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- Capsule #113 ft. Cody Frost
Hello hello!
You might have noticed from your feeds that New York Fashion Week has just kicked off, marking the start of four weeks of runway shows and brand events. There’s some extra noise this season because of a set of high-profile designer debuts, so this week I’ve put together a cheat sheet to help us understand what all the fuss is about…
I know not everyone cares about high fashion (I get it) so I’ve tried to put it in fun and more accessible terms so we can engage with it like it’s a TV show we’re all watching. I’m hoping it’ll make the coming weeks a little more fun for us all.
And scroll for the Capsule news roundup, recs for the weekend, and Cody Frost on the Hot & Not.
Enjoy your weekends!
Holly x
P.s. click read online in the top corner if your email is clipped!
✄┈┈ SS26 Cheat Sheet ⋆.🪡 𐙚 ˚
Fashion House: Proenza Schouler
New Creative Director: Rachel Scott
Why People Care: PS’s co-founders have jumped ship for Loewe and Scott is one of a handful of female appointments. Hope she thrives and sure she will - her presentation yesterday was great and her own brand Diotima won the CFDA’s American Womenswear Designer of the Year last year :)
Fashion House: AREA
New Creative Director: Nicholas Aburn
Why People Care: Fresh talent after AREA co-founder Piotrek Panszczyk left earlier this year, AREA is a fun brand, and Aburn has worked at Tom Ford, Balenciaga, and Alexander Wang
Fashion House: Versace
New Creative Director: Dario Vitale
Why People Care: First season without Donnatella, extra attention after the same outfit stunt with Julia Roberts and Amanda Seyfried in Venice
Fashion House: Jil Sander
New Creative Director: Simone Bellotti
Why People Care: In GQ’s words, “your favourite fashion editor’s favourite fashion designer”. Formerly creative director of cult fave brand Bally, quiet confidence vibes
Fashion House: Bottega Veneta
New Creative Director: Louise Trotter
Why People Care: Losing Matthieu Blazy to Chanel was a big blow for Bottega but this is one of few senior female appointments and she’s a) British, b) Northern and c) started out working for more accessible brands (Jigsaw, Whistles, Gap, Joseph, Calvin Klein). Lfg…
Fashion House: Gucci
New Creative Director: Demna
Why People Care: Gucci is flopping hard, the shares are down, Kering is in panic mode. Demna has been deployed to shake things up, and recent interviews tell us he’s moved on from his famous Balenciaga codes (namely no more mega oversized silhouettes)
Fashion House: Celine
New Creative Director: Michael Rider
Why People Care: Formerly at Ralph Lauren, but people are excited because Rider worked at Celine under Phoebe Philo, and we know how people feel about that era…
Fashion House: Chanel
New Creative Director: Matthieu Blazy
Why People Care: Did amazing things for Bottega Veneta, Chanel has been in its flop era and needs new energy. Kind of feel bad at how much pressure he’s under
This is the man to thank for Jacob Elordi’s handbag collection
Fashion House: Dior
New Creative Director: Jonathan Anderson
Why People Care: Just finished an A* stint at Loewe, totally turning the brand around. Plus his main vibe is down-to-earth Irish man who just loves art
Fashion House: Jean Paul Gaultier
New Creative Director: Duran Lantink
Why People Care: Fresh new energy, Lantink is known for risks and creativity (and upsetting a lot of people with the breast top)
Fashion House: Loewe
New Creative Director: Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough
Why People Care: Existential “what is Loewe without Jonathan Anderson” moment, but these two founded Proenza Schouler and built it for 23 years so I think we’re good. (Also these guys have always been a green flag for me because "Proenza Schouler" is the maiden names of the two designers' mothers 🥲)
Fashion House: Balenciaga
New Creative Director: Pierpaolo Piccioli
Why People Care: First step in the post-Demna era, Piccioli was the brains behind 16 years of Valentino (jointly with Maria Grazia Chiuri for six of them) and should bring a strong new pov
Fashion House: Margiela
New Creative Director: Glenn Martens
Why People Care: Third ever CD in the brand’s history (after Martin Margiela and John Galliano), formerly Diesel, warm response to his first couture
Fashion House: Mugler
New Creative Director: Miguel Castro Freitas
Why People Care: Formerly CD at Sportmax, but also has a bunch of big hitters on his CV like Dior, Dries Van Noten and YSL. First big spotlight moment
Fashion House: Carven
New Creative Director: Mark Thomas
Why People Care: Stepping in to fill the shoes left by Louise Trotter (see above), his long-time collaborator (at Carven, Joseph, and Lacoste). Nice example of internal promotion
This is the largest cohort of fresh energy for a while - the Business of Fashion is even calling it the Great Fashion Reset. But when you scroll through a list of images like that you really do see how white and male fashion is at the top.
