Features — Page 5

New York Bridal Week Fall 2026 Preview

October 11, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of brides.com

The brides are back!! Well, not exactly; however, New York Bridal Fashion Week (NYBFW) is back!! Which means that New York City will experience incredible array of bridal designs, reflecting the fall 2026 bridal collections from the fashion industry’s most esteemed bridal designers.

Now remember, NYBFW collections are presented a year in advance of the season because most brides to be plan their nuptials a year or more in advance. So, to align with how most nuptials are planned NYBFW presents bridal collections a year in advance with most of the collections of that season not available for months after the said fashion week.

There will be some exciting brands presenting this season with the return of WTOO with a new bridal aesthetic and creative team. Fashion Reverie will be primed and ready showing consumers the fall 2026 bridal collections of Mark Ingam, Idan Cohen, NARDOS, Ese Azenabor, Alexandra Grecco, Nicole + Felicia, Justin Alexander, Hera, Viktor and Rolf, and many others.

NYBFW takes place October 13-16. Don’t forget to stay tuned!!

William S. Gooch

Mr. Dippity Don’t Says: October 2025

October 7, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Happy spooky season, kids! Halloween is when fashion and costume lovers unite, as it’s time to play dress-up. Also, don’t forget your Halloween candy for the trick-or-treaters. While you’re planning what kind of candy to get for the kids, Fashion Reverie also has some tea to serve you. Fashion Month only just wrapped up, and there is plenty of tea to pour.

This notable designer, who previously served as the creative director at a top fashion house, is reported to be furious after being passed over for one of the biggest creative director roles in the industry. The designer the brand eventually chose as creative director made his debut during Paris Fashion Week, and the designer who lost out on the position is now angry. His last collection in his previous role was seen as a test for this opportunity, but the owners ultimately selected a younger, less controversial candidate. Unfortunately for this angry designer, he still hasn’t secured a new position, and most major creative director roles are already filled. Cue the violin music!!

This major Italian fashion house had a very successful Milan Fashion Week show, but the brand is not doing well financially. Sales haven’t been the same since their big-name, pop-culture-phenomenon creative director left. Editors, buyers, and stylists have lost interest in the brand, and it isn’t moving the needle like it used to. Let’s see how long their current creative director lasts.

Image courtesy of substack.com/Louis Pisano

Paris Fashion Week is in a major invitation crisis, as there is now a black market to buy invitations to top fashion brand shows like Louis Vuitton and Dior. These black-market dealers only provide prices upon request, but they are easily four figures at minimum. The economy might be tough, but everyone is finding a way to make a buck. Much to the dismay of these fashion houses, they are not happy their invites are going out on the black market and are puzzled how to stop this.

Image courtesy of theguardian.com

This publishing house executive for a major magazine might be safe from his company’s Human Resources department but is not safe from the court of public opinion. The executive has been attacked on social media for his anti-Palestinian posts demonizing the people of Palestine amid the ongoing foreign policy crisis between Israel and Hamas. While HR has said not has a conversation with him about his behavior, he’s had to put his social media accounts on private.

— Mr. Dippity Don’t

Fashion Reverie’s Models to Watch Out For in the Spring 2026 Season

October 4, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Images courtesy of fashionista.com

The crop of models that made our list can flex and can do it all; they are generalists rather than specialists. What makes a model “work” today, is a distinct look and identity, and the ability to be just as good at editorial as they are on the runway and image campaigns, both video and print. This versatility leads to more of a global reach than yesterday’s perfectly pretty models who either had the personality for editorial or the hanger-like body to show off runway collections. Another important development is that this versatility has also pushed out the many fads that captivated fashion for the past five years ranging from Plus Size to Transgender to models of color. We seem to have arrived at a place where the models who thrive are those who are the most adaptable to do whatever a job requires.

There’s also a shift away from “perfection,” which began in the 1990s, when Kate Moss burst onto the scene. Kate was a new generation kind of model. She was a good 3 inches shorter and two sizes smaller than the Barbie-esque supermodels of the time. Ten years later, Gisele Bundchen, became a fashion phenom, regardless of her “overly large” nose. These two supermodels captivated fashion and fashionistas worldwide, showing everyone that “different” is more than okay, and that the new “beautiful” allowed for “imperfection,” and that resonated with the public.

