The Glossy Podcast

After several years of ups and downs, the Chinese fast-fashion brand Shein finally went public this week. But the IPO wasn't what Shein hoped for.

For one, it came four years late. The company first started attempting to go public in 2022, but a series of political hurdles in New York and then London led to long delays. Finally, Shein went public in Hong Kong this week at a valuation of around $25 billion, down from $100 billion in 2022.

On this week's Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international reporter Zofia Zwieglisnka break down the three big reasons Shein has struggled to maintain the valuation it held in recent years.

The Vogue September issue is the most important issue of the year for the storied fashion magazine. And this year's edition is the first one published under the new direction of Chloe Malle, head of editorial content, who took over for the legendary Anna Wintour last September.

On the Glossy Podcast this week, hosts senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff take a look at Malle's first September issue and break down some of the ways that both Vogue and the larger fashion media industry have evolved.

Chief among those changes is that print magazines are no longer the primary source of style information for the vast majority of fashion enthusiasts. The September issue of old was a bellwether for trends, informing the public about what was in style now and coming down the pipeline. But print can't compete with the speed of online publishing, where much of that timely trend analysis has moved, meaning that print has to be more timeless.

The result is a sometimes contradictory product, full of ads for brands that are hot right now, but with editorial content that feels detached from the fashion business.

"It's interesting that Chloe Malle is coming from a digital background," Manoff said. "I was a Vogue subscriber for years, and I used to read things that were buzzy and new. This issue had stories about improving your mood with Botox or one about the dangers of clenching your jaw. I was just like, 'What am I reading here?'"

"A lot of it doesn't feel very timely," Parisi said. "Part of that is that people are more likely to buy print magazines today as a collector's item, as a coffee table book. That's why you see so many of those commemorative issues of random magazines in the grocery store aisle. They're not meant to give you timely information, which has all moved online."

The hosts also discuss the cover story, featuring Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere, two children of famous parents, and the connection to Chloe Malle, herself the daughter of actress Candice Bergen and filmmaker Louis Malle. The issue ties the theme of children of famous parents to the many designers who have taken over at legacy fashion houses in the last year.

And the September issue would be nothing without the clothes. This issue continues a trend in fashion editorial of single-brand looks.

"We've definitely moved away from the stylist-driven looks, which haven't been the norm for a while," Manoff said. "I like when you see 'stylist-owned ball cap' or 'vintage jeans' in the credits. It's unfortunate that that's gone, because that is very inspiring to me. When you see a head-to-toe look that's all one brand, you're not getting ideas on how to style it. Nobody dresses that way."

On this week’s Glossy Podcast, international fashion reporter Zofia Zwieglinska joins senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi to explain who Mike Ashley is, why the Harvey Nichols deal matters and how Frasers is gaining influence across the fashion industry.

It started with the Palantir chore coat. Then it was the Anthropic "thinking cap." Now, OpenAI has its own regular merch drops through its apparel arm, Supply Co.

Over the last year, big tech and AI companies have started to get into the fashion game, releasing streetwear-inspired drops, hiring people into roles like "head of vibes" and opening pop-up shops to show off their merch.

The reaction has been split. Many in the fashion community have lambasted these releases, calling them inauthentic and using fashion as a means of reputation laundering. Many of the companies involved, particularly Palantir, have been widely criticized for reasons including their environmental impact, unethical data acquisition models or contributions to mass surveillance.

Highsnobiety style writer Chris Erik Thomas joined the Glossy Podcast this week to discuss why these companies are entering the fashion game and why the reaction from streetwear communities has been so negative.

Copenhagen Fashion Week has spent the past two decades growing from a regional trade event into fashion’s unofficial fifth city. Along the way, it helped define the Scandi aesthetic, pioneered sustainability requirements that have influenced fashion weeks around the world and launched brands including Ganni, Cecilie Bahnsen and Saks Potts onto the global stage.

But as many of its biggest success stories move to Paris, what comes next?

This week, Glossy international fashion reporter Zofia Zwieglinska is joined by fashion editor and broadcaster Natalie Salmon to discuss Copenhagen’s rise, the legacy of the “Scandi girl,” the evolution of Ganni, why editors increasingly prioritize the week and what the next 20 years could look like.