We’re sitting on a bench in the cobbled piazza chatting all kinds of nonsense as you do when you’re 7, ice cream dripping down the cone onto our hands, when the girls start comparing their weight. As my turn rolls around I blurt out a random number, a quick average of what I heard my friends say. At this point I have no idea my childlike state is about to be abruptly confronted, as this time her mom chimes in “thats probably the weight of one of your legs”.

The problem with my body is that I was born in Italy in the late 80’s, a brutal landscape for a chubby little (half foreign) girl. I grew up with Monica Bellucci as the national beauty standard, 90-60-90 drilled into me like Pythagorus number, Dolce & Gabbana ads, and the constant commentary on the fact that my body was too large.

Developing a fashion sense was a luxury not afforded to me as after all I didn’t have many choices, cute clothes just didn’t come in my size. So I spent my time developing a taste in music. I would spend my afternoons watching Mtv and The Box, and whilst I was on the Spice Girls/Backstreet Boys side of the 90’s, skipping the video wasn’t an option so I watched a hell of a lot of Pearl Jam, Nirvana and to my horror Prodigy, music videos. I still remember the genuine fear, but also intrigue I felt at hearing Firestarter for the first time, the intro sounding like a warning bell, and Keith Flint flickering on the screen.

The rage in that music allured me, it was a voice of sanity that contrasted the physical reality of timeless elegance and pop music, I lived in. It unconsciously spoke to an inner world, I hadn’t yet acknowledged.

I wanted to join the Miss Sixty / Phard / Fornarina army but I didn’t get in. So I absorbed the punk, the grunge, the weird, because finally, this was a fashion statement I could make. Oversized jumpers and baggy jeans to counter the exposed midriff & very low rise flared jeans trend.

I don’t remember the exact moment I found THE jumper, it was just presented to me, at the right time, like a piece of armour is made when the warrior is ready. It was greyish green, not dissimilar to the colour of Kurt Cobain’s cardigan, a polyester number about 3-4 sizes too big. Even though there was no silhouette to it, I distinctly remember standing in front of the mirror recognising that henceforth this would be my shape, non existent.

My father hated it, my South African grandma hated it so much she in fact refused to wash it (she lived with us). I would one day find her intentionally hiding it at the back of the linen cupboard.

My summers were spent mostly with my Zia (my fathers sister), a little Italian old lady that was born during the scarcity of the war, and spent the rest of her life cooking to much food to remind herself that those days are thankfully behind her. So I would inevitably come back home with a few extra kilos at the end of each summer, even though our whole relationship was built on the tension of her overfeeding me whilst taking me shopping and telling me that I couldn’t pull off half the things she made me try on (she had no kids of her own and I was the first born daughter).

Im 37 now and I still carry the internal scar of her telling me I have “fat knees” in front of the shop keeper, every time I pull a skirt over my thighs.

As brutal as it was, she was protecting me, because she was also large and a spinster, and understood the weight of living against what society dictates.

She was also my favourite person in my world, and I never packed the jumper when I went to stay with her because she would let me get dressed up in her fur coats, the vintage 50’s Christian Dior sunglasses, she would smear on her coral coloured lipstick, spritz me with River Gauche and let me prance around the house in her little old lady heels, like an old Italian diva.

But at the end of each summer, the uniform returned.

I was wearing the jumper the day I kissed somebody for the first time, at school, and I was also wearing it the next day when I heard the chorus of whispers that he only did it because they dared him to kiss a fat girl.

I was wearing that jumper when my father told me nobody would ever love me if I didn’t lose weight.

Yet somehow the world that told me I wasn’t enough by being too much, made me exactly who I am.

I was born a contradiction, being half Italian & half South African, meant I was always half foreign. So the skill I learned most proficiently was the ability to fused two worlds. I learned the rigour of tailoring, the timelessness of colour combinations and Italian elegance, and I blended it with oversized shapes, distressed textures and a fuck off attitude.

I started working in fashion when I was 19, but I spent most of that time feeling like an outsider. My peers spent their younger years participating and refining their taste, while I was locked out because of my body.

But here’s the thing there’s a distinction between being able to get dressed and developing your own style.

Knowing your shape, learning what works for it, is something that can be learned, like rules. It can be honed through repetition and time. It can be studied and explained. Developing a sense of style, is pulling from different influences and mixing them coherently, and it requires you to acknowledge your self and your history. You can’t create something new without breaking those rules.

I have no idea what happened to the jumper, but I know that if I had it now, Id know exactly how to style it.

It’s not that the public isn’t entitled to an opinion, but often times they don’t have the full picture. The comments sections of social platforms are bursting with cheap shots - “This is not couture”, “It looks like a graduate collection”. Meaningful critique requires thought, something most of these comments don’t posses.

But now I’ve started to see this narrative coming from the craft community, a recent video from a creator on YouTube that touts luxury as dead, whilst also duping the designs of the fashion houses they criticise. You can’t meaningfully claim an industry is dying while using its most recognisable symbols to legitimise your own work.

The reason you want to recreate it is because you value the design. No matter whether your intention is to critique or show people how to make it for less, duping still quietly borrows the cultural authority of a designer label, even when the stated intention is critique.

If you think that the luxury fashion industry is dead, you’re missing more context.

The criticism I hear most frequently is that luxury used to be synonymous with quality. However, luxury fashion is, above all else, about a designers point of view. Alexander McQueen was famously poor to begin with, and used his dole money to buy bits of fabric, but also used scraps and materials such as plastic and PVC. He used both the right and wrong sides of the fabric interchangeably to save money but create texture and tension.

It’s not purely about quality. After all you want dupe it because you'e attracted to the design. In fashion a handbag or a jacket, is the material result of something which began as a creative idea. By buying luxury you are paying for a design team which create narratives, worlds and ultimately collections based on a creative vision.

I know a lot of people equate designer fashion with conglomerates, and some are, but many aren’t. Many are young / independent designers are making a living from their creativity.

There are many scandals related to quality in the industry, and this is not an excuse piece, we need to hold corporate companies accountable when they need to be (often). As with everything there are good actors, and bad ones. Calling luxury ‘dead’ flattens an industry that’s far more complex than a singular touch point.

However as much as a brand can be a corporate company, the design team in these situations has little control over the financial decision being made at the top. But imagine being given complete creative freedom with endless access, and any idea you had was ready to be brought to life by a team of skilled designers, seamstresses etc…

If you worked even briefly in a studio, or had any access to what goes on in making a collection you would understand that a large part of what we’re paying for is creativity.

However If you worked even briefly in a studio, or had any access to what goes on in making a collection you would have more context for the price point of many of these products.

