70% of americans would rather lose 10 pounds
than gain 100 friends
QUICK HITS
Bankruptcy judge rules against The Onion's acquisition of Infowars
Prominent real estate agents and brothers charged with sex trafficking
My toxic trait is seeing Selena Gomez’s engagement announcement and immediately scrolling through Hailey Bieber’s Instagram to compare their engagement rings. (I prefer Selena’s if you care to know).I felt very ashamed afterward. That has since passed.
“Rhode is the Skims of Beauty” is something I wish I had thought of first, but the honor goes to Puck’s Rachel Strugatz. Earlier this month, the brand launched a peppermint lip balm, tapping Scandi founder and influencer Matilda Djerf as the face of the campaign. The product sold out almost immediately, driving $15 million to Rhode’s website in its first week on the market. Apparently, Rhode did $40 million in revenue in November.
Over at Djerf Avenue, 11 former employees of the Matilda Djerf-owned brand have accused her of enacting a reign of “psychological terror”—bullying employees, calling a plus-size model “fat,” and once allegedly demanding that an employee clean her personal toilet. According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Matilda designated a toilet in the office for the use of just herself and her “favorite” employees, putting a sign on the door reading “please do not use!” When the sign fell down, an employee was made to scrub the toilet because it had been used by an unapproved person. Judging from the r/djerfavenue Reddit thread and Matilda’s latest Instagram post, people are pissed. This is the second time Matilda is getting “canceled” this year. Last time, it barely mattered.
In 2024, the global personal luxury goods market lost 50 million consumers. Blame the Chinese market or skyrocketing prices—I’m inclined to blame the latter. Also in 2024, trend-forward brands like Zara, Uniqlo, Gap, Banana Republic, J.Crew, and Cos stepped in to serve consumers who had been priced out of luxury but were still willing to invest in fashion. Dupe culture took on a whole new meaning. Gap hired Zac Posen, Zara tapped everyone from Kate Moss to designer Stefano Pilati for various collections, and Uniqlo brought on Givenchy and Chloé alum Clare Waight Keller as their new Creative Director. The gap between The Row and Shein is very very wide, I’m increasingly interested in those brands existing in between.
647 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, is the address of the first Skims flagship store in NYC. It spans 6,570 square feet over four floors and, for two decades, housed the Versace brand. In a recent interview with WWD, Kim Kardashian and CEO Jens Grede shared that the Skims x North Face collaboration sold out in five minutes. Indeed, the comments section of a recent Skims Instagram post was filled with people begging them to restock the collection. Grede said, “It’s one of our highest waitlisted drops. What it really has shown is that Skims has a lot of opportunity for new categories in the future, and even more price elasticity. Customers really want Skims and not just exactly what we’re selling today.” Surely, an IPO is on the horizon. Kim Kardashian, of Keeping Up With the Kardashians fame, would have founded a publicly traded company. Who would’ve thought? (Me).
Kris Jenner for Khy is such a mood. I’ll be buying tights in like 5 colors this Christmas.
I know maybe three Sabrina Carpenter songs, but every time I catch a glimpse of her existing online, I think, this woman was made to be famous. She’s so happy to be a star! Separately, I heard Barry Keoghan had to delete his Instagram account after announcing their split because people were being wicked and vile. Someone left a comment on Wednesday’s newsletter saying the Irish actually don’t think much of Americans (“We do love to take your money, though”).
The New York Magazine Union published their version of the magazine’s annual Power Issue—MEDIA WORKERS TELL ALL! Favorite quotes include, “We exist as a ROUND THE CLOCK CONCIERGE service for the EGOS of the OLD GUARD of PRINT JOURNALISM” and “AI SLOP is the AESTHETIC OF MODERN FASCISM, tbh.” I think it’s wonderful that they took some awful portraits as well.
The billionaire owners of the Nets and Liberty are starting a media brand rooted in Brooklyn culture—the vibe is Complex, but Brooklyn. According to Business Insider, the venture has already raised an undisclosed amount of capital and has brought on at least five Complex veterans, including former Complex CEO Rich Antonelli as an advisor. This is interesting—on one hand, the team has deep pockets (the money behind parent company BSE comes from Alibaba cofounder Joe Tsai and his wife Clara Wu Tsai, along with Julia Koch), and there’s an existing sports connection I’m sure they’ll capitalise on. I’m also bullish on localized media. On the other hand, as the article points out, there are already publications serving that market, and the digital media business is what it is right now. I do like the idea of media as a launchpad to a wider, culturally relevant lifestyle business, though.
Ticket sales for the Broadway musical “& Juliet” have shot up since it added Charli D’Amelio to the cast, even as only an ensemble player with no lines, and despite the haters.
