Reflecting on One Year of 'This Stuff'

And, of course, a huge thank you to you.

Inspired by my friend, the incredible author Amanda Stern, I decided it's an excellent time to reflect on 'This Stuff.' It's been one year since my first post on here, which was fittingly about New York Fashion Week. When I published that story, I was excited about my newest venture in fashion writing, but felt disenchanted by fashion throughout the pandemic. My style was over the place. I didn't feel comfortable in many of my old clothes, because they were meant for a particular type of office which I was no longer going to, and I was just over trying.

More importantly, though, I saw how the industry showed its many flaws and doubled down without care for the people impacted.

In the early months of the pandemic, it was clear how much clothing we had that we didn't need. Yet brands decided to keep making just as much. We also saw how vulnerable workers were to the ebbs and flows of our buying cycles but few brands sought to protect them. And for about one week, we recognized these issues, before we went back to where we were, this time even worse. Workers struggled with pay from canceled orders; brands made even more clothing based on pivoting trends, and the cycle just continued. But there we were, doing fashion week like nothing had happened. It just didn't feel great to me.

Now, a year has gone by, and the problems remain. Many workers are still fighting for backpay, trend cycles seem to be getting faster than before 2020 and people are buying in. There has been some progress, though. Awareness seems to have risen as social media gives platforms to causes. Some workers have won cases for pay, including several who protested about canceled wages from factories making Victoria's Secret lingerie. The brand agreed to pay them what they are owed setting a positive precedent for how this exchange can happen in the future.

I also feel a sense of renewed excitement from up-and-coming fashion brands. Many of them seem to be encouraged by the calls for change in the fashion industry and are tackling sustainability issues creatively. Even though I believe it needs to be the more prominent brands with the biggest impact boldly making changes, I'm excited to see how young designers show their vision for what fashion's future could be.

This is all to say that in a year of doing this newsletter, I've been inspired by how much people love fashion and how much they want to learn about changing it. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right places, but I never felt as hopeful as I do now.

Thanks for reading and here's to another year of stories :).

Alyssa