Today, the new generation of models we highlight here have successfully crossed over into all the fashion realms: runway, editorials, and image campaigns, as only a tiny select circle of Supermodels did in the nineties. As fashion publications struggle to find their new direction, successful models are a new hybrid model, like Edward Enninful’s new EE72 publication.

THE WOMEN

June R. – We immediately noticed June backstage at the Evan Hirsch show. At 5’9”, she was shorter than the 5’11” models who dominate the catwalks, but unlike many of them, she is multi-dimensional. Her measurements also make her a go-to model at Miami Fashion Week Swim. Her slim yet athletic physique makes her a top pick for both editorial and commercial work there. June’s small featured symmetrical face also makes her a shoo-in for lifestyle work for Starbucks and for beauty and jewelry brands.

Agency: Major Model

IG: @juneramadhan

Image courtesy of imdb.com and Instagram

Amanda Rouse – Sometimes, a model has everything going for her in terms of proportion, height and personality. A tweak such as the right haircut can propel a career to the next level. So far, Amanda has booked plenty of catalogue work, making her a commercial modeling success; she even teaches a masterclass on how to succeed in this category on www.modelwaypodcast.com. However, backstage at the Albright College show Amanda told us she’s recently changed her focus to booking runway and editorial work. She kicked off her initiative by shearing her 1 ½ curly hair down to a GI Jane buzz cut. Carolyn Murphy, Linda Evangelista, Amber Valetta famously cut their hair short supermodel status followed post chop. We predict Amanda will have editorial success, due to her runway perfect proportions and infectiously positive personality. Sometimes the right tweak is all it takes.

Agency: JL Model Management

IG: @manduhmay

Images courtesy of Glamour UK, Teen Vogue, and Hello! Magazine, respectively

Alex Consani – Alex is at first glance, a tall, bleached blonde with angular features, hardly a one-off in the world of fashion modeling. What’s not immediately apparent; however, is that she can metamorphose into an edgy alien-like creature for the camera, as actress Tilda Swinton famously does in her films.

Alex bears a striking resemblance to the Academy Award winner in the Coperni fall 2025 campaign. She is equally adept at depicting a blonde socialite at the Michael Kors spring 2026 show, as well as playing a Victoria’s Secret vixen in the October 2024 social media promo video and later in the show, as one of the six “Angels.” This newer “Angel” held her own, walking alongside Ariana Lima, one of the most famous “Angels” of all time.

Agency: IMG New York

IG: @alexconsani

Libby Bennet images courtesy of British Vogue and specialmanagement.com

Libby Bennett – Like male model Gideon Adeniyi (featured below), Libby also made model.com’s Top 50. Libby has an androgynous quality that has earned her work with fashion’s most coveted brands. She shows her masculine side in an ad campaign for Alexander McQueen and COS, and editorial work for Bazaar Italia, and Bazaar France. Her versatility has made her a favorite with photographer legends, Steven Meisel, and Paolo Roversi. While she looks feminine in her work for Chanel, Versace, and Hermes, her most notable transformation was as David Bowie for the Louis Vuitton show.

Agency: HEROES New York, www.heroesmodels.com

IG: @libbyybennett

Images courtesy of Getty Images and DNA Models

Devyn Garcia – is known for speaking out about her multi-cultural identity, (Cuban, Spanish, Black, Native American) and her advocacy for plus-size models. Regarding that category, Devyn is the perfect representation of how plus-size has adapted since the trend for plus-size models several years ago. At 5’9”, her measurements, bust 37, waist 28 ½, hips 45 ½, are much more in line with the industry standard, except for her hip size. At age 24, she is a great example of a model who can look any which way, from a fresh-faced woman on the beaches of Miami to a lady who lunches at a Michael Kors show, to a Victoria’s Secret beauty.

Agency: DNA Models

IG: @devynfaithgarcia

THE MEN

The early 2000s witnessed a big shift in the male model aesthetic. The Versace “buff boy” was pushed aside by painfully thin boys who had an edgy androgynous quality that fashion couldn’t seem to get enough of. Today’s male model takes the best of both looks, resulting in a man who is a standard bearer of global beauty.

