pulp.

paper unites labyrinthine people.

PULP is the editorial voice of ELS - where fashion, culture and sustainability collide with curiosity and openness. It is a space for fresh ideas and thoughtful conversations, exploring the evolving landscape of conscious design and the dynamics of cultural issues.

We are here to question, reflect, and discover what the future can look like - whether through new materials or shifts in the industry and in society. PULP is a place to connect, grow, and be a part of the cultural zeitgeist, where inclusivity and diversity are at the heart of the conversation, as we collectively shape a more thoughtful, equitable future.

A new loop: toward a fashion system that starts with less
Edie Lou Edie Lou

A new loop: toward a fashion system that starts with less

The garments we discard are not merely physical waste - they are the residual architecture of an economic and cultural systems, from regenerative fiber cultivation to high-tech sorting and logistics, are essential responses to this crisis. These systems play an increasingly vital role in managing textile waste - but their growing effectiveness also reveals a deeper tension: without addressing the root causes of overproduction and overconsumption, even the best recycling efforts may only treat the symptoms, not the source.

To make real progress, the transformation must extend beyond infrastructure. Designers have a critical role to play in reshaping the front end of fashion - by eliminating unrecyclable blends, minimizing waste through smart digital prototyping, and aligning production with actual demand. Consumers, too, are not exempt: circularity depends on buying less, wearing longer, and rethinking clothing not as an ephemeral good, but as an investment in identity, use, and material ethics. A future with less waste will not be achieved solely by managing its aftermath, but by choosing - collectively - to generate less in the first place.

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clothes that speak: how fashion writes culture
Edie Lou Edie Lou

clothes that speak: how fashion writes culture

Fashion is often dismissed as frivolous, but it is, in fact, one of the most powerful tools we have for expressing identity, negotiating social norms, and tracing cultural memory. Drawing from historic continuity theory and symbolic interactionism, this article explores how clothing functions not merely as ornament, but as language - encoding values, affiliations, and aspirations through material form. From empire waists to digital streetwear, what we wear tells a story: about who we are, where we’ve been, and what a society deems legible, respectable, or rebellious.

In the age of algorithmic visibility, fashion’s symbolic function intensifies. As garments circulate across platforms, their meanings are refracted, remixed, and recontextualized - often faster than institutions can keep up. But this fluidity doesn’t erase fashion’s structure; it amplifies it. Every outfit becomes a negotiation between individual agency and cultural code, between echo and present performance. Whether reviving past aesthetics or subverting norms, fashion remains a dynamic site where identity, memory, and meaning converge - not passively, but actively shaping how culture sees itself.

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before pride: the long arc of queer resistance
Edie Lou Edie Lou

before pride: the long arc of queer resistance

Across centuries and cultures, queer and trans lives have endured not only systemic repression but deliberate erasure. This piece traces the long arc of that history - from ancient civilizations where diverse expressions of gender and sexuality were integrated into social life, through the moral regimes of the Christian Church and state structures that criminalized and suppressed them. It follows how, even under threat, queer lives found continuity. It revisits the cultural double standards of the early modern period, where gender nonconformity was condemned in public but performed on stage; where female partnerships like Boston marriages were tolerated only because they were misread by patriarchal norms.

Drawing on political theory and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the article argues that queer identity is not a special positioning but a human birthright. Judith Butler’s work helps frame the ongoing backlash as a reaction to the exposure of how fragile normative systems truly are. In this light, Pride is a political structure - a collective insistence that dignity, autonomy, and recognition should not be depend on permission, they are not rewards, but fundamental aspects of what it means to be human.

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from noise to meaning: how to re-build fashion with value at the core
Edie Lou Edie Lou

from noise to meaning: how to re-build fashion with value at the core

Following last week’s analysis of how fashion conglomerates like LVMH and Kering have consolidated the industry and, in doing so, contributed to its creative exhaustion, this article turns to what comes next. The saturation of legacy luxury has unintentionally created blank space - a rare strategic opening for a different kind of brand-building: one defined by clarity, authorship, and cultural value rather than scale or spectacle.

