Image courtesy Zady

“Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and The Fresh Market offer transparency in their own ways. Consumers now demand that when shopping for food in greemarkets too. Ten years ago it was a different story,” Darabi told us in an interview last year. 

From its inception, Zady has operated as an e-commerce platform for small, ethically-oriented independent labels like Imogene + Willie (denim), Clare Vivier (handbags) and Sundry (T-shirts). Before signing on a brand, Bédat and Darabi conduct thorough interviews examining the origins and production process that go into every single item. 

Image courtesy Zady

And now, Zady is bringing the same level of rigor to a private label. The brand will roll out individual products, starting with a women’s knit wool sweater slated to go on sale in November. This is Bédat and Darabi’s first time wading into the making process themselves, and they were eager to talk about the experience.

Below, we circle back with the Zady founders on the anniversary of their launch to find out what it takes to make a 100 percent ethical sweater.

theFashionSpot: When did you decide to launch a private label?

Maxine Bédat: We had ideas about it right from the very beginning, but we didn’t want to create something that wasn’t needed. But we went out into the market to try to find womenswear that fit the work/life integration lifestyle that we are promoting, that was made with the greatest integrity both for workers and for the environment and at a price point that had value. And we couldn’t find it. That was the direct impetus for launching our own label.

tFS: How did all the production considerations factor into the design process? Where did you start?

Soraya Darabi: We began by identifying the exact product we wanted to create, based on our own research and feedback not only from our team, but from people we hugely respect in the industry. We then worked backwards to determine how would the best version of this product be made, beginning with the highest quality raw materials, the persons constructing the item, the machines on which the product would be made.

We identified designs we thought of as timeless and classic in nature — but elegant and versatile. The goal from day one was to create an “essential” wardrobe staple, without it being basic. We think there is a grand difference between basic and essential.

Like any design house, our vision map began with a mood board, but we have more factors at Zady to take into consideration: As you know, we believe in experts being paid fairly for their hard work and for an item to be made to last. Therefore, we knew we would be making this particular item in the United States. The next question was then: OK, where?

Luckily by standing up for ethical manufacturing processes, over the last year we’ve met a great number of manufacturers who share our vision and align with our mission, and through collaboration with them, a line was born.

The post Alternatives to Fast Fashion: Here’s What It Takes to Make 100 Percent Ethical Clothing appeared first on theFashionSpot.

I started working for tFS in college, helping out the former Managing Editor in a casual, part-time way, as the newly-launched editorial section of the site was first establishing itself. Once I graduated, I transitioned into a staff position and stayed on for four years. Today is my last day. I will no longer be contributing to the site daily, but I’ll probably be around from time to time. 

At the risk of sounding sentimental, I’m so grateful for everything. I’ve had a wonderful working experience, learned so much about fashion and online media, and formed relationships with some amazing people whom I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I also feel lucky to know the tFS Forums as deeply as I do: You all are hilarious, brilliant and right about everything. 

I’ve also completed work that I’m extremely proud of, some of which I’m sharing here:

• By the Numbers: Racial Diversity at New York Modeling Agencies (2013-2014)
• We Asked the World’s Top Fashion Schools: How Are You Teaching Sustainability to Tomorrow’s Designers?
• Why Haven’t Big High-End Brands Embraced Ethical Fashion?
• Organic by John Patrick: The Ethical Designer and Tiffies Winner Explains Why the Fashion System is Broken
• Designer Knockoffs: Is Zara Copying Celine or Is Everyone Copying Everyone?
• We Ask the Model Alliance and NJOY: Should E-Cigarettes Be Available at Fashion Week?
• Who’s Really Driving the Thin Trend? Some Believe Consumers Want to See More Body Diversity
• WWD’s Vile Tribute to Grunge and Kurt Cobain

And that’s all for now. So long!

The post So Long, Farewell: A Final(ish) Post appeared first on theFashionSpot.

The post Link Buzz: Aldo Severs Ties with Terry Richardson; Mansur Gavriel Gets E-Commerce appeared first on theFashionSpot.

Below, we round up seven iconic supermodel-designer pairings:

images: Getty

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To mark the one-year anniversary of its dedicated plus-size range, Modcloth conducted a survey of over 1,500 women about the current state of the plus-size clothing market. The verdict? For the majority of women surveyed, shopping is an unpleasant experience. 

Over 65% of respondents agreed: “The retail industry ignores the needs of plus-size women.”

