In the past 20 years, the Fashion industry has been changing: with efforts to foster diversity and inclusivity, environmental sustainability, and ethical production, the landscape has finally begun to reflect the many voices that shape the tapestry of fashion. While the industry is still far from perfect, there are still countless designers, journalists, small magazines, creative technologists, and many others that are bringing attention to spaces that the Western mainstream has historically overlooked. And now, with platforms like Instagram, Substack, Youtube– access to this information is so much easier than ever before.
Granted, it can be really hard to overcome choice paralysis, and break the cycle of convenient content that’s been auto-recommended on our feeds. Having to sift through a million photos and videos a day, where does someone even begin? (Hint: It’s right here!)
This article highlights 4 unique creators whose work is contributing to growing niches in our mainstream fashion discourse. This list is by no means exhaustive, and only captures a small portion of what’s out there; but I hope it serves as a solid starting point for people looking for inspiration, and are itching to learn more.
If you’re interested in:
Fashion & Disability:
Destiny Pinto (IG: bydestinypinto): Pinto is a designer specializing in assistive fashion design, and has recently released a line of redesigned assistive accessories for people looking to incorporate personal style with their assistive medical gear. Pinto’s foray into assistive fashion started in her early years of design school, when she was first diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis; it was then that she began exploring digital design, 3D modeling, and reflecting on the limited designs and colors of compression gloves (MSN). Pinto began drafting the beginnings of her current assistive fashion line during her 3rd year of school, drawing inspiration from both her personal experiences with accessibility, and her best friend’s experiences in navigating fashion with ostomy bags. The designer currently has a website for people to purchase her designs, and is working on collaborations with other assistive medical aid designers.
Mina Le’s YouTube video essays (YT channel): Mina Le is a YouTube video essayist that discusses a range of topics, from media and personal life, to fashion and set design. Prior to YouTube, Le’s educational background was in Media & Communications and Politics & International Relations, equipping her with a unique lens on fashion and cultural analysis. As an avid watcher, I can attest that her videos are deeply researched and well-thought out, and provide interesting and nuanced takes on current trends and events. Some videos I’d recommend are:
Viv Chen’s The Molehill (Substack): The Molehill is an independent Fashion newsletter run by Viv Chen, a writer based in California. Chen’s work ranges from fashion recommendations and vintage guides, to critical analysis of film, fashion, and its relationship to theory (example: her article about J.Crew, reflecting on how whiteness is leveraged in the brand’s identity). While some of her writing is paywalled, such as the J.Crew article, there are a variety of essays in her page that are open to public reading; the one I recommend the most is below.
“A Tale of Two Canal Streets”, an article that blew up in late-2024, talks about NYC’s Canal street, the racialization and moralization of high fashion vs. counterfeits, and how counterfeits interact with existing geopolitics in fashion.
Reading about designers outside of the US/Europe:
Title Mag (website): Title Mag is an independent magazine that covers topics across beauty, fashion, art, and music, with thought-provoking critique of cultural artifacts. Its webpage holds a nostalgic “90s/early 2000s early internet” type of charm, with its 16-bit images and Windows 95-esque desktop. If you’re looking into unique art concepts and designers outside of the US, some articles I’d particularly recommend are:
https://title-mag.com/why-shanghai-fashion-week-2024-deserves-global-attention-highlights-from-the-ss25-collections/ “Why Shanghai Fashion Week 2024 Deserves Global Attention”: The article explores Shanghai Fashion Week, and the innovative designers that took center stage. A major highlight of this Fashion Week were the designs inspired by AI and deep-fakes (no, there was no AI involved in the creation of these pieces), aiming to provide commentary on the digital manipulation of the self.