This piece explores how that opportunity can be meaningfully pursued. Rather than positioning emerging designers as a countercultural niche only, we examine how can a new model be built from the ground up - structurally coherent, ethically aligned, and creatively sovereign? With reference to thinkers like Seth Godin, Clayton Christensen, and Pierre Bourdieu, we outline a new possibility for brand creation - one that understands value not only as visibility, but as the capacity to matter, to endure, and to signal meaning.

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when maison became a machine: how conglomerates industrialized luxury
Edie Lou Edie Lou

when maison became a machine: how conglomerates industrialized luxury

As luxury conglomerates continue to scale, what they offer becomes increasingly standardised: fast-paced collections, rotating creative directors, and high-visibility branding optimized for global markets. In the process, much of what once gave luxury its cultural and emotional weight - authorship, risk, intimacy - has been diluted. What remains is a system that is commercially may be efficient but creatively exhausted.

This shift has created space for an alternative approach to luxury - one focused less on expansion and more on intentionality. Emerging brands are building around authenticity and identity, emphasizing creativity and meaning over volume and visibility. They are producing in smaller quantities with the main focus to craft and the creative process. Sustainability, in this context, is not a positioning tool but a foundational practice. Their value proposition is based on coherence, care, and long-term trust with a defined audience that values craftsmanships and labor. To read more about the evolving landscape of fashion, authorship, and value beyond the mainstream luxury model, continue to the full article.

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The rainbow and the sunset: a dance between desire and the void
Edie Lou Edie Lou

The rainbow and the sunset: a dance between desire and the void

Los Angeles doesn´t run on tradition - it runs on transformation. And nowhere is that more visible than the Sunset Strip. A stretch of asphalt barely two miles long, it is long been the frontline of America´s imagination industry: where film met fame, music met movement, and self-invention became viable currency. It is where self-invention became a form of capital - and the right image could be your currency.

Tucked into that mythology sits the Rainbow Bar & Grill. Not just a rock relic, but a working cultural node where status doesn´t gate access. In a city built on curated visibility, the Rainbow remains in a very special way open. This article explores how the Rainbow functions as a true “third place”, why that matters in L.A.´s creative ecosystem, and how its ethos reflects the broader architecture of ambition that defines Hollywood and the Strip itself.

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cannes 2025 and the red carpet crackdown: fashion, power, and the politics of control
Edie Lou Edie Lou

cannes 2025 and the red carpet crackdown: fashion, power, and the politics of control

In May 2025, the Cannes Film Festival introduced a new dress code banning sheer fabrics and oversized silhouettes from its red carpet. The policy was framed as a matter of decorum and safety. But the policy raised broader questions about visibility, autonomy, and the politics of public appearance. For a festival originally conceived in 1939 - as a cultural answer to fascist interference in the arts - the decision marked a subtle but significant departure. What began as a defence of creative freedom now appears to be regulating the very forms of presence it once helped legitimize. The ban also runs counter to the aesthetic legacy of Jane Birkin - whose visually influential appearances in the late 1960s and early ´70s helped establish a new vocabulary of feminine visibility- one marked by ease, transparency, authenticity, and identity.

This article traces that evolution. From Brigitte Bardot´s early bikini-clad photo shoots to Birkin´s gowns and informal ease. Cannes has long been a space where fashion, film and art intersect with broader questions of identity and representation. It has long been shaped by individuals whose choices expanded the boundaries of public appearance. What they introduced was authorship - an unspoken challenge to the idea that elegance must be regulated. In tracing these shifts, the article considers what it means to appear now, and what may be lost when institutions quietly redraw the frame.

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Subculture: outside the frame
Edie Lou Edie Lou

Subculture: outside the frame

Subcultures have never been solely about aesthetics. They emerge when dominant culture fails to provide space for complexity, contradiction, or recognition. Whether through language, music, clothing, or shared rituals, subcultures create alternative systems of meaning. From the early figure of the Black Dandy, whose self-styling challenged racial visibility, to the emergence of punk, hip hop, and rave scenes, these movements have served as sites of both expression and survival.

As cultural critique bell hooks argued, dominant culture has a long history of absorbing the visual codes of subcultures while ignoring the social and political conditions that produced them. Style becomes branding. History is erased. What remains is a commercial version of resistance, stripped of its urgency and repackaged for mass appeal.

