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Feature

Goggle or Look Away

Sweatpants are a sign of defeat.  Lagerfeld.

Choose, look away or goggle, at times that is a hard decision to make, especially if it is a sudden choice in a rather embarrassing situation, especially if it involves a man’s large bulge. At the 2024 Paris Olympics the games come across as a public acceptance of OnlyFans. Male athletes are known for performances and packages.  Sometimes you have to wonder why do people put on certain pieces of clothing before heading out the door.  Were they in a rush?  Was it a quick decision or a grab and go? That was the only clean piece available.   I am not sure how the Karl Lagerfeld quote would apply to this moment in life.

People wear sweat pants for comfort, a quick errand, going to the gym or just laziness.  It was clear sunny day in London.  I decided to have a walk from the market to the other side.   While crossing the Southwark Bridge, admiring the cityscape, looking down the Thames seeing London Bridge, a funny thing happened on the way to the north bank. On the horizon I saw two guys approaching from the opposite way.  From the outlines, one looked slim to athletic, the other, more muscular perhaps, brawny. But, I was still enjoying the scenes of a bustling metropolis, just keep moving, thinking about a finding a café or hitting a Tesco supermarket for deli a chocolate chip cookie.

A Melon

The male duo got close enough to get a clearer view.  One was muscular blonde, square head shaped, around 1.83 meters wearing a white t-shirt with grey sweatpants, a bag over his shoulder.  The leaner dark haired one carried a large fitness handbag. Maybe they just left a gym. 

MEME for a large Penis

Without warning, the hunky blond in the grey grabbed my attention in a “Jim Carrey Ace Ventura” way, a double take with swollen eyeballs locked below his waistline.  In a flash, London disappeared before my eyes.  The city’s vistas became meaningless.  Juggling in loose baggy track pants could have been cantaloupe large enough for a two-plate lunch salad. The eggplant meme was not popular then.  Mr. Melon noticed my animated reaction. Suddenly, he broke into a smile while we passed each other, an acknowledgement of appreciation for seeing his very obvious for a few seconds.

That fleeting time on a bridge has stayed with me all these years.  I wonder if he had sweatpants in different colors. Bye the way, I forgot about the cookie.

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Fashion Feature

Luxury’s Lost Luster

How did luxury lose its luster? There are many answers to this question.  As the industry reels from lower profits while consumers cut back on aspirational purchases.  Some answers require a somewhat deeper analysis. 

As masstige became a business model for exclusive brands, they began to lose their allure.  Overproducing so called “desired pieces” accomplished the opposite effect, a splash of everyday common tattiness. When once there was admiration mingled with a touch of covetousness for a displayed logo or design, today, this comes across as vacuous consumption for the sake of showing off. 

As management drivers took control of the luxury industry, maximising the bottom line became paramount.  Corporate control is not about creation, but rather big profits.  A fast way to make money is to increase prices for high demand goods.  These price hikes did not go unnoticed by pinched shoppers who simply prioritized basics over splendours.

A cautionary tale is taking place.  Trying to be everything to everyone can mean nothing to all.   As luxury fashion continued casting a wide net, discerning buyers went in the opposite direction.  A corporate boss does not desire what a workers have.  Teen buyers are shaped by peers, not their parents. Generation Z has become mass labels wary.  Young buyers look less willing to chase brands, looking for different, more individualistic clothing.

The most important asset for any brand is reputation.  An ongoing sweatshop scandal has at least in the short term made many buyers question the real value of these labels. Factories employing illegal workers in poor conditions while producing high quality expensive goods rattled consumer trust. 

The luxury sector is entering a period of uncertainty. With retail in a tailspin, once rock solid markets in Asia in a slowdown, global conflicts, changes at the creative head levels, the Fall 2024 Fashion Week conversations will be more interesting than the runway collections. 

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Travel

Wismar Staycation

Wismar makes a nice staycation away from Berlin. The former Hansa League and Swedish settlement offers quaint walks as well as nearby beaches.

Wismar
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Fashion

Buying The Alternative Confidence

“Luxury bags make your life more pleasant, make you dream, give you confidence, and show your neighbors you’re doing well.” Largerfeld.

As the luxury handbag bubble pops due to working condition and mark-up scandals and over, there are alternatives to big brands. The labels I listed below are small, not mass produced, but more importantly, unique. A person carrying one of these pieces will get a lot of compliments.