There is also quantity to consider. The majority of brands only release 4 collections a year, less for brands that will include menswear in their womenswear collections (something more popular in smaller brands who can’t afford to create 4 shows). Some houses will add couture or resort collections. Many independent designers will only show once a year because of the cost. Thats nowhere near the amount of product produced by fast fashion. Cheap clothing is in the end expensive, you just don’t pay the price.

There is a waiting period, as we see collections twice a year in February for Autumn / Winter, which will release in September, and the September collections Spring / Summer which are found in stores from around February. These collections linger, they are not quickly replaced, because they take time, thought and effort to create.

Buying luxury is not a scam, it’s a piece of somebody’s creativity, a combination of vision and labour which will never be created in that iteration again. Which is why archival pieces are so valuable. It’s not a piece of mass produced repetition.

I release a lot of content on how to recreate luxury patterns because I love to celebrate design, and I have skill to do so, but mostly because I understand that having something made to measure for myself is the ultimate luxury. I might see a particular design which is limited to a few colours that are not flattering to me, or the sleeves might be too long because of standardised sizing. Duping is admiration and engagement with that uniqueness.

You don’t have to agree with me, criticism and disagreement are healthy, but you can’t have it both ways. You can’t call an industry dead while using its design language and someone else’s authorship to validate your own work. Duping is a form of engagement, and engagement, whether admitted or not, implies respect. If you don’t respect the design, don’t duplicate it. If you do, then at least acknowledge what you’re responding to.

I was doing something so mundane I can’t remember, when my phone pinged. It was my friend, jokingly asking me if I was up for a knitting project. She was on set and had just tried on the most beautiful clover green sweater from Celine, the catch was that it cost $1500.

I immediately told her not to buy it and sent her the exact shade of green from the KFO collection. Because this is what I do it seems, advise my friends and family on what is worth buying and what can be made, where it can be found cheaper for the same quality, and ultimately what is actually worth making the investment on. The wise old witch of knitwear, a title I gladly assume.

This text was more than just a text thought, it was a nudge from the universe because I had been sitting on the idea of writing this post for a few weeks. A round up of my favourite luxury sweaters and their knitting pattern counterparts! After all, this is also what I do.

So here are some of my favourite knitwear pieces and what knitting patterns I would use if I were to recreate them. Ive tried to get as close as possible to construction and taken the yarn density into consideration, but of course adaptations will be needed.

Firstly I would like to shout out Skall Studio for sharing the patterns behind their incredible knitted pieces. I think this is such a smart, and generous business model, one that other brands should pay more attention to, as it includes the community that centres the craft their brand is built on. We get access to the patterns but they’re also generating viewership on their website and the products are placed right there for us. Bravo Skall.

1. Simone Rocha Rugby Jersey x Polo no1 by MFTK

   If you’ve seen any of my content before you’ll have seen many updates on this project as I’m currently working on it after trying this rugby jersey on in the SR London store last September (it might be finished by the time this comes out!). Strictly speaking this is not a knitwear piece but it’s been such a rollercoaster ride recreating this that I thought I would share! It was serendipitous when MFTK came out with the pattern to Polo no1 a few weeks after I walked away empty handed, but the fit of the SR jersey just wasn’t quite right (it was menswear after all). Ive used the recommended KFO yarn as the merino makes for rather fine stitches which give it a relaxed vibe, similar to the original rugby jersey. I have to compliment MFTK one more time because the construction of this piece is just exquisite, you can see a lot of thought and care went into making this pattern, although at points I felt the wording could have been clearer, the details are impeccable. It’s a rather complicated piece of knitting, so I printed the pattern and really felt like I was doing serious work once I started casting on. I knitted the frills in just mohair, and Im planing on embellishing this, in true SR style.

2. JW Anderson wrap jumper x Olga Blouse

   I made a reel a few weeks ago about how I was thinking about this specific jumper for this post, only to walk into a shop to return something when I found a dupe in store! The one I bought is from Massimo Dutti but it doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped thinking about how I could make it.

   The Olga Blouse by Petitknit is a striped number, but im looking more at the construction of the piece itself, and as it’s a fairly simple piece it’s a good fit for this project. I would just elongate the overall length of it to match the JWA sweater. The wraparound sleeves on the JWA piece come from the side seam, but the Massimo Dutti version I have, actually wraps around from the back (its stitched in) which I think is actually a better way of doing it as I think it puts less pressure on the side seams. My concern would be that they would overtime sag and the whole thing might lose shape. I have to say, I find the wrap around my waist quite comforting and a little forgiving over my lower belly (we all have our insecurities) so I am considering making this one.

Read more

I can’t open any kind of social media without being bombarded (yes, more than usual) by commentary on what the new “trend” or “luxury” will be. I hate these predictions type pieces because they are written with unnecessary authority by people who are observers, not participants. I know it sounds a lot like “us vs them” but Im not being judgmental. People who understand luxury don’t usually concern themselves with selling their opinion of what it actually means, because it can’t be acquired like an object.

The biggest luxury is something that can’t be sold, and owning something no one else can buy.

Look, the internet as we know it is changing: we are witness the decline of influencers and the rise of AI, and let’s be honest, this plays out in our favour on both counts.

Ive been talking for a long time, about how influencer marketing was soon going to expire, because it is fundamentally incongruent.

We are fatigued by people turning up online to sell us onto something, and the phenomenon has quickly swung from “insider secret” to “paid actor”. It’s not just the gap between the aspirational luxury they're selling you and the reality of our lives that is growing more and more dissonant, but the influencer act itself.

Whether you have money or not is irrelevant to an extent because you’re not getting a recommendation from a trusted insider, you’re watching a 20yr old sell you a $5000 handbag she didn’t buy. Its jarring, especially when it happens ad nauseam.

I don’t care what others are wearing, or what’s considered trendy. I’ve been in the industry long enough (and in the world in general) to know that everything deemed cool this season is quickly exaggerated into a caricature of itself, by the next. Something accelerated by 24/7 exposure.

AI on the other hand has so quickly taken over every aspect of our online world, that it is fundamentally forcing us to question everything we see, which in turn is a huge blessing because it is forcing us to get back into the real world. The fact that AI has made us want to go more analogue (if I see one more post about living analogue but documenting it online, I swear to god…) is a parody that writes itself.

Soon the fashion week circus will begin, and I’ll be packing my FW clothes to join the travelling carousel. My life looks nothing like my work, and for a long time I struggled with this. Not because I don’t wear designer clothes everyday (I could) or because I don’t go to insider events (I don’t want to), or hang out with “cool” fashion people (I have the coolest and realest fashion friends) but because my beliefs have long contradicted that reality. Wanting a slower life, wanting things that were not trendy, that were different, needing to connect with nature, believing in sustainability, but also loving beautiful things, craftsmanship and rarities.