Images courtesy of Fusion Models

Charlie Nolte – has the face and lush hair of a Versace boy from Richard Avedon’s legendary nineties campaigns, but his sinewy body resembles that of a yoga instructor’s. This combination made him a hot commodity at NYFW when he was double-booked to open the Cynthia Rowley show, and to be at a Lacoste fitting. He’s a regular on the Louis Vuitton runways as well. Charlie’s editorial includes GQ Brasil, Flaunt, and Bazaar Thailand.

Agency: Storm Management LA.

IG: @charlienolte

Image courtesy of Next Management

Ryu Aguilar – this 6’1” Tokyo born model looks edgy and street wise in a leather vest that shows off his tattoos and blue hair in an Another Man editorial. On the flip side, Ryu is also equally believable playing a private school boy in a blue pinstripe and loafer outfit in the 2025 Public Policy show. His wide range makes him a contender for global image campaigns.

Agency: NEXT New York

IG: @ryuluvzgod

Images courtesy of GQ and Metropolitan Models

Bai – is a 6’2 ½” Chinese surfing instructor who burst into the modeling world when Miuccia Prada and Raf Simmons chose him to walk in their fall 2024 show. He continued his work with Prada when he posed for the fall 2025 image campaign. Bai channeled a different part of his personality to transform into an urban hipster sauntering down the runway in a mesh shirt and slicked back hair at the Off-White spring 2026 show.

Agency: DNA Models

IG: ruien.bai

Images courtesy of MODLEWERK

Gideon Adeniyi – The Nigerian born phenom made models.com’s coveted Top 50 list for his work on a high-profile campaign for Prada fall 2025 Eyewear and for Zara. He’s a favorite with directional brands, Off-White and Shanghai based Ziggy Chen, to represent them on the runway. We suspect Gideon is just getting started.

Agency: 90s Management

IG: gideonadeniyi_

Vivian Kelly

The Demise of Fashion Publishing

September 29, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

There is irony in discussing the demise of fashion publishing, in that Fashion Reverie is a fashion publication. However, as much as we love fashion journalism, there is no denying that the Gilded Age of fashion media is over. As publications find ways to adapt to an era where social media is king, and over 40 percent of millennials and younger people are getting their news from TikTok, competition is tough.

The greatest golden age of fashion publishing was arguably the 1990s and the 2000s, before the Great Recession. In those days, print was still king. Magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle were stacked with hundreds of ad pages from brands ranging from Club Monaco to Chanel. The September issues, which is still considered the January of fashion, meant a cash cow of ad dollars for major fashion magazines.

Following the Great Recession of 2007 and the increase in digital consumption of news content, the decline of fashion publishing began. Condé Nast, the parent company of Vogue, GQ, and Vanity Fair, shuttered Men’s Vogue during the 2007 recession, along with Cookie, a parenting magazine aimed toward stylish moms. Teen-centric magazines, including Teen People and Cosmogirl, also shuttered. If anything, the recession helped kill the latter before social media inevitably would. Daily News Record (or DNR), the brother publication to fashion bible Women’s Wear Daily, folded, and its men’s coverage was absorbed into its sister publication.

In 2007, no industry was safe. Factories that were the source of blue-collar jobs were closing, there was a subprime mortgage crisis that left real estate struggling, and behemoths of American banks and financial firms were either being bailed out by the government or going under. At the time, the media was seen as just another victim of the worst economic crisis the world had seen since the Great Depression.

As the economy rebounded, so did the magazines’ ad pages. Vogue went from slimmed-down issues of fewer than 500 pages for its September issues right back to hefty issues with hundreds of ad pages. Its September issues continued being sizable through 2015, and slowly its ad pages began to decline. In 2015, Vogue had 615 ad pages for its September issue; by 2019, that number had declined to 415.

At the time Vogue’s ad pages were declining, Condé Nast also shut the print issues of Self, which went digital-only in 2016, and Glamour, which published its last print issue in 2019. In 2020, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, magazine ad pages practically fell off a cliff. Vogue’s September issue was a paltry 201 ad pages, the slimmest September issue it had published in the 21st century. Incoming Vogue editorial director Chloe Malle says she is exploring approaching print with a special edition concept rather than doing ten print issues a year, as is the magazine’s current circulation. Vogue’s younger counterpart, Teen Vogue, is thriving with digital traffic but shuttered its monthly print issue in 2017.