There’s also lot riding on these new hires: luxury is struggling, and so much hinges off (read: an entire industry) the influence of these big brands. Will it feel so big in reality?
“Can someone invent a new language of clothing or a new way of getting dressed that’s as impactful as Christian Dior’s post-World War II nationalist-nostalgia, or Giorgio Armani’s slouchy cool (which my former colleague, the GOAT Robin Givhan, says trickled all the way down to Everlane and Cos), or Coco Chanel de-corseting all of Western womankind?”
As we go into fashion week coverage, I promise to bring you a slice of the stuff you’ll want to be in the loop on, as well as selecting the bits that feel more “us” - wearable, inspiring in the right way, or a signifier of where things are moving. Fashion is at it’s most interesting when it shifts our perspective, and is most powerful when it makes us feel good about ourselves and the world. With that being said, we’ll focus on the collections that challenge and intrigue, and the ones that give us fresh ideas for how we’d like to show up in the world.
And finally…
News from the Capsule universe this week:
We started the week with some fun red carpet looks at the VMAs, and María Zardoya (of The Marías) did it best
This is cool
Creatives who had to get a proper job should see this
Glenn Powell’s GQ shoot feels like the first big celeb moment addressing not just the state of masculinity today, but the growing influence of beauty culture on men
While we’re on the topic, The Cut also published a big piece this week talking to men about their dating experience. TLDR: dating apps are bad, fear of humiliation is high
Hilary Duff is making music again 🥲
The strongest argument so far for pretty much just needing good quality basics
Here it is: the Swiftification of the iPhone
Apple Martin has officially landed on the scene
Some cute stuff in the Molly Goddard x Baggu collab
Vinted are making a TV show
Another example of a girl who genuinely loves her job
Alo Yoga sells handbags now, launched in a high fashion-style campaign with Amelia Gray shot by Steven Meisel
And I found this Julia Roberts x Edward Enninful interview a little awkward at first, but when she said “what’s been the most fulfilling aspect of your life” I paused a little bit, because what a great question, and what comes to mind for you?
This week, Cody Frost popped into Capsule to share what’s 🔥hot🔥 and what’s not 🙅♀️ …
Cody is a tattoo artist and music maker from North West England. They love to create multi-genre madness, and are currently dropping some tunes in preparation for their next project. Their new single ‘SOMETIMESICAN’TFEELATHING’ is out today!
🔥🔥🔥Hot🔥🔥🔥
Crashing your sims game because you used too many mods, eating nice food, getting therapy, shaving your head because you like it, indoor plants, getting tattoos that aren’t in fashion but just stuff you like, getting tattoos that are in fashion because you like them, my leopard gecko (choncho), listening to any genre because there’s usually something I like in all of them!, standing up for the things you believe it, even when no-one else in your town does
Hot Not… 🙅♀️🙅♀️🙅♀️
Putting on makeup for every social media post, forgetting ur meds, Facebook, the current UK government, bigotry, getting our rights to protest slowly stripped from us and no-one caring, Labubus (sorry I hate them), skinnytok, spending too much time on your phone (I'm trying to get better at this)
📺 Watching: Eddington in the cinema, plus some great music: Olivia Dean covering Dijon for Spotify’s Live Room, Lady Gaga’s stripped back TV performance of ‘Vanish Into You’ (wait for the second chorus), and the new Wolf Alice video for ‘Just Two Girls,’ which features Lucy Boynton.
📖 Reading: i-D magazine put a newborn baby on their cover to usher in Gen Beta, and got 26 people to share their advice for the next generation. Plus Daisy Jones on the allure of the British boyfriend, and of course the latest Lorde interview, which is so full of excellent soundbites.
🎧 Listening to: After what feels like the longest press run ever, JADE’s album That’s Showbiz, Baby! is finally here. Also returning to the Hilary Duff albums Metamorphosis and Most Wanted in the wake of her comeback, and that excellent new Hayley Williams song has a video now, too.
Bunny 🐰
Bunny is here with the goods this week. If the search data is anything to go off, interest in polka dots is not yet waning. On Pinterest, the following searches are increasing: polka dot outfit +1,026%, polka dots aesthetic +1,512%, polkadot top +940%, polka dot scarf +726%, polka dot nails +1,296%, polka dot French tip nails +1,157%.
Elsewhere, Rebeca Oksana just shared an autumn trend video showing how to take the trend into cooler climes, including pairing that Susa Musa skirt over jeans.
If you’d like to adopt Bunny or one of her friends, click here to learn more.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear how you’re finding Capsule - let me know here. And if you have a friend who might like it, do refer them! 🥺
See you next week 💋