End of the year review
Going through some of my favorite fashion moments, the future of the blog, and more
I can’t believe we are already here, 2025 is just around the corner. We have a couple of more newsletters left before we close the office down for the holidays, but until then, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this year, share some of my favorite moments, and discuss the future of the newsletter.
As always, a big thank you to everyone who continues to read this. Whether you’re a free or paid subscriber or not a subscriber at all, your support has meant the world to me, as you’ve allowed me to do the unthinkable — focus on SNL as a full-time career. Many don’t know this, but I’ve had a corporate job while running the blog, which started to get in the way, so a few months ago, I decided to take a chance and quit my job.
As the blog continues to grow, new opportunities present themselves, allowing me to focus on consistently creating better content. SNL started 10 years ago as a passion project to share my thoughts on clothes without having to rely on other publications or platforms — it also helped me stay sane while I was working in finance… A place I did not belong in, hahaha. I was blogging for nobody but myself, and over time, I ended up finding people who shared a similar opinion to mine. So again, I thank everyone who’s supported this blog and for allowing me to turn a passion project into my career.
In terms of the future of this newsletter, I’m looking to focus on more personal content, deep dive into my closet, and more fit pics — those will be exclusive to the paid subs though because it’s no more free fit pics in 2025! I’m gatekeeping.
I am curious to know what kind of content you’d like to see more of. Are there any specific requests? This is the time I want to hear it. So please take a few minutes and share your suggestions in the comments, I’d really appreciate it.
Another pivotal moment this year was getting the studio, a new extension of SNL that will be open to the public to explore clothing, see rare items, research the growing archive, and more. I’ve always dreamed of the idea of a space where like-minded individuals can nerd out about similar things, and this is what it’s for. It’s also going to double as a space for Teste, a new store project I’m working on where you can buy a lot of various clothes and objects — you can follow the page on Instagram here. The showroom + shop will be open by appointment only starting in the new year. If you’re from Montreal or planning a visit, feel free to hit me up via DM to schedule an appointment.
I find that in the never ending stream of constant content it’s very easy to miss out on stuff, or even worse, just forget about it altogether. We’ve been programmed to be obsessed with newness, but a lot of the stuff that I’ve written this year and even the year before still holds true to our everyday discovery of style. That’s why I wanted to take a second to highlight some of my favorite articles I’ve written that I think we shouldn’t forget about:
How to build a versatile wardrobe
Getting into fashion may seem confusing, but if you open up your mind and accept fashion as trial and error then that’s where the true fun begins. In this article I tried to touch upon the idea of how you can explore building your wardrobe and how you can start applying the concept of acquiring versatile items that will allow you to easily create multiple looks for less.
How to revive your wardrobe
Everyone goes through a period where they feel like they have nothing to wear. Refreshing your rotation by adding a few simple items goes along way and gives new life to items you’ve already been wearing for years. In this article I share some brands for good basics, what to look for when approaching a wardrobe refresh and more.
Expanding your style in the workplace
Buying clothes that apply to the workplace and a chill night out is probably peak versatility. In the world of expensive clothes it’s more ideal to buy stuff that can be applied to different vibes with ease. In this newsletter we explore this idea as well as look at some brands you should keep in mind when looking for casual work-appropriate clothing.
Why are all good clothes exclusive to Japan?
It’s no secret that North America gets the short end of the stick when it comes to style variety, especially when you compare what’s going on over in Asia. In this article I went on to explore some known brands that are doing completely different things over in Japan, items I wish we had more access to here back home, and more.
There’s a bunch of more great topics that I didn’t touch on, but you should definitely go through the Top section to check out the most popular articles of the year if you haven’t already. A lot of good stuff!
Let’s talk my favorite fashion moments. Too much went down so this one is going to be hard to narrow down. I’m going to try my best to hit a few standouts that I think really left their mark. I’d love to hear what your favorite moments of the year were, whether it’s a collection, collaboration, a single item, I want to hear about it. Drop yours in the comments.
Anyway, here are a couple of my standout hits for me.
UMBRO by SLAM JAM
Arguably one of the biggest movements by a brand this year. 2024 marked 100 years for Umbro and they delivered. Partnering with Slam Jam was an amazing move which led to the creation of great designs that ended up flying off the shelves. Really hope they continue their partnership in the new year and hoping for a little bit more stock so more people can have a proper chance at getting these pieces!
KIKO KOSTADINOV x LEVI’S
Could be one of my favorite collaborations of the year, honestly. Kiko can do no wrong and he shows that collection after collection. His clothing just feels refreshing in terms of a unique style. Anyway, the Levi’s collection was an absolute hit. If you’re lucky enough to have grabbed one of the items then you know what I’m talking about. I grabbed the black denim jacket and I can honestly say it changed my life.
18 EAST
Brand of the year??? I’m not in a position to say, but they really did their thing in 2024. It was a huge ramp up for them in the right direction, and the collaborations with brands like Nanga, Earth Studies, Padmore & Barnes definitely helped. New collections continue to be better than the last, and the overall quality of their products jumped significantly. They still hold the spot for my favorite denim — I haven’t taken them off!!
I realize I’ll need to expand on this list further because I need to save space for more stuff in today’s newsletter. Before we move on, I just need to throw in some honorable mentions:
Post Archive Faction x On was a surprising hit that I didn’t see coming. Footwear was great, but the real show stopper had to be the apparel. I talk about this more in this article about my recent favorite acquisitions.
A lot of great footwear came out of Adidas, which had an incredible year in terms of popularity overall, we can’t forget Asics and New Balance as well. A lot of great stuff. Paraboot had menswear in a chokehold, but are we really surprised?
Stone Island’s new marketing presence sucked me back into the brand. It’s really good. I suggest to simply take a stroll through their IG page.
Palace and Supreme continued to do their thing. Lot’s of great collaborations and collections kept things exciting throughout.
South Korea brands continue to kill it. Brands like XLIM, Post Archive Faction, JiyongKim, Pennon, and more all pushed new ideas on technically that I’ve been absolutely obsessed about.
I got to visit a lot of amazing stores this year. Writing about clothing is a lot of fun, but entering a brand's or retailer's world through in-store shopping lets me experience clothing in a different way. That’s something that excites me even more than the writing itself. I also had the opportunity to connect with many incredible people behind these brands and retail stores — you know who you are, and you're all killing it!
Many of these visits have turned into shopping guides around the globe. As your support continues to grow, it allows me to travel to various places to continue to explore, experience, and report back to you through various content mediums — once again, thank you for that!
Here is a list of some shopping guides that were made this year:
And that’s about it! Appreciate everyone, and looking forward to a whole new world of SNL in the new year.
Love your content and it’s so sick to hear you were able to turn a passion project into a full time career, congratulations 🙏🏼
I would like to see more workplace stuff. I think a lot of readers (myself included) are in the corporate world and so it’s nice to see how we can elevate our wardrobes in the office.
Great post. I am only really getting stuck into Substack now. Also, I am in Montréal and 100% down to check out the shop space !