Sweat shop abuse continued<\/p>\n
At the start of the film, a shady fashion cartel are intent on keeping sweat shop labour going, despite the prime minister of Malaysia\u2019s plan to ban it. One fiendish fashionista complains: \u201c50% of my inventory is manufactured in sweat shops in Malaysia!\u201d Zoolander satirised fashion\u2019s cognitive dissonance about sweat shop labour deftly. 25 years on, it\u2019s still, tragically, very much an issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n Very niche drinks orders became the norm<\/p>\n Donatella Versace likes her espresso served <\/a>in a pink-and-gold china cup<\/a>, Anna Wintour\u2019s order is reportedly a grande, extra-hot whole-milk latte from Starbucks<\/a>, while Calvin Klein infamously got his staff to compare the hue of his milky coffee to a Pantone colour swatch<\/a> to get it \u201cjust right\u201d. In the film, Derek, Meekus, Brint and Rufus share a love of the orange mocha frappuccino, while freaky designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell) loses it when his latte is too foamy. Fashion\u2019s niche drinks orders have arguably only become more extreme \u2013 as any fashion intern with a long list of hyper-specific morning matcha and iced coffee orders will tell you.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Posh\u2019s world, and we\u2019re just living in it<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Fashion Statement<\/p>\n Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Zoolander has more guest stars than an episode of Friends. Hi David Bowie, Tommy Hilfiger, Paris Hilton, Gwen Stefani, Tom Ford, Winona Ryder, Mark Ronson, Donatella Versace, Lil Kim and Sandra Bernhard. Groaning under the weight of its own star power, there is one cameo that feels slightly more significant than the others. Victoria Beckham delivers the line \u201che\u2019s a fashion icon!\u201d about Derek. Given her move from non-smiling Spice Girl to non-smiling creative director in the last 25 years, she could have been talking about herself.<\/p>\n Gasp! Fashion retirements remain shocking<\/p>\n Stiller as Zoolander, who made a shock return from retirement in Zoolander 2, with Owen Wilson as Hansel. Photograph: Photo credit: Philippe Antonello\/\u00a9 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n When Derek announces his early retirement from modelling at the triple funeral of his flatmates (\u201cI\u2019m sure there\u2019s a lot more to life than being really, really good looking,\u201d) the assembled mourners are shocked. But the surprise catwalk curtain call has become familiar: Jean Paul Gaultier stood down in 2020 after 50 fantastique years<\/a>, Dries Van Noten said goodbye in 2024, while stylist Law Roach \u201cretired\u201d on Instagram in 2023 before sneaking back two years later. Cheeky. Even Derek himself came out of retirement for Zoolander 2.<\/p>\n Top magazines went the way of the dodo<\/p>\n \u201cNot many people read your Time magazine, or whatever it\u2019s called,\u201d Derek tells journalist Matilda. At the time of release this was a joke at the expense of our model hero. Time magazine\u2019s paid circulation was 4m copies per week. Now, not only is Time\u2019s paid digital circulation at about 370,000 but many of the fashion magazines featured in the film have long ceased production: Look, Marie Claire and InStyle to name but a few. Hearing that line in 2026, it hits differently. Earth to Matilda, Derek was right, not many people are reading your magazine (although maybe they are reading your Substack).<\/p>\n \u2018Derelicte\u2019 became the distressed trend<\/p>\n Mugatu\u2019s Derelicte collection, crassly inspired by unhoused people, was a stinging comment on how far-removed fashion can be from reality. While John Galliano had already produced a collection inspired by those living along the Seine and purses resembling bin bags did appear on the catwalk (Lanvin)<\/a>, the Derelicte collection, which included a battered cardboard box worn as a dress, a feather boa of inflated condoms and a cape made of rubbish, picked at a concept which the likes of Demna later focused in on at Vetements and Balenciaga, elevating wear-and-tear as the distressed look.<\/p>\n To read the complete version of this newsletter \u2013 complete with this week\u2019s trending topics in The Measure \u2013 subscribe to receive Fashion Statement<\/a> in your inbox every Thursday.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792142051_985_500.jpg\")
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