While Condé Nast rival Hearst Magazines hasn’t shuttered any publications over the past few years, Teen Vogue’s rival Seventeen also ceased publishing a print issue the following year, in 2018. Hearst also cut down the circulation of magazines like Harper’s Bazaar to ten issues a year.

No fashion publication has seen more hands change and been through a bigger whirlwind than InStyle. InStyle was previously owned by Time Inc., one of the biggest players in mass media. In 2018, Meredith Corporation acquired InStyle for $2.8 billion, and for a while, all seemed well. Then, in 2021, Dotdash acquired Meredith Corporation’s magazines, ceasing print circulation for InStyle and ousting the magazine’s former editor-in-chief, Laura Brown.

The only other fashion magazine that has arguably seen as much of a rollercoaster ride as InStyle is W. W was formerly a Condé Nast publication. It began as a biweekly spin-off of Women’s Wear Daily in 1972. In 1993, it relaunched as an oversized glossy magazine and became a pinnacle of art, fashion, and Hollywood content. In 2019, W was sold to Surface Media, but that didn’t last long. By 2020, it was purchased by W Media, which was created for the purchase of the publication, and now operates in partnership with Bustle Digital Group and a group of investors led by Karlie Kloss. W is one of the few Bustle-affiliated properties with a print issue, as it currently publishes six issues per year.

Photography © Tyler Mitchell for W Magazine

Although fashion media is far from dead, print is slowly going the way of the dinosaur. Print magazine budgets are being trimmed in favor of video content. Companies are also investing more in the e-commerce arms of their publications. As part of their experiment to cut costs, more companies are pooling staff and sharing content across multiple titles. Copy and research editors are also out at most publications. It’s not unheard of for staff to work across multiple titles at publications, with a fashion editor for an entire group of fashion and lifestyle publications.

For what is left of print, individual issue newsstand sales have gone up. Magazine prices can reach $6.99 now, with $7.99 for September issues. In abysmal news, the U.S. Association of Magazine Media stopped releasing annual ad page counts in 2015, so it is tough to say just how bad print advertising has become.

Images courtesy of the respective magazines

The biggest competitors for the future of fashion publishing are Instagram and TikTok. There are no greater competitors for fashion lovers’ eyeballs on the market, and Instagram and TikTok have entire fashion and luxury divisions now. Even YouTube has a fashion and beauty partnership arm, making the space for video content, which was once considered a future boon for fashion publications.

Nonetheless, many of these big media brands still have names that carry a lot of weight. What were once print issues can now be adapted into digital issues, with digital covers, editorial photoshoots, and a social media push for content. While the Golden Age of print is long gone, there is still a future for fashion publishing. People love content, and fashion is a beloved visual medium. The key is continuing to evolve.

Kristopher Fraser

Dippity Don’t Says: September 2025

September 8, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Happy Fashion Month! We at Fashion Reverie would like to start by mourning the passing of legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who passed away on September 4. With Milan Fashion Week several weeks away, will the show go on in his absence? To be determined.

In the meantime, prepare your teacups as we pour the pre-Fashion Week tea. From disgruntled editors to companies going for broke, the September tea is hot. Grab your denim jacket and join us for the hot gossip.

Image courtesy of pucknews.com

Mark Guiducci, the global editorial director of Vanity Fair, has upset his editors after he suggested putting Melania Trump on the cover of the magazine. Needless to say, his liberal-leaning editors immediately staged a revolt. One senior editor threatened to walk out, take her staff with her, and said she’d prefer to bag groceries at Trader Joe’s. This doesn’t bode well for Guiducci, who only took over as editorial director of Vanity Fair this year and was already considered one of the most disliked people in the Condé Nast building.

©BALMAIN, Photography by Rafael Pavarotti

Balmain, considered a crown jewel of the fashion industry, isn’t making as much money as it used to. The brand is reportedly having financial trouble, with sales steadily declining. Mayhoola, the brand’s parent company, has provided them with multiple bailouts. How long will they continue this support, and what will that mean for Balmain?