But you see, I will be 37 soon-ish and the beautiful thing about aging is that you begin to see everything clearly. As my eyesight declines my minds eye becomes sharper. I finally realise that these two worlds are not incompatible, I love the industry I’m in, I’m just not seduced by it, or by what other people tell me it.

Just as money can’t buy taste, real luxury can’t be bought.

Real luxuries are things like time, skill, attention (shout out to my sister who’s written a whole book on this: Mental Currency), authorship, patience, originality, a sense of self, I could go on and on. Things which are nurtured and cultivated. Of course for me personally, this notion ties into craft, and the idea of making things from my imagination, or from inspiration, with time, by hand, slowly, and inevitably with mistakes.

Even if I stood in a room with somebody who had made the same sweater, neither of us would be wearing the same thing. Objects that are made by hand, exist because that version of us existed, in that moment in time, with those abilities and skills.

Im not saying that design or craftsmanship are bad or that you shouldn’t desire tangible objects, I just don’t want to be sold something on the pretence that its going to make me feel like I belong to a special pool of people. Birkins are expensive but there’s so many of them, I want things that can’t be replicated.

After seeing video after video of knitting influencers doing yearly knitting round ups, showing off dozens of jumpers they had made in a year, I started to wonder, how much is too much?

I spent some time wallowing in my thoughts and the feelings I had about my reactions to these videos before I decided to do the unthinkable… I would pose the question to the Wild Wild West which is Instagram. I prepared my armour, ready for battle, but the even more unthinkable happened. People responded with genuine curiosity, with many different opinions but not malice. This confirmed what I should have known from the get go. The people who make up the knitting community are exactly who I thought they would be: kind, self reflective (you have to be to spend so much time on your own and a pair of needles!), and conscious of themselves and their environment.

The question was seemingly simple:

“Are we sure knitting 12,13,14 plus jumpers a year is ok?”

And I suppose before I dive into the responses, I should make my stance on the matter clear. If you know me irl, you already know I don’t believe in a one size fits all, and so even on this topic I don’t believe there is a right or wrong answer. Everyone is on a different journey, battling differently challenges, walking a different road. The one universal consensus is that knitting is more than a hobby, it’s a sanctuary. This been said, I do think that its our personal responsibility to self evaluate our motives for creating (anything).

It’s no secret that knitting is having a well deserved moment in the limelight. There’s a huge uptick in knitting influencers, people taking on the craft, and even a knitting TV show (cough, cough which came with its own set of issues). Because of its rise in popularity, I really do think self reflection becomes even more important. As one instagram user said: “It’s a fine line between creation and compulsion”.

What follows are the most interesting points I took from this conversation.

• The impact of knitting on our mental but also physical health.

The through line of the comment section was clear: knitting is a lifeline for our mental health. Period. There’s no discussion on the positive impact that working with your hands has on our well-being, but I was impressed by the nuances that were brought forward. Some mentioned that knitting got them through years of depression, which meant they were creating in large amounts but that naturally tapered off as they started to feel better. Others were adamant that no matter the positive mental health implications, knitting at this rate (generally agreeing that yearly double digits seemed excessive) was not sustainable. Something I had admittedly never thought about was the physical impact, with many users retelling how they had overdone it and how their joints had suffered from what one user calls “hyper knitting”. I myself have noticed how my grip strength has decreased, but also most importantly my eye sight! Although the jury is not out on whether its the knitting or the excessive screen time…

• Pressure to perform

We have gently touched upon the rise of knitting influencers, and I have a personal story to tell you. I’ve been trying to take up space on the old Insta for some time now, but it’s taken me a while to work out in what capacity. Earlier this year I accidentally started going "viral”, I double my following in a month and started making more and more content, in order to ride that wave of virality. After all, this is what I had been wanting! except because none of this was intentional (not really) I had no idea what I was doing and started putting a lot of pressure on myself to show up, and constantly show new things I had been making. I started knitting things I didn’t really care about, compromising on the quality yarn just to get content, and I found myself really unhappy and apathetic even though my efforts were paying off. So after all that growth, I quit and deleted that account letting go of all the thousands of followers I had gained, just to start again from scratch 6 months later. Moral of the story is that with the increase of people growing their social media around knitting, it takes a lot of conscious effort to not fall for the pressure of having to churn things out for the algorithm. It was interesting to me how many people commented that they felt pressure by proxy. By engaging with various knitting accounts and seeing new trendy patterns come out every other week many users felt that they were missing out or couldn’t keep up!

• Slow Fashion is not exempt from capitalism.

These users really eloquently expressed my feelings when they said this

Just because something takes time, or is done by hand, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s automatically ethical or sustainable. And I know this might piss some people off, I think mostly because people feel like Im making knitting into a problem (this is my hobby too remember, I love this as much as everyone else!). One person pointed out that Im obviously self reflective, which I agree with and its both a blessing and a curse as sometimes I would love to just blindly engage with stuff without raising questions for myself! However, self reflection has pretty much been my life’s work and bettering myself sometimes requires to ask uncomfortable questions. Perhaps if the question of whether you’re knitting too much is emotionally charged, there’s something for you to look at. I don’t feel triggered by the subject, Im merely curious enough to have the conversation.

As I type this, the comments are still rolling in and more and more people are chiming in with their thoughts, which I honestly think is just so blinking wonderful. My sister has a rather large following in the wellness space and I have watched her battle some really horrible, abusive comments, which at points even turned into threats delivered by email, and whilst I never thought that something like my post would trigger any kind of outraged I guess I was primed to deal with some negative comments. However I was proved so wrong as at least 98% of people engaged in such a thoughtful and interesting way, which really just reminded me of what a fucking awesome community the knitting community is!

Anytime I have a question about a pattern, or need a recommendation, some advice on how to do something, Im always met with solidarity and friendship even from complete strangers. I hope it’s clear that the aim of this was to talk about things and not discourage anyone from doing the thing they love!

Keep knitting folks, I think after all we’re doing just fine. thank you for restoring my faith in the internet.

But lets back up for some context.

It was late winter, I walked up Rue des Martyr in the 9th, one of those very quaint Parisian streets filled with boutiques and cafes, nestled just below the eternal Montmartre, when the rain began. I kept my eyes fixed on the grey pavement under my feet as I turned the corner heading to Mamiche with my heart racing, trying to jump out my chest. I had no idea what was on the other side of this decision but I knew with a degree of certainty that I had to quit my job. I was effectively on my way to break up with my boss (who is also a very good friend) over a croissant, as if we were just meeting for our usual end of fashion week debriefing breakfast.

