Top 5 Fashion Reads: May 1, 2024

Do the Harlem Shake (i'm dating myself, aren't i).

Author

Simran Handa
May 01, 2024

Welcome to the twelfth edition of Cross Couture, the fashion x culture newsletter.

The clothes we wear have always been an ever-shifting portrait of society and we’re sitting down to explore how our daily outfits change as we come into contact with new societies, technologies, and stories.

It’s Day 10 of my Spring Challenge!

As a reminder, this challenge means that either you get an email in your inbox 5 times per week until May 31st (which means I get a set of luxurious, vintage jammies) OR I have to donate $5 to a charity I hate for every week that I miss the goal.

TWO WEEKS COMPLETE WOOHOO!

Series #2: Top 5 Fashion Reads for the Cross Couturist.

Dior, Chanel, Anna Wintour and McQueen are awesome. But I want to explore some of the other fashion legends out there - so let’s chat about them.

Power in fashion has usually been…soft. You know a Worth gown is a Worth gown because of its cut or quality. Dior and Grès and Lanvin and Poiret because of their silhouettes.

Not because they had huge logos on them proclaiming them to be Diors or Worths.

And then came Dapper Dan and changed it all.

The fashion for huge logos and distinctive patterns across your clothes? Started with Dapper Dan. Making sure people knew who and what you were wearing? Also Dapper Dan. Mixing streetwear clout and couture? Yep, Dapper Dan!

Daniel R. Day has been one of the main designers behind making African-American streetwear aspirational. I love how his story is all about fighting - sometimes to prove a point, sometimes because he’s genuinely angry. It’s the common thread running across the book, whether he’s discussing retail strategies (which, so useful!) or his prison years or flunking in school.

The book is brutal, no doubt about that. Daniel doesn’t shrink away from hard stories, from rape to racism to drugs. But it also brings to the forefront what so many people feel about fashion: that it’s a proclamation of our stories, our personality and our vulnerability.

And that’s a wrap on Series #2 of Cross Couture!

I was surprised by how few books I could find centering Asian/Latin/Native American/APAC narratives, amongst others. I’ve been hunting for a Vera Wang biography, but no dice yet.

So in an effort to bring more fashion stories from across the world to light, I’ll be bringing you Cross Couture’s Series #3: Top 5 Fashion Patterns From Asia.

Stay tuned!

Do you have a favorite couture book? Maybe a rec? Just want to vent about your crap day? Reply to this email!

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xoxo,

Simran