NOW, A SHORT INTERLUDE FOR ALL THINGS LITERATURE X FASHION
Dôen and Library Science, Kaia Gerber’s online book club, collaborated on nightdress, no doubt inspired by someone’s “women reading aesthetically” Pinterest board. I know someone will say something self-serious about the commodification of literary culture, but I think this is fun, fun, fun.
And Alaïa opened a café and bookstore in its London flagship. Literature as luxury is my Roman Empire. Food as luxury is on its way there.
Substack asked some of my favorite writers to weigh in on what they’re anticipating in the new year.
said she expects brands, especially fast-fashion and luxury ones, to cut more corners, leading to even lower quality. thinks we’ll see the pendulum swing toward sartorial anonymity as a means of protest, privacy, and protection—longer skirts, baggier pants, facial coverings like balaclavas and scarves, and eyewear. I agree with that as Gen Z writers hit their mid-20s, we’ll start seeing more debuts from that generation. We’re going to see absurdism, surrealism, and chaos supplanting millennial irony and social satire. predicts we’ll see more books about women wanting to be alone and seeking pleasure, for which I am game. begs us to prepare for a big year for beef tallow, clarified and grass-fed butter, and even lard! I also contributed to the roundup. I thought I sounded very smart.IN. EVEN. MORE. BOOKISH. NEWS, Sofia Coppola is partnering with Mack, a UK-based publisher, to launch her own imprint: Important Flowers. In April, the imprint will publish The Virgin Suicides, a collection of photographs by British fashion photographer Corinne Day from the set of Coppola’s first film. Then, next September, Important Flowers will publish Chanel Haute Couture, a nearly 500-page visual history of the famed Parisian fashion house. When asked about the name Important Flowers, Coppola said, “A friend of mine said it while we were talking about big flower arrangements once—the type of big, high-society hostess flowers from the ‘80s. I did a photo shoot with a lot of those big flower arrangements, and he said, 'Oh, I love important flowers.'
Lastly, Eli Rallo is launching something called Prose Hoes early next year. It looks sexy and bookish. Does anyone have deets?
PICK UP A BOOK TODAY.
Kylie Kelce’s new podcast, Not Gonna Lie, knocked The Joe Rogan Experience off the top of the podcast charts with its debut. Two thoughts: 1.) Sports culture is popular culture. 2.) No, she won’t be the Left’s Joe Rogan. Calm down.
BuzzFeed has sold First We Feast, the brand behind Hot Ones, to a group of investors including Soros Fund Management, Crooked Media, and Mythical Entertainment. Back in June, I shared that BuzzFeed was struggling to find a buyer for FWF. Several buyers were interested but balked at the $70 million price tag. Somehow, they ended up selling for $82.5 million. With over $120 million in debt, that’s a Hail Mary.
Evan Williams did not want to start another startup, but he’s gone and done it anyway. Yesterday, the Twitter and Medium founder unveiled his new social app, Mozi, “the private social network that helps you build real-word relationships”, after he and co-founder Molly DeWolf Swenson raised $6 million from Obvious Ventures (co-founded by Ev Williams), as well as WndrCo and BBG Ventures last month. Mozi lets people tell their friends about upcoming plans that may overlap. Users see a private friend list based on their phone contacts and get notifications if a contact plans to visit their city or attend the same event. Profiles include user-supplied information like dietary restrictions, relationship status, family members, and pet names. “We’re not trying to keep people on the app,” said DeWolf Swenson. “If we’re doing our job well, you’re finding that information as quickly as possible and then getting off the app.” You already know I’m incredibly skeptical of the notion that new technology can make our existing relationships any better, but as someone whose closest friends are scattered around the world, I’m curious about the utility of the app. It feels very Elusive (International) Hot Girl Core, as
would say. They’ll be hiring soon, by the way.
Surely, more TikTokers ought be begging me to follow them on other platforms. The indifference I observe is puzzling.
My days of reporting on Lina Khan are coming to an end. Trump has chosen former Congressional aide and Supreme Court clerk Andrew Ferguson to lead the FTC. He’s dubious on Big Tech but plans to roll back efforts to regulate artificial intelligence and abandon tougher standards for mergers. “At the F.T.C., we will end Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech,” he posted on X. “We will make sure that America is the world’s technological leader and the best place for innovators to bring new ideas to life.” Meta donated $1 million to the president-elect's inaugural fund i.e Zuck supports free speech.
Elon Musk has become the first person to reach $400 billion in net worth, following a 77% increase in his fortune since Trump’s victory. Tesla shares, which make up the majority of Musk’s wealth, have risen 71% this year. Meanwhile, the value of his A.I. startup, xAI, has more than doubled to $50 billion since its last funding round in May. Most recently, an insider share sale of the privately held SpaceX added roughly $50 billion to Musk’s net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk’s one-day wealth increase of $62.8 billion is the largest on record. To many young American men, Elon Musk might as well be a living Tony Stark.
