What defines 'American fashion' today? – with Articles of Interest host Avery Trufelman

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States' founding, we're living in a fashion world that's more globalized than ever. K-pop stars mix with American celebrities and European designers to form a diverse and international fashion consensus.

But there's still something ineffably unique about American fashion. From New England prep to country Western and urban hip-hop, there is no shortage of subcultures and aesthetics that originated in America and have become global phenomena.

On the Glossy Podcast this week, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff speak with Avery Trufelman, the journalist and host of the fashion and social history podcast Articles of Interest, about what American fashion truly is. We also break down which designers and brands today best emblematize what American fashion means today.

Trufelman said American fashion is defined by a chameleonic approach to style and reinvention. America has a long history of people reinventing themselves through fashion and aesthetics, from George W. Bush reinventing himself as a Texan rancher to Jay Gatsby adopting the fashions of New England to hide his background.

"There's this refrain that America is constantly learning to live up to the ideals that it set out for itself," Trufelman said. "This was pushed by waves of activism over the years. Black jazz musicians started wearing New England prep clothes in the 20th century, and it spread this message that anyone can dress that way. It's fulfilling this idealistic, not-quite-yet-lived experience of an equal society."

Trufelman said several major brands today are defining American fashion, from classics like Ralph Lauren to new designers like Emily Bode. But she specifically singled out Brooks Brothers as playing a pivotal role in defining what American fashion could be.

"Brooks Brothers is the oldest surviving clothing brand in the United States and really exemplifies everything about this country, good and bad," Trufelman said. Brooks Brothers has clothed every American president except two -- too fancy for Carter, not fancy enough for Reagan -- and helped popularize the very concept of a recognizable, mass fashion brand.

"America's gift to the world is brands," Trufelman said. "And Brooks Brothers was a big part of that. We invented mass-produced clothing, which is now such a big part of the fashion industry."