Supriya Lele’s new collection is an 00s feast, and more news you missed

Gucci is selling £9 trainers

Gucci has announced that it’s selling a pair of trainers for £9. The catch? They don’t exist – at least not IRL, anyway. In a collaboration with fashion-tech firm Wanna, the Italian label is debuting a virtual sneaker designed by Alessandro Michele and it's available to purchase via Gucci’s app. 

The news comes as more and more assets are being sold in the form of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which are basically just very expensive ownership titles on digital goods. While not technically an NFT, these sneakers demonstrate an eagerness to experiment within the digital arena. Previously, Gucci has designed virtual clothing for The Sims, Pokemon, and 3D social media app Zepeto. One brand however, RTFKT, has managed to sell some trainers as NFTs (for $10,000 no less). So it’s only a matter of time until NFTs take a hold of fashion for good.

Steven Daley unveils his AW21 collection

Despite having graduated from Westminster just last year, Steven Stokey-Daley is already making waves. It helps, of course, when you count Harry Styles among your customers and stylist-du-jour Harry Lambert among your collaborators. Although, that would mean nothing without Stokey-Daley’s distinct aesthetic and poetic twists on the 20th century dandy, which come in signature voluminous cuts and sumptuous, floral finishes.

“The Robe Room is Becoming the Garden” is Stokey-Daley’s second collection and is inspired by Cecil Beaton’s camp dress-up photo series from the 1930s. And the collection riffs on (or queers) the traditional garb of the British upper class with double front-facing pleats, crocheted roses and knitted boaters. As always, the jewel of the collection is Stokey-Daley’s trousers which come in billowing cuts pinched inwards at the shin, weighty domestic fabrics, and bucolic prints which appear to have been stripped straight from the pages of an Enid Blyton or Brideshead Revisited. The accompanying campaign is shot by Will Waterworth and styled, of course, by the inimitable Lambert.

Ludovic De Saint Sernin releases its “E-boy” campaign

With boyfriend and brand muse Ignacio Muñoz at centre stage of the campaign, Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s latest collection is an ode to the E-boy. While the parisian label originally wanted to throw its casting net much wider, covid restrictions presented somewhat of a challenge. 

So, with the help of hair stylist Louis Ghewy, the brand decided to transform Muñoz into six different archetypes. From spine-tickling extensions to one very stark buzzcut, hair came to represent the gamut of E-boy style staples, which LDSS sought to embody. The collection itself continues the brand’s shameless proclivity for sex-fuelled designs with provocateur bandeau crop tops, laced-up crotches, and off-the-shoulder rainbow knits.

Mulberry will start selling its old bags on Vestiaire

Following in the footsteps of Alexander McQueen, Mulberry has announced that it will join Vestiaire Collective’s ‘Brand Approved’ programme, where brands source pre-owned items from its top customers and upload them to the designer resale platform. The initiative will expand on Mulberry’s pre-existing in-house resale initiative, ‘Mulberry Exchange,’ which lets customers exchange pre-worn Mulberry items for store credit.

It makes sense as to why. The secondary fashion sector is becoming big businesses, expected to grow from 15 to 20 per cent each year through 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group. Last week Kering bought a 5 per cent stake in Vestiaire, potentially paving the way for even more designer labels within its portfolio to cash in on the burgeoning secondhand platform.

Courtesy of Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen is giving away surplus fabric to students

As introduced by Sarah Burton in 2019, Alexander McQueen is donating more fabric to fashion students in the UK. The initiative is two fold, reducing both waste and furthering a commitment to supporting the next generation of designers.

“It’s our responsibility to extend our programme of practical help and encouragement to students and fashion schools,” Sarah explained in a statement. “The fabric donations build on the relationships we’ve made with educationalists across the UK who are teaching students from school age to graduate level and is broadening out to reach further in 2021.”

So far, McQueen has given fabric to 20 institutions, whose students (including the up-and-coming Steven Daley) have incorporated the materials into their collections and project work. “When times are so much more difficult for young creative people, taking action to share our resources and open eyes to opportunities has become a central in-house commitment,” Sarah adds.

Palace are collabing with Lotties

Today, Palace is dropping a special capsule collection today made in tandem with Lotties, a cult LA skate shop founded by Mike Gigliotti in 2016. The limited edition line features Gigliotti’s scrawled illustrations of ghouls, demons, flames and torture instruments. Yet the jackets, jeans, hoodies, and accessories come ascribed with cheery, albeit unexpected, sentiments. Beneath the deathly scribbles one piece has “It’s a fine life!” emblazoned over it. It’s an angsty, humorous capsule, finessed in the way that only Palace know how.

Courtesy of Holzweiler

Holzweiler launches a genderless new sub-brand – Hanger

Founded in 2012 by siblings Susanne and Andreas Holzweiler, the Scandi label Holzweiler is launching a new sub-brand, Hanger, a genderless line which skews the seasonal calender for long-lasting, sustainable, and wearable clothing. “The collection reflects the team that has been working on it; always playful, forward thinking and full of enthusiasm and passion. The Hanger by Holzweiler comes from the heart,” says Maria Skappel Holzweiler. 

All styles come in a boxy fit and reduced colour options to minimise waste and over-stock in stores. An innovative approach to sizing, whereby a customised grading between standard sizes has been employed, will make sure that all sizes are optimal for various kinds of body sizes and shapes – further fuelling just how universal Holzweiler hopes Hanger can be. The new Hanger line will launch March 23 in boutiques including Selfridges and Dover Street Market.

Courtesy of Reformation

Reformation wants you to trace the DNA of your jeans

This week, Reformation launched a new denim collection with first-of-its-kind fibre traceability technology. As it stands, it’s nigh on impossible to trace where our clothes have come from, but thanks to new technology created by Australia-based FibreTrace, Reformation are hoping to push the rest of the fashion industry towards a more transparent future. 

The tech itself embeds scannable pigments into the fabric, so you scan a tag on any given pair of jeans to reveal the denim’s entire lifecycle from fibre to production to finished garment. It could be a gamechanger for consumers. After all, traceability is key to maintaining sufficient production standards and encouraging a culture of circularity.