← The Glossy Podcast
Loading summary
Transcript47 lines
- [00:06]
Dani Parisi
Hello, and welcome back to the Glossy Week in Review podcast. I'm your host, senior fashion reporter Dani Parisi, and I'm here with our international reporter Zofia Zvyglinska. Hello, Zofia. How you doing?
- [00:16]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Hi. Doing good.
- [00:17]
Dani Parisi
Good to talk to you. I think it's been a couple weeks since you've been on. Also, I don't know if you saw the movie the Brutalist, but it's the first time I have seen another person with the name Zofia, although she spells it cnn. So in that movie, like, one of the characters in it, it's really good movie. I think you would like it.
- [00:33]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Interesting. I know the girls characters. One of them had a zafia in there or like, a zosza, and that's, like, basically Polish.
- [00:41]
Dani Parisi
They pronounce it Zsophia.
- [00:43]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Ah, okay. In the movie, I think that's Romanian, not Polish. But, yeah, there are some.
- [00:47]
Dani Parisi
They're Hungarian.
- [00:48]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, Hungarian.
- [00:49]
Dani Parisi
They're Hungarian in the movie. And anyway, also, I love the alliteration of your name. I know we've talked about that. I think it's great. But, yes, thanks for being here. We're just gonna talk about two topics this week instead of three, but they're both kind of juicy. The first is Men's Fashion Week in Paris is happening right now. I think by the time this episode comes out, it'll be a little over halfway done. There's already been some really interesting stuff. I'm a big menswear fan, and we'll talk about some of the highlights from the first half of Men's Fashion Week. And then secondly, we will talk about the first few days of the Trump administration, because there. A lot has happened in the last, like, week. Mostly we will be talking about the tariffs and kind of the implication there, but there's been a lot of other executive orders and kind of drastic changes. And we'll talk about how that will affect the industry, because all of it is relevant, I think, and probably useful to our listeners. But, yeah, let's start with Men's Fashion Week. It's happening right now in Paris. I'm obviously biased, but I've always been a big menswear fan, and there's sort of been this, like, menswear renaissance the last 10 years. I feel like lots of interesting designers and influencers and more of a kind of general appreciation, I think, for menswear. And I always enjoy looking at Men's Fashion Week because I think men's stuff gets a little overshadowed at kind of the more standard fashion weeks. Understandably, women's is still, like, I forget the exact numbers, but women's fashion is still massively bigger than men's fashion in terms of, like, market. But, yeah, a lot of cool stuff. I mean, I want to start with one of my favorite highlights that I saw, which was the Jordan Luca show. Did you see that, Zofia? It's so sweet. I saw that the designers, Jordan Bowen and Luca Marchetto, got married during their own Runway show, which I thought was extremely cute. They had a ceremony. They also had, like, the clothes from the collection were on display and, like, the guests were wearing them and everything. But it was literally like a wedding. I mean, it was a wedding. I just thought that was very, very fun and very sweet and also not something I've really seen before. I mean, whenever I go to Fashion Week, there's always shows trying to do something new. I mean, last season, I really enjoyed the, like, this dog show that I went to that was, oh, my God, Rachel Antonoff. I enjoyed it because I was like, wow, I've never been to a show like this. You go to a lot of fashion shows, and a lot of them are the same. I've definitely never been to a wedding that's also a fashion show. So I just think that's delightful.
- [03:02]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, I really love that one. I think that it kind of like, plays into their design as well. Cause it felt a little bit like fun and crazy and obviously, like, there was a bit of, like, an Italian edge to it as well, which was lovely. But, yeah, I think the whole ceremony was something you definitely don't see on the runways. You know, you have a lot of designers kind of cosplaying real time situations like, you know, Chanel and it's like, supermarket thing. But I don't think you really get that many real occasions that happen on the runways. This was really lovely.
- [03:35]
Dani Parisi
Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, I'm sure there has been fashion shows that are themed around a wedding or something like that, but this was a literal, actual wedding. Like, two people got married during the show. Yeah, I just think that's very fun. I think the big one we should talk about is Louis Vuitton and Pharrell's show with Niigo. But before we get to that, any other highlights from Men's Fashion Week that you saw other than Louis Vuitton? Because I feel like we'll have a lot to say about that one.
