In today's newsletter:

​— MFW's purposefully messy tailoring

— The flannels are flanneling
— Corduroy is coming
— Vital liner vests

FIXATION OF THE WEEK

Many people — Miuccia Prada and Alessandro Michele included — felt it the moment they witnessed robots waving to the crowd at Vogue World's Milan edition. Others felt it when hearing about a New York City bakery's $60 loaf of rye bread. The emotion is clean, simple: rage. That which inspires it, therefore, can be considered rage bait. As a marketing gimmick, it’s easy to identify, hard to resist, but ultimately rather shallow. As a means of sartorial critique, however, woven into the kinks and quirks of what walked Milan Fashion Week, it's quite profound. 

Seeing Jil Sander's bizarrely buttoned coats, awkward blazer lengths, and wrinkly dresses had me pulsing with irritation. Marni's tucked-in windbreakers, twisted belts, and ruched underleggings, too, felt like an itch I couldn’t scratch. And don't even get me started on the saggy crotches, collar sleeves, and toe shoes over at MM6 Maison Margiela. These are clothes both designed and styled to make you wince in discomfort, beautiful as they may be in terms of material and construction. They’re not uncomfortable to touch, necessarily, but they make your skin crawl. You're supposed to squirm, come alive, and want to steam, rip, and yank them into shape.

As clichéd as it sounds, these imperfections arguably indicate a cultural backlash to the shiny artifice of generative tools. Artificial intelligence may be all about smoothing edges and optimizing results, but designers are shirring them back in, thereby restoring a sense of friction — literally and figuratively, in ways and places that counter tech's pursuits of a seamless, online-first experience. How else to interpret Gucci's fabulously tacky show, set in a replica of its own boutique, showcasing the Anok Yais and Alex Consanis cosplaying curious clients amid industry chatter about the rise of digital AI shopping agents?

It's not all pro-human philosophy though. Demna, as well as some of New York Fashion Week's most memorable activations, shone a light on brick-and-mortar to grapple with all the other frictions luxury faces today: resale's continuous boom, the subtext of its popular categories, and consumers’ price sensitivity (or pricing skepticism, for that matter) all create drag on brands’ growth objectives. Because, according to The RealReal, demand for vintage rose by 432% in half a decade, and sales for products in “fair” condition were up 32% in 2025, suggesting that charmingly flawed bargains and era-specific nostalgia can more than hold their own to pristine and costly newness (hear that, Marcus Allen?).

Meanwhile, research by e-tailer (and Law Roach employer) ASOS this summer determined that people find it easier to decide what to buy than how to wear it. So, despite the endless onslaught of floating-head-green-screen-tiny-mic-explainer videos now attracting their own type of rage bait response, knowledge and intentionality remain important currencies. Shoppers long for North Stars to instruct the art of composing an outfit, even if those instructions are unoriginal or superficial. I’d like folks to consider I might not actually be “styling a sweater as a scarf” on purpose as part of some larger, conceptual off-beatness. Maybe I just threw it over my shoulders because I got too warm underneath.

EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT OUR EYES ON RIGHT NOW:

A favorite model from the A.P.C. x Clarks collab is a testament to how and why both are killing it right now: latently oddball yet timeless, endlessly combinable with other closet contents.

Plenty of us undust their Blundstones this time of year. If yours, like mine, are just about past the point of undusting though, consider upgrading to these extra terrain-y Vibram boots.

Corduroy can read as the pumpkin spice latte of a man's fall wardrobe, but in the shape of, say, Acne Studios’ flares, it's a guilty pleasure we should all indulge in.

While on the subject of “guilty pleasure pants,” I can't stop thinking about Jackie McKeown's pleated airport sweats. Vuori's straight legged pair is that, on a budget (non-derogatory).

I switch between bags often. Rather than dumping stuff from one to the other, my new hack is to transfer essentials via this chic little Los Angeles Apparel leather pouch. You're welcome!

J. Crew's campaign was so chock-full of celeb cameos, it distracted from what was being advertised: the barn coat. Only thanks to its loud pattern did this plaid number not escape me.

Speaking of plaid: fall season is flannel season, praise be, and Portuguese Flannel's flannels come in cool colors, at even cooler prices.

GAP's striped heavy-weight cotton tees are chef's kiss underneath a button-up, a cardigan, or plain standalone. They're also 50% off. 

C2H4's wool zip jacket is a truly unique piece to ring in sweater weather. Top it off with this vest and teach your friends a lesson in layering.  

However, owning liners from the Universal Works x TAION collection is what really separates intro-tier from advanced-tier layerers. So then, what tier are you on?