The Devil Wears Amazon Basics By Ostwald Guillén

Heels click on the floor, just like the intro of that movie; the coat, the coffee, and the magazines of the moment must be ready, everything in its place. Everyone is running: some to swap their sneakers for high heels, others to put on red lipstick, others to tidy up, because absolutely everything has to be impeccable for when the elevator doors open. In that precise moment, as the first assistant reaches the elevator doors before they open, it’s not who you thought: neither Anna Wintour nor Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly will step out. The protagonist of this story is none other than Lauren Sanchez.

In an era where the algorithm dictates the pace at which we must live, where in three seconds we must capture the attention of six billion people, and where some magazines are more about advertising than compelling articles, we find ourselves with a bunch of billionaires sitting in the front row of the shows. Beyond the influencers—criticized by the entire industry yet followed by millions of eyes—the critique here is not directed at the billionaire, who will surely end up buying part of the collection or whose wife is undoubtedly a top client of the house; here, the critique focuses on the way everyone seeks to monopolize whatever they find in their path. The struggle now is over which company invests more in AI, who takes control of traditional media that are increasingly falling into oblivion due to new ways of communicating... But, since when is our judgment also for sale?

I swear, I thought long and hard about writing this article because, apparently, we live in the era of "free speech" but also in the era of "watch what you say"; I feel that not everything goes. What we truly think, what moves us, or what we fervently believe in, we must communicate; that is why these spaces exist: to open the debate and realize that we are not here to convince anyone. These spaces are for touching on topics that normally no one likes to talk about, but everyone thinks about: Can you imagine Condé Nast in the hands of the Bezos? I have nothing against them, nor their companies, nor do I know them personally. I simply raise this doubt ever since I saw Lauren Sanchez on that much-discussed Vogue cover, where rumors began that her wedding gift would be the prized publishing conglomerate. Do you think it’s just a rumor, or could this sale actually happen at some point?

When I saw Anna Wintour getting out of the car with Jeff and Lauren, I understood a bit of what was happening; I understood that Anna Wintour is willing to join forces with anyone to save the magazine that guards her wonderful legacy within its pages. I even thought I would see the name written in gold on the Met Gala invitations: "The Bezos family has the pleasure of inviting you to the Met Gala Powered by Amazon Basics." Would it surprise you to read something like that? Is it possible that an industry that saw the birth of artists like Galliano, McQueen, Dior, Balenciaga, and even the controversial Dolce & Gabbana, would surrender at the feet of the warehouse giant? Do you think it’s possible for fast fashion to take control of the fashion industry as we know it? My quick answer is no; I hope not. I hope that judgment, experience, quality, and craftsmanship always prevail. I truly hope the arts always prevail over a five-second reel. And look, I enjoy reels; as a fashion content creator, it would be very hypocritical of me to tell you otherwise, but I still enjoy a good book, slowing down, hitting pause on the chaos, and understanding that life goes beyond a 15-second story.

So, to the point: Do you really believe the devil wears Amazon Basics? Do you think she will no longer wear Prada? I know these are deep, perhaps even philosophical questions, but I don’t care; that’s what this is about: thinking, being intense, and stating our ideas with respect. Because I can understand that Lauren Sanchez is not a fashion reference at this moment, but neither was Kim Kardashian a few years ago, and no one can deny she changed the industry in several ways. I know there is no short answer to this; perhaps in ten years, we will come back to this article and laugh. Perhaps in ten years, we will all return to this article dressed in beige, and it will make total sense to think it was simply the start of a new era in fashion that we had no clue about. But that is what matters, what we must rescue, what we must never let die: our ideas.

Now I want to hear from you: What would Vogue USA be like under the command of Lauren Sanchez? A dream come true or a total nightmare? Remember: we are in the era where, apparently, everything has a price. I’ll be reading you.

With love,

Ostwald Guillén.

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