Hi, welcome to Line Sheet, and happy first Monday in May to those who celebrate. It was nice to see many of you this weekend, but especially Colin Kaepernick at the Moncler party at Casa Cipriani. Remo Ruffini never fails on the celebrities-just-showing-up-to-hang front. (I knew it was time to go home when I overheard someone inviting Eva Chen to a Met Gala afterparty that begins at midnight. Godspeed, Eva!) Tonight, I’m sticking downtown to pod with writer, publicist, editor, and person-of-authority Bonnie Morrison, who wrote a great piece in her must-read newsletter about this year’s Met Gala theme and dress code, “Tailored for You.” Have fun at the parties, and catch our Met Gala opinions, good and bad, on tomorrow’s episode of Fashion People. You can listen here and here. This evening, I’ve got fresh details on the battle between the co-founders of Los Angeles–based haute-merch outfit Online Ceramics, including a bankruptcy filing; an analysis of the Phoebe Philo–edited issue of the Financial Times’s weekend supplement; and a report from this morning’s press preview of Superfine: Tailoring Black Style at the Costume Institute. For the main event, I examine the business prospects of Riccardo Tisci, who had a big-time collaboration in the works when a sexual assault lawsuit was filed last week. (He’s denied the allegations.) Tisci’s name had often bubbled up for major fashion jobs. Alas, those opportunities may now be eternally limited. Mentioned in this issue: Riccardo Tisci, Givenchy, Burberry, Alexander Wang, Nike, Balenciaga, Boy Reddit, Online Ceramics, Phoebe Philo, Louis Vuitton, Pharrell Williams, Virgil Abloh, and many more…

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Three Things You Should Know…

The battle of the Online Ceramics “bros”: Over the weekend, I got a tip that Boy Reddit (and those of you left on X) was freaking out over the discovery of a February 2025 Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing by Online Ceramics, the Los Angeles–based makers of merch with meaning, co-founded in 2016 by Elijah Funk and Alix Ross. The company is best known for its collaborations with the Dead, but also various entities including Penguin Random House, The Beatles, André 3000, and, no surprise, A24. Chapter 7 bankruptcy mandates liquidation rather than a restructuring. In this case, creditors included IMG and Dov Charney’s Los Angeles Apparel, which makes high-quality blank t-shirts used by other brands.Unlike most Chapter 7 cases, however, Online Ceramics’ online operation never ceased, and the product was never actually liquidated. Over the past few months, customers have complained that they were charged for online orders without receiving them—in particular, around a drop of merch created for Dead & Company’s run at the Sphere in Las Vegas. A March filing shows that the Chapter 7 case was dismissed, and a request to convert the bankruptcy to a Chapter 11 restructuring—which would permit the company to continue trading—was denied. According to the original documents, the company had liabilities of $50,000 or less, which makes this even more confusing. Sure, money is money, but Online Ceramics has plenty of extremely famous fans. Couldn’t John Mayer, or some other well-funded devotee, provide a bridge loan?It’s easy to peg the troubles at Online Ceramics to the fall of merch-as-fashion, but I’m not buying that theory. (Merch is a constant, whether it’s truly fashionable or not.) My understanding, instead, is that this came down to a fight between co-founders. In the documents, Funk (who owns 50 percent of the company) accused Ross (who left the business in the middle of 2024) of commencing the bankruptcy proceedings without the consent or approval of the board. He also accused him of “improperly” routing $500,000 of corporate funds to himself, rather than paying employee wages, vendor invoices, and other expenses. It also sounds like Ross is starting a new brand. I reached out to Ross, Funk, and one of their lawyers for comment. No one responded.
Phoebe Philo is still a mystery: I loved seeing all the Philoites posting their copies of this week’s HTSI (née How to Spend It), the Financial Times’s weekend supplement, guest-edited by none other than Phoebe Philo. I, too, was excited to pick one up at one of the few remaining magazine shops in Manhattan. Here’s my micro-review, as promised, starting with the good.I loved the market page, which features Philo’s picks for mending and caring for your things, from a fabric shaver to a scratch remover. And I thought the subjects she chose were interesting, including the artist Andrea Fraser and Koyo Kouoh, the curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale. (Oh, and the guy mending clothes on the streets of San Francisco. Everyone loved that one.)I was most disappointed in the fashion editorial, however, styled by the uber-talented Jane How, who mixed in her own pieces (like Adidas track pants and an old Vivienne Westwood t-shirt). It looked cool, but also obvious: There is no tension between How’s and Philo’s aesthetics, and so I didn’t learn anything, or feel newly inspired.

