Fashion · Apr 2026 · 14 min read · External essay

Read this instead of fashion school

Everything I know about fashion, I learned from this list.

The fashion education list

Welcome to this week's issue of Sprezzatura! So, I never studied fashion formally. Whatever I know about the industry — the history, the business, etc. — I picked up on the side, in parallel to everything else. I read books, watched documentaries, followed people in the industry, and slowly started to piece together an education. Over the years, I kept saving everything worth consuming — recommendations from people I trusted, resources that came up again and again. This is that list. You'll find it right after Cafe Society, which is a long one this week — a lot happened. Let's get into it.

Mentioned in this issue: LVMH, Kering, Gucci, Hermès, Brunello Cucinelli, Moncler, Prada, Burberry, Richemont, Matthieu Blazy, Chanel, Jonathan Anderson, Dior, Demna, Louis Vuitton, Jil Sander, Apartamento, Miu Miu, Jaipur Rugs, Kengo Kuma, Ralph Lauren, Khy, Kylie Cosmetics, Heron Preston, Victoria Beckham, Gap, Zara, John Galliano, H&M, Stella McCartney, Yohji Yamamoto, Allbirds, Grace Coddington, Aaron Levine, Abercrombie, Aimé Leon Dore, Leandra M. Cohen, Christian Lacroix, Comme des Garçons, Puig, Sézane, Dôen, Reformation, Cord, Alexander McQueen, Phoebe Philo, Bloomingdale's, Mytheresa, Brenda Hashtag, Anil Padia, Yoshita 1967 and more…

Cafe Society

A weekly section of headlines worth reading. The name originates from the 1930s term "café society," coined to describe the glamorous writers and artists who lived in Paris cafés. These are the stories I imagine they'd debate over champagne and cigarettes.

