Buying silly things, an SSENSE win & Louboutin’s nepo baby qualm
“I just want to buy a silly little thing to brighten to my silly little day”
Hiya.
Agenda for today’s letter: SSENSE updates, Louboutin’s celebrity creative director x nepo baby qualm, and buying silly little things as a form of economic nihilism.
Lots on the docket this week: all updates on stories we’ve been following and need to discuss.
Firstly, SSENSE, a small win and the bankruptcy of it all…
I was at a pre–London Fashion Week gifting suite for the jewellery brand Jewells this week, and of course, Ssense came up. As with any Ssense chat of late, the disbelief around its predicament was palpable. How can a retailer so loved be in such dire financial straits?
Just as I was leaving my flat for the event, an email landed in my inbox from Thom Bettridge’s Substack, Content. Thom, formerly Creative Director at Ssense and now Editor-in-Chief at i-D, shared his thoughts on the situation and linked to an article announcing that Ssense had been granted some breathing room by the Canadian courts.
Ssense has won court approval to restructure under its current leadership and secured $40m in funding from various banks and the Atallah family (the brand’s founders and owners) to keep operations going.
I’m glad, though not surprised. As I mentioned in my letter when the bankruptcy news broke, it’s rare for a brand with such loyalty and immense equity to disappear completely. Equity of this size and weight is simply too valuable to erase.
My guess is they’ll eventually sell to a conglomerate or VC (just as Net-a-porter sold to Mytheresa last year), allowing the brand to continue, albeit with major restructuring to boost profitability.
Will that see the end of its bi-annual-turned-always-on sales events we all know and love? Probably. But I guess, only time will tell.
We also have some interesting builds on the Louboutin comeback…
As I mentioned in a letter in August, Louboutin is returning to relevance after many years lying culturally dormant. Much of this is thanks to Addison Rae and her outspoken love for the red sole. But it could also just be the trend cycle making all things late aughts and early 2010s feel fresh again.
In news that dropped this week, Louboutin is following in the likes of Louis Vuitton Mens and Ray Ban by opting for a celebrity creative director to bolster relevance and cultural presence. Mr Christian Louboutin himself has handed the baton of men’s creative director to Jaden Smith. This is the first time Louboutin has appointed a men’s creative director.
The 28-year-old nepo baby, known for his eclectic fits and rap career (??), will be moving to Paris to oversee four collections, the first of which will show during men’s fashion week in January.
Naturally, the reaction has been… mixed. Christian Louboutin himself says that he resonated with Jaden because he found him to be “above all, very interesting: The way he is, the way he dresses, the way he thinks.”
The broader sentiment? Quite different. On Reddit, you’ll find comments like “nepotism at its finest” and “what are his qualifications?” alongside despair over the state of the industry.
As one Redditer put:
“I'm tired of celebrities, who have never taken any design classes or probably seen a garment in their life, becoming heads of fashion labels. We all know they won't be doing the actual designing so what's the point?? Do they do it for PR?”
Another added:
“If I were in the fashion world and had been slaving away for years, proving my talent and putting in my dues and doing everything to get my chance to FINALLY be a creative director one day, I would be PISSED at this news,” said another.
My thoughts on the appointment?
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