nothing kills the vibe like the ceo at your lunch table
on MILFs and zines and founders and Fizz
i know i was gone for a week, but i won’t tell you why—it’s a secret. while I was away, I had a few calls with readers, and each person described as seen on differently. some called it a business newsletter, while others said it was a culture newsletter, depending on what they were into. fun, right?
QUICK HITS
The country’s largest publishers sue Florida over school book bans
Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton Morgan to star in ‘One Tree Hill’ sequel
German far-right party wins a state election for the first time since the Nazis
The only thing I’ll say about Devon Lee and Sydney Lynn Carlson for skims is that I’m glad they didn’t let Sydney Lynn bring her cookware to set. Remember those things? I shudder to think.
I just know the Adidas Y-3 team is still discussing this WSJ Yohji Yamamoto interview, where he says he smoked two, maybe three packs a day and that work feels like prison. You always know a Y-3 designer because they only wear black and look way cooler than you. I’ve come to believe that Y-3 is an attitude.
After being on hiatus for who knows how long, i-D finally relaunched their website yesterday. I spent a while exploring the new site this morning and liked what I saw. They had a piece about Rayne Fisher-Quann’s literary readings, and I adored the “A-Z of Models in i-D” spread. Last year, Karlie Kloss and husband, Joshua Kushner acquired i-D from Vice through their independent holding company, Bedford Media. Shortly after, they also acquired LIFE Magazine in an agreement with DotDash Meredith to bring back regular print and digital publication.
I’ve been tracking and sharing updates since then, including the departure of former i-D EIC Alastair McKimm and rumored replacements Derek Blasberg or Edward Enninful. (I can’t find who the new EIC is yet, but I’m sure someone will report on it soon). In June, the couple expanded their media empire once again through a $75 million investment and board seat in A24, this time via Kushner’s Thrive Capital. I’m curious about the role AI will play in i-D’s strategy. Joshua Kushner is a significant investor in OpenAI (more on that later), which has been on a roadshow signing deals with top media publications, most recently Condé Nast. I’m willing to bet that he and Karlie have some thesis about the future of media, aided by AI, that makes them so bullish on a pretty bleak industry. I think what they do with i-D in the next year will be a good indication of this thesis.
Charli XCX declared brat summer over, and about 20 think pieces considering what exactly that means sprung up from its grave.
Haider Ackermann is the new creative director of Tom Ford. William P. Lauder, executive chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc (which owns Tom Ford), told Vogue Business: “Haider’s appointment strengthens our ambitions for this enormously successful brand. His unique and insightful vision will further enhance the house’s global impact on fashion and culture.”
Rejoice! The J.Crew catalog is returning to American mailboxes this fall. Discontinued in 2017 after three decades, the elaborate photo shoots, preppy aesthetic, and un-veneered celebrity smiles still live long in our collective nostalgia. There are Instagram pages dedicated to vintage J.Crew, Pinterest boards for J.Crew core, and
’s most popular Substack is a guide on how to dress like a 1992 J.Crew catalog model. Mall brands like Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch are making a comeback, with nostalgia playing a key role in their strategy. And it’s working. Abercrombie & Fitch keeps beating revenue expectations, and J.Crew CEO Libby Wadle said the company’s sales are approaching a record $3 billion this year. The new catalogs will read like editorial magazines, featuring QR codes to shop the content. Smart! Yesterday, a friendwho works in media and I were talking about how we just knew print was going to make a comeback. In a huge way. She’s working on her own zine and I’ll be contributing.
Obviously, we were right, because The Cut just launched its first-ever print edition with Chloë Sevigny as the cover star. I loved her styling for the shoot—she's dressed as various iconic cinema characters like Michael Corleone, Alex DeLarge, and Vincent Vega. In the interview, she talks about turning 50 soon, her parenting style, and her career. It’s fun. I’m really how enjoying this new wave of nostalgia is giving older female celebrities the same cultural cache usually reserved for their male counterparts. I can’t explain how hot I think this is. Vulture recently wrote about the rise of MILF cinema, and I’m still thinking about it.
Zara is launching a capsule collection with Stefano Pilati, of YSL and Ermenegildo Zegna fame. If that means nothing to you, all you need to know is that he has impeccable style and taste. The 80 piece collection—50 for men and 30 for women, plus shoes and bags—was inspired by his personal style and will go on sale in early October. I wrote about Zara aiming to become the first fast fashion luxury brand in one of my earliest newsletters. Collaborating with high-profile talent like Karl Templer, Guido Palau, and now Steven Meisel has been part of that strategy.