While in Milan, walking by Up You To Anthology on my way to a Fashion Week appointment, I decided to go in. After speaking to the curator, he told me each bag is designed by artists with a limited production run.

Anthology
Up To You Anthology

During Pitti Uomo I always pass by the Sentiero Florence store. Looking in the window I decided to go in and see. The sales lady told me about the family owned label still producing handbags in Tuscany.

Sentiero Florence
Sentiero Florence
La portegna
La Portegna Madrid

I am recommending this brand because the online review have been good for this Madrid’s La Portegna. Spanish producers are known for quality leather goods.

Bonastre Paris
Bonastre

I met the Bonastre team at Pitti Uomo. As a small luxury brand the designer and staff have close relationship all aspects of the Paris based label from design to the final product.

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Feature

Department Stores Downfalls

Is the department store going the way of the Dodo Bird in Germany? Once these temples to consumption were places of dreams offering shoppers the best of the best.  Those days are long gone.  As the retail carnage continues, once mighty shopping temples have fallen silent.

In Berlin, the department store culture slow death is sad to watch.  Germany’s two largest chains Karstadt, founded in 1881, and Galeria Kaufhaus, 1889, formed Galeria Karstadt Kaufhaus from a 2018 merger.  The two struggling stores fell far due to inconsistent management strategies, asset stripping, covid, bankruptcies and of course, shoppers’ migration to online platforms.  After years of struggling, the new owners decided to jettison fifty-two locations by this summer.   Let’s hope the current proprietors will invest in updating their remaining eighty-two mouldy locales.

Speaking of July 31st, Berlin’s Galeries Lafayette will permanently close its stylish 9000 square meter Friedrichstrasse location after twenty-years.  The French retailer cited changing commercial dynamics for the decision.  In this writer’s opinion, the store was in the wrong location anchoring a decaying Zombie Mall.

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Feature

The Spirited yet Damp 2024 Berlin CSD

A rainy cloud filled 2024 Christopher Street Day hit the city July 27th. Seventy-five trucks slinked through the capital on a ten kilometre journey finishing in Tiergarten at the Siegessäule Column. The weather did not dampen the spirit, just fewer naked bodies on the parade route. This year’s theme “for diversity and democracy” is a call for different communities to unite during these tense times.

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Fashion Feature

Fakefluencing is a Lifestyle

As Generation Z gets squeezed, facing gaping economic inequality, the expense to show off becomes harder.  In 2024 trade down and keep posting model reigns.  If the bank account cannot afford the real thing, get the fake one.  The rise of the super counterfeit luxury goods means bling, bling without the high price tag.   Fakefluencers brag about purchasing fake luxury goods, glamour on a shoestring budget.  Even when they are showcasing their false items, perhaps even looking silly, fakefluencers have taken influencing to the next level, Fakefluencing.  These style setters are no longer waiting for brands to dm their Instagram accounts asking for a collaboration.  Why go to Saks Fifth Avenue?  Now, Fakefluencers buy the sort of real thing online or on the street corner. 

Influencers and Counterfeit

Excess, no questions asked is the philosophy. That interlocked Double C Chanel handbag under an arm was probably made who knows where, by who knows whom, under what type of conditions.

At least the world’s most expensive logos are being seen with people who count.  Next time looking over a lifestyle of the rich and famous social media post just remember “If it looks too good to be true, it is probably fake.”

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Cinema entertainment entertainment news Fashion podcast

On John Galliano back to Dior

A snippet from the Before Tacky podcast with filmmaker Kevin Macdonald about fashion designer John Galliano. Rumours have hit the fashion gossip circuit the once former creative head of Dior is set for a return to the famed house. Click below to understand why we think this story feels a bit false.

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Fashion Feature

All Display

Author Colin McDowell cynical take on the fashion world in his 1994 book The Designer Scam coined a phrase “Display Artists” for those who show up at events to parade around, get pictures eager being a part of the “best” crowd. Today they are called “Influencers”, people who influence others posting on social media. Others display their recent buys in shopping hauls. How can we not notice the neatly lined bags behind content creators on YouTube. These video Display Artists must show the world they can afford the big brands.

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Fashion

That’s A FAKE & We Know It

Style moved from Having It to Faking It. As with so many elements in modern life, expensive handbags may not be what you think, fake handbags are stylish. Once a secret, today buyers and influencers proudly display cheap knock offs.

Handbags