- [04:00]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Definitely. I mean, I always kind of look out for Le Mer just because I think that that's a brand that has had consistently good fabrication. And, you know, they kind of really focus on great materials. And I think that this collection in particular was very, very them coded. At the same time, really excellent in terms of the way they constructed all of the styling. So I think that's a highlight for me. And then obviously, Issey Miyake Men's as well, which was the first time it was showing there, had some very cool things. And I love the Pleats collection. So I think that this was just a different take on that and slightly more simple as well. I think there's a trio of Japanese designs behind it, and they seem to have done a really good job. It was a very fun Runway. Everyone was, like, running down the Runway with coats in the air. It was really cool.
- [04:50]
Dani Parisi
That's cool. There should be more running on the Runway, or else they should call it a walkway. One more before we get to Louis Vuitton is. I'm not sure how you say this brand's name, but Walter Von Berendonk, I think. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that correctly, but they had a show themed around sort of like, aliens, and the models are wearing these long et like, hand appendages with super long fingers and shoes with, like, suckers on them, like a tentacle or something, and alien masks and stuff, which felt very silly and very campy. Like, in a good way. More like theatrical. I don't know. I always think that's fun. Sometimes the fashion shows can be a little dour, and I thought this one was kind of, like, cartoony in a fun way. I mean, a little bit like a spirit Halloween fashion show.
- [05:36]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, I've definitely seen, I guess.
- [05:38]
Dani Parisi
Do you have Spirit Halloween in the uk? I don't know. Maybe. That's an American phenomenon.
- [05:41]
Zofia Zvyglinska
That's an American thing.
- [05:42]
Dani Parisi
It's like a Halloween store that pops up for, like, three weeks in October in some abandoned storefront, and then November 1st, it just disappears. It's back to being abandoned. I don't know, but they have them all over the country. I don't know who runs it or how they do it, but it shows up for a month, and then it's gone.
- [06:00]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Oh, my God. Is that the one with the massive skeletons that everyone has out on their lawns?
- [06:05]
Dani Parisi
I think they do sell those, although I often see those at Home Depot, which is like a home improvement place. But maybe Spirit Halloween's just got lots of wacky costumes and, like. And they smell horrible, the costumes. And I don't recommend it. Sorry. Disappear In Halloween, if they're listening anyway. But let's talk about the Louis Vuitton show. I feel like that was the big highlight so far from Men's Fashion Week. Pharrell continues his sort of. His really interesting kind of take on being the creative director of Louis Vuitton, which we can talk about. But the collection was designed by him and Nigo, who's the Japanese designer behind Bathing Apex, and probably more than any collection I've seen before, really combined the, like, traditional European luxury look with, like, American, like, street, particularly skate culture, which Pharrell has, like, a deep kind of background in. There were models with, like, you know, a big, classic Louis Vuitton looking overcoat, and then, like, these fat, like, skateboard sneakers kind of under it. That was like, part of the highlight was this ButterSoft sneaker in 40 different colors, which is a chunky skateboard shoe that absolute looks exactly like a 2000 skate shoe. Pharrell had his own skate shoe back in the day, the ice cream. But it kind of reminded me of, like, those sorts of brands, like audio or like Osiris, like, just those huge, extremely wide skate shoes, you know? And it's funny because I feel like that sort of was going out a little bit, like the big, ugly sneaker. And then I feel like Pharrell has the power to just conjure it back and, like, make it not look dated. That's my take anyway.
- [07:43]
Zofia Zvyglinska
No, definitely. I think the skate show has been kind of on the periphery of things for the last year or so. You've seen a number of celebrities and people wearing it, but I still feel like it hasn't really had its moment. Especially those super chunky ones that literally break your ankles. Those ones, I think, have still got some time in them, and I think that they could potentially come back a little bit more, especially since Pharrell put them on the Runway. But, yeah, a lot of focus on collector's items, I think, as well. Obviously, with nico, who's got 10,000 strong fashion collection, I think there's more focus on the ultimate wardrobe. There was curation in between each of the runways. There was little sections where you could see special LV designed collector's items, which I thought was really cool, as well as a Final Fantasy tribute in the orchestra, which was very fun.
