How BITE Studios Took the Collective Approach to Desirable Designs Which Create (low) Impact By Angela Baidoo Well before it became a buzzword, and therefore cool to jump on the band wagon, BITE Studios – an...
Insights
A Few Designers and Brands are Championing an Overlooked but Uniquely Powerful Tool in the Fashion Vocabulary: Humor By Mark Wittmer Of course, the quickest way to suck the humor out of a joke is to...
Can Americans Break into the European Fashion Market? By Lizzy Bowring Over the past era, the fashion industry has witnessed an intriguing dance between the United States and Europe—a dichotomy of styles, influences, and market dynamics....
Unveiling the Timeless Tapestry of Japanese Fashion: Where Innovation Meets Tradition, and Designers Weave Their Unique Threads By Neal Bhattacharya Over a thousand years ago, in ancient Kyoto, a lady of the court named Sei Shōnagon...
Matty Bovan is Reminding Fashion Why it Matters – By Defying the Conventions of Fashion By Mark Hooper Matty Bovan’s journey from Instagram to Milan has, on the face of it, been a rapid one. Having...
The Five Luxury Fashion Brands Poised for Rapid Growth and Popularity By Lizzy Bowring With the fashion industry becoming increasingly competitive, it can be challenging to distinguish the leaders from the innovators or the influencers from...
The Innovative Stylist and Photographer Talks Her Latest Project and Leaning Into the Democratic Power of Social Media By Mark Wittmer A stylist and photographer with over a decade of experience working across runway, magazines, and...
How Tailoring Took Over Fashion: The Resurgence of Classic Style By Lizzy Bowring The fashion industry has significantly transformed in the last two years, with a notable push towards sophisticated Tailoring. This trend has been rising...
The Italian Leather Industry’s Strides Towards a Circular Economy and the Top Trends for Spring/Summer 2024, as seen at Lineapelle. By Dao Tran It is not possible to talk about trends in Italian leather without talking...
‘How Luxury can find Value in the Metaverse, starting with Metaverse Fashion Week’ By Angela Baidoo After last year’s launch of Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW), the brand, in partnership with virtual reality platform Decentraland were back...
Navigating Nudity’s Nuanced (and Not so Nuanced) Role in Fashion Campaigns By Mark Wittmer The prevalent presence of nudity in fashion imagery feels at once ironic and wholly expected. On the one hand, nakedness seems to...
The Serbian-born, London-based designer is creating a unapologetic vision of modern femininity with her multi-disciplinary brand By Angela Baidoo Born in Serbia, but now based in East London, Roksanda IIinčić first studied Architecture and Applied Arts...
How Has ‘Shockcore’ Become an Essential Part of Every Brand’s Playbook & How Do We Define It? By Mackenzie Richard The Shockcore trend in fashion is more than just about creating eye-catching and headline-grabbing moments. It...
By Mark Hooper Have you ever wondered what fashion critics are actually for? Is it fair to say they are nothing more than cheerleaders for the industry? If so, there would be no real difference...
Capturing the Power of Pop-Ups By Lizzy Bowring Brands face increasing difficulty standing out against competitors as the world becomes more digitally focused. And with consumers craving novel and engaging experiences, competing with online giants is...
Have Fashion Campaigns Become Too Reliant on Celebrity? By Mark Wittmer Celebrities are becoming a larger and larger part of the fashion ecosystem, and have come to dominate its outward-facing side. It’s a trend that was...
Enhancing Efficiencies or Replacing Creativity – Should We Be Worried? The Quid Pro Quo Explored. By Lizzy Bowring Gone are the days when artificial intelligence (AI) was merely a figment of our imagination. Today, AI is...
How to Optimize the Value of these Under-Rated Heroes By Lizzy Bowring The recent S/S 23 RTW and Haute Couture collections delivered an exuberance of Accessories, Footwear, and Bags. And with them comes a new form...
Navigating the Unique Perspectives of Fashion’s Most Challenging and Promising Market By Mark Hooper & Mark Wittmer In case you somehow haven’t noticed, zoomers are taking over. It’s often been reported that the cultural influence and...
The Next Evolution of Artist Collaborations By Mark Wittmer While probably the first example of what we would think of as a fashion artist collaboration came to be in 1937 when Salvador Dalí painted a one-of-a-kind...
