Buyers’ advice for emerging designers this season
🚨 Plus our first news digest 🚨
For those of you lucky enough to enjoy a European, work-free August, welcome back to emails and medium-sized screen. For those who didn't enjoy a summer worthy of a Dua Lipa photo dump, well, this week is just another week. Still, the start of September can bring a liberating feeling of renewal and new possibilities akin to the first week of January – school, fashion month, cuffing season, and the restorative power of an autumn wardrobe all beckon. So, before we get into buyers and their POV on what to expect in the coming months, we’re trying out something new.
Going forward, we'll open one post a week with a quick digest of what's happening in our universe, as well as job, internship, and freelance opportunities we've spotted that might be relevant. This is exciting because no one's ever done something like this with a newsletter before! JK!!
Cancellation of the week
The host and creator of The Cutting Room Floor, Recho Omondi, became the latest victim of the online outrage cycle that threatens to engulf us all if we spend too much time in the internet's good favour. After publishing a job listing for an administrative, personal assistant-esque role, Omondi drew criticism for offering a salary of $55,000 (around £40,000). Soon after, The Cut wrote a pretty critical article about the controversy and Omondi's response to the backlash, and quickly the pendulum swung back in Omondi's favour, with a cohort just as large and vocal questioning why a media company as big as New York Magazine would punch down when low wages are a problem perpetuated by pretty much every giant corporation that can, but chooses not to, pay their employees more. Meanwhile, Londoners continue to look on aghast at what constitutes a bad salary in the US. The job listing has been rescinded, but you can read the Cut piece here.
Make it make SSENSE
Well, turns out those memes about Trump's tariffs impacting the Canadian purveyor of designer goods and zany collages about said goods were more prophetic than satire. Despite its cultural ubiquity, SSENSE has filed for bankruptcy. Its CEO claims it plans to continue to pay salaries and operate “on a business-as-usual basis”. However, anyone in the industry who's been through a company bankruptcy knows how this tends to go. Whether it was actually the tariffs, or the impossible environment ecom created for itself over the last decade that did it, is up for debate. We’re curious about the real root causes and the damaging effect it’s had on designers recently, and will be investigating the story in more detail soon. Hold tight!
A new Vogue era, maybe
Chloe Malle has been announced as American Vogue’s “top editor”, aka head of editorial content, after Anna Wintour stepped down as editor-in-chief (but retained her position as Condé Nast's chief content officer) earlier this year. Got that? So, a new era beckons? Or business as usual and Wintour maintains ultimate power, hence the fact Malle is not being referred to as EIC? A win for on-staff editorial teams getting promoted to the top, given Malle has been at the company for around 15 years? Or an incredibly privileged heir to a famous actor and director gets fashion media’s most high-ranking job? Answers on a postcard.
Yay
Rachel Scott, aka Diotima, is the new creative director of Proenza Schouler. The CFDA winner’s brand has been a highlight of the NYFW schedule, so we love to see it.
Work opportunities
Jonny Lu Studio is looking for a Mid / Senior Art Director to work across campaign, editorial and book projects full-time in London. Send your CV and samples of your work to careers@jonny-lu.com
Camden Art Centre are looking for a Communications & Marketing Manager. Applications are open until the 8th of September. Info here
UK-based EU, EEA and UK nationals currently enrolled or recently graduated from an art course of any medium can submit completed works or works-in-progress to be considered for a show at 12 Star Gallery, located within Europe House in London. Info here
By Joe Bobowicz
In just days, Fashion Month commences, setting off a chain reaction of panic and sleepless nights for designers the world over. And so, as the industry straps in for another four-city marathon punctuated by directional (or lacklustre) designs and the faint but ever-present glare of an iPhone, we thought it only right that those on the front line – designers, duh – get the lowdown on what buyers and retailers are after, and how to handle market curveballs.
It’s no secret that surviving as an independent designer today is hard work, not least because of the overheads – production, staffing, show or presentation costs – that entail. Then, there’s the rigamarole of selling your work in a wholesale model that often demands minimums and unreasonable sell-through rates. Add to this the fact that most retailers add a 2.2 mark-up (120%) as an industry average, and designers are still having to chase down stores for payments. Cough, cough, Matches…
More broadly, fashion is facing the brunt of an exceptionally volatile market. We know all too well about the critical stresses on the industry – luxury spending has taken hits from economic uncertainty and geopolitical shifts, all the while consumers, particularly the younger ones, are showing increasing disenchantment with expensive wares. It’s not all doom and gloom for independent brands, though. Many stores have strong working relationships with their emerging designer cohorts and can guide them through the tricky times accordingly.
Sometimes, this amounts to what may seem like surprising advice. For Reece Crisp, the buying and creative director of London-based concept store, LN-CC, range planning is now less important. “When the market is lacking in new trends, you can get lost in an option count,” he argues. “Right now, it’s about buying the best pieces and backing them.” For emerging brands, that might mean focusing more on hero products, rather than churning out thousands of nondescript T-shirts in several colours. It might sound risky when you consider the conservative bent runways have taken this past few years, but it’s more about doubling down on your niche. “Be clear on where you want your collections sold, and don’t cater for too many different points of distribution at the detriment of your collection,” Crisp says. In short, it’s the age-old marketing adage: If you try to speak to everyone, you speak to no one.