On this day June 10, 2020, you might think that the landing page of Harper’s Bazaar US has left the fashion business. I considered posting an old Temptations song ‘Ball of Confusion’ but what we are actually seeing is a ‘Ball of Clarity’.

Somebody needs to write a new song to describe this moment in America and the fashion industry. What does fashion even mean at this point?

One answer is the escapist route of the Chanel Cruise show, an effort that “totally ignored the cataclysmic context in which they would be worn. It was more like a return to some of high fashion’s escapist failings of the past rather than a meaningful step toward the future,” wrote Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times.

If this is how a fashion house “adapts” to the changing world — if these are the clothes that are the response, if escapism is presented as an answer, if photographs and video simply attempt to mimic what once was, as opposed to reframing what could be, if a statement from a designer can’t even acknowledge the pain and complications of her consumers, even the rich ones — then, pretty as the products may be, it is not doing its job.

Looking at Harper’s Bazaar US’s landing page this day June 10, 2010, something cataclysmic is going on, and it cannot be reduced to fashion must-haves bullet-points.

The moment is about principle. It is about justice, It is about the factual truths of American history. then and now. It is about the original sin — SLAVERY — in this country. The moment declares that the actions of the European slave traders who owned and operated the ships delivering slaves into the hands of colonial landowners for profit were sinful, horrific acts of aggression on humanity.

I don’t care that Muslim slave traders operated in similar fashion. Two packs of sinners do not create virtue — although US President Donald Trump seems to operate on this standard.

In the pain and promise of our global fashion moment, voices matter. Who steps up? Who stands down?The fashion gods have delivered a new voice to the dialogue.

The new editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar US, Samira Nasr now carries a bigger megaphone. Talk about an epic moment for a fashion editor to take the reins of a major US fashion magazine.

The voices over at the Fashion Spot are probably groaning, as the loudest voices there (and it’s not a big group at all) tend to look to Chanel in Capri for a return to the good old days. They see fashion as elitist and separate from cultural moments — events that ruin the glossy imagery that inspires their tired imaginations.

The truth is the voices over at the Fashion Spot are masked in the identity of their favorite fashion icons, taking no real responsibility for their opinions and general lack of any real vision to help our industry. Except to criticize everything and everyone 85% of the time. I’ve never seen such a smug, small group of self-important, fashion people — and I speak of the forums, not the daily blog, which I do not read. They could be great for all I know.

We want to leave smugness behind. You are either part of the solution, working your heart out to make fashion world a better and more relevant place, or you are part of the problem.

Stand up or stand down.

I note, however, that the “must be recommended by current members” wall at the Fashion Spot has come down. It’s no longer a private club, grasping for relevancy in a fashion industry that moved on — and has been moving on for some time now.

Mavericks are now allowed at the Fashion Spot., not that I expect them to be knocking the doors down to get in. This is not the house of Gucci we’re talking about here.

Samira Nasar Steps Up on a New Day

Samira Nasr, previously the fashion director at Vanity Fair, will become editor in chief of Harper’s Bazaar starting on July 6.Credit...Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Louis Vuitton via New York Times

Today, the moment belongs to Samira Nasr, as Harper’s Bazaar appoints its first ever black editor-in-chief in its 153-year-history.

“As the proud daughter of a Lebanese father and Trinidadian mother, my worldview is expansive and is anchored in the belief that representation matters,” Harper’s Bazaar’s new leader explains. “My lens by nature is colorful, and so it is important to me to begin a new chapter in Bazaar’s history by shining a light on all individuals who I believe are the inspiring voices of our time.”