Panera Baguettes and Huggy Wuggys

after school weekend edition

Welcome back to After School ✨weekend edition✨. Think of the daily letter as the CliffsNotes; this is the extended version for paid subscribers.

There’s much to discuss since this week was New York Fashion Week. I’m writing to you from Vero Beach, Florida, where the fashion leans more Lilly Pulitzer and Jack Rogers than Collina Strada and Khaite, but though I have not been in close physical proximity to fashion week, I’ve been following it closely from afar.

One of my favorite things I read all week was Rachel Tashjian on “The Girl Gang Fashion Fandoms of New York City” for Harper’s Bazaar. (If you get hit with a paywall, just open it in an incognito window or read it in Pocket.)

Tashjian uncovers the “uniquely New York phenomenon of female-led fashion brands with passionate fan bases” — specifically Rodarte, Sandy Liang, Collina Strada, and Puppets and Puppets. “It’s almost like the garments and products these designers make are the merch for their modus operandi,” she writes. “Carrying a Puppets and Puppets bag with that hyper-real cookie on the front, or wearing one of Collina Strada’s highly recognizable slipdresses, shows that you align with one of a series of the city’s fashion micro-niches.” She continues:

Not every person who buys clothing wants to look like an art-world dealmaker (Proenza, the Row), or like someone who’s read all of Rachel Cusk’s books seven times (Rachel Comey, Toogood), or just really hot and sexy and cool (Khaite, Tory Burch). What about those who grew up wearing animal ears to middle school gym class or filling notebooks with drawings of anime? Or just connects intuitively to the feeling and vision of the Mulleavys or Taymour?

Not everything is for everyone!

@dazedSlay or neigh? 🐴 Look from @Collina Strada’s AW23 show in #NYFW 💖 #DazedFashionTV #tiktokfashion #CollinaStrada #AW23 #fyp #fashionweek

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Alright! Today we’re talking about:

• Panera Baguettes

• "Identity Capital"

• February Theory

• Football WAGs

• Fancy Hoodies

• Huggy Wuggys

• Stone Maidens

• Balaclavas

• Breastplates

• Frankies Bikinis

• Skims Swim

• Mejuri x Luar

And so! much! more! This might be my longest yet (2,700+ words). Every week, I tell myself I’m going to keep the length in check 🥲 but every week, there’s just too much interesting stuff that happens. Hope you enjoy!