  1. Q1 2026 Luxury Earnings Roundup:
    1. LVMH — Down 6% as reported, fashion & leather goods down 2% organically. Middle East hurt, jewelry saved it.
    2. Kering — Down 6%, Gucci down 14%. Still the problem child.
    3. Hermès — Up 6% but missed estimates.
    4. Brunello Cucinelli — Up 14%. Star of the season, no notes.
    5. Moncler — Up 12%. The most consistent performer in luxury right now.
    6. Prada Group — Q1 2026 results, April 30.
    7. Burberry — Full year results, May 14.
    8. Richemont — Full year results, May 22.
  2. Cruise season is here, and it's basically an American invasion this year. For context, cruise is fashion's resort season, the long selling window that bridges the gap between main collections. It hits stores around November through early spring, which means it sits on the floor longer than any other delivery, and for the big houses, it's a serious revenue driver. The destination shows are a marketing machine on top of that — fly in the clients, the press, the celebrities, generate content in the quieter months. It's how fashion keeps the conversation going between seasons. Anyway, Matthieu Blazy kicks things off tonight with his debut Cruise show for Chanel in Biarritz, which feels incredibly right given that's where Coco opened her first couture house. Then Jonathan Anderson takes Dior to LACMA in Los Angeles on May 13, Demna's first Cruise for Gucci lands in New York on May 16, Louis Vuitton follows in New York on May 20, and Hermès closes it out in Los Angeles on June 4.
  3. Milan Design Week had some really strong fashion activations this year. Jil Sander's Reference Library — a collab with Apartamento and Studioutte — asked 60 culture-makers to pick one favourite book. Simple concept, very well executed. Gucci had a vending machine at their Memoria installation dispensing canned cocktails from their Florence bar Giardino, labelled Demna-style with "Fashion Icon" and "Drama Queen." Miu Miu brought back their Literary Club, which felt genuinely connected to culture rather than just brand marketing. Jaipur Rugs collabing with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma at Salone — 16 handcrafted rugs based on the facades of his most iconic buildings, presented at the Crespi Bonsai Museum.
  4. Prada dropped a campaign video for their 'Kolhapuri-inspired' sandals made in India by artisans from Maharashtra and Karnataka. A full 180 from the backlash they got at launch. They're also funding a training program for artisans across the eight districts where Kolhapuris are traditionally made. Proceeds from the collection go towards it. It's a good initiative, but it shouldn't take public outrage to get here. Indian craft has been inspiring Western fashion for decades, and the credit conversation is long overdue. The most recent was Ralph Lauren in the hot seat for selling a Bandhani skirt at $500 with zero acknowledgment of Rajasthan. Smh.
  5. Kylie is in the middle of rebranding a lot of her businesses — Sprinter just pivoted away from vodka and is going fully into beauty-led hydration, and now Khy is getting a full reformulation too, moving away from collabs to build an actual design language. Right move, honestly. The brand never had a real point of view. My only hesitation is that she has too many brands under her umbrella. The way celebrity brands work is when the celebrity IS the solution to a problem — Kylie Cosmetics worked because she was literally selling you her lips. But I fail to see what point of view Khy has, which is probably why it hasn't resonated the way her other ventures have. You can't manufacture a point of view.
  6. Heron Preston said in an interview that streetwear isn't dead, it's just no longer a subculture; it's been absorbed into the broader language of fashion and can't function in the same disruptive way it once did. This is just the internet doing what it always does — every subculture eventually goes mainstream.
  7. Victoria Beckham x Gap dropped, and honestly it's beautiful — very VB, very sharp cuts and silhouettes. The pants, especially. The pieces that run from $34 to $328 sold out immediately. Worth noting this is a multi-season deal too, so there's more to come. Gap has had quite the glow up, from nearly $202M in losses in 2022 to $844M in profit last year. And this collab is only going to add to that momentum. The way these high-low designer collabs work — the designer gets a flat fee and royalties upfront, the retailer absorbs all the production costs and bets on the halo effect of having that creative direction attached to their name. H&M really pioneered this whole concept, and now every major fast fashion retailer is doing it — Zara has Galliano, Gap has VB, and H&M just dropped another one with Stella McCartney, which… hasn't exactly set the internet on fire. There are SO many of these happening right now that the novelty is starting to wear thin, but if any collection was going to cut through the noise, it was this one.
  8. Yohji Yamamoto designed the new staff uniforms for Aesop, and they are genuinely so cool.
  9. Jacob Elordi is the new face of Bleu de Chanel, replacing Timothée Chalamet — did Timothée's opera comments have something to do with it? Fashion runs on cultural currency, and those comments did not land well in that world. Not a good look when your biggest contract is with one of the most culturally attuned houses in the world.
  10. Allbirds just announced it's completely abandoning shoes and pivoting to AI compute infrastructure, rebranding as NewBird AI. The company, once valued at $4 billion, sold its footwear assets to American Exchange Group for just $39 million, and is now raising $50M to buy and rent out GPU computing power to tech startups. The stock jumped 582% on the news, which honestly says more about AI hype than it does about this being a good idea. A wool sneaker brand with zero tech expertise becoming a GPU company is the most 2026 thing I've ever heard.
  11. Grace Coddington has a new book, Grace: Now, available for pre-order on Phaidon. Add it to your list immediately.
  12. Matthieu Blazy made TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2026. Fully deserved!!
  13. Aaron Levine — the man behind Abercrombie's menswear renaissance, and a consultant for Aimé Leon Dore — just launched his own eponymous brand, and Leandra M. Cohen did a really great interview with him on the journey there. Failure, getting fired, all of it. His aesthetic sits somewhere between the ALD world and elevated Americana — less streetwear, more considered. He's shaped how a generation of men dress and most of them don't even know his name. If you're building anything in fashion right now, this is a must-read. And speaking of — his collab with Zara just dropped last week. Go check it out.
  14. Fondazione Dries Van Noten opened this weekend in Venice — Christian Lacroix and Comme des Garçons couture, UV prints, Murano glass, and a jewelled AI chess installation by 23-year-old Joseph Arzoumanov, all across 20 rooms in dialogue with Tiepolo frescoes at Palazzo Pisani Moretta. Self-funded, no Puig ties. Just Dries doing exactly what he wants.
  15. Beef Season 2 costume designer Olga Mills dressed Carey Mulligan's character in Sézane, Dôen, Reformation and most excitingly, New Delhi-based label Cord. Indian fashion on a major Netflix show, that's a big deal.
  16. Gucci x Google smart glasses are coming in 2027 — Kering's play to make Gucci the first major luxury house in the AI eyewear space. Their answer to Meta x Ray-Ban, but luxury.
  17. Alexander McQueen turned their most iconic signatures — the Armadillo heel, knuckle duster clutch, skull scarves — into bag charms!!!
  18. Puck just did a really great piece on Phoebe Philo's retail expansion — Bloomingdale's, Mytheresa, the Erotic Review centrefold — and the throughline of all of it is relationships. Her ad in Double? She has a long-standing relationship with EIC Fabrice Paineau. Bloomingdale's? Chief merchant Denise Magid. The whole brand is essentially a masterclass in how fashion actually works — you don't get into a magazine because you emailed the right person, you get in because you've spent years building the right relationships.
  19. And on that note — Brenda Hashtag's latest podcast episode is a must-listen. She breaks down exactly how to hustle your way into Milan Design Week and fashion events when you don't have the traditional industry background — how to build relationships, get into the right rooms, and make yourself known. The Phoebe Philo piece and Brenda's episode are really saying the same thing: in fashion, your network is your net worth.
  20. The 2026 LVMH Prize finalists are out!! I'm rooting for Anil Padia of Yoshita 1967. His brand is rooted in heritage and craftsmanship, exactly the kind of work the prize should be celebrating. Final is September 4 at Fondation Louis Vuitton.
  21. GENER8ION & Yung Lean's "Storm" video directed by Romain Gavras — yes, Dua Lipa's ex, now Emily Ratajkowski's boyfriend — is a seven-and-a-half minute boarding school fever dream. Choreography by Damien Jalet, menace and beautifully orchestrated chaos throughout. It gets even better after the 4:20 mark.
  22. Artist on my radar: Rithika Merchant
    Artwork by Rithika Merchant

The fashion education list I wish existed

This resource covers books, documentaries, newsletters, podcasts, creators, publications, and museums. I'd estimate it's somewhere at least around 250 hours of material. It's not a master's degree, but honestly… close enough.

A few honest caveats: I haven't consumed everything on this list myself. A lot of it came from recommendations I saved over the years. It's not comprehensive. I've probably left things out, but it's a genuine starting point. If you've never gone to fashion school and want to actually understand this industry, this is where I'd tell you to start.

Fashion newsletters

  1. Puck — Insider reporting on fashion business dynamics
  2. Business of Fashion — Daily roundup of fashion news and analysis
  3. Vogue Business Daily — Fashion breaking news and editorial updates
  4. data, but make it fashion — Fashion trends analysed through data
  5. Fashion Theory — Academic perspectives on fashion and culture
  6. Magasin by Laura Reilly — A fashion shopping newsletter with shopping recs and insights
  7. The Data Fashion Brief — Data-driven insights on the fashion industry
  8. Style Analytics — Fashion trends analyzed through data insights
  9. Fashion Culture — Exploring fashion through systems and cultural trends
  10. Kirk Palmer — Retail reporting insights across the fashion industry
  11. Back Row by Amy Odell — Insider reporting on fashion industry power
  12. Brain Matter by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson — Personal reflections on fashion and identity
  13. The Cereal Aisle by Leandra Medine Cohen — A resource on how to dress with personal style
  14. 1 Granary — A global fashion education platform
  15. All Things Fashion Tech — Intersection of fashion and technology
  16. Gatekept — Exploring exclusivity, access, and fashion
  17. Fit Check by Jose Criales — Personal style, culture, and fashion commentary
  18. Curious by Aurora James — A designer's weekly cultural observations
  19. The Sociology of Business — Brands decoded through cultural theory

Fashion podcasts

  1. brendawareness by brendahashtag — Breaking into fashion, demystified
  2. The BOF Podcast — Fashion business insights from industry leaders
  3. The Cutting Room Floor — Unfiltered conversations on fashion industry realities
  4. Throwing Fits — Menswear, culture, humor, and commentary
  5. Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud — Intimate conversations on fashion and identity
  6. Fashion People by Lauren Sherman, Puck — Insider takes on fashion business dynamics
  7. What's Contemporary Now? — Conversations shaping culture and creative industries
  8. Let's Get Dressed — Styling advice, trends, and industry insights
  9. StyleZeitgeist — Critical discussions on fashion, like runway analysis and culture
  10. The New Garde — Future of fashion, beauty, and culture
  11. Dressed: The History of Fashion — Stories behind fashion, history, and culture
  12. The Who Wear What Podcast — Fashion, beauty, and culture conversations
  13. Articles of Interest — Avery Trufelman — Hidden stories behind everyday clothing
  14. Silhouettes: The Fashion History Podcast — Evolution of fashion through history
  15. The Fashion Archives: Amelie Stanescu — Exploring fashion history and iconic designers
  16. Can't Not — Vintage fashion, culture, and sustainability discussions
  17. The Run-Through with Vogue — Inside fashion, culture, and weekly trends

Fashion books — Theory & academia

  1. The Fashion System — Roland Barthes
  2. Thinking Through Fashion — anthology (Bourdieu, Foucault, Butler, etc.)
  3. The Fashioned Body — Joanne Entwistle
  4. Subculture: The Meaning of Style — Dick Hebdige
  5. Fashioning Identity — Maria Mackinney-Valentin
  6. Fashion, Desire and Anxiety — Rebecca Arnold
  7. When Clothes Become Fashion — Ingrid Loschek
  8. Dressed: The Philosophy of Clothes
  9. Capitalist Realism — Mark Fisher
  10. Japanese Fashion Designers — Bonnie English
  11. Menswear Revolution — Jay McCauley Bowstead

Fashion books — History & industry

  1. The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History — Kassia St Clair
  2. The End of Fashion — Teri Agins
  3. Fashionopolis — Dana Thomas
  4. Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster — Dana Thomas
  5. Overdressed: The High Cost of Cheap Fashion — Elizabeth Cline
  6. Worn: A People's History of Clothing — Sofi Thanhauser
  7. Worn Out — Alyssa Hardy
  8. Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink
  9. Fashion in the Nineties — Rizzoli
  10. Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style — W. David Marx
  11. The Beautiful Fall — Alicia Drake
  12. The Battle of Versailles — Robin Givhan

Fashion books — Biographies & memoirs

  1. Anna: The Biography — Amy Odell
  2. Audrey and Givenchy — Cindy De La Hoz
  3. Being Armani — Tony di-Corcia
  4. Blood Beneath the Skin — Andrew Wilson
  5. Champagne Supernovas — Maureen Callahan
  6. Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem — Daniel R. Day
  7. D.V. — Diana Vreeland
  8. Empress of Fashion — Amanda Mackenzie Stuart
  9. Empire of the Elite — Michael M. Grynbaum
  10. Fashion Climbing — Bill Cunningham
  11. Gods and Kings — Dana Thomas
  12. Grace: A Memoir — Grace Coddington
  13. House of Versace — Deborah Ball
  14. In My Fashion — Bettina Ballard
  15. It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin — Marisa Meltzer
  16. John Galliano Unseen — Robert Fairer
  17. Miss Dior — Justine Picardie
  18. Pat in the City — Patricia Field
  19. Savage Beauty — Andrew Bolton
  20. The Cartiers — Francesca Cartier Brickell
  21. The Chiffon Trenches — André Leon Talley
  22. The Vanity Fair Diaries — Tina Brown
  23. The Vogue Factor — Kirstie Clements
  24. Twiggy & Justin — Thomas Whiteside

