To The Future, And Beyond?

2025 loading and a Fashion Tingz glow-up is on the horizon...

I started writing this newsletter four years ago when the world went to shit. I was bored at home, and at a loss as to what to do with myself.

Originally, this space didn’t have much of a focus. A few narrative ramblings here, a couple of personal essays there, all in all, it lacked direction. A reflection of the times.

And it wasn’t gaining much traction. 

I don’t need to tell you that the newsletter landscape has since become crowded, and I was part of the problem. So I decided to do something about it.

Hence, Fashion Tingz was born.

---

---

The backstory no one asked for 

I’ve spent most of my adult life working in fashion. I had a full scholarship to a private fashion university, and while my trust fund classmates were taking private jets to their pied-a-terre in warmer climates, I was working evenings and weekends at my retail job. 

I landed an internship as soon as I finished studying. My first big girl fashion job and it was an eye-opener. Then I was a freelance fashion assistant before starting in the same role at one of the biggest media companies in the UK, which pushed me to my limits, and I resigned a year later.

For the next couple of years, I freelanced, working on everything from celebrity photoshoots to editorial styling, e-commerce, billboards, real people photoshoots, in-store campaign visuals and online personal styling. Then 2020 came and put a stop to it all.

I had time to regroup and refocus so I went back to school to study journalism. Writing felt like my calling, it just took me a while to realise it. I studied alongside work, and I aced it in case you were interested in an underdog story. 

Then I got my first editorial job, progressing from junior to mid-level and then senior. Three years flew by without me realising. And I knew I couldn’t spend my days clocking in and out, working on someone else’s vision and dreams instead of my own.

As of October 2024, I bit the bullet and went freelance full-time.

It’s only been a couple of months, but I’ve worked on everything from marketing comms to trend forecasting to fashion-led audience insights to data strategy alongside writing my twice-monthly fashion column. And this newsletter of course, which I plan on dedicating more time to in 2025.

So what does next year look like for Fashion Tingz?

Well, I now have the luxury of deciding how I spend my time and what I work on. 

Spoiler alert, my aim is for Fashion Tingz to have a major glow-up next year and beyond.

The TL;DR of the thinking behind Fashion Tingz is this: a space where we’re making fashion make sense. A peek behind fashion’s glossy facade, digging deeper into the goings-on of the industry at large. Mixed with a ton of insights, a future-facing outlook, and plenty of personal commentary. 

It’s fashion meets culture for all of the girlies and guys who care about any of this stuff.

What will be landing in your inbox?

I’ve been sending out newsletters like clockwork at Sunday 11 am GMT and that won’t change.

Fashion Tingz will continue to release a mix of:

• Hot Takes: my bullet point thoughts on fashion's hottest issues

• Essays: features that dig into the bigger picture with a critical and insightful eye

• ICYMI: curated posts full of read/watch/listen recommendations, places you need to visit, and TikToks that caught my eye

• Vibes: a round-up of brand chit chat, news you might have missed, and icon moments + eye-roll behaviour

Plus a ton more. Right now, I don’t want to give too much away.

But here’s a little teaser: fashion insider interviews, debrief sessions unpacking trends, deep dives into subcultures, extremely personal essays recounting my time working in fashion, and more. 

But let me know what you want and what you’re vibing with, so I know what direction to take things in?

I know one thing, there’s a lot of industry folk who read this. I’m continuously shocked that people from Nike, Business of Fashion, Condé Nast, The Guardian, WGSN, Selfridges, Salomon and more lock into Fashion Tingz.

And I want to offer a little more to this reader segment in particular. That’s why I’ll be making Fashion Tingz useful for brands, businesses, and agencies. From deep dives to 101s and case studies, keep your eyes peeled.

I won’t sugarcoat it: most of these new content streams will be for paying subscribers only. I haven’t paywalled my work so far as I had a dose of imposter syndrome, waiting for external validation that may never come. But to be able to spend time and energy making Fashion Tingz better, your girl needs to get paid for producing value-driven work. Numbers talk after all.

I’m grateful for the paying subscribers who are already here: you are real ones. Monthly subscriptions to Fashion Tingz cost around the same as a cup of coffee — so think of it as treating yourself to your favourite beverage of choice? I hope you’ll consider it.

Catch you in 2025!

I’m under no illusion, Fashion Tingz doesn’t have anywhere near the number of subscribers that some of the top fashion, shopping and culture publications have elsewhere on Substack.

But that’s not what matters to me, and that doesn’t mean we won’t get there one day. 

I want to grow this thing and make sure everyone has a seat at the table. Giving you, my dear readers, a dose of new-age fashion media at a time when major publishers are crashing and burning. 

Fashion Tingz will be on break for the first few weeks of January, as it’s my birthday and I’ll be OOO. Unless, of course, I feel the sudden urge to write something and share it with you all — which could quite easily happen.

We’re ungatekeeping fashion over here, and I hope you’ll join me for the ride in 2025.

Your fashion bestie,
J’Nae

---

---

If you're vibing with this newsletter, subscribe to get weekly doses of fashion goodness straight in your inbox. It’s worth it, I promise.

---

Want to get in touch?

Follow me on Instagram

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me on LinkedIn