And yet, subcultures persist. They adapt, retreat, reconfigure. Whether online or offline, public or deliberately hidden, they continue to offer something mainstream culture cannot: a structure for identity built from within. Not performance or market logic - just belonging shaped by risk, recognition, and intent.

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Culture in motion: the met gala, costume institute, and the politics of cultural legacy
Edie Lou Edie Lou

Culture in motion: the met gala, costume institute, and the politics of cultural legacy

The Met Gala is one of the most visible cultural events of the year - part “red” carpet, part museum benefit, part performance. But behind the spectacle lies a structure rarely discussed: the Costume Institute, the only department within the Metropolitan Museum of Art that must fund itself entirely.this article examines how the Met Gala underwrites that responsibility, turning fashion into a public archive through a private, high-stakes ritual of visibility and capital.

More than a commentary on celebrity or couture, the piece looks at the deeper implications of how museums are funded - comparing the Met´s hybrid model with publicly supported institutions in Europe and elsewhere. It asks what is gained and what is compromised when cultural preservation is tied to exclusivity, spectacle, and donor preference. And it considers whether private sponsorship may, in some cases, create space for more pointed, timely curatorial choices, and real-time cultural gestures than slower, more bureaucratically cautious public models allow.

This is not a “red” carpet critique, nor a costume review. It is an inquiry into infrastructure - how institutions remember, who they empower, and what fashion´s place is in cultural history costs. Read the full piece to follow the money, the memory, and the questions behind the gowns.

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Built to stay: A practical guide to clothes that last
Edie Lou Edie Lou

Built to stay: A practical guide to clothes that last

We are constantly told to consume more carefully - but less often shown what that actually looks like. Especially when it comes to clothing. Most people do not abandon garments because they are truly worn out. They let them go because of small failures, or simply boredom. And in a culture built on speed and replacement, even expensive wardrobes have started to feel disposable.

Conscious consumption is everywhere, we talk about sustainability - a lot. But where to start or end - without bad conscious, of course?

This article offers a practical, design-aware guide to extending the life of your garments - starting from the moment you buy them. From inspecting construction and fabrics, to understanding seams, washing with care, storing properly, and repairing when needed.

Care is not just precious and practical but it is a way to letting garments become part of your story - your identity.

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Voice in the Void: Dressing with Sartre
Edie Lou Edie Lou

Voice in the Void: Dressing with Sartre

What does a trench coat have in common with a philosophical argument? What can a slip dress tell us about autonomy? This article unfolds at the intersection of existentialism and aesthetics., drawing on the work of Jean-Paul Sartre and John Berger to examine ow clothing becomes a site of authorship, intention, and identity. From the white shirt to the bomber jacket, the garments we return to again and again aren´t just “timeless” - they are structurally and semantically rich. They allow us to present ourselves clearly in a culture built to reduce identity to trends and surface impressions.

We are seen - by others, by systems, by ourselves. And whether we acknowledge it or not, how we dress plays a central role in that visibility. Clothing is never neutral. It shapes perception. It structures first impressions. It becomes part of the self we are building. When you choose what to wear, you are not just covering a body. You are constructing an image, a stance, a signal. Some garments obscure. Others reveal. The ones - chosen with clarity, worn with repetition - help build something stronger: a visual identity that communicates without explanation.

Discover more - if you have ever stood in front of the mirror and wondered not just what to wear, but who you are showing up as. If you have felt that quiet pull toward clarity, toward something that feels like you - not a trend, not a performance, just something honest. This might be worth your time.

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punk as a symptom of sanity: On refusal & authorship
Edie Lou Edie Lou

punk as a symptom of sanity: On refusal & authorship

There are moments in culture that don´t announce themselves. They don´t brand, perform, or build consensus. They just hold. And in that holding, something shifts. Punk was one of those moments - not just as a genre or a style, but as a structural interruption. I did not just introduce a look. It introduced a position: one where identity didn´t have to be decoded to be real. It surfaced in friction - between systems, expressions and surveillance. It created a form of ontological autonomy that refused the cultural, institutional, and aesthetic frameworks demanding identity be coherent, compliant, and consumable.

