091: Emily Dawn Long's unclockable Canal St secret

Plus EDL's SSENSE-exclusive collection, Mansur Gavriel's 40%-off-almost-everything sale, and Uniqlo U is back in the building.

Feb 21, 2023

The fashion industry is a vast conspiracy. I used to believe—right up until I started thinking about how to frame my feelings around recent shopping for this post—that brands and retailers plan their delivery schedules in response to shopper demand. That there are those who really! actually! shop for upcoming seasons months in advance so they are ready (?) on the first day that the weather hits (?) or something like that.

So much mystery hinged on this theoretical person, before I realized (like, just now) that the truth is very much the reverse: We’re buying because next-season deliveries are landing. Would I even be feeling this pang of mid-winter dressing ennui if not for white flag-waving New Arrivals pages signaling the upcoming shift—a warning to switch course as soon as possible?

It’s February 21st, two-thirds of the way through winter, and I’m shopping for spring like I couldn’t just place and receive a Net-A-Porter order within two days of outside temperatures actually shifting. And shortly after these first spring purchases arrive, new deliveries will hit stores and I’ll be forced to survey the spring offerings once again. (I didn’t consider these options before, now did I? How could I know whether so-and-so style from the runway would be produced at all?) This prepper mentality is kind of twisted.

Still, all of that doesn’t change the fact that many of the pieces from the spring shows that we were so taken with in September are now real. They exist in the world for us as consumers to interpret and leverage en masse to move the culture forward.

From the shows we loved, for instance, the Loewe anthurium sandals are up for pre-order (but I’m still waiting on the pannier dress); this meshy Khaite top is available (but where’s the skirt?); Blazy’s Bottega leather-denim pants are here—and $6,800 (while the leather flannel is nowhere to be seen); Kendall Jenner has alerted us that Miu Miu has largely arrived, but meanwhile, where is all of Tory? We’re certainly ready for that.

I get that a retailer safeguard for moving product along is keeping shoppers forever hanging in the balance. But that’s not changing the fact that these are shapes I want to play with and will find ways to put on my body. I may be a pawn, but I resolve to be a well-decorated one!

Below the fold, keep reading to find more such spring launches, winter sales, and some truly revelatory shopping insights in this week’s interview with Emily Dawn Long.

