GEIST Issue 001 Winter 22/23

GEIST

A certain acknowledgement of cultural awareness or your Sunday Best? What is the allure of Stone Island? GET THE A BADGE IN BEAUTY’S WEALTH GAP

The cost of living is ruining my confidence. When the cost of butter now exceeds a fiver, how are we supposed to balance food, bills and a balayage?

Jordan Ricketts, ZenaFawzy- Abdou, Immi Sturgeon, Lili Ishmail, Lily Bull, Leoni Causton,ShaunaWright,Alice Dodds, Verity Smiley-Jones, JohnnyDufort,T.S.Fox,Noah Dillon, Milicent Hailes.

Cover: Photographed by Jordan Ricketts. Modelled by Immi Sturgeon.

Slow fashion, fast finds.

Get the Badge In

It’s the best accessory.

Written, designed and styled by Jordan Ricketts. Photograped by Zena Fawzy-Abdou. Modelled by Lili Ishmail, Immi Sturgeon and Lily Bull. In partnership with Stone Island.

A certain acknowledgement of cultural awareness, your Sunday Best or a testament to Italian high fashion? Perhaps all of the above. What really is Stone Island and why does it continue to charm the masses? Existing on the back of an inherently British stereotype that won’t seem to budge, the brand is one that is merely up for personal interpretation as its badge is worn on left arms globally, with merit.

The modern day British man is not complete without his Stoney. ‘Incase it kicks off at the pub’, they say. From football hooligans to the ordinary dad, the casual dress, fist fighting light that Stone Island is perceived in today has a long and charming history that many fail to admit.

There's something fascinating about how an esteemed Italian fashion brand, curated with a sense of understated luxury, has become one of Britain's football culture’s most notable fashion trends. Established in 1982, Stone Island has since been adopted by an array of subcultures; notably, the Gazelle-wearing white male, but it hasn’t always been this way, and its influence continues to penetrate through the masses.

Massimo Osti, the founder of Stone Island, birthed the brand on the philosophy of research, usability and experimentation. Hybridising fashion design and engineering, in the northern Italian town of Ravarino, he pioneered thousands of fabrics, methods and dyeing processes to bring his vision, which was always more than purely aesthetic, to life.

This vision was quickly obscured by the newfound continuous success of English football teams in the 80s, though. Osti’s creations were picked up by these fans

who found themselves in the streets of European countries more and more and filled the terraces of the stadiums at overseas away games. This subculture, later known as ‘terrace casual', soon became keen on - what was then deemed foreign - continental sportswear brands that we see today. Even if they didn’t bring back a trophy, the Stone Island parker was without a doubt coming home.

In 1992 however, in true British style, Stone Island stock was unlawfully taken back to England after the European Championships in Sweden. This tournament saw England knocked out by the hosts, leading to the looting of a clothing outlet, ‘Genius’. Yet, this is what set the brand in stone when it came to a British consumer, cementing its influence on the subculture in an irony like no other.

The evolution of Stone Island became pretty stagnant from there on, with its two main audiences already established, one of which being the mainland European style-conscious male. This look was adapted from the 80s Milanese youth dynasty, the ‘Paninari’.

While they may have named themselves after a sandwich shop, the Paninari dressed themselves in expensive designer clothing - namely famous Italian labels - and coded their own slang in search for a new identity; one that was miles away from their parents who typically made up the Milanese Bourgeoisie. They prided themselves on knowing the English lyrics to 80s pop of the time, sharing tapes of Duran Duran and Wham! while posing in front of bikes and women. “Do you belong to any political party?”, reporters wondered at the time, but their responses were sparse and understated. The Paninari

just wanted to have fun and look cool - politics asidewhich was far from true for the terrace casual subculture back in England.

Then came the brand’s influence across the pond. In 2014, Stone Island’s breakthrough in the United States was fueled by their collaboration with Supreme, a hype beast's kryptonite. This saw rappers like Travis Scott and Drake fighting over who discovered it first, and the appearance of the newly famed compass badge appearing on many celebrities’ left arm. This push into the mainstream led the brand back to the UK, once again, but in a completely different context. Stone Island continued to grow alongside the grime scene, amplifying the brand’s status once more.