Drawing from figures like Jordan, Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren, and the infrastructure of early punk, this article examines how punk held space for presence in its own language. How it enacted authorship, and created conditions in which people could exist without being positioned - socially, economically, or politically.

But why is it still relevant today - because it obviously is, the aesthetic is everywhere. It is visible. It never left. Designers still reference it. Brands still borrow from it. The look circulates constantly. Why does it still pull people in? Why are we fascinated by it? Why does it continue to matter, long after its supposed moment actually passed? To find out more and get closer to the answer dive in and explore the full article.

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born into this: the generation box
Edie Lou Edie Lou

born into this: the generation box

Generational categories are everywhere -structuring the way we speak, market, hire, politicize, and organize identity. They’ve become a default language for difference, offering the illusion of insight while quietly reinforcing limitation. What once may have been convenient shorthand has hardened into something more restrictive. Shaping hiring decisions, media narratives, even our sense of belonging. They flatten nuance, reinforce lazy stereotypes, and distract us from what actually defines people: their values, experiences, and ideas.

This article interrogates the quiet architecture behind that system - how labels become social scripts, how identity is shaped. It takes a closer look at how those categories work - and what they cost us. Drawing from social psychology, cultural theory, and lived experience, it explores how generational thinking simplifies identity and distracts us from more meaningful questions.

If you have ever felt reduced to a type, or watched real complexity get lost in cliché - this is worth your time. Because being boxed in by your birth year isn´t just unhelpful. It is tired. And it is time to move on.

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dress yourself successful: the genius of less
Edie Lou Edie Lou

dress yourself successful: the genius of less

Getting dressed might seem like a trivial decision, but it is one of many that quietly drain our mental energy each day. Steve Jobs´black turtleneck and Yohji Yamamoto´s signature monochrome weren’t just about aesthetics - they were deliberate choices to simplify life and preserve focus. Psychologists call this decision fatigue: the more trivial choices we make, the less mental energy we have for the work and ideas that require real focus.

We tend to think of choice as freedom, but endless decisions - what to wear, what to eat, what emails to answer first - can leave us scattered before the day has even begun. Studies show that simplifying these moments can sharpen focus, reduce stress, and create space for deeper thinking.

So what happens when we rethink clothing as more than just a personal style? This article explores how eliminating unnecessary choices in what we wear ca have a profound impact on our lives. From the science of willpower to the power of intentional living, we will uncover why owning less can actually give you more: more time, more confidence, and more energy for the things that truly matter.

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the uncompromising nature: Human rights aren´t up for debate
Edie Lou Edie Lou

the uncompromising nature: Human rights aren´t up for debate

Human rights should be universal. They should be given - untouchable, unquestionable, protected. And yet, time and again, history proves otherwise. Freedoms once thought secure are being challenges, dismantled, or erased. Injustice is no longer hidden; it unfolds in real-time, demanding not just awareness but action. If democracy, dignity, and freedom are to mean anything at all, they cannot be treated as static ideals. They exist only as long as we defend them.

This understanding shaped my last collection. I turned to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, not as a historical document, but as a call to resistance. Its words were printed onto white fabric, stark as typewritten pages - garments as declarations, as reminders, as refusal to forget. Fashion, like any art, is not separate from the world it exists in. It has the power to speak, to challenge.

But can we still afford to be apolitical? Can we look away? Close our eyes? Or is it time to acknowledge that every choice we make is already a statement? To delve deeper into this exploration, we invite you to read the full article.

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Through an Alien´s eyes: the psychology of luxury and the pursuit of fulfillment
Edie Lou Edie Lou

Through an Alien´s eyes: the psychology of luxury and the pursuit of fulfillment

An unseen observer - a curious entity - watches as humans chase luxury with relentless devotion. It sees how objects are not merely possessions but symbols, narratives, and instruments of status. The thrill lies not in ownership but in the pursuit, the anticipation, the quiet battle to outshine others. And yet, the satisfaction never lasts. As soon as one object is acquired, desire shifts to the next, an endless cycle fuelled by the hedonic treadmill and the silent force of social comparison.

