The speculative fever that has shaken social networks regarding Kate Middleton’s absence has had its response in the fashion industry with the The Row show. Since the Olsen sisters, creators of the brand, asked their guests not to share or photograph the garments from the collection presented on Wednesday in Paris, now everyone is talking about something that she has not seen. Some criticize the gesture, arguing that in the age of the Internet, prohibiting its use can only be understood as elitism, others celebrate that it happened and hope that more firms will follow their example, tired of the so-called democratization of luxury.
Why ban cell phones in a parade (which is nothing more than a marketing tool) in 2024? Here are some theories: The Row’s goal is to stay in the exclusive category (so exclusive that a coat can cost 13,000 euros and the starting price of its cashmere sweaters is 1,900 euros), so not allowing guests to share content at the show distances the brand even further from the mainstream.
It is also a way to control the discourse, especially if we remember that last September, when they presented the collection for this spring, their version of the American terry hotel slippers (on sale for 1,280 euros) went so viral that they ended up being meme Maybe, and just maybe, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen wanted their guests to have a different experience during the show. Or perhaps they have set out to make silent luxury truly silent.
Be that as it may, the point is that, taking into account that The Row is characterized by selling basics made with very high quality materials (this is what “justifies” the price), the fashion world has not missed a collection that would be make history. And yet he can’t stop talking about her.
Rolex’s 2023 results estimated by Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult have been anything but discreet, as the Swiss watch brands do not reveal their individual annual sales. The report estimates that the brand exceeded ten billion dollars for the first time in its history (which represents 1.24 million watches sold), and reached a market share of 30%. Behind Rolex are Cartier and Omega with 8% and Patek Philippe with 6%. For your reference: Morgan Stanley estimates that Louis Vuitton accounts for a 19% share of theirs.
The watch market reaches these figures for the first time thanks to the fact that the rich are getting richer while Generation Z is introduced to the importance of the figure of Monica Lewinsky, courtesy of a Reformation campaign. In the images, Lewinsky wears clothes from a collection made in collaboration with Vote.org, and they are accompanied by messages encouraging people to vote in the 2024 elections. “I’m not going to lie, I had no idea who this was woman,” Jessica Weslie, a TikTok user, said Tuesday in a video reacting to the campaign. Weslie added that after researching herself she concluded that Lewinsky was “pretty iconic.” “The fact that she’s getting out the vote when she had a literal affair with Bill Clinton. Icon, legend.”
“He was just born into the wrong generation,” says social media user Audrey Strobel in another video. “It’s no secret how Monica Lewinsky was unfairly treated by society, specifically her generation and her generation before her. “If she was from Generation Z, she would have gotten a contract to write a book, a podcast, and a makeup line,” she says. It is never late if happiness is good.
A postscript for fans of The New Look, the AppleTV series that tells the story of Christian Dior: on Monday the French house organized a screening of the first episode at the Parisian Silencio des Prés, attended by Juliette Binoche, Ben Mendelsohn and Maisie Williams (Coco Chanel, Monsieur Dior and Catherine Dior in the production). Before the lights went out, its executive producer, writer and director Todd A. Kessler had the opportunity to chat with those present (appropriately dressed in a gold jacket with the Dior monogram) and let it slip that there is a possibility that the series has a second season.