237: Clogs on the ground

Plus Miu Miu L’Été, Chemena Kamali’s Chloé, and MyTheresa's aggressive discounting.

Thirty-something hours in Stockholm with H&M (if I thought Burberry ran London, what H&M is to Stockholm is in another dimension), and I have some clogs-on-the-ground shopping intel to pass along.

It started in the airport. Lea Taleb from KCD—it’s vacuous to describe her as an effortlessly chic French girl, but there you have it—was wearing a pair of chocolate brown suede boat shoe-loafer hybrids, logoless and with the smallest heel that put them in a category of their own. I thought they were Saman Amel, whose own version the universe keeps nudging me toward, but it turned out they were vintage Chanel. These exact ones, tragically not in my size.

On the ground, my first stop was into the legendary interiors store Svenskt Tenn where the jewelry selection was a great surprise. Local brand Murky handmakes sterling silver pieces with organic orb post motifs that I’d think about later when walking past the archive objects in Stockholm’s “everyday culture” museum, Nordiska Museet. Yasar had a great series of chunky square hoops—mostly earrings in open circle and oval shapes but also a weighty-looking bangle. (I went by the All Blues boutique—stony, cool—they rep a similar shape, maybe it’s a Stockholm signature?) Online, the brand has a way wider variety of styles, gemstones and chainlink and “puffy” folded metal. Sjosten Sweden makes great gold collars and earrings with knots the shape of those cardamom buns everyone loves (myself included).

The next day I made a harmless stop into Prada, seeing that they had the summer collection previously covered here in their windows. I then innocently tried on this devastating sablé cream slip dress that I couldn’t possibly consider for myself, no way. And then, enough with the dramatic irony already, I got it. (The VAT return helped, but I couldn’t have made this kind of impulse buy if my heart hadn’t exploded and what could be heard through from my brain shook its hand.) It’s a good thing I did, because it seems to have been a mirage, MIA anywhere online except for a few traces it ever existed at all. You’ll be hearing/seeing more of this dress from me, I’m sure.

I wandered away from the high street into a posh area with utopian historic buildings, light-drenched and looking AI-generated. Made an important pit stop into Linnea Lund, who I always visit in Paris (they sit between France and Sweden), and I ruminated on summer cashmere—a very, very good idea, actually.

Further down, on a block favorable to architecture and design studios, Saman Amel’s sign hung above a closed door with pulled curtains. For the second time in two days, the menswear atelier and leather accessories brand had entered my orbit and evaded me. I’m seeking out confirmation bias that I’m meant to have these City Mocs like crazy, and eventually, inevitably, I’m going to give in.

Where I did make it into was Morjas, the Swedish-Spanish men’s shoe and accessory brand with a fantastic cafe in the rear of its boutique—pan con tomate as the only food item, perfect cafe menu. I bought a belt and learned from the folks inside that the brand’s having a pop up in New York this week, FYI.

Lastly, ff anyone’s curious about where to go in Stockholm, the folks at All Blues sent over a list of their favorite spots, which I’ll drop in the comments below. If you have any of your own, share them! I loved my Swedish jaunt and will be back ASAP.

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News Editor

em seely-katz

takes over this week

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What’s new

Miu Miu L’Été

• If Miu Miu were a garment, it’d be a skirt, and this impulse toward metonymy predates that skirt: the brand’s sensibilities, prim yet perverted, sanguine and sporty, are the same elements that make a skirt special. The new Miu Miu L’Été collection, now at Bergdorf, is peppered with compelling investments, especially accessories-wise—rose-tinted aviator sunglasses and bungee cord thongs are easy to love—but its skirts are era-defining, from a fraying tube of chiffon dotted in compensatory crystals to thickly pleated canvas trimmed in cognac leather, a straight shot of vintage-referencing linen ruffles, and an A-line midi skirt in navy nylon riding, as do all of the above, low on the hips in the way the label foreshadowed with its khaki horsemen back in 2021. 

