People working in the fashion industry somehow have to navigate their careers within the current state of flux due to BLM, COVID and environmental concerns.
Some of my favourite fashion people have already made changes to their careers or had changes imposed on them, moving beyond traditional roles and traditional career paths…
Leandra Medine Cohen
Man Repeller’s founder, Leandra Medine Cohen, announced on Thursday on Instagram that she will “step back”
This article in The Guardian about Leandra’s move to “the sidelines”, questions whether we are at the stage with fashion where we need to “burn it all down and start again”.
Lucinda Chambers
Since leaving Vogue UK, Lucinda Chambers has collaborated with Max Mara on a collection called: Re-Find. She also has started a website The Collagerie – an inspiring collection of designer goods chosen by Lucinda and Serena Hood and, it appears, their ex-Vogue colleagues.
Taylor Tomasi-Hill
One of my favourite Fashion Week street style people, Taylor has been the Fashion and Creative director at the app The Yes since 2018.
This fascinating Fashionista article charts the course of her career.
(The Yes app reminds me of the fashion advice service I tried years ago, Dressipi, which when you look now at their site appears to have pivoted to be a B2B service.)
Andre Leon Talley
Andre Leon Talley has written a book, The Chiffron Trenches, about his “fairytale” fashion career.
My story is a fairytale of excess, and in every fairytale there is evil and darkness, but you overcome it with light.
As for the future, Talley will carry forth: He plans to launch a fragrance called Moiré Noir. He would love to adapt his life for the screen. And yes, even as the pandemic is wreaking unforeseeable change upon the fashion and media worlds, he would return to Vogue in a heartbeat if Wintour asked him to. “Of course,” he says. “But she never will.”
Vulture
Alexandra Shulman
Former Vogue UK editor, Alexandra Shulman, released her own book Clothes… and Other Things That Matter.
it’s a thoughtful, wry and often candid part-memoir, part-fashion history, part-social commentary, told through the contents of her own wardrobe.
Daily Mail
Shulman’s book is apparently a lot more discrete than Talley’s which isn’t surprising given that she is still working in the print industry: Alexandra Shulman’s Notebook.
she is as tight-lipped as if she still depended on them for patronage in the form of advertising, or fears bumping into them at some swank sponsored dinner
The Guardian
Carine Roitfeld
Since 2011, when Roitfeld left Vogue Paris, she has launched her own magazine, CR.
She has also done freelance styling, compiled the large-format book Irreverent, and joined Harper’s Bazaar as global fashion director.
Grace Coddington
Grace has been the creative-director-at-large for American Vogue since 2016. She also currently has a cat-themed collaboration with Louis Vuitton, plus has appeared in the Prada Resort 2020 campaign.