But what if true luxury is not found in accumulation, but in discernment? Not in scarcity, but in self-mastery? The entity wonders: could the highest form of wealth be something internal - a life rich in meaning, knowledge, and its, rather than things? Perhaps the most refined luxury ins not owning more, but needing less.

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The tension of Now: fashion at a crossroads
Edie Lou Edie Lou

The tension of Now: fashion at a crossroads

Women´s Fashion Week has just concluded, and it has left me reflecting on a bigger question: Does fashion still hold significance in a world facing political turmoil, environmental crises, and shifting social dynamics? Fashion, obviously, always been a language, one that speaks volumes about where we are as a society. But where does it go from here?

For new start-up brands, that question holds weight. With new technologies like LED garments and AI-driven design reshaping the landscape, how do emerging brands reconcile innovation with purpose, creativity with responsibility? As the industry continues to evolve, it begs the question: Where do we go from here? To explore these ideas further, I invite you to continue reading and delve into the complexities behind fashion´s evolving role.

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Chasing the void: the american psycho effect
Edie Lou Edie Lou

Chasing the void: the american psycho effect

American Psycho was never just a satire of 1980s excess - it was a warning. Decades later, its critique of status, aesthetics, and consumerism feels more relevant than ever. The obsession with wealth and image may have shifted from Wall Street power suits to curated, “effortless”, “ instagramized” lifestyles, but the underlying hunger remains unchanged: to be seen, to be envied, to belong. The pursuit of perfection has woven itself even deeper into our identities, dictating how we dress, where we eat, and how we measure success.

Bateman´s relentless pursuit of perfection reveals the emptiness of chasing ideals that are unattainable, exposing how society´s obsession with external validation breeds isolation and disconnection.

As we immerse ourselves in a culture of constant comparison - shaped by social media and the “aesthetic economy” - the need to perform and measure up grows stronger. The validation culture, built on curated images of success, leaves us grappling with an ever-deepening void, where material wealth and superficial beauty offer fleeting satisfaction but no real sense of self.

Is the chase for wealth, beauty, and status a path to fulfilment - or a trap that keeps us endlessly reaching for something that can never satisfy? So take a moment, settle in with your favorite drink, and enjoy diving into to full article to uncover more.

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The power of the color: how it shapes and influenceS
Edie Lou Edie Lou

The power of the color: how it shapes and influenceS

Before we speak, before we even step into a room, color has already introduced us. It shapes our emotions, influences our choices, and dictates how we are perceived. Color is more than decoration - it is influence. it decides how we are perceived before we even speak, shaping everything from first impressions to lasting reputations. It can get you hired, get the loan, make you seem more powerful, or even determine how trustworthy you appear. And yet, we rarely stop to question why certain colors make us feel the way they do.

This goes far beyond fashion. Color has been used to signal status, incite revolutions, enforce social hierarchies, and even mark people for exclusion. It can be comforting or confrontational, familiar or unsettling. Political movements have been defined by it. Entire industries rely on its psychological pull. Some colors open doors; others close them.

So why do we gravitate toward some hues and reject others? How do colors shape our decisions without us even noticing? And if color is a language, what message are we unconsciously sending - and receiving - every single day?

Dive deeper into the fascinating world of color and discover how it influences more than just our wardrobes. Read the full article to explore how hues impact our perceptions, decisions, and interactions.

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Decoded: the language of the garment
Edie Lou Edie Lou

Decoded: the language of the garment

We like to think of fashion as personal expression, but how much of what we wear is truly our own choice? Clothing operates within a coded system - semiotic, political, historical - where every cut, fabric, and silhouette carries meaning. Those who understand the rules can manipulate them, using dress as a tool for power, rebellion, or subversion. Those who don´t are simply dressed by the system, playing a role they didn´t write. From Marie Antoinette’s chemise à la reine, which unintentionally unraveled the authority of the monarchy, to contemporary acts of sartorial defiance, fashion has always been more than aesthetics. It is communication. It is control. It is the quiet force shaping who is seen, who is heard, and who gets to belong. Ready to crack the code? Read the full article to understand it, decode it, disrupt it, and use it to your advantage.

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