• While trepidation is understandable, even warranted, as anecdotal evidence continues to build up that something is awry somewhere along the supply chain, La Garçonne is now offering The Row’s SS24 footwear collection, and perhaps by avoiding anything strappy in favor of babouche slip-ons or square-toed slides, you’ll bypass the drama and get straight to the good stuff.

• Creative Director Chemena Kamali’s inaugural FW collection for Chloé is already selling out of some of its most Stevie Nicks-ian offerings, but sternum-framing silk blouses, glossy leather cargo vests, and bunchy bags dangling off oversized bangles appease with their rocky, romantic qualities and pragmatic touches, e.g. a less imminently dangerous, kitten-heeled iteration of the brand’s resurrected wooden wedge clog.  

• Clot is on a generational run right now, recently pairing up with the likes of Sacai and Caroline Hu in its mission to “bridge the gap between East and West” using its disruptive, defiant style. Lu’u Dan x Clot, now available at SSENSE, showcases Vietnamese designer Hung La’s gender-disorienting, punk-forward takes on menswear with baggy jeans that unfurl into pseudo-maxi skirts, crotch-logo basketball shorts, tight little scarlet hoodies, and more. 

• With Brokeback Mountain-coded aplomb (happy Pride Month, y’all!), Twojeys, another label noted for its gender fluidity, collaborated with Zara on a capsule full of deliberately-affordable gear for city cowboys. Twojeys is famous for its androgynous jewelry, like a horse-laden charm necklace, but pieces such as a cinematically-printed denim jacket, boat neck mesh sweater, and red leather belt studded with the brand’s signature slanted stars signal a more widespread emergence into the fashion scene. 

• Net-A-Porter tapped Aussie “slow fashion” label Esse Studios for an exclusive capsule mostly consisting of straightforward day dresses designed, as are all the studio’s releases, to transcend season and the fickleness of trends, with stretch-knit halter dresses, metallic lace midis, and two-toned t-shirt dresses in shades of black and cream and silhouettes that will stand the test of time. 

• Maria McManus’ PF24 collection is one of the few use cases that may warrant the rehabilitation of the word “chic”—navy striped concealed placket shirts and matching drawstring pants are as easy as pajamas but maintain a sense of structure and suaveness—you might call it “vacation dignity,” and this collection is replete with it, from stripy mesh skirts to shoulder-baring dresses in recycled cashmere.

• Having long peddled precision in its choices of cut and color in baby tees and boat necks, Flore Flore has launched a five-piece capsule of button-down shirts translating that same specificity to shape, with slim fit shirts designed to fit under a blazer or jacket, oversized shirts with front pockets to be worn as standalone statements, and even a sleeveless iteration with the same careful construction, all finished with creamy mother-of-pearl buttons. 

• You can tell when a brand is kind of, for lack of a better phrase, “feeling itself,” as is the case with Banana Republic’s June collection, a whirlwind of linen and cashmere that is so definitively BR it verges on self-parody, but manages to stick the landing with pieces like a midi kaftan (in its flaxen “natural” colorway, not the ill-advised hospital gown blue), a quietly devastating sheer ribbed tank, and more of its simpler endeavors.  

• There’s also: What’s available from Gucci’s PF24 collection serves to prove the naysayers right that the brand has felt merch-y and uninspired since Alessandro Michele’s departure, its few salvageable accessories struggling to justify their price tags; Tory Burch’s new resin jewelry sprinkles some retro funk atop its relatively low-energy SS24 offerings; Jennifer Behr x MyTheresa present a summer jewelry collection that harnesses naturally occurring shapes and patterns into relatively-affordable baubles; Le Monde Beryl PF24 doesn’t offer any revelations but presents its winning ballet flats and babouches in colorways from subdued bordeaux to papal crimson; reinterpreting a 2000s silhouette, Prada’s online-exclusive Arqué bag is at its best when woven in wicker, endowing it with that elusive Jane Birkin sense of insouciance; Saks Potts releases its first bag, the Smidstrup,a chocolatey, oversized, croc-print tote with handles long enough to latch onto a willing shoulder; Rixo x Ciao Lucia is in its Reformation-y bag with plenty of floral, gingham, and otherwise summery sundresses on offer; the unholy offspring of Vans x Proenza Schouler is a weirdly compelling, bloated version of the former brand’s classic skater slip-ons, available in black, white, or the off-puttingly yellowing “resin”; Aimé Leon Dore collaborates with Rimowa on a sturdy-looking luggage pairing in a deep forest green; and Diptyque’s summer fragrance and candle collection is available now, tinged with notes of lemongrass, geranium, and fig.