- [08:41]
Dani Parisi
Oh, I didn't hear that.
- [08:42]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, that's cool. That's very cool.
- [08:44]
Dani Parisi
Love Final Fantasy. I didn't realize they did that, but, yeah, I feel like that that is definitely in line with Pharrell's kind of curatorial collaborationist approach, which we kind of talked about a little bit when he first took the job. Like, he is, I think, like, has a lot of pedigree in fashion, but he's not like a. A classical designer. He's much more of the, like, collaboration and curation kind of mindset, which is very in touch with, like, how Virgil did things and working with Nigo. I mean, he's worked with Nigo for decades at this point on various projects over the years. So it's, like, not like a new collaboration or anything, but it does feel very reflective of his style. But at the same time, I think one thing people were maybe a little concerned about was would there be any sort of, like, distinct personal touch to it, or would it just be, like, whoever is the collaborator of the day? And I strongly feel that there is a Pharrell feel to his collections. Like, the 2000s skateboard aesthetic feels very specific to Pharrell. It's not just because of Nigo. You know what I mean?
- [09:52]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, no, definitely. I think that it's still interesting, though, because obviously with Louis Vuitton under Pharrell, it has kind of shifted significantly to this, like, streetwear kind of trendy Vuitton, which I'm not sure if that's, like, what a lot of those customers would go for. I still think that there's a kind of a desire for more, like, traditional tailoring and maybe some more of those design elements that call back to, you know, luxury as a brand. I think this came up a lot with this show in particular. Is that the kind of fashion insiders and, like, commentators were talking about, you know, whether Pharrell's, like, vision for the brand is something that is going to be established enough to kind of keep pushing it, you know, season by season, or whether it is starting to feel a little bit samey in terms of what he's putting out there. Like, I do think that he's. He's still managing to kind of put out newer items or things that people are still interested by. And obviously, his allure in terms of bringing people and celebrities to the brand is very big. But I'm wondering in terms of all of these changes, creative director wise, that have been happening over the last few weeks, whether there isn't maybe room to expand that into a more traditional creative director for Vitain as well.
- [11:10]
Dani Parisi
Yeah, I think that's a good point. I mean, I feel like Pharrell's in a little bit of a tough position where if he does new things all the time, I feel like the narrative would be like there's no identity. But then if you kind of try to be really consistent, it's like, well, he doesn't have the range or whatever. I could see the critic happening kind of either way. But I mean, I think you're right. He does have a very specific vision and vibe. And like, has been focusing on that kind of like street element, which is again, interesting because I feel like the luxury kind of streetwear collaboration or crossover is kind of like old news a little bit at this point. And I feel like I've noticed a lot of luxury brands kind of doing the opposite in the last year or two. Like going back toward more traditional, like tailoring and traditional kind of luxury look and less focus on like big sneakers and kind of like street inspired silhouettes. But who knows? If anybody can kind of keep it alive, though, I think it would be Pharrell. Any final thoughts on either Louis Vuitton or Men's Fashion Week before we move on?
- [12:11]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Not much there. Just really looking to the Willy Trevorrow show, which is happening on Sunday. So I'm sure that we'll be able to touch upon that in our New York Fashion Week episodes, which will be coming up soon.