Six months went by since then, and although I thought I would leap into the next thing straight away, I went deep into the void, doing barely anything. I said yes to the few opportunities that came my way, only to be comically rejected. It was becoming clear the universe had other plans for me. Whilst I was grateful for the rest, living in surrender is especially hard (when you don’t have a trust fund). But nevertheless, I “unclenched my butt cheeks” (as my best friend famously told me) and I learned to lean into this new pace of life. Truth be told it felt so good to go slow.

Fast forward, after a severe case of island fever, I took myself to England, (accidentally) for eclipse season. Now, in my humble but experienced opinion, getting out of your own bubble always initiates some kind of change, or at the very least will give you perspective. And since I closed the eclipse portal by bathing in the White Spring life has REALLY, sped up.

I got clarity on what to do next, I closed out old cycles, purged old wounds and programming, met my old boss (the same one I “dumped” in Paris) for lunch which somehow led me to dipping my toe back into the job I quit last spring, started recording a podcast, created content, posting 5 times a week, being a mom, walking the dog, packing school lunches, the endless laundry and the list goes on…

Im writing this a few days after I returned home from Paris FW. My first foray back into the world of long days, short nights, and limitless screen time, and sensory overload. Apart from exhausted there has been this under current of anxiety with a specific “I can’t take my foot off the pedal” flavor.

If you’ve ever been self employed or started your own business you understand the never ending mental to-do lists. You’re the CEO, the producer, the assistant, the accountant, the cleaner and the ideas person all at once. Theres always something to do. Old Silvy it seems was still at the steering wheel, because I very much was driving 70mph down a single file country lane in the dark.

However one day a card popped out of my (new and lovely) deck of oracle cards… it read:

“This card comes to you when you are trying to manifest your vision using other people’s means and methods instead of creating something for yourself”.

Noted, I thought. Especially because leading up to the moment I got clarity on the fact that I needed to build a personal brand, and be a weird spiritual friend to strangers on the internet (and IRL), the card that I repeatedly pulled was “Be The Leader You Never Had”.

I pulled the same card the next day. Still it didn’t click. Luckily the universe intervened because who knows how long it would have taken me to realize that this was not the pace of life I signed up for as this new evolution of myself. Queue my best friend (the same one as before, who will surely become infamous on this substack), who sent me a voice note about her own life, which was also very much meant to be heard by me - she said: “I need to keep tuning in [to my guides], I can’t keep doing this the “old way”.

I was staring down the barrel of that “Sunday but it’s about to be Monday” feeling, when I heard that message: Aaaaaaaaaaah ok, I get it now universe!

It’s tricky you know, to live life in a way that doesn’t make sense to people out there. To live a life that isn’t in accordance with the societal norms, especially when you’re building something like a brand or a business. I know many will roll their eyes because “baby girl you gotta hustle to make things happen” - but nah I didn’t go through the portal only to burn out on the other side again!

Spirit led life is intuitive, and nonsensical, but it’s more efficient because you’re doing things at the right time, not just all the time. You don’t waste your time shooting arrows hoping to hit the target but rather you strike when the target is perfectly aligned, and in view.

On Sunday when the penny dropped, I was in the thick of writing content ideas, because as a Manifesting Generator I’ve learned to ride the wave of creativity while I can, because then buzz goes dead I couldn’t come up with a single thing to talk about. So whilst I clutched to the safety blanket of my content bucket, in reality the whole point of me doing “this” was to allow spirit to tell me what it wanted me to share. And wasn’t that the whole point anyways? To do things differently, to build something not out of ego but out of purpose.

Monday morning eventually arrived, and I woke up with an anxious feeling I couldn’t shake (fueled by the Schumann resonance being on crack!). “Old ways being brought to the light so they can be worked through and released” I thought. So I ran my non negotiable errands, and took myself home, put my phone on DND and instead of powering through, I meditated for 30 minutes.

I then waited for a moment, and decided I should pick back up on substack because what better way to start something I had put on hold, than by telling you how Girl Moss got called out for trying to be a Girl Boss…

Oh and look at the card I pulled today:

Until next time

xx

I got to my friend’s house looking like I was going to move in. After a cup of tea and a general catch up I got to “work”. I slowly took over the bedroom, setting up my accessories, shoes etc… and I suddenly realized all those years backstage had served me well, I knew how to set up a styling station without giving it a thought.

I filmed my outfits, moved around my friends gorgeous apartment taking pictures, we messed around in the kitchen recreating something that made me look like a little Italian old lady, which is after all who I am, and at the end of the day, it was fun! Admittedly I felt slightly uncomfortable filming myself, of course, but this wasn’t influencer content, it was me showing a skirt I had made and how you can wear handmade stuff in a cool context. It felt authentic, and most of all I had a great time doing it.

When I got home I put the reel together pretty quickly, and although I felt a bit hesitant before pushing the “post” button, I chucked it down to nerves, being seen is always a little startling for me, especially in this context. I worked in fashion for 15 years, a lot of the people that follow me are models, casting directors, model agents, designers and stylists… Its fucking intimidating to say the least, to put yourself out there in front of this crowd!

Read more

You might have been following this substack for a little while, before it pivoted from writing about fashion, to a more authentic version of itself!

If you’ve been here that long, you might recall a series of content I used to post under the bracket of “the jig is up”. This was content related to the underbelly of fashion brands being revealed.

Now I just need you to understand that I have 4 placements in Aquarius including my sun and rising signs, i’ll translate this for the muggles but it’s essentially impossible for me to not be authentic. My bullshit radar is through the roof, I can sniff it out the second it walks into the room.

So the longer I sat with this concept of “the jig is up” the more I noticed and heard that this is becoming a universal truth for everyone.

Frequency is the new currency.

No matter what you’re doing in life, even if you’re doing “good” work. If the intention behind what you’re doing is not correct and aligned, it will at some point stop working for you whether that’s 5 months or 5 years down the line. Perhaps you’re a doctor, you run a charity, you’re a wellness coach, you believe you’re having a positive impact in the world, and perhaps to some extent this is true, but if you’re not coming to your work from a place of alignment it just won’t last.

Let me give you a more practical example. Perhaps you’re a nutritionist, and your whole business is designed around intuitive eating, teaching people to listen to their bodies cues instead of sticking to specific diets. You might even be really successful and helping others, but at the same time you are numbing your own bodies cues by taking Ozempic.

It’s not about having to be perfect before putting our work out in the world, it’s about being in integrity. Do our words align with our actions?

In an increasingly online world, it’s easier and easier to portray the illusion of being a person with wisdom who is worth following. Maybe you’re in the wellness space and you preach about meditation, yet you never spend any time cultivating a deep practice.

