Marianne Caroline

About the journal

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:00:10 +0000

Marianne Caroline is an independent journal about the fashion industry — not just what is on the runway this season, but everything around it: the mills and workshops, the price tags and supply chains, the people who cut, sew, style and sell.

Fashion coverage tends to move at the speed of the feed. A collection is shown, photographed, judged and forgotten inside a week. This journal takes the opposite approach. Each piece is written to still be worth reading a year from now.

Contact

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:00:10 +0000

The simplest way to reach us is by email: hello@mariannecaroline.com. Every message is read by a person, and we aim to reply within a few working days.

Pitches & story ideas

We’re always interested in stories from inside the industry — designers, pattern cutters, factory owners, buyers, stylists and resellers. If you have a story you think deserves a slower, longer telling, send a short outline: what it is, why now, and who we should talk to.

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Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:52:48 +0000

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US-China Tariff Truce Leaves Fashion and Footwear Out in the Cold

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:52:00 +0000

A Narrow Truce in a Long Tariff War

After talks in Washington, D.C. between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump on 25 September, both governments published reciprocal lists of non-sensitive products that will benefit from lower tariffs. Each list covers goods worth roughly 30 billion dollars, with agricultural commodities, hair and personal care products, and medical equipment among the headline categories.

The move marks a step back from the steep escalation of the past year, when the Trump administration imposed tariffs on Chinese goods reaching as high as 145 per cent, and China answered with a 125 per cent levy on American products. The new arrangement is designed to steady trade cooperation between the world’s two largest economies, but it stops well short of a broad liberalisation.

Target Shoppers Celebrate: 2,000 Price Cuts for Autumn

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:51:06 +0000

Target has announced a fresh round of price reductions on almost 2,000 everyday items, just as the busy autumn and holiday shopping season gets under way. The cuts affect a wide range of home and apparel products and build on more than 10,000 reductions the retailer has already made over the past year.

Among the most noticeable savings, women’s long-sleeve tees now cost $12, down from $15. The average price of women’s shoes has fallen to $35, compared with $40 last year. Families shopping for children will find rain and winter boots around 15 per cent cheaper, while bedding ranges are down by an average of 15 per cent. A Threshold queen comforter, for example, is now $69 instead of $89.

CFDA Appoints Hildy Kuryk as Interim CEO After Kolb Resignation

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:34:58 +0000

CFDA Names Hildy Kuryk as Interim CEO

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has appointed Hildy Kuryk as interim chief executive officer, following the resignation of Steven Kolb. The news was first reported by Vogue Business.

Kuryk will serve on a temporary contract while the organisation searches for a permanent successor. The CFDA has enlisted Karen Harvey Consulting Group to lead the search, a process expected to take between three and six months.

Soilless Cotton: Hydroponic Farming Trial Turns Five Tonnes Into Clothes

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:34:10 +0000

Cotton Without Soil: A Growing Experiment Leaves the Lab

What if the shirt on your back began life not in a field of red earth, but floating in a shallow channel of moving water on a rooftop or in a repurposed car park? That question is no longer hypothetical. A collaboration between the Spanish hydroponic farming specialist Magtech and H&M Group’s Circular Innovation Lab has taken a meaningful step from theory towards production, with an initial five-tonne batch of soil-free cotton grown in Spain passing quality control and being spun into finished garments.

CTR Group Acquires Hirestreet to Scale Rental Fashion

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:15:50 +0000

A Major Move in Circular Fashion

CTR Group, a UK circular economy and reverse logistics specialist, has acquired fashion rental platform Hirestreet. The deal brings rental and resale operations under one roof, signalling a push to scale subscription fashion rental across the UK. For CTR, it builds on its March 2025 acquisition of resale platform Thrift+, expanding its direct-to-consumer circular offerings.

The acquisition gives Hirestreet access to CTR’s substantial operational infrastructure, which processes over 1,500 tonnes of stock weekly across 560,000 square feet of UK and European sites. This network is designed to handle the logistics of moving goods through rental, resale, and eventual recycling or donation, ensuring maximum value recovery.

