Back Row

The twice-weekly fashion and culture newsletter. Insider knowledge. Outsider honesty. Humor included. · Over 67,000 subscribers By subscribing, you agree Substack's Terms of Use, and acknowledge its Information Collection Notice and Privacy Policy. “Scoop about the fashion/publishing industry you won't find anywhere else.”...” “Fashion, culture, business, celebrity--Amy's fascinating newsletter provides windows into all these realms with crisp writing and incisive observations.

After months of deliberation and research, I have decided to move Back Row off of Substack. Back Row is now hosted on beehiiv with a brand new URL, backrow.net. If you want to subscribe to the newsletter, click here to sign up on my new site. First, some practical information about what this means for you, then, I’ll get into why I migrated. As a free subscriber, you don’t need to do anything. Your email address transfers over to beehiiv and you’ll receive these emails as usual.

More than a thousand companies — including EssilorLuxottica SA, E.l.f. Cosmetics Inc., and J. Crew Group LLC — are suing Trump over his tariffs. Dozens have sued in 2026 already, per Bloomberg. Vogue’s digital cover of Amanda Seyfried I think qualifies as Chloe Malle’s first as Head of Editorial Content and… it’s exactly what I predicted it would be earlier this week: safe.

Paid episode The full episode is only available to paid subscribers of Back Row

The Jonathan Anderson for Dior ready-to-wear is in stores now and it’s more commercial and wearable than the runway pieces. I’m starting to “get” his Dior aesthetic more, but it’s very specific and sweet and I wonder how big the audience for this is. Thoughts? A $2,300 cotton polo by Dior. Gwyneth Paltrow talked to Ethan Hawke for Vanity Fairabout being a “nepo baby,” a term she called “quite ugly.” Hawke said, “People think it’s about doors being opened for them. That doesn’t matter.

Paid episode The full episode is only available to paid subscribers of Back Row

This is the audio of part one of the podcast episode with Dana Thomas about Emily in Paris. Paid newsletter subscribers can access part two here.

This is an edited excerpt of my conversation with Dana Thomas for the Back Row podcast. You can watch or listen to the full episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. Follow the show so you don’t miss a single episode. If you like the pod, please leave a rating and a review, which takes ten seconds and really helps other people find this independent show. If you’re like me, you spent a chunk of your holiday break watching Emily in Paris’s fifth season.

Two days before Christmas, The Cutdropped a striking, widely celebrated editorial of NYC’s incoming first lady Rama Duwaji. I thought the photos were fantastic as far as fashion photography goes. They are particularly striking for a political figure since she wasn’t afraid to wear fashion — pieces by Marc Jacobs, Jacquemus, Diotima, Peter Do, Fforme, and more.

This is an excerpt from the new episode of the Back Row podcast, featuring a clip from the Gwyneth: The Biography audiobook. You can listen to the full episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (though this episode does not have video, many do, and you can find those on YouTube). Follow the show so you don’t miss a single episode. If you like the pod, please leave a rating and a review, which takes ten seconds and is the best way to support an independent show like this one.