Duly Noted 023
Fashion slop, inside Mount Vernon Mills, the death of skateboarding, Gardenheir's gingham shorts, parting shot.
A weekly edit of style observations, product obsessions, internet wanderings, and the latest happenings from the world of Mensweird.
“The Rise Of Fashion Slop”
“The rise of the algorithm-designer and the fall of independent brands represent the latest stage of the financialization of fashion, the triumph of money over art and craft,” claims a new opinion piece in the New York Times by the fashion journalist Amy Odell. Her argument is that, rather than expressing a creative vision or responding to cultural trends, more and more brands are now harvesting your online behavior to pump out “fashion slop,” which Odell declares to be the next stage of ready to wear. She also cites the corrosive influx of private equity money, like L Catterton, who recently sold Everlane to Shein, and who also took a majority stake in Kapital in 2024.
I’m guessing that because of her background and area of coverage she’s mainly aiming this piece at womenswear and mass market brands, as menswear certainly has no shortage of independent brands prioritizing craft these days. However, as the Kapital example proves, our world is not immune from these forces, and I know there’s at least one private equity brand masquerading as an independent that’s hiding in plain sight. And that’s your hint about what an upcoming—hopefully the next—post will be about.
Inside Mount Vernon Mills
When I spoke to Mount Vernon Mills CEO Bill Rogers last fall for my recent Esquire piece on the return of American selvedge denim, we discussed among other things, MV’s workwear denim lines (including flame-resistant fabrics) and his desire to acquire White Oak’s Draper X3 looms. Now thanks to this video from Business Insider, I get to see all three in action. Hit play to hear Bill talk about Mount Vernon’s history, watch some denim swatches get test torched, and see the famous X3s in action.
The Death Of Skateboarding Culture
I think I originally saved this to cite in my post dissecting the Vans x Fugazi collab but never found a place for it—or maybe I just forgot. Either way, it presents early ‘00s skateboarding as a case study of what happens when fashion brands strip mine subcultures. As the narrator says, “Once anyone can buy the identity, it stops being an identity and becomes an aesthetic.”
Gingham Seersucker Relaxed Short
There comes a time every summer season when, despite how much a jawn was desired over Memorial Day or whose purchase was intensely considered during the Fourth, now elicits a “why bother?” shrug. And that time, dear reader, is upon us. While the Weather Channel app tells me the next ten days will be in the high 80s, and recent experience has taught me that September is now summer month, I’ve moved on to buying super sale cashmere beanies and eyeing the restock of 3sixteen’s Lug Sole Derby. And yet these Japanese yarn-dyed organic cotton shorts from Gardenheir still call to me, maybe because I know another 110F heatwave could still be in the cards or perhaps because the gun check—that’s not gingham—pattern feels subversively out of place for summer. But how many shorts does a man really need?
Parting Shot
The confluence of two things I love: New Balance sneakers and gardening.