020 Can you ever truly rebrand?
Do you even have to? On reinvention, Meghan Markle, Addison Rae, cringe, Hermès' glorious success and more.
Phoebe Philo’s debut for Celine, spring 2010 (obv I’d wear this still!).
There is surely nothing more alluring than the possibility of reinvention? The lore of all those ‘90s makeover movies lodges deep in our psyches! She’s All That we’ll say as we take off our glasses and shake down our hair.
Who gets to reinvent themselves though? After-all, wherever you go, there you are.
Which is why a personal rebrand can feel kind of off. Or at least, it will never feel quite authentic if you’re saying it yourself, you know? It’s kind of like trying to give yourself a nickname.
I was thinking about this when I watched Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s latest Instagram video about her new business. Firstly, this woman does not need any more criticism, let her have her jams!
But was it cringe? (Yes). Does it matter? (No).
I loved Addison Rae’s cover and interview for Vogue France this month. Proof for one that you can rebrand - from TikTok star to French Vogue cover star. But actually you can be all of these things at once. Or you don’t need to forsake one part of yourself to get to another.
My favourite part, other than all of the very French questions (though must flag that I read the translated from the French version as my dream of learning French is not exactly going to plan) is her response to a question on cringe:
“Cringe” is the new “awkward”! But is it really awkward to be awkward? When you think about it, awkwardness is just an unexplored feeling, an unknown sensation. Any new emotion can cause discomfort, because you don’t know how to handle it. Cringe is sometimes that. But honestly, it would be too silly to be afraid to take the plunge for fear of being cringe. It’s by taking the plunge that you discover things about yourself.”
I have a high sensitivity to awkwardness, mostly because I recognise it deeply in myself! I feel awkward a lot of the time, but I know too that you miss out on a lot if you spend your life trying to avoid it.
I also deeply think that if someone isn’t bothering anyone then simply let them be, and if they are - maybe we need to examine why this is so (see: personal anathema to cringe).
I’ve been thinking about reinvention in fashion this week too. As anybody remotely interested in fashion right now could authoritatively say, it’s been a season for “designer musical chairs.” So much upheaval, so much pressure. Which, obviously, these are big - and often publicly listed - businesses.
One of my favourite luxury analysts Luca Solca from Bernstein spoke of this on Lauren Sherman’s Fashion People podcast this week. “Being a me too without the qualities of the brand you are trying to imitate is not a recipe for success,” he said of where brands go wrong.
Meaning several things. One, trying to do what everyone else is doing will never work for you, or not forever, and two, you need to stay true to your own qualities. This doesn’t come from saying what you’re going to do, but, well, doing it.
When designers are tasked with reinvention a lot can get lost. You can only reinvent so far at a major fashion house - new ideas are demanded, but not so new they lose the qualities that make the brand exactly what it is. There needs to be some essence, in any way it can be parsed, of what the brand is. Otherwise, what’s the point? Trying to do what someone else is doing is not the answer either. Of course, of course, fashion is endlessly referenced and influenced by (and copied).
Think of the “Celine effect,” when brands tried to be like Phoebe Philo’s Celine to varying degrees of success. By the time you copy someone though, if they’re worth copying, they’re already onto their next idea.
Rachel Tashjian wrote recently about the “Rowdents,” for The Washington Post. That is, all the brands trying to be just like The Row. And well, who wouldn’t want to be like that? But also, where does it get you? Including as a consumer.
Maybe here: “Creative directors believe that an interesting outfit means you have a rich inner life. Sometimes that’s true, but with all this copying going on, we’re mostly seeing wearable credit card debt.”
Hermes spring/summer ‘25
I spoke about reinvention with Pierre Alexis Dumas, the artistic director of Hermès, and great-great-great grandson of Hermès founder Thierry Hermès in an interview for WISH two years ago. Not incidentally, Hermès is one of the few luxury brands truly defying the global slowdown right now.
Dumas is a deeply philosophical man who greatly respects creativity. He is incredibly generous with his time in interviews.
Hermès famously does not have a marketing division. It doesn’t do what other brands do!
“The world is changing. Nothing is constant, and the world of fashion changes all the time. So in an ever-changing world, how can we remain the same? The paradox is you've got to change to remain the same. I think we're sailing in the right direction. The direction has not changed. I feel we are very different from other brands. I don't compare myself, but we are a family-owned house. It's our name. It's the name of my grandmother at the entrance of the store. So, we really try to be true to our heritage, and we try to help the house evolve and be relevant in this day and age.”
Perhaps the most relevant thing in this day and age - with its constant urge to define ourselves, our personal brands, our authenticity - is to just actually stay true to ourselves.
Which is very easy, and very hard.
As the late Marianne Faithful - another misunderstood woman who defied what people thought of her - “All I have to do is what's right for me.”
The proof is in the jam!
Books
I’m out of sync with my own truest self and have not read much this week! Am still dipping in and out of Portrait of a Lady and am also reading a biography of Pamela Churchill, another misunderstood woman!
I also bought Anne Tyler’s new book, Three Days in June. I’m hoping to read it one weekend - everybody needs an Anne Tyler Afternoon every now and then, it’s practically medicinal.
Annie xx