Ulla Johnson talks first international retail pop-ups in the UK and Portugal
"As a brand, we are speaking about it more. In 2020, we used Alma Allen's sculptures in the New York Public Library for our show. We collaborated with estates like the Pollock-Krasner estate to feature Lee Krasner's work and living artists like Brooklyn painter Shara Hughes. We do try to shine a line on New York cultural institutions," she added.
The brand has also stood for working with artisans the world over, whether on aspects of the collection or pieces for the brand's physical spaces.
"We worked with French artist Julie Hamisky, the granddaughter of Claude Melin, and artisanal communities in Peru. I have a project I can't divulge for next spring that shines a light on American female painters," said the designer, who also recently won an American Image Award.
"I've spent my life celebrating women and their voices collectively and making them feel beautiful. This is an incredibly intimate dialogue that I have with women. As the business has grown, I feel honored to be trusted by women this way. I also wear and wear the clothes, so what I do feels natural and personal. I don't love to talk about myself. I much prefer to be sort of sending out things that speak to my heart," Johnson admitted.
Working with artisans elsewhere is topical in today's tariff climate.
"We have to look at this as an opportunity to continue to do things with new regions, but we do make things here. There's a limited capacity for things like embroideries and hand looms. These things, unfortunately, have not been honored and upheld in the United States," she said, noting that the situation will affect some of her long-term partners and small businesses the most.
"It's hurting people that are the last people that should be hurt. My platform enables me to reach a wider audience through what we make and care about. A lot is going on in the US, and it is very complicated right now. I'm more committed to using my voice to shine a light on things that I think are important to speak, defend, and celebrate."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Network
a day ago
- Fashion Network
Is anybody fighting back in this trade war?
By no means does the firm anticipate zero harm. Business confidence is down but not collapsing. Capital spending will be constrained. And while chances of recession are still high, a better outcome remains very plausible. This sort of guarded optimism — or qualified pessimism — is a break from the dark warnings. Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank, told leaders to prepare for a worst-case scenario in which an antagonistic US drags the world into destructive economic conflict. The prime minister of Singapore, a city-state that thrived during the heyday of free trade, couldn't hide his dismay: Tariffs aren't the actions of friends, Lawrence Wong noted. His Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, declared that relations with the US would be changed forever. Chinese President Xi Jinping has studiously matched American moves but also toned down his rhetoric and actions when appropriate. Washington and Beijing this week extended a pause on higher tariffs for 90 days, the latest in a series of suspensions. India, which has been the subject of some bullish projections as China's economy has slowed, is one of the few economies of significance that hasn't cut a deal with Trump. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hasn't gone measure for measure or shown a desire to get even with American businesses. Yes, there has been indignity and hurt feelings. The governor of the Reserve Bank of India dismissed Trump's claim that commerce was dead there. He touted India's contribution to global growth — about 18% compared to around 11% for the US — and insisted the local economy was doing well. This is in the ballpark, based on IMF projections. It also misses the point that in pure size, America dwarfs India. Brazil, a comer that struggles to make good on its potential, is also refusing to bend. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva loathes dependence on the US and wants to be treated as an equal. But Trump doesn't like a court case against Lula's predecessor for allegedly plotting a coup. Brazil is trying to develop an alternative to the dollar and places great store in commercial ties to the BRICS group of emerging economies. Many of those nations, and aspiring members of the bloc, have cut deals with Trump, or are likely to do so. Brazil will come to some arrangement. So has Trump got away with it? His aides reckoned that access to the American market is too lucrative to pass up, and they may have been right. It would also be naive to conclude there won't be any cost. The global economy has slowed but hasn't crashed, foreigners still purchase US Treasuries and it's a safe bet that the greenback will be at the centre of the financial system for years. But the nations humiliated won't forget this experience. Asia's economies will only get bigger and the siren call of greater integration with China will get louder. Trump's efforts to destroy the existing order may yet prove an own goal. Just not this year. Clayton, who became the top economic official at the State Department, believed that robust trade among the shattered nations of Western Europe was as important as physical rebuilding. The economic dislocation wrought by the conflagration had been underestimated; capitalism could revive the continent and prevent the political implosion of key countries. According to Benn Steil's book The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War, Clayton insisted that the US 'must run this show.' Trump's team brag about reconfiguring the system that grew from the ideals of the post-war era. The hubris may ultimately prove misplaced.
LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
'Brief History of a Family': A metaphorical tale at the heart of China's new middle class
Le Monde 's Verdict – Worth seeing Following the recent major Chinese "feminist" box office hit of the year – Her Story, directed by Yihui Shao and released in France on April 9 – this summer season has given French distributors an opportunity to showcase some promising talents from the world of independent Chinese cinema. We previously highlighted the pleasant surprise of My Father's Son by Qiu Sheng (in theaters since July 23). Brief History of a Family, Lin Jianjie's debut feature, which opened on Wednesday, August 13, also deserves attention. Interestingly, like his compatriot Qiu, Lin initially pursued a career in bioengineering before abruptly changing course. Unlike Qiu, however, he trained in filmmaking in New York and already appears to be well integrated into international film support networks. Nonetheless, Lin's film remains deeply connected to contemporary China and its social dynamics, and chooempatheticses a style that resists the expected realist approach. At the center of the story is China's new middle class and, as a consequence of its rise, the immense expectations placed on the next generation in their pursuit of excellence. Everything begins with a minor altercation between two teenagers who attend the same high school. Wei, the son of a wealthy family, ends up quickly befriending Shuo. The two boys become inseparable, to the point that Shuo becomes a regular presence in his friend's household.
Fashion Network
2 days ago
- Fashion Network
Trump tariffs a stone in the shoe of 'made in USA' cowboy boots
The manufacture of iconic "made in the USA" cowboy boots is set to suffer from President Donald Trump 's 30% tariffs on South African exports that came into force in August. Texas's most renowned makers of the southern US fashion staple source the ostrich leather they require exclusively from the small South African town of Oudtshoorn, 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Cape Town. Known as the world's "ostrich capital", Oudtshoorn is nestled in the semi-arid Little Karoo valley just inland from the southern coast and is home to a few hundred thousand people and about as many of the giant flightless birds. "We just don't know how bad the impact will be, but positive it wouldn't be," said ostrich farmer Laubscher Coetzee of the tariffs that kicked in after South Africa appeared unable to negotiate a new trade deal with Trump. More than half of the global supply of ostrich-derived products -- from feathers to leather and meat -- comes from nearly 200 farmers around Oudtshoorn who are joined in the Cape Karoo International (CKI) group, said its managing director Francois de Wet. South Africa as a whole supplies about 70% of the world's production, he said. Luxury handbag manufacturers in France and Italy are among the CKI's main clients. It also ships 20% of its ostrich leather to top Texas bootmakers such as Lucchese, Justin and Rios of Mercedes, whose boots are sold at several hundreds of dollars a pair. Ostrich is "an extremely important leather in our industry", Ryan Vaughan, CEO of the Rios of Mercedes manufacturer, told AFP. "It's very resilient, it forms to the foot," he said, wearing a typical cowboy hat. Coming from "a long line of cattle ranchers", his family brand was born in Texas in 1853 and employs 250 people. The tariffs "would make a dramatic impact in our business and in the western industry," he said, "because it's not just us that build a lot of cowboy boots out of ostrich leather". It is also the case of Tony Lama, an El Paso bootmaker supplied by CKI that has given a pair to every recent Republican president. Donald Trump received cowboy boots emblazoned with "MAGA" made out of "American alligator" skin, according to a press release. De Wet from the CKI said he believed the South African supply of ostrich leather to the US manufacturers did not run counter to a push by the Trump administration for production to be brought home. The United States did not have enough ostriches to provide the required leather, he said. "We export the raw material, the ostrich leather. They can't produce it from local ostriches in the US. They don't have them," he told AFP. "They do all the value-adding in the United States," he said. "So therefore, in terms of the pure definition of what the Trump administration would like to see, in this case, we do it already." The soft skins, recognisable by spots left by the large ostrich feathers, are currently sold to American manufacturers for around $20 a square foot. "We exported more than the usual volume of ostrich leather to the US in the past two-three months, so we have a little bit of a buffer," said de Wet. "For the moment we don't expect any layoffs in the short term," he said. But "in the long term, if we have to pick up the full tariff, it will definitely... cause a shrinkage of our business." The consumer could also not be expected to pay an extra 30% for the already pricey boots, he said. "So the tariff will have to be split between the exporter... and the importer, and preferably also a part paid by the end consumer." It is the unique climate of the Little Karoo, which gets less than 400 millimetres (nearly 16 inches) of rain a year, that makes it ideal for ostrich rearing, said Coetzee, a fourth-generation Oudtshoorn farmer. "That is the reason the ostrich industry is still here 200 years after (it started)," he said. His great-grandfather built the family home in 1896, when the price of ostrich feathers rivalled that of gold because of their value to the women's fashion industry. The extravagant "ostrich palaces" of the time are a reminder of the industry's previous major crisis, when the market collapsed in the early 1900s as the arrival of the low-roofed motor car ended the fashion for high-feathered hats. Copyright © 2025 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.
