Popeyes Uniforms Are a Surprise Fashion Hit (Thanks, Beyoncé) - The Wall Street Journal

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• Popeyes Uniforms Are a Surprise Fashion Hit (Thanks, Beyoncé) - The Wall Street Journal
• Instagram Tools: The Biggest Fashion Trends For 2020 Based On Instagram Data - Forbes
• It’s Almost Fashion Month! Here’s What to Know - The New York Times
• Coronavirus restrictions are taking a toll on fashion brands - Glossy

Popeyes Uniforms Are a Surprise Fashion Hit (Thanks, Beyoncé) - The Wall Street Journal Posted: 04 Feb 2020 08:09 AM PST By Mike Jordan Feb. 4, 2020 11:09 am ET Beyoncé, left, in apparel from her Ivy Park/Adidas collection. A Popeyes uniform for sale, on right. Photo: Parkwood Entertainment; Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen The New York fashion shows gearing up to start this week won't be featuring one of the season's most buzzed about offerings: a collection of actual fast-food uniforms. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen last week began selling clothing from an online shop called That Look From Popeyes. Most of the items sold out within a day. Popeyes says it is restocking. Fast-food chic Who are the people who don't work at Popeyes but want to look like they do? Jeremiah Morse, for one. The New York City resident, who calls himself a "fashion chameleon," paid $25 for a Popeyes executive button-down. He refers to the wrinkle-resistant garment—a 65/35 blend of polyester and cotton with an embroidered Popeyes logo on the left breast—as "the red manager's shirt." He tentatively announced his purchase on Twitter: "I may or may not have bought Popeyes merch." Other fast-food chains have dabbled in apparel. Italian fashion house Moschino offered a $780 sweater with a McDonald's -inspired logo, while unisex clothing line Telfar collaborated with White Castle. Fans of Burger King or KFC can buy polo shirts or jackets with brand logos on them. And Taco Bell's Taco Shop website offers six different bathing suits, including what it calls a sauce packet bikini for $60. "KFC had a line. Cheetos teamed up with Forever 21. Why? Because it's an effective brand extension," says Duke Greenhill, Savannah College of Art and Design's chairman of advertising and graphic design. "The food brands don't expect their threads to make Anna Wintour turn her head," he says. "Built into the extension is a tongue-in-cheek nod—a wink to target audiences that they're on the inside of a benign and partial joke." How Popeyes maroon-and-orange polos, jackets and crew-neck sweatshirts—worn to make and sell food at the fried-chicken chain—suddenly became in vogue is a tale of life imitating fashion imitating life. Pop star Beyoncé's Ivy Park clothing line recently launched an activewear collection with Adidas. The social-media world immediately lighted up over the line's striking similarities to Popeyes uniforms. (An Ivy Park representative didn't respond to requests for comment.) Miami-based advertising agency GUT, which began working with Popeyes during last year's craze over its new chicken sandwich, caught wind of it. Juan Javier Peña Plaza, the agency's executive creative director, says his team saw side-by-side visuals of Beyoncé's line and Popeyes uniforms and food packaging popping up on Instagram and Twitter. They flagged it during a meeting with Popeyes on Jan. 22. Share Your Thoughts Would you wear clothing from a fast-food chain? Join the conversation below. "When Beyoncé's collection came out, we saw lots of people organically say it kind of looked like Popeyes," said Popeyes Chief Marketing Officer Fernando Machado. So the chain decided to start selling the clothing itself, with proceeds going to its charitable foundation. GUT held a casting call for Popeyes employees in South Florida to appear as models. On Jan. 27, photos were shot that echoed images in the Ivy Park ads. Two days later, the site and online shop went live. Italian fashion house Moschino offered a $780 sweater with a McDonald's-inspired logo. Photo: Jacopo Raule/Getty Images Ebony Jones, a 39-year-old from Los Angeles, paid $30.50 for the white, long-sleeve Popeyes uniform tunic. She says she and her mother, a Beyoncé fan, chuckled on the phone about the similarities between Beyoncé's and Popeyes's white