- [12:22]
Dani Parisi
Yes, that's right. New York Fashion Week is just around the corner. And then, interesting that this season there's like some breaks between the weeks we talked about there. I think there's like a week and a half break between New York and London, which is good for us because it's always a sprint. But yes, let's talk about our second topic. We are only a few days into the second Trump presidency and man, it has already been a wild ride, demanding we now call it the Gulf of America instead of the Gulf of Mexico, ending birthright citizenship, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. There's been just so much crazy news every day and a lot of significant jarring changes and just like a complete 180 from a lot of previous policies for our purposes. I think probably the most significant for our listeners is the infamous Trump tariffs, which are still extremely vague despite potentially going into effect February 1st. So we'll talk a bit about those. I think that's the most relevant to our listeners. But we can also talk about some of the other kind of things he is doing or plans to do because a lot of it, I think, does affect the fashion industry and probably a lot of our listeners. But yeah, let's start with the tariffs. They would include possibly, and I say possibly because it's changing all the time. A 25% tariff on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico, that's like the most recent number. There could be 10% tariff on goods from China, although I've heard numbers all the way up to 60%. These mauling tariffs on the EU, like it could take a lot of forms and those three of those four like China, European Union and Mexico all I think a lot of fashion companies import stuff from there. Canada is not as much, I think, but there certainly are companies like arc'teryx manufactures all their stuff in Canada. They have a factory up there and imports a lot to the US to sell. So it's like all of these I think would be pretty significant and affect many, many companies in the fashion industry and maybe mess up their supply chain pretty significantly. What are your thoughts on the current state of the Trump tariffs, which again are like, who knows, by the time this comes out, maybe the plan will change again.
- [14:32]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, that's true. The numbers have been going up and down depending on the days. I do think that obviously the idea of using them is more of a threat against the kind of fentanyl being brought into the US through and through Mexico and from Mexico in particular, obviously the immigration issues that are kind of one of his, I guess hallmarks of the presidency. So I'm wondering if that's obviously something that he's really going to be pushing through that. But yeah, the deadline is coming up really fast, so I'm assuming that because this 25% number has been consistent that that is the most likely one to go into effect in some way. Although the Chinese tariffs are also something to be considered and I've actually heard that there could be tariffs to 100% on goods coming in from China, depending obviously on what the situation is and how it evolves in terms of the automobile situation, but also the chip situation on the technology side, there's a lot happening there. I think from a fashion perspective, especially because so many companies have had major supply chain disruptions during COVID there was a lot of changes there and with that that came near shoring, like onshoring sometimes into the US Even though that's a little bit pricier, I think a lot of companies actually ended up moving their production to places like Mexico. So having these tariffs in place would actually impact them in quite a significant way. I'm not sure exactly which brands would be comfortable in sharing that information, but I'm pretty sure that most brands now have moved at least some of their production there. Especially since, as I said, a lot of those far off supply chains are a little bit harder to manage. And even companies that are in China have now moved some of their production, or at least some of the deliveries that are going to be sent to the US To Vietnam, because that is a place which is not going to be under those tariffs. So, yeah, there's already kind of preparations in place. I think there's a lot more that will be happening in that. But it's an extremely short amount of time for brands and retailers to change their supply chains. Usually that kind of transition would take at least a couple of months to audit all of the places that they're going to. But I think that there's definitely an issue with this since this is a kind of key point for Trump in his new presidency.
- [17:03]
Dani Parisi
Yeah, I mean, I think you're right on many points here, but I definitely agree that the 25% tariff seems the most likely, just since that's been the most consistent number. And yeah, I think even in the best of circumstances, shifting your, your production to another country entirely is like not an easy process. You know, and even for a small brand, even if you've only got one factory or something, it still is a huge headache because like you said, you have to audit all, you know, whoever's going to manufacture your stuff, you need to make sure they can do it the way you want them to do it, that they can meet the numbers that you need to meet. All that kind of stuff takes a really long time. And then if you're a huge brand who's got, you know, 10 factories making your stuff, that becomes 10 times harder or, or more. So it's definitely not something people can change overnight. And he has been kind of talking about this for a little while, but not that long. You know, even, even if you started like, you know, the moment it even was mentioned, it would still be tight, I think.
- [18:03]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah.
