Must Read: Chiara Ferragni Covers 'Brides' in Her Dior Wedding Dress, CFDA Unveils Preliminary New York Fashion Week Schedule
Plus, Forever 21 is in hot water for casting a white male to model "Black Panther" merch.
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Wednesday.
Chiara Ferragni covers Brides in her Dior wedding dress
2018 was a year of famous nuptials: Goop's Gwyneth Paltrow got married, along with Priyanka Chopra to Nick Jonas, and of course, Meghan Markle to Prince Harry. But perhaps the most memorable — or at least, the most-documented on social media — was Chiara Ferragni's wedding. The influencer married Fedez over Labor Day weekend in a fireworks-and-foliage filled ceremony, complete with a ferris wheel. For the occasion, Ferragni wore two Dior Couture gowns custom designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri. Ferragni is now featured on Brides' February/March 2019 cover wearing the Dior gown she wore to the ceremony (see above). {Brides}
CFDA unveils preliminary New York Fashion Week schedule
The CFDA released a preliminary schedule for New York Fashion Week Fall 2019 on Tuesday, and a few big names are missing from the lineup: Victoria Beckham, Escada, Rodarte and Pyer Moss are all not listed. Tom Ford will hold a dual-gender show on Wednesday, Feb. 6, which will fall at the end of the official men's calendar and at the beginning of the women's. Palm Angels, the Milan-based streetwear brand owned by the New Guards Group, is a new addition to the schedule. {WWD}
Forever 21 is being criticized for casting a white male to model "Black Panther" merch
Forever 21 got itself in hot water when it posted images of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white male modeling a Fair Isle sweater with a "Wakanda Forever" slogan and a "Black Panther" mask on the front to Twitter. Social media users were quick to blast the fast fashion retailer for its less-than-ideal choice in casting. The post has since been removed and Forever 21 issued an apology statement. {Hypebeast}
How the cultural appropriation debate has changed
The debate over cultural appropriation is currently so widespread that it's starting to see pushback. For years, the term for was directed at white people who took elements of another culture without consent, but now people of color are nearly as likely as whites to face accusations of appropriation. Nadra Nittle spoke with professor Susan Scafidi, the founder and academic director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School and the author of "Who Owns Culture?: Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law," about how the term's meaning has shifted and why some of the most appalling examples of cultural appropriation continue to happen. {Vox}
Brexit uncertainty is threatening the state of British fashion retail
Shoppers have become much more hesitant to spend in the U.K. as Brexit negotiations continue to be riddled with uncertainty. This decrease in spending has caused a severe drop in expected earnings for prominent U.K. retailers. So to combat diminishing sales during the holiday shopping season, British retailers have resorted to steep discounts. According to a report from Deloitte, retailers have slashed prices by an average of 44 percent, with an expected average of 48 percent by Christmas Eve. {Glossy}
W Magazine makes its way toward a sale as staffers depart
According to WWD, W is said to have gotten preliminary interest from roughly 15 potential suitors — many of which are foreign investment groups — in recent weeks as it made available a fact sheet on its current business and prospective go-forward business value and potential. But the high likelihood of a sale hasn't been enough to keep several longtime staffers on the masthead: Sam Walker, W's senior market editor, left the magazine, along with jewelry editor Gabriella de Givenchy and executive digital director Sarah Leon. {WWD}