shirts, noting they both had long tails. "I'm not usually a trend-forward person," Ms. Jones says. "But I do have a lot of company merch from previous employers and golf tournaments I've been in." She plans to turn the tunic into "more of a dress" and wear it for the first time at the Essence Festival, a New Orleans music event that Beyoncé has headlined. Antonia Taylor, a 21-year-old from El Paso, Texas, purchased the maroon Popeyes crew-neck sweatshirt for $23. She says she doesn't really follow fashion, but loved the collection's colors. "I just choose what is cheap and accessible to me, and what fits my body type and personality," she says. She expects to wear the sweatshirt to school and work. Matt Rivera, 31, of Los Angeles, liked the execution of the Popeyes collection and bought two items. He describes his purchase as a lighthearted way to be "in on the joke." Considering it an amusing jab at Beyoncé's fan base, he says the absurdity of the Popeyes line makes it more interesting to him than Ivy Park. GUT's Mr. Peña Plaza says his team simply showcased existing uniforms in a way people consider fashionable. "That's the only thing we did," he says, "grab something from the day-to-day, and say, 'Hey world, this can also be fashion.' We put it in that light, and people said, 'Yes.' If you show it as fashion, it's fashion." Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Instagram Tools: The Biggest Fashion Trends For 2020 Based On Instagram Data - Forbes Posted: 04 Feb 2020 08:55 AM PST Urban Outfitters Picture Credit: Urban Outfitters As a continuous art form, fashion will always morph into new iterations year after year, season after season. Our current biggest metrics for judging how successful each brand's season is has been sales, as well as their social impact on Instagram. As a central hub for what's going on in the industry, Instagram has become a point of new discovery as much as it has the main platform for keeping up. And with the mass amount of information on what people have engaged with on the 'gram, I decided to compile some data from a study by hashtagsforlife.co to break down what I found to be the biggest Instagram trends heading into 2020. Check them out below: The Rise of The DIY Although some people think it's practically become a meme at this point, having a DIY fashion label has genuinely become one of the bigger trends to come out of 2019 and into 2020. With Instagram, a lot of people started to discover more independent brands from individual artists that have made waves over the year, with the more unique or one-of-one something is, the more valuable it is perceived on the 'gram. This has led to a flood of people aiming to make their own clothing line, and with many of them competing to create great material, it has had some pretty incredible results with the likes of A-list celebrities wearing their clothes. While the sustainability of this industry long-term is still being determined, so far, the results have been of the 'strongest will survive' mentality, with many of the opportunists looking to start a clothing line for the sake of making money being counted out before they even dive in. Dr. Martens Picture Credit: Dr. Martens Yes, 2020 is the year a lot of the best DIY fashion brands really start to hit the surface. As the industry has been bubbling for years since before Kazbah was a thing, there's been no better time to try and stand out as a designer. And for a lot of brands, they've been able to rapidly build a community immediately solely based on the quality of their designs. Ride or Tie-Dye While considered a nostalgic take, tie-dye has started to make a rise in its comeback for 2020. Starting last summer as a big trend, tie-dye started to take off amongst the DIY community and then transferred quickly through the mainstream via the likes of Urban Outfitters and other national retailers. While it's by-and-large still just a pattern, quality tie-dye jobs are already starting to shine through as top choices amongst consumers, especially printed with nice graphics or cool illustrations. An overall fun trend we're happy to see back, a lot of what makes tie-dye successful is the quality of the dying and pattern to it; which, if you're aiming to do, should follow a certain code in which the final result should look.

