Wishing a Meaningful End of the Year

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On Gratitude, Style, and a Journey of ‘Less but Better’ in Fashion

As the curtains draw close on this year’s fashion journey, we pause to extend our deepest gratitude and wish you a meaningful end of the year.

Since 2006, our belief in an alternative fashion vision has been unwavering. This year, we’ve upheld our commitment to curate meaningful selections of independent designers, striving for quality over quantity and value over noise. No decoys, no endless proposals of garments, and no carnival barkers to fill you with pointless stuff. Among a fashion industry deafened by commercial noise, always clamouring for attention, our silent dedication stands strong.

Acknowledging our revolutionary business model in an industry flattened by business logic, we thank you for another year together. Your belief in our unconventional approach fuels our revolution. So, we extend our gratitude to our incredible audience, visionary designers, and cherished partners.

Celebrating niche designers

To the creative minds behind each stitch, sketch, and design that enriched our boutique selection, your work has left us endlessly inspired. Thank you for sharing your creativity with us.
And thank you to the commercial partners who treated us with care and humanity.

Gratitude for your support

To every person who embraced our ethos and supported our boutique, you’ve been the backbone of our work. Your trust in our vision has allowed us to exist and offer an alternative narrative.

Above all, we are grateful to each person who purchased from us: we exist thanks to you. So, thank you for embracing our dedication to niche fashion and a ‘less but better’ lifestyle. Your purchases fuel our passion and purpose.

To our blog readers, followers, and contributors, your engagement elevates our discussions, making us all better humans. Thank you for joining us on this revolutionary journey, where value transcends the conventional norms.
Thank you for sharing your moments and thoughts with us.

As we bid farewell to this year, we do so with hearts full of gratitude. So, thank you for being an integral part of our story, for embracing our ethos, and for allowing us to continue shaping a unique narrative in the world of fashion.

Wishing you a meaningful end of the year! A beautiful conclusion and an even more inspiring beginning to the next.

suite123 team,
Ro, Cri and Thami

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Ron Mueck at Triennale Milano

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Hyper Realism & Reflections on Contemporary Atrocities

Yesterday, our journey led us to experience Ron Mueck at Triennale Milano: his first solo exhibition, in collaboration with the ‘Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.’

Unfortunately, we missed the inaugural event. So, looking for something interesting beyond our never-ending festive family meals, we headed straight to Triennale. This experience gave us a chance to reflect on the atrocities of our time. Indeed, it served as a poignant metaphor for Christmas 2023. While the world celebrates, Palestine, under bombing attacks, is teetering on the edge of extinction.

Art installations possess a unique force: they provoke contemplation, stirring emotions even more amid silence. In fact, this art exhibition was an evocative call to reflect on our present-day existence. Most importantly, the inhumanity prevailing within it.

Ron Mueck: hyper-realistic sculptures at Triennale Milano

The exhibit comprised six sculptures, each a vivid narrative in its own right. ‘Mass’ (2017) a towering assemblage of a hundred oversized human skulls. ‘In Bed’ (2005) depicts an immense woman seemingly fraught with anxiety. ‘Woman with Sticks’ (2009), a middle-aged woman bent backwards, struggling to hold a bundle of sticks twice her size. ‘This Little Piggy’ (2023) a composition capturing subjects engaged in the slaughtering of a pig, a yet unfinished creation emblematic of the artist’s evolving style. ‘En Garde’ (2023), three colossal dogs in varied poses, and ‘Baby’ (2023), a tiny newborn suspended on the wall.

Ron Mueck
‘Mass’ by Ron Mueck

Art: a mirror that reflects humanity

These sculptures, diverse in size and form, possess an evocative power, stirring deep empathy. Mueck’s meticulous craftsmanship, evident in the intricate details and nuanced use of colour, rendered these works hyper-realistic. They were undeniably captivating yet also unsettling, compelling us to confront our perceptions of reality.