Photos: Courtesy of Financial Times

I hate to compare it directly to the Marc Jacobs–edited issue of Vogue, because HTSI is so different—it’s a weekly magazine, which means there is far less time spent on each issue and fewer resources available. That said, the Jacobs issue was fully formed with rich editorials, articles, and shopping pages. And Jacobs gave a lot of himself, which is part of his creative process. I wish that some of the vulnerability that Philo displays in her designs were more evident here, but her desire for privacy won out.

Tailored to make money: This morning, I went to the preview of the Met Gala exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. Very rarely can the Costume Institute’s annual effort be referred to as complex. Boring, sure—unclear, definitely—but not complex. You should go see the show, a joint effort between chief curator Andrew Bolton and Barnard professor Monica Miller, whose 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, inspired it. Bolton said he first started thinking about the idea after the death of longtime Vogue editor André Leon Talley in 2022. For decades, A.L.T. was one of the few Black people working in fashion, and his personal style was as influential, if not more so, as the work he did in the pages of Vogue.Conceived during the previous administration, it’s an interesting time for Superfine to land, given all the D.E.I. pullback by corporations. (Instagram is a lead sponsor, and C.E.O. Adam Mosseri was present at the preview, in addition to buying two tables at the gala.) I’m not going to get into the exhibition details here, but Miller and Bolton created a real depth in those rooms that is often missing in shows like this. Fashion reflects culture, but is often interpreted with a certain unfeeling flatness. Not here.And yes, there’s a lot of Louis Vuitton included—they were one of the lead sponsors, and menswear designer Pharrell Williams is a co-chair—but with good reason, I’d argue. The late Virgil Abloh’s contributions were groundbreaking and hugely influential. And Williams’s body of work, and personal presentation, has massively influenced pop culture over the past 30 years.Also, this is unequivocally a commercial endeavor, even if it’s a fundraiser for a nonprofit. While sitting through the morning’s remarks by Miller, Bolton, and co-chair Colman Domingo (wearing a gorgeous berry-colored Ozwald Boateng suit), my mind kept going back to the number mentioned by the Met’s C.E.O., Max Hollein: $31 million. That’s how much money the gala raised for the Costume Institute this year, thus far. It’s an extraordinary amount, and illustrates what a big business this event has become, thanks almost entirely to co-chair Anna Wintour. The preview is an event in itself. The room this morning was at capacity; they declined requests to attend.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Besides the gala, there will be more than a dozen afterparties, with dozens of sponsors. The ecosystem is clear: The menswear market is growing, thanks to people like Abloh, and this show will attract fashion enthusiasts and pop culture obsessives alike. (Bolton noted that this was the first exhibition in 20 years devoted almost entirely to menswear.) Vogue and Condé Nast are only a small part of this—sure, they’re able to make money by selling Met-adjacent advertising and sponsorships, and keep the Vogue brand in the cultural conversation. (Credit to Wintour’s team for putting meaningful effort into the Met Gala–themed May covers.) But this is really a display of Wintour’s ability to convene the right people and weave it all together, to her benefit and to others’. She doesn’t always get it right, but she did this year.

And now, the main event…

We Need to Talk About Tisci

News and notes on some non–Met Gala industry rumblings: the fallout from last week’s assault accusations against Riccardo Tisci, reflections on fashion’s post-#MeToo era, and why Tisci isn’t Galliano.

