shein is suing temu for stealing its designs
as everyone sues shein for doing it first
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Clean Fuel startups were supposed to be the next big thing. Now they are collapsing
Let’s start with something that made me laugh today: Shein is suing Temu for copyright infringement, alleging that Temu routinely steals their designs and that one employee stole confidential trade secrets. Oh, the irony. Shein is currently fending off similar allegations from Levi’s, H&M, and several other brands and independent artists. In its complaint, Shein alleges that Temu is “masquerading” as a legitimate online marketplace because it encourages its sellers to steal other brands’ designs and then prevents them from removing products from the platform, even after they have admitted to infringement. In response, a Temu spokesperson said Shein’s “audacity is unbelievable.”
Semafor is getting all the credit for writing about how liberal women are lusty for Ezra Klein, but Bustle did it first. Is it the seldom sighted tattoos? The glasses? The voice? His superior listening skills? I’d love to know. Fresh out of college, Klein led a wave of first-gen political bloggers known as the “Juicebox Mafia.” By his mid-20s, he managed a Washington Post team that drew 4 million page views a month. The Ezra Klein Show started out on Vox, which he co-founded, and moved with him to The Times in 2021. These days, it ranks No. 8 overall on Apple and hovers in the high 20s on Spotify after seeing a bump in listeners following his call for Biden to step down after
thatdebate. Liberal family group chats know him simply as “Ezra.”Another development on men liberal women are lusty for.
suggested someone write an essay about how PDA is so back. Adding my name to this petition.
The Estée Lauder Companies, which owns brands including MAC Cosmetics, Clinique, Aveda, and Le Labo, reported a second consecutive year of declining sales, with prestige beauty and China dragging on results. I’ve written about how Western companies with significant exposure to the Chinese market have struggled since the pandemic, as the Chinese economy stagnates and consumers increasingly favor homegrown brands over premium Western brands. (To wit: Sephora is cutting around 10% of staff in China). Back at home, newer brands like Saie and Kosas are challenging Estée Lauder’s dominance in the prestige category. Longtime CEO Fabrizio Freda announced his retirement, set for June 2025, and told analysts he’d spend his last year ensuring “our next leader inherits a business with momentum.” It sounds like they’re taking a cue from Starbucks and planning to bring in a big-name external hire. Although, in this week’s Line Sheet, Rachel Strugatz reported that Jane Lauder, current vice president and chief data officer, and Stéphane De La Faverie, an executive group president, could be named co-CEOs.
I write about Nara Smith not because I’m a stan—although I am—but because she embodies so many modern contradictions, and tensions. It’s always a trip to see how people react to what she stands for, or what they think she stands for, which is most reliably a reflection of what they stand for. Only two months ago, brands were still unsure about how to solve a problem like Nara. In so many ways, she fit the bill—all those TikTok followers, that engagement; she definitely looked the part. But then there was the tradwife thing, which begged the question: is she brand safe? Her Marc Jacobs partnership clearly answered that, and in the last month, I’ve been seeing a lot more #paidpartnerships on Nara’s TikTok, including these ones with Seed and Replica. I just find that so amusing. Goes to show that brands care only as much as their customers care. I think I love this campaign with Aritzia even more than the Marc Jacobs one. Her voice.
The founder of Starface also owns a skincare brand called Futurewise, which just released a cleansing balm. And I have thoughts. I only recently learned about Futurewise, although they’ve been around for almost two years now (which isn’t that long, admittedly). Like Starface, their branding is young and fun, but while Starface gives you an aesthetic way to hide (and heal) your acne, Futurewise wants to help you get better skin. Their whole thing is slugging, the practice of applying an occlusive layer over the skin to prevent water loss. Less water loss means more hydration, and more hydration means plump, juicy, healthy skin. Allegedly. Right now, they have five products and retail distribution in a bunch of places that are not Ulta or Sephora.
I don’t think they’re hugely popular, but they could be. It’s obvious that this is a skincare brand for the youth, but I think it’ll find more success as a skincare brand for the kids and teens. Maybe it’s the packaging, maybe it’s the whole slugging thing, but their products don’t scream "effective"; they scream "safe," which means at 25, I’m less likely to gravitate towards them than my 14 year old sister is. Effective enough + Safe + Great Packaging = Gen Alpha skincare holy grail. I’d love to see them position themselves alongside Gen Alpha skincare favorites like Byoma and Bubble, and work with influencers like Demetra Dias, who’s huge on TikTok and already makes a lot of fashion content but doesn’t seem to have any major skincare partnerships yet. Would probably be great for discovery if they did more stuff with Starface too.
All I ask is that some really good Substack essays come out of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Taylor Paul is who I watch when I’m anxious and want to feed that anxiety but also tame it, because after a few minutes on her TikTok, I can no longer tell if the low level alarm in my head is for myself or for her. And this calms me.
