THE DARKER HORSE: News | The Weekly Edit 2.3.18

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#MeToo Drives National Uptick of Sales in Black Dresses - Glossy

My thought bubble: I'm a political news junky so it's been quite delightful in the Trump era to be able to marry 3 of my main interests: fashion, journalism, and politics without feeling like I'm reaching too much to intellectualize the industry. The "Semiotics of Dress" (yes, an actual academic field of study) highlights the interdependent relationship between the designer, the wearer, and the context in which clothing is created. Whether intentional or not, designers often reflect the political environment of their times. From Coco Chanel boldly proposing pants for women to bra burning in the 60's to the slogan T's of Vivienne Westwood and Katherine Hamnett to the ousting of John Galliano from his namesake company for his anti-Semitic rant (although also forgiven and now at the helm of Margiela) to Hillary Clinton's white pantsuit in honor of the Women's Suffrage Movement to today's LBD #MeToo moment. In its capitalistic, commercial incarnation a piece of clothing is just a scrap of fabric but in its purest form, can also be a vehicle for expression and dare I say, even change.

Quote to remember: “We now live in a culture with increased demand for products that identify with wearers’ beliefs and interests,” said Katie Smith, retail analysis and insights director at Edited.

Politics or not you really can't go wrong with another Little Black Dress in your closet.

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What's a Rip-Off When Everything Looks the Same - Racked

My thought bubble: No one really owns color blocking as a general concept but we're in the age of "Storytelling" and there's something very specific about Outdoor Voices and their brand message. In addition to the silhouettes themselves, Bandier chose the name Me/We (Me Over We) which seems like a pretty obvious riff on OV's message of encouraging group activity rather than competitive sport.

If you've ever walked into a Bandier store you know that they carry a lot of brands. The store environment has tightened-up since it first launched but as a multi-brand shop, they have an arsenal of "references" from which to draw upon. OV is known for their kits; essentially a clean crop top and color block leggings which seem to have a distinct identity despite their simplicity. We/Me has their own very similar version of this concept and it seems like a shameless ploy to attract the OV customer and take some of their market share.

EVERY company copies. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. It's disheartening to realize that most ideas are just recycled, watered-down versions of something else. It's less a result that designers don't have an original idea, rather more so that they work for a big machine and have little creative control. It never ceases to amaze me how so many companies fall prey to the same uninspired decision-making process.

Perhaps if there was a way to successfully litigate the rampant knock-offs, there would also be less crap in our landfills.

I truly wish the terms of the settlement between Aquazzura and Ivanka Trump for her blatant copy of his very successful "Wild Thing" sandal was made public. I hope the compensation was gratifying for Aquazurra but publicly shaming these companies may be the best way to thwart this problem going forward