Category: Fashion 1

You face a dilemma. You’ve found the perfect shirt, and it’s an absolute bargain, but you notice it’s “Made in Bangladesh”. You’re conscious it was probably made using cheap labour. Do you buy it, or walk away? Today Oxfam released its annual Naughty or Nice list. This list highlights retail brands committed to transparent sourcing,… Continue reading We know sweatshop clothing is bad – and buy it anyway. Here’s how your brain makes excuses

Luxury fashion house Prada has a scheme for customers who want something even more exclusive than its usual range of clothing and accessories. Each month, on a first-come first-served basis, the Time Capsule Collection offers ultra-limited editions of Prada products. They’re only on sale for 24 hours, with purchases delivered straight to customers’ doors. For… Continue reading How brands like Prada and Nike are using NFTs – and what could go wrong

From Nike Air Force 1 x Tiffany & Co to Crocs x KFC, footwear collaborations are rife. But the recent release of Kith founder Ronnie Fieg’s 8th Street Samba for Adidas Originals and Clarks Originals is special. In a saturated market, fatigued by increasingly gratuitous partnerships, fashion news outlets have praised the collaboration for its… Continue reading 8th Street Samba: an authentic collaboration

Since the 1990s, fast fashion has enabled everyday people to buy the latest catwalk trends. But the sheer volume of garments being whipped up, sold and soon discarded is contributing to a global sustainability crisis. Now, just when the fashion industry should be waking up and breaking free of this vicious cycle, it’s heading in… Continue reading Ultra-fast fashion is a disturbing trend undermining efforts to make the whole industry more sustainable

For the first time in its 170-year history, the V&A held an exhibition that centred solely on African fashion. Fashion has long been seen and taught as centred in Europe, with Japanese designers occasionally highlighted as international non-western exponents. The fashion education experienced by students often relies on a design cycle that has not changed… Continue reading Why the V&A’s Africa Fashion exhibition was important – and long overdue

I was 13 years old when I discovered Vivienne Westwood. The music came first. From the moment I heard the album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, I was hooked. Within a few months, I was spending my pocket money on a knock-off Westwood design – tartan bondage trousers. My punk look was… Continue reading Fashion, sex and drag: Vivienne Westwood’s queer legacy

Sneakers (or trainers for Brits), once the symbol of athleticism, have transcended their primary function to become commercial and fashionable objects of desire. From sportswear and street style to catwalk fashion, sneakers have made their mark as cultural commodities. The global sneaker market valued at approximately US$79 billion (£56 billion) in 2020 and is predicted… Continue reading The history of sneakers: from commodity to cultural icon

The dastaar – most commonly referred to as a turban – is perhaps Sikhism’s most visible expression of identity. We talked to 13 British Sikh men to learn about their identity, religious practice and their experiences of wearing the turban in the UK. They told us that they hoped the recent visibility of the turban… Continue reading We asked Sikh men in Britain what the turban means to them – here’s what they told us

With over 50 years of tailoring in Soho Tony has seen it all. How did you start out in tailoring? I always liked to be in fashion, I started to tailor on my own and found, obviously, I wasn’t as good as someone who could do it properly, so I went to Saville Row and… Continue reading Tony the Soho Tailor: A Soho legend