393: Is this a newspaper?
Plus GWYN lives, Madewell's insider-y sale, and Emily Dawn Long notices things for Magasin.
Find a list of only-here discounts up to 25% off in the Magasin Code Index.
After nine days of NYFW coverage, it stands to reason there would be shopping news to report on beyond all that insider baseball. So let’s get back to this newsletter’s core function, which
described last week as “like reading a newspaper.”In that spirit, some NEWS this week comes in the form of a pop-up column from EMILY DAWN LONG we’re calling, simply, Emily Noticing Things. I interviewed Emily back in 2023, where she affirmed herself as the pre-eminent knower of Canal Street dupes (with an unclockable Prada Cleo, then so new to the market). Since then, every so often I get a text from her or stop into the studio for a visit and discover a new shopping secret unearthed. Here, in her own words, are some things Emily has noticed lately.
I do my best thinking at night. In bed. Covers pulled to my chest. Laptop fired up. TV on…This is when I sleuth.
This past Saturday while at home resting after catching the fashion week cold that everyone has, I’m in my EDL zone and I stumble upon a TikTok slideshow of Gwyn’s collection launch and showroom—this is my first time seeing anything from the preview day, I live under my “EDL rock” and rarely pay much attention to whats going on at other people’s shows—when I recognized a familiar friend. I don’t know why I recognized this, I haven’t purchased it, but I have that kinda eye that, when I see anything, it’s forever up in the brain marbles.
I immediately text the group chat:
“Not that anyone asked. But I just clocked the racks from Gwyn’s collection launch are from Zara Home.”
A new group chat comprised of a. All the girls who stayed too late at the
dinner on Thursday or, b. All the girls James has had a crush on lol.I have to say. I love Zara Home. Big fan over here.
About 4 hours prior to this—I do my second best sleuthing on weekend mornings when I’m catching up on an F1 race—I once again stumble upon a find and have to text the group chat:
A Rimowa dupe for $355 (that’s shipped out of Tennessee, which I LOVE—Georgia peach over here). In this group chat is Brynn Wallner, hottie WATCH CEO, so I had to send her the Rimowa-ish watch briefcase, too.
Laura knows I love a dupe :) I spend my money on food, plus I know exactly where everyone makes everything and how much it costs. I’ve been doing my own production for 6 years. It’s wild what people are marking things up to be.
Earlier this summer I found myself sleuthing again and I came across the “Boatkin.” This was before it had gotten super popular and before it allegedly got sued. I’ll get to this in a minute. The vintage L.L.Bean Boat Birkin was created by Jen Risk, who lives in Philly. She is very smart and very handy and she sourced vintage L.L.Bean Boat and Tote bags, like really, really old ones (you could also send in your own). She would then completely dismember the bag and cut it into the pattern of an Hermes Box 1978 Kelly, while sourcing original hardware from what I assume was damaged Birkin bags.
A present to myself for 7 years of hustling. I was excited to get such a thoughtful handmade piece, but after four months of waiting and some gossip in the ether (word was that she had to change the hardware because she got sued), I emailed Jen and got the below response.
I genuinely find her smart. I also am a fan of Elizabeth Holmes so IDK what this says about me.
I also wear-tested the “Balenciaga” Rodeo and “The Row” Margaux all summer—I’m working on an EDL bag and I wanted to see what the hype was all about with these two—again, great bags lol, not worth the retail price. Margaux I found too big, I wish it had like an inside insert or something. And the Rodeo is perfecto. Zero notes.
What’s new
Gwyneth Paltrow’s GWYN (which I’m still referring to mentally as “goop’s Khaite”) has launched, looking…not much different from newly retired g.label, which it supposedly stepped in to replace and elevate. Irksomely inoffensive clothes. Seems like a lot of fuss to round up all the press they did, only to give us a virtually identical ecomm experience and product offering. Nested under the company’s familiar domain, it’s also not, as asserted, “separate from the goop umbrella.”
A LOT of movement on the fragrance front for both home and body, which tells me we’re already in gift guide season. Balenciaga sent a discovery box of its new scents, a 10-pack designed to look like a cigarette case…its “No Comment” eau de parfum smells like a scented magazine rip-out 13-year-old me would’ve rubbed on my wrists. Loewe launched a Palo Santo candle—as the name suggests, yet simultaneously soapier and more nougat-smelling. Aesop introduced its new amber-y eau de parfum, Steorra, a classically, almost universally palatable musk. Frama came out with Painted Desert in parfum, oil, diffuser, and candle form; it’s currently sitting in my powder room and way mintier than you’d expect, pleasantly. Matiere Premiere’s new Vanilla Powder is less than a month out and already on sale at Nordstrom’s savings event. Even Setchu launched fragrance, which it teased during Paris Men’s in June. And Bottega is currently gatekeeping its latest Mezzanotte scent by previewing it in the Middle East before its global release slated for October.