Image courtesy of Caroline Ramsey

In the wake of luxury e-commerce company Ssense filing for bankruptcy, many of their employees who weren’t laid off already are jumping ship. Rather than see what the writing on the wall will have in store, people have begun jumping at the first jobs that come their way before they have to collect unemployment insurance. It’s a tough market for fashion right now.

Image courtesy of Firenzemadeintuscany.

While Alessandro Michele made a legendary name for himself at Gucci, it appears the higher-ups at Valentino are less than satisfied with the results he’s delivered at the brand. Sales have taken a slight dip, but keep in mind, despite the picture of optimism some economists are trying to paint, we are in a recession. Will they try to replace Michele with fresh blood or at least give him a chance to steer through the current luxury fashion downturn?

—Mr. Dippity Don’t

Breaking News: Giorgio Armani Passes Away

September 5, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of wwd.com

Iconic Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani passed away yesterday morning at his home in Milan. According to Armani’s company, Armani Group, Giorgio Armani worked up until his final days.

Armani built a fashion empire by taking Neapolitan male tailoring techniques, softening the internal structure, removing shoulder pads, and canvas linings, thus making a more relaxed approach to men’s suiting. After establishing his namesake company in 1976, Armani became a household name after actor Richard Gere showcased his character’s style in the 1980 film hit “American Gigolo” donning Armani loose-fit jackets and well-tailored suits.

“All the women of my generation, including Hillary Clinton, were wearing jeans in the 1960s,” said Deborah Nadoolman Landis, a costume designer and historian and founding director and chair of the David C. Copley Center for Costume Design at the University of California, Los Angeles, as detailed in nytimes.com. “But where do you go from Woodstock? How do you professionalize that look when those women start entering the work force? You professionalize it by wearing a feminized suit from Armani.”

Image courtesy of vogue.com

“Armani is one of those, like Coco Chanel with the little black dress, as important for what he contributed socially through dress as for what he specifically designed,” said Harold Koda, a former head curator of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art who was a curator, with Germano Celant, of an Armani retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2000.

As noted earlier, Armani was one of the first fashion designers to align himself and his brand closely to celebrities, gifting garments to celebrities for events and red carpets. “Giorgio started the whole thing of giving clothes to celebrated people, public figures,” said the model and actress Lauren Hutton, who portrayed a senator’s wife in “American Gigolo” (1980), as reported in newyorktimes.com. “Designers really didn’t give away clothes back then.”

“I was one of the first designers to dress stars on and off screen,” Mr. Armani told the British newspaper The Telegraph in 2013. “They didn’t always have a particular style, or the dress sense to know what to wear for an occasion. I helped them feel more confident and relaxed.”

Image courtesy of 77titlemag.com

Giorgio Armani garments would be seen of celebrities on and off-screen with a list including Sean Connery and Robert De Niro in “The Untouchables” (1987); by Christian Bale and Michael Keaton in separate iterations of the “Batman” franchise; by Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013); and by Don Johnson in the television hit 1980s police drama “Miami Vice.” Who can forget Philip Michael Thomas and Don Johnson in laid-back, casual Armani jackets and suits with rolled-up sleeves or simple tee shirts and relaxed slacks with no belts.

Armani’s ascent in the fashion world was meteoric. In just six years after launching his eponymous brand, Armani appeared on a 1982 cover of Time magazine. The first time a fashion designer had graced the cover in 40 years.

Image courtesy of sweetcare.com

Though Armani received praise from people in and outside of fashion, there were detractors. The great fashion editor Eleanor Lambert in the early 1980s said that Armani had “destroyed fashion.”

Armani reaped the rewards of his talent and fashion empire evidenced his vast accumulation of luxury properties, included by not limited to an immense 18th-century Milanese palazzo, a penthouse on Central Park West; a cliff-hanging retreat in Antigua; a chalet in St. Moritz; a Provençal farmhouse; a sprawling compound on the rocky Sicilian island of Pantelleria; a villa in Lombardy; a 48,000-square-foot museum devoted to his archives; and a custom 213-foot yacht.

Image courtesy of aol.com

Sergio Armani was 91 years old and is survived by his sister Rosanna.

