Is This the Future of the Fashion Show?

The first “high fashion runway show entirely from home” just took place, complete with famous models and designers. The clothes were the least of it.
The next round of fashion shows will be virtual fashion shows. This is not in doubt. The British Fashion Council announced at the end of April that it would be combining its men’s and women’s shows during what used to be London Fashion Week: Men’s in June. It also plans to roll out an entirely digital “cultural fashion week platform” for designers to use as they see fit. Shanghai and Moscow went digital for their fashion weeks in late March and April.
Ermenegildo Zegna, the Italian men’s wear powerhouse, is forgoing ye olde schedule entirely and doing its own digital thing in July, for which it has a whole new word: “phygital” (that’s physical space and digital technologies).

What does it mean? On Friday, an answer of sorts was provided.

The occasion was Fashion Unites, a YouTube-streamed edition of CR Runway, the special fashion show run by Carine Roitfeld, the former French Vogue editor and Tom Ford muse, and her son, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, the president and chief executive of CR Fashion Book Ltd., to raise money for the amfAR Fund to Fight Covid-19. Billed as “the first of its kind” by its host, Derek Blasberg, the head of fashion and beauty for YouTube, it was hailed as “a high-fashion runway show entirely from home.”
Olivier Rousteing of Balmain, Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino and Virgil Abloh of Off-White and Louis Vuitton were there, sending messages of safety and love. The models Karlie Kloss, Winnie Harlow, Stella Maxwell and Joan Smalls strutted their stuff in their own stuff in their homes, as directed from afar by the go-to experts of fashion weeks past: Sam McKnight for hair, Tom Pecheux for makeup and Stephen Galloway for movement. Michel Gaubert, who has a practical monopoly on runway soundtracks, did the music.

Pearls, Pumps and Precedent in the Case of Amy Coney Barrett

In the pageantry of the Senate confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court nominee, image becomes evidence.

Almost as soon as Judge Amy Coney Barrett stepped onto the public stage at the largely unmasked Rose Garden ceremony in which President Trump introduced her as his choice to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the T-shirts appeared. Touting the jurist as “The Notorious ACB,” they featured Judge Barrett’s face atop a simple round-neck shirt — and under a crown, à la Biggie Smalls (and RBG).
And yet, as the Senate confirmation hearings have made clear, the image Judge Barrett is trying to project is pretty much the opposite of “notorious.” Indeed, she even said, during her first day of questioning, that justices cannot “walk in like a royal queen and impose their will on the world.”

Better they walk in like the supermom next door.

Thus did Judge Barrett enter the hearing room, accessorized with a single strand of pearls and a pair of practical pumps, her just-below-shoulder-length hair neat but not the sort of sleek sheet that telegraphs “professionally styled.” Thus did she take her seat, her children arrayed behind her like a bouquet: girls in dresses, boys in suits and ties. Thus was she bathed in the rosy domestic shades of mid-last-century: magenta, red, lilac and lavender.
She may be about to ascend to the heights of legal power, ruling on cases that affect the lives of millions and shape future generations, but she does so cloaked in an image that calls to mind not the clichéd glass-ceiling breaker in a can’t-miss-me trouser suit and power pin, but rather the P.T.A.
In an arena of lawmakers poised to lob a variety of rhetorical grenades (aimed, to be fair, largely at one another), it was a strategic, disarming choice.

How to Prevent and Treat Face Mascne

Just in case you needed more to worry about, mask-related acne is also breaking out nationwide. Here's what's causing it and how to get it under control.

YOU MAY HAVE noticed an uptick in red bumps in the areas of your face that your mask covers. It doesn't matter if you're someone who regularly get breakouts or if you have nearly perfect skin, mascne, or mask acne, is an unfortunate side effect of the daily mask-wearing we're all doing to slow the transmission of Covid-19.
Acne can literally be a pain to deal with, but that doesn't mean you should stop wearing a mask. If you treat your skin and properly clean your face coverings, you should be able to get it under control and eliminate larger breakouts from happening. Everyone's skin responds differently to products and stressors, so go slow and spot test any new, potentially irritating ingredients.

What's Causing Mascne?
Just like regular acne, there are multiple things that could cause mask acne: not washing your mask often enough, washing it with harsh detergent, your mask itself and its materials, or how frequently you have to wear it.
Masks help keep saliva and any other droplets—emitted from breathing, talking, coughing, or sneezing—from getting into the air and potentially transmitting Covid-19 (or other illnesses). That's what we want them to do, but this means that they trap moisture and bacteria inside, touching your skin. "These masks create a seal that prevents moisture from escaping, resulting in a humid environment where acne-causing bacteria is able to thrive," says Dylan Mustapich, an aesthetician at Face Haus in New York City.
Board-certified dermatologist Meghan Feely likens it to acne that athletes often struggle with. "Athletes who wear a helmet may develop acneiform breakouts as dirt, oil, and sweat are trapped in their pores, affording an environment conducive to the growth of bacteria," she says.
If you aren't washing your mask, that bacteria will continue to seep into your skin. On the other hand, washing it can also cause breakouts. You could have a reaction to the detergent you're using. Try a gentle, fragrance-free detergent to see if that helps.
And if you're prone to stress-related breakouts, an international pandemic is surely something to stress about. Try your best to relax.