Two years and one disastrous album/movie/musical later, it finally happened. J.LO filed for divorce. There was no prenup. I’m the only one I know who feels bad for these two.
Art collectors spent $712 million at auction in 2021 on works by artists born after 1974, up from $259 million the previous year. The spike reflected the speculative boom of the early pandemic years, driven by the promise of quick returns and a new class of collectors more interested in turning a profit than becoming lifelong patrons. With the recent downturn in the art market, young art stars around the world are experiencing dramatic setbacks that threaten to submerge their careers. From 2021 to 2023, the prices of works from “ultra-contemporary” artists plummeted by almost a third, according to the Artnet Price Database. In the first half of 2024, sales of work by young artists fell 39% compared to last year. “Woman With Her Pet” sold for $212,500 three years ago but was resold for $20,160 at auction in June. Amani Lewis’ painting sold for $107,100 in 2021, but then resold for $10,080 this summer—a 90% drop in value. Another that sold for $189,000 in 2021 auctioned for $10,160 in March. I don’t know enough about the art world to have a strong POV, but some of the comments on the article are interesting, and I have a date with a friend this weekend who lives and breathes this stuff.
Woman With Her Pet Men aren’t working like they used to, according to all sources of reliable data. While young college-aged women are sticking with their job search, many of their male peers are choosing to take a break. According to a Bloomberg News analysis of government data, male workforce participation has declined in the last year, with 1 in 5 male college graduates below 25 neither employed nor actively looking for work. The female participation rate has stayed consistent. Some reasons for this:
women are more likely than men to take part-time work or jobs they’re overqualified for to support themselves.
young men are more likely to bide their time until they land a position with the kind of pay they expect, even if it means taking time off from their job search.
male-dominated fields like finance and tech are leading the recent employment slowdown, with entry-level positions lagging significantly.
last year, 73.2% of men under 25 lived with relatives, compared to 68% of women—a record high for both genders, excluding pandemic years, in data going back nearly sixty years.
Companies are designing “work resorts” to lure workers back to the office, while an increasing number of CEOs are given the option to run their companies remotely. My take on the WFH debate is that working from offices is better for businesses, cities, and the economy but worse for the individual and the environment. There's a generation of young professionals who have never experienced office life, and I believe this has everything to do with the mainstreaming of loserdom. I sent that essay to a friend this weekend, who said the first thing her coworkers talk about every Monday morning is what everyone did over the weekend. “You can’t be a young professional in NY, earning a good salary, and be proud of rotting.” The lockdown did everyone dirty, but turning 21 during a lockdown and adulting in the years that followed was its own kind of strange. As another friend said, “a generation of people who don’t know how to act.”
Business & Pleasure is a brand I love. They recently launched a collection with Elsa Hosk, who I also love. Their Instagram page reminds me of Palm Royale, which my best friend and I watched this summer, although we couldn’t tell you the plot because we spent the whole time speculating on what kind of smoothing filter (because surely there was a filter) the actors had on their faces. If you also noticed this, let’s please confer in the comments.
Alex Cooper’s new $125 million deal with SiriusXM was the group chat topic of conversation yesterday. The fact that she got here in five years and that her content is decidedly not highbrow is very inspiring to us. “We think content should be interesting and highbrow,” my friend said. “But gossip got this girl millions.” Call Her Daddy will still be available to stream on all platforms, but the new deal gives SiriusXM exclusive advertising and distribution rights for the podcast, as well as the Unwell brand’s lineup of shows. Only three years ago, Alex signed a record-breaking deal with Spotify for $60 million. Someone please check on Sofia Franklyn.
The rumors are not true. Jeff Bezos has no plans to bid on the Boston Celtics.
Does Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s bid for Paramount have a chance at toppling their agreement with Skydance? Today might be the day we find out. Skydance Media, led by David Ellison, reached an agreement last month to acquire Paramount in a deal that would allow it to buy out the Redstone family's controlling stake in Paramount and merge into the larger publicly traded company. The agreement contained a 45-day "go-shop period" that allowed Paramount to evaluate other offers, although they would have to pay Skydance a $400 million breakup fee if they chose another suitor. That period ends today, Aug. 21, but can be extended. Only yesterday, media executive and Seagram spirits heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted a $4.3 billion rival bid for Paramount Global, with terms that are good but not overwhelmingly better and offer no cash to Paramount’s common shareholders, which Skydance does. Paramount shares barely reacted to the news yesterday, which isn’t a great sign for Bronfman.
30% of 7 to 9 year olds in the U.S. have an X account, and 44% already have their own tablet that they use to access apps and games, according to new data from parental control software maker Qustodio. 28% use Reddit and 26% are on Facebook. Parents aren’t blocking these apps because they don’t imagine their kids would be interested in them in the first place.