Designer babies are teenagers now—and some of them need therapy because of it. This is the saddest thing I’ve read all day. “I’ve counseled a number of those families in the past 10 to 15 years. People who have children this way often place too much importance on genes while ignoring the environment. It’s like, “This is what our family is going to look like. We’re going to pick a kid, and this is how we’re going to put it together. Mom’s going to be in charge of the whole thing.” It’s like a project or building a company. People don’t always realize they are creating a human being and not a piece of furniture.”
Seth Rogen’s smoking accessories and homeware brand, Houseplant, is launching a range of RTDs. The collection features hemp-derived Delta-9 THC-infused sparkling water in four flavors. I’m out of things to say about celebrity beverage brands, but I do love Houseplant. Gorgeously designed products.
One thing I’ve learned from writing this newsletter is that every article I read online contains two stories: the story itself and people’s reaction to it. Sometimes I’m more interested in the latter. Take this WSJ piece about Netflix rolling back their generous parental leave policy. It’s an interesting, if unsurprising, tale—an unscalable promise, a more competitive landscape, a shift in values, etcetera, etcetera. The article has 744 comments at the time I’m writing this, with the overall sentiment being “employees need to deal with it,” “wokeism is dead,” “do people not understand how businesses work?” and “it was an insane policy in the first place.” This comment section is a story in itself—a very different story than would have been written only a few years ago. Fascinating stuff.
Brian Willoughby spends his days telling parents their children are looking at porn. A social scientist at Brigham Young University, Willoughby wants to teach adolescents that the explicit content they encounter is unrealistic, misleading about many sexual relationships, and, as a result, potentially harmful. Some facts: on average, Americans first see online pornography at age 12, according to a 2023 survey of adolescents by Common Sense Media. 73% of those aged 17 and under have seen it, with over half reporting exposure to violence, including rape and choking. Believe it or not, I recently had to remind a friend that critiquing porn (and the porn industry) will not make her a tradwife. Nuance!, I said.
Tokyo is introducing a four-day workweek for government employees to encourage them to get wed and make babies. I like this.
Murray Rodgers, a former "hard-charging" oil and gas executive, now hosts psychedelic retreats to help other "hard-charging" CEOs unlock their creativity and enhance their leadership skills. Rodgers says attendees come with varied motives: “I want to experience ego death,” “I want to get my company through a public offering,” or “I want to find God.” His advice? The key word is “surrender.” Meanwhile, in the comments…
Schools around America are using A.I. to spy on students' online activity, with the aim of preventing self-harm before it happens. Most systems flag keywords or phrases, using algorithms or human review to determine which ones are serious. During the day, students are then pulled out of class and screened; outside school hours, if parents cannot be reached by phone, law enforcement officers may visit students’ homes to check on them. In some cases, the surveillance has allowed authorities to intervene at critical moments. At other times, the students have been left traumatized by the experience. One parent complained, “There were people with guns coming to our house in the middle of the night. It’s not like they sent a social worker.”
Eli Lilly plans to test obesity drugs to treat addiction in 2025. Meanwhile, Hims & Hers shared a report about the state of weight loss and how Americans feel about their weight. Some standout insights Americans shared:
85% of Americans believe at least one major aspect of their life would improve if they lost weight, from living longer to having better sex
70% would rather lose 10 pounds than gain 100 friends
47% of Americans try to lose weight yearly (9%), seasonally (13%) or constantly (24%)
42 lbs is how much weight on average Americans would like to lose
The Cut is running a series on perimenopause (and how to navigate it without losing your mind), and Oura released its first Perimenopause Report. “A staggering 1 billion women worldwide have experienced perimenopause or menopause, but research in this area has been extremely limited,” said Dr. Neta Gotlieb, Oura's senior product manager for women’s health. American women over 35 currently spend $13 billion annually on menopause treatments, with the industry projected to hit $24.4 billion by 2030. While supplements overwhelmingly dominate, brands like Evernow (backed by Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow) and Alloy (with a former Michelle Obama OB/GYN as its Chief Medical Officer) are raising funding to meet demand. Over the summer, I shared that Naomi Watts’ menopause brand, Stripes Beauty, was acquired by LVMH-backed L Catterton. 2025 will be the year of female healthcare. Amen.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT coming Monday. xo
to be fair, 100 new friends sounds stressful
Critiquing porn is a good thing, but let's not forget to take the sources of our science and information into account; BYU (Brigham Young University) is a Mormon institution. I feel like it's important to mention that given the Mormon church's questionable biases surrounding sex.