What’s new

Uniqlo U SS23 launched nearly two weeks ago, and given that there hasn’t been a good time to announce it since, I was worried I’d be bringing the news alongside phrases like “low stock” and “few sizes.” Not so, as it happens! While this recurring capsule, guest-designed by Cristophe Lemaire, tends to sell out without any encouragement, the styles I’ve had my eye on have stuck around. Amazing trenches for both men and women (with a hood!), knitted tees, a transitional season shirt-jacket…the only almost-gone hot item is of course the curved jeans, which come back in new shades season to season and are always the first to go.
Like a scene from a John Hughes film with a hefty dash of John Waters sensibility, the typically clashing factions of fashion geeks and skater bros have been spotted skipping off into the sunset hand-in-hand after donning pieces from the new Vans x Collina Strada capsule collection. For those among us who were always awed by the insouciant glamor of the scribbled-upon sneaker but could never bring ourselves to defile canvas with Sharpie, the vibrant, composed chaos of these slip-ons is too fun to warrant insecurity (if that of a bored 13-year-old stuck in a too-long assembly). Chunky Vibram soles support shiny sneakers in grass stained-green, gill-like frills adorn the ankles of star-printed crew socks, and Vans-exclusive takes on the classic Collina off-duty uniform of neon, curved-hem sweats round out the fluorescent, adolescent (in a good way) capsule.
The term “athleisure” might best describe Haus Label’s hybrid life-and-exercise wear, but what it misses is the elegance suspended in each piece. The taut minimalism and unexpected turns of the brand’s multi-way tops and upstanding bodysuits are further advanced in a Klein blue that splashes across the entirety of a collaborative capsule with Gilly Chan.
Photos of the new Skims swim collection would have elicited wry “dir. Harmony Korine” captions on Twitter if the brand hadn’t been a smug stride ahead of cynical cinephiles, tapping Korine to direct a photoshoot of the very Spring Breakers pieces now on offer. In juicy aquamarine and neon pink, Kim K’s requisite neutrals, and shimmery metallics, the swimwear spans a wild spectrum, from a demure tankini to many a balls-to-the-wall monokini, all ready for whatever spring entails.
The elusive Parisian tailoring brand Cristaseya only releases one limited collection every six months, made entirely of Italian and Japanese fabrics, and should a style escape you—it’s gone forever. A temporary shop offering the current collection has been established, where you’ll be able to find exceptional knits, fine linens, and crisp cottons through March 17.
Helmut Lang’s historic “reverse cowboy” shirt inspired a slew of artists, curated by Antwaun Sargent, to make work shown in-person at Hannah Traore gallery and online alongside a selection of tees that respond to and expand upon the classic design. The reverse “ART” tee by Sargent is an instant contender for “classic” status, with other shirts featuring work from the show addressing the myths and images of the cowboy as they relate to Americana, blackness, and the artists’ relationships with both.
Paloma Wool’s affordable and highly wearable act is becoming hard to keep up with, now that new drops are selling out sometimes immediately. Its first spring delivery, featuring wide suede belts and translucent, powdery knits, has only just arrived, but priced as it is mostly under $200 apiece, it’ll be gone soon.
Your imagination can take the day off with this one, because there’s no need to strain to picture what the Miu Miu skirt would look like as a sneaker. A Miu Miu x New Balance collab brings the hypothetical to life to the tune of $950+ per pair.
Brooklyn-favorite furniture shop Raini Home goes online, where you can finally order the oval-backed dining chairs and blocky sling armchairs that in-the-know interior types have been gatekeeping for years.
Debuted at NYFW, Khaite’s eyewear capsule with Oliver Peoples reawakens a definition of “cool” by way of Steve McQueen and Scarface (just look at Coco Baudelle in hers last week). Less sunglasses emoji, more silent cigarette in a Jim Jarmusch movie.
We’ve heard whispers, most notably Recho Omondi’s, of the burgeoning basics empire built by quality-focused brand Camber, and it’s now tiptoeing into the world of hype through a new collaboration with Palace full of simple, heavyweight sweats and tees.
There’s also: Toteme already dictates so much of our waking wardrobes, it’s only fitting that it has launched bags that extend the reign to our carryables; Grace Wales Bonner expands her partnership with adidas with a capsule of Jamaican soccer team kits (easier to get your hands on than her primary line with the brand); J.Crew and High Fashion’s standby manicurist Nails by Mei release a loopy, fluorescent collection of aughts-inspired rings, all sub-$50, to frame your French tips; polka dots and highlighter-bright yellow feature prominently in Proenza Schouler’s Spring 2023 collection, as do the puffiest pair of slides this side of a pool toy; At.Kollektive and Isaac Reina team up on a capsule of simple slides and circular pouches for La Garçonne; maudlin masks and dismembered hands dangle from Lemaire’s latest jewelry additions to its Estampes collection, radiating eerie elegance; shirts proclaiming wearers “Head of Fashion” or “Trend Forecaster” in cheeky fonts are bound to become the equivalent of a summer camp tee for the sartorial set, via Joe Boffer for Sunnei; and thick, neon stitching makes the new Philosophy x Sebago loafers feel just off-kilter enough to stand out from the swamp of similar leather slip-ons.

What’s on sale

From those structured in a signature sharp “M” shape to leather approximations of a pillow, a robust selection of Mansur Gavriel’s handbags is 40% off with LOVE40. A slinky, sheeny pink clutch, sensible, solid box bag, and casual, ready-to-be-worn-in-and-out shoulder bag are all included in the sale, alongside emerald wallets also crimped into loose “M”s, icy aquamarine baguette bags, and mini bucket bags draped in chubby resin chain handles.
Italist’s latest, its SS23 collections, are not only arriving while the threat of frost still looms, they’re already on sale. A flash promo takes up to 45% off new-in items and beyond: Jil Sander bags—like these white and tan Gojis for under $400, this laptop-sized tote for half-off, and this STUNNING Victor bag for even less—my favorite new Toteme coat, and a The Row duffle are the best steals to be stole.
Saks Potts’ annual sale continues to lasso new pieces into the discounts with deals now up to 70% off (many of which are equestrian-inspired, as that heavy-handed figure of speech might have led you to expect). A button-down in rich purple suede, a light, floaty dress printed in paintings of golden horseshoes and serpentine coils of rope, and a boxy, waxed tribute to antique English hunting jackets read more classy heiress than horse girl, while blaring, raw-edged pink corduroys and long shearling coats the shade of a Juicy Pear jelly bean keep the sale from getting too posh for its own good.
Maison Rogue is glossed over as a shopping resource, but even more criminally unsung are its sales. Currently, you can find Sandy Liang, Maryam Nassir Zadeh, Anna October, and Reike Nen for over 50% off.
Éliou’s rainbow-hued seasonal sale is genderless and generous with its optimism—shorts in a patchwork to rival Bode’s butt up against a voluminous dress printed like a kitchen towel at a good-tempered grandmother’s house and a thick, twisty gold necklace. Only 16 of this now-sub-$200 handmade crocheted shirt were produced as were just 20 doily-like collared shirts, so buy now or forever troll Depop for resellers.
With 50% off selected products and a hard end date of February 27th, Our Legacy is making a grand last stand of its winter sale. Hefty wool sweaters and plaid mohair vests are the sensible counterparts to strapless pink “blazer tops” and milky, slashed denim that bring a “last gasp of Indie Sleaze” vibe to the table.
Wrapped, strappy heels from The Row for under $400, a quilted, shapely Kika Vargas jacket in dramatic, wine-colored taffeta, and the components of a smocked Toteme bikini for your last-minute Get Out Of Dodge winter plans are all up to 70% off at Bergdorf Goodman, alongside almost 6,000 other options, if you’re craving variety.
An extra 40% off at checkout brings most of Levi’s sale section down to well under $50, including the unimpeachable 501 (though it’s the “men’s” non-stretch 501, also on sale, that fits in that ‘90s dreamboy way we often crave from a pair of jeans).
The Alice pumps featured in our Deep Winter Issue are among the many pieces on precipitous sale in Mari Giudicelli’s archives, in sensible black or wishfully creamy bamboo. The nonchalant Garden boots and very-chalant Carmen sandals both ring up at under $200, providing a bounty of options no matter what level of car-to-bar you’re operating at by this point in the season.
Luisaviaroma’s home sale is up to 40% off a lean but cozy array of blankets like this paisley-print Etro throw, towels by Jil Sander, storage boxes, Christmas ornaments, water bottles, and other clearance-style miscellanea.
There’s also: Nearly all the puffers at The Very Warm are under $150 right now with its 50% off sitewide sale; the get-what-you-get Mystery Box sale is back at Universal Standard, with the potential to save up to 88% off a selection of pieces oriented around a theme like “Wanderlust” or “Coastal Chic,” if you’re willing to let someone else pick them out for you (after you choose a size from 00 to 40); and the James Perse winter sale is all jersey and soft knits, the sartorial equivalent of a comfort food buffet.

Emily Dawn Long is playing the long game

On where her SSENSE collection is taking her, doing it for the community, and the bags that aren’t what they seem.

Emily Dawn Long doesn’t like to define herself. And the breadth and evolution of her work might help explain why. A designer, a maker, a tech entrepreneur, a stylist to the ultra-wealthy (but that’s another story), Emily has fashioned a creative career for herself that’s earned the impassioned following of New York’s downtown crowd and celebrities—Jonah Hill and Kendrick Lamar are frequent wearers of her signature “A Hat Named Wanda”—alike. Her first-ever ready-to-wear collection was just exclusively picked up by SSENSE, and over a couple of visits to her Lower East Side studio, Emily shared how she wears it, and what else she’s shopping for.

E: Personally, I don't like wearing things that other people have. I have a brand, and I'm making things that multiple people can buy, so it’s a weird mentality. I guess I am my brand, and my brand is me, so it's hard to differentiate. L: Maybe it's addressing an audience that feels that way as well, because it has this community element around it. E: I wouldn't make something that I feel is already out there, necessarily. For me, I'm trying to make this little world of what I think is missing. My ethos is making things that are missing from my closet, from maybe everyone's wardrobe, which is how this started. Maybe you even saw him pass, but Sam Hine was just here. I just want to make clothes for my friends, my community.

The collection that I'm making for SSENSE shipped today, which means it's going to get there next week. [Editor’s note: the collection is now LIVE!] Everything is very nostalgic, reminiscent of my childhood, especially with how I named [the pieces]. Like the dress. I named it after the girl who got “Best Dressed” at my high school. L: She must have been some hell of a dresser. E: She dressed really well. She wore J.Crew in a really tomboy-meets-girly way that I always admired. I would say all the pieces are very reminiscent of basics from my adolescence. My dream job forever was working at J.Crew, and I guess that's what it's like when I look at them. I see early-2000s J.Crew.

So, we have the Kingsley Pleated Knit Dress and the Kipling Tank, which obviously are a pair. They’re just perfect, fitted, slinky…they’re flirty! And then the Tutti Striped Polo and Skirt set in terracotta and clove. Everything is muted. Same with the shirt. It's giving you an optical illusion, because the pink and blue are next to each other. No one actually knows what color it is. Daniel Arnold came over to get a shirt and he was like, “I did not realize it was these colors.” L: So this one is called Dad's Shirt? E: I should have called it Dad’s Shirt, it’s Jeff’s Shirt. Jeff’s Shirt is a replica of my dad's exact shirt that he had custom made when he was traveling. He worked overseas in Southeast Asia, and he would get all of his suits and shirts custom made. I guess he got it cropped straight so that when he tucked it in, it would look clean, because usually shirts have a tail. I didn't change anything.

