060: Gift Guide Unlocked & Investing in Diaspora Fashion

SEASON’S GREETINGS 💫

As we wind down to the end of the year, we’re revealing our Second Annual Holiday Gift Guide for you and yours. This season is an exciting time to consider your portfolio of archival finds across beauty, fashion, art and decor. We hope you discover something in this guide that is as thoughtfully considered as it is deeply inspirational.

As always, please reach us at [email protected] with any tips or questions.

DISPATCH 060 —

This week, we’re counting all of the Esenshel on the Wicked press tour, tuning into a conversation with Charles Gaines, and clocking a fashion exhibition in Johannesburg. Plus: dissecting another Diotima win. But first, our Second Annual Holiday Gift Guide unlocked…

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE UNLOCKED

Tis the gift guide season! In humility, we consider ourselves a one-stop shop for glittering baubles, thoughtful objets, and efficacious skincare — we hope you enjoy!

• Ami Cole Midnight Kiss Duo (Link) — The four-year-old makeup brand started by Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye has been on a steady clip and in beauty, consistent product launches are the name of the game. N’Diaye-Mbaye takes her best-selling lip gloss formula and unveils two new shades, Magic Hour and After Hours, perfect to add a sparkly topper to your look.

• Bernard James x USM Limited Edition Small Jewelry Box (Link) — Earlier this year, Brooklyn-based fine jeweler Bernard James rolled out a collaboration with Swiss-born furniture line USM and they are back with a sequel in this dreamy forest green. Lest you forget, fine jewelry deserves fine storage.

• Only Made Crystal Cuffs (Link) — Accessories brand Only Made is such a low-key underestimated fave in our opinion and this season’s debut of crystal cuffs are right up the alley of collectible one-of-a-kind pieces that can make an impact.

• Estelle Colored Glass Decanter in Midnight Blue (Link) — Every holiday season, we’re generally of the mind to consider another set of beautiful glassware for celebratory use. This midnight blue decanter from Estelle Colored Glass fits the bill — truly eye-catching, hand blown by artisans in Poland, and like the namesake of the brand, a jeweled treasure to behold for generations.

• LICHEN LM Stool by Nifemi Marcus-Bello (Link) — The Queens-based design incubator is behind some of the most delightful objects for the home as well as stocking contemporary designs, like this collector’s dream investment: LM Stool by Nifemi Marcus-Bello.

• Casely-Hayford Edition One Ofili Brown Jacket & Trousers (Link) — For all the sharp and elegant needs this time of year, look no further than London-based modern menswear label Casely-Hayford whose exclusive edition capsules are released in limited quantities, ensuring high quality and consideration. This Ofili Brown Set is a suit for the ages.

• KURO Home Velvet Rose & Oud Candle (Link) — We’ve only recently discovered KURO Home, but are already quite enamored with the slick packaging, which frankly has a large influence on marketing candles online. The scent profile is enough for us to look twice — top notes of clove and cinnamon, middle notes of rose and tuberose, and bottom notes of musk, amber, and vanilla.

• TOVE Studio Malena Dress (Link) — TOVE Studio is another British brand that fits straight into the contemporary category with enough options for a holiday party that can transition into an all-year wardrobe. This Malena Dress is kind of a moment. We also like this coat and this jacket.

• Klur Essentialist Transitional Moisture Cream (Link) — We’ve had Essentialist on our wishlist since founder Lesley Thornton launched the necessary moisturizer to her capsule skincare line, Klur in November. Here it is, an esthetician-derived skincare cocktail driven by Resveratrol that is sure to improve skin’s tone, texture, and hydration before the New Year.

• Nia Thomas Reese Sweater (Link) — Mexico City-based knitwear label Nia Thomas continues to push the frontier of resort-wear with an expanding all-climate assortment. We can personally attest to the exquisite fabrication behind her chunky knit sweaters, so what better reason to add the Reese Sweater to one’s collection.

INVESTING IN DIASPORA FASHION

Off the back of a history-making CFDA win, Jamaican designer Rachel Scott of Diotima has another claim to fame courtesy of the Frazier Family Foundation. Scott has become the first recipient of The Empowered Vision Award, “a grant program created in partnership between the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the Andrea W. and Kenneth C. Frazier Family Foundation to help address systemic barriers in the fashion industry” alongside a $100,000 cash-and-mentorship prize. Other inaugural nominees included Aisling Camps and Charles Harbison of Harbison.

Foundation namesake Kenneth C. Frazier was notably former Executive Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co, a Fortune 500 pharmaceuticals company, and represents an apt example of corporate beneficiary’s investments in the arts. Wealthy patrons directing funds towards creative talent has seen waves of limited success, but in an industry like fashion, The Empowered Vision Award makes a concerted step forward in correcting historical inequities.

Fashion can be like a flame, quickly lit, all encompassing, and at times doused out in the night. Combining cash and mentorship may be good model of what is needed to ensure the long-term viability and sustainability of diaspora brands, where tenured business guidance can often make the difference. Scott has an interesting road ahead to manage the halo of visibility with a fundamentally sound business that will support Diotima’s future. Grant funds used wisely, such as strengthening supplier relations or expanding international distribution, can cultivate a much larger audience of paying customers, but there is still more work to be done to elevate the brand in the broader landscape as well.

Scott is also a finalist for the 2025 International Woolmark Prize, which should certainly help drive brand visibility with a global audience, but the same challenge facing every young brand remains: how to build a business that can survive the inevitability of fashion’s tumultuous ecosystem?

ON OUR RADAR

A new podcast episode Perception vs Truth recently dropped, featuring American conceptual artist Charles Gaines in conversation with British fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner on how art can shape “our relationship with truth.” (Link)

Nigerian label Lisa Folawiyo’s latest collection, The Starting Line celebrates the pervasive cultural influence of football and sportsmanship. The Queen of Print sparkles and shines with embroidered detail that displays the power of athleticism and aesthetic. (Link)

In Johannesburg? Fashion Accounts in Museum Africa “explores collection and archival practices of history and memory through dress” with new commissions by The Sartists by Wanda Lephoto and Mimi Duma and works by Thebe Magugu and Sindiso Khumalo. Open until February 2025, the exhibition is curated by Wanda Lephoto, Erica de Greef and Alison Moloney. (Link)

One highlight from the Wicked film press tour: all of the Esenshel hats donned by Cynthia Erivo. Kudos! (Link)