Today's top reads come by way of SHINOLA and AMERICAN APPAREL, companies that have traded on identities rooted in DETROIT and LOS ANGELES. The stories have radically different approaches, yet both tap similar impulses: labor and locality. Both concern companies—in fact and fiction—that draw inspiration from local communities. Both are inspired by local photographs of painted murals, storefronts, and shop signs. What happens next? This deep dive from DAPHNE HOWLAND takes a long, hard look at the history of American Apparel and DOV CHARNEY's next moves with his new company, LOS ANGELES APPAREL. The story goes against dominant media narratives about Charney and the role that scale, capital, and legal proceedings played in the rise and demise of American Apparel. Two thousand miles away, from Detroit: in a work infused with the power of speculative imagination, photographer CAMILO JOSÉ VERGARA proposes a different kind of SHINOLA, one that incorporates the rich visual legacy of Detroit's African American population. Both grapple with authenticity and whether or not companies can deliver it... GARETH PUGH designed costumes for a virtual opera, and there are plenty of implications for designing clothes and viewing runway shows in 3D. How far off or how close-at-hand these developments are is up for debate. Sure, VR has been heralded for quite some time, but I tried the HTC VIBE recently and it blew my mind how far VR has advanced. Not in the KEENAN FELDSPAR kinda way, but in the "this is me, viscerally immersed in fencing a skeleton" way. We're past the point where slideshows feel evocative. If I'm not watching a show in-person, video is great, but what if runway shows become immersive? Would it motivate people to purchase rather than smash the like/heart/fav button and move on?... STELLA MCCARTNEY was a guest on BBC RADIO's Desert Island Discs. Between songs she mentions that her label tracks environmental profit and loss... Marvels in millinery at ROYAL ASCOT... GQ STYLE's top 3 at PARIS MEN'S FASHION WEEK... Setting the turf for DIOR HOMME S/S 2018... Some more "what if?" scenarios (and funny): VETEMENTS micro-fictions.