It’s Almost Fashion Month! Here’s What to Know - The New York Times Posted: 04 Feb 2020 02:00 AM PST It is often said that when President Trump eventually leaves office, reporters will be in a state of confusion, so accustomed are we to a constant stream of tweets and announcements that send us scurrying to report or fact-check or tear tufts of hair out multiple times in an hour. Faced with a normal news flow, we will all be like Neo in "The Matrix," turning his head ever so slowly to avoid a flying bullet, thinking "Wow, what's taking it so long?" Know what I mean? Well, that's what it's going to be like in fashion this season. We have gotten so used to the ever faster cycles of creative director change at brands in the four big fashion capitals — New York, London, Milan and Paris — so used to "She is in! and He is out!" and "They are changing cities!" that a return to the status quo seems like a return to a sort of stasis. And the fall women's (and some men's) shows, which begin on Friday and roll from country to country until early March, will be a relatively calm season, one marked (especially in New York) more by what isn't there than what is. But just because nothing extreme is happening this season, does not mean nothing is happening at all: Don't mistake subtlety for insignificance. Indeed, this may be good practice in slow thinking for us all. Here are the three big trends to watch, when you aren't distracted by watching the news. 1. Designer Liberation The much ballyhooed announcement last season by Tom Ford, chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, that he was tightening the show schedule seems to have had a knock-on effect on brands. A number have dropped off the calendar entirely, either because they are switching seasons, swapping cities or have decided they will simply sit this one out. Kerby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss started the trend last year, when he ditched a February show in favor of consolidating budgets and ideas and doing a big production in September. (And it was a big production.) He is doing it again this season, as is Tomo Koizumi, the designer who made waves with his over-the-top ruffled confections; as is Batsheva Hay, the designer whose covered-up performance art/shows have involved psychoanalysts meditating on the meaning of her clothes; as is Ralph Lauren, who after building Ralph's Club last fall and inviting Janelle Monáe to play, has apparently decided you either go big or hang out at home — and he's hanging out at home. Telfar Clemens took his show/traveling band of creative brothers to the Pitti Uomo trade fair in Florence in January; Jeremy Scott just announced that he is moving to Paris in July; Tommy Hilfiger is taking his traveling #TommyNow circus to London; and Tom Ford (yes, that same guy who is supposed to be the figurehead of the industry) is having his show in the middle of New York Fashion Week in … Los Angeles. Because, you know, Oscars. If ever there was a clearer message to his constituency that, these days, it's every brand for itself, I don't know what it is. Steven Kolb, the chief executive of the CFDA, pointed out that there are still 70 shows taking place over five days, which is true, and they include such New York stalwarts as Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Oscar de la Renta. Plus, Rodarte is back! But the brands that are not showing are the brands that are redefining American fashion most conspicuously. So what exactly does this say? Maybe that it really is time to let the old ways die. 2. The Embrace of an Ecosystem It may be a quiet season, comparably, but there are still a few debuts to look forward to, one of which has potentially wider implications. In Paris, Felipe Oliveira Baptista is stepping out for the first time as creative director of Kenzo, and at Celine, Hedi Slimane is having his first dual-gender show. (At Gucci, meanwhile, Alessandro Michele is separating the sexes again.) In Milan, Christelle Kocher of Koché will be the guest designer of Pucci. She will be doing her interpretation of the house for onetime only. According to Pucci, instead of committing to a single creative director, it is going to ask different names to put their stamp on the house each season, kind of what Moncler does with its Genius line. And since we're on the subject of Genius: Its Next Big Collaborator will be Jonathan Anderson — a.k.a. the designer of Loewe. It's going to be fun to see what he does with technical outerwear. Rimowa is joining too, for luggage. (Eyes will also be on Moncler since rumor has it that the company has been in discussions with Kering, which may be interested in acquiring the Italian brand; similar rumors surround Prada.) This multi-creative approach wouldn't work for every brand, but for a house that is more known for product — a puffer! a print! — than aesthetic innovation, it's potentially a win-win for us all. 3. And Speaking of Eco … Sustainability. Upcycling. It was the biggest news out of last season — there was even competition to see who could claim to be the first carbon-neutral show — and it will probably be only more omnipresent this time around. To wit, the opening day of fashion month will coincide with a panel discussion in New York called "Responsibility in Fashion: How Can We Do Better Together?" In Milan, the Camera della Moda, which organizes Italian Fashion Week, is avoiding all plastics, printing all documents on recycled paper, and working with the city to promote … bike riding! (Among other things, though when it comes to the bike initiative, it hasn't yet addressed the stiletto issue.) After years of side-talk around the issue for fear of being accused of green-washing, fashion now wants to put it on every table, and every runway. Expect more use of dead stock and remnants, more activism (either wearable or behind the scenes) and more fabrics made from … fruit! Or other organic materials like pineapple and bamboo. Soon we will be able to eat our closets. Along with diversity — of race, but also body, age and physical disability (though the latter often gets overlooked) — it is the most important shift going on in the industry. Other questions to consider: Will the coronavirus impact everyone flying from city to city? Will the fact that Brexit has finally happened affect London Fashion Week? Will there be yet more strikes in France? We're on the edge of our seats.