Hello, new Attersee! Though I’d been wearing the brand for years before Leandra Medine once said to me, “you never regret wearing Attersee,” it’s now the foremost thought that comes to mind when I browse the brand’s site. Some likely soon-to-be additions to my wardrobe: a sculpted knit coat (I have the jacket version), satin slippers from the ongoing collaboration with Drogheria Crivellini, very elegant viscose v-neck tee, an outstanding heritage-y Loro Piana cashmere car coat in hunter green.
Marni-bound Creative Director Meryll Rogge, who also helms her own eponymous, ANDAM Prize-winning label, is quickly becoming the JW Anderson of her generation, launching yet another brand with knitwear designer Sarah Allsopp. B.B.Wallace, as it’s called, takes on heavy woolen knits in soft pastels and moody greens. It’s femme Shetland, and I love its little knicker sets. (Currently DTC, but coming soon to L’Ensemble and Vestige, among others.)
Demna’s first Gucci collection pre-empted MFW by rolling out through a series of yearbook-style glamor shots. It’s almost already for sale (beginning September 25), if you can make it to one of a select few boutiques including New York’s Wooster St or Milan’s Monte Napoleone.
Gen Z cooking mama Nara Smith’s notorious TikTok uniform of sumptuous kitten heels and flowing gowns has been parlayed into a collaborative collection with Reformation. Brand-appropriate prices around $300 will net floor-length dresses for making bread in and even a matching gingham set for midnight snacks.
There’s also: Jamie Haller, now on Net-A-Porter; Herbert Levine, now at Moda Operandi (and with exclusive styles you didn’t see at the MyTheresa launch); a brand everyone’s at least a little curious about—Aflalo—just uploaded its first fall drop; Brooke Callahan has updated her very-LA Tie Pants, whose original poplin model looks like chic, wearable scrubs, with two newly released Merino wool color ways: heather gray and deep black; and Cristaseya’s temporary online shop has reopened (with no added taxes and duties shipping to US)…I will be reporting more from in store when I touche terre in Paris next week.
Home releases
More details on Flynn McGarry’s Cove restaurant, whose soft open I attended last week (
previously reported on the Louis Poulsen lighting): custom cherry and ash wood furniture by Grainwood Studio, HAY seating, Farrow & Ball paint, Maharam curtains, David Mellor silverware, Shane Gabier lighting. Flynn’s also coming out with a tableware line of his own, developed for Cove, but to be sold through Gem Home.Speaking of HAY, Ana Kras’ long-awaited collaborative Ava lamp has hit stores.
Casa Bosques and ASH came together and made a delicious dark chocolate-sea salt bar. I love to live in a timeline that produces design-y, insider-y candy collabs entirely for their own sake. Giftable!
What’s on sale
$: A conversation at the tail end of fashion week led to the topic of Madewell, which my gabbing partner called “back.” Whether it had ever gone anywhere is up for debate, but it makes sense that the brand’s on everyone’s mind, on the heels of a Dakota Fanning collaboration—and, I might add, a fresh upload of fall styles. The other timely topic, of course, is the Insider sale, which puts the entire site at 30% off for anyone part of its Insider program, which is free to join with just an email.
I actually picked up a few things from Madewell myself recently—this leather tote shocked me most of all, under $200 (even less during the sale) and easily as nice a hide as some of my, err, much more expensive bags. These jeans have the exact lived-in quality of a grail vintage pair, this big-buckled belt has an air of Chloe, and this lace tank spells out chic Italian lingerie store souvenir. I know Madewell’s suede and corduroy are reader favorites, but it's the entire denim category that's the real gold mine here. A lot of low slung, straight, and perfectly broken-in styles to get one’s jean collection into fall shape. Also of note: a moccasin to segue summer’s boat shoe habit into fall.
BIG Tory sale on right now that until yesterday was very private and gatekeepy, but tipped over to public access this morning. It’s 30% off $500+ and 25% off $200+. So, nice carve-out whether for bigger buys—e.g. runway mirrored skirt, a distressed Mercer satchel, the leather skirt I bought at the last Tory sale—or already-pretty-cheap-ish stuff (the better selection, IMO) like this patent Robinson shoulder bag, gold thong kitten heels, a very ‘90s Prada mesh tote, a Miu Miu-sh golf jacket…
The Outnet is not long for this world, in case you missed the dire news of LuxExperience’s (ugh) plans to shutter the discount retailer. No timeline on that yet, but for now it seems the Max Mara, Bottega, Jil Sander, Khaite, and Chloé regularly stocked at 70% discounts is still being dispatched reliably. Side bar: Do I need this Alberta Ferretti leather?
Organic Basics, a lesser-known underwear brand making pre-Millennium-style (i.e. no logos, no fussy trim, fun colors) organic cotton basics, is hosting an archive sale that lobs 20% off some 1,000+ SKUs. Retail prices are already low, so the sale feels especially generous.
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Today’s WEEKLY features contributions from Maya Kotomori.
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