74% of plus-size women feel “frustrated” when they’re in a store and over 80% said that they’d spend more on clothing if there were more options available in their size.

Over the past year, Modcloth has grown its plus-size vendors from 35 to 160 to meet the demands of this fast-growing segment which, according to the retailer’s internal figures, is projected to double in sales volume from 2013 to 2014. 

Related: Who’s Really Driving the Thin Trend? Some Believe Consumers Want to See More Body Diversity

The post Plus-Size Women Tell Modcloth: The Retail Industry Ignores Our Needs [Infographic] appeared first on theFashionSpot.

Thanks to Rihanna‘s nipple-related Instagram eviction and Scout Willis‘s important #FreeTheNipple campaign, boobs seem to be having a pop culture moment. 

But are nipple-related style statements really so new? In the 16th century and beyond, nipples were the height of fashion in aristocratic societies; in the 1800s, Napoleon’s sister, Pauline Bonaparte, was notorious for her breast-baring diaphanous dresses, which revealed her cosmetically rouged nipples.

Closer to our own time, Madonna made a headline-grabbing appearance on the runway at Jean Paul Gaultier in 1992, wearing a bizarre bandage boob harness. A decade later, Alexander McQueen elevated the fashion nipple from sheer provocation (pun intended) to art. 

Breast-baring designs continued to trickle down the runways for years, but no one was prepared for what happened last September, when an actual nipple trend came into effect at the Spring 2014 shows. Directional designers like Haider Ackermann, Balmain, Ann Demeulemeester and Christian Dior all showed sheer tops galore. It was a nipple extravaganza. 

By the time Kendall Jenner made her now-infamous breast-revealing NYFW debut on the catwalk at Marc Jacobs for Fall 2014, runway boobs were here to stay.

Below, you can review some important moments in the history of fashion nipples:

The post Free the Fashion Nipple: A Brief History of Runway Boobs appeared first on theFashionSpot.

• Sleeping beauty Cara Delevingne has been announced as the new face of Topshop. [VogueUK]
   
• Juicy Couture may or may not be folding, but this seems like a good time to pay homage to the velour tracksuit. [FabSugar]
   
• This woman recommends laser hair removal for moustaches. [BellaSugar]
   
• Is Instagram to blame for the resurgence of size 000 clothing? [Styleite]
   
• Are you a male fashion photographer who’s interested in making provocative, twisted, sexual work, but doesn’t want to come off as a sex offender? If you need a role model, I recommend Juergen Teller. [The Cut]
   
• Here’s an in-depth look at fashion’s symbiotic relationship with the NBA. [Racked]

The post Link Buzz: Cara Delevingne for Topshop; Inside the NBA’s Fashion Fixation appeared first on theFashionSpot.

“The last two seasons, I’ve seen more young women of color, a greater variety of ladies than I’ve seen in years,” said New York designer Tracy Reese as part of a Glamour live panel on the state of runway diversity which took place this March, following the NYFW Fall 2014 shows. “There are a lot of new faces that are very promising.”

The discussion expanded on a series of ongoing conversations about race in the fashion industry, largely sparked by former modeling agent Bethann Hardison‘s Balance Diversity campaign, which launched in September 2013. Hardison herself participated in the panel, which was hosted by Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive, and also included fashion critic Robin Givhan.

Asked to expand on her remarks, the designer said that she had noticed “a fair improvement” with regards to modeling agencies’ commitment to diversity: “If I broke it down by agency,” Reese hedged, “I’m sure there would be some agencies that are doing a lot better than others. But I’ve definitely seen improvement.”

We decided to see for ourselves: what is the state of diversity at NYC modeling agencies? 

We counted the number of models of color included in show packages over two seasons of shows: Spring 2014 (which took place in September, when the Balance Diversity campaign first launched) and Fall 2014 (which took place in February). We worked exclusively with the show packages which were available on Models.com, for the sake of consistency and accessibility. (One agency said that the package that went out to casting directors was not the same one which was available online, but we could not verify that.)

For each agency and each show package, we calculated the number of models of color relative to the total number of models included in the book.

We chose to use “models of color” as an inclusive term referring to any non-white model — black, Asian, non-white Hispanic, Native American, mixed-race, etc.* 

We hoped to get a sense of overall industry trends, not compare agencies or point fingers. However, some clear standouts emerged.

