Midnight Snack Vol. 23
Midnight Snack Vol. 23
Fashion's Killa, VMA Wows, A (Gasp!) Amazon Find, & More!!!
Hello Night Crawlers,
Welcome to Vol. 23 of The Nocturnal: Midnight Snack, a weekly recap of anything I found “shareable” over the last 7 days. And wow, my fellow Vampires, I’m so excited to finally be at this point of my weekend, when I get to chill in my chair and take a break from my to-do list, because DUDE. What is UP with time lately?!??
For real though!!! Things have legit been beyond wild and I’m so not ready for Christmas yet, though we are shooting HOLIDAY campaigns at work right now so I’m kind of in the spirit. Fall la la la la!
Now let’s get into this week’s recs for what to See, Listen, Talk, Taste, & Shop:
See: Modern Renaissance Art by Andy Dixon
We finally made it to The Hole today and in the back, tucked away in the office, I saw this painting that we must eventually own for our (future) dining room:
El Prado by Andy Dixon
Also discovered he did a sick collab with Versace in 2021, so makes sense we are into his work :D
Listen: Anything by Benson Boone
OMG! I hope you all caught Boone’s glittering performance at this year’s VMAs. He is a literal ICON! I love his energy and style and I’m so happy we’re reverting back to appreciating raw rock-ish talent (as I predicted here), which was kind of MIA for the past few years.
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Previously I only knew Benson’s “Beautiful Things” song (a banger I’m sure you’ve heard on Tiktok), but I did a deeper dive after catching him in his backflipping sparkling sapphire glory on the VMAs stage. And I love EVERY single song.
Talk: Overconsumption is Killing Fashion :(
As many of my fashion peops know, so many cool indie brands either shut down or LEFT NYC this year to start fresh in London or Paris. 2024 might as well be known as the great migration of New York fashion talent. Tres sad! And, as someone who has started, paused, and closed a bevy of brands, I get it. When did fashion become such a production race? When did the art of it disappear and fashion become just “clothes”? This topic recently came up when I was having a buzzy wine night with some girlfriends and they asked about my moves/plans for restarting my fashion line(s) in the future ( which for now is tbd).
To give my non-industry peops some insight: the annual output expected from fashion designers vs the rest of the creative world is literally INSANE and not remotely sustainable from both a creative and financial standpoint. It’s one of the things that makes this industry SO HARD to be successful in while at the same time contributing to overconsumption & waste. And it’s only become worse with the rise in popularity of fast fashion. In contrast: If an actor does more than two major films a year he’s considered a super-worker. If a musician releases one 20 song album a year she’s considered an over-worker. Yet, if a designer produces less than four 30-50 piece collections annually they are considered to be “emerging talent” or “going out of business.” It’s literally WILD. And expensive!
And, honestly, this is why creativity is lacking in the fashion world, excluding of course those iconic legacy brands that had the privilege of being born pre the 2000s, the old days of fashion when limited collections, artistry, and strong financial backing were the norm. I don’t understand what has led the expected creative output of fashion designers to be so much greater than that of the other arts; or maybe it’s been self-inflicted as everyone wants a piece of the ever-growing consumer pie.
It’s funny because the Art World has monetization strategies that 1) don’t cause more work for the artist and 2) won’t degrade the integrity of the work: An artist selling 20,000 prints of his work still keeps the value of his original. The overall popularity probably INCREASES its value! But designers can’t sell “copies” of their work in modern days. I don’t have the energy (or time, bc this newsletter is already late. Oops!) to look this up right now, but I believe back in the pre-web days, when the only people who saw the runway shows were those invited, designers would SELL the rights to their designs to department stores and other private label brands, permitting them to copy their work. What happened to that?!
Alike art and music, fashion is cyclical and we definitely build off of the past. But copyright law has found ways to protect the former two industries, and not the fashion world, and CLEARLY it’s hurting us. I’ve been wanting to vent about this FOR A WHILE, but complaining is way lame. So, I’d like you to read this rant more as a note to INFORM, and hopefully give some perspective about the fashion bizness.
Taste: Fancy Sushi Delivery
I’m going to make a bold claim: Mikado Sushi is better than Sugarfish. **Gasp**. I know, I know —my NYC & LA peops are going to be skeptical—but it’s true! Serving up fun pre-designed Sushi & Make sets alike their famed competitor, the Mikado team just gets it RIGHT. Maybe it’s the fancy packaging that makes both of these places seem better than any other sushi delivery spot (APPEARANCE COUNTS, FAM), but I really do think their combinations are fresher and extra delicious. And it’s fun to have a little dinner box.
#1, best dish: Toro Caviar Sushi (pictured above; Ours came with gold flakes this time which I was NOT mad about).
Second best dish: Crispy Rice.
Shop: Shoes I Want From Amazon
I know, I know. How dare I even place this rec in this newsletter after my TALK rant about the horrible implications that supporting fast fashion has for the fashion industry. But maybe I’m a hypocrite?! Maybe we ALL ARE (a little bit) when it comes to the “fast fashion” issue and that’s why we’re stuck in this cycle.
How do I marry my values/desire to support REAL ART with my love of a bargain?!!!
Anyway, I need these bow mules, which feel Miu Miu inspired, but when I plop the image into google lens it seems they are direct rips of one of my beloved shoe brands, Schutz:
Bonus: Art Opening in NYC This Weekend!!!
My beautiful friends at Eleventh Hour Art have an opening this Friday, September 20th, featuring the works of Aleah Leary. It’s going to be FABULOUS so def check it out if in the area:
Alright beautiful vampires, I must leave you now. Thanks for coming back for another midnight snack.
Stay hungry and restless!
See you next Sunday ;)
xoxo
Christina
I was considering writing about sustainability in the fashion industry and what it *really* means, and this just convinced me! You’re spot on with how hard it is (and copyright law totally plays a huge factor)! (But also you should bring back your tennis line!!)