Karla Otto and Lefty Highlight Fashion Weeks Shifting Perspective By Angela Baidoo The Fall 2023 runway season felt like a litmus test for designers, buyers, consumers and the influencers who occupy the expanded multi-verse of the...
Could this be African fashion’s Breakthrough Year? By Mark Hooper Not before time, London’s V&A Museum has just launched its first major exhibition devoted to the global impact that Africa has had on the world of...
Hitting the Right Notes: The Key Strategies for Fragrance Marketing Today By Neal Bhattacharya Key Takeaways 1. Seize Opportunities: If a global icon like Marilyn Monroe lauds your perfume, theadvertising potential is as strong as the...
Is this Actually a Golden Age for Print? By Mark Hooper Conventional wisdom has it that magazines have been on a downward trajectory since the turn of the 21st century, thanks to the twin forces of...
1989 STUDIO By Obi Anyanwu On Friday, January 20, a who’s who of menswear elite comprised of Poggy the Man to Complex’s Aria Hughes and rapper Westside Gunn among others descended on Palais de Tokyo to...
The Impression Talks with Alessandro Dell’Acqua the Creative Director of N°21 By Dao Tran Alessandro Dell’Acqua once again delivered a gorgeous collection for Numero Ventuno, which seduces the senses as it tickles the mind with its...
The Comeback of Fur in 2023. More than two decades after the initial anti-fur campaigns, fur is back in the spotlight. Considering the implications, The Impression asks whether this will be a moral dilemma. By Lizzy...
How are brands using Web3? By Mark Hooper Everyone seems to agree that Web3 offers hugely exciting opportunities for fashion. But no-one’s quite worked out what it’s for yet. By looking at what’s worked so far,...
The Major Trends of 2023 By Angela Baidoo Taking stock of the world around them and the way in which it has, and continues to, irrevocably change, for Fall 2023 designers and luxury fashion houses chose...
5 Key Insights from Fashion Colour Experts By Lizzy Bowring A/W 23/24 is a season that comes at the end of a year full of complexities, and if there is one thing that reflects global moods,...
Margot Populaire Has A Simple, Inclusive, Authentic Vision For The Future Of Luxury By Mark Hooper After nine years at Baron & Baron, the Belgian-born Creative Director and consultant has launched her own studio, Atelier Populaire....
Is Fashion Ready to Be Unbound by Gender? How Can the Industry Prepare for Evolution? By Obi Anyanwu In 1966 Yves Saint Laurent presented Le Smoking tuxedo– an iconic fashion moment that challenged societal norms and...
Brick-And-Mortar Retail Is Feeling the Pinch of an Economic Downturn– How Retail Can Be Relevant In 2023? By Lizzy Bowring Faced with an endlessly changing landscape, finding ways to succeed needs more than just price competition;...
How to Weather a Twitter Storm By Mark Hooper In recent months we’ve seen brands having to deal with all manner of controversy, much of it all of their own doing. Associating themselves with toxic celebrities,...
Founder and Designer Anna Osmekhina Speaks to Keeping an Eye on the Future While Celebrating Humanity’s Present By Mark Wittmer While it may be keeping its focus fixed on humanity’s future, TTSWTRS has a past of...
Our Very Own Chief Impressionist, Kenneth Richard, Re-Interprets Spring 2023 Couture Collections (& a Few Others) with an Artistic Bent The rise of new communication technologies has always been met with nay-sayers, those who prophesied that...
Loverboy’s Unapologetic Energy Revives the Beating Pulse of Milan Men’s Fashion Week. By Angela Baidoo A name well-known on London’s alternative creative scene, Charles Jeffrey’s Loverboy brand has been pushing boundaries and subverting gender codes since...
The Industry Leading Thinker, and Founder/Creative Director, of Colette Talks About Bringing Her Latest Project ‘Just And Idea’ To Life By Mark Hooper Renowned for her role as the founder and creative director of Colette, the...
The Big Question for Marketers in 2023 is a Stark One: How Do You Do More With Less? By Mark Hooper Takeaways • Don’t let Short-Term Thinking Skew your Vision• Think of your Marketing Strategy as...