It's easy to fake mastery at the moment, but we are moving into a time where what we are doing in the physical world matters less and less. Our frequency, our energy, the pulse of what we put out into the world is going to become the true currency.

If you are familiar with any kind of manifestation work (the North Star being TBM!) you already know that you can make things happen without doing too much external work as the heavy lifting is done internally.

So maybe you’re reading this and thinking, ok shit how do I know if I’m in alignment?

1. Are your words matching your action?

   Are you the same person you are projecting out into the world as you are when you are when nobody is watching? Are you telling people you are somebody who you are actually not?

2. Is the energy with which you’re showing up with, coming from a place of being healed?

Both can be tricky to spot. The first one requires a healthy dose of self awareness (one study found that only 10-15% of people are sufficiently self aware, whilst the % of people who believe they are self aware is actually much higher) and willingness to confront the most uncomfortable truths of ourselves. This requires the blinkers to come off, and they may have been on for a really long time.

I think the second one is even tougher to examine. Maybe you’ve started working for a charity or become a doctor, or whatever your version of doing “good” is, just so you could prove to your parents that you are deserving of love and a good person. Perhaps your ambition is to work in politics and make a real change, but you are constantly triggered by people with opposing views, or lack the self confidence to withstand criticism. You can see how any of these scenarios in the long run won’t last.

Showing up for yourself can be really challenging but the reward of doing what is truly meant for you is priceless. Living in alignment doesn’t just mean you are more likely to succeed, but it takes you to a place of experiencing more peace and more love, which at the end of the day is all that really matters.

“In tribal cultures that which we call “magic” takes its meaning from the fact that humans, in an indigenous and oral context, experience their own consciousness as simply one form of awareness among many others.”

Right off the bat my copy of the book is earmarked and underlined in multiple places on each page (not just in pencil but also pen, imagine the commitment!). When I first read this book, it spoke to me in a language which my whole body mind and soul understood.

I previously said that we fetishize indigenous cultures & their relationship to nature, however we need to remember that whether you are living on your indigenous land or not, somewhere in your ancestry there is a history of connection to the land. If you go back in time long enough, we are all inextricably connected to our land.

If we go back in time long enough, you would find a practice or at least a belief in magic too because the two are so interwoven.

You might say you don’t believe in magic but I think perhaps you do. Im almost certain you’ve thought of somebody and then they called you, or you walked into a room and sensed that something wasn’t right. We hear miraculous stories of how somebody was supposed to board a plane, but they decided not to and then that plane crashed. If I told you to wish a life threatening illness on your mother, or your child, Im certain you wouldn’t because something inside of you believes in the power of your words.

Neuroscience already backed up the knowledge that our thoughts shape our reality. If that isn’t magic then what is?

But why does this matter? Why am I always going on about nature & magic?

Humans largely assume their consciousness is the only consciousness and that our perspective is the only perspective, or at least the only worthy one. If you can reconnect, and I mean truly reconnect with your natural environment, you will understand that quote right at the start. Human consciousness is only one of many, amongst all living things. If you can connect to nature, you can connect to its ineffable mystery, and begin to comprehend magic.

The key is that once you understand magic, you unlock the door to possibility.

Suddenly life has a numinous quality. You begin to believe in the possibility that life doesn’t have to stay the way it is. You dont have to continue in career that doesn’t fulfill you, in a relationship you have outgrown. If magic exists, then maybe you can find somebody to love, to have a family with.

If magic exists, then anything is possible. Magic is the key to you believing that your life can change. And surely is the biggest gift that nature could give you.

If you’re here reading this, you likely have some kind of adoration or at least interest in nature. You have probably hiked to the top of a mountain, or watched the sunrise and experienced a sense of awe, wonder or even peace perhaps. The connection and sense of belonging we experience when we are in a natural environment is unquestionable.

Im here to tell you, that you are not separate from this.

Let yourself be affected by your natural world, reabsorb yourself into what is your natural environment. I no longer recoil at the sting of Nettle, I now marvel at the accuracy of their communication.

The reason you feel so connected to nature, the reason you feel at home in nature, is because you are nature.

This might feel like an abstract concept, but despite being the perpetrators of climate injustices, humans are also part of nature. The natural world isn’t just comprised of an intricate web of trees, birds and other wildlife. You are part of that wild life, you belong to the forest floor as much the moss and the mycelium, you have just been conditioned to forget.

The incongruence you might feel when I say this, is because of the disconnection we are all experiencing. We live in a world that requires us to subscribe to ways of living which are fundamentally unsustainable not just for us humans but for the earth and its other inhabitants too.

Our current systems force us to disconnect from our bodies, from our environment, from our community. The system glorifies earning but not creating, but why struggle to be the bread winner when you could simply be the bread maker? Much of the dis-ease we experience is a cry for reconnection to our natural environment.

We often fetishize indigenous people, whose culture is built around living in symbiosis with the natural environment, and their belief in animism. Yet we forget that we ourselves are indigenous to our own lands, no matter how far you might be from it.

Colonizers were only able to colonize others because they themselves had already been colonized. The gospel of organized religion, speaks against worship of the natural world and twists it into a disguise for devil worship. Prehistoric Britain was likely polytheist, but with the Roman invasion of Britain, this changes with the introduction of Christianity and the veneration of a singular, all knowing, all powerful God. It also introduces the notion of good and evil, creating a binary as well as polarity which instills urgency in the choosing between a need for salvation or eternal damnation.

I make this point to highlight that everyone and every culture has a history of being connected to their environment, we have just traded it in for a life of convenience and modern technology.

A life that is centered around reconnecting to our natural state doesn’t require much beyond our silence and stillness to tune into the wisdom that is innately within each one of us. It asks us to reach towards it, not to turn away from it. This is obviously not good for business. We marvel at our pets, and our dog’s abilities to sense danger before it’s even close. A cat that can sense when their human is about to turn into the drive way. Birds who predict the weather by sensing the changes of pressure in the air. We have many of the same abilities, we are just desensitized to our environment and constantly distracted.

Many of us experience varying degrees of disconnection which shows up in a number of ways. Im not saying this is the only reason, but whether physically or mentally we all experience discomfort caused by a degree of this disconnect.

The rekindling of your relationship to your natural environment is a radical act of defiance. Rest, patience, slowness, waiting are all uncomfortable and inconvenient acts of resistance that will ultimately lead to a more balanced life. These seemingly meaningless qualities defy the order which we are subjected to, and reclaim the natural rhythm and cycle we were born to follow.

Whatever state of dis-ease you’re experiencing, no matter whether in a small or big way, leaning into nature will ease the dissonance. Re-wilding is always the medicine.