In recent times, the rise of Stone Island amongst the British women’s streetwear scene has been prominent, and simply captivating to watch. Emulating looks taken from menswear lines has been a thing for women in streetwear since its dawn, but to take a brand that for many is a token of masculine pride or the uniform of lads down the local is something to honour when it comes to fashion. This contrast is exciting and is the next step to Stone Island’s venture to garner the attention of a whole new crowd.

The duality of the brand is what captures the true essence of fashion. Its ability to be adapted and accepted into an array of subcultures while each garment is a unique and beautifully engineered piece of high fashion is the kind of complexity that doesn’t come easy. All brands have their audiences and those they need to please, and yes, a label always means different things to different people, but the stark contrast

of these audiences sets Stone Island apart. This variation of the same entity is what makes it special, and in its own way demonstrates the compounded identities that form through subcultures in fashion.

Whether you’re a 50-something football fan showing off his luminescent jacket, a Milanese mob star, rapper or even a womenswear collector, Stone Island welcomes all to share the mutual rapport that is classic innovation and simply an ode to what fashion should befor the people, and here’s our take on it. In simple terms, get the badge in.

Femininity in Fashion

Written, photographed and styled by Jordan Ricketts. Modelled by Leoni Causton.

What does it mean to be ‘feminine’?

What does it mean to be feminine? The question with an answer that knows no bounds. For some it is the freedom to make choices and discover paths that will fulfil them, while for others it can allude to being maternal and gentle. There is a newfound recognition of the power in femininity; the ability to be successful without constraint, and frankly, observing all of the above in one’s own personal way.

The Oxford dictionary describes femininity as qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women or girls, and while it is impossible to refine that, what makes it so special is the forever evolving and personalised differentiations of the term. No one should define what feminine means to you as you shouldn’t for anybody else.

To me, femininity is being comfortable in who I am and how I express myself. I don’t shy away from the - admittedly stereotypical - ‘ultra-feminine’, but also enjoy the ‘masculine’ side of who I am when it wants to come out. It's more than pretty nails and a vast shoe collection (although I do love that side of being a woman) and more about expressing my identity as I become increasingly comfortable in my own skin, while building strength and success. It also boils down to what I wear and the confidence I exude when I present myself in this way.

Femininity in fashion has always been a topic that’s up for discussion. From power suits, to mini skirts, female fashion and what it represents in our modern society has always been up in the air.

The new age of modern dressing has stripped back the binaries that were once instinctively conformed to, unravelling the art of individual self expression and identity. Whether you relate to the binaries of gender or not, there is a sense of mutual acknowledgement of the uninterrupted possibilities nowadays when it comes to dressing. What is masculine dress? What is feminine dress? The restraints have been lifted and non-conformity is the way forward, as we all have different ideas of self expression.

I find myself, as I get older, dressing less for the male gaze, and more for myself, which has instilled in me another element of my personal femininity. My fashion seems to seesaw across the binaries and it is through this that I am able to self express. Of course I am influenced by the culture

around me, but that is the beauty of it all. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, but rather something to be celebrated as the capabilities are boundless when you detach your identity from what you think it should be and latch on to what you want it to be. The push towards individual representation allows us to explore the realms of the world around us and refract from the patriarchal preference of female dressing.

Nowadays, even everyday fashion is seen as an art form. The daily regiment of choosing clothing encapsulates the essence of who we are, our cultures and social identities. “An artefact of extended self”, if you will. Using certain styles as a signifier, we are able to personalise the human experience, which is what makes modern day dressing so captivating. Fashion knows no bounds and this should be celebrated.

Here at GEIST, we’ve visualised what femininity in fashion means to us, in a bid to recognise and honour the art that is female dressing.

“Femininity is authentically growing into power, voice, and strength.”

Geist (A)

The game foreverybody.

Photographed, styled and designed by Jordan Ricketts. Modelled by Lily Bull and Zena FawzyAbdou.

Opposite page: Germany World Cup shirt. Sarong by Jacquemus. Boots vintage This page: Brazil World Cup shirt. Dress by Constança Entrudo. Shoes by Prada.

England team shirt. Skirt by Prada. Boots by NiiHAi.

This year saw the rise of all the cores - bloke, dad, gorp. What is deemed by many as arguably fashion’s downfall - the overhaul of trends meaning the loss of the structure of seasons - may also have a silver lining. The exploration of fashion identities and boundary pushing is welcomed in these new times, if done responsibly.

In light of the football celebrations this year, and the newfound appreciation of women in the sport, join us in fashioning this season’s away game looks.

