 | | Kim Kardashian in the Marc Jacobs fall 2023 ad campaign.Tyrone Lebon |
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Hello, Open Thread. It is National Ice Cream Pie Day. Also National Bad Poetry Day. In honor of poetry day, I give you my colleague Joe Bernstein's piece on how Werner Herzog became the voice of A.I. poetry. Have a listen. It will make your day. |
Meanwhile, so much happened last week during my holiday to the northern Ontario wilderness! |
Tapestry, the owner of Coach and Kate Spade, bought Capri, the owner of Michael Kors and Versace, creating the second big American fashion group after PVH (the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger). The idea, of course, is to rival such European groups as Kering (owner of Gucci, Balenciaga, etc.) and Only the Brave (Diesel, Marni and so on). |
Not LVMH, though. With more than 75 brands, LVMH is so big it exists in a category of its own. |
Historically, the United States fashion industry has not done well with groups. Back in 2000, a company called Pegasus snapped up a bunch of promising brands, including Miguel Adrover, Daryl K and Judith Leiber, only to have everything go belly up very fast. One of the main differences is that the European groups, while public entities, tend to be controlled and run by family shareholders, who are willing to take a long view and invest in their brands, while the American groups are run by employed-at-will executives who are very focused on quarterly returns. |
Anyway, we'll see if the new Tapestry can pull it off. |
In other news, Kim Kardashian continues her procession through fashion brands. After being the face of Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana, she stars in the new Marc Jacobs fall ad campaign. Mr. Jacobs is sort of a genius at ironic postmodern image revisionism. His campaigns helped shift how we think about Miley Cyrus and Victoria Beckham, so it's worth watching what effect this one has on the Kardashian cultural complex. |
And Clare Waight Keller, the former designer of Chloé and Givenchy, who has been out of the game since leaving Givenchy in 2020, is returning as Uniqlo's latest collaborator. Her new line, Uniqlo: C, will be introduced in September. |
Ms. Waight Keller, if you remember, is one of those designers who is less concerned with big fashion statements than with clothes people actually wear. This sometimes made her runway shows a little ho-hum, but it also led to great sales (especially when she was at Chloé) and makes her a very good choice for Uniqlo, a mass market brand with notably sophisticated taste in collaborators. To wit, Uniqlo also works with Jonathan Anderson of Loewe and Christophe Lemaire. |
As it happens, I've seen a preview of some of the coming collection, and suffice it to say I have my eye on a pleated skirt, a trench and some Chelsea boots. Mark your calendars: D-Day is Sept. 15. |
Have a good, safe weekend. Drink lots of water. |
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Your Style Questions, Answered |
Every 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. |
 | | Edward Berthelot/Getty Images |
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One issue I have been stuck on for years is whether or not to wear a backpack when traveling. I almost loathe them and worry that they make me look like a tourist, but dang if they aren't practical, especially with children. Are there any countries where this is OK? And if not, is there another solution? — Brittany, Red Lodge, Mont. |
Recently, another reader wrote to ask whether sneakers were tourist giveaways, the way baseball caps once were. This is clearly a sensitive topic, and it has me thinking about why we are so nervous about being identified as a "tourist" in the first place. |
There's an insecurity about the term that has to do with the old stereotype of the "ugly American," a phrase coined in 1958 by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick in a novel about United States policy in Southeast Asia. Over the years the term has come to stand for the idea of Americans as loud, pushy and culturally insensitive. Even beyond that cliché, I think the anxiety about being exposed as a tourist has to do with a more general fear of not belonging that is rooted in … well, middle school. |
Some neuroses we never outgrow; we just learn how to manage them. One of the ways we manage this is by trying to look as if we fit in, no matter that in this case, there's nothing wrong with being a visitor. |
Indeed, it's a good thing to appreciate another culture and to be curious enough to want to experience it for yourself. It's also good for that culture's economy — some places depend on tourism for survival — assuming you are respectful of the mores and values of the site you are visiting. |
Which brings me to the backpack. Like the aforementioned sneakers and baseball caps, backpacks are one of those practical accessories with specific historical associations — school, hiking — that has been co-opted by the fashion world. |
It was way back in 1984 that Prada burst onto the scene with its nylon backpack, the Vela, starting a trend that has never entirely abated. Backpacks got tiny (hello, "Clueless") and then they got urban (hello, hybrid workplaces), and now, given that the '90s are back, they are having a renaissance. It's hard to think of a major fashion or leather goods company that doesn't offer a version of the backpack. |
All of which is to say: It's not the backpack in general that will make you stand out in a particular setting. It's the kind of backpack and how you wear it. |
Don an Osprey, REI or Patagonia number, hang a water bottle off the side, stuff it full and wear it as it is meant to be worn on the trail, with the hip and chest straps buckled, and you will stick out like a neon sign on a city street — pretty much anywhere in the world. (You will also be forced to check your bag almost everywhere you go, and security guards in museums will follow you around in horror lest you unwittingly whack the art when you turn.) |
Instead, go for a more tailored, urban style (see Everlane as an example) with fewer pockets and a slimmer silhouette, and you will access the benefits of a backpack — even weight distribution across the shoulders and carrying capacity — without looking like a camping cartoon. Just remember to eschew the mini backpack, one of those inexplicable fads, as well as the temptation to hang the backpack off one shoulder, and you won't look like a fashion victim either. |
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