Walking among the installations provided an immersive experience, both physical and visual, that touched us profoundly. Of all the sculptures, ‘Mass’ left the most haunting impression.

Contemplating ‘Mass’ by Ron Mueck at Triennale Milano felt like a metaphor for the atrocities of our era: stark imagery that mirrors the dissonance of this year’s Christmas.
While Christmas traditionally embodies sentiments of love, peace, and generosity, the atmosphere of Christmas 2023 felt incredibly strange and somewhat hypocritical. Celebrating the nativity seems pointless when the very birthplace has been ravaged. And over 7,000 children have been killed.

Among such devastation, what does the world truly celebrate? Merry what?

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Global Turmoil and Traditions

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Christmas 2023: we are furious!

Amidst global turmoil, embracing traditions entails focusing on our core values. Unfortunately, hypocrisy is heavy.

Christmas once symbolised profound meaning. However, it has devolved into a season of excess: the most wasteful time of the year. A season marked by overconsumption and wastefulness. Yet, lately, the festive spirit feels different. But this year, the sadness of the stark realities of the world around us overshadows it.

Heart-wrenching accounts of the war in Gaza and the conflict in Ukraine fill the news, each report detailing lives lost and families shattered. The weight of these events hangs over the holiday season, dimming joy and merriment.

If, at large, promoting the show of opulence in the fashion industry feels hollow, in the face of such tragedies becomes totally pointless. Indeed, we find it out of place. So, expect no such things from us.

James Elder: “I’m furious” speech

But we want to share the voice of James Elder – UNICEF Global Spokesperson. As his “I’m furious,” speech resonates with many.

via Middle East Eye

“I’m furious that those with power shrug at the humanitarian nightmares unleashed on a million children. I’m furious that children who are recovering from amputations in hospitals are then killed in those hospitals. I’m furious that there are more children hiding as we speak somewhere, who will no doubt be hit and have amputations in the coming days. I’m furious that of all the senseless attacks, the only admittance of dumb is the use of dumb bombs. I’m furious that disease is as well-armed as the warring parties, but it gets absolutely no attention.
And I’m furious that Christmas is likely to bring increased savagery and attacks as the world is distracted with its own, you know, love and goodwill. I’m furious that now we’re at 5.000, 6.000, 7.000 children killed, and they’re becoming statistics and not stories. I’m furious at the hypocrisy crushing empathy, and yeah, to a degree, I’m furious at myself for not being able to do more.”

It is a cry for humanity, urging immediate steps toward peace and protection for the most vulnerable. In fact, we need decisive action to end the senseless suffering and destruction that have turned the affected areas into a living nightmare. 

Amidst this global turmoil, embracing traditions feels hypocritical. So, our Merry Christmas wishes are a call to action for peace: let’s not bury pain in Gaza beneath our Christmas lights.

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The Pandoro Case

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On the Society of Appearance

We examine the Pandoro case involving Chiara Ferragni, as it serves as an opportunity to shed light on the shallowness prevalent in modern communication. Beyond its facade, it conceals a fraudulent side often overlooked. Although we value independent thinking, so influencers are not for us, it seems people love them.

The controversy

Ferragni collaborated with Balocco, resulting in a pandoro, usually priced around 4€, sold for approximately 9€, promising a portion to charity. Despite a previous donation of 50 thousand euros by Balocco, no additional proceeds were given. Journalist Selvaggia Lucarelli raised concerns about misleading advertising. So, the case exploded. Yesterday, with fake-natural makeup and donning a grey shirt against a neutral backdrop, the influencer apologized in tears on her social media account.

Paolo Ercolani: highlighting the broader context

Amidst this controversy, Paolo Ercolani, a philosopher and Professor at the University of Urbino, provided insights in “Il Fatto Quotidiano.” His article unveiled the true nature of social media, and we couldn’t agree more. In fact, the Professor does not judge the influencer herself or her misleading advertising practice. Specifically, he directs attention to the broader contexts enabling deceptive practices and influencers to thrive.