The $13 billion Elon Musk borrowed to buy Twitter has turned into the worst merger-finance deal for banks since the 2008-09 financial crisis. Seven banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, lent the money to Elon’s holding company to take X private in October 2022. Banks that provide loans for takeovers usually sell the debt quickly to other investors to get it off their balance sheets, making money on fees. But the banks haven’t been able to offload the debt without incurring major losses—largely because of X’s weak financial performance—leaving the loans stuck on their balance sheets. The resulting write-downs have hampered the banks’ loan books and, in one case, were a factor that crimped compensation for a bank’s merger department, according to people involved with the deal.
Miss Sydney Shill Anything strikes again. Honestly, I can’t be convinced that Sydney Sweeney wears Hey Dude shoes uncoerced.
Everyone would like more protein in everything, which is why I’m not surprised that David just raised $10 million in seed funding. David is a platform that designs tools to increase muscle and decrease fat, and their founders are behind gym wear brand RAIZE and protein snacks brand RXBAR. The investment was led by David CEO and Co-Founder Peter Rahal, with additional participation from Valor Siren Ventures, Peter Attia, and Andrew Huberman. The only product they currently have on their website is a gold-wrapped, double fudge brownie-flavored bar that’s yet to launch, but I expect they’ll expand to other categories. The global high-protein food market is projected to grow by over $50 billion by 2028. The growing popularity of GLP-1 drugs, the return to dairy, and trends like the carnivore diet and protein snacks are all green flags for David.
Michelangelo's sculpture of David reflects our methodical approach to idealism and dedication to materializing perfection- David Co-founder For every 10% increase in calories from ultra-processed plant-based foods, there was a 5% increased risk of heart disease and a 6% hike in the risk of coronary heart disease, according to a new study published in The Lancet medical journal that included both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. In response, Beyond Meat adviser Dr. Matthew Lederman posted a statement on the company’s website, calling the study “misinformation.” These companies have always felt so wrong to me.
wrote about how we’re living vicariously through real estate agents because most people can’t afford to buy a home anymore. “You probably already know that millennials are struggling to buy homes compared to previous generations. In a survey I sent out to followers (that isn’t statistically significant so take this as directional), 70% of respondents answered the prompt ‘Which best describes the reason you follow real estate agents on social media’ with ‘I am not in a position to buy a home right now, but I still like following. Still, 79% of them said they’d use the real estate agents they currently follow to help them purchase a home one day.
Over 500 private, nonprofit four-year institutions have closed in the last 10 years, three times the number that closed in the decade prior. Fewer people are willing to pay exorbitant amounts to attend small liberal arts colleges. Meanwhile, Universities like Drexel and Northeastern with co-op programs that allow students to alternate academic study with full-time employment during the school year are gaining popularity
Victoria Beckham is getting her own Netflix documentary, chronicling her eponymous fashion and beauty business. Nicola Howson, who also produced Beckham, will be an executive producer along with Julia Nottingham, the producer behind Pamela: A Love Story. I didn’t watch Beckham, (though it racked up more than 12.4 million total views), but I’d totally watch this.
This is the kind of content I do not want to be seeing. Every five posts on my LinkedIn feed right now is some musing on the meaning behind brat vs. demure and what it says about the spectrum that is girlhood. Not every TikTok trend needs to be a case study for brand marketers. Sometimes the girls just want to have fun.
This is interesting: The Athletic is launching a new editorial vertical focused on sports collectibles, covering everything from explainers on the most sought after items to data backed insights and news and analysis of the latest trends. It will provide recommendations from collectors and industry experts, and a new multi-year partnership with eBay will make eBay’s collectibles discoverable through The Athletic’s content. On eBay, users will be able to access memorabilia content and data-based insights from The Athletic. This is the kind of media news I love to read. Actually so exciting.
Very curious about the economics of apps like The Breakfast and Creative Lunch Club that want to help adults find friends. More specifically, I want to know about scale and retention. Take The Breakfast, for example— for $7 a month, members are introduced to someone new to meet with in real life over breakfast. Sounds great, but also sounds like something people might delete after two bad meetups, two mid meetups, or two really good meetups.
This era of every tiktok trend being reported on as if it is the answer to the psychological hang ups, or a profound cornerstone of our ideology is soooo tiring. Can you imagine if the Washington Post had wrote articles about, idk, the 2 guys sitting in a hot tub vine when that was popular. It only works in relation to tiktok fashion trends, due to the material aspect, but even then they’re pushing it. 😵💫
The Lancet study didn’t just include plant based meat alternatives, it classified anything not from animals as ‘plant based-UFPs’ which includes things like bread & cereals which many meat eaters also eat. I think the media’s focus on the ‘plant based’ of it all is a silly way to demonise vegan food again. Like I know Beyond Meat isn’t healthy for me but neither is processed meat.