Primark's Game-Changing Deal for Recycled Polyester

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:30:05 +0000

Primark, the budget fashion giant, has made a significant move towards sustainability by signing a long-term purchase agreement with Circ, a textile-to-textile recycling company. From 2029, Primark will incorporate recycled polyester derived from textile waste into its clothing, marking a major step in reducing its reliance on virgin polyester and advancing its circular economy commitments.

A Landmark Deal for Circular Fashion

This agreement represents Primark’s first multi-year offtake deal with a textile-to-textile recycler. It underscores the retailer’s ambition to scale its use of circular materials and drive demand for innovative recycling solutions. Circ’s technology is designed to recycle polycotton blends—a common but challenging mix—by separating and recovering both polyester and cellulose, which can then be reintroduced into fashion supply chains. The recycled polyester will be produced at Circ’s planned commercial facility, which will source textile feedstock globally, including post-consumer and post-industrial waste. The facility aims to maintain the value of European textile waste.

Vivobarefoot's 'Weird More' Campaign: Free Your Feet

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:29:11 +0000

Vivobarefoot’s ‘Weird More’ Campaign: Free Your Feet

Vivobarefoot has unveiled its global autumn/winter 2026 campaign, ‘Weird More – Free Your Feet,’ with the United States as its lead market. The campaign is fronted by NFL wide receiver Mack Hollins and will be supported by a series of activations around the brand’s new flagship store in SoHo, New York, opening this October.

Reebok's AW26 Classics Campaign: Belmont Cameli on Rhythm and Style

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:49:26 +0000

Reebok has launched its autumn/winter 2026 Classics campaign, featuring actor Belmont Cameli. This marks the latest chapter in a multi-season partnership that began earlier this year when Cameli was named a global brand ambassador on 2nd June. The campaign is part of Reebok’s overarching platform, “Born Classic. Worn for Life.”, and sees Cameli bring his personal style to some of the brand’s most iconic silhouettes.

The creative direction is a departure from previous ambassador campaigns, leaning into a more visual and fashion-led aesthetic. Set against a dance-inspired backdrop, the campaign captures Cameli in motion, emphasising the idea of finding your own rhythm. It’s a concept that aligns naturally with the Reebok Classics ethos: timeless designs that move with you, season after season.

Novitskaya to lead Delvaux into new luxury era

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:48:18 +0000

Delvaux ushers in new leadership

Belgian luxury leather goods house Delvaux will welcome a new chief executive officer on 1 December. Yanina Novitskaya takes the helm of the historic brand, which has been part of Richemont since 2021. The Swiss luxury group announced the appointment through its official press channels. Novitskaya succeeds Jean-Marc Loubier and will report to Philippe Fortunato, CEO of Richemont’s Fashion & Accessories Maisons.

UK Shoppers Set to Spend Big on Fashion This Festive Season

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:47:15 +0000

Online Fashion Spending Set to Soar This Christmas

UK consumers are poised to spend billions online on clothing this festive season, as new forecasts reveal a strong appetite for fashion despite broader economic pressures. According to projections from a leading analytics firm, online apparel sales in the United States are expected to reach $51.3 billion between 1 November and 31 December – a 4.7% increase on last year. While these figures relate to the US market, they offer a useful indication of global trends that often mirror behaviour in the UK, where online fashion remains a dominant category.

Hugo Boss CFO Exits as New COO and Frasers Bid Looms

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:16:52 +0000

Hugo Boss, the German fashion house known for its sharp tailoring, is undergoing a significant leadership reshuffle. The company has announced that its chief financial officer, Yves Müller, will step down from the executive board at his own request and for personal reasons. The news, released from the company’s headquarters in Metzingen, comes at a time when the group is facing a potential takeover from British retail giant Frasers Group.

Giorgio Armani's Evolution: Spring/Summer 2027 Collection

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:15:39 +0000

A New Chapter in Armani’s Design Legacy

Giorgio Armani’s latest womenswear offering for spring/summer 2027, titled ‘Evolution’, marks a significant shift in the house’s aesthetic. Developed under the direction of Silvana Armani, the collection introduces cotton to the brand’s signature illuminated, reflective fabrics for the first time, effectively dissolving the boundary between day and evening attire.

This innovation is not merely a technical experiment; it represents a philosophical stance on modern dressing. The pieces are designed to transition effortlessly from daytime engagements to evening events, reflecting the fluidity of contemporary lifestyles. The incorporation of cotton adds a tactile, natural element to the otherwise sleek and luminous materials, creating a juxtaposition that feels both grounded and ethereal.