Mind’s Eye An ode to growing up.

SELF

Words by Jordan Ricketts. Makeup design by Alice Dodds. Photographed by Verity Smiley-Jones.

There comes a time in your twenties where you wake up hungover, because your friend insisted that you join her at this new bar she discovered through stalking her ex on Instagram. While being overpriced and each cocktail named after a sex position, making it utterly awkward to order, it had a beautiful Scandanavian warm interior taken straight from Pinterest - as does most of Soho nowadays, now that you think of it. Though, from what you can remember of the unintentionally fuzzy night, it matched your own interior design goals. However, you’re renting and the landlord is a prick who hates anything that exudes even an ounce of modernity.

You shudder at the sight of the dress you so desperately wanted to wear on your second date of the week tonight, that is seemingly still damp and has now fallen off the radiator. It acts as a makeshift tumble drier because the flat that you searched high and low for- in this economy- doesn’t have one. Sod him though, this will probably be another case of, ‘you’re a lovely girl but…’. You shake off the thought because you’ll never be impartial to a free dinner, even though you relentlessly call yourself a feminist, and the bill should probably be split in two. But you’re a traditional woman. So traditional that you find yourself seeking validation from the 23-27 year olds within a 10 mile radius on Hinge, which makes you hate your neighbourhood and what it has to offer.

You get up and examine the hellhole, otherwise known as your bedroom, which you left in a flurry after your last minute invite. Following many arguments with yourself last night, on the basis that you absolutely need more clothes, you conclude this morning that you absolutely do not. The pile on the floor confirms this as it seems to look up to you with grimacing eyes and you feel a twinge of guilt as you remember the planet is in fact dying and this situation of yours is turning into overconsumption and is not doing anything good for the state of the earth. Sitting on the end of the bed, you aimlessly scroll through Instagram to distract yourself, until an image of a celebrity and their private jet meets your eyes - but save the turtles, right?

Annoyed by this evident double standard, you mooch into the bathroom until you are met with your reflection for the first time today. Your eyelash extensions point in all different directions because you must have slept on your front, which you have been told many times by the lady at the salon not to do. Maybe you should go on an eyelash detox? But you can’t because your mum let you have them done for year eleven prom and you’ve been getting them ever since because you don’t feel pretty without them, so you’ll blame her for that one. You should call your mum.

You open the luxurious faux leather case that came with your Dyson Air Wrap - an impulsive purchase costing you £500 that you’ll never get back and caused you to eat nothing but Pot Noodle for the remainder of the month, but it’s okay because this girl on YouTube told you to

buy it after you cut your own curtain bangs after perilously insisting on needing to change your appearance one night at two A.M. At least the box is cute. You wonder if you can even afford to be using heat on your hair, let alone have the heating on all day, and you begin to imagine what life would be like if the Tories would step down, and it’s a euphoric thought, because my god it’s freezing in here.

As you are now an adult, unfortunately, you live on Microsoft Outlook and your MacBook Pro, which doesn’t seem to be very ‘pro’, since it breaks every year. But alas, this one seems to be holding strong, and it houses all the tools needed to make it in the creative industry, which justifies it all.

Or so you thought, as you scroll through email after email, anticipating your next job, because as a freelancer your life depends on holding on to hope. You wonder why you decided to go to uni and not just get a 9-5 in customer service, or something, because at least you’d have a stable income. You soon realise, though, that this is the hangover talking and you start to feel sad because you miss your uni friends and your little house which you made your own.

There is an IKEA flatpack staring at you in the corner of the room, which you’d promised yourself you’d build in an attempt to make your flat somewhat pleasant, in true ‘girlboss’ fashion. Yet, even though you’re an adult now- which life likes to send small unwelcomed reminders of everyday- you still need your dad to help you with the handiwork, and you keep forgetting to ask. It reminds you of Christmas morning

where the living room would turn into a Barbie workshop, and again, you are ridden with sadness as you long for the days where you were carefree and nothing seemed to matter.

You decide to take yourself on a ‘hot girl walk’, because Tik Tok told you to and you desperately value the views of teenagers on there, in an attempt to feel part of something. You recognise that you’re not old, but not getting any younger and you sometimes wonder why you haven’t bought property and settled down like every single one of your Facebook friends from school. But there’s time for that and it isn’t going anywhere, you decide - in what is quite possibly the first positive thought today.