The Impression Gleans Three Key Takeaways from Karla Otto & Lefty’s Fall 2023 Mens Fashion Week Report By Angela Baidoo Capturing data and analytics from the source are some of the only ways that valuable information...
How to Unlock the Full Potential Behind Fashion’s Love of Co-Branding By Mark Wittmer Collaboration is one of fashion’s very favorite thing. It’s an art form that’s very collaborative in the first place, and the industry...
The Couture Market Has Changed since the Days of King Louis XIV, the Real Question: What Does Profitability Look Like for Couture? If We Can Even Call It That. By Lizzy Bowring Last week, Europe’s eminent...
‘Fall 2023 Will be Remembered as the Season that Gave Men the Green Light to Get Dressed Again’ By Angela Baidoo According to the menswear Fall runways, 2023 will be the year to double down on...
Our Very Own Chief Impressionist, Kenneth Richard, Re-Interprets the Fall 2023 Men’s Collections with an Artistic Bent The advent of new technologies often enters the market with much debate, onboarding a small following, pivoting to fanfare,...
The Top 5 Areas to Focus on to Approach 2023 with a Winning Formula of Optimism and Innovation By Angela Baidoo It goes without saying that after the pandemic, 2022 was the year that no-one saw...
Luxury Fashions Hopped Right into the New Year with a Bevy of Approaches to Capitalize on the New Year By Lizzy Bowring, Mark Hooper, & Mackenzie Richard The Impression team takes a look at rethinking the...
The Ushering in of a New Era of Menswear Dress Codes By Angela Baidoo Taking place at the start of the year and kicking off the official whirlwind of fashion-fuelled globe-trotting, the Winter Edition of Pitti...
By Mark Hooper With the sad passing of Dame Vivienne Westwood shortly before the New Year, the fashion industry lost one of its most inspirational characters. But her legacy extends far beyond the clichés of punk,...
Does Our Extended Mycelial Moment Point to a Radical Shift Toward Decentralization? By Mark Wittmer One of nature’s most mysterious and powerful entities, mushrooms are having something of a moment these days. In a world that...
How Luxury Fashion Can Tap into World Cup Fever in 2023 By Angela Baidoo According to FIFA, women’s football is the “single biggest growth opportunity in football today” and following the record viewing figures (1.1 billion)...
The Five Macro Trends Defining 2023 By Lizzy Bowring Time has never been more pressing or moved more quickly; the world is on the cusp of dramatic failings, climate disasters, and socio-economic instability, and the lists...
By Lizzy Bowring There is a unique ‘next generation’ of conscious inspirational creatives making enormous inroadsinto the notion of being serious about the future and its meaning. And one of these‘changemakers’ is Fashion’s most forward-thinking philanthropist,...
Remembering the legacy of seminal creatives across fashion and design. By Angela Baidoo While many were blindsided by the sudden passing of the creative powerhouse that was Virgil Abloh, and one of the industry’s most beloved...
As Document Journal celebrates a decade of creativity, we speak with founder and Editor-in-Chief/Creative Director Nick Vogelson about launching a new agency, Document Global, helping brands to connect with their audiences at a deeper level –...
All Roads Lead to Collaborations By Obi Anyanwu It seems all roads and paths for designers lead to fashion collaborations today. Fashion is a grueling game where designers shell out thousands of dollars every season in...
The Names Set To Shake-Up The Industry In 2023, And How They Can Carve Out A Legacy Built On Longevity *and yes, we realize all men and we too think it is an issue By Angela...
Navigating Retail’s Brave New World By Mark Wittmer While for a long time department stores were the primary or even the only way for customers to directly engage with and buy new luxury fashion, the current...
Our team of in-house experts deliver the key creative highlights and inspirational trends of the year for you to stay ahead. DOWNLOAD FOR FREE Contributions from Kenneth Richard, Mackenzie Richard, Angela Baidoo, & Mark Wittmer...
Fashion Shows, Incremental to the Livelihood of the Industry, Are Again Under Scrutiny. How Can Brands Rise to the Challenge? By Lizzy Bowring Reducing the carbon footprint is an ongoing discussion within the helter-skelter of environmental...