US Online Clothing Sales to Reach $51.3bn This Holiday

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:12:33 +0000

Online Apparel Spending Set for Solid Growth

US consumers are expected to spend $51.3 billion on clothing online this holiday season, according to forecasts from Adobe. The figure represents a 4.7% increase compared with the same period last year, covering 1 November to 31 December.

Apparel remains the second-largest online holiday category, behind electronics at $63.3 billion. However, its growth trails the wider market: Adobe expects total US online holiday sales to rise 6.7% year-on-year to $275.1 billion. Several smaller categories are forecast to grow faster than clothing. Online grocery sales are expected to rise 10.3%, toys 9.6%, cosmetics 9.5% and furniture 7.3%.

After Quiet Luxury: What Comes Next for the Beige Wardrobe

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For a few years, the most expensive-looking thing you could wear was nothing in particular. A camel coat with no visible logo. A grey knit that only revealed its price when you touched it. “Quiet luxury” turned restraint into a status symbol, and for a while it seemed every high-street rail was a sea of oatmeal, ecru and stone.

Trends that are built on a single idea tend to exhaust themselves quickly, and this one was no exception. Once a look can be copied cheaply, it stops signalling anything — and beige is very easy to copy.

Inside the Circular Wardrobe: Resale, Rental and Repair

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For most of the last century, a garment’s life was a straight line: made, sold, worn, thrown away. The idea behind the circular wardrobe is to bend that line back on itself, so clothes stay in use for as long as possible before their materials are recovered.

It sounds simple. In practice, it depends on three quite different businesses — and each has its own strengths and blind spots.

Resale: the most mature loop

Buying secondhand has shed its old stigma. Online marketplaces made it easy to search thousands of pre-owned pieces by size and brand, and a generation of shoppers now sees vintage as a mark of taste rather than thrift.

How a Garment Is Priced: From Factory Floor to Shop Window

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Two white shirts hang side by side. One costs about as much as a sandwich; the other, as much as a weekend away. They may look almost identical on the hanger. So where does the difference come from?

The answer is a chain of costs and markups, each added at a different stage of the garment’s journey.

1. Materials

Fabric is usually the largest single cost in making a garment. Fibre quality, weave, weight and finishing all matter. A long-staple cotton poplin can cost many times more per metre than a basic blend — and a shirt needs well over a metre once you account for pattern pieces and waste.

Tailoring's New Generation

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The image of the tailor is a familiar one: an older man in shirtsleeves, tape measure round his neck, chalk behind his ear, in a wood-panelled shop that hasn’t changed in decades. It’s an image that is slowly becoming out of date.

Across the trade, a new generation of cutters and makers — many of them women — is reshaping what tailoring looks like, who it’s for and how it’s sold.

Fashion Week, Decentralised

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For decades, the fashion calendar ran like clockwork: New York, London, Milan, Paris, twice a year. Buyers and editors travelled from one city to the next, and what they saw there set the tone for the seasons that followed.

That system still exists — but it is no longer the only way a collection gets seen.

Why the old model is under pressure

Cost. A runway show in a major city is a huge expense, especially for young brands.
Timing. Showing clothes months before they arrive in shops made sense when only insiders saw the shows. Now that everyone sees them instantly, the wait frustrates customers and invites copying.
Audience. The people who shape taste are no longer only editors and buyers. They’re also creators, stylists and customers, spread across the globe.

What’s emerging instead

Regional fashion weeks have grown in stature, from Copenhagen and Seoul to Lagos and São Paulo. Each has its own identity, and many are fostering designers who would struggle to be noticed in the traditional capitals.

A Beginner's Glossary of Fabric

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Knowing a few fabric terms makes shopping — especially online — far easier. The name of a fabric tells you how it’s constructed, and construction tells you how it will feel, drape and age.

Fibres versus fabrics

First, a useful distinction. A fibre is the raw material: cotton, wool, linen, silk, polyester, viscose. A fabric is what’s made from it by weaving or knitting. “Cotton” tells you the fibre; “poplin” tells you the fabric. You can have wool twill, cotton twill and polyester twill.