Daily LInks
1. Unlucky Charms: The Rise and Fall of Billion-Dollar Jewelry Empire Alex and Ani. P atent No. US D487,709 S was granted on March 23, 2004, to Carolyn Rafaelian-Ferlise. The application captured the concept in a mere five words: “an expandable wire bangle bracelet.” The bracelet’s design was astonishingly straightforward, familiar to hard-core rock climbers and Eagle Scouts as a double fisherman’s or a grapevine knot. Somehow, though, no one had ever thought to patent it for jewelry. – Read More on Medium
2. RETRO READ: Alex and Ani is Suing Bank of America for $1.1 Billion, Citing its “Long, Entrenched History of Illegal Discrimination.”The bank’s fraudulent “image-rehabilitating marketing” efforts and its “discriminatory and illegal lending practices” are an “existential threat” to the jewelry company’s otherwise booming business, Alex and Ani argued in the since-settled lawsuit. – Read More on TFL
3. Fashion’s Racism and Classism Are Finally Out of Style: In fashion, envisioning a path forward is particularly complicated. The veneration of whiteness and wealth isn’t merely incidental to the global fashion business, but central to its vision and embedded in its practices, from who gets hired to how things get marketed. Luxury fashion is built on the emotional scaffolding of human aspiration—what happens to the industry when everyone gets sick of worshipping rich white people? – Read More on the Atlantic
4. Kylie Jenner’s Instagram Propels Black-Owned Fashion Label: Loudbrand’s “raw edge vashtie dress” – which Jenner shared with her 200 million Instagram followers – retails at approximately $145 and is currently sold out along with the brand’s entire collection after catching Jenner’s attention. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. The way we wore: should the fashion industry look to the past in order to move forward? “We saw a real desire to reclaim forgotten skills. The quality of fabric, construction and style brings a practical, emotional fulfilment greater than the instant buy-now click of the mouse.” She says her customers “earn a wardrobe more considered, more conscious and personal.” – Read More on Vogue
6. The pandemic has exposed the dark underside of fast fashion’s supply chains: fast fashion has become an accessible and budget-friendly way for “normal” people to embody the aspirational lifestyles they see on their screens. With an average of 116 new garments uploaded to the Boohoo women’s site alone every day, this influencer-to-landfill pipeline is an affordable way for image-conscious young people to keep up with trends that move so fast they’re over before they even begin. – Read More on the Guardian