“No kid or husband, but least I have all this storage for coats,” you tell yourself, rummaging through the array of winter coats - way more than needed for one person, but you’re an adult who can own as many coats as they want. You decide on one of the nicer ones in an attempt to make yourself feel better but deep down you know it’s in case you meet someone like in the films. Although, the only person you’ll bump into is the hipster who will serve you at the coffee shop who hates his life - but, hey, that’s a common interest, right? Realising the cynicality of this and blaming it on the fact that you desperately need a fancy £10 coffee, you decide on comfort as always, and go on your merry way, as you try to decipher the phenomenon that is growing up.

2022: The year of Chaos

SELF

Words by Lauren O’Neill. Photographed by Johnny Dufort.

I wish I had some wisdom to share from 2022, our first year back to ‘normality’. But the truth is, I’ve got nothing. In fact, the only sense I can make of the past twelve months is that they were the logical conclusion of a completely illogical time. It has been a year of total pandemonium – of Hinge, of heatwaves, of head loss – and life in London, at least, took on the aspect of a Hieronymous Bosch painting, everyone aged between 27 and 33 licking each other or at least desperate to, the air gone wild and static while the Queen died in the background.

As such, I don’t think we’re supposed to come away from this period with anything useful to say. It has been a time for feeling and doing and discovering. Prior to this, I spent two years in my flat thinking so hard that I wrote an entire novel I now can’t bear to look at. In 2022, thinking was over, and chaos took the lead. 2022 was the first full year out of lockdown, and you felt that in every pulsating moment of the thing. Buoyed by all of the sudden activity, the news cycle went into overdrive, and current events started feeling even more like they were being

churned out by a random word generator (“Elon Musk Twitter purchase”, “Wagatha Christie libel trial”, “Kate Bush renaissance”, “the rats don’t run this city, we do”, “UK second place Eurovision”, “Kendall Jenner horse surrogate”, and so on). This, paired with the sense of stasis that was slowly lifting in people’s personal lives, set the scene for another pandemic – one caused by the disease known scientifically as “moving mad”.

Even if you’ve managed to avoid it yourself you’ll definitely have heard more than usual this year about people you know making massive, life-altering choices – leaving long-term relationships, deciding to have kids, running away abroad – apparently egged on by the stillness of 2020 and most of 2021, and the comparative feeling that living in 2022, as the world properly opened back up, was suddenly kind of like going on Oblivion at Alton Towers.

While the entire year has crackled with a particularly live type of insanity, this intensity increased during the summer: hedonism made a comeback as live events, holidays and festivals all returned at once, with full force. Meanwhile it got so record-breakingly hot that the pavements were full of melted rubbish. The sense of slightly wired freedom that travelled on the humid air, I think, got up a lot of people’s noses, and so it makes sense that it was around that time that every couple seemed to be shitting (marriage) or getting off the pot (becoming slutty on Instagram), an uncanny soundtrack of Beyoncé and banal daytime

TV segments about the end of the world: frightening temperatures, drownings, and the best cooling mats for pets.

You get cast adrift at most times of significant change like this in general, let alone during a period like 2022, when the country went through three Prime Ministers like £1 shots, and the single biggest news event was people queuing up overnight in a 10 mile long line to get a look at the dead Queen, for up to 30 hours. So when our personal lives implode — my own long-term relationship ended during the summer, and this year I also moved in alone, and left two jobs — and the stability of the world around you is compromised too, as it has been both environmentally and politically this year, it’s compelling in some ways to succumb to the chaotic forces at play, and just behave accordingly.

But even in times where things have felt farcical or reckless or abject or all of the above, I don’t think I can really say any of it has been bad. In some ways, the havoc of 2022 has been a sort of fact-finding mission for us all, undertaken through saying yes, having new experiences, and letting the strangeness inherent to this odd year take its seat at our table.

As was the case for most people, lockdown told me I was one person – apparently, I was into knitting – but since it has eased, I have realised that the past couple of years crinkled me up a bit. I am in my late twenties (cope), and previously I thought of this time – when many of your friends start getting married or having children or generally doing things that

aren’t staying out until three on a Wednesday because ‘it’s funny’ – as the bit of life where you become a fullyrealised adult person who has a pretty decent handle on who they are. But as so many circumstances in my life began to change, I found that I still had a lot to learn.