We quote Paolo Ercolani:

“What is deceptive is rather what Guy Debord called in 1967 the ‘society of the spectacle,’ in which ‘the truth is a moment of the false’ and the spectacle itself turns out to be ‘the affirmation of appearance and the affirmation of human life, that is, social life, as a simple appearance.’ Ercolani adds, Debord tells us no more than this: ‘What appears is good, and what is good appears.'”

via “Il Fatto Quotidiano”

Ercolani emphasises that Ferragni has already triumphed. Whether erroneous or deceitful, her actions have catalysed immense media attention. She has won because people buy – in huge quantities – products she endorses. Categories like truth or falsehood have become fluid in our society, like other categories.

According to Debord, Ercolani writes, “The spectacle subjugates living men to itself to the extent that the economy has totally subjugated them.”
Modern capitalism was based on a “degradation of being into having,” while postmodern capitalism transitioned from ‘having’ to ‘appearing’ – where those who appear gain, and those who gain, appear.

Eventually, Ercolani pinpoints two prerequisites for this lucrative system:
First, a passive public opinion reduced to connected automatons devoid of critical thought.
Second, an inadequate political class, ‘boiled’ and kneeling to the dictates of finance. Therefore, unable to counteract this trend.

Modern communication and capitalism

Modern communication in the hands of a few people fosters misleading practices. Unfortunately, charities (and non-profits) are the new frontier of capitalism, another way to make money.
The solution? Since the political and corporate realms prioritise power and profit, we do not trust them much. However, we believe education stands as a beacon for enlightenment and change.

So, we thank “Il Fatto Quotidiano” and Prof. Ercolani for their insightful analysis. But also for introducing us to Guy Debord and his “The Society of the Spectacle.” It prompts us to explore its contemporary relevance.

Ultimately, we hope the Pandoro case serves as an eye-opener, urging a reevaluation of our perceptions.

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The Greenwashing Effect

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& Where Sustainability Can Grow

Today, we read on Modem about Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana’s presence at COP28, and the greenwashing effect starts itching. By the way, the entire conference sparked a considerable sense of discomfort.

Indeed, the recent presence of the fashion world at COP28 in Dubai raised eyebrows and questions about the authenticity of the messages from mainstream fashion entities. Likewise, the event “Climate Change is not Cool: A Sustainability Message from the Fashion World” by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.

COP28 & the fashion industry

While it’s promising to witness fashion institutions addressing sustainability on global platforms, there’s a deep concern about greenwashing. True sustainability isn’t a marketing tactic; it’s a fundamental shift in values, production methods, and consumer behaviour. Which we failed to witness so far. When mainstream brands adopt sustainability as a buzzword without genuine commitment, they dilute the essence of real change.

The authentic roots of sustainability

A genuine, sustainable culture in fashion starts as a counter-culture, born from grassroots movements, independent designers and shops, and community-driven initiatives. It’s radical, disruptive, and not easily co-opted by corporate agendas. These movements champion transparency, good quality, ethical production, and circular economies. 

The power of the counterculture

History has shown that meaningful change often originates from the fringes, where unconventional ideas take root. These movements challenge the status quo, paving the way for a new fashion narrative that prioritises craftsmanship, durability, ethical practices, and a deeper understanding of the environmental impact.

Shifting perspectives and empowering choices

As consumers, we hold significant power in shaping the fashion industry. Embracing a more sustainable mindset involves supporting independent, ethical brands, vintage and secondhand fashion, and demanding transparency from big corporations. It’s about making informed choices that align with our values and contribute positively to a more sustainable future.

The fact that fashion entities participate in events like COP28 can create a false impression of sustainability – the greenwashing effect, indeed. However, real change happens through the efforts of communities, alternative movements, designers and shops that prioritise quality – less, much less but better – not overconsumption. 

Eventually, we must remember that we vote with our wallets; that’s how we shape the world we want. And that’s how we attest our commitment to sustainability.

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