No one does PR better than GLP-1s because every other week, there’s a splashy headline about some unexpected, recently discovered benefit of weight loss drugs. Most recently, it was “Weight loss drugs cut Covid-19 deaths, study finds,” but also ”Ozempic Cuts Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease Complications, Study Finds” and “Popular Weight Loss Drug May Help Treat Severe Sleep Apnea, new research finds.” God bless the gift that just keeps giving.
Look at this thing I found that tracks your literal shit for gut health and hydration purposes. Throne Science’s smart tracking device can be clipped to any toilet style and comes with a downward-facing camera that securely captures video during each bathroom visit. The results are then analyzed by advanced AI models, providing insights on gut health and hydration levels via the Throne App. They call it “artificial gut intelligence.” Can you picture my face right now?! According to Snaxshot, Throne is part of a new wave of wellness companies like Withing’s U-Scan smart toilet cartridge and Vivoo, betting on “urine as the new blood”—the next big biometric to determine wellness.
ran a poll asking readers if they’d get a smart toilet device, and 34% said yes. You guys know how I feel about the state of “wellness” right now. But I want to know how you feel. Sound off in the comments.Ghia has been teasing a new product for a while, and now we know what it is. Le Fizz is their new Sparkling Aperitif, launching in two flavors: “orange blossom meets strawberry. Juicy main character energy. Tangity-tang and a dry finish. Mixed with bubbles, oui-oui.” Let me know if you try this. I want reviews.
If you can get past the egregious packaging, I’ve heard Blake Brown Beauty products are really good. Apparently, Target can’t keep them in stock.
Saie just launched lip liners, and this is a public request for to do a Fenty, Glossier, and Saie battle of the liners and tell us which one to buy. I like the idea of beauty brands launching products in sets, like the rhode pocket blushes with the matching lip tints (and phone case). Saie dropped a collection of lip glosses to go with the lip liners, and M.A.C’s Gabbriette partnership was a limited-edition lip set. Of course, this is the Kylie Cosmetics playbook, and who knows what fate awaits that brand.
Speaking of rhode, good on them for working with Golloria on new shades for their pocket blush that actually look nice on dark skin. And for compensating her for shade consulting! I read some of the comments on her original rhode review post and had to take a nap afterward. Some people won’t make it to heaven because of their TikTok comments.
Private Equity ownership coming to the NFL? Fine. Private Equity targeting youth sports? I have questions. “The days of parent-coached recreational leagues are fast receding,” said Jeremy Goldberg, president of LeagueApps Inc. “In their place has come the age of travel squads. Kids as young as 6 are playing on teams with paid coaches, year-round schedules, multiple practices per week, long-distance travel, and, in many cases, intense competition for roster spots. In theory, these teams prepare kids to play at the college level and beyond. In practice, they’re making youth sports increasingly expensive, exclusive, and pressurized."
Over on tech Twitter, people are talking about “founder mode” vs “manager mode” after Paul Graham published an essay asking why startup founders are told to run their companies like managers, delegating to their direct reports, instead of getting involved as they did in the earliest stages. Of course, every founder and failson on X had something to say. I were you, I’d stay away from LinkedIn this week as the conversation migrates over there. Meanwhile, some of you who work at startups should be very worried. Nothing kills the vibe like the CEO at your lunch table.
Thoughts on this Chanel necklace that’s also a watch and earphones?
- asked me if I felt like people of color on Substack were limited because the algorithm favored certain white creators and topics over others. I shared my thoughts and you should read her essay because it is VERY well done. I had to take a few days to think about my answer—you’d be surprised how little you think about race when you live in a place where everyone is white, in a German way. When people ask my take on something “as a Black woman,” I’m usually a bit wary because often the person asking isn’t making the distinction between being Black American and being African. Or, more importantly, accounting for the fact that I spent all my formative years in a place where there were only Black people, and therefore only started living life “as a Black woman” when I was nearly an adult. This makes a difference.
Only about 23% of all Americans between the ages of 17-24 meet the Army’s physical, moral, and educational standards, and only a small percentage of them are willing to trust the leaders who could send them to war— or their fellow citizens, for that matter. TLDR; the American military is struggling to find recruits.
Running list of companies that have demolished their DEI programs in the last two weeks: Lowe’s, Ford, Jack Daniel’s, and Molson Coors. As I’ve said before, I care less about these programs ending—they were probably shit anyway—but I do care a lot about what it means. The timing, the frequency.
