POWER DRESSING #007

Michelle vs MAGA, moronic merch & a Diva in Davos

Happy Friday from the thick of Paris Men’s Fashion Week. I’m writing this newsletter slightly hungover. It’s been quite an interesting week, between Jaden Smith unveiling his first collection for Christian Louboutin and Jonathan Anderson’s new Dior Men’s collection, we’ve had two highly polarizing moments already.

But I’m not starting this newsletter by talking about either of those. Instead, I want to focus on another moment this week, one I personally witnessed, that left me deeply unsettled.

Yesterday, I attended a presentation for a brand I really like here in Paris. It was nice seeing friends and familiar faces, but then I noticed someone walk in. A few months ago, back when stories were breaking about the director of Villa Noailles and the Hyeres Fashion Festival misappropriating funds earmarked for emerging designers I had broken the story about his sexual harassment of male staffers here on Substack; Le Monde later corroborated and expanded on it. After an inquiry, he lost his job.

And yet, there he was, floating around the presentation, air-kissed by all the “cool” fashion gays of Paris, exchanging pleasantries with the designer as if nothing had ever happened.

It was deeply disturbing. I had such a visceral reaction. I grabbed my boyfriend’s hand and just stood there in disbelief, watching how completely comfortable everyone seemed to be. It’s something that, unfortunately, many people in fashion appear to have grown accustomed to, but something I don’t think I ever will. When you work in this industry and move through these spaces, you inevitably brush shoulders with sexual predators and it too often feels like there’s nothing you can do about it. So yeah, crazy crazy crazy.

Anyways, moving on.

I also haven’t done a Power Dressing issue in a while. I had planned to publish one every Friday, but the current fashion landscape feels relentless, posting everywhere, all the time. I find myself burned out on one platform one week, without the energy to fully show up on another. Still, I promise I’m going to try my damnedest after fashion month to get back on a regular schedule with the newsletter and truly prioritize it. So while you got me …… this is Power Dressing #007