On Xenia.. I don't follow her much and actually only know about her since I follow TamTam's threads here.
But I have watched her occasionally and I have to say this (been thinking about this but nowhere to go with it except here!):
Her label. I love that they try to be as ethically responsible as possible, paying fair wages, going for all natural materials (something I'm trying to do in the future, already bought some 100% cotton clothes and threw away the polyester monsters).
BUT... She says she wants her clothes to be timeless and longlasting (which is another point in ethical clothing and something I am doing as well, so fully behind this), which is fantastic.. BUT the thing is... her clothes aren't really classic and won't be longlasting, because of the cut/model.
A jumper, all natural fiber? GREAT. A jumper with cut-outs in the shoulders, back and which is pretty short? HELL NO. The fck am I supposed to do with that??
Not only are cut-outs a trend, they are also unwearable. Not everyone has the tits for that, not everyone feels comfy or wants that, it is trashy imo and for winter clothes... I want to be kept warm FFS!! Even for summer that is unacceptable to me, I've grown up with the mindset to keep my organs warm, otherwise I'll die lol and honestly, when I don't cover my lower back (eg hot nights), I DO feel that.
The coat too... Wide shoulders, shoulder pads... That is not only a current trend (ie unwearbale soonish), but also looks too masculine and not vey good. The fact that it is oversize is great (if you buy a coat and intend to wear it for decades, you have to take into account harsh cold winters (ie layering), weight fluctuations and a potential change of your body shape). So the coat is half great half fail.
I'll leave it at this, but my criticism extends to the rest of her line in the same manner. Not that it'll bother her one bit, because it sold out in record time, but imo it just isn't classic (non-trendy) enough to be wearable over a long timeframe, defeating its "ethical" objective. It's fast fashion sold under the guise of ethics and longevity.