The VIRGIL ABLOH x NIKE “OFF CAMPUS” panel with DON C, ALEALI MAY, and SPIKE LEE shares personal points of view on the AIR JORDAN while keeping an eye to wider culture. Don C's comment stuck with me: that design is a powerful tool for telling stories. It's a way to take in narratives without them being force-fed to you. And fashion is always telling stories through design... A collective desire for escaping to nature has surfaced recently—to wild peaks and deserts or nature quaintly contained on an artisanal farm. Places where rows upon rows of lavender or wildflowers sit growing under an open sky. The inspiration for CREATURES OF COMFORT S/S 2018 was one such setting: a dreamt-up version of the south of FRANCE, a place where the fruits of one’s labor might actually be fruit. Or herbs. JADE LAI has a sense for both design as storytelling and the tactile sense for making clothes easy. It was a story told through sun-bleached color, silk woven with linen, raffia, and easy slip-on shoes. One thing that stood out to my NYC-dwelling eyes were the wrapped sweatshirts tied like sashes around the waist. Perhaps there's a little urban nature in there after all. With the trend for workwear—and the cultural idea therein—going strong, this was a different kind of work. Tossing lavender into a basket. It may not jump off the screen like a barely concealed bum under a torrent of sequins cascading from a pair of double wide shoulder pads (that’s TOM FORD's f***ing fabulous at work); but the beauty of fashion is that it's made for different people. Different stories, different tribes… When you're a designer best known for a cult of personality, telling a story through design can become an exercise in furthering the personal brand. For spring 2018, Tom Ford took the entirely self-referential route. For the diehards and believers, that's all good, because it's all Ford. INSTAGRAM comments were priceless. This time around, the brazen sex and glamour felt a tad dilute. I’m all for the '90s stuff, don’t get me wrong. But the collection felt a bit like Ford's F***ing Fabulous fragrance. Meant for diffusion. But no matter. It will linger a while before fading into next season. Spritz away… More NYFW: VFILES and BROCK COLLECTION. Much anticipation for CALVIN KLEIN, who has not shown as of publish time... Chief design officer SOMSACK SIKHOUNMOUNG exits J. CREW... GRAYDON CARTER will step down as EIC of VANITY FAIR... NYLON is going all digital.