1
Move: Hermès moves itself towards sensuality.
A New Yorker profile, published last week, explores Hermès move towards a more sensual identity under Nadège Vanhée, its womenswear artistic director. Vanhée talks about “notions of feminine desire”, and this year’s collections have included harness inspired tops, and skintight catsuits. This move comes as luxury is struggling with slowing demand, though Hermès continues to outperform the sector.
Signal: Desirability and desire are not the same thing.
Desirability is an emotion, desire is an impulse. Hermès has mastered desirability through scarcity and craftsmanship. Sensuality introduces a desire that is more physical and immediate. Unlike Gucci, sexuality has never been part of Hermès brand language… until now. For a house identified with restraint and discretion, this is evolution. Hermès is a strong brand, it does not need a new identity, but it can expand what the existing one can hold.
Is sexuality a shortcut to reinvention?
It can be, because it changes the perception of a brand - Vanhée’s exploration of desire is becoming part of Hermès itself. One person shaping what a centuries old brand means is extraordinary power – because it is partly their identity we are buying. But what happens when they leave? Does the desire we are buying into leave with them?
Read the New Yorker profile: How Hermès Unharnessed Fashion.

2
Move: Apple introduces a record of what the camera saw.
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro, launched 9 September, introduces something called Reference Image. When enabled, the camera captures signed sensor data, which Apple’s Private Cloud Compute develops into an unalterable reference image. It serves as a record of what was actually in front of the camera when the photograph was taken.
Signal: Proof is becoming a product feature.
Forget detecting the fake, instead let’s prove the original. As technology gets better at creating images, evidence of human presence has become necessary. Someone was there, something existed, something actually happened. For brands, a convincing image is no longer enough, it now needs to be verifiable. The real now needs proof.
What is valuable when anything can be faked?
Evidence. Authenticity is a claim and technology has responded by giving people another option: check. Verification used to be a luxury service; certifications and experts charging for provenance and peace of mind. Apple just built it into the camera.
See the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Announcement.

3
Move: The CFDA formally bans fur from New York Fashion Week.
From September 2026, no farmed or trapped animal fur is permitted in collections on the Official NYFW Schedule. The ban took effect as the current season opened. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) will also stop promoting fur. This move makes New York the second of fashion's "big four" cities to enforce a fur ban, following London, voluntarily since 2018 and formalised in 2023. Milan has issued guidelines and Paris has no policy at all.
Signal: Rules reveal what culture has already decided.
Gucci stopped using fur in 2017, when the decision still carried risk. Versace, Michael Kors and Chanel followed. They chose a position while the culture around fur was still changing. Now, New York has turned that cultural shift into policy. Brands can move while culture is changing, institutions move when it already has.
Was fur ever the real issue?
It was, because fur became culturally unacceptable. It was a symbolic sacrifice, but may not be the issue anymore. On Sunday, protestors at the COS show were there about wool - and giving up wool would be one of the biggest changes the industry could make. The question now is: does the protest signal where culture is going, and will the industry follow?
See Fashionista’s coverage of the wool protests.

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Image reference: Hermès, The New Yorker.
Sources: The New Yorker, Luxury Tribune, Apple, CFDA, Business of Fashion, Business of Fashion, WWD, Fashionista, NBC News