Levi’s goin’ green, a new Zara denim collection, the first Victoria’s Secret podcast, and more.
01 Levi’s is ushering in a new era of sustainable denim
Starting next year, you’ll be able to find the brand’s iconic 501 jeans made with a mix of organic cotton and Circulose, which is a blend of old denim, industrial waste, and wood pulp. It’s 100% circular, meaning it doesn’t incorporate any new material and is produced entirely with renewable energy. But you won’t be able to tell from the look, feel, or fit of the jeans, which will have the same high-quality heft as the originals.
“There’s this aesthetic that you associate with sustainability — that’s a little less comfortable, a little organic, a little wrinkled, a little rumped, a little ‘less than’ what you’re used to,” explained Paul Dilligner, Vice President of Design Innovation at Levi’s. “We really wanted to avoid doing that.”
02 Charlotte Gainsbourg — the daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg — just launched a jean collection for Zara
As the daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte Gainsbourg was born into the world of fashion. And while she rose to fame as an actress and singer-songwriter, she has also become known for her sense of style, which writer Steff Yotka aptly describes as a mix of authenticity, freedom, and self-assuredness. After spending years trying (and failing) to find the best pair of jeans, she decided, in partnership with Zara, to create them herself.
“I know that I’m not the only one passionate about jeans, but it’s true that I could never find the perfect pair. I’m very specific,” said Gainsbourg, whose line launched globally in stores and online on October 7.
In addition to two pants, the line also includes staples informed by the casual clothes she spent much of 2020 and 2021 in: a black bralette, long-sleeve tee, short-sleeve tee, tank, sweater, denim shirt, and denim jacket.
03 GANNI partnered with 11 Honoré to create a new size-inclusive brand
Here at Revelle, we’re big fans of GANNI, a Danish brand dedicated to making clothes that celebrate your unique personality and make you feel great about yourself (sound familiar, no?). So when we heard that they were partnering with 11 Honoré in an effort to promote this mission, we immediately wanted to know more. The new 10-piece collection — called LOVE DROP — will feature tops, pants, and dresses that run from size 2 to 22.
“We are so grateful to 11 Honoré for this partnership and the opportunity to welcome even more GANNI girls into our community,” said Creative Director Ditte Reffstrup. “GANNI is not about one look or uniform identity, it’s about confidence and kick-a** energy — and it’s my hope we can continue to share this spirit with more and more people. Everyone is welcome.”
^^ What she said.
04 Nouri Hassan is on a mission to make the fashion industry more diverse and inclusive
The Egyptian-Guyanese model founded XYNE AGENCY, a casting and “mother” agency focused on representing diverse talent and creative inclusive spaces in the industry. The idea came to Hassan after she noticed that many of the shoots she was on only appeared to be diverse without it being authentic.
“It feels like a lot of casting directors and brands are just ticking boxes off just to make it seem inclusive and authentic,” says Hassan. “But at the end of the day, it’s pretty performative.”
In addition to helping models secure competitive market rates, XYNE helps models negotiate usage rights to prevent exploitation. In order to ensure that diversity is represented in front AND behind the camera, Hassan also created The Bipoc Network, a directory with diverse stylists, makeup artists, hair stylists, and photographers.
05 Newly-released research on the mental health impacts of Instagram aren’t THAT surprising for teenage girls
When Facebook’s former employee, Frances Haugen, came forward with internal research showing just how detrimental Instagram is to conceptions of one’s self-image, people took note…and rightly so. But for teenage girls who are living this reality day in and day out, it’s not actually that surprising.
In a recent New York Times article, writer Erin Woo quotes Annie Zhu, an 18-year-old freshman at Stanford who says “it has been a huge struggle” to avoid the comparison trap perpetuated by the social media giant. She now primarily uses it as a messaging system rather than posting.
Iris Tsouris, a freshman at Yale, has had a similar experience, telling Woo that “it perpetuates negative self-image in people, stuff that might feed into eating disorders. I’ve definitely seen people impacted by jealousy or the fear of missing out.”
06 For Jamie Lee Curtis, plastic surgery is “wiping out generations of beauty”
In an article on Fast Company, the 62-year-old actress spoke out about modern beauty standards and the “obsession” with plastic surgery that comes as a result.
“The current trend of fillers and procedures, and this obsession with filtering, and the things that we do to adjust our appearance on Zoom are wiping out generations of beauty,” said Curtis. “Once you mess with your face, you can’t get it back.”
Speaking of Zoom…ICYMI, back in May 2020 — just about two months into the pandemic — Gabrielle Pfund, associate professor in the psychological and brain sciences department at Washington University in St. Louis, had a hunch that an increase in video chat usage would correspond with decreased satisfaction in appearance. To find out, she surveyed 438 women between the ages of 18 and 70 years old. Participants were assessed on a scale of self-objectification (defined as “a measure of a person’s conscious thoughts about how they believe others are perceiving them”), how often they compared their appearance to others, and how satisfied they were with their own appearance.
The findings revealed that, for those who scored higher on self-objectification, there was a small negative association with appearance satisfaction the more time they spent video chatting — which raises questions about the use of the platform by those with certain conditions such as eating disorders.
07 Tune into the new Victoria’s Secret podcast, VS Voices
It’s all part of their re-brand, which was announced back in June in an effort to become a leading global advocate for female empowerment. Hosted by Girlgaze founder Amanda de Cadenet, the podcast will explore the personal experiences of “trailblazing women who are advocating for change.” It kicked off on October 6 with Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who gets *real* about her childhood in India and how it’s defined her as an advocate for women, advice for balancing emotion with emotional vulnerability, how she worked through the grief of losing her father, how her culture reacted to her marriage to Nick Jonas, and more.
Looking for more podcasts on gender, inclusivity, and body positivity? We’ve got you covered.
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