—William S. Gooch

New York Fashion Week Spring 2026 Preview

September 1, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of fashionista.com

New York Fashion Week (NYFW) spring 2026 season is less than two weeks away. And this season promises to be an exciting season. More than sixty brands and designers are presenting during NYFW with several brands showing for the first time.

Returning fashion designers/brands include, but is not limited to Albright College, Altuzarra, Anna Sui, Coach, Bibhu Mohapatra, Calvin Klein Collection, Campillo, Christian Siriano, Collina Strada, Diotima, Evan Hirsch, Fforme, Elena Velez, Laquan Smith, Luar, Michael Kors, Nardos, Prabal Gurung, Sandy Liang, Sergio Hudson, Simkhai, Tory Burch, Ulla Johnson, Verdavainne, among others. Brands debuting for the NYFW spring 2026 season include 6397, Amir Taghi, A.Y.O.R. by Roberto Silva, Dwarmis, Lii, Maria McManus, Raúl Peñaranda, Rùadh, and SC103.

That said, NYFW is still a marathon sprinter’s game with fashion shows spread-out all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. Unfortunately, there is no change from the CFDA in producing one solid central location. And though industry professionals yearn for those days of NYFW at Bryant Park and Lincoln Center, those days are not coming back any time soon. Additionally, a unified official media credential system that was so essential to the press has long gone the way of a central location. These two relevant, essential elements should be restored and could provide a less hectic landscape to the current ragged miasma.

Image courtesy of vogue.com

Still, we soldier on, and Fashion Reverie will be on the ground and ready to bring our viewers all the beautiful collections and trends of the spring 2026 season. Stay tuned!!

William S. Gooch

What Will Fashion Look Like Post-Anna Wintour?

August 18, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of voguecollege.com

In 1988, fashion bible American Vogue made a major move when it named longtime fashion editor Anna Wintour its editor-in-chief. Wintour had previously served as editor-in-chief of House & Garden, another publication owned by Vogue’s parent company Condé Nast, before she was appointed editor-in-chief of American Vogue. Before House & Garden, Wintour was the editor-in-chief of British Vogue.

Wintour’s rise to the top of one of the most coveted positions in fashion journalism began with her upbringing. Her father, Charles Wintour, was editor-in-chief of the London-based Evening Standard. Journalism was in Wintour’s blood. When she was a young girl and she was asked what she wanted to be, she wrote down editor of Vogue. While her father tried to persuade her to get a formal education post-high school, she responded with, “either you know fashion or you don’t.”

In 1970, when Harper’s Bazaar UK merged with Queen to become Harper’s & Queen, Wintour began her fashion journalism career there as an editorial assistant. She would later quit and move to America to become a junior editor at Harper’s Bazaar. The magazine’s editor, Tony Mazzola, would fire her due to creative differences. Wintour would go on to become fashion editor at Viva, a women’s adult magazine founded by Kathy Keeton, the wife of Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione.

Image courtesy of Erdem Facebook page

After Viva shuttered, Wintour took time off, then became fashion editor of Savvy. The following year, she became fashion editor at New York Magazine. In 1983, she landed a position at American Vogue as creative director, a role that at the time had vaguely defined responsibilities. She often clashed with the magazine’s then editor-in-chief, Grace Mirabella.

After Beatrix Miller, the former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, retired, Wintour took over British Vogue. Now, after 35 years at the helm of American Vogue and rising to the position of parent company Condé Nast’s global chief content officer, Wintour announced she would be stepping down as editor-in-chief of Vogue, while still retaining her position as global chief content officer.

Although Wintour isn’t retiring fully, this leaves a major opening in the world of Vogue. While the title of editor-in-chief is being retired in favor of editorial director, Wintour is currently on a search for a new head honcho at American Vogue, a position that a million girls would die for. Of course, this also begs the question, what will fashion look like in a post-Anna Wintour world?

While she’s not retiring entirely, Wintour is 75 years old. She’s held an iron grip on the fashion world, particularly when it came to fashion media, for decades. Although the world of print journalism has declined since the days when magazines had so many ad pages, accounting meant nothing, Vogue still commands power and respect in the fashion world.

