TheSkimm walked so Substack could run
an eulogy(ish)
Good morning, everyone.
Today, I shared some informed speculation on where we might be seeing Jonathan Anderson’s (ex of Loewe) name pop up next, a scoop on Gen Z’s favorite pickle brand, what Disney’s latest hire says about the future of fashion and IP, the writer-director who stole $11 million from Netflix, and a bunch of other stuff.
Thank you to everyone who pays for this. The rest of you are wonderful too.
Enjoy!
Rhode consulted with Toni Bravo and Golloria on their two new blush stick shades, which is why I can now give them my money with confidence.
Stanford students used to chase jobs at Meta and Google. Now they want to work in defense tech. “At Stanford, building tech for the U.S. government is cool again. Students are dropping out to form defense tech startups and compete for coveted internships at government security agencies or major private contractors. Undergraduates, business school students, recent alumni now working in defense tech, and faculty show a booming interest in building war machines for the United States.” Gotta love the youth.
This month, Vrbo put up billboards describing itself as “Airbnb’s hotter, cooler, friendlier long-lost twin that never has hosts.” One of the billboards was placed within view of the San Francisco Airbnb HQ. When asked for a comment, an Airbnb spokesperson said, “Vrbo just spent millions on ads that appear to be as confused as they are desperate.” You know what? I think brands are taking this “persona” thing a bit too far. I find this shit deeply embarrassing —brands in comment sections throwing shade, brands spending VC money on ads name calling their competitors. (And we know it's VC money because these companies are not profitable!) This applies to founders as well. Some of you need to be put in LinkedIn jail.
