Gift Guide Clockwise from Top.
Raquel and I both used to be avid Christmas list makers. I remember diligently crafting hand written Christmas lists, annotated with page numbers from Eastbay, CCS, and Eurosport catalogs (do any of those even exist anymore?), and solemnly handing them off to my parents. For the next few weeks, we wanted to highlight some holiday gift giving ideas (or, the occasional self indulgence) that will also be available on TT Mart for your convenience. For this week, we are focusing on home! Dior Maison has some really great looking home products out right now, including these $600 Christmas ornaments! They also have a very beautiful large 4-wick candle that comes in blown glass. It’s $700, but at least you can reuse the glass container! We are both obsessed with Vince Skelly’s woodworked stools that he’s been churning out; surprising that he wasn’t mentioned in this SSENSE piece we linked to last week. (Some less expensive stool options are here.) Loewe also has some fabulous looking candles, in a number of interesting scents like honeysuckle, juniper berry and marijuana. We stocked up on some crafts this week from Michael’s: some nutcrackers we will paint, as well as some ornaments. Raquel has been really into bottle brush trees and bought us a bunch last year from J’Adore Clic, an amazing store for high end home product. This year she was happy to see that they are now available at Target and are an extremely good deal (and sold in hot pink too!). For warm beverages, we like this Muuto Tea Tray. We’ve been dreaming about buying some Oaxacan pottery of late; Sustainable Home Goods is mostly sold out (we are into this, this and this), though we do like these clay cup holders that are in stock. You could also message the ceramicist on her Instagram account for custom pieces.
GucciFest Replaces The Runway Show
GucciFest premiered this week, and we’ve been following along on YouTube to help digest for you. The seven part film fest takes the place of a traditional runway show, and we found it to be a creative and innovative substitute for the typical fashion week fare that may have been getting a little stale. It’s not only easier to see the product when watching at home, but it’s available for all customers around the world to see. It removes some of the elitism out of the show, where editors and buyers jockey for front row tickets, and makes it much more egalitarian (well, to the extent that is possible for a brand selling $5K outerwear pieces). Given the importance of the Asian market, we were surprised to see a lack of representation in the cast.
The actual mini films had a surrealist, dreamlike quality to them. Harry Styles made an appearance in Episode Three with a flip phone, speaking in English to Achille, who was speaking Italian. Silvia Calderoni, the pioneering androgynous actress, stars as viewers follow her through her daily routines. They were filmed in Rome in October, and we felt there was a lost opportunity to place the films within the COVID present, perhaps using some chic Gucci face masks. Instead, the theme was hazy escapism, a fantasy rather than art grounded in the present. Overall, it feels like Gucci is trying to build its brand into something more than just fashion apparel, and is trying to crossover into other art forms. It has already partnered with Drest to sell digital versions of its pieces, and we can easily see this being extended into other online avatars.
We thought the show was actually a really interesting way to show a collection. Alessandro Michele, with his background in accessories, stuffs the films full of shoes, glasses, hats, bags and jewelry. Everything is easy to see, and feels a bit more natural placed within a post office or cafe rather than a sterile catwalk. The looks are catalogued here; Raquel really liked this look and this look. We were a bit surprised that nothing was shoppable while watching the videos, but it may be that this feature will be added in coming seasons.
Air Mail filed a long piece on what has been going on behind the scenes at Moda Operandi the past few years. The company started as a way to pre-order styles as wealthy clients saw them walk down runways in Europe. Back then, most retailers did not offer the opportunity to pre-order runway pieces, and clients had to wait 6 months or longer until they could actually purchase. Moda Operandi changed all that, and now it is relatively commonplace for retailers to offer a pre-order option on their e-commerce sites. Despite the innovation, the article alleges that financially things have not been going smoothly. The Men’s department was eliminated, sales have been sluggish, and it sounds like Lauren Santo Domingo’s husband’s wealthy family has been pumping money into the enterprise to keep the lights on. Absent financial stability, we have to think things will go downhill quickly if the family decides to stop subsidizing Moda’s losses (and there are rumors they are trying to sell the company for parts). There are too many juicy tidbits to call out here, but there is a lot on Anna Wintour, Lisa Aiken, and Taylor Tomasi Hill (lets just say we can assume TTH is no longer friends with LSD). The Air Mail piece is here, but if you used up your free article, send us an email or DM!
Links.
Kendall Jenner in head to toe The Row.
Another good Ina Garten profile - one of many to come out in connection with her new book! (Plus a video tour of her home kitchen/pantry!)
An oral history of Dazed and Confused.
The 2021 finalists for the International Woolmark Prize will be focusing on sustainable fashion.
Abby Phillips, the star of CNN’s election coverage, gets profiled in the New York Times.
Retailers are pushing their sales associates to be TikTok influencers.
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Raquel & Chris