Magasin’s pop-up Fashion Week 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 1.
Weather report
65ºF / 18º C — phrase of the day is “back to school.” Relatedly, dear moms: stop bulling the other moms at drop off! Can’t believe we’re dealing with this now on top of everything.
Itinerary
3p Mel Usine brand launch preview — new brand alert! It’s the French pastoral Colleen Allen (it’s mostly a coincidence they share the same PR).
4p Blow out at Jenna Perry Hair
5p Late lunch at Balthazar — been reading a lot of golden-age-of-publishing non-fiction lately and was in the mood for a Four Seasons-like indulgence. This place at lunch on a weekday, as a solo diner with a glass of champagne on the house, spotting distantly familiar Girls cast members…god it hits so good.
6p Rachel Comey runway show — first show of the season, and a full three days before the calendar officially starts I might add! But a perfect, kind brand to bring New York back to school. I appreciated all the pink throughout, like a return to the OG Comey era pre-Glossier when pink could still feel complexly, darkly feminine. It ended with snacks.
7:30p Shop Rat Summit at Printemps — shout out
for organizing a talk series featuring Substack and Substack-adjacent types (including myself). I’ve never observed a more natural moderator! Our shopping writer clique—me, , and —volleyed around insults about our former employers and enjoyed a light haunting from the ghost of Giorgio Armani.8p Pandora party with FKA Twigs
some skips
Outfit rundown
Lemaire Belted Wool-Blend Trench Coat, $895 $1,790 / The Row Marlo 12 Tote Bag in Saddle Leather, $4,900 / Christen Helix Thong Sandal, $1,250
The x-ray vision version:
Henri Elaine Wrap Tank, $365 / Dries Van Noten Skirt (similar from Prada, $1,850)
Shopping gossip
I started fashion week by meeting my subway soulmate on the C train. I complimented her bag—a tapestry bag with a lady bag clasp top—and she showed me her bounty of vintage heels she was on her way to sell: Manolos, Stuart Weitzman, some red, backless kitten heel loafers from Tod’s I tried on mid-ride and would have bought if they were my size. May the 7.5s among you find better luck with them at Beacon’s Closet by Union Square.
Ran into a woman at the Mel Usine preview who also had the idea to dress up like a tangerine today, her in full Pleats Please, the kind with small tassels exuberating out from the seams. We got into it about “rare” Pleats Please styles, and when I named the cowboy collection, she laid it on me that she owned a gold, fringed top-skirt set in the western style. There’s just no direction you can’t take Pleats Please, like, this! and wow! and this!
I’ve been on Liisa from Gem Search’s case about launching a furniture version for months now, and when I introduced her to
today, it took her less than 4 minutes to suggest the same. Do it Liisa!!! (Trying the public pressure route now.) I should add, for the uninitiated, that Gem is a fashion resale aggregator and one of the first emails I open every single morning to check on my saved searches: Ana Khouri, Coriu, Dirk Bikkembergs bag, and Charles Patricia Lester among the more niche.The final audience question to our Fashion Newsletter panel at Shop Rat Summit asked us to reveal our most gatekept brands. I said Aritzia.
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Best panel ever! 🫶
Wow, new follow for Mel Usine! Excited to see where their designs go - the colour combos and materials look incredible. Thank you