Anna Wintour, actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Naomi Watts attend the Calvin Klein Collection fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014 at Spring Studios on February 13, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week)

Under Wintour’s tenure at Vogue, the magazine became more celebrity-focused, with Hollywood stars usually commanding the covers instead of models. Wintour has also long been considered a fashion industry power broker. Through the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, a yearly competition which provides winners with financial support and mentoring, she’s helped build the careers of designers and brands, such as Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang, and Joseph Altuzarra. She’s also overseen some of Vogue’s most groundbreaking covers, such as Naomi Campbell becoming the first Black woman on the September issue of the magazine, Harry Styles in a gown, and first lady Michelle Obama shortly after her husband, President Obama’s, inauguration.

Whoever Wintour is considering helming Vogue’s top spot could be anywhere between Gen-Z and Gen X, although it could be possible that she’d pick a millennial to bridge the gap between the two. Whoever ends up taking over Wintour’s job will, of course, be digitally savvy first. While Vogue still puts a strong emphasis on its covers, the focus has been more on how they perform on social media and what kind of traffic the cover stories will generate for vogue.com.

In a post-Anna Wintour world, the decline of print could happen even faster. While print ad pages still account for much of the revenue of many magazines, the shift to digital has been long and strong. With fewer people buying physical magazines, publications have shifted their advertising efforts more toward their online and social media channels. It is not uncommon to see ad tags for content on fashion publications’ social media feeds, like Instagram.

The old guard at Vogue might also leave with Wintour, making room for new blood. Grace, Coddington, Phyllis Posnick, and Tonne Goodman have been with Wintour at Vogue for decades. Goodman was formerly the fashion director, but is now the sustainability editor, and Posnick and Coddington are now contributing editors, having formerly been Executive Editor and Creative Director. While the trio no longer holds the higher titles they once had, they have still been responsible for much of the imagery and designers featured in Vogue. A new editorial director will likely want their own team of top talent, ushering in a potentially entire new era at Vogue.

As influencers from Instagram and TikTok are also seeking credibility from legacy media, it’s possible that the future of fashion after Anna Wintour could also involve even more social media influencers. While Wintour was bold in putting celebrities on the covers, could the future Vogue editorial director be more open to featuring a social media influencer on the cover?

Image courtesy of msn.com

In addition to what the future of Vogue will look like, there is also the lingering question of what will happen to the Met Gala. While it will likely still be Wintour’s baby as she’s still staying on as Chief Content Officer at Condé Nast, the new editorial director of Vogue will be her heir apparent and will become the new face of the event. Wintour held strict rules in place for the event, from the celebrities not being allowed to have their publicists with them to allowing no press inside.

Could her future heir be laxer about these protocols, particularly even where the press is concerned? Editors outside of Condé Nast were once granted access to the event back in the day, but that practice stopped as it became very much a Vogue-centric event where Wintour reminded everyone of the power and gravitas she held in fashion. The younger generations grew up with a much less gatekept attitude about fashion, and while the Met Gala will never be a public-facing event, the mystery of what happens behind the Met Museum doors could slightly evaporate.

Image courtesy of biography.com

While fashion can still be exclusionary and cutthroat, gone are the days of the ‘80s and ‘90s elitism that so dominated the industry. A post-Anna Wintour world means an even heavier social media-obsessed fashion industry, fashion becoming even more democratized, and a future where print has declined. The world of fashion media will transform post-Anna Wintour. But from the ashes do phoenixes rise.

Kristopher Fraser

“Devil Wears Prada 2,” Do We Need It?

August 15, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of people.com

Do we need another “Devil Wears Prada” movie? Hmm, maybe we do.

Great Britain’s West End has their “The Devil Wears Prada” musical starring the great Vanessa Williams soon to transfer to Broadway, which gives credence that the iconic movie still has relevance. But that is a stage production that most consumers will never see.

Still, do we need a “Devil Wears Prada” sequel? I think we do.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the fashion industry, particularly in the US, is flat with very little excitement and innovation. And now that we are solidly out of the fashion reality TV era, and technology has enabled many folks to work from home, the incentive to buy a lot of garments and show those looks off has fizzled. In other words, the US fashion market needs all the help it can get.

Image courtesy of glamour.com

Perhaps, just maybe, another “Devil Wears Prada” movie will get the proverbial fashion ball rolling. At the very least, this next edition will be entertaining, particularly with most of the original cast reassembled—Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Tracie Thoms, and Stanley Tucci for “Devil Wears Prada 2.”