It has been a year of so much personal change for so many people – challenging enough without adding on the fact that the world you live in has become so ambiently demented that the World Cup fully sucks now, ‘goblin mode’ became the word of the year and Matt Hancock came third on I’m a Celebrity. Under conditions like that, it makes sense that people might feel unmoored, but as grim as the events we have lived through this year and in recent history have been, it’s compelling to remember that it is good, and useful, to be uncomfortable.

For many, this has not been a year for any special achievement, but it has been a time for growth, and for understanding who we are again, or who we could be if we wanted. 2022, for a lot of us, has just been about opening yourself back up, and admitting that actually you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. Sometimes you just have to take the universe at surface value – and when the universe throws chaos at you, it’s a genuine option to simply reflect it right back.

Mind the Gap

SELF Photographed and styled by Jordan Ricketts. Modelled by Immi Sturgeon. Words by Shauna Wright.

Visions of a life where I don’t recognise myself at all.

It’s funny how one day you look up to see a stranger - cliche as it is. We spend years chasing the ideals and airs of a perfect ghost that is openly rumoured about; we’re given slips and hints of how to become them: change regimen, styling, attitude, ignoring the fact this ideal changes as quickly in their eyes as it does in our own. You stress and wonder over the perspective of others, how their gaze reaches you, confused over their raw instinct at the idea of you. Simply what do I look like? Oh god, is that how I sound? Oh Christ, is that what you thought?

Forcibly removing these thoughts can prove fruitful. Just pretend you don’t care; it will work itself out. Indulging in nausea at the image of yourself is a silly waste of time, it’s frivolous to examine your own persona so closely - at the end of the day it’s not your business to know others’ opinions of you.

But you’re sat on a train, a tube train, on some weekday evening back from some charity shop in some town centre at the end of some line, opposite some person wrapped in wool and eyes glassed like beads, of course.

And suddenly they look up and grip their gaze in yours and a rush of unfamiliarity hits you. They’re some distant cousin, some friend of a friend. Maybe you were served by them this morning and watched the movements of their careful hands lazily. But now, sitting opposite you in outside clothes, ultimately a complete stranger. You both raise a chin in challenge, set your eyes, and blink.

They have fluffy, clouded hair. Cheekbones. There’s heavy jewellery in all the places my mother would enjoy, winking kindly. Her eyes are dark and deep set. Her mouth, also frowning slightly, but pale against the stretch of her face.

How did she get Dad’s jacket?

Coat by NA-KD. Corset by Susamusa.

I know I insisted I never would - but I’m a hypocrite and a liar until the very end. It’s not my fault - I change my mind so quickly and subtly that it’s often hard to keep up, until you nonchalantly glance at the rear view, then the map, just to realise that the best route ended up being the road you told them would be full of traffic.

Opinions are like dinner plates. We serve them out to the guests of our establishment quietly and with purpose, later only to take them back humbly, empty of flair and crusted with crumbs. The strongest hog roast of statements are left out for clearing, and as the hours pass and the meat is hacked apart it’s later taken away. The issue is the bowls of ice cream and yoghurt, considered as a dessert, a final stamp - but left until sour and dry, lumped and discoloured. The table is empty, the seats long cleared and yet this stupid bowl remains. Full to the brim of rancid milk and soggy wafer; gloopy, squashed fruit. Past its hour of need or want or relevance, the waiter refuses to collect it, leaving it to hold its place on the stained tablecloth instead.

I am too often found with my apron. Sneaking into the kitchen and adjusting a plate’s presentation with the line cook- placing garnishes with a well trained precision beyond my years. Then I bring them out, a ceramic octopus armed with spoons and forks and napkins. I serve up statements and tidy them down, offering alternatives and lighting candles.

Tiger Print

I have been the waitress stood pleasantly to the side as I listen to the rupture of chat, and I have been the dinner guest ripping bread to pieces and leaving the crusts abandoned. l have been paid in cheques and in pennies, favours and in promises; but all I have left for you now is an after dinner mint sat on a tiger print tissue.

SELF Words by Shauna Wright. Photographed by Jordan Ricketts.

I’m considering getting into animal print.

