Hello and welcome back to as seen on :)
I’m making one newsletter a week free for the rest of the summer. ENJOY!
Can the Rhode brand trip unseat J.Crew’s in our collective consciousness? Ask
. Rhode took over the Mallorca Gran Folies beach club for its first-ever influencer trip. Guests include Ashton Wood, Kiki Ransom, Marion Autran, and Elise Hoogerdijk. As usual, they’ve done a really good job with language (Lemontini) and color storytelling, but I think all influencer trips should be a little bit dramatic, which sadly doesn’t seem like the vibe here.Glossier is joining TikTok Shop, which feels to me like when Saks struck a deal with Amazon. It’s definitely the right move for them, but oh how times have changed. According to a report by Statista, roughly a third of Gen Z consumers say TikTok is their preferred shopping channel, and some 60% are on TikTok Shop daily. Last year, beauty and personal care was the top-selling category on the platform, generating $2.5 billion in gross merchandise value. When the chips are down, it’s access over prestige. Also, anyone else notice that when you look up a brand on TikTok now, it takes you straight to the shop tab instead of the video feed?
I need someone to publish an actually good deep dive on how some of these celebrity brands are doing. I’m talking B to C list celebrities.
Sales of K-beauty products in the U.S. jumped 56% to $1.9 billion last year. South Korea’s newest billionaire is the 36-year-old founder of beauty tech startup APR. His Instagram is a fun time.
Women are spending big money for small boobs. Some call them ballerina boobs; one surgeon dubbed the trend “Park Avenue quiet luxury.” I call it the cultural pendulum doing its thing. Between 2013 and 2018, medium-size implants (300–500cc) made up 69% of sales at Mentor, a leading supplier. Now, surgeons say demand for smaller sizes is soaring. NYC surgeon Dr. Ira Savetsky went from mostly working with 330–350cc implants to 190–250cc. In Utah, another surgeon saw a 250% rise in 180–250cc implants between 2022 and 2024. I think this is a different angle to a conversation we’ve been having for a while—Ozempic is in, and so is being thin.
There’s a new skincare brand for men who go to Equinox. Naturally, it's called Dividends. Founder and former entertainment executive Jake Rosenblum said he wanted to lean into metaphors that his peers in finance and business understand—“high-performance individuals, guys 25 to 45” who frequent spots like Equinox and Soho House. I’ve written these exact words a few times before, but okay. The product line is clear and simple, which is great because men don’t know things, but I think the branding is the most boring take on “high-performance men” Jake could have gone with.
Speaking of HPM, Patrick Schwarzenegger said he used Pinterest to prepare for his role in The White Lotus. This may or may not be true. The actor partnered with Pinterest to launch the app’s first-ever Men’s Trend Report because “there’s never been a better time to reach men on Pinterest.” Also did you guys know Schwarzenegger co-founded a nutrition bar company?
Amazon is expected to sell $21 billion worth of goods during its 96-hour extended Prime Day, according to BofA—a 60% jump from last year.
Anime is mainstream now. Over 50% of Netflix members—roughly 150 million households, or 300 million viewers—now watch anime. Viewership has tripled in five years, with 2024 setting records: 33 anime titles landed in Netflix’s Global Top 10 (Non-English), more than twice the number in 2021. The streamer announced it was doubling down on the category, unveiling a slate of new titles. Good for them. Anime viewers (like with many other fandoms) tend to be sticky—more loyal and more likely to binge. So beyond being a smart content investment, it’s a retention strategy.
Another day, another podcast announcement. Oliver Darcy’s media newsletter, Status (big fan), is launching a weekly video podcast.
Tomorrow you can find me binge-watching the new Lena Dunham Netflix show. I’m enjoying seeing her on my screen these days. I usually skip reading celebrity interviews (what’s there to know?), but I’ve been eating up everything from the Too Much press run. Celebrities really should give us enough time to miss them and actually wonder what they’ve been up to. I’m equally fascinated with Meg Stalter, the show’s lead actress, who got her breakout role as an assistant in Hacks. Meg is among a category of social media comedians turned rising stars—including Benito Skinner, Caleb Hearon, and Mary Beth Barone—who struck pandemic TikTok gold. Both Meg’s Hacks and Too Much roles were written for her after being discovered by their showrunners on TikTok. Algorithm as agent, for those who don’t mind being typecast.
Kyla Scanlon was on The Ezra Klein Show to talk about how the attention economy is devouring Gen Z. She has some really sharp takes on prediction markets and the attention economy: “I think it has always kind of been this way with prediction markets: People aren’t betting on what they think. They’re betting on what they think other people think. They’re essentially betting on the attention economy itself and using the stories that people are telling to determine where their money should go. And then, more money follows it.”
Apple is challenging ESPN for the U.S. rights to Formula 1, following its F1 box office success. Ironically, the movie’s performance, along with Netflix’s Drive to Survive documentary series, is likely to increase the value of the rights. At least, that’s what owners Liberty Media are hoping.
Amazon is producing a series adaptation of Tinx’s book. Not that one. Tinx will co-create and executive produce the series, which will follow two early-thirtysomethings as they navigate love, friendship, and life while dating in New York City, alongside Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment.
The costume designer of Clueless wrote a book about the film’s fashion.
Jack Dorsey working on Bluetooth messaging app. I want this man to quit it.
Surprise surprise. X CEO Linda Yaccarino is stepping down after 18 months in the role.
Google announced a new “Manage Subscriptions” tool for Gmail that allows users to view their active subscriptions, organized by the most frequent senders, and easily cancel them. I have a feeling Substack will feel this one.
Goldman Sachs is rolling out a new loyalty certification for junior bankers to thwart poaching by private equity firms—requiring them to pinky swear every three months that they haven’t lined up other jobs. Last month, JPMorgan warned grads they’d be fired for accepting offers elsewhere before completing 18 months. Apollo followed by saying it won’t interview or make offers to the class of 2027 at all.
Marc Jacobs and Mowalola are releasing a collection together.
NYC fine arts programs are seeing record-high applications, despite steep tuition and creative careers being what they are. Educators are also perplexed, since uncertain economic times are typically correlated with more students choosing pre-professional tracks. Their explanation is that AI is making everyone go YOLO, but that makes no sense I’m not buying it.
Starbucks wants to remove canola oil from its U.S. ingredients, considering alternatives like avocado oil. As part of its rebrand, the company is leaning into health-conscious products—removing sugar from its matcha powder and eliminating an upcharge for nondairy milk. It’s testing new products like unsweetened protein powder. Rough days ahead for seed oils.
I’m almost half her age and I feel the same. Girls means so much to me and I feel so lucky we get to be blessed with her mind again
Manager to Meg Stalter, Benito Skinner, and Mary Beth Barone here to say I was so pleased to see them all mentioned 😌🥰