Supreme x Huizinga

Reselling Supreme can make you a millionaire by retirement age (https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazine/data-supreme).  Reselling is a curious phenomenon trading on the concept of fandom.  Here is Margaret Thatcher’s beloved Aquascutum very cleverly recombined: Fandom is veneration of a person or brand and in this case linked to refinement in a direct way.  Supreme has made itself a…

Ermenegildo Zegna: Close to Max Scheler

Ermenegildo Zegna is a menswear company rich in history (http://www.zegnagroup.com/storia_e_sviluppo/la_storia/inizi) and one committed to the welfare of its workers.  As a family run business, combining craft and vertical integration, it comes close to Scheler’s idea of the estate discussed at V&R Chapter 5. Reaffirming its couture sensibility, but with offerings at a number of price…

Brunello Cucinelli x veneration

My previous post commented upon the habit of Italian fashion houses to defend the heritage not only of their brands but more broadly their country. Regular readers know that Cucinelli tops my list of most ethically managed fashion houses.  His company is a fine example of Scheler (see V&R Chapter 5) and Burke’s moral thinking.…

Edmund Burke x Italian fashion houses

Averse to revolution, Burke famously argues that civilization requires the handing on of its past to the future.  Italian fashion houses take this charge very seriously (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/fashion/fendi-sculpture-rome-giuseppe-penone.html?smid=tw-nytfashion&smtyp=cur&_r=0).  Italians are leaders in teaching that heritage is not the enemy of the new.

W. D. Ross replies to a bizarre argument for the morality of fast fashion

The audacity of the following argument deserves the satirical notice of a Jane Austen: “Are new clothes a right, or a privilege? One of my friends (university-educated, politically and culturally liberal) only ever shops in H&M. Her reasoning: I deserve to look good. But do we? Is access to new clothes a human right?” (http://www.refinery29.uk/2017/04/149877/fast-fashion-social-issue).…

Gucci x Saint Augustine

Gucci famously shot itself in the foot with a horrible brand dilution, saturating the market with cheap objects bearing its famous insignia.  Manager director Marco Bizzarri is credited with rebuilding the integrity of the brand and did so in part by a Schelerian gesture: relying on the deep heritage of the company, he promoted from…

Dior Archive: Edmund Burke Approves

Signature design companies are investing in archives: Apple, Jaguar, Bulgari, and Dior are just some of the companies reengaging with their heritage (see http://www.ethicsoffashion.com/apple-bows-burke/).   This is a good article about the Dior archive (https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/bof-exclusive/marking-70-years-of-dior-with-a-new-strategic-archive?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=a0933ffd51-dior-tktktk-miroslava-duma-s-fashion-tech-lab&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d2191372b3-a0933ffd51-417297929).   Burke — but also Scheler — believes that moral and civilisational development must defer to the established manners of…