The Substack Syllabus for Fashion Tech
Because the recommendations tab just wasn’t enough
Everything is a reference to everything, and I’ve realized most of my ideas start when I’m reading someone else’s work. Sometimes it’s the way they frame a problem, sometimes it’s the lens they use, sometimes it’s the way they unpack something I’ve been thinking about but couldn’t quite articulate yet.
So in the name of Valentine’s Weekend and my very real love for Substack, this is a love letter to the publications I keep in rotation and genuinely look forward to seeing in my inbox.
Think of these recommendations like those little “open when” jars. Something to meet you where you are on any given day.
This is for the modern-day fashion lover who cares about tech, circularity, business models, psychology, operations, and cultural commentary. The whole ecosystem.
Technocouture
Not to be biased or anything but… Navya Kilaru’s technocouture has been my favourite (and comfort publication) for a while.
She explores the intersection of fashion and tech in a way that feels refreshing and grounded. There’s a strong focus on consumer behaviour, psychology, and her own personal experiments. I love her writing voice because it bridges research, introspection, and forward-looking advice without feeling overly academic or overly trend-driven.
The Technocouture’s Take at the end of every piece is genuinely one of my favourite recurring formats on this platform.
Her posts spark ideas for my own writing constantly.
Read when: you’re looking for a fresh perspective on fashion tech that’s easy to read but still thoughtful.
One of my favs:
Fashion, In Context
Olivia Terase Baba’s Fashion, In Context somehow packs a lot of great info into the perfect post length.
She writes with a multidisciplinary lens across culture, sustainability, and tech. Beyond that, her guidance on startups, careers, and strategic thinking makes her pieces valuable whether you’re deep in the space or just circling it.
What I appreciate most is that she points out gaps in the industry and actually pushes the conversation forward. It moves past commentary and into something more directional.
Read when: you want a quick, smart read with your coffee and insights from someone actively in the trenches of consumer and startup fashion tech.
One of my favs:
Circular Fashion News
Tiina Nyman’s Circular Fashion News has been one of my daily go-tos for months. I genuinely check it almost every day.
Her coverage goes beyond fashion tech. The news is curated in a way that surfaces things I wouldn’t normally come across, especially insights into the European space. It’s polished, visual, and her graphics are chef’s kiss.
Somehow whatever I’m wondering about, she covers shortly after. Specifically, her databases and resources are ones I repeatedly come back to.
Read when: you want news you wouldn’t normally see, or updates that actually change the way you think about interacting with clothes more sustainably.
One of my favs:
Thought Coded
Jess’s thought coded always leaves me thinking, damn she is so smart, I gotta get like her.
I’ve learned things from her posts that I didn’t even know needed to be learned.
Recently she’s been writing about the operational side of fashion tech, digging into the systems, infrastructure, and backend opportunities that quietly power the industry, which is an angle I don’t see explored often in my usual fashion tech circle.
I also really enjoy her writing voice, especially in her lighter posts where her wit comes through.
Read when: you want to learn something you didn’t even know you wanted to learn and start thinking like someone actually running an optimized fashion business.
One of my favs:
Hayley Pascual
Hayley Pascual’s publication has been answering one very specific question I’ve been thinking about lately: how do fashion tech apps actually retain their users?
She explores this through email marketing and lifecycle strategy. Everything she posts (especially her Substack notes) makes me want to hit restack. Her work makes retention feel tangible and actionable rather than abstract.
As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about consumer fashion tech and user behaviour, her writing connects directly to questions I’m already asking.
Read when: you want takeaways you can experiment with and a clearer understanding of how retention works in practice.
One of my favs:
Honourable Mentions:
The Style MYᴺᴰ Edit, because it all starts with fashion psychology.
vanessa’s publication, because every single title makes me want to click it immediately.
If you’ve been curious about fashion tech and aren’t sure where to start, these are the publications that have genuinely shaped how I think. They’ve helped me understand the systems behind the aesthetics, the business behind the creativity, and the human behaviour behind the products.
I’m constantly learning in public, and a big part of that is reading people who are thinking deeply about this space.
And if any of the writers mentioned here ever want to collaborate, I would very enthusiastically say yes. Interviews, co-written pieces, shared research, whatever form it takes. I care about documenting and building within this ecosystem, and collaboration is part of that.
If you’ve been wondering where AI actually belongs in fashion, I recently spoke with a founder building in the space about exactly that. Here’s your next read:
Thank you for the feature ahhhh🤍 so much respect for you and I’m aspiring to have your output consistency🫡
Thank you for featuring me with all these voices in fashion tech 🥹🫶🏼