Fashion is obsessed with books at the moment. All the major brands are at it, from Miu Miu’s Literary Club to Dior’s tote bags that resemble classic hardcover books. In London, however, it doesn’t take a big fashion house to get people reading. With niche bookstores such as Climax, IDEA and Lala Books, the intersection between style and literature is baked into the city’s culture. Take Phoebe Lovatt, for example, a London-based writer, interviewer and moderator, who also runs Salon Studio, a creative consultancy specialising in books. The closing gap between fashion and literature is something she recently explored on her podcast, Deep Read, while interviewing trend forecaster Emily Segal. “Emily referenced media theorist Marshall McLuhan’s concept of obsolescence: the idea that when a new technology or medium displaces an older one, the older medium doesn’t simply disappear, but can become a luxury object,” she says. “In a culture increasingly dominated by short-form video and other visual media, books and literature have acquired a certain rarefied status, making them a natural partner for fashion brands selling luxury goods.”
But in London, the literary scene comes to life through its grassroots movements, upheld by independent platforms that bring people together. “Clem MacLeod does a fantastic job with Worms magazine, and Gemma Janes’ platform Sendb00ks is also really thoughtful,” she says. “These kinds of independent projects are interesting precisely because they’re building literary communities on their own terms, rather than treating books as an accessory to something else.” Naturally, that feeds into the city’s sprawling approach to fashion. “I do think that cerebral, well-read people often have an interesting relationship with personal style, even if it’s unconventional. I work at the British Library most days, and I see some great looks there.”