- [18:03]
Dani Parisi
And I can imagine there are brands that maybe were producing in China and then were like, you know, let's move to Mexico so that we are not going to be affected by any sort of trade war stuff. And then they move to Mexico and it's like. And tariff on Mexico too. So it's like they're kind of. I mean, I also feel like Trump talked at one point about just blanket tariff on all goods imported from anywhere. Although I'm sure even in that situation there'd be carve outs and stuff. I definitely think you're right that it's a negotiating tactic. You put a tariff on imports from a country until they do what you want them to do, and then you lift them or whatever. So I can definitely see that happening. The other thing is that there are issues with raising tariffs that would affect the fashion industry, even if it's affecting other parts of the American economy. Just in general. I think tariffs inarguably would raise prices on whatever it is because people will still be importing stuff and now their costs are higher and they'll pass that on to the consumer. Part of the reason I just talked to an independent fashion brand that just shut down about this and the designer Kristen Fanrakis was telling me that part of it is that people just like are very trained to pay very little for low cost, like kind of cheap goods. Like we talk about shein all the time as an example. And part of the reason they do that is just because everything's really expensive and rent is expensive and housing is expensive and food is expensive. And in the US wages have stagnated for like decades at this point. So people just like don't have a lot of extra money and then if they do, they like get sick and then immediately lose all of their savings to the health insurance industry. So it's like there's a, there's so many ways that people are very precarious and then if you add tariffs on that, that raise the cost of like everything that comes into the country except maybe like food. Because I think that's one of the few things that's mostly produced in the U.S. it kind of just will affect all other categories. So the fashion brands that I talk to who are like, people don't have the either will or means to buy like good high quality American made stuff is like, they're definitely not going to have that now because, you know, their wallet is stretched even thinner than it was before. That's my read on it. I could be wrong and I'm not an economist or anything, but that's kind of my vibe. That's the vibe I'm getting. And also what I've heard from some experts in this kind of space telling.
- [20:25]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Me, yeah, no, definitely, I think that, you know, clothing purchases in general have kind of gone down across the board. And I think that's also what's contributed to luxury's decline is just like people don't have the money to spend on, you know, fancier purchases. And for some people that literally just means extra clothes. I think the kind of common estimation, if you do count in all of these tariffs is that the prices of goods would raise, would be raised over 20% and some retailers obviously would pass that cost on to customers. Customers others would not, depending on how much they would be able to account for within their own kind of accounting for costs. I think that that's something that we really should consider considering how much of, I guess the recent years in fashion have accounted on just lowering the prices and making sure that everything is affordable. That isn't going to be possible if these tariffs are put in place.
- [21:22]
Dani Parisi
Yeah, I certainly think that's true. One thing that I'm not sure about, and maybe you have a better perspective than me. So for the European Union, a lot of luxury fashion gets imported to the US from like either the materials or the good itself from like Italy or Switzerland or France or whatever. So I would guess even if the tariff percentage is lower, like I feel like it may be a little tougher on the higher priced goods because you know, 25% of $2 is like not that much, but 25% of $2,000 is, is more. But on the other hand, luxury goods I know tend to have a fatter margin. So maybe it's not as like not as big a deal to cut into it a little bit. I'm not really sure who would maybe be hit most by this. I'm not really sure if the super low cost like Sheehan type brands would really be that affected because again like if the price is really low already then like the percentage isn't really add that much.
- [22:22]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, I don't know.
- [22:23]
Dani Parisi
Do. What do you think between kind of high cost and low cost companies? What would be effective most?
- [22:28]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, I mean I think that low cost or smaller companies would be the most affected just because like those are the companies where your supply chain is so much smaller that diverting it isn't something that you do regularly. So when it does happen that change is quite big and obviously that means that also the cost to you as a business is quite big for you know, major brands because they're kind of used to shifting their supply chain around if there is a crisis. And obviously because of the minimums that they need, I think that they're probably also more used to just shifting those suppliers and at the same time shifting those material costs. I would say that on the luxury side of things, obviously the most expensive materials, so things like silks, maybe some cottons or particular kind of materials coming in from Italy, leather sometimes also comes in from Europe. Those kind of materials, if someone is importing them into the US usually it's kind of a maintenance of very high quality. So they would account for it in whatever their margin is. I think that that's something that they're more interested in getting that kind of quality garment than they are skimping on that material.
