The rise of South Korean conglomerates, HALLYU, the HERMIT KINGDOM, THAAD, and K-beauty have been hot topics of conversation recently. Rarely are they covered together. This piece by TRACEY E. ROBEY is a fantastic look at how political relations between SOUTH KOREA, NORTH KOREA, and CHINA could alter the booming cosmetics industry (and it's not about the recently released images of KIM JONG-UN's visit to a cosmetics factory). Love it for not playing to conventional wisdom that the entire K-beauty industry operates as a single, monolithic entity. Robey puts forth two interesting potentials: that South Korea will invest more in the American market in order to diversify its global exports, and that China could move to bolster a homegrown cosmetics industry, perhaps aligning with new visions for "Made in China." Having a larger K-beauty presence in the US could be great, not only due to strong product offerings, but because K-beauty brands are inventive when it comes to retail—store design, rewards programs, etc... Some great designer interviews dropped recently, and they each call attention to the vast corporate and technical structures that power fashion—sometimes referred to as the "fashion system." In each of their cases there's a sense that the old system is changing. Rapidly. HUSSEIN CHALAYAN speaks his mind on everything from fashion's rise on the internet to staying in business after many of his contemporaries from the '80s and '90s have exited fashion. RAF SIMONS talks about his work overseeing the creative direction of the $8.4 billion business of CALVIN KLEIN. There's a great quote in there about bureacracy: "We don’t have so many meetings in Europe... I sometimes meet 150 people a week, and then I think, What did I...? How did I...? Did I move on this week?" And MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI makes the case that women, and a new generation of young people, should drive fashion forward. One of her aims at DIOR is to make ready-to-wear that sells (as opposed to the oft-repeated notion that it's subsidized by higher-margin goods like fragrance and handbags)... Makeup artists are integral to fashion, so it's great to see their work explored in film. A documentary on makeup artist KEVIN AUCOIN, who passed away 2002, is hitting the festival circuit. Hope this gets picked up in the US... LOOSE THREAD's analysis of STITCH FIX avoids looking at the company solely as a subscription box business. What about data? The potential for private label? Read on... Straight from the designer radar tower: 5 South African labels to know... Marinara, arrabbiata, DOLCE & GABBANA pasta.