“Please note, we take on models that we believe we can develop and market,” said Jody Gordon, the founder of Fusion, when I reached her for comment. “Models are not discriminated on their ethnicity. The truth is, it’s tough finding great models, period. It’s a competitive business and since we are so boutique, we don’t always get the models we want, due to industry politics, etc.”

Fusion represents about a dozen models each season; other small agencies do not have similar percentages. For example: Silent NYC, which included seven or eight models per show package, had zero models of color for both Spring 2014 and Fall 2014. (Silent NYC did not respond to my request for comment.)

Wilhelmina, a larger agency that included 20-30 models per show package, is another standout. The Women’s board director, Roman Young, told me that his agency doesn’t fall prey to the “propaganda that ethnic diversity isn’t what designers or magazines want,” noting that “this past season was the first season that more than just one designer or casting director actually REQUESTED ethnic models to account for greater diversity.” 

We also examined whether agencies represented more models of color this season over last September, when the Balance Diversity campaign launched. In most cases, the percentage of change came down to a small handful of models, and is not necessarily statistically significant. 

For example: both Wilhelmina and Fusion, which both had the highest average percentage of models of color, also had the highest percentage decrease from one season to the next. 

“Some girls aren’t always available to do Fashion Week, so that definitely changed the percentage this past season,” said Fusion’s Jody Gordon.

On the surface, Next Model Management and One Management appear to have made the greatest improvements; I recorded an 8% uptick in non-white models for both agencies. I counted 4 models of color in Next’s show package for Spring 2014 out of 48 models total; the following season, the agency included 7 models of color out of 42 models total. One Management’s numbers show a similar trajectory: for Spring 2014, the agency included 5 models of color, 43 models total; in February, the show package featured 8 models of color out of 41 models total.   

In aggregate, combining numbers from all 19 agencies with available show packages for both seasons (Spring 2014 books weren’t available for The Society and Frame Model Management), representation of non-white models improved by only 1 percentage point over the previous season. I counted 93 models of color out of 512 models total for Spring 2014; that’s 18.16% non-white models. For the following season, I logged 97 models of color out of 506 total models, which works out to 19.17%.  

Those numbers aren’t surprising. Jezebel, which started compiling data on runway diversity in Fall 2008, found that the number of non-white models cast in NYFW shows increased by only about a single percentage point on the Fall 2014 runways over the previous season, despite the heightened scrutiny.

Frame Model Management was one of the few agencies to openly acknowledge its low numbers and suggest that it was making efforts to sign on new models of color: “Sadly this breakdown is true regarding Frame’s show package diversity this past season,” said booker Eric Granwehr. “However, as we are a very new agency (this past season was our first official full-fledged season), we are still in the midst of assembling a very strong board of new faces that are ready to take on the New York market. It’s really just a luck of the draw sometimes when it comes to domestic and international agencies proposing who they deem as their strongest girls that are suitable for NYFW. Sometimes this includes a selection of several models of color, but sometimes it doesn’t.”

Fusion, another boutique agency, but one that’s leading the industry with its diversity numbers, echoed the sentiment when I asked founder Jody Gordon why so many of her peers were lagging behind: “There is definitely more work and a greater demand for Caucasian models. It’s also tougher to find great ethnic models.”

*Because this is a loose definition and we evaluated on a case-by-case basis, there’s room for error in our findings.

Images in slideshow: screenshot

The post By the Numbers: Racial Diversity at New York Modeling Agencies (2013-2014) appeared first on theFashionSpot.

As we learned on America’s Next Top Model, after a certain attractiveness threshold, personality is what really cements a model’s success. For proof, look no further than Cara Delevingne. 

Delevingne is hardly an unknown quantity, but the vast majority of our favorite models — even those at the top of the field — get only a tiny fraction of her media exposure. That’s why we lingered on these YouTube clips of models, which were shared as part of a discussion about fashion interviews on the Livejournal community, Fashin.

Do you enjoy watching top models acting awkwardly and showing their true selves? If so, these are for you:

Backstage with Lindsey Wixson as she prepares to take over the world.

Beautiful Bridget Hall does not enjoy having David Letterman drool all over her.

Yes, Snejana Onopka wants to go to law school, but mostly she wants you to leave her alone.

If Sasha Pivovarova says she’s a fairy, we believe her.

And last but not least, top male model David Gandy gets propositioned. 

The post Watch These Awkward Interviews with Some of Your Favorite Top Models appeared first on theFashionSpot.

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