What Charli xcx Can Teach Luxury
In a world of scarcity, the pop star created abundance. Are there lessons for fashion here?
It’s not too pretty in the board rooms of Paris and Milan right now. ‘The Luxury Slow Down’ is a problem. China’s not buying, Europe has stagnated, America has other things on its mind, and generally, just generally, we’ve all got too much stuff. Meanwhile, fashion is not being reflected well by culture. The latest big production over on Apple TV is La Maison, a Succession style drama of warring families, which might, just might, have been inspired by the Arnaults. In it, a spoiled, pale male and stale creative director (and heir to the family’s luxury goods fortune) throws his dahlias around when a Chinese customer asks him to alter the bespoke dress he has made her. A racist rant ensues, is secretly filmed and leaked and - he and the family are cancelled. The heroine of the show is a mixed race young climate activist who makes clothes by upcycling deadstock fabric. She stages a show by unfurling a banner that reads “Fashion Kills”. Fashion needs some seriously good PR advice right now.
Enter Charli xcx. In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, she was asked how Brat became so successful. There are many lessons for fashion from what she observed, because Charli is super smart.
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