Live from the Coffee Order fashion news desk
Demna says the Gucci Belt is back, NikeSkims, and battling SSENSE duties.
I hope you all enjoy this special Tuesday morning edition of a very OG Coffee Order. That’s what I’m re-branding being late as.
If you’re an original subscriber—I should make you guys membership cards or something, like the MileyWorld Cards to which I was an owner of—
you’ll remember I spoke very little about my personal life and tried to be a fashion op-ed/news reporter. Now I know that I shouldn’t speak on things I know little about. Today, Monday September 22nd, was kind of a juicy news day, and I’ve been inspired to bring that back.
First, I’d like to start with the name on everybody’s lips: Demna. The new Creative Director of Gucci (some people who are fans of Coffee Order are chill and don’t care about fashion news, so I’m going to be giving some explanation) dropped his first lookbook randomly this morning, and it’s not only dominated Fashion Month news feeds, it’s also dominated my Instagram feed.
People seem to love it, I’m not sure how I feel yet. It’s like if 2004 Gucci had a baby with 2024 Balenciaga, which makes sense given the circumstances—that being Tom Ford-era Gucci reigns supreme in fashion lover’s hearts and Demna’s DNA is woven with Balenciaga threads. The campaign titled “La Famiglia” is fun, shot by iconic photographer Catherine Opie in a gallery-style layout which earned the comment from tomfordforgucci on Instagram: “Gucci is sexy again”. My favorite thing were these interlocking double-G thong sandals, which I would definitely splurge on if I were to fall into a lump some of money.
Speaking of double-Gs, the biggest thing worth noting is that the Gucci Belt is in fact BACK people. You heard me—if you splashed out on some overpriced monogram hardware in 2016—dust that thing off girl. I hope you didn’t sell it to The Real Real, because we’re about to see an explosion of waist-level logomania. I know someone who’s excited:
I think it’s fun that the Gucci Belt is back. It’s something we all needed, a little tacky camaraderie to unite us in such divisive times. While I don’t own Gs, I do own an H (IYKYK), and this may inspire me to bring her back from Connecticut where she has been lying in wait.
I actually bought a pair of Tom Ford for Gucci heels from 2004 on The Real Real last week. It was an impulse purchase fueled by gin and tonics from Clandestino on a Monday (always a bad idea, but always really fun). They arrived on Thursday, and I decided to return them because a) I can’t walk in them, and b) I can’t figure out how to tie them. The money back is more appreciated than expanding my vintage archive at the moment, although the bamboo-style gold stiletto was pretty sick. The reason why Tom Ford for Gucci is so great is because there’s an abundance of it, and while I don’t own anything yet, my day will come.
Next up on my list: NikeSkims.
Demna’s Gucci and NikeSkims were battling for front page treatment with my social algorithm today. I barely saw any Italian Greyhounds.
This was something I kind of…forgot about. It was a big deal that rocked the industry when the news dropped back in February, but when you announce something and don’t follow with anything that people can actually buy almost immediately, it often falls a little flat after about 2 days. As expected, the rollout is star-studded, Sha’Carri Richardson and Serena Williams posing alongside something I thought was very cool, female athletes from UCLA and USC:
It looks a little (whispers) Yeezy-adjacent. I absolutely hate to say that and I debated even typing it because I think Kim Kardashian is respectfully successful in fashion without her ex husband and doesn’t deserve to still be mentioned in the same sentence as him, but the lookbook shots are just a little reminiscent of the now defunct brand in its prime.
I don’t think I will be making any purchases, but I’m excited to see what else Skims does this year. They announced cashmere about a week or so ago, and curious to compare the quality to my Quince “cashmere” sweater. I haven’t made any purchases in a while from Kim, but I am looking forward for the temperature to drop so I can wear my pajama set without waking up drenched in sweat.
I’ve been really bad about shopping recently. My no-spend spree hath ended. I succumbed to some SSENSE duties because they’re basically giving things away for free on there, so we’d be fools to not capitalize on that while SSENSE is still around. The duties are justifiable because the prices are so low, so I decided to pick up this pair of ReDone jeans (my first, and under $100) and this pink Ganni beret. I have some travel next year that a beret felt like the perfect companion for.
Purchased alongside the aforementioned Gucci heels was this jacket from Dolce & Gabanna. I’m very excited about it and I don’t anticipate it going back with the heels. It felt like something truly missing from my wardrobe and a great fall piece. Stay tuned for pictures in next week’s letter after it arrives.
The last new thing from my autumnal haul was actually free thanks to my mom’s fabulous friend, Melissa, who gifted me a pair of these PUMA x GUIZIO H-Street sneakers. I don’t really own any white sneakers, and these read almost Loewe-esque, and who’s to say no to that? I was so excited about them that I laced them up in my seat on the Metro North back from Connecticut on Sunday and swapped out the loafers tearing up my feet for something a little more comfortable.
This concludes my fashion coverage. I will now move into regularly scheduled programming of oversharing about my personal life and what I’ve been reading, watching, and eating.
On Sunday, I finished listening to Night People by Mark Ronson. I love Mark Ronson and have for many years. I had the pleasure of seeing him spin IRL up close and personal at Rats hosted by Will Welch two weeks ago. This only made me ever the more excited to read his first book. I thought it was great and entertaining, but I definitely wasn’t the intended audience, so some things went over my head. It’s available to listen to for free if you have Spotify Premium, which was an expereience I enjoyed.
I plan on walking to the Williamsburg McNally Jackson on my lunch break tomorrow to pick up a copy of They All Came to Barneys: Personal History of the World's Greatest Store by Gene Pressman, the grandson of Barney Pressman and namesake of the department store that once was the epicenter of chic, then Spirit Halloween, and now the development site of luxury condos. I’m back on my non-fiction grind, which was on sabbatical with smutty Kindle unlimited books to fill in the gaps.
This weekend, I watched Black Rabbit on Netflix, a limited series starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law. I had been hearing about this as a listener of Smartless for a long time, so I was excited to finally watch. It honestly wasn’t great. There were a lot of plot holes and bad acting which was disappointing. The best part was that they filmed in the East Village, Chinatown, and Seaport, so I recognized a bunch of the spots. The last episode has a chase scene throughout the half-abandoned East Broadway Mall where that famous dumpling place sits in the basement.
I also watched Fight Club for the first time this weekend in an effort to cross more things off my Letterboxd watchlist. That movie is so long. Way too long. It’s also such a boy movie, I don’t understand the release that punching people gives at all, so I couldn’t relate. I also was triggered because I used to date someone who dresses like Tyler Durden. Remember when I said it was time for me to overshare?
Something I’m looking forward to watching this week is Dancing with the Stars. This is a very nostalgic program for me because I have vivid memories of watching it with my mom and sister, staying up late on school nights to watch Donny Osmond or Chad Ochocinco get voted off. My friend, Clare, wasn’t allowed to watch TV during the week, so we couldn’t spoil for her who was voted off in elementary school. It’s just so wholesome and fun. From the first week, I thought that Robert Irwin, Whitney from SLOMW, Alix Earle, Barron, and Elaine (aka Meredith Blake) were the best.
I want to leave you all with this—Dunkin’ has the best fast-food breakfast ever. This weekend, I tried their Original Iced Coffee with cereal milk (obsessed) and the Maple Bacon Wake-Up Wrap (next level delicious), and I’ve been changed forever. I literally won’t ever get Starbucks by choice ever again. Treat yourself this weekend, and think of me.
Turns out my door is magnetic, so I’ve started leaving myself notes so I don’t forget anything on the way to work. I really could use that money back, so tune in next week to find out if this mission was accomplished:
