Why Nuuly x Anna Sui’s new collab is 2021 fashion in a collection – Glossy

Brands introduce new projects in the name of “sustainability” every day. And it’s hard to keep track of the companies taking control of their own resale. And thrift has never been bigger: The hashtag #thrift has 3.7 billion views on TikTok. Meanwhile, #sustainablefashion has 1.5 billion. And as for the trending decade du jour — the #90s? A whopping 16.1 billion views. Gen Z has made it clear that they care about the climate. And now, it’s fashion’s job to meet the moment. 

So it’s unsurprising that Nuuly, the Urban Outfitters-owned rental platform, and designer Anna Sui have teamed up on Anna Sui x Nuuly, a collection of nine dresses made from upcycled Anna Sui fabrics. The Nuuly site describes it as “2 staple silhouettes, 9 pattern combinations, all upcycled Anna Sui fabric.” Sui has recently worked on a number of collaborations: She has a just-launched underwear and pajamas collection with Knix, and back in August, she launched a shop on Depop.  

For Nuuly, partnering with Sui made sense due to its longstanding, strong relationship with Anna Sui, which has been on the platform via the brand’s core ready-to-wear styles since its inception. Perhaps because of the ’90s aesthetic’s current popularity, Sui is having a moment. “All of her collections are very quirky, very novelty. And Anna Sui just performs really well for us,” said Pamela Duque, senior buyer at Nuuly. Nuuly data shows that, compared to other Nuuly users, its Gen-Z users’ rent 19% more vintage items, 35% more Re_nuuly items, or items from Nuuly’s existing upcycled collection, and 25% more Anna Sui items.

“I was really excited that we could use some of my favorite prints and bring them back to life in a new way. Because sometimes we go through a season and we make a couple of pieces out of this one print, and then we never really think about it again,” Sui said.

For Nuuly’s part, Duque said that its partner brands’ sustainability initiatives are important. “We’ve been giving more priority to onboarding brands that speak to sustainability goals. At the same time, we’ve seen a great reaction to our vintage product,” she said.

Of the actual ’90s, Sui said, “Everything was a little more intimate, a little bit more real. It wasn’t so manufactured, it wasn’t so hugely corporate back then. At [our] fashion shows, [it was] my friends [and] it was the boyfriends of the models, who turned out to be rock stars or movie stars.”

Sui’s most recent ready-to-wear collection included an assortment of mesh products, including a selection for Neiman Marcus, which she said has been very popular and seen on Emily Ratajkowski. 

She said she’s seen demand for her ’90s pieces surge and knows they are doing well on resale platforms. And she has a 1994 babydoll dress featured at the Costume Institute’s current exhibit, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.”

“We get so many requests from celebrities wanting to borrow things from the archives,” she said. “There’s just been this interest in fashion from back then.”

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Happy Chanukah shopping 

Hanukkah starts really early this year — November 28, to be exact. And because that’s just days after Thanksgiving, the air may not yet smell entirely of fir, pine, cedar and all those other ever-present Christmas-y scents that are often the work of festive candles. So maybe it could smell like Hanukkah. “There are so many Christmas candles, so I thought, why would we not make one for the festival of lights?” said David Seth Moltz, perfumer and co-founder of indie luxury fragrance brand D.S. & Durga. “We literally light a candle every night. What did that first olive oil in the second temple smell like? I wanted to recreate the magic of that moment. It’s literally sacred ground — which is the stuff that truly inspires. Any chance to tread there with respect, I’m game for,” he said. The result is a first-of-its-kind luxury Hanukkah candle, named Prime Chanukah ($65). It’s a “reimagining of the sacred olive oil — pure verdant green olive and fresh citron of the levant, with touches of holy incense.” 

TikTok-famous dancing derm Dr. Tomassian partners with Versed on a curated bundle

The limited-edition kit ($52.99 for $74.99 value) includes the affordable skin-care brand’s Out of Sight Dark Spot Gel, Doctor’s Visit Instant Resurfacing Mask, Skin Soak Rich Moisture Cream and Guards Up Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 35. Dr. Tomassian (1.3 million followers on TikTok) based the kit on one of the questions he’s asked most frequently, in regard to hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone: “What products do I need, and how do I use them in a routine?”

Mindd & Katharine McPhee team up on comfy-yet-supportive bras

Helena Kaylin, founder of Mindd, maker of bras “designed for D+,” recently worked with Katharine McPhee to create matching bra and panty sets in colors selected by McPhee, who has 875,000 followers on Instagram. They were so successful that Mindd is working on more products with McPhee now. “When I started Mindd, I held focus groups with over 100 women between the ages of 22-56, and each conversation included feedback like, ‘I woke up one day and suddenly had these huge boobs, and never really understood how to find a bra that supported them,’” Kaylin said, “In my first conversation with Kat, she said exactly the same thing. She shared how it had been a challenge to find a truly supportive, comfortable and beautiful bra her whole life.”

Olay x Juicy Couture launch a limited-edition velour sweat set

Yet another vote for nostalgic fashion comes by way of Olay’s holiday promo. TLDR: When you spend $150 on Olay.com on Cyber Monday, you’ll receive a bright yellow Juicy sweatsuit, designed for Olay. Sign up here.

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