107: We are so back, baby

Plus the SSENSE sale (sort of) returns, Raf Simons' final collection, and that viral The Garment dress is back in stock.

Apr 18, 2023

Thanks to those who came out to our sale with passerby and Basic.Space this weekend! Between everyone’s cute outfits that day and the euphoria a week of ungodly-good weather brought about, I think we can all agree: We are so back, baby.

One of my favorite days for fashion in New York took place in that window. It was last Wednesday and very suddenly 80º outside. Still stuck in my wintry palette, I wore a black Gucci tank, Pleats Please pants, The Row heeled ballerinas, and because I didn’t trust the alleged jacket-less weather, a white Leset button down.

Everywhere I looked, I saw my same logic replicated or interpreted to such a crazy-making degree of alignment. Everyone had clearly read up in the group chat about wearing a tank, three-quarter sleeve tee, trouser (no jeans anywhere in sight), plain over shirt, and/or some combo of all of the above in shades of black, white, and cream. It was giving cult, frankly.

The suddenness of change had clearly caused a bit of decision paralysis, or maybe we were still sketching our seasonal personas. Even just a day or two is all the most self-knowing dressers need to properly pivot into spring (not me though, I’m lost for weeks), so the synchronicity was never fated to last. It was just one, weirdly satisfying day of a whole city dressed like townspeople in an overchoreographed production.

Just hilarious. Utterly humbling! We’re already settling into our individualisms for the coming stretch, which is of course something I look forward to. But! That a moderately nice day can disarm even the most veteran fashion week dressers is just…what’s not to love?

What’s new

Karoline Vitto’s SS23 collection, which showed as part of the Fashion East incubator at London Fashion Week, has arrived to the brand’s webstore, delivering a desperately needed dose of sensuous, sculptural design in a size-inclusive range. Its drapey, wire-adorned crepe pieces, each handmade-to-order, are available from S to 3X at impressively accessible prices—from $159 for a wire-collared bra top to $504 for a gown laddered with metal inserts.
MyTheresa’s enviable Loewe edit makes it a strategic vantage point for surveying the brand’s SS23 collection, which continues to trickle in. Site exclusives like an anthurium tee (for those of us willing to invest a couple hundred, not a couple thousand, in the waxy plant’s aesthetic cache) are stacked beside pieces plucked from the highly anticipated pixel capsule like these glitchy silk pants and other runway favorites—remember that $10,500 pannier dress? Other new arrivals announce themselves more quietly like these subtly sculptural mules that unlike, say, anthurium-sprouting sandals, could be classified as a wardrobe linchpin.
Raf Simons’ final collection, though scattered across the craggy landscape of e-commerce, can be found, shopped, and kept as a feather in your archive’s cap via The Broken Arm, one oasis that holds a selection. Beefed-up denim shorts with eyelets encrusting the waistband, chopped and screwed blazer-vests, and totes that implore “Let’s drink the sea and dance” make up a quiet but poignant farewell from the brand.
This time last year, a contrast-trim crochet dress by The Garment, ostensibly as the result of strategic influencer seeding, showed up on feeds everywhere and promptly sold out—as other pieces in its ilk like the Toteme scarf coat and Realisation Par leopard-print skirt had done before it. It’s a fantastic and urgently wantable design, the Tanzania as it’s called, which is why, now that it’s back in stock in its original cream plus new brown and black colorways, it’s already on its way to selling out again.
Though its offerings slot comfortably into any season’s wardrobe as layering legends, Flore Flore’s High Summer ‘23 releases are just as ready to be the main event, monopolizing your warm-weather uniform with camisoles the likes of which haven’t been seen since the tragic demise of Entireworld, boat neck, three-quarter sleeve tees that indulge the springtime urge to morph into a French New Wave character, and one-and-done cotton dresses that ask for nothing from you but a pair of whatever shoes happen to be close by, if shoes are even necessary in the moment.
Jacquemus has introduced a capsule of Objets to accompany its “Le Raphia” collection, standouts from which include a swoopy re-issue sun chair originally from Gae Aulenti’s 1964 Locus Solus collection, a leather clothespin keyring, and many vintage photo books personally curated by Simon.
Helmed by Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman, the brand Applied Art Forms’ new C.H.L line consists of Boro (from the Japanese phrase “boro boro,” something tattered or repaired) liner jackets pieced together from rehabilitated antique fabrics originally dyed indigo in the 19th century by Japanese artisans. Currently available for preorder, each one-of-a-kind jacket’s fit is inspired by the liner of a vintage M51 US army parka and is itself lined with Japanese selvedge chambray.
Savage X Fenty’s new Bridal Shop takes care of any wink-wink nudge-nudge bachelorette gifting you may have in your future, with prices that will bring tears of relief to the beleaguered wedding guest’s eye: Nothing in the lacy, netted, obligatorily white collection runs more than $50 apiece, from front-closure bralettes low-key enough for daily use to stockings and matching garter belts for…nightly use?
Julia Heuer’s SS23 collection “Beautopia” delivers the brand’s signature psychedelia in ever more sculptural packaging, with intricate Shibori-style pleats done by hand, volume in sleeves giving way to slinky skirting, and aura-inspired color palettes, with each outfit-defining piece rendered in 100% recycled polyester chiffon.
There’s also: Jelly sandal (and everything else) maker Melissa releases the under-$100 Moon Bag—a flawless solution for beach-to-bar summers ahead that competes with Coperni’s Swipe Bag in silhouette; a gloriously tacky collab between Camper x Swarovski has conjured these jewel-encrusted, frayed-denim slides into existence; similarly, though with a bit more finesse, the Collina Strada x Virón Monarch tacks the sheeny silver body of an apple-leather sneaker onto several inches of chunky heel to the effect of a ‘70s dancing platform; alternate materials savant Pangaia teams up with Zellerfeld to create 3D-printed sneaker out of recyclable single-material synthetic plastic that’s custom fit on demand to each customer; New York jeweler Agmes releases the Short Ellsworth Earrings, a new style for Earth Month; Gigi Hadid’s Guest in Residence challenges you not to get sand on your cashmere with its new Beach House collection, its most notable new color a foggy grape that feels quintessentially West Coast; just as restrained and ambiguous as its other collections, Paloma Wool’s new swimwear features distorted images of orchids, jacuzzis, and delivery notes, tempering the suits’ inherently revealing nature with a current of unsettling mystique; with dense smatterings of hearts to rival the dottiness of a Kusama piece and enough raffia to keep every gift shop on Martha’s Vineyard supplied for years to come, Stella McCartney’s Summer Loving capsule is exactly what its name suggests; textile designer Caroline Z Hurley partners with Madewell for a capsule of beachwear and cover-ups splashed with Hurley’s abstract patterns; Sandy Liang doubles the straps on its instant-classic Mary Janes and in doing so, doubles their ineffable appeal; South African designer Sindiso Khumalo does & Other Stories a favor by producing its most compelling capsule in years—its playful but mature, lighthearted but romantic pieces influenced by African textiles and mod silhouettes are selling out at a heart-rending pace; and Carel links up with French eyewear brand Jimmy Fairly for a capsule of boxy, colorful sunglasses and cylindrical purses hewn out of the plant-based leather alternative AppleSkin.

What’s on sale

The SSENSE sale ended abruptly this year, pulling the rug out before we had the chance to load up our carts one last time. While it’ll still be a couple of months before the sitewide markdowns begin anew, SSENSE just rolled out a pretty generous 20% off code (use US2023) applicable to new-season pieces. If you’re looking for inspiration on HTSI, why not get something spectacular? This Edward Cuming trench and Niccolo Pasqualetti dress come to mind, or for a bit less, there’d be no regrets with this Renaissance Renaissance blazer or Xenia Telunts cardigan or these Sophie Buhai earrings. On the other hand, this Esse Studios top and Helmut Lang shorts would be among the most sensible purchases for their reliable everdayability.
Mansur Gavriel’s 25% off spring sale taps in many of the brand’s longstanding best-sellers like its smooth, Italian-leather bucket bags and soft totes, plus some great, albeit overlooked styles like these laminated loafer slides. My own pillowy Notte shoulder bag is part of these discounts, as is the already-marked-down Mini Bucket in Papaya—which comes down an additional $100 with SPRING25.
Uniqlo’s Best of Spring sale is truly the best of its price bracket in the season’s fill-your-cart frenzy. The public seems to be clued in this time around, as the offerings have been picked over, with scant sizes of Miuccia-worthy gray cashmere sweaters and the beloved, hefty ten-buck tees still up for grabs. HOWEVER! Venture deeper into the fray, and you’ll be rewarded with still very much available pleated tennis skirts for $30, plaid pants and cardigans courtesy of Ines de la Fressange, relaxed blazers at $50 a pop, and more.
Take everything off—without taking everything off—by taking 20% off the sexy-but-restrained stock of Dion Lee we know and love with DL20 until tomorrow. With ol’ faithfuls like the Garter Tee and mavericks like the Hinge Seam Trouser, this flash sale flashily sells us on the idea of flashing some skin in a strategic manner, as the brand is wont to encourage.
Bona Drag announced a flash sale on shoes with MONDAYSHOES, which cuts 25% off the price of new-season Paloma Wool sandals, already-discounted MNZ Lidos and Olympias, quizzically affordable boots from Anna F, and other excellent styles from Martiniano, Lauren Manoogian, and By Far.
Another one of those intimidating, Biblical sales with as many brand names as the holy book itself had people who married their cousin, Italist’s SS23 doorbuster dips down to as much as 50% off of gear from heavy-hitters like Ann Demeulemeester (a rare sighting of its lauded boots for under $500) and Miu Miu (only one of That skirt left). Almost inconceivably, the newest Prada is also slashed; this Re-Nylon slip is hundreds off, and I may never recover.
Not usually one for a sale, Eliou has just shuffled a bunch of key styles over to a special markdowns page, which sees plenty of the brand’s signature colorful jewelry plus its newer, really very good RTW line listed for over half off. It’s this lace button-down and chunky blue-beaded necklace for me.
Similarly, Akoia’s 50–70% off sale is a rare sight, in both the fact of it alone, not to mention the depth of discounts. There’s not a ton available, but of the swim and crocheted beachwear listed, most of it is under $100.
Did you realize Nicole Kidman was wearing Campers in her legendary, post-Tom Cruise divorce photo? Even more reason to shop the brand’s mid-season sale, which includes plenty of those funky sneakers, plus really cool boots (these ones are very Acne) and perfectly off sandals at hard-to-find-elsewhere prices…lots for under $100 here, too.
Find one-of-a-kind rarities and esoteric leftover stock for up to 50% off at Mila Sullivan’s Spring Cleaning sale, with standouts like a frothy mesh dress perversely printed in burlesque-style lace and an asymmetrical tee with a cheeky patchwork tail for under $100.
Flattered’s mid-season sale is up to 50% off, with plenty of Spanish-made shoes at steep discounts—these leather slip-ons seem a fair challenger to the Birkenstocks you have forsaken for the past six months and these braided thongs virtually redeem flip-flops.
Shopbop’s hosting a tiered sale where you can get up to 25% off orders over $800 with STYLE. Not a bad place to shave a couple bucks off, say, a Rodarte slip dress or a Paco Rabanne 1969 re-edition disc bag.
Dreamy dancewear-ish athleisure brand Live the Process is “spring cleaning” with an up-to-70%-off sale, featuring sporty knits, wrap bras, and sumptuous bodysuits. The deals are quite convincing! This longline cardigan, for instance, is down from $328 to just $98.
Tangerine’s online sale is brimming with pieces you may have seen slinking alluringly around the internet like Rachel Witus’ dazzlingly handknit sweater vests, Gemsun’s Spring Belt like a secular rosary for your hips, a ripe tomato of a COA scrunchie for $30, and more.
I.AM.GIA’s entire spread of early-2000s wardrobing is up to 75% off, with surprise gems whether you veer towards the deep-v, witchy side of the era (this dress might actually make a great Elvira costume come Halloween) or are more of a Seventeen Magazine adherent, looking for the Perfect Dress to Impress Your Crush!
Adored Portland boutique Stand Up Comedy has extended its sale online for those patient enough to click through its design-y, albeit virtually unnavigable site…which I guess means me. Personally, I’d go for these Jamie Haller ballet slippers and a Santangelo two-tone necklace.
There’s also: Araks’ lingerie and lounge sale brings the brand’s immensely soft cotton bras and briefs, lace tees, Zoe Kravitz-worn silk slips, and more down to as much as 60% off; sunglass hunters can find DMY by DMY shades largely marked down by 40% in the brand’s (so-called, even though it’s in plain sight) “secret sale”; a jewelry-forward edit of La Garçonne spring items is 15% off with LGAPRIL15; SOCKSSS’ archive of…socks (to be clear, very cool ones)…is 50% off and ranges from camo to campy in its patterns; with a flexible discount of up to 25% off, Sleeper is offering the opportunity to donate to a fund for Ukrainian people in need of prosthetics while shopping its trademark bed-to-club-to-bed PJs; until 4/20, take 20% off all discontinued, esoteric, delightful hair clips and claws at Chunks with GETSPRUNG20; and Clyde’s first-ever archive sale features its suave hats, scarves, and other accessories for up to 80% off.

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With contributions from Em Seely-Katz