I think by now we know that luxury fashion is no longer what it used to be. Whilst it’s always been known that you’re paying a premium for a name, part of buying into that name was purchasing a product that was made by a talented designer, which was usually carefully handmade by expert tailors, using only the best quality fabrics and finishings.

The situation is a bit bleaker these days, with recent discoveries of the Italian sweatshops making Dior handbags for £50 which then sell for £5000+, or how Loro Piana doesn’t pay its farmers for its premium alpaca wool. As I’ve discussed before, buying quality products is just getting harder and harder. We need not focus on the scandalous stories, to realize that scaling a business to the level at which most luxury houses are at, is basically unsustainable for the quality/ quantity balance.

One way to find better quality luxury is to shop “small”.

Smaller brands are less likely to be tied to a corporate conglomerate, which pushes profits above all else. Small names are still run by small teams, and usually one or two people who lead their business in a way that is true and authentic to them. This makes the transparency of a company much easier to assess. Each brand might be at different levels of sustainability, which suit us in different ways, but one thing is clear: they produce less than bigger household names.

Personally I think young designers, and smaller brands are WAAAAAAAY more interesting than bigger more established names. I have found that young and / or independent designers are more interested in crafting designs which explores and expresses their vision above just creating collections which are solely seen as commercially profitable.

So in lieu of fashion month, here is a list of my favorite young / independent designers!

Simone Rocha: Romantic, feminine practicality with a touch of goth

Molly Goddard: Ruffles, puffy tulle, colors, fair isle knitwear (bury me in that green dress sigh!)

Standing Ground: Sculptural, jersey gowns

Chopova Lowena: Punk, Goth, one of a kind (been pining for a CL skirt for a while now)

Wales Bonner: Bright, European heritage with Afro-atlantic style

TOVE: Quiet luxury but make it structural

You see I’ve been working on unblocking a subconscious belief which tells me that “things dont work out for me” (if you’re interested in this, click here). It’s one of the biggest things that holds me back in life, this thought loop that I can’t really get what I want.

So what better moment to put me to the test, than on a work trip!

I recently went to Sardegna for the D&G Alta Moda show, and after 15+ hours of travel (dont even start), I arrived at the (wrong) hotel, at 23:30pm only to discover I had in fact lost my passport. JOY! It was found, and I was eventually reunited with it on my way back via Rome. Crisis averted, so I thought. After another delightful 15+ hours on my return back to Madeira, I arrived to Funchal airport at 01:00am only to find out that my luggage hadn’t landed with me. In fact it never boarded the second connecting flight. Actually they had no idea where it was.

Imagine me, high from finding my passport, exhausted from travel, glad to be home and also desperately sad that my suitcase was lost. The thing that dawned on me as I made my way into the taxi, was the fact that a large portion of my “good” wardrobe was in that suitcase.

My brand new Simone Rocha crocs, most of my good jewelry, one Bottega sandal (the other I retained as I had to stuff it in my hand luggage coz I over packed), and my Molly Goddard skirt. I know it’s just stuff. Things can always be replaced, things can always be bought again, there is always more stuff. And whilst I tried to remain in the energy of being unattached, I also really needed to feel all my feelings.

Two days in and they had no idea where my suitcase was. I was cursing myself for not buying the AirTag and the travel insurance. I checked the website a few more times, but there was no update. The sun was setting so I ran to the bottom of the road and sat by the view spot to have a 1 on 1 with the spirits “up there”. I told them everything I just said to you: “I know stuff is just stuff. But…” I realized why I was so sad.

Each item in that suitcase represented a moment where I had chosen my joy and invested in my love for beautiful things, instead of giving into the guilt that constantly tells me “It’s too expensive”, “Do you really need that?”, “Shouldn’t you spend it on something better?”. The voice of scarcity that I grew up with, which won for so long, was defeated each time I invested in my joy. The first piece of real jewelry I had ever bought myself after making the most amount of money I had ever made, was in that suitcase. A Dolce dress that was gifted to me after I poured blood, sweat and tears into a 200 model show, was in that suitcase. The list of accomplishments that travelled in that suitcase goes on and on…

I had a good old whinge that evening, and suddenly felt proud of all the moments I had chosen myself which materialized themselves as clothes, or shoes or something else.

As I walked back into the house, I thought I would check the airline website one more time for the day, just in case there was an update. They had found my suitcase!

Just like my passport, which found its way to me quite easily in the end, my suitcase was due to land at the same time and at the same airport as I was picking up my brother from. I guess the universe was showing me that things do in fact work out for me…

My best friend, who is Scottish, messaged me immediately to ask me if I had worked on the show? No, I was merely thousands of miles away, wishing I could have been there to witness it in real life. 

If you’ve read some of my other pieces, it will be no surprise that I'm not a fan of Dior, but this collection was actually stunning, if a bit large. I am, however, terribly biased as I adore tartan, Scotland and folk history. So if there was ever a show that would tug at my heartstrings, this would be the one. 

I thought there were many wonderful re-workings of the cloths from tartan to argyle and plaid. The bold purple opening dresses, with frayed edges completed by a Dior Sporran of sorts. Look 5, a transparent black tartan fringe dress, made my granny goth heart skip a beat. Nyaduola and Rejoice in chain mail armorial dresses, a nod to Scotland's bloody history. 

And here I couldn’t help but wonder, where the line between tartan and tartanry would be drawn. A quick history lesson, or a few episodes of Outlander would teach you that the subjugation of the Scots, by the hand of the English, was bloody and brutal. The infamous battle of Culloden in 1745, where over a thousand men lost their lives fighting for the Scottish rebellion, marked the beginning of the end for much of Scottish culture. There is some debate around whether the tartan, which distinguished each clan from another, was banned in the 1746 act of Proscription, but nevertheless attempts to erase traditional culture remain an undeniable part of Scottish history. 

However perversely tartan, which at various times and in various ways was met with disgust and described as barbaric, became a symbol of not just Scottishness but also British Imperialism. In 1822 Sir Walter Scott, King George IV, and European Romanticism collided and began to change the perception of Scotland's rebellious past by refocusing the narrative to notions of beauty and romanticism propped up against dramatic landscapes. This and the overzealous interpretations of tartan. When Queen Victoria purchased Balmoral castle, she also apparently had the walls, floor to ceiling draped in tartan. This is tartanry, both sentimental and vulgar. It bypasses any reality of the subjugation of the Highlanders at the hand of the crown, and romanticizes the parts of Scottish culture which the institution finds acceptable. 

What Chiuri did so well in her recent collection, which was clearly well researched, was incorporate the geopolitics and history of the country without only focusing on the fabrics. There were elements of romanticism but also toughness to the collection. These nods to Scotland's true history, not the romantic version of the country which has been crafted and perpetuated by visitors. 

