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WRITING
Analysis: Both Oasis and Taylor Swift are examples of how artist merchandise functions as a tangible marker of group identity and belonging​
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At first glance, it's hard to imagine two fan communities more different than Oasis diehards and Taylor Swift's devoted Swifties. One is rooted in 1990s Britpop grit, pint-slinging swagger and sibling feuds. The other thrives on glittering arenas, TikTok trends and the intricacies of Easter eggs hidden in lyrics.
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Yet, beneath the surface, these two worlds converge more than you might think. Their fans are united by the same social forces, the same rituals of belonging and the same desire to signal identity through music - and especially style. Fashion and style arguably serve as the central point of convergence between the two fandoms, with artist merchandise functioning as a tangible marker of group identity and belonging.
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Analysis: As Levi's has shown over the years, brands become icons by telling powerful cultural stories and addressing societal tensions
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How does that Levi’s ad still reside in our heads four decades on? You know the one. A cool guy (Nick Kamen) walks into a laundrette, strips down to his crisp white boxer shorts and throws his Levi 501s into the washing machine as onlookers gape in bewilderment. All of this set to the smooth tune of Marvin Gaye's I Heard It Through the Grapevine
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Inspired by our recent Desert Island Dress podcast episode with Dublin-born photographer Rich Gilligan, we wondered how brands embed themselves in our psyche, memories, and identity, solidifying themselves as cultural icons in our worlds.
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https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0530/1503768-levis-jeans-launderette-ads-branding-beyonce/
Analysis: Desert Island Dress podcast guests talk about their visceral and emotional response to the items of clothing which have shaped their lives
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There are 5 million podcasts in the world and that's a fact. Well, as close to fact as 2024 stats can tell. So, you might ask, why on Earth do we need one more? We, too, are mulling over this existential question as we wrap up edits on the third series of Desert Island Dress, the podcast where we invite guests to choose four items of dress that have shaped their lives and they could not bear to leave behind on the metaphorical mainland.
The concept, inspired by Desert Island Discs, the iconic BBC radio broadcast running for over eight decades, is simple but effective. Each garment is an entry point to unravelling stories, memories and reflections from our guest’s life. The premise is deceptively simplistic, yet one guest described it as a hugely cathartic experience.
How could this be? Just sifting through some banal items of clothing, having a ponder on the final cut to bring to the desert island ... which, to be fair, is all entirely fictional, and we unfortunately don’t have the budget, nor the authority, to banish anyone off the Emerald Isle.
Just what does luxury mean in 2019?
Opinion: historically, luxury was about craftsmanship, skill and a high price point, but it now means many things to many people.
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Luxury is a fashionable word. "Similar to art, luxury can be approached from different angles, with highly subjective results", argue Jean-Noël Kapferer and Vincent Bastien in The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands. "Your luxury is not my luxury".
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When it comes to definitions of luxury, there are a glut of possibilities with no distinctive or definite abstract. Whilst this offers multiple possibilities, it is challenging for luxury brands to manage without a clear definition. If luxury is based on subjectivity and opinion, then what luxury goods and services offer the shopper is a number of tangible and intangible benefits.
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https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2019/1018/1038915-just-what-does-luxury-mean-in-2019/
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The battle between fast fashion and sustainable fashion
Opinion: fashion may be the second most polluting industry in the world, but alternative modes of practice are possible
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There is mounting attention focused on climate crisis right now. Citizens are putting pressure on governments to take action. In Ireland we have seen a surge in support for the Green Party in local and European Parliament elections. The Extinction Rebellion movement mobilised this year, staging significant protests countrywide. And we have seen schoolchildren rally in great numbers behind Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future climate strikes.
It appears the Irish government are listening and declared a climate emergency in April. More recently, they launched their climate action plan to hit carbon emission targets by 2030 and subsequently achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
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