The ‘Future of the Store’ lies in Repurposing Retail Spaces asHybrid Hubs that Champion Experiences, Discovery, and Entertainment. By Angela Baidoo The idea of investing in entertainment at retail has been gathering steam over the last...
The co-founder of Dazed Media and Nowness – and the recipient this December of a British Fashion Council (BFC) Special Recognition Award for ‘Cultural Curation’ – meets The Impression to talk about his ‘open source’ approach...
Why JW Anderson’s Pigeon Clutch Breaks the Mold for Profitability – There to Be Shared, Not Necessarily to Be Used By Mark Hooper As ‘It’ bags go, it’s a long way from the Hermès Birkin. But...
The Leather Goods Wizard and Hip-Hop’s Go-To Bespoke Designer is Moving Forward and, for the First Time, Putting his Own Name Front and Center By Mark Wittmer Sheron Barber is something like a not-so-well-kept secret. For...
The fourth show from Rihanna’s massively successful lingerie label recalls the golden age of Victoria’s Secret fashion shows while embracing inclusivity and multi-channel newness By Mark Wittmer Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty continues to be an unstoppable...
Nick Knight Explains How Maison Margiela Have Hit on the Key to Online Retail: Clothes That Move By Mark Hooper When Maison Margiela relaunched its website in August, it ushered in a quiet revolution for e-commerce. Creative...
5 things CEOs should be executing against By Mark Hooper One of the most pressing issues surrounding our industry is the question of sustainability – and our obligation to ensuring that, from CEO level down, brands...
Our team of in-house experts deliver the key creative highlights and inspirational trends of the season for you to stay ahead of the curve. Download for Free With contributions from Angela Baidoo, Lizzy Bowring & Kenneth...
Today’s Coolest Brand Captures a Zeitgeist of Hedonistic Doom Through Irony and Deconstruction By Mark Wittmer Balenciaga is probably the coolest, most desirable label in fashion today. Not only is the brand acutely aware of this...
Leveraging Virtual Channels to Own Memorable Moments of Engagement and Interactivity By Mark Wittmer While physical experiential marketing events like pop-ups provide an unmatched balance of openness – providing a new view on a brand through...
From Seoul to San Diego, the traveling circus that is the Destination Fashion Show proves that you can’t keep a Billion-dollar Industry Down. By Angela Baidoo Originally developed to meet the needs of the jet-set, providing...
Ignoring Kanye West is no longer an option. Why the fashion world is right to cancel the toxic star By Mark Hooper Let’s cut to the chase. We had a long discussion about how best to...
A Case Study in Leveraging Consistency, History, and Covetability to Create Excellent Accessories Campaigns By Mark Wittmer The power of Gucci is inescapable: the brand’s name alone is almost a magic word, conjuring up dreamy associations...
It’s Official, the Allure of the New is being Replaced by the Thrill of the Thrift. By Angela Baidoo Caused by a seismic shift in consumer behaviour, the global fashion market is facing headlong into...
How Typography in Brand Identity Has Changed and Where To Take It Next By Mark Wittmer A logo or wordmark contains mysterious power. It’s often the first image that pops into a consumer’s head when they...
While she wasn’t the top model in terms of sheer number of shows walked, Bella Hadid was the undeniable supermodel of Spring 2023. While the model has been a buzzed-about icon for years, this season in...
Music Sounds Better With You: The Do’s and the Don’ts to Sending Your Collection Out in Tune With the Times… By Mark Hooper I once had a brilliant English teacher who looked like John Lennon circa...
By Mark Hooper Takeaways: • The golden age of editorial independence in fashion media is a myth • A new wave of ‘independent’ titles is forging a smarter, more realistic approach • Transparency is key •...
What Millennials Get Wrong about Marketing to Zoomers By Mark Hooper First of all, let’s agree on a few terms and conditions… for the purposes of this article, the terms ‘Millennial’ and ‘Zoomer’ refer to: (a)...
Creating depth through artistic collaborations will create a storied and elevated way for brands to differentiate themselves in an ever-burgeoning market. Three ways to integrate with culture to grow sales today By Lizzy Bowring Art and...
