HTSI editor’s letter: introducing fashion’s vanguard
Simply sign up to the Fashion myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.
This issue celebrates those people who don’t follow fashion but lead it – setting new agendas and creating different templates for how we use, see, wear and think about our clothes. At 32, Swedish designer Ellen Hodakova Larsson is still only at the beginning of her career, but the recipient of last year’s LVMH prize is already making waves with her brand of couture-level upcycled craftsmanship. Hodakova has grasped the thorny subject of sustainability to offer garments that elevate the discarded or unused. Buttons, napkins and zippers feature on her clothing – Cate Blanchett created a viral moment last year when she wore a Hodakova halterneck top bedecked in spoons. And yes, her prices can be astronomical, but alongside her red-carpet pieces she has a solid built-in business in direct-to-consumer sales that are focused on more quotidian needs. As the face of a more eco-minded generation, “the Greta Thunberg of fashion” is showing us the way. There’s something beautiful in seeing the transformation of something unwanted into high desirability.
Linder Sterling has been tearing up the rulebook since the ’70s, when she made artworks for the punk scene she helped create. She reminds us that the word “glamour” derives from an 18th-century Scottish term “glamer”, meaning enchantment or a spell. Linder’s photomontages are enchanting, neatly subverting the tropes of femininity with a sly humour that pokes fun at the male gaze. A retrospective opens this month at London’s Hayward Gallery. It’s a first for the 70-year-old artist, who wields her scalpel on model and photographer Laura Bailey for a special collaboration exclusive to HTSI.
Norma Kamali, the creator of the Sleeping Bag coat, a quilted cloud of warmth and comfort, is another remarkable member of our vanguard. The 79-year-old New Yorker has retained her relevance in a capricious market by sticking to a rigorous aesthetic that blends utility and innovation with big statement silhouettes. As our Aesthete, she shares her passion for her hometown, dachshunds and her fabled blunt-cut fringe.
Selena Forrest made her catwalk debut 10 years ago. She immediately stood out – less for her lithe, almost feral beauty but because she would “break” character on the catwalk to offer an insouciant wink. Forrest brings fire and personality to an industry that often prefers its models to play the demure, silent muse. We applaud her attempt to introduce a bit more punk attitude.
Lastly, I was fortunate enough to interview Joanna Hogg, one of my favourite filmmakers, whose latest collaboration is the 2025 subject of the Miu Miu series Women’s Tales. Hogg’s cinematic oeuvre is drawn from a wealth of personal experience, keen observation and often personal props. In this instance, however, she cast The Wander, one of Miu Miu’s best-known accessories, to take the starring role. It’s a reminder of how we think of our possessions, the lifespan of a garment and why we should cherish things anew.
Want to read HTSI before everyone else? Get all the top stories straight to your inbox every Friday. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter here
Comments