Documentaries & films

  1. Anna Piaggi
  2. Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco (2018)
  3. Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
  4. Catwalk (1995)
  5. Cristóbal Balenciaga
  6. Diane Von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge (2024)
  7. Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
  8. Dior and I (2014)
  9. Dries (2017)
  10. Franca: Chaos and Creation (2016)
  11. The Gospel According to André
  12. Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful
  13. High & Low: John Galliano (2020)
  14. House of Z (2016)
  15. In Vogue: The 90s (2024)
  16. In Vogue: The Editor's Eye (2012)
  17. Invisible Beauty (2023)
  18. Iris
  19. Issey Miyake Moves
  20. Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer
  21. Lagerfeld Confidential (2007)
  22. L'amour Fou: Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre (2010)
  23. M2M — Antifashion
  24. Made in Milan
  25. Mademoiselle C (2013)
  26. Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton (2007)
  27. Martin Margiela: In His Own Words (2019)
  28. McQueen (2018)
  29. McQueen and I (2011)
  30. Miguel Adrover (2011)
  31. The Artist Is Absent
  32. The First Monday in May (2016)
  33. The New Look
  34. The Rachel Zoe Project
  35. The September Issue (2009)
  36. The Supermodels
  37. The True Cost (2015)
  38. Thom Browne: The Man Who Tailors Dreams
  39. Twiggy
  40. Unzipped (1995)
  41. Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008)
  42. Very Ralph
  43. We Margiela
  44. Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist (2018)
  45. Becoming Karl Lagerfeld
  46. Notebook on Cities and Clothes
  47. Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's (2013)
  48. See Know Evil: Davide Sorrenti (2018)

Publications & magazines

  1. BOF
  2. Vogue Business
  3. i-D Magazine
  4. NYMag
  5. 032c
  6. 1granary
  7. Bricks Magazine
  8. StyleZeitgeist Magazine
  9. AnOther Magazine
  10. Outlander Magazine
  11. System Magazine
  12. Robb Report
  13. Haloscope
  14. Samutaro
  15. Purple Magazine
  16. Dazed Magazine
  17. T Magazine
  18. Interview Magazine
  19. The Face
  20. Hommegirls
  21. Coeval Mag
  22. Garage
  23. Issue Issue
  24. Myth Magazine
  25. LewisMag
  26. NSS Mag

Free online fashion archives

  1. V&A
  2. Museum at FIT
  3. Fashion Museum Bath

Fashion museums

  1. Costume Institute — New York City
  2. Museum at FIT — New York City
  3. FIDM Museum — Los Angeles
  4. V&A — London
  5. Musée des Arts Décoratifs — Paris
  6. Musée Yves Saint Laurent — Paris
  7. MoMu Fashion Museum — Antwerp
  8. Gucci Garden — Florence
  9. Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum — Getaria, Spain
  10. Kyoto Costume Institute — Kyoto
  11. Musée Dior — Granville
  12. Fashion and Textile Museum — London
  13. Museo della Moda — Florence
  14. Kunstgewerbemuseum — Berlin
  15. LVMH Museum — Paris
  16. Palais Galliera (Musée de la Mode) — Paris
  17. Fashion Museum Bath — Bath, UK
  18. Museo Salvatore Ferragamo — Florence
  19. Museo del Traje — Madrid
  20. Palazzo Morando — Milan

Creators worth following

  1. Lyas
  2. Hanan Besovic
  3. Derek Guy
  4. Amy Smilovic
  5. Osama Chabbi
  6. Bryanboy
  7. Susie Lau
  8. STYLE NOT COM
  9. Chani Ra
  10. Jake Fleming
  11. Old Loser in Brooklyn
  12. Romy Talks Fashion
  13. Ryan Yip
  14. Haute le Mode
  15. Amelia Stanescu
  16. Rian Phin
  17. Garcon
  18. Tanya Ravichandran
  19. Hanchen Xu
  20. The Savoie Daily
  21. Elliot Duprey
  22. Michael Kurtis
  23. Haute Couture Global
  24. Understitch
  25. Up Next Designer
  26. Abby French
  27. Kimbino
  28. Brenda Hashtag
  29. Data, but make it fashion
  30. Immaculate Style
  31. Eugene Rabkin
  32. Bliss Foster
  33. Style Zeitgeist
  34. Ashantéa Austin
  35. Diet Sabya
  36. Nicky Campbell
  37. SJ Frear
  38. I Went To the Art School
  39. Telephonepyar
  40. Create le mode
  41. Alexander Fury

🥀 Thanks for reading! Find Shannon on Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn.