Opinion – Fashion’s relationship with ‘difference’ is still a toxic one
A video of French brand Sézane exploiting an elderly Indigenous woman for their summer campaign has emerged as the fashion community fervidly mourn the late André Leon Talley. These distinct responses to Otherness prove that the industry’s approach to difference is still a strenuous affair. A video of an...
Current in Style
Plant-based fashion is finally having its moment
A major shift in clothing manufacture is underway, fronted by a surge in the number of brands experimenting with next-generation ‘livestock-free’ replacements for conventional animal-based materials. It’s common knowledge that fast fashion has long-dominated the style landscape, for the affordable and straightforward way in which it enables consumers to keep...
Opinion – Let’s drop our self-improvement obsession in 2022
Reports predict almost half of UK citizens vow to exercise more, improve their diet, or lose weight at the turn of a new year. But is that an image we should still be chasing? Food, sparkling wine, Christmas markets and snow; I have loved this time of year ever since...
Could prescribed park visits aid our mental health?
Canadian healthcare practitioners are now allowed to prescribe patients a year-long pass to the country’s national parks in a bid to improve their mental and physical health. If you’ve struggled or are currently struggling with mental health issues, I know what you’re thinking: when has a medical professional suggesting...
Beauty brands are advocating for the redefinition of Black
MAC Cosmetics, e.l.f, and Morphe are just some of those involved with a campaign that’s seeking to shift perceptions about what it means to be Black. In 2020, the pressing question of ‘how can I help’ was one that dominated social media well into the following year. It came on the...
Influencers may soon have to label digitally-altered images
To combat the rise of eating disorders and body confidence issues post-pandemic, a proposed bill in the UK is calling for commercial photos featuring retouched bodies to be labelled as such. Last February, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that social media influencers had to begin disclosing when using...
Exclusive – Cassie Quinn encourages a holistic approach to fashion
The founder of a fashion research studio that focuses on using regenerative materials and systems of production believes that new innovations can only bring about change if we educate society about why they’re necessary. We spoke with her about the work she’s doing to achieve this. ‘It’s no longer enough to just be making sustainable materials, we need to be encouraging critical thinking about their use as well,’ says Cassie...
How to be stylish this year with the Earth in mind
Here are a few ways to ensure that your love of fashion and beauty isn’t contributing to the climate crisis in 2022. New year, less buying into industries renowned for being major culprits of ecological breakdown. A week into 2022 and I’ve no doubt you’re dead set on sticking to those resolutions you made in preparation for what’s bound to be a better year than last. While we tend to...
Fast fashion brand SHEIN appears to be greenwashing
Fast fashion giant ‘SHEIN’ creates cheap clothes in thousands of new styles - daily. Pressure from consumers has encouraged the brand to hire a head of sustainability this week. But for these kinds of unethical and profoundly exploitative business models, appealing to the ‘green’ market means little for its workers and the planet. If you’ve ever browsed SHEIN its likely you’ve been reeled in by their staggeringly cheap prices and...
TikTok has revitalised the fashion influencer model
Transforming the way we approach style both online and IRL, Gen Z’s app du jour has fostered an entirely new community for discourse, experimentation, and criticism.
If there’s one statistic demonstrating quite how drastically TikTok has become entwined in our lives since arriving full force on the scene just two years ago, it’s that people worldwide spent 2.8 billion hours scrolling through the For You Page in 2020
