ICYMI #001
The Louvre, The Beauty Boom, Capitalism and JD Vance’s Baby Pants
Welcome to ICYMI, my new daily newsletter for people who love fashion, pop culture, and the occasional moment of billionaire slander. If you missed something, don’t worry… I was watching.
The Louvre, Couture, and One Swamp Princess
So gotta start with pretty much the main event of this Paris Fashion Week, the Grand Dîner du Louvre. Last night the Louvre with the help of their usual private donors and from its deep-pocketed fashion house besties, raised €1 million for its renovation and educational initiatives and to celebrate the Louvre Couture exhibition. The star-studded evening brought fashion and entertainment icons together, but the only person I was actually waiting for was Doechii, fresh off storming Milan Fashion Week, making her Paris Fashion Week debut. She first arrived in a breathtaking yellow Valentino from Alessandro Michele’s SS25 Vertigineux Haute Couture collection with a structured pyramid skirt! For a night at the actual Louvre! A metaphor, a moment, a serve. Then, because why stop at one look, she switched into a blue ball gown by Salih Balta. Doechii then finished her evening performing in a denim Schiaparelli FW23 look. This is what happens when the right girl gets the right team (shoutout Sam Woolf) !! In a palace once reserved for royalty, Doechii showed us what it looks like when a Swamp Princess takes the throne.
Louis Vuitton Enters Its Beauty Era (Finally)
Louis Vuitton is launching La Beauté Louis Vuitton, its first makeup line, led by Pat McGrath, a woman who has been single-handedly beating faces at Vuitton shows for over two decades. After four years in development, the debut collection features 55 lipsticks, 10 lip balms, and eight eye palettes, plus mini trunks and lipstick cases. “Prepare to be wowed," McGrath told Vogue. "This is a métier—a concept with an artisanal approach to makeup that combines the heritage and legacy of the fashion house with the best innovation that the French product labs have to offer."
This isn’t Vuitton’s first beauty venture. The brand’s history with cosmetics goes back to the 1920s with vanity cases and fragrance flasks. CEO Pietro Beccari calls it a “business evolution.” I call it the inevitable cash grab we’re all happy to indulge in.
Do we need another beauty brand? No. Am I complaining when it’s Pat McGrath? Also no. Take my money.
Balenciaga’s Back in the Perfume Game
Not to be outdone, Balenciaga is teasing the return of Le Dix, its first perfume from 1947, by slipping a sample in their Fall/Winter 2025 invitations. If you didn’t get one, just stand near an influencer and inhale deeply.
Le Dix was originally named after Balenciaga’s Paris HQ at 10 avenue George V. The revival of Le Dix feels very on-brand for the current moment in luxury, which brings us to...
The Great Fashion Regression
Amy Odell has been sniffing out a different scent in fashion, a distinct whiff of regression. In her latest New York Times piece, Odell explores how high fashion has swung back to unapologetic opulence, abandoning the progressive ideals it flirted with over the past decade. During the Trump years, fashion embraced left-leaning politics—through feminist Dior t-shirts and runway statements on police brutality—but these efforts never fully integrated into the industry’s culture. Now, with fur returning and luxury brands aligning with wealth and power once again, fashion has discarded its activist ambitions in favor of a “boom boom” aesthetic, as trend forecaster Sean Monahan puts it.
Odell points out how the political gestures of the 2010s had little lasting impact. Vogue’s endorsement of Kamala Harrisfailed to shift political tides, and designers who once refused to dress Melania Trump now embrace the Trumps and their circle without consequence. She argues that fashion’s retreat from politics isn’t about rejecting progressive values but about pragmatism—luxury thrives on wealth and exclusivity, and reconciling that with inclusivity and sustainability was always a difficult fit.
I’ve been watching this shift unfold with growing concern, especially as fashion quietly rewinds its progress from the 2020 BLM moment. Brands that promised diversity, sustainability, and a commitment to social justice now seem more interested in courting the elite, catering to the old-money, traditionally conservative crowd that once defined the industry. The same brands that pledged to elevate Black voices and challenge long-standing inequities are now leaning back into maximalism and wealth signaling, leaving their supposed commitments in the dust. This retreat is in lockstep with the rise of the anti-“woke” movement, where even Victoria’s Secret has dropped its more inclusive, feminist rebrand in favor of traditional, sex-sells tropes. And let’s not forget the growing rise of "trad wives”—those who embrace ultra-conservative gender roles as a form of rebellion against modern feminism who are now becoming a marketed demographic, hello Nara Smith & Hannah Neelman. Fashion’s flirtation with activism was always a performative stunt, and now it's retreating back into the cozy arms of luxury, exclusivity, and a regressive cultural status quo.
Bernard Arnault, Billionaire Behavior
As someone who lives in Paris, I make it a point to keep up with the Arnaults (it’s like keeping up with the Kardashians, except much richer and much more French).
Canard Enchaîné just dropped a new piece on Bernard Arnault, and it’s not pretty. The latest saga involves a couple who worked for the Arnaults at their lavish Château de Saint-Rémy-des-Landes in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines year round for five years. They allege that LVMH’s CEO wasn’t exactly a model of generosity, and that his wife Hélène Mercier allegedly photographs the bottles of wine at the end of each meal to make sure the staff aren’t drinking any.
This all comes as Arnault is gearing up for a showdown in Paris Labor Court on April 15th, facing accusations of labor violations from his former chef. The chef, who was personally employed by the Arnault family for almost ten years(despite being officially on Dior’s payroll), claims he never received the basic essentials: an employment contract, pay slips, or any of the required legal documentation.
JD Vance’s Tiny Little Pants
Now, switching gears from high society to high waters, let’s talk about JD Vance’s “baby-sized pants.”
During Trump’s first address to Congress, Vance showed up in a pair of pants so short, Twitter roasted him for forgetting to wear big-boy clothes. People were concerned. Goodwill was slandered. Theories were crafted. This comes after equally diabolical pant lengths during appearances at CPAC & his cringe showdown with Zelensky.
JD Vance has spent his entire career trying to squeeze into places he doesn’t belong, so why should his pants be any different?
That’s a wrap on the first ICYMI. I spend an unhealthy amount of time online so you don’t have to. See you in your inbox again tomorrow same time 🫡
NOTE* yes its currently fashion week here in Paris, no I’m not covering the shows on here. Unless you want me to?
Louis, I love your substack, and especially this piece! I really enjoyed the breakdown of doechii’s looks! That last pic of jd had me cackling! Cant wait to see whats next from you.