Every issue, GEIST creates a playlist, full of old and new tracks that we’ve been loving recently. Scan the QR code to discover more. In partnership with Spotify

Smooth Operator Sade

Los Pollos Hermanos Knucks

Kill Bill SZA

Plastic Loyle Carner

Baianá Nia Archives

Starry Night Peggy Gou

Real Love Drizabone

I Believe In Miracles Jackson Sisters

VEX Slowthai

Slow Kisses Finn Foxell

hey

i made you a playlist

What we’re listening to this season

Beauty’s Wealth Gap

WORLD Words by Jordan Ricketts. Photographed by Verity Smiley-Jones.

The cost of living is ruining my confidence.

Beauty is something that most of us are reluctant to give up. If you're anything like me, the concept of personal beauty is not ultimately defined by applying god-knows-what to god-knows-where, but it does play a large role.

Trying to ignore the stances of modern day media, who forcibly promote unattainable ideals of what a woman should be or look like, has always been my forte. Yet, I’m sure you can relate to my impartiality to a regulated beauty routine. Whilst I could go on for days about embracing the natural - and believe me, sometimes that is the only way, as I try and decipher the extremities of life - the confidence that a fresh set of nails or even a cut and blowdry brings is unmatched.

The cost of living crisis that we find ourselves in has stripped women of their ability to present themselves in a certain way through the beauty services they buy into. Nearly three fifths of Brits are making changes to their spending habits, as the amount spent on essential items reaches an all time high

When the cost of butter now exceeds a fiver, how are we supposed to balance food, bills and a balayage? I don't know about you, but the cost of living is ruining my confidence.

In September alone, UK salons and barbers saw a 20% drop in revenue, highlighting the sheer sacrifice of beauty treatments since the rapid acceleration of inflation. As we find ourselves in dire straits, with rising energy bills, fuel, and for some, an accumulation of debt, it’s no wonder why many have been sacking off the hairdressers chair in an attempt to heat their homes. This in turn has highlighted the pressure to achieve perfectionism that many women now can’t afford to meet.

Confidence has always been a big thing for me, like I know it is for many of you. In fact, a 2022 Opinium survey found that confidence in our appearance is a topdriver for self-esteem. We all strive towards perfectionism, especially in this digital age. As damaging as it can be, I find myself aimlessly scrolling through social media, in a flurry of comparison as I take in each touched-up image that represents a goal that I can’t even reach now, even if I wanted to.

While in no way am I saying that I feel inadequate, and I am all for no-makeup days,

but there is a lack of choice now in how I want to present myself, that ultimately feels quite cruel. Re-evaluating my spending habits has become a chore, and it feels as though I've stepped into a personal crisis, let alone a national one. Some may call it vanity or self-conceit, but there seems to be an overbearing social influence that feels heavier than ever before, because of the fact that access to my beauty treatments is dissipating before my very eyes.

Beauty culture is so limitless and creative and I know I’m not alone when I say that cutting back has made me feel like a duller version of myself. For many it puts a strain on relationships and gives them lesser reasons to socialise. I find myself Googling ‘how tos’ on services I usually participate in in a bid to treat myself. After lockdown it felt as though we had all learnt our lesson not to cut our own hair, but the kitchen scissors that lie in the drawer beside my sink seem to call to me louder everytime I pass, and my sense of impending doom rises each day. But alas, it's not like my hairdresser can tell me off for it anytime soon anyway.

Many women are straying away from wearing makeup, let alone buying it, and because we are in these trying times, once again the concept of beauty has faded

into a ball of nothingness. According to a new report by Beauty Buyers’ Club, of the top 15 beauty brands, all of them supply from the same three manufacturers, so the argument here is that pricing should be fair, in comparison to the hyper-inflated markups we are experiencing today. The cost of living crisis has resulted in consumers demanding “fairer pricing, greater product efficacy and more honest business models”, which is outlined by the report, and this may just be our glimmer of hope.

While to some, this may all seem trivial, I hope there is an understanding of the importance of beauty treatments to women and their self-esteem. Whether this be for medical or professional reasons - or simply as a pick-me-up, I stand with you in recognising the brutality of these services being swept from our feet. For now, I have an at home acrylic nail kit coming in the post, and I’ll be sure to let you know how that goes.

The Luxury Resale Economy

How does resale fit with luxury?

WORLD Words by Jacob Hall. Photographed by Jordan Ricketts.

Resale has become an increasingly important part of the luxury market over the last few years, drawing the attention of big brands, business analysts and consumers alike.

