The Closure of Fashion Cities — Die, Workwear!

6-MALL FALL: Department Store Degradation and Mall Seizure

Think of Margiela in Paris, that was a Golden Age in fashion because you could show in an alleyway, and there's kids around. Next to a dumpster. Maybe it was dangerous, but back then no one had to care about safety hazards. But now that's not safe anymore. You can't recklessly do that.

The fate of the urban environment itself, along with the restaurants and retail that it comprises, will depend upon government interventions at every scale. Without sufficient aid to individuals and small businesses (and even with that aid, to a lesser degree), widespread closures will create a void in commercial real estate demand. Urban brick-and... See more

There will be dust. There is always dust. By that I mean there is always time, and materiality, and decay. Decomposition and damage are inescapable. There is always the body, with its smears and secretions and messy flaking bits off. There is always waste and it always has to be dealt with, and shipping it out of sight overseas to the developing wo... See more

For every new subway ad featuring an online pharmacy and a nice monstera plant, there was a new pop-up skate shop soaking up the runoff of Supreme teens. HSWLD on Delancey, a dozen others lost to memory… Online, I browsed IJJI and v.soon and Anti-Social Social Club on my friend’s Tiny Clothing Stores Are.na channel, this selection a mere trickle of

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In a worst-case scenario, retail vacancies will be filled by more corporate chain retailers and even companies like Amazon, who have the cash to buy these distressed assets at a discount or assume their leases.

All materials ultimately deteriorate and show signs of wear. It is therefore important to create designs that will look better after years of distress.