- [23:39]
Dani Parisi
Yeah. Okay. I think that makes a lot of sense. One more thing on tariffs before we talk about other kind of Trump related stuff. The fact that the tariffs did not go into effect immediately on day one, the way he kind of insisted they would, tells me there might be a bit of. A bit of ground given here. I think there is even among, like, big business corporate CEOs who are by, by and large, very pro Trump. I think we're a little scared of the idea of severe tariffs kicking in immediately and, like, messing up their supply chain. So it's one area where I could see a little bit of waffling maybe happening and keeps. Just. Keeps, like, threatening it, but never actually kind of goes through with it or maybe does it in some altered, limited way. Like, I could definitely see that happening. Especially if the big corporations that Trump has filled his cabinet with, like, billionaires and stuff, have any sort of reservations about it. I could. I could definitely see that maybe.
- [24:35]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, no, I agree.
- [24:36]
Dani Parisi
Being pulled. Pulled back a little bit, definitely.
- [24:38]
Zofia Zvyglinska
I think that there's. There's probably a lot of pushback from the cabinet, just like, on whatever the costs would be and how much that would impact the U.S. economy. You know, obviously, like, all of the things that are happening outside of the U.S. the inflation, cost of living is still affecting the U.S. as well. So any kind of changes there would impact all of the citizens in the country.
- [24:59]
Dani Parisi
Yeah. And then two more things to talk about quickly. But there have been, like I said, a lot of executive orders in the first couple of days, some of which are maybe not as directly, immediately relevant to the fashion business, but certainly would have an effect like the severe crackdown on LGBTQ rights in the US which would, you know, have an immediate effect on the quality of life of the many queer people who work in the fashion industry. Or things like pulling out of the Paris Agreement, which was expected but still pretty drastic because we're like, the US Is one of the biggest polluters in the world, and just completely pulling out of that agreement does not bode well for the environment.
- [25:42]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah.
- [25:42]
Dani Parisi
That move also came with a lot of other measures meant to kill sustainability. There's no more electric vehicle mandate, killing permits for wind energy. There was one that was like instructing the Army Corps of Engineers to ignore wildlife protections, filling his cabinet again with fossil fuel people. Like, all of that, I think will have a chilling effect on the kind of sustainable fashion sector, which is Already kind of fighting against a tide pretty badly. So I could see brands kind of just abandoning sustainable measures. Like, you know, we talked about it before. Like a lot of companies I think are just sort of not caring as much about appearing progressive anymore. And I can see sustainability falling to the wayside since there's a pretty clear effort from the administration to that that is like not something they want.
- [26:33]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Yeah, no, I definitely agree. And we've seen that already with a number of companies pulling out of sustainability programs, but also DEI programs, major retailers and brands over the last year or so. And I think that that is only going to accelerate, obviously with the fashion industry being relatively inclusive, that might also pose some dangers to LGBTQ individuals who are working within the industry. You know, those kind of protections were there in the the beginning and I think that now it might be a little bit tougher for them. Obviously it will be employer dependent. So I'm hoping that brands will kind of pull through and still protect their employees, but that might also come from customers as well. So there might be some more things happening there. Obviously with the Paris agreement, not surprising, but kind of typical. And we've seen a number of US Brands kind of pull out of sustainability agreements as well. I'm kind of hoping on the whole global is local side of things that most companies will still think about the measures that are being put in place in the EU and kind of focus on their sustainability mandates there as something that applies to their global business, not just their US one. So still having a little bit of hope there.
- [27:50]
Dani Parisi
Good. Pessimism of the mind, optimism of the heart. That's the right move, as Gramsci said. Okay, I think that's all the time we have this week, but thank you again for being here. Zofia, this was a great conversation and good to have you back.
- [28:04]
Zofia Zvyglinska
Thank you so much. It was so fun.
- [28:05]
Dani Parisi
For those of you listening, don't forget to give us a rating and a review, whether that's on Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen to the Glossy Weekend Review because that helps us out so much. And don't forget to subscribe to the Glossy Podcast to hear interviews with industry insiders every Wednesday and Weekend Review episodes with me every Friday. Until next time, thanks you for listening.