L: When we spoke last, you were saying that you had taken all of it to Italy, which is a perfect setting for the collection. It feels very Riviera. What was your experience of wearing these things? E: The Kingsley Dress I wore while I was making my famous bolognese dinner, pasta for everyone. And so it was easy, because it was hot and I was moving around but it just stays on your body. This set, I wore out when we all went to go get gelato, sometimes we would all leave the house and the boys would get cigarettes and espresso and we’d get gelato while I checked in on the F1 qualifying race. L: Now that you say that, it looks like gelato a little bit. E: And then the shirt is just…I love it. I mean, I took mine home because I had it on yesterday, but I keep ultimately changing and putting it on when I'm here [at the studio]. It's just so nice and relaxed, open or closed, but then it has the tailored collar and the tailored cuffs.

L: When do you wear these pieces, do you kind of keep them within a capsule or do you mix them with the rest of your wardrobe? E: Obviously, some things can be worn together, But I'm mixing the shirt with, ideally, like the MNZ Abdou Pant, or guys are wearing it with something like a Dries or Marni pant. Same with the polo. For me, I want the collection to be something for you and Nir, like, you guys would share the shirt or you have the skirt and he has the polo but you're wearing it. Dream couple situation is where you wear the same size. I share clothes

L: What are you hoping happens with SSENSE? What do you hope will happen with the brand, with the partnership? E: It's scary to launch your work. Or new work, I guess. I would hope that it's received well and would love for it to sell out. I'd love to continue working with them. They gave me the opportunity to grow my brand into what I have been wanting it to be in terms of actual pieces and not just accessories. When I make something and it does well, that allows me to make something else. So that's kind of how I've been doing it.

L: And are you shopping SSENSE right now? I was going to comment that you look great in your Marine Serre. E: I got this [Marine Serre Second Skin top] first because I needed layering things. And then as I was looking, I saw this [Marine Serre denim] pant, and I kept sending it to my friend joking like, “This is my Christmas present.” And then the price kept going down for the sale, and I was like, “Okay, fine.” But honestly, great fucking pant. My friend walked by and she was like, “Are you going somewhere?” and I'm like, “No. It's just cozy.” I love this thing. L: It kind of looks like you have a nice filter over all of you, like a KiraKira effect. E: I'll take it.

Yeah, I feel like I have been shopping SSENSE more. I also realized that 89% to 92% of my closet is vintage. I mean, there's your basics. CUUP underwear (shout out Lissie). Thick socks from Front General Store, the best sock ever. A couple of MNZ things. And then this set now. I've been in New York for 10 years and had not put in the effort to find a good winter coat until now, and my new ones are vintage. I got one from Maj [Kiosk]—my whole fit yesterday was from her—she was originally based in Paris and now she’s in Rome, everything is beyond chic. The other one is a long shearling from Etsy. My one rule for Etsy is that I never check out without looking at everything from that seller. Say I’m getting a purse from someone, I go and look at their stuff, and they have this amazing ceramic plate, you know what I mean? You never know what you're going to find.

We love vintage, but I need a couple other things in the wardrobe to mix in. L: There are also just cool things happening in fashion. People are making exciting things, so sometimes it’s nice to support that. E: Do you know about Timothy Gibbons? He reconstructs the classic Chinatown hoodie and corsets them, it’s just so good. He worked with Carly on the Puppets and Puppets FW23 show, but he’s launching [the hoodies] soon. I have all these Canterbury jerseys that I want him to play with. L: You’re really good about wearing friends’ stuff. I’ve seen you in Puppets… E: You gotta support your homies. I love her knitwear. And her new fucking bags are Oh My God. We love a ‘90s nylon moment that includes a banana—banana anything and I’m in…Such a good shape, too. I’m looking at my Uniqlo bag, but…it’s like this shape. L: Kind of like a The Row Banana Bag. E: Uniqlo’s are a knockoff of those, yeah. L: That’s a really hot tip, wow.

E: There’s also—I don't know if I want to say it out loud, but I'm really happy with my Canal St. Prada Cleo Bag purchase. It's so good. Everyone thinks it's real. L: It looks really legit. They're really on it. E: I saw the Telfar bag out there too. L: What? You can just buy a Telfar though. It's like the same price. E: Literally. I was like, "I'm going to Italy.” I just needed a little white bag to fuck around in, and that day I was walking to the post office on Canal near my house to pick up a package and just had to inquire. L: You saw it and you're like, "This is unclockable." E: Yes. My friend saw me wearing it, and she was like, "Did you get a sugar daddy? Who got you that bag?"

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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With contributions from Em Seely Katz