Hello, Open Thread. Happy London Fashion Week. Yes, the round robin has begun. Just after the New York shows ended, I popped into the Adam Lippes showroom on Fifth Avenue. Mr. Lippes, as some may remember, is the designer who created the coat and dress Melania Trump wore to the presidential inauguration last month. (Not the hat; that was by Eric Javits.) Anyway, I was curious to hear about the aftermath of that decision, given the backlash that Oscar de la Renta experienced after dressing Ivanka Trump and Usha Vance for various inaugural events. Mr. Lippes, who has had his own small brand for a decade and caters largely to a well-heeled clientele that prefers lunching to logos, has a very glamorous, ornate atelier where he hosts private appointments for his silk-velvet bias-cut dresses and leopard car coats. He said the last few weeks had been a whirlwind — both good and bad. Yes, people had been pretty harsh on social media, but as a brand, he said, he had the best three weeks he had ever had. He said he was getting calls from international stores that had never paid any attention to him but now wanted to place orders. It was a good reminder that for every echo chamber that damns one decision, there is another that applauds it. I would also like to call out the “S.N.L.” 50th anniversary red carpet. We generally don’t think of comedians as being concerned with fashion (despite its high mockability factor), but it was a reminder that they can gussy themselves up with the best when they want. My award for best dressed of the evening goes to Emma Stone, who clearly understood the memo in a red Louis Vuitton halter gown with giant popcorn-filled side panniers/pockets. Also notable: Sabrina Carpenter in Ziegfeld-worthy Versace; Ayo Edebiri, who is developing a notable reputation as a fashion risk-taker, in velvet Colleen Allen, an up-and-comer at New York Fashion Week; and Jenna Ortega in chocolate satin Monse. And, for honorable mention, Jack Nicholson, in Armani, purple shades and a New York Yankees beret. Because fashion should never be taken too seriously. Finally, in the business news of the week, Tapestry is selling Stuart Weitzman to Caleres (the group that owns Dr. Scholl’s) for $105 million — after buying it in 2015 for $574 million. Ouch. This is the latest move in the saga of the ill-fated Tapestry-Capri merger, which was kiboshed by the Biden-era Federal Trade Commission. Now those groups are slimming down: Capri is reportedly trying to sell Versace (Prada is a rumored buyer), and Tapestry is shedding Weitzman to focus on Coach and Kate Spade. Once again, the dream of an American group to rival LVMH bites the dust. Think about that, and then catch up on the latest Skims-Nike news, find out why fur is back, get the inside scoop on Jane Fonda’s favorite sneakers (and how she feels about aging) and check out the most awesome socks. Have a good, safe weekend. I will be coming to you next week from Milan, but in the meantime, if you’re looking for a good read (or a good gift), I recommend the upcoming retrospective tome from the imps at MSCHF, the collective of rabble-rousers that has turned making fun of consumer culture into an art form. This is the group that gave us the Jesus and Satan shoes (and in doing so, gave Nike conniption fits), the Big Red Boots and the Birkenstocks made from Birkin bags, to name a few of its more provocative items. They have also poked the beast of Damien Hirst, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton. Their releases are like a cross between a frat prank and an ontology of the 21st century. Personally, I just appreciate anything that makes me laugh and think at the same time.
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Your Style Questions, AnsweredEvery week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed.
Is it OK for men to wear white jeans? I think white looks good under a blazer, and throwing white jeans in the washer after a few wearings is easy and inexpensive compared to a trip to the dry cleaners. But I see only women wearing them in ads and catalogs. — Al, Winter Park, Fla.You clearly have not been watching the back catalog of French New Wave movies. Onscreen, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon are practically poster boys for men in white jeans, especially on the Riviera. Which may be why, despite the fact that white denim was introduced by Lee in the 1960s as part of its Lee Westerner collection (the material used was officially called “white cotton satin”) and made appearances in the much celebrated 1990s collections of Helmut Lang and the wardrobe of the British graphic designer Peter Saville, it has become a perennial style statement among French and Italian men. I know at least three Frenchmen in fashion who have made white jeans their personal signature: the photographer Gilles Bensimon, the Purple magazine founder Olivier Zahm and the showroom impresario Christophe Desmaison, who told me he wears white jeans pretty much “365 days a year.” When I asked him why, he said: “They look equally good with a dress shirt, blazer and dress shoes as a polo and boat shoes. They are the most versatile basic in my wardrobe — a bit casual, yet elegant and certainly more distinctive than khakis.” By the way, he gets his jeans at Polo Ralph Lauren but also recommends Todd Snyder, Sid Mashburn and Levi’s 501s. This brings up an issue regarding white jeans, however. As much as any other single item in a man’s wardrobe, they flirt with stereotype. National and otherwise. Jacob Gallagher, our men’s wear reporter, called white jeans “the pants equivalent of a shiny going-out top. Something that can come off as too intentional, too contrived, too forced caszh.” “The exception to this are the French,” he said. “In Paris you see guys wear them without care or thought. This is a self-fulfilling cycle. Because white jeans are a more quotidian style for men in France, they don’t come off as a contrivance. But for American men, they too easily make you look like you’re ‘doing a thing,’ which is perhaps the ultimate men’s wear no-no.” The exception to this rule is, of course, the annual White Party given by the Fanatics founder Michael Rubin, where everyone has to wear white and white jeans proliferate; and the yacht club, where white pants, including jeans, are part of the shtick. (Indeed, white jeans are the only jeans allowed in the club houses of many yacht clubs.) But white pants bring with them a host of associations and preconceptions about elitism, privilege and, in the case of boating, retrograde Boston Brahmin values, that anyone considering a pair of white jeans may want to consider. (All of this is less true for women, who seem to benefit from the halo effect of white gloves and wedding dresses.) Such are the risks, anyway. As for the benefits, Tonne Goodman, Vogue’s sustainability editor and a woman known for her white jeans chic, said: “Given the reality of atypical weather, and the cultural advocacy for gender equality, men can certainly wear white jeans, not only in the summer (before Labor Day) but all year round. The crispness elevates almost any look, provided they are paired with classic pieces, like a blazer.” Whatever you decide, remember there’s only one universal rule when it comes to white jeans: Cleanliness is next to, if not godliness, pretty much everything else. |
