Chanel’s Fragrance & Beauty E-Shop has landed in Singapore
Is it ethical for me to buy a garment from Amazon’s Making the Cut?
Making The Cut, Amazon’s first reality TV show, pits 10 entrepreneurial fashion designers from around the world against each other for a prize of one million dollars and a mentorship from Amazon to help them become the next global brand. Many of the designers have tasted success already in their careers. The standard of design therefore is elevated beyond that of the fashion reality show that originally united Making The Cut presenters, Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway. In Making the Cut there are no challenges to make garments out of car parts or licorice or Venetian blinds; these are real clothes, not projects.
Each week one of the winning looks is sold on the Amazon website. Their formula of “Watch it. Wear it.” echoes the now-familiar fast fashion model, “See Now, Buy Now,” appealing to the impatience of the modern shopper who wants instant gratification. It might also funnel to the online retailer a more fashion-hungry consumer who has so far remained elusive to Amazon. But, as I discovered myself, after catching the first episode of Series 2 which is currently streaming, it also creates a conundrum for such a consumer.
My primary reason for tuning in was contestant Gary Graham. I have followed Graham’s career for years and coveted his clothes which are made in small batches and painstakingly finished in his Catskills studio, far away from the fashion bubble he had once occupied as a former Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund finalist. The first iteration of his namesake label folded in 2018. He shifted his operations north and began a more intimate reinvention, GaryGraham422. His homespun aesthetic using antique florals, repurposed bedspreads and handcrafted embroideries suits the spartan wainscoting, distressed doorframes, and rural outdoors setting that feature in his Instagram posts. His social media storytelling gently buoyed me during the dark days of the pandemic. I would stop scrolling to linger over a colorful herringbone being woven on the loom at an upstate mill. I could imagine how special the puff shouldered Victorian blouse of pieced microflorals would look, even with jeans. His garments when worn would be conversation starters and provoke curiosity. His brand identity was clear: it spoke to nostalgia and an appreciation of history, a belief in slow fashion, the importance of natural materials and a thoughtful point of view. It sat in direct opposition to the online retail behemoth accused of abusive work conditions and singlehandedly destroying mom and pop businesses nationwide.
Making the Cut’s first winning look of Season 2 by Gary Graham on Amazon.com
Making The Cut is a one-hour long ad for Amazon peppered with the interpersonal intrigue we’ve come to expect from reality TV. While the alliance of Gary Graham and Jeff Bezos was a confusing one for me, a David and Goliath collab, the unanimous decision by the judges to declare Graham’s look, inspired by army blankets and a floral-patterned rug sourced from one of his favorite weavers, the winning one was not confusing at all. I couldn’t have been more in agreement. I experienced that thrill that reality TV viewers feel when they’ve backed the winner. I listened to guest judge, Moschino’s Jeremy Scott, extol the virtues of Graham’s design–“dynamic, new, modern, interesting, unique!” But I didn’t need to hear his endorsement. The garment was a handkerchief hemmed shirtdress, its bodice emblazoned with a marine blue and white floral motif overdyed in military olive, and featuring one of Graham’s signature sleeves. I checked the price they were asking for it on Amazon. Just under 80 dollars. Similar dresses on Graham’s website go for 10 times that figure. And yet while I moved the cursor towards the Add to Cart button I couldn’t click Buy Now.
Customer reluctance to buy from Amazon
Like most of us aspiring to be ethical consumers, I avoid Amazon where possible. Sometimes it’s difficult, especially when prices seem unmatchable and next day delivery so convenient. How could I consider wearing a head-to-toe look that was essentially the result of viewing an hour-long advertisement for Amazon? On impulse I reached out via direct message to the designer with the following question: Who pockets the 80 dollars, you or Jeff Bezos? Soon after, Graham responded: “The designers get a percentage of sales! It’s a great positive thing.” Then he thanked me for my interest in his dress.
It’s terrifyingly difficult to establish a brand today and I have watched as many of my favorite small designers have gone out of business over the years. The reality is that a wealth of celebrities being photographed in your creations, or you standing next to Anna Wintour at events, means nothing when you can’t afford next season’s samples because stores haven’t paid you for the last two seasons’ deliveries. Fashion professionals are particularly alert to to the damage Amazon has inflicted on their industry. Each of the ten designers must have weighed up the pros and cons before deciding on the if-you-can’t-beat-em-join-em approach by appearing on the show.
I referred to Graham’s garments as conversation-starters. His winning look, named the Amanda dress, not only initiated a dialogue between the designer and myself, but also led me to write about my conflicted feelings about buying it from Amazon thereby amplifying the conversation. Graham’s clothes always tell a story, and Amanda’s, as he explained to the Making The Cut judges, was based on redemption and inspired by the gravestone of a woman who died in the 1800s. Redemption is also what he is hoping for professionally from his appearance on this season’s Making The Cut. I clicked Buy Now.
