Is It Kinda Chic To Kill Chic?

Good morning Gatekeepers. A decently eventful week for the dead of August. I’m spending most of my time under the ceiling fan, remembering why I decided to move away from Texas.

In today’s edition: Marc Jacobs talks about the “devil you know vs the devil you don’t”, push-up bras are now feminist (thank God!), AI shopping and it’s incumbent advantage, and the internet has turned on the word chic.

• Tibi in D.C.! Occasionally, D.C. will get a fun fashion event normally reserved for NYC folks. This Friday, Amy Smilovic, the co-founder and creator of Tibi, will be at Alas Eius in Georgetown. She’ll be running a styling session and a fresh perspective on getting dressed.

• Marc Jacobs publicly voiced his anxiety about the sale of his company. In his first major interview since LVMH agreed to sell Marc Jacobs to WHP Global and G-III, he described the transaction as “the devil you know versus the devil you don’t know,” criticized LVMH for doing the minimum to grow his label, and acknowledged that his beloved runway collections have never made money. The new owners nevertheless say they plan to preserve the shows and may relaunch Marc by Marc Jacobs.

• Everyone has turned on the word “chic.” The adjective has offically reached “cottagecore” or “Hailey Bieber Milk Nails” trend status…that is to say, over. This has been a long time coming, with Vogue declaring the term dead last year, read that headline here. The straw that broke the camel’s back seems to be the content format “kinda chic to insert totally normal thing here.” In an Instagram post on August 10th, Char Dixion (ex-head of marketing at Dune) claims that she invented this format and that everyone else is “copying” here. She explains, “not only are “trends” making Instagram samey soup - which you surely CANNOT be enjoying - you’re nicking someone’s IP in the process. And that’s not ok.”

• Push up bras are still sitting pretty and according to this article from The Cut, they’re being “reframed as feminist.” I’d argue it’s more of a fight against gravity than anything else, but that’s just one Double-D’s thoughts. Though I do like Sarah Velk’s point about wearing push up bras being “a little fuck you at a certain point.”

• Dior’s Mathilde Favier passed away at 57. The house’s influential couture PR director and longtime Paris fashion-world fixture died in a car accident alongside her partner, Nicolas Altmayer. Jonathan Anderson and members of the Arnault family have paid tribute.

• Gap and Malbon are doing country-club Americana again. Their second collaboration mixes golf and tennis references with varsity jackets, rugby shirts and relaxed sportswear, priced from $28 to $250. It lands squarely in the continuing “social sports as a lifestyle identity” boom.

• AI-referred shoppers may be considerably more valuable. Adobe data reported by WWD indicates shoppers arriving through AI tools convert around 60% better, strengthening the case that fashion brands need to optimize for ChatGPT-style product discovery. As a counterpoint…AI doesn’t have particularly fabulous taste. It assembles its recommendations heavily from product data, reviews, press coverage, and online discussions. Often, the products AI recommends are the result of something called an incumbent advantage, which is when LLMs systematically recommend well-known brands more often than others. This begs the question: has ChatGPT simply become an unpaid promotion channel for brands with existing dominant reputations? If you use or have used a LLM to shop, chime in on your experience in the comments.

• If push-up bras are really coming back (I’m a fan honestly) then you may want to take a look at Gatekept’s Not All Technical Support Sits Behind A Desk: A Brief History of Bras. Unsure why I said it was brief in the original title, because it’s nearly 4,000 words worth of historical bra references and the details behind what inspired the silhouettes.

• If you STILL can’t get enough of bras (freak) then you’ll enjoy having In Intimate Detail: How to Choose, Wear, and Love Lingerie on your bookshelf. The forward is by Dita Von Teese, who knows a thing or two about being really hot.

• If you were unfamiliar with the late Mathilde Favier — this might be your cue to take a look at this Christie’s Auction from earlier this year. Note the self-portrait in the dining room, the surrealist shoes (Lot 111/112), and the Chanel runway prototype still marked “Mme Christiane 65” (Lot 11.)

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• Reformation 50% off sale. I’m into these button heels, this suede jacket you could tramp through the fall foliage in, and this 100% Merino wool sweater.

• Because we talked so much about bras earlier, I have to mention the Skims balconette push up.

• As you may know, I have been traveling for the month of August. I am nearing the end of my trip and I’m so desperate for my own nightstand, at my own house again. I cannot know peace until I’m sitting in bed with my Kindle and my Owala full of ice water (plus magnesium) and my industrial tub of Aquaphor. I don’t think I am cut out for long term excursions.

• I’ve been wearing DoubleSoul all week, Pete Davidson’s sock company. I’m a sucker for bubblegum pink.

• I’ve also discovered a dry shampoo that goes on clear, from K18. I live in dry shampoo. If I’m leaving the house, I’m using dry shampoo. Even on clean hair.