the birkin bag of toilet paper
because the economy does not affect us all the same
hAPPY Friday! I’m in a great mood.
Today’s newsletter was particularly fun to write:
A possible Rhode acquisition and the state of Beauty M&A
Justin Bieber’s new apparel brand and the Yeezy of it all
What The Row and menswear brand True Classic have in common
The founder of Topicals’ premium haircare acquisition
The Birkin Bag of Toilet Paper…
and a bunch of other (fashion, tech, beauty, culture, CPG, media) stuff. ENJOY!
Mel Ottenberg interviewed Apple Martin for Interview Mag. Possibly a PR fix after that Mean Girl Debutante situation, but she seems cool. Apparently very politically active on her private Instagram page with 1,794 followers. She and her friends are “very scared” about the state of the nation. I think her face is unreal.
Have any readers tried out Tinder’s OpenAI-powered in-app flirting game? Don’t be shy, you can tell me. “The goal is to give users a fun, judgment-free space to experiment and potentially build a little confidence before stepping into IRL conversations,” a Tinder VP told Bloomberg. I hope this does not upset you. Those who keep abreast of the dating scene know that any and all help is welcome. The stories I hear frighten me.
French Gen Zers love Glossier too—and Fenty Beauty and Rhode.
America isn’t producing enough beef tallow to Make America Healthy Again. Sorry, but if you’re not reading the comments sections on some of these articles, you're missing out on some prime anthropological insight.
Glen Powell launched a condiment brand called Smash Kitchen. Great timing since he and a recently unengaged Sydney Sweeney are all over my newsfeed. He should get her to promo the line. Smash Kitchen is backed by Collaborative Fund, an early investor in Olipop, Sweetgreen, and Blue Bottle Coffee. The founding team looks solid—CEO Sameer Mehta, a cofounder of dog food brand Jinx and former VP of strategic partners at Casper, and President Sean Kane, who co-founded the Honest Company. I wonder what they’re trying to do here. I’m always curious about new brands that go up against entrenched incumbents (people are very loyal to Hellmann’s and Heinz!) without sexy branding. Last year, one of David Beckham’s progeny launched Cloud23, a masterfully branded hot sauce company. And of course, Molly Baz introduced Ayoh! to the world—fun branding, innovative flavors. Smash Kitchen looks to be neither of these things, so I wonder what their play is. The line will be available in Walmart soon, so someone’s doing something right. We shall see.