Today’s required reading is this Times story about how Acadia Healthcare, one of America’s largest chains of psychiatric hospitals, has been luring patients into its facilities and holding them against their will, even when detaining them was not medically necessary. Ever since the pandemic worsened the national mental health crisis, Acadia’s revenue has soared and their stock price has more than doubled. In at least 12 of the 19 states where Acadia operates psychiatric hospitals, dozens of patients, employees, and police officers have reported to authorities that the company was unlawfully detaining people to maximize insurance payouts, according to records reviewed by The Times. In some cases, judges have had to intervene to force Acadia to release patients. This is so freaking sad and incredibly sinister. I’m glad this story is out there. One comment on the article said, “Private equity does not take the Hippocratic Oath.”
TECH CORNER (because today its a lottttt)
While I was on my never-to-be-explained hiatus, I learned that Coatue Management, an early and substantial backer of the ByteDance, was considering selling part of its stake. Why? Because no one knows if or when the TikTok parent company will be able to go public, and their biggest investors are taking measures to limit their exposure. ByteDance’s financials are strong. Revenue reportedly grew 40% to $120 billion last year, and net profit more than doubled to $31.2 billion from 2022. But recent regulations in China have made it difficult for large companies to IPO in foreign markets, and the potential TikTok US ban is still a hot topic. Meanwhile, ByteDance is reportedly eyeing a $9.5 billion corporate loan to fuel its expansion into e-commerce and generative AI. If the loan—managed by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan—goes through, it will be the largest dollar-denominated corporate loan in Asia, excluding Japan.
There’s a lot happening with OpenAI right now. The WSJ reported last week that they were in talks for a funding round that would value it above $100 billion, after being valued at $83 billion late last year. Thrive Capital, led by Josh Kushner, is leading the round and will invest $1 billion. Microsoft, which invested around $10 billion in January 2023, is also expected to bring in money, and according to the Financial Times, Apple and Nvidia have expressed interest in partaking in the round. A couple of interesting things here:
Firstly, investors technically don’t own equity in OpenAI because it's a nonprofit. They instead put money in a for-profit subsidiary and are entitled to a share of that entity’s profits. Which brings us to the interesting dynamics of the Microsoft-OpenAI relationship…
Microsoft currently owns 49% of OpenAI’s profit after investing $13 billion in the startup since 2019, even though they’re increasingly becoming an OpenAI competitor themselves. Earlier this year, they paid Inflection AI $650 million in a cash deal that would allow Microsoft to hire most of the startup's staff, including its co-founders, and use its models to develop AI tools for consumers. Then, in a regulatory filing in July, Microsoft listed OpenAI as one of its key competitors, and that same month, relinquished its position as a nonvoting member on OpenAI’s board, possibly as a gesture to regulators scrutinizing their relationship.
The Times published a great piece about OpenAI’s growing pains, highlighting their struggle to transform into a profit-driven company while addressing concerns about AI safety. I’ve written a lot about the many OpenAI mini-scandals over the last few months, the most notable being the board’s decision to fire CEO Sam Altman and reinstate him five days later, followed by the disbanding of its “Superalignment” team, a group dedicated to ensuring the safe and ethical development of advanced AI.
Now, the company is exploring changes to its corporate structure to make it easier to attract investors, because right now, investors are required to sign an operating agreement stating: “It would be wise to view any investment in [OpenAI’s for-profit subsidiary] in the spirit of a donation” and that OpenAI “may never make a profit.” This week, Elon Musk tweeted, “either turning a non-profit into a for-profit is legal and everyone should be doing it, or it’s illegal and OpenAI is a house of cards.” First thing he’s tweeted in a while that I can get behind.
IT APPEARS THAT WE'RE ALL LESS SHY ABOUT GETTING LAID OFF.
I met
when she replied to one of my emails, saying she enjoyed my newsletters and asked if I’d like to lead a session on growing a newsletter for Sophia Amoruso’s Business Class. I said yes. We got on a call, and ended up talking a lot about Substack, as one does. When Melanie launched Laid Off, a weekly interview series featuring smart and cool people who were laid off, it was my turn to reply to her email, telling her how much I loved it. Could I interview her for as seen on? Since then, Bloomberg has published a story on the rise of 'layoff influencers,' and Business Insider recently asked if the 'Open to Work' tag makes job seekers feel embarrassed.What’s your career been like so far? Have you ever been laid off?
I was a tech and labor reporter for places like Mic and Gizmodo, and then I went freelance, and then I got into the newsletter game with an early-stage startup called Ness. I was laid off (or “impacted by a reduction in force”) last year after the company was unable to raise capital. I started as the head of content and community for Sophia Amoruso’s Business Class in April, and launched Laid Off as a side project this month.
