I think where people fall down is by saying, 'Oh, well, consumers want transparency. What parts of our supply chain can we show transparency?,' as opposed to building with that focus in mind. | | | | Chanel Haute Couture S/S 2018, Paris, Jan. 23, 2018.
(Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “I think where people fall down is by saying, 'Oh, well, consumers want transparency. What parts of our supply chain can we show transparency?,' as opposed to building with that focus in mind.”
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| | rantnrave:// I'm fascinated with how fashion moves between digital abstraction and being worn on the body: from clicking and swiping to doorstep delivery, from designs in software to retail rack. For some clothing, software is a routine, parochial part of design and production, guided by, say, flat illustrations in ADOBE software or tech packs sent back and forth from design office to factory. Yet clothing also opens people to entire virtual worlds, from live-streaming runway shows to the virtual worlds in a headset. Or a novel. Or an INSTAGRAM story. Video game characters can become style inspiration (see how STREET FIGHTER IV informs LUKA SABBAT), while fashion designers work with game developers to lend in-game realism within a fantasy frame. Ensembles worn by characters in the game YAKUZA were recently produced for a limited-edition sale. In virtual reality, dressing one’s avatar may eventually reach fashion (it has precedent, when ARMANI opened a store in SECOND LIFE), and I could see some fascinating collaborations pushing the boundaries for what can be achieved—if it's done well. Imagine dressing in a gaseous cloud or having dynamically changing logos loaded onto a t-shirt. This could become reality (in virtual reality) if VR becomes as large a market force as video games are today. Give VR a try if you haven't already. In other parallels between computing and clothing, JEFF IHAZA draws comparisons between streetwear and cryptocurrency. When hype, currency, and value collide… For informed customers, tracing the supply chain has become a pastime and a motivation to buy. MAURA BRANNIGAN’s story on responsible cashmere is a great look at how brands are grappling with transparency in a market driven out-of-whack by pushing a farmed fiber—from living, breathing flocks—to scale. As sustainability initiatives move forward, can the desire for scale be balanced with responsible sourcing? Can brands risk not putting their money where their marketing is? The most loyal customers are out there, taking notes. Take the change in manufacturing of the BALENCIAGA TRIPLE-S as one indication. I find the story less about the "made in" label and more about the fact that customers are paying attention. They notice the change and look for differences in the product... Briefs: Learn from the mistake... BALMAIN released a capsule collection of evening gowns... Going airborne for the GRAILED 100. | | | - HK Mindy Meissen, curator |
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 | Fashionista |
| Just for a moment, picture the most classic, elegant closet you can. What's in it? A camel trench coat, perhaps, or possibly a pair of buttery leather driving loafers. Regardless of the closet-haver's personal tastes, a perfect cashmere sweater fits in, too - maybe even more prominently than the trench or loafers. | | |
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 | Racked |
| When Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty in September, she turned the makeup industry on its head. With its 40 foundation shades -- the darkest of which sold out first -- Fenty proved that inclusivity in cosmetics is not just ethical but profitable. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| For the first time the World Economic Forum will consider topics like sustainable manufacturing and creating clothing for the disabled. | | |
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 | SSENSE |
| Jeff Ihaza explains the surging interest in streetwear and cryptocurrency. | | |
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 | Harvard Business Review |
| Colors and fonts may matter more than security. | | |
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| The New York Times |
| Surreal times call for surreal clothes. Should we play by the old rules? Plus, Iris van Herpen and Schiaparelli. | | |
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 | The Business of Fashion |
| Women and girls recently released from ISIS captivity, wearing the same clothes the day they were kidnapped, were taken shopping in Iraq by Khalsa Aid to help rebuild their lives and dignity. | | |
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 | The Washington Post |
| Does the heat-seeking designer who brought skinny-suited hipsters to the runway make sense at Celine, one of fashion's most sophisticated, feminist brands? | | |
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 | Jing Daily |
| With the event’s see now, buy now strategy, clothes by Li Ning and Edison Chen may be showing in New York City, but they'll be selling in Shanghai and Beijing. | | |
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 | Stratechery |
| Amazon Go is the story of technology, and so is this tweet: Yesterday the Amazon Go concept store in Seattle opened to the public, filled with sandwiches, salads, snacks, various groceries, and even beer and wine (Recode has a great set of pictures here). | | |
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 | The Cut |
| And signals the future of the brand. | | |
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| Fashionista |
| If you're clued into the current political climate (or, at the very least, have logged onto Twitter sometime over the past year), you're aware that the President of the United States has made it his mission to discredit the "corrupt and dishonest" media - aka any publication or journalist that dares to cover him in a negative light - as savagely as he can. | | |
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 | Sourcing Journal Online |
| Apparel brands and retailers are either embracing sustainability of their own accord, getting backed into a corner, or faking it until they make it. | | |
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 | Garage Magazine |
| Plus: if Slimane is going to Céline, why is Karl Lagerfeld growing a Retirement Beard? | | |
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 | Glossy |
| Dion Lee is a top designer in Australia -- in November, he became the youngest designer to receive the annual Australian Fashion Laureate, considered the Australian fashion industry's most prestigious honor -- but he's still making a name for himself in the U.S. Currently in growth mode, establishing his brand in the states is a main focus. | | |
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 | Fast Company |
| It’s possible that in the not-too-distant future, we’ll all be walking around with implants no bigger than a grain of rice under our skin, transmitting everything from payment capabilities to health data. The question is: Will it ever feel normal? | | |
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 | Chronicling The Robot Industry |
| The "Financial Times" reported earlier this year that one of the largest clothing manufacturers, Hong Kong-based Crystal Group, proclaimed robotics could not compete with the cost and quality of manual labor. Crystal's Chief Executive, Andrew Lo, emphatically declared, "The handling of soft materials is really hard for robots." | | |
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 | The Fashion Law |
| Adwoa Aboah landed one of the most anticipated magazine covers of 2017. Photographed by Steven Meisel, wearing Marc Jacobs, Aboah was the first face of what has been deemed the "new Vogue," or British Vogue under the watch of new editor-in-chief Edward Enninful. "Being on this cover is the bigg | | |
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 | CNN |
| Written by Oscar Holland, CNN Yuima Nakazato has long worked at the intersection of fashion and technology. Having made his name through 3D printing and digital fabrication, the Japanese designer is now pushing a new frontier: outer space. | | |
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 | South China Morning Post |
| For centuries, one of the most sought-after secrets within the fashion and historian community alike is an age-old leather tanning process that rests at the bottom of the English Channel as part of an abandoned shipwreck from 1786. | | |
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