Fashion editor Jackie Mallon is also an educator and author of Silk for the Feed Dogs, a novel set in the international fashion industry
Chanel festeggia il centenario di N°5 e trasforma il profumo in una collezione beauty
Alcuni prodotti della collezione Chanel Factory 5
Non saranno più «solo due gocce di Chanel N°5», come raccontava Marilyn Monroe, a coronare il rituale delle femme fatale prima di andare a dormire. Perché la maison Chanel, tra i festeggiamenti dedicati al centesimo anniversario dell’iconico profumo amato dalle donne e dalla più grande diva di tutti i tempi, ha lanciato Chanel Factory 5, una collezione in limited edition di 17 prodotti, il cui unico ingrediente è proprio il N°5. Tra tutti, compare un olio per il corpo racchiuso in una lattina, ma anche compresse da bagno profumate in una scatola da tè, per un ritorno all’essenza del lusso che ripensa gli oggetti di uso quotidiano, elevandoli a un nuovo livello e svelandoli nelle principali città worldwide. E se oggi tutta la linea è disponibile nelle fragrance and beauty boutique italiane del brand, nonché sul suo e-shop, da metà luglio arriverà anche presso gli store Rinascente di Milano e di Roma Tritone.
«I prodotti che utilizziamo più spesso possono avere lo stesso valore di quelli che conserviamo per le occasioni speciali», ha raccontato Thomas du Pré de Saint Maur, head of global creative resources fragrance and beauty di Chanel, «tutto dipende dall’esperienza che questi prodotti ci consentono di vivere». Così la collezione Chanel Factory 5 è un omaggio al pensiero creativo della founder della maison, Gabrielle Coco Chanel, e la sua volontà di andare contro le regole prestabilite, liberandosi dalle convenzioni. Il concept s’ispira infatti al primo packaging di N°5, un flacone da laboratorio come un oggetto ultra funzionale, omaggiando nel mentre quell’iter proprio della pop art di trasformare ciò che è di uso comune in opere da piedistallo.
A spiegare la mission dell’edizione limitata è proprio Thomas du Pré de Saint Maur: «Chanel factory 5 sfrutta la straordinaria capacità del N°5 di reinventarsi continuamente per conservarsi. Questo concetto racconta l’eterna giovinezza del prodotto e l’idea creativa che ne è alla base. Dimostra anche che un prodotto industriale dal packaging molto funzionale può essere trasformato in un oggetto unico e desiderabile appropriandosi dei codici d’identità del N°5, senza perdere i fondamenti, cioè la sua funzionalità», ha chiosato l’executive, «non solo le cose estremamente rare e usate con parsimonia hanno valore. Anche le cose che usiamo di più, se offrono un’esperienza di lusso, hanno valore. Il N°5 sovverte gli oggetti quotidiani e dimostra ancora una volta che il lusso è anche nell’esperienza che facciamo con le cose. Dando a questi oggetti l’identità N°5, diventano prodotti lussuosi e iconici, pur mantenendo il proprio design».
Che si tratti di un tubetto di vernice o di una lattina di tè, Chanel ha dunque vestito oggetti universali con i codici visivi di N°5, cioè con un packaging minimalista in bianco e nero, senza fronzoli e pertanto oltre i trend. E i pop-up allestiti in giro per il mondo sono pensati come un’esplosione di gioia. «L’idea è quella di immergere le persone nell’atmosfera della factory e dare loro un’esperienza sensazionale», ha continuato Thomas du Pré de Saint Maur, «abbiamo portato all’estremo il concetto di Chanel factory 5 in questi pop-up, che sono concepiti come parchi a tema dedicati al N°5 e a questa collezione in edizione limitata. L’allestimento offre l’opportunità di scoprire i prodotti, dalla loro progettazione e trasformazione in fabbrica al loro utilizzo attraverso divertenti allestimenti e animazioni».
Ma non è tutto, perché una versione digitale sull’e-commerce di Chanel permette a tutti di testare l’experience che si accompagna a una comunicazione ultra colorata. «È un cenno alla cultura pop e alla pop art che ha aperto la strada alla possibilità di un parallelo tra arte e prodotti quotidiani. È anche una vibrazione festosa e gioiosa per questi 100 anni di celebrità del N°5», ha concluso il manager che, alla domanda su quali fossero le cinque parole più adatte a descrivere il profumo, ha risposto: «Libero, radicale, audace, moderno, francese». (riproduzione riservata)