The past week in fashion, I’m sorry to report, has been lame. It began with Valentino’s De Vain bag campaign sparking outrage because of its body-horror-adjacent AI visuals. If the use of AI in fashion campaigns is inevitable, I’ve got to say I much preferred Rickdick’s version that slapped the bag’s prints onto nails and adorable little animals.
Then, Pantone announced its colour of the year for 2026: a shade of white they’re calling ‘Cloud Dancer’. An eyebrow-raiser given the recent political climate in the US. Even politics aside, it’s bland as a choice. Will Tide Pen and oxy bleach sales go up next year? Time will tell.
One thing’s for sure: the creative director musical chairs will go on. On Thursday, it was announced that Dario Vitale is no longer the creative director of Versace. The designer, who was previously head of womenswear at Miu Miu, was ousted after Prada’s acquisition of Versace despite a warmly received debut. A new creative director will be announced in due course (Olivier Rousteing, perhaps? He’s currently unattached and has got the chops).
And then, NYT released its really unserious list of the most stylish people of 2025, which somehow included three inanimate objects: Erewhon collab smoothies, The New Yorker’s monocled mascot Eustace Tilley, and Naomi Osaka’s gem-studded Labubus. It goes to show people aren’t dressing better than a cup of fruit and yoghurt.
I may be biased, but The Nod’s list of the good, bad, and viral moments of 2025 is, objectively, better. Check it out, along with more from The Nod below.