Lauren Sherman

Last week, The Independent reported that Riccardo Tisci, the former Givenchy and Burberry designer, had recently been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a man named Patrick Cooper in New York last June. (The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday.) The designer immediately denied Cooper’s claims. “These allegations are categorically untrue,” a spokesperson for Tisci told me. “Riccardo looks forward to clearing his name of these false and malicious accusations. He will obtain vindication through due process.” The filing reminded me of a not-so-long-ago era in fashion when alleged victims were coming forward on the regular, accusing photographers, stylists, and designers of varying degrees of sexual misconduct. The episode I covered most closely was the saga surrounding Alexander Wang, who was accused of sexually assaulting several men. Despite never admitting guilt, Wang eventually connected with a number of his accusers, and was able to make some form of amends and move on. Wang is no longer the toast of the fashion industry, obviously, but he has managed to develop his business both stateside and in China, where his investor is based, and has seemingly moved on with his life. (We talked about this all a couple years ago.)

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Meanwhile, high-profile photographers accused of inappropriate behavior, including Bruce Weber and Mario Testino, have managed to continue working for private clients. Weber has been contributing to some well-regarded magazines, too. (Both men have denied the accusations against them.) Terry Richardson was recently hired by a French fashion brand to shoot a campaign. To be honest, the most interesting thing about the Tisci accusation is how little people are talking about it, despite the fact that he is someone people talk about. The Independent article came out on Wednesday, April 30. I didn’t see or hear about it, despite my gazillions of Google alerts, until Friday, when The New York Times published its own story. Over the weekend, it never came up in a single conversation at the many fashion parties I attended. I finally mentioned it to somebody on Sunday, at a party held by UTA, which represents Tisci. This person, who works at a fashion brand, didn’t seem that interested. We live in a time when scandal-tinged stories like this fail to appall. For someone like Tisci, though, I suspect it will be more difficult to keep his practice going no matter the outcome of the lawsuit. A collaboration with Nike, long in the works, may be permanently postponed. A representative for Nike, which paused its longtime collaboration with the artist Tom Sachs after a far-less-damning public scandal, had no comment. But I don’t see a world in which any new Nike x Riccardo Tisci product leaves the warehouse. More crucially, any chance that Tisci had of returning to a creative director role at a major fashion house may be squelched forever. I hear stories all the time about the allegedly inappropriate activity of both designers and executives at powerful brands. Large corporations, for their part, have the resources to vet these allegations and the credibility to either dismiss the person or vindicate them, if the facts support the judgment. (And, yes, they can also quell disturbances through settlements and non-disclosure agreements.) But Tisci has been on his own since he left Burberry in 2022. Even if he defeats the suit, he’ll also need to persuade the industry to support him. Just a few months ago, the day before Demna was announced as the next designer of Gucci, Tisci cleared his Instagram grid, fueling rumors that he might be in consideration to replace the designer at Balenciaga. A few weeks ago, before the accusations emerged and with the Balenciaga riddle still unsolved, I brought up Tisci to an industry executive. The person gestured at some interpersonal issues that he thought would be a hindrance.

A lot will depend on how this lawsuit shakes out, and whether others come forward. For fashion designers, however, the real money is in public-facing roles, and it would be hard for a large house to justify hiring him in a high-profile position at this point. John Galliano was, in part, able to move forward because his behavior—verbal assault while drunk—was viewed as a symptom of a disease. Wang owned his business. Tisci is an island.

What I’m Reading…

Our very own William Cohan analyzed Saks Global’s 400-page bond prospectus and tells you everything you need to know, including what “Pro Forma Run-Rate Adjusted EBITDA” means. This is a must-read for anyone obsessed with what’s happening over there, whether it affects your business or not. (Also worth clicking through if you love Puck headlines.) [Puck] So many people sent me this item about Matches relaunching as a private membership club. Just a reminder that I wrote about this in January! [The Independent] Many of my friends have books coming out this fall and you should preorder them all, but especially Marisa Meltzer’s biography of Jane Birkin and David Marx’s cultural history of the 21st century. [It Girl and Blank Space] Everyone who went to this Tory Burch breakfast said it was awesome and that Tory should run for public office. [Vogue] In 2005, I interviewed with “preeminent dandyist artist” Iké Udé at his Chelsea apartment to work at his magazine, Arude. There was no way I was ever going to work there; he offered no health insurance and little to no payment. But I never forgot him, and this Rhonda Garelick profile made me remember why! [NY Times]

And finally… If I can recommend anything in New York right now, it’s Rashid Johnson at the Guggenheim! Until tomorrow, Lauren P.S.: We are using affiliate links because we are a business. We may make a couple bucks off them.

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