Hello, Open Thread. It's Good Friday. Happy Easter to those celebrating on Sunday. And happy Earth Day; it's on Tuesday. That has me thinking about tariffs. (I mean, to be fair, almost everything has me thinking about tariffs.) Though they are bad for almost every kind of fashion business, including American companies, there may be a silver lining to this story. President Trump's recent order to end the de minimis exemption, which allowed for the explosive rise of the ultrafast-fashion giants Shein and Temu, could actually change our shopping habits. For the better. My colleague Sapna Maheshwari wrote about it here, but essentially, the order would close the loophole that allows Shein and Temu to ship directly from China to consumers in the U.S. Coupled with the Trump administration's tariffs, the closure will make those companies' items a lot more expensive (like everything else). Given that the stuff's greatest allure has everything to do with its seemingly impossible rock-bottom prices (a little floral milkmaid dress for about $9, a linen button-up shirt for about $11); given that it is what led to the whole concept of "the haul"; and given how that created a culture of extreme disposability — well. Bringing the pyramid tumbling down would be a good thing. I've often wondered how we put the consumption genie back in the bottle, and learn to value our clothes more and to think more carefully about what we buy — the better for both the environment and our closets. The president, through no plan or genius of his own (Mr. Trump patently doesn't care about sustainability), may actually have provided an answer. Credit where credit is due. In other news, the brand Jean Paul Gaultier has, as expected, named Duran Lantink as its permanent designer and has announced that it is bringing back ready-to-wear, which has been on hold since 2015. I say "permanent" because, as you may remember, after J.P.G.'s eponymous designer retired in 2020, Puig, the group that owns the brand, invited a rotating cast of "guest designers" to try their hands at couture. It has chosen often unexpected names — Chitose Abe, Glenn Martens, Haider Ackermann, Nicolas Di Felice — to often unexpectedly good results. But I imagine there was an increasingly small pool to choose from, and the idea of having a consistent aesthetic and frontman was appealing, especially as the fashion world power structure is reconfigured. Mr. Lantink, for those who don't know him, is a Dutch designer in his late 30s. He won the LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury prize last year and, most recently, the International Woolmark Prize. He originally made his name in upcycling, and last season proved he could own the attention economy with a very J.P.G.-worthy stunt, putting his first model, a woman, in a prosthesis meant to mimic a man's six-pack, and his last model, a man, in some jouncing silicon boobs. That got people all worked up, but honestly what caught my eye was the incredibly accomplished way Mr. Lantink played with silhouettes and materials. It's that combination — blowing a raspberry at convention while also displaying expert garment-cutting skills — that makes him a great choice for J.P.G. Anyway, he's bringing back the ready-to-wear, and his first show will be in September — amid the debuts of Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez at Loewe, Dario Vitale at Versace, and Mr. Martens at Margiela. And speaking of debuts: At least half of the endless rumors about Jonathan Anderson taking over Dior have been confirmed. This week he was officially named the men's wear designer of the brand, replacing Kim Jones, who left in January. Whether he will also get the women's line is T.B.D. (Its current designer, Maria Grazia Chiuri, just unveiled a precollection in Kyoto, Japan.) But it's hard to imagine a scenario where Mr. Anderson is happy playing second fiddle to the bigger, juicier women's biz. In the meantime, his first men's show will be in June, feeding more grist into the constantly churning gossip mill. Finally, Time magazine chose two fashion designers for the Time 100, its list of the most influential people of the year. Guess which ones? Miuccia Prada and … Willy Chavarria! It didn't take a lot of imagination to pick Mrs. Prada, whose Miu Miu was the unicorn of last year and whose company just bought Versace. But I was really excited to see Mr. Chavarria on the list. He's one of the great American designers of this decade — a creative who really wrestles with the big issues of our time in clothes that are both emotional and gorgeously cut — and he deserves his flowers. He also deserves more investment. Here's hoping this helps him get it. Think about that. Then check out the women of the W.N.B.A. draft, get the scoop on bridal fashion week and take a peek at the spacesuits designed for the polarizing Blue Origin all-female flight. (I get the issues with it, especially the idea that the passengers were doing it for anyone other then their own very privileged selves, but the question of clothing was actually an interesting one.) Have a good, safe weekend. Stop and smell the magnolias.
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Your Style Questions, AnsweredEvery week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader's fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or X. Questions are edited and condensed.
My office is having a spring outing — to a golf course. Some bigwigs are even flying in for meetings and the event. I only see these people in person a few times a year, at most. It is a relatively relaxed workplace, but athletic attire seems too casual and revealing; business casual, too stuffy. What do I wear? — Alexandra, Ardmore, Pa.The spring or summer office outing is the warm-weather equivalent of the end-of-the-year office holiday party: a purportedly "fun" affair that actually causes all sorts of extra stress and worry. What to wear is a key part of that, not because it's a frivolous consideration, but because it is core. After all, you have crafted your work identity in one environment, and now you are being forced to translate that to another. The first thing your colleagues will be looking at (literally) is how you show up. And though the question of dress at the holiday party is complicated, the question of dress at the supposedly relaxed outing is even worse. Once, for example, in a previous job, I was organizing a conference in Las Vegas at a fancy hotel, which involved live interviews with a lot of chief executives of companies I was covering. I arrived the day before, unpacked, changed and headed off to the pool — only to discover, to my horror, all of those executives lounging around in their trunks or bikinis on various deck chairs or wading around the shallow end. I promptly fled back to my room and emerged only when I had to get onstage. In a suit. My relationships with those executives, and our carefully cultivated balance of power, did not involve anyone seeing anyone in a bathing suit. So what to do? You don't want to wear exactly the same thing you would wear in the office to the office outing; the whole point of such experiences is to show colleagues in a different light. But you also don't want to look too different — unless, of course, your role in the company is to think out of the box. Then looking out of the box is fully consistent with your position. Otherwise you have to wear something in which you can move, even potentially golf, while simultaneously not getting too hot or too dirty and looking somewhat professional at the same time. Easy peasy! Not. A friend who has worked at both gigantic global corporations and Silicon Valley start-ups said: "There's a little code-switching involved. You want to look crisp and cool, but not too revealing," either of body or, perhaps, personal idiosyncrasies. Leave the sports bras and neons at home; ditto any "Happy Gilmore" fantasies you may secretly harbor. This is a moment to play the game, in all meanings of that term. At least if you don't want to call in sick or surprise everyone by revealing your secret penchant for German heavy metal. That's not to say you can't surprise everyone with your authentic self at the company outing — but if you do, be prepared to be the main topic of conversation the next day. If you are not, then opt for another kind of costume. Kathryn Minshew, a founder of The Muse, a career resources website, and an author of "The New Rules of Work," said that for men, the choice is pretty simple — slacks and a casual button-up or polo shirt. For women, she suggested opting for work-adjacent clothing like a pair of cotton or linen pants or a linen skirt, but in a sunny color. Wear them with a blouse, or even a white T-shirt. The "casual" can come in the accessories: sneakers or Birks, a pair of cool shades, a fun belt. The point being, even if the word is in the dress code, when it comes to work outings, there's nothing really "casual" about them.
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