Thoughts on Calvin Klein Collection FW25, cannibalistic skincare, and Argentine underwear.
Welcome to The HALO Report — HALOSCOPE’s new weekly digest, an of-the-moment mix of news items, opinion pieces, and sale announcements designed to keep you posted on the nitty-gritty of the fashion world and all of its tangents without having to keep a constant eye on your feed.
This week, we learn how to style sweatpants as Karl Lagerfeld rolls in his grave, skincare has never been more cannibalistic, Christopher John Rogers soars while Calvin Klein Collection flops, there is simply NO ROOM for racists in the fashion world (though you wouldn’t know it by reading Vogue), discounts abound on Argentine underwear and of-the-moment belts, and more.
The latest long-ish reads from the brightest minds in fashion.
In “How to wear sweatpants without feeling ‘defeated’,” La Deeply Shallow’s Laura de Valencia Kirk (one of the most incredible Substack writers I’ve encountered in months) pokes fun at Karl Lagerfeld’s ever-elitist, ever-racist, ever-clueless quip about the comfy essential, tracing the history of the sweatpant through a history largely defined by Black stylings (and Princess Di) and proposing ways to wear the garment that honor its roots and freshen up its future.
We’ve wanted our makeup to make our faces look edible for decades — “berry” lips, “chocolate” eyeliner, “juicy” gloss — but in The Review of Beauty’s “Hailey Bieber's Flesh-Eating Empire,” Jessica DeFino posits that the latest Rhode campaigns have signaled a transition into a time of near-cannibalistic urges to make one’s skin look edible. Glazed donuts, dewy dumplings — what does this delicious new form of dehumanization of the flesh signify?
For The Bronze Edit, Sienna Reid shares “Things I stopped doing to find my personal style,” including a recommendation to fixate upon specific silhouettes instead of particular, near-fetishistic objects and to take as many fit pics as possible.
Mandy Lee writes “I Won't Allow F*scism To Dampen My Style” for her newsletter Cyclical, vocalizing many of the anxieties and complaints that have been simmering under the surface of mainstream fashion writing too afraid to acknowledge it openly.
Menswear writer Mariano Leonczik posits “The Issue with Modern Day Lookbooks” in his newsletter Thread Space, citing a focus on “car-to-bar” culture (i.e. a reluctance to actually wear clothes outside) and an obsession with fit pics over an outfit’s function as undermining today’s fashion culture.
What to keep in mind — and look forward to — in the past and coming weeks.
The winners of New York Fashion Week so far have been those who brought the color — Christopher John Rogers busted out perverse shades of maroon, chartreuse, and teal in stripes and solid swaths for his FW25 return to the runway after a two-year hiatus in a collection that has proven polarizing but adored by many of the fashion world’s mavericks, while Zankov’s similarly-saturated knits have proven for yet another season that the people yearn for comfort and straightforward cheeriness in their winter wardrobes.
I had the pleasure of styling the second-ever JRat runway show, titled “HOMESICK, AGAIN,” and though my involvement kneecaps any attempt at journalistic integrity I may allege here, Janelle Abbott’s fastidious and highly sustainable method of upcycling old clothes deserves as much attention as it can get. Unlike some upcycling designers, who may just stamp a logo on a prefab T-shirt or sew garments together at random, Abbott’s signature 3T method is deliberate and involved, resulting in thoughtful, strategic designs that boast their own internal logic.
The most resounding flop of the season thus far (in the eyes of many) has been the Calvin Klein Collection’s FW25, helmed by The Row and Céline alum Veronica Leoni — while she attempted to recapture the minimalist magic of Klein’s 90s heyday, the clothes felt disjointed and largely overwrought, more copycatting the houses she’d graduated from, though those in turn had been inspired by the old Klein. Like a too-hard game of telephone, the message ended up muddled.
Though Sandy Liang’s latest offerings have felt for some like a return to form after a seasons-long foray into over-commercialized schlock, the Polly Pocket-core motifs of tiny clothes superimposed upon their larger iterations and skirts digitally printed with images of calendars and trinkets feel to some (including myself) like yet another regurgitation of a “girlhood” that is in its very nature alienating and one-note: no nuance has been introduced to this gendered play, and god forbid the label hire a model who isn’t rail-thin.
It’s shocking to see that Elena Velez, an openly racist designer whose insidious beliefs are overt in the clothes she makes and the shows she puts on (her FW24 collection was infamously inspired by the Antebellum South), still gets tons of press ranging from the tentatively congratulatory to the obsequiously doting, but most discouraging is a cautiously positive Vogue review that compares Velez to Luffy, the pirate protagonist of the anime One Piece. Throwing “journalism” to the wind for this blurb, I need to explain that One Piece is the most important piece of media to me in the world and Luffy is a deeply inspiring character not least for his disgust in the face of, quite specifically, slavery and other grievous injustices. He’d despise Velez (not that he’d bother with the fashion world, in any case). In a world where Kanye West is shilling swastika-covered T-shirts and the Gulf of Mexico has been renamed the “Gulf of America” (check your Google Maps), there is no place for Velez — and the clothes were obnoxiously pseudo-edgy, anyway.
Less about impulse buys — and more about tracking discounts on the pieces already on your wishlist.
Argentine brand Calomel’s comfy, saturated, perfectly-cut underwear, bras, bathing suits, and basics are all 20% off at checkout in honor of Valentine’s Day using WITHLOVE.
The sale section of Story mfg. is full of embroidered polos, quilted jackets, and quirky knits at the intersection of stoner-cheeky and Bode-chintzy, all an extra 10% off at checkout.
Though that belt, the one you’ve seen every influencer and their mother (also an influencer) wear in the past two weeks is not a part of the tight edit, a few Déhanche belts are on sale for an extra 30% off their already-reduced prices.
If the return of the tights craze has gotten you excited, Sheertex is selling its famously hardy pairs for $35 a pop this week down from its usual $49.
With LOVE35, take 35% off a selection of Rowing Blazers curated around a cutesy, red-and-pink heavy theme, including some Winnie the Pooh knits and some of the brand’s classic striped rugby shirts.
Pieces from Tory Burch’s past seasons are on sale for up to 30% off, with the label’s famous logo ballet flats and plenty of all-season bags taking center stage.
At checkout, NYC boutique Tangerine offers 20% off its collection of jewelry from cult-following designers like Sapir Bachar and Mondo Mondo. 🌀
Em Seely-Katz is the creator of the fashion blog Esque, the News Editor of HALOSCOPE, and a writer, stylist, and anime-watcher about town. You can usually find them writing copy for niche perfume houses or making awful collages at @that.esque on Instagram.