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What’s on sale

MyTheresa Sale

• The powers that be (or cheeky algorithms) have arranged the front page of the MyTheresa summer sale, now reaching up to 60% off, in a way that resembles a summer Sunday’s church service if the preacher were Edward Enninful: white patent Margiela Mary Janes, brash gingham top and skirt sets by the recently-resurfacing Balmain, a powder blue Christopher Esber skirt that gapes at the hip, and rose earrings courtesy of Simone Rocha are a well-curated congregation. 

• The 50% off banner at the top of the screen undersells the Browns summer sale, which has reached a climactic maximum 85% off with some solid deals on steadfast basics—think sturdy-heeled Lemaire leather sandals for under $400 or a knit Matteau dress for $187—alongside a bunch of really shocking discounts on random, last-one-left stock like a rare Masha Popova denim miniskirt for $81 down from $539. 

• Maison Rogue’s summer sale gets an extra 15% bump if you stack our house code LAURA15, bringing a mesh-midriff Sandy Liang dress down nearly to $350, a shrunken Vince knit vest under $150, and more deals on brands like MNZ and 6397 that benefit from the discount boost. 

• Luisaviaroma’s up to 70% off summer sale is designed for those of us who are vulnerable to the Best Summer of Our Lives promoter propaganda that crops up at this time of year, with party dresses ranging from a tiny, silver, bubble-hem mini dress by JW Anderson to a Sportmax LBD in liquid-like organza and a lingerie-adjacent Mugler mini, all more than half off. 

• Compared to the frenetic sales above, Beaufille’s seasonal sale feels downright meditative, a sparse 1.25 pages pared down just to things you may enjoy—the label’s prolific twist sweater for $270 down from $545, a lace tube top under $90, a sharp cargo mini skirt for $175—with tons of sizes surprisingly still available.   

• The Kallmeyer summer sale offers discounts on straightforward poplin shirt dresses, twisty cream cocktail tops, blazer-style mini dresses, and more pieces that are an easy one way ticket to absolutely dominating the style scene in a business casual context. 

• You might not think to look at Helmut Lang’s seasonal sale to fill random niches in your summer wardrobe that sound weird on paper but make sense when you see them, like leather car shorts or filmy jersey bubble dresses, but there they are at a healthy 40% discount.  

• Take up to 40% off a selection of razor-sharp-toed pumps, strappy heeled sandals, leather tote bags orbited by structural handles, and more in the Neous summer sale. 

• Ganni’s seasonal sale offers up to 50% off nubby-textured black trousers, daydream-y frilled pink gowns, knot-handled handbags, and more interesting stock from past seasons. 

• If you’re on board with the mesh flat agenda, Koibird’s summer sale is offering a pair of bejeweled size 37 Christopher Esber Minette flats for $610 down from over $1k, alongside a host of other pieces reserved for the real heads, like Chet Lo tanks knit with creepy kissing humanoids and the feather-ruffling Vaquera Panty skirt for $255, plus a lot of unique homeware, all up to 60% off.

• There’s also: H Lorenzo adds more styles to its sale, taking up to 50% off under-the-radar pieces from Magda Butrym, Mugler, Dion Lee, and more, many of which are very summer-appropriate; the Eytys Summer sale is live, and fans of Suicoke, Sacai, and Camper should check out its offbeat summer shoe selection; use EXTRA to take a bonus 20% off Hunting Season’s sale items, from portable velveteen trunks to studied ceramic bowls; Apiece Apart’s summer sale takes up to 40% off a melange of mix-and-match patterned blouses, skirts, and sundresses; and Rejuvenation takes up to 40% off furniture from sectionals to cabinet handles in its summer sale.

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