Many in the resale space have been claiming it’s a greener way to purchase luxury, while others say the growth of resale shows an emerging circular economy within the luxury sector. Either way, in an industry with such strong, entrenched values around exclusivity, any shift towards second-hand or pre-loved goods is worth taking note of.

In light of these significant changes, is it possible that resale could become the sustainable future of the luxury industry?

Simply put, resale in luxury is the purchase and sale of pre-loved luxury goods. This includes luxury apparel, jewellery, watches, bags and other accessories, as well as art, antiques and much more.

In an industry that’s been traditionally focused on price and prestige, the idea of preloved goods might seem to contradict the essence of luxury. But in 2022, it’s big business.

After a sustained period of strong growth, the luxury resale market in 2021 was valued at nearly US$33 billion, accounting for roughly 10% of the entire luxury industry worldwide. And many watching this space suggest that this trend is set to continue, with resale forecasted to surge to a whopping US$52 billion by 2026.

So what’s behind this impressive surge in resale? There are a couple of factors that might be coming into play.

For one thing, the luxury retail space has become more accepting of pre-loved goods over time. At the same time, a handful of new demographics have been entering the luxury market in recent years. Of these, it’s China’s booming middle class that is probably the most significant, while India’s middle class has also been steadily growing.

These trends have brought sizable numbers of new buyers into the global luxury market. However, with high tariff rates for luxury goods, and the relative expense of European and American designer labels, potential buyers are on the lookout for affordable options that still carry brand recognition.

What’s more, while these buyers have mostly looked to Western brands to fulfil their demands for luxury, China’s domestic luxury industry is also steadily on the rise. This trend could add to the growing circular luxury fashion market, with lower barriers to entry, fewer tariffs and lower shipping costs for domestically produced luxury goods.

Younger Millenials and Gen Z buyers have also been steadily breaking into the luxury market over the last few years, increasingly putting sustainability on the agenda as a core consumer value. And that’s another sector where luxury resale has conscious appeal, promising less waste, less production and

potentially a greener luxury economy.

It’s a strong message with a strong, and growing, demand — and one that more and more designer brands are beginning to throw their weight behind.

Growing numbers of sustainably-minded luxury buyers seem to think so, along with a lengthening list of luxury producers. The common claim is that resale will reduce the overall production of luxury goods, with older, second-hand goods circulating through the market rather than gathering dust in wardrobes or even ending up in landfill, like most unwanted fashion.

But does the boom of resale actually indicate a turn towards sustainability in luxury? Some experts keeping a close eye on the luxury resale industry are more than a little sceptical about just how green it can be.

Nicole Bassett, founder of the fashion sustainability consulting company, The Renewal Workshop, gave Vogue Business her take on resale.

“The consumer can be more sustainable as an individual, but if every brand is still just generating more and more new stuff every year, that’s not actually changing anything.”

And the evidence that resale has actually reduced the overall output of designer brands is scarce. 9 out of 10 buyers of pre-loved luxury fashion also buy new products. Worse still, there’s a growing indicator that luxury resale consumers are increasingly

treating pre-loved luxury goods as a new form of fast fashion.

This shows that luxury fashion, just like any other consumer industry, won’t become more sustainable because of conscious consumption alone. For these sustainability goals to have any substantial impact, producers also need to get on board and make some drastic changes to their business models — reducing production, curtailing waste and cleaning up supply chains.

With such strong and sustained growth in the pre-loved luxury industry, it’s safe to say that resale is going to be an integral part of the luxury market for some time. Increasing numbers of designer labels are getting on board too, figuring out innovative ways that they can add value to the resale experience.

However, it doesn’t seem likely that resale will surpass new luxury sales any time in the near future, and some brands have expressed concern that providing too much support for the resale economy could end up damaging profits from new releases.

On the consumer side, though, resale is certainly something to be excited about. The chance to give your old luxury items a new life, and even hunt down old or vintage pieces is sure to satisfy the fashion goals of many.

For this reason, the luxury resale space is certainly one to keep a close eye on.

Next page: Words by Ravishaan Rahel Muthiah.

Winter Sun

Cold truths about our warm planet.

Welcome to Winter Sun, GEIST’s climate segment, featuring top stories with a focus on climate change, sustainability and environmental activism each issue.

