Magasin’s pop-up newsletter-within-a-newsletter, where we go on the ground to suss out hot shopping gossip from scenes of interest: New York Fashion Week, Day 6.
Itinerary
12p Fforme show — I’m a fan of the brand, have been attending since the first runway (Paul Helbers era), and wore my own Fforme to the show. It was difficult while watching the procession yesterday, and still is, to grab onto even a piece with any relationship to that original promise of the “strong woman.” I’m not in the business of panning, but what I saw was eerily unrecognizable, and it was sad to witness a dovetail into sameness. - LR
1:30p Colleen Allen presentation — more so than a lot of shows and presentations, which can be like watching a brand upload files to the cloud, my Colleen appointment always feels like, “so what did you make for us this season?” Witchy things tailored with no compromises in grape soda silk, plus another careful increase in the number of wardrobe (i.e. real clothes) pieces; my favorites are the sheer, slinky knits as tanks, pencil skirts, and narrow dresses. Also: a Swedish Stockings onesie collaboration launching in tandem. - LR
LR: Laura Reilly, AV: Alyssa Vingan, MK: Maya Kotomori
Outfit with a friend
Fforme Silke Halterneck Apron Dress, $874 $3,495 / Extreme Cashmere n°452 rock T-Shirt, $475 / COS Riviera Hand-Woven Tote Bag, $169 / Polo Sport Oval Sunglasses, $160
On Emily Bonita: Loulou de Saison Cilia Wool Cashmere Coat, $1,339 / Jimmy Choo 85mm Romy Suede Pointed-Toe Pumps, $850
I ran into Christie Tyler who wore the large-format python Jude bag—wow. I think it’s the sleeper hit bag of the moment: I wore my suede evening version to Nordstrom’s cocktail at Marcel earlier this week, where VP of fashion Brooke Bobb asked to take its picture, and I saw it in suede XL in Toteme Soho’s VIP room, slung on the back of a very chic woman’s chair (I was there for an appointment, regret not asking who it was). The brand launched the bags very slyly a few months ago, and yet it’s already found its way onto “the right people.”
The Eckhaus Latta x J.Crew collaboration that walked the runway on Friday (and threw a house party) launches online today. Everything is under $500 but most things are under $300. My guesses on the first to go: the striped mohair mini vest, the barn jacket, the chinos.
Something I’m chewing on: A pre-order email for the just-shown Tory Burch collection hit my inbox yesterday, which proved enlightening on the pricing front. Runway has always been premium, but it certainly feels like numbers are ticking up. $4,000 and $5,000 dresses, $6,000 coats, $2,000 scarves. I don’t want to seem unfairly critical, there are also $400 knits tops, $600 heels, and $250 sunglasses that I will be ordering. The thing that strikes me is how much is listed as made-to-order and won’t be hitting stores ever.
This is part of a bigger pattern that’s shown up throughout the week—Mel Usine’s private client business model that largely skips over the everyday shopper and serves the bride or the “money is no object” woman who buys customs in multiples. The bleachers at Tibi’s show were stacked with VICs, and the seats at Khaite were “at least 50% investors and their families” as one person put it to me. The word is that each look that went down the Khaite runway totals at least $50,000 between apparel and accessories. And one influencer who attended said she was almost certainly there “for how much she spends” at the brand, and not because of her social channels. How many of those clothes will actually make it to the store?
We talk a lot about the affordability crisis, which is very real, but we’re also heading into an access crisis, one where brands bypass their own windows, sites, and third-party sellers and go direct to their top spenders. The widening wealth gap is pushing brands to charge more, privately, to the point where, in order to buy something, you have to have the money and the right connections. Big death of retail upon us.
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I just came off a job as a sales associate as a luxury retailer, and this newsletter really spoke to me. The store where I worked is known for mixing up-and-coming designers (several mentioned in this very newsletter) with established luxury houses, but they are dropping almost all of the former to bring in more of the latter. I feel like the industry is catering to the ultra-rich, like Lauren Sanchez, and choosing to ignore the emerging upper-middle class - often represented by stigmatized "new money" influencers.
I was so excited by the early fforme shows, and want to like it now but …. Where did Paul Helbers go? It was sooo good