I am one of just a few reporters covering fashion who has been able to write about it pretty honestly throughout my career, first at Forbes, where I learned how to read a 10-K, then at Fashionista, which we used to proudly call “WWD meets Gawker,” and finally at Business of Fashion, which I helped build over the last decade into the industry’s most important publication.

I’ve broken news of brand closure after brand closure, documented too many tech platform meltdowns to count, and tracked more than a decade of designer musical chairs. But for most publications, “fashion journalism” is an oxymoron. And I see it moving further and further into back-scratching mode. At many newspapers and general interest magazines, lifestyle sections are the most profitable, but they are relegated to the backbenches and only dignified because they tend to fund the so-called serious stuff.