Lessons in Transparency and Innovation From Fashion’s Most Conscious Creators By Mark Wittmer For as much as sustainability has been talked about in the fashion conversation of the last ten years – and especially today –...
This month’s SS23 runway season is set to put a stake in the ground and declare the race for the future of fashion well and truly on, as new designers take up space alongside established names,...
No longer is it the case that big names are the major drawer for editors and buyers at Men’s Fashion Week across the ‘Big Four.’ By Angela Baidoo Providing a balm of individuality in a painful...
Forecasting is more critical today than ever before. With all that we have experienced, it is necessary to guide businesses along the right path into the future; considered value from a Trend agency is imperative for...
Valentino Sets the Bar for Luxury Brands Capitalizing on the Burgeoning Resale Market As Valentino moves into the second phase of its Valentino Vintage resale project, the house displays uniquely brilliant thinking on how to leverage...
5 Sustainable Strategies Changing the Future of Fashion By Anna Ross Sustainability has become an increasingly nebulous phrase in the fashion industry; a business which relies on newness, trends and consumption as its model of existence....
Creativity is the Most Profitable Investment Asset; Brands must Recognize and Tap Into the Strength it Holds. By Lizzy Bowring Since time immemorial, the belief has been that Creativity enriches people’s lives, strengthens society, and makes...
Miah Sullivan Speaks to How Hugo Leveraged Social-Media Hype Around Coachella via TikTok to Generate Unprecedented Levels of Engagement By Mark Wittmer Following a complete overhaul of a rebranding at the beginning of this year, Hugo...
Technology within ‘New Media’ has Advanced with Unprecedented Speed, Are We Ready for it and How Can We Embrace It By Lizzy Bowring As brands become acutely aware of the revolutionary changes in The Age of...
In an era of revolutions within society and technology, how important is the messaging of color and its application to Brand Identity? By Lizzy Bowring Color plays a vital role in the world in which we...
By Anna Ross It’s a $16.4billion industry that consumers trust and is proven to help build brands at every industry level. The Impression uncovers how to win with Influencer Marketing now. Index 1. Understanding The Market:...
Several Celebs Challenged Luxury’s Legacy Via the Met Gala’s Gilded-Age Theme By Mark Wittmer While most of the Met Gala’s celebrity attendees leaned into the event’s “Gilded Age” theme with a bombastic sense of opulence and...
How an Independent Amsterdam Streetwear Brand Is Making Some of the Industry’s Coolest – and Most Important – Ad Campaigns Co-founded and co-directed by childhood friends Jefferson Osei, Hussein Suleiman, and Abderrahmane Trabsini, Daily Paper was...
A New Wave of Buzzy Boutique PR Houses are on a Mission to Change the Fashion PR Game. How has the Role of PR Changed, and What Does the New Guard do for Brands Today? By...
The Rise of TikTok’s Democratic and DIY Style Has Left Traditionally Polished Fashion Marketing in the Dust, but Offers Exciting Opportunities to Capitalize on its Unique Form of Communication by Mark Wittmer TikTok is inescapable: with...
How Today’s Most Important Campaigns Are Leveraging Technology, Talent, and More to Shape the Perception and Possibilities of Fashion Communication By Mark Wittmer While the landscape of fashion communication is always shifting, the changes and new...
Adapting In Uncertainty And An Iconic Offer Accelerates Prada’s Post-Pandemic Growth Prada S.p.A., the Italian luxury group which houses its namesake label alongside Miu Miu and Church’s, reported a total net revenue of €3.36 billion that...
In a season like no other, Paris responds to conflict with community and creativity, while presenting sustainable and social progress for a new era of fashion. By Anna Ross As war broke out next door in...
An Exclusive Sneak Peek at the Fall 2022 Women’s Collection with Creative Directors Dean & Dan Caten By Mark Wittmer Dsquared2 turned 25 in 2020 – no small feat for any brand working to make an...
The Impression speaks with Tamu McPherson about the Past, Present and Future of The Creator Economy and her work with the Gucci Gang By Anna Ross When I jump on a call with Tamu McPherson, she’s...
By Anna Ross Over the past two decades, collaborations have become one of fashion’s most lucrative marketing strategies. But how have they changed, and what’s next? The Impression talks with Creative Director Donald Schneider on building...