Why did you decide to start Laid Off and what has the reception been like so far?
Laid Off has been an idea noodling around in my brain for years, probably after many a late night drinking cheap beers in dark bars with my writer friends who were laid off and feeling like shit. It felt like one of those things you talked about with your inner circle and sometimes in a tweet or on LinkedIn, and that you saw make headlines, but there wasn’t a lot zooming in on the individual experience of it. I’m interested in telling those stories, but also building a community where people feel safe and encouraged to talk about all the things layoff related. I’m already seeing readers start their own threads asking for advice on how to post on LinkedIn, how to job search in certain industries, and nice things you can do for someone recently laid off. I can’t say I’m surprised Laid Off is resonating with so many people – take like five minutes scrolling through LinkedIn and you’ll see dozens of #opentowork badges – but I’m overwhelmed (in a good way) that so many people found it and shared their stories. I received 500 Laid Off interview submissions in just a few days and had to temporarily pause them, but I plan on opening them back up again in September.
People used to be ashamed about getting laid off, but now seem to be more open about sharing their experiences. What’s changed?
I think people still feel hesitant – just under half of the people I surveyed said they didn’t share the news publicly, and most of those people said it’s because they felt embarrassed or ashamed. When you come from an industry that’s used to (and weathered by) layoffs – like journalism, for me – you kind of have that baked in solidarity with your peers, and you’re used to self-promotion. This is kind of a version of that, in the darkest way. But if you didn’t see it coming, and it’s not something already talked about among your peers and in your industry, I can see how you might default to feeling ashamed. But a cool thing happened in the Laid Off threads this week – a reader asked for advice on how to navigate being vulnerable on LinkedIn and ask their network for help. They were scared to post, and the community really came through with tips and words of encouragement. And she hit publish. That was awesome. I hope to see more of that.
What are your thoughts about the rise of layoff influencers? Sometimes I get nervous for them because I don't know how it'll affect employability. Do the people you interview worry about that?
I have had a few people want to go by first name only or a pseudonym because they’re worried about SEO – they don’t want potential employers to search their name and see their issue online while they’re still looking for jobs. And ugh then you see shit like this and you might understand why that fear exists in the first place.
It’s a brave act to come forward and call out shitty labor practices, but I think it’s what can spark some change. And I think if you want to work for a place with a healthy work culture and ethical, inclusive leadership, they’re the type of people who won’t be turned off by a layoff.
Are there any interesting trends you've discovered from your survey or the people you've talked to?
SO many. I wrote about them here, but the one I think about a lot is who people told first – their partners, their best friend, their parents. It seems obvious, but I think it really drives home how vulnerable and deflating of an experience being laid off is given almost everyone told the person closest to them first.
Another thing I’m interested in exploring further is how the layoff experience differs for single people. That’s one thing that’s come up a few times in comments, notes, and the survey. I’d like to go deeper on that.
What's the big picture for laid off? What would you like it to become?
I want this to be equal parts community and newsletter. I’ll always be interested in sharing people’s stories, and sadly there’s no shortage in them, but I also want to cultivate a shame-free space someone can turn to to find other people going through the same thing
Glad to be back ;)
About the state of diversity on Substack - I feel that (in my experience) I feel more alienated in terms of class. I feel as though a lot of good quality writing is hampered down by the way in which people feel the need to perform good taste - and as a result wealth. Also, the need to look hot and remind the audience you’re hot in every newsletter gets to me. Quite a few people here describe the ways in which they’re messy or dirty with pride, while having pointed indicators of social status in the newsletter (& it feels very awkward!!!!!) I think one can only have this confidence if their cleanliness is assured by either race, wealth and other indicators of respectability. Maybe this is just MY feed, but it sometimes gets to me. At times I feel like the fact that I don’t have any social media besides Substack is what makes instagram behaviours feel more foreign. But I’m not a writer (yet!) so I have no clue about how difficult/easy it would be to find recognition.
TLDR;
The real brain rot the internet causes isn’t “skibidi toilet rizz” but “I need everyone to know that I’m hot and beautiful and sexy and (sometimes) thin. All the time, even when it doesn’t add anything. Look at what I own because it’s as close as you’ll get to understand what I am”
People suffer from this at varying degrees, and ugliness is always what’s considered to be the coloured and othered. Im feeling cynical today & I think it shows
Lots of people writing about the J. Crew catalog this morning, yet no one has shared how to obtain one!! Help pls, my mailbox is yearning