Coronavirus restrictions are taking a toll on fashion brands - Glossy Posted: 04 Feb 2020 09:00 PM PST As the Coronavirus continues to spread, fashion brands across categories are seeing the effects in the form of store closures, travel restrictions and a forced change in the way they work.  In global fashion, China is a key manufacturing hub and consumer market. It supplies more than half of all textile manufacturing in the world. The virus, which is still in the early stages, is currently infecting an estimated 20,000 people across 26 countries with the majority in China. Brands are still assessing what the impact will be, but several sources said it will have a major impact if things continue to get worse. Beth Cross, co-founder and CEO of boot brand Ariat said that, even in just the last week, there have been noticeable effects. The company's Chinese office is closed until next Monday, and five U.S.-based employees who went home to China for Lunar New Year are stuck in the country and cannot return. A Chinese company that handles much of Ariat's supply chain logistics is closed until next week, and the factories the company works with in China have shut down, as well, with no indication of when they may reopen. The brand's sales in China are only a small portion of the business, but the country is a major manufacturing partner for it. "Our next few launches are already done, but after that? I don't know," Cross said. "My personal opinion is that it's going to be a big fat mess. We're private and we're quite diversified, thankfully, so usually, no single event will have a huge effect on us. But this is a big event. We've talked about what would happen if China were to go to war with another country, and this feels like that, in terms of the disruption." Cross said it wouldn't take long for the shutdowns to have a much larger impact on the business. She said that, as things progress, brands may be tempted to shift manufacturing to other countries, but that comes with its own challenges. "China's been getting pricier for manufacturing, and a lot has moved to Vietnam, in general, but it's a bit like everyone trying to get a seat at a small restaurant," Cross said. "Vietnam can't handle the capacity, India doesn't have the same quality, Mexico is mostly small factories, and Cambodia doesn't have the infrastructure that China does. And again, all those places get a lot of components from China, so it all comes back to China eventually." The ongoing shutdown and forced delays are causing brands to come up with new alternatives to working across borders. Gillian Meek, president of Keds, said that her team has had to get creative to deal with the issues the virus has caused, while adhering to safety guidelines and making sure Chinese employees are taken care of.  "We had a big product meeting last week, and because of the virus, some of our Asian partners who would normally meet with us in person weren't able to travel," Meek said. "Asia is really important for us, so we need them involved to make decisions. It's a three-day meeting looking at the shoes and making important decisions. Our Chinese office is closed, so we shipped all the shoes to [a partner's] house in China and did a long workshop for them over the phone, at midnight our time, to make it work." Cross said the restrictions have forced the company to upgrade their tools for working remotely, paying for higher-quality webcams for Chinese employees for video calls, and moving meetings and discussions that would normally be done in-person to conference software like Zoom.  For now, these are just temporary fixes until the Chinese government offers more information or the outbreak subsides. But if it doesn't — and information is still too scant to say if it does — brands could have a much more serious problem on their hands than just having to do more video calls. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen right now," Cross said. "[The disruption] is going to force people to work differently. And if it doesn't go away soon, I think there's a real risk of material, tangible delays. There's going to be a ripple effect."

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