“Devil Wears Prada 2” is loosely based on Lauren Weisberger’s 2014 book “Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns.” Principal photography began on June 30 in New York City with direction by David Frankel.

In this sequel Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is confronted with a magazine industry in flux due to the advent of social media and online fashion. Variety details that the plotline follows, “Priestly as she navigates her career amid the decline of traditional magazine publishing and as she faces off against Blunt’s character, now a high-powered executive for a luxury group with advertising dollars that Priestly desperately needs.” Adding to this new plot, Blunt’s character plots with her billionaire boyfriend (modeled after Jeff Bezos) to buy Runway magazine and get rid of Miranda Priestly because Miranda is not helping the fashion publication bring in new revenue which mirrors how most print publications are recently struggling. Miranda is also in a new marriage with Kenneth Branagh playing her new husband.

“Devil Wears Prada 2” is schedule for release in the US and Canada on May 1, 2026. And cast members can already be seen around New York City as the filming is taking place mostly in the Big Apple.

Image courtesy of yahoo.com

When it comes to the costumes and incredible garments in this sequel, there have been some leaks. Anne Hathaway revealed on Instagram an archival pin-striped Jean Paul Gaultier waistcoat and trouser ensemble. We also have a glimpse of Emily Blunt’s character stepping out in a Wiederhoeft pinstripe corset top, wide-leg trousers by Jean Paul Gaultier, a Dior-emblazoned white shirt, D-Journey bag and black sunglasses, also by the French fashion house.

Images courtesy of harpersbazaar.com

There are some great looks for the sequel’s Met Gala scene with Alek Wek in a corseted gown with a sheer caged skirt and oversized sleeves and peplum; Karolina Kurkova in a dramatic gown consisting of diaphanous layers in shades of grey; Ciara in a sheer beaded gown with a sculptural corset over the top; and Meryl Streep in a in a voluminous red gown with an off-the-shoulder neckline. Wardrobe for the sequel falls to Molly Rogers who worked with Patricia Fields on “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Sex in the City.”

“Devil Wears Prada 2” is shaping up to be an interesting expansion of the first iteration. And like the clothes in “The Devil Wears Prada” chic style, glitz and glam, and fashion-forward sensibility is the order of the day. Be still our hearts, “Devil Wears Prada 2” whisks us away.

William S. Gooch

Dippity Don’t Says: August 2025

August 4, 2025 by admin Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of cnn.com

With one month of summer left, there’s still time to take a vacation, soak up some sun on the beach, and enjoy a warm afternoon in the park. While you’re enjoying the last month of summer, Fashion Reverie has some delicious tea to serve you. We know it’s summer, but instead of iced, we’re serving the tea hot! From lawsuits to unpaid bills, get your cup ready as we pour all the behind-the-scenes drama of fashion.

This top fashion designer has not been paying her employees. Despite items from her brand selling out, it looks like she has been missing payroll, and, as you can imagine, the employees aren’t happy about it. While she’s considered to have one of the best-selling luxury brands in the business right now, she’s sitting on a mound of unpaid payroll and invoices. It sounds like she needs to hire a chief financial officer—and fast.

This top fashion model has been accused of not paying her photographers’ invoices for personal social media projects she’s hired them for. While models would never come out of pocket when being shot for magazines or campaigns, their social media management is a different story. This model is earning a notorious reputation for hiring photographers for her social media posts and never paying their invoices. She might start seeing some of them in small claims court.

Image courtesy of notsalmon.com

This top fashion designer has found herself in a lawsuit for stealing a smaller designer’s work and passing it off as her own. So far, the lawsuit is going in the plaintiff’s favor, although no final verdict has yet been reached. The big designer is likely to pay up. It’s a lesson for these more established fashion houses not to steal from smaller creatives.

This party-boy creative director has left his luxury brand in shambles due to poor management. However, because his designs were critically praised, the investment arm of this luxury conglomerate has decided to bail the brand out of debt. Word on the street is that this creative director’s drug habits are getting bad, and that’s why the brand is struggling. Hopefully, they can get him into rehab and back on track.

— Mr. Dippity Don’t