Amélie Stanescu is the voice behind The Fashion Archives, a podcast that takes a slower, deeper approach to fashion commentary. Rather than chasing the pace of trend cycles and social media, she positions herself as a thoughtful observer - one who brings personal perspective, historical context, and a refreshing sense of authenticity to a space that often trades in speed over substance. I talked with her about why history matters, what's missing from fashion media and how young writers can find their own voice.
Why is engaging with history so essential for understanding contemporary fashion culture?
You have to study the past if you want to understand the future. And unfortunately, if I'm looking at fashion's future right now, I'm terrified - it's happening so much right now. So I found my comfort zone in studying the history of fashion and it helped me really to understand what's happening right now.
What can the spoken word offer when talking about fashion that images or photos can't?
I think it's a way of self-expression. I've always expressed myself through talking. Even my mom always tells me when I realized that my mouth could make sounds, I just started to like talk, I couldn't speak yet, but I would just do that all day. And I remember when I told my mom one of the first gigs that I got for fashion commentary, and my mom said, "I cannot believe there are people paying you to talk. I would pay you to stop talking."
What is the purpose of what you do and what do you feel is missing from traditional fashion journalism?
I'm personally not trying to do proper raw journalism. I want to interpret what's happening through my own eyes and I want us all to reflect together. The episodes are more of a personal reflection towards what's happening. Even while I'm recording, I am thinking out loud. I wanted this vibe of like a friend that sends you a voice message and says, "What the fuck was that?" - you know? Sometimes I have these reactions in the podcast, but they're real. This is how I feel. I don't expect people to come to me for raw information - you can get that anywhere, even on ChatGPT today.
What I'm missing right now is people who are putting their own perspective into things. A lot of creators are trying to report on news, but it's always more valuable to contextualize. For example - I'm Italian, so I look at a Dolce & Gabbana show with a different perspective, because I grew up with an idea of Dolce & Gabbana that Italian people carry within them. My background is part of my opinions and the perception I have of runways. Bringing yourself into what you're doing is very important. Right now, a lot of people are holding back on the personal level. Everyone is different, so everyone has a different perspective and that's the best thing.
Was it a conscious decision to step away from immediacy and focus instead on context and depth?
When I started doing fashion commentary around 2020, more on TikTok and Instagram, I realized that in a minute you cannot say anything - you simply cannot go into depth. You can only speak facts; you can't even explain them. It's so fast.
So I realized I wanted a space for myself, away from performance, social media, immediacy, clickbait, rage bait and all of that - where I could simply resonate with myself and also push myself to do proper research. With the podcast, at the beginning it was just me and a microphone, randomly talking and making connections as I went. I realized I was really craving a space like that.
And honestly, even at fashion events, everything moves fast — we speak a lot without saying anything. I wanted a moment where I could speak, but also think more than I speak, and think in depth. It pushed me to get so much better, because if you want to build longer thoughts, you need deep research. You need to actually know what you're talking about. So this pushed me to learn more - I'm also learning from my own research.
What advice would you give to young people in fashion who want to be more authentic?
What I feel I missed in my own career was doing more internships - working with different magazines, different outlets. Every single magazine has a specific tone of voice and a specific way of doing things. When you experiment with different points of view, you understand your own better. So do more, in order to be able to narrow down what you actually stand for.