February News Roundup

1.

I remember when I lived in NYC during the 1990s and GAP had a store on every corner of every gentrified neighborhood. But that GAP is long gone and for at least the last two decades the brand has been lost in fashion limbo. Too many other companies – Uniqlo, to name one – produce American basics better. Plus, GAP’s creative director hires have not been able to stick. So it was a surprise when at the beginning of February GAP announced that Zac Posen is to take over as creative director. While not many industry insiders would consider the right designer for GAP’s top job to be someone known for his frequently over-designed evening gowns, maybe Posen’s fondness for too many details will translate in the design studio into basics with some flair. We shall see, but I am not betting that this partnership will be the one to move GAP forward.

2.

Around 2018, the jewelry market saw the trend for lab-grown stones, specifically diamonds, take off and it continued to soar post-pandemic (a trend that - according to Business Insider - has leveled off, as real diamonds are now back in vogue). While chemically identical to the real thing, it has been a cause for concern for both brands and marketers how to describe these stones – are they manmade diamonds or lab diamonds or cultivated diamonds? It seems the French are leading the way with resolving this semantic dispute.

3.

The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts – known as SWAIA – has announced its designer lineup for this year’s Native Fashion Week (SNFW), which will take place May 2 through May 5, 2024, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to presenting runway shows by a diverse set of North American Indigenous designers, SWAIA Fashion Week will include a fashion symposia and evening soiree. To learn more about SNFW and the Indigenous designers who will be presenting their creations at the event, click here. 

4.

My favorite story this month was from Wired, entitled The ‘Enshittification’ of Tik Tok. A fantastic journey through why social media platforms are entertaining and absorbing when they first launch, but as they try to reel in the advertising dollars become total shit. This must-read story also explains how these platforms convince you that advertising with them is essential to your business, but never actually deliver results. Once you read this story, you will understand why I produce this newsletter through my own site and not via a third-party platform.  

5.

One of the biggest stories to come out of NYFW was regarding a designer who is not a household name: Carly Mark of Puppets & Puppets. This article by Vanessa Friedman in the New York Times ignited a discussion about how NYC has become so expensive that it is impossible for young and independent designers to survive. While I agree that more NYC neighborhoods have become gentrified since the 1990s when I lived there, causing rents to skyrocket and giving artists and creatives few reasonable living and working options in the city, Mark is decamping to London – not exactly an affordable place to live. And even at LFW this season, there were comments by young designers about the expense of producing a show and how many of their businesses are in trouble. Obviously, the fashion industry still has a lot of work to do to support and provide opportunities to young and independent talent.

Zac Posen image courtesy of DFree / Shutterstock. Diamond image courtesy of Sabrianna / Unsplash. TikTok image courtesy of Alexander Shatov / Unsplash.