While it is begninning to sound like a luxury as we prepare to endure the depths of winter, Winter Sun aims to highlight the real life issues of our ever-declining climate. As the planet gets hotter, we must be the hope for the world and do our part in putting an end to the crisis.

WORLD Photographed by Milicent Hailes. Makeup design and modelled by Alice Dodds. Words by Jordan Ricketts.

Gone are the days where we could watch from afar as climate emergencies wreaked havoc in the Global South. It was only last February when Storm Franklin was the third severe storm in the space of one week and flooded houses across Shropshire and Worcestershire, with hundreds of people forced to be evacuated. Our country was not prepared to deal with extreme weather this summer either, yet climate emergencies are now in our living rooms, on our doorsteps and on our motorways. As we came to terms with extreme weather being in our households – not just on our screens – we must remember that people in the Global South have been on the frontlines of this crisis, facing extreme heat and storms for decades.

In Iran, it recently hit 52 degrees – the hottest temperature ever recorded, while Bangladesh has faced months of extreme flooding leading to thousands of people losing their homes and loved ones. The cruellest reality of the crisis is that those who are least responsible for climate breakdown in the Global South are most affected – the richest one per cent cause double the carbon emissions of the poorest 3.1 billion (Kylie Jenner’s reported three-minute private jet journey comes to mind), but it is the world’s poorest who are now being pushed to leave their homes because of drought, flooding and deforestation. This is

a crisis caused by colonialera exploitation of land and people, and our continued resource extraction of the Global South. Racism is embedded in the climate crisis, as people in the Global South are now suffering the devastating impact of colonialism and capitalism that the Global North has profited from. And as large swathes of our planet become unliveable, people are being forced to move.

As the horrors of the climate crisis become reality, we are seeing this government turn away people seeking safety here, and embrace the politics of the far-right – trying to send refugees to Rwanda, locking more and more people up in asylum camps, and breaking their climate pledges. They could be funding the green solutions we need to survive and thrive, but instead they’re failing to fund renewables, and stoking hatred towards people fleeing war – as if they were responsible for our problems instead of the politicians and billionaires profiting from climate destruction. By rejecting a green new deal and fair immigration policies, this government are effectively making the situation worse for all of us, including our counterparts in the Global South.

Even if the global temperature rise is limited to 1.5°C by the end of the century, 30 to 60 million people are projected to live in hot areas where the average heat in the

hottest month is likely to be too high for a human body to function. In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “this is code red for humanity”. There’s no time left for more broken climate promises. We must prevent further climate devastation. New oil and gas projects like Jackdaw in the North Sea must be stopped. But we also need to adapt fast, and that means expecting more migration, demanding justice for migrants, and welcoming those forced to move. A whole 13 years ago the current UN SecretaryGeneral warned that climate change could be the biggest driver of displacement. Yet after the Earth’s hottest decade on record, there has still been no progress; no conversation, not even a muttering by our government about climate migration. It’s not getting any cooler.

With our interest peaked this week as victims of the crisis, we must open our eyes to the impending reality. Massive parts of the world will become uninhabitable, including parts of the UK. Two days of record-breaking heat, rightly sent us into panic with most of us cowering inside our homes desperate to cool down. Imagine if it was a month or worse six months, I’m certain many of us would consider moving and those who could move, would.

This year our government’s advice was to stay home during the heatwave – but what about when home

becomes too hot? Or when your home is being flooded? The solution won’t be as easy as “stay home” for much longer. People in coastal areas will need to move across the country, into cities, and people across the world will need to flee their sinking homelands.

We can’t wait for another COP conference, where governments across the world collectively break their promises just months after their opportunistic environmental photoshoots. So, it’s time we seriously talk about an asylum policy that will allow climate refugees to freely travel or flee their burning homes. We must no longer accept the increasingly barbaric approach to people on the move. The pandemic showed us that rapid and transformative change is possible; the Ukraine asylum scheme showed that the government is able to put together rapid migration plans. It’s time they wise up and do away with the barbarity: we need safe routes for people fleeing extreme weather, we must welcome them with open arms.

Currently, climate refugees who come here because of climate disaster have no protection – they are arrested and detained and placed in brutal detention centres. A just future needs a green new deal, a fair transition away from fossil fuels, and a politics of welcome for climate refugees.

Climate Crisis: Why migrant justice is now more important than ever

P-Rallel Lenzman

IZCO GreenTea Peng 4am Kru

With Special Guest Nia Archives