My Scottish friend Bryony, reminds me that she has no knowledge of her own language. The myth is that post Culloden the act of Proscription banned Gaelic, which is untrue according to the act itself. However what was law and what was done about it are two different things. The eclipse of Scottish Gaelic however can be traced much further back than 1746. As early as 1070 the Scottish King Malcolm III married princess Margaret of Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon who refused to give her children Gaelic names, and is credited with anglicizing the Scottish court. Her sons went on to overthrow their uncle “the last Celtic King of Scotland”, and take the throne as legitimate heirs, albeit English ones. History is peppered with small but powerful moments like these, where the English slowly gain more and more control over Scottish culture. 

And your question might be, what does this have to do with tartan? With fashion? Everything, I say. 

Tartan, Plaid and Argyle, although all Scottish, have long been used by English fashion brands as heritage markers of quintessential Britishness. And this does matter. Thomas Burberry, an Englishman from Hampshire, founded the brand in 1856. He created and trademarked The Burberry “check” which was “inspired” by Scottish tartan, but I dare you to find the difference. Today entire collections of “check” trousers, coats, skirts and more are created by the brand. 

“The thing is Silv…” Bryony continues, “Its all very good and well coming to Scotland and having a beautiful show, but they are taking something which is inherently ours and making a shit load of money off it”. She has a point. Chiuri worked with local craftsmen and women such as Johnston of Elgin, ESK Cashmere, Le Kilt and ceramicist Pollyanna Johnson, for the creation of this collection, which is a worthy gesture. This is not personal, it’s about the wider context. From a design perspective I believe Chiuri went to great lengths to research and pour the history Scotland into her collection, and we can accept that as cultural appreciation. However there is also Dior the business, who will profit on the interpretation of a piece of Scottish culture.

Her frustration is at the representation of Scotland as a land of enchanted Glenns, fairy pools, Gothic architecture, and the tourists of Scottish descent turning up to Waverley station wearing their ancestors' clan tartan without any acknowledgement of the cultural repercussions on the people who actually live there. This is not unique to Scotland, many parts of the world are used as a playground by British and foreign tourists. Hotels, restaurants, and other businesses which service tourist needs are abundant, but local councils are impoverished and underfunded, doing nothing for local communities. The Lake District being one such place. Also romanticized to the point of belonging more to tourists than the locals who have lived there for generations. 

The question is not about whether or not you can wear tartan, the answer is yes! There seem to be only a few tartans which are banned, most ironically the Balmoral tartan which can only be worn by the Royal Family. Other restricted tartans usually belong to clans, and more rightfully you should only be given permission to wear these. However there are plenty of what are called “universal” tartans which can be worn. 

The sticking point for Bryony is “I think we just want the acknowledgement of what happened to us to be known, not just for people to come here and take what they like without taking the time to understand the consequences of history”. At this point she was a bit emotional so I said “Imagine the War Chief of Clan Mackenzie, who died by arrow in 1745 on Culloden moor, watching the Dior show from the heavens” (pure fiction by the way), she giggled hard and thought perhaps he would be laughing, for no matter how much the Empire tried to erase Highland culture, the spirit of Scotland is celebrated and now lives on. 

I have a great deal of admiration for the people that work in this industry, day in and day out. Being a freelancer has always allowed me to be in it, but also have some distance from it, which is precisely what gives me the time and perspective to make reflections like these. 

Although luxury fashion is comparatively slow, the industry it self has a reputation for moving quickly, but it's picking up speed at a rate which is becoming almost impossible to keep up with.

This is true for almost every industry, and widely every aspect of our lives. Living through the age of social media means the minute a post goes live, it's automatically immediately old. Images like the ones you see in magazines take months of planning, budgeting, co-ordinating, only to expire the minute they hit our feeds. I remember several of the Vogue editorials that came out when I was younger. It's not that they were necessarily better (to be discussed), but my, as well as our collective attention span was longer. 

If you consume any fashion news at all, you will have noticed weekly articles on the turn around of Creative Directors throughout luxury brands. It's very simple: sink or swim. The pressure is immense, and it is immediate. Brands hardly have the luxury of having a bad season, a creative directors debut collection needs to be, amongst many things, immediately profitable. There is no time for a creative to find their feet, their translation of a House’s name needs to be immediately understandable. The pressure is even higher for smaller brands, who don't have the financial backing of larger conglomerates to float them through hard times. 

If you’ve been in any of the comment sections on social media accounts dedicated to fashion, you will have seen the onslaught of negativity directed to the Dior collections that have come out recently (and Chanel, yawn). I concur that nobody can stomach one more outfit /idea repeat in a collection of 73 looks, in addition to the fact that half of these were replicas of a so-called Couture collection of 60 looks. Whilst I’m not in disagreement with this criticism, there is something to be said for the fact that Maria Grazia Chiuri churned out 8 shows in a year, with 4 of these being abroad:

AW23 February 2023

Pre Fall (India) March 2023

Resort (Mexico) May 2023

AW 23 Couture June 2023

Reprise (China) July 2023

SS24 September 2023

SS24 Couture January 2024

AW24 February 2024

Burnout is an understatement. I can't imagine, even with the power and financial backing of a house such as Dior, how one can require their creativity to work at this level. It is completely unsustainable, and the criticism, although not unfounded, does not necessarily take into consideration the level at which this team is expected to perform. No amount of adaptogens could prevent the kink in the hose from eventually bursting.

Do you remember when things were a little bit shit, and that was ok? Celebrities turning up to the Oscars in jeans and a shirt, a mini skirt and a cute top. A few weeks ago Zendaya wore a vintage Mugler robot suit to the Dune: Part Two premier, and I don't really know where we go from here. The ins and outs of this “costume” choice are discussed more in this Vogue article.

I think about this quote all the time:

How often everything feels like a performance, for the sake of showing the world something. Not just in the world of fashion, but obviously through the influencer culture of social media too. Even the most genuine of accounts only portray one aspect which they're trying to push, obviously because this is how the algorithm rewards you anyways, by being consistent in publishing one type of content, and if you mixed it up, you will end up paying for it in the form of a declining engagement. 

The real loss though is nuance. The ability to do multiple things, exist in multiple ways and different spaces, without this being a hindrance. 

From where I'm sitting, the conversations around pressure are mostly in relation to the models. 

