editor’s Prediction for the Future of Fashion
Exactly a year ago, within the first few months of the pandemic, I wrote a profound and comprehensive piece on what effect the COVID-19 virus would have on the fashion industry, Correction, Contraction, and Cessation. COVID-19 Calls to Action a Sustainable Fashion System. Here is what I had to say at that time and it still […]
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15%. The Waste on the Cutting Room Floor. Go Green, Here’s How
Are development and production samples considered waste? Product development and pre-production samples are of multiple sets: a set for the designers, a set for a subgroup of the design team – the specification package team, a set for media photo shoots, and a set for the sales team. What should happen is at least one […]
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Who’s On Point? Ukrainian Fashion Week. What’s on Point? Circular Fashion.
Ukraine’s BE SUSTAINABLE! Fashion Summit is in its third year of presenting an international event aimed at increasing the level of expertise of Ukrainian professionals working in the field of design and production of clothing. The Summit took place during Ukrainian Fashion Week No Season 2021 [UFWNS]. Did you notice “no season”? One of the […]
Read moreThese people give a shit about how things are made, and why they are made; and if things are going to be made, they need to be meaningful and beautiful.
Simon Doonan, Creative Ambassador, Barney’s New York; Selby, Todd, Fashionable Selby
Metamorphosis: A Look at DZHUS
Cycle: A Look at POSTUSHNA Re-Fashion for DHL
Eternity: A Look at LITKOVSKAYA
Tactile: A Look at CHERESHNIVSKA
Fashion Culture | Willi Smith: The Creative Intersection of an American Genius
I don’t design clothes for the Queen; but for the people who wave at her as she goes by. – Willi Smith
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Fashion Culture | Battle of Versailles: ‘This Was the Real America, An America They Haven’t Seen’
A passionate declaration from Bill Cunningham, American fashion photographer of the New York Times, who remembers that the Black fashion models at the Battle of Versailles fashion show brought together a cultural movement that not only marked a new era in fashion, but was a defining moment in racial equality.
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Fashion Culture | The Empowering Effect of Ebony Fashion Fair
From civil rights to the catwalk, Ebony Fashion Fair defied all odds and left an empowering effect on the African American community. The cumulative effect of years of presenting high fashion to African Americans, on African Americans, with African Americans taste-making in mind, enabled Mrs. Johnson to be a change-agent who harnessed the power of […]
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Fashion Culture | Donyale, Naomi, and Beverly – Fashion’s First Black Supermodels
The Black community did not have model representation in mainstream fashion magazines until the tumultuous time of the 60’s when Donyale Luna, Naomi Ruth Sims, Beverly Johnson were the first Blacks to grace the covers. Black beauty had been denied to enter this space for so long, so finally, there was inclusion, respect, and recognition, […]
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Fashion Culture | Who Made the Hats for Scarlet O’Hara? Meet Mildred Blount
Mildred Blount became the first African American member of the Motion Pictures Costumers Union. Her hats are in the collections of California African American Museum and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
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Fashion Culture | Elizabeth, Fannie, Anne, and Zelda, Fashion’s First Black Designers
I love my clothes and I’m particular about whom I sew for. I’m an awful snob. I’m not interested in sewing for café society or for social climbers. I do not cater to Mary and Sue. I sew for the families of the social register. – Anne Lowe Gerri Major, Ebony Magazine, December 1966
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Fashion Culture | W.E.B. Du Bois’ Exposition des Nègres d’Amérique Transformed the World’s View of Black in America
In 1900 a transformation of Black identity and the world’s view of Blacks in America took center stage at the 1900’s World’s Fair in Paris. A perception of Blacks in America was manifested through photojournalism and visual data witnessed by the outside world looking in. Those in the Black community validated that perception by leveraging […]
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Fashion Culture | The Cotton Factory – ‘the Good, the Bad and the Ugly’
Cotton, the most widely used textile fiber in the world, has a distinguishable, contentious history of oppressed, discriminatory labor practices in the United States. The use of cheap factory labor has its roots in an all too familiar story of oppression and segregation.
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Fashion Culture | A Study of Eight, the Untold American Story
A Study of Eight is a curated editorial project advancing the study of African Americans’ contribution to fashion history. Eight American stories cover people and events of cultural and historical significance occurring between 1880 and 1980 against the backdrop of the post Reconstruction era to beyond the Civil Rights Movement (CRM). These stories represent the voices […]
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Branding in the Fashion Space – Where Do the Lines Between Leadership and Listening Overlap and Diverge?
After all, most artists don’t go around proclaiming, ‘I want to be a commercial success.’ – Bernard Arnault, LVMH chairman & CEO
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Branding, Marketing & Advertising 101
Branding 101: Branding is the Big Picture. Branding is the sum of all impressions one has of your business. Such as, the quality and detail of your seasonal collections; public relations and news about the organization; social media output; your name, graphic and visual identity; packaging. Deliver a consistent on-target brand experience across all consumer […]
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Fashion Week – digital, in-person, new approach, or not at all?
Against the backdrop of unprecedented store closures, bankruptcy, and excessive inventory throughout the supply chain, is fashion week necessary? Mckinsey & Company suggest the global industry’s economic profit will fall by 93 percent in 2020 after rising 4 percent in 2019. In a worst case scenario, the industry won’t get back to 2019 levels until […]
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Time Will Tell. The State of Fashion 2021
Diminished, downsized, and discerning is the current normal of the fashion industry. Fashion companies will post approximately a 90 percent decline in economic profit in 2020, after a 4 percent rise in 2019. – BoF and Mckinsey & Company, The State of Fashion 2021 report
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Fashion Culture | Aryanization and the Destruction of Berlin’s Fashion Industry
By 1930, Berlin emerged as an international fashion capital. It’s success even drew Parisian fashion designers. Most of the fashion businesses were owned and operated by German Jews. In their thrust to decimate the Jewish population, in 1933 the Nazis implemented a campaign to force these firms to sell. Signs in store windows read “Germans […]
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Fashion’s Playbook for Climate Action – A Pathway to Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050
Despite the efforts of governments and other actors, anthropogenic GHG emissions continue to increase. Under current trajectories, global mean temperatures are projected to increase by 2.2°C to 4.4°C by the end of this century. – Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action | Climate Action Playbook
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In the COVID era keep creating | 5 survival tips not to ignore
Stay focused, slow it down, present scarcity, and invest in a circular system.
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Buy Less, But Better | Study Shows Notable Shift to Sustainable Consumption
As part of the IFM – Première Vision Chair, Français de la Mode conducted a study that surveyed 5,000 consumers in France, Germany, Italy and the United States about their consumption habits of Eco-friendly fashion.
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Let’s Talk About the Unmentionables: Can lingerie be sustainable?
Without a doubt, the ongoing global health crisis has shaken industries in more ways than one. From record low revenues and great losses to missed partnership opportunities and canceled events, the negative effects of the pandemic on businesses are endless. However, if there is one good thing that has sprung from the decade’s greatest economic […]
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Are You Listening? Consumer Feedback is King | A How-To Guide
Are you giving your consumer a platform to provide you with meaningful feedback? Do you know why their consumption patterns have changed? Don’t assume anything. Have you asked?
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Fashion Culture | Fashion’s First Black Photographer
Gordon Parks accomplished many firsts, including the distinction of being the first black photographer at Vogue, Glamour, and Life magazines.
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