PFW Day 3: Substack Meetups and Hot Blooded Beginnings
Field Notes from my first Substack meet-up. And Haider Ackermann's debut at Tom Ford.
Hello everyone, I hope you liked yesterday’s letter. Every season Dior dresses a bevvy of local celebrities attending the show which makes for a great photo-op. The women seemed as if they were having a lot of fun outside the tent.
This week kicked off with an enthusiastic verve. It was really refreshing because the last few Paris fashion weeks were a little moot. I hope the momentum will keep it’s steady course.
Field Notes
In the evening I attended my first Substack panel. I’ve been writing on Substack for almost a year now. As some of you who have been with me since the very beginning know, when I started this newsletter it was called Faubourg Saint-Honoré, a street in Paris known for it’s grand Haussmannian buildings and rows of luxury stores. If you’ve been to London, it is the equivalent of Bond Street. Or Madison Avenue, in New York. Ditto, Rodeo Drive in LA. You get the point.
Style Beat later emerged as the more personalized and analytical spin-off. But the objective has always been the same: report retail news, discuss celebrity and pop culture, and write about the fashion ecosystem. The latter being the most important ingredient. A lot of my readership is overseas, so it was lovely to meet some locals.
A big thank you to
and who organized the event at the French Institute of Fashion (IFM).
Khuyen writes
, a fantastic newsletter about the intersection of fashion and food. Yum! She kicked off the event by asking the question, are we all Substackers now? Over the past 20 years media has cycled through various identities; the journalist, was followed by the blogger, who was followed by the Instagrammer, then the influencer, and now what? The writer? , a seasoned reporter who moderated the event, writes about pop culture and the social media landscape. The panel consisted of , , and .When things got going, the panellists talked about the importance of safe spaces and asking questions. The three women offer a different approach to unpacking the issues. Take for example one of the latest trends in creativity, tarot card reading. Chelsey, the writer behind
, discusses with you the tarot and “new perspectives on the process of creating — and living”. It made me think of moments in fashion when mysticism and the future have clashed. Take for example Christian Dior’s superstition, who consulted fortune-tellers constantly throughout his life, touching wood and searching for lucky stars. It was a way to discuss the future openly, with a look into the unknown.As the talk began to sizzle, gears turned to the issue of free speech. Lindsey, the writer behind
said, “there is a complicated nature, and feeling, around these issues that we will all have to face at some point.”Identity is at the core of the conversation. The joy in covering fashion is that the clothes come will all sorts of messaging, personal and external. At the core of this industry is the desire to self-actualize and thrive. Clothes are just a medium inside a wonderful toolbox.
Yanique, who writes about Paris, said about identity, “we have to plant flowers. Or just show up more as who you really truly are, because there is no way to fully eradicate hate speech. Because I am going to show up as who I am, and that in itself is enough”.
Thank you again to Khuyen and Laurent for hosting this insightful and entertaining panel!! I encourage you to subscribe or follow these incredible writers for more on identity and free speech.
Haider Ackermann sent out his vision of Tom Ford on the catwalk. And it was good.
Have you been watching The White Lotus? If so, you can frame your mind around this season’s Tom Ford. It’s good, it’s not quite the same without Jennifer Coolidge, but in a good way, it’s hard to look away. Where Tom Ford’s version of the American suit happens to be one where the guy is wearing a jockstrap underneath, skin bearing, and the woman a thong, Haider Ackermann’s version was a slow-burn. His concept of sexy doesn’t come from body-to-body contact. His version is well-groomed, well-dressed, and elegant.
This collection that could’ve disguised as minimal was hot-blooded. There were bursts of colors, suave beiges, and whites, and navies. Some wools were brushed in their treatment to offer texture. One particular red leather coat had the grain of an alligator’s skin. Leather belts cable-thin at the waist lay slightly hovering above the navel.
Ackermann’s role at a time when sell-out culture is thriving was respectful of the brand’s DNA, offering it guidance without throwing institution and legacy out the window. It was still his design. His identity. But this was just a one-liner. This still needs to crystallize
He tucked fresh carefully trimmed flowers in the pockets of suits. That’s dashing for a designer whose love language, reportedly, is sensuality over sexuality.
So, what to wear next fall? Leather, leather, leather.
As always, thank you for being a subscriber. Your comments and likes help this newsletter grow. I’m running off to an event. See you tomorrow!
xx Kevin
Thanks a lot for this wrap-up and for attending!
Thank you for coming 🥰🥰🥰