It wasn't so long ago when a new face’s models.com profile would have an odd array of clients, but none of it was taken too seriously, as after all, this was a new model. As a newcomer to any job or industry you would need some time to cut your teeth, learn the nuances of how to handle situations, the subtleties of the industry, especially when the job requires you to be dressed by others, walk in front of hundreds of people, have your makeup put on an off multiple times a day all without letting your skin suffer in any ways, quickly learn to navigate the subway in a foreign city, and the list of weird job skills required to be a model goes on… 

These days, this doesn't happen, the slow growth required for longevity is out the door, and if you’re new your profile should list only top luxury brands or you’re often overlooked. The amount of girls that do a Gucci or Prada exclusive one season, only to join the abyss of models that nobody cared about the next season, is ever growing. This increases the amount of pressure on agents, to hold back on girls, to turn down many projects, in order to curate, with surgical precision, a portfolio that ensures a girl is always in demand. So when this turns into modus operandi, you can imagine how hard it is to put a show together when everyone holds back. The terms under which models, even new faces, will work grows more and more ridiculous by the day. And yet I understand it, nobody wants to enter a career only to have it last one season, or a few years. Everyone wants longevity especially in a world where the shelf life of anything is getting shorter and shorter. 

To me the solution is simple: close your laptop, take a break, go for a drive to the woods, disappear and never come back. LOL. In all honesty I don't know how the playbook ends, it's certainly an interesting time to be alive, and I am interested to see how we will evolve and what this means for creativity and our society as a whole. In the meantime you know precisely where I’ll be: the forest floor.

But after a few years, the words “quiet luxury” and “elevated basics” are starting to repeat on me. Fundamentally I’m here for it, especially from an environmental point of view. As an old lady (jokes!) I can say things like: I was born in a time when… But really, our clothes were a little too big to ensure it would last two seasons, and of course they would get handed down. I grew up in Italy in the 90’s before the global fashion giants took over the high streets. Quiet luxury was my fashion bread and butter. 

The return of this trend also makes sense if we look at it from a societal point of view. Our world was forever changed in late 2019, and when the workforce came to halt, most of us found ourselves loitering our own homes in our pyjamas, way past an acceptable time. If we did get dressed it was from the waist up, and with high hopes of not needing to get up in the middle of a teams meeting! So to emerge from a global pandemic exhausted, somewhat disoriented and reach for items of clothing that are easy to wear, in calm enough colours that you don't really have to think about them, well it totally makes sense. An effortless wardrobe for a tired mind. Long live the transitory nature of this trend, which carries us from zoom meeting to board room without changing, albeit perhaps the shoe. I do understand that although the pandemic might be over, our current world is not a reflection of joy and peace. So I see the longevity of a trend such as this one. 

But has quiet luxury killed creativity?

Almost four years, and many runway shows later, I'm starting to feel like something is lacking. In the most recent autumn/ winter collections of 2023, I couldn't help but notice two different trajectories. The first one being the one of the old masters, confident in their creativity and individuality and also with an established business that's been around for decades, which wouldn't be blown away by missing the boat on a singular trend. And then a younger or more modern generation of designers, especially at established houses, where everything just starts to look the same. But the truth is, it sells. The younger generation of consumers does seem to be more attracted to monochromatic and reliable choices. 

With evermore increasing pressure to make commercially viable collections, I wonder if we can find a balance between fashion and art, and also selling. 

I began writing this piece about a month ago, but didn’t get around to finishing it. However I count this as a blessing, the universe's timing is better than mine, because the success of the Margiela Couture ss24 show validated my theory. The resounding success of Galliano’s couture show still covers my body with shivers. A show which was held under Pont Alexandre III bridge in Paris, lit by the night sky, it crossed the lines between runway show and theatrical performance. Love it or hate it, Galliano made us all feel again. The clothes were the furthest thing away from quiet luxury. Granted it was couture, they are unwearable by the majority of us, but yet the feeling remains. I was transported to my 17 year old self, who used to watch his Dior shows with adoration and aspiration, and filled my mind with fantasies of what working in fashion would be like. 

The roaring success of this show is proof that we are artistically starved, and there is a need to bring back fashion for the sake of fashion, not only for the sake of selling. 

I want a wardrobe of pieces which are wearable but also inexplicable and esoteric, and at times bizarre and strange. An expression of self is not monotone or monochromatic, it changes, we are different people every day. I want something bright and somewhat uncomfortable at first sight. Something that needs to be digested to be understood and translated in order to then be adored. 

I want to hear something jangling, a swishing of beads that make a noise as I walk. A new colour that I have never worn, with an interesting twist, wrap or braid in the fabric. I'm somewhat tired of soft cashmere, I want a different texture, something that is instantly irresistible, which I just have to touch. I want to think “Wait, how does that work?” - “I wonder if I can pull it off”. I'm chasing a thrill.  

My current shadow word is “basic bitch”, because I do harbor a secret desire to clad myself in caramel Max Mara tones, head to toe, with layers of luxurious textures. However, can anyone truly stomach another outfit composed of only muted tones? 

Fashion has been one of the few industries that has moved quickly in reflecting global culture shifts when it comes to diversity and inclusion. This is the silver lining of getting older, witnessing culture change and in this case the evolution of inclusivity and how much better and more beautiful our runway shows, campaigns and editorials are for it. The models of our current generation transcend single nationalities and monochrome skin tones, they are rich in tonalities, body shapes and showcase a range of nuances. Andrè Leon Talley would be glad, the famine of beauty is well and truly over. We’ve come leaps and bounds since the days of tokenism and yet we still have a long way to go.

One of the issues that gets brought up over and over, although visually we see more diversity on covers, runways and campaigns, the people at the top, who make the decisions are still very much white. Part of the reason we have more diversity, particularly in editorials and covers is because of trailblazing figures such as Edward Enninfull, one of the very few black men in a position of power within the industry. Although the number of non white creatives has grown, it hasn’t matched the pace at which we’ve seen a rise in diversity within models. 

Models are the faces of our industry and they represent us to the outside world, we see them in shows, across our cities on billboards, on the covers of magazines and everywhere in-between. Although we have, not just more black models, but a range of skin tones and ethnicities, the battle is not won just yet. Some designers still need some convincing.

One mentioned to me that diversity is all good and well but the buyer still needs to see themselves reflected in the collection, and so there’s a limit to the number of non white models we can use. And at this point I had two thoughts: firstly wow, secondly surely if a brand were to become more diverse and inclusive, then perhaps the number of non white consumers would increase. 

According to a recent BOF article the number of non white ethnic consumers accounted for 20% of the spend within the luxury industry in 2019 and is set to rise to 25-30% by 2025.

Luxury brands can no longer afford to not pay attention, because after all money is the universal language, even in fashion. 

Our younger generations transcend the notion of borders and understand that passports are merely bureaucratic pieces of paper that serve little purpose but to primarily keep certain groups of power at the top. Being of mixed nationalities has never been as normal as it is today. Our world is changing, albeit too slowly, right in front of our eyes, and I for one can’t wait for a few more grey hairs if I get to see where this change will take us.