a lot has happened..

layoffs, evolving agency models, AI stuff, idek anymore

Hello! I procrastinated as long as I could on this one bc there’s all kinds of editorial strikes taking place and i don’t want to inadvertently cross any pickets, but here’s a lil Friday dispatch. I’m going to try and keep it upbeat despite NYC’s aggressively gloomy skies right now… but youve been warned.

Thank you as always for reading 💌 especially those of you who don’t work in marketing so this probably reads as absolute jibberish.

Menswear is for the people

I loved this piece from SSENSE editorial about mens fashion week’s focus on wearability. To me, this is part of what makes the world of mens fashion so much more participatory, egalitarian and exciting. It’s not always centered on theatrics or performance:
“Instead of the clothes being a costume, you have to think more about the clothes, the mystery behind them, and why they were shown the way they were.”

AURALEE

Thinking about work again..

Maybe its the endless layoff announcements, but I truly believe that the nature of work is shifting (or will in the near future) especially for people younger than me, in USA. This tiktok i saw earlier this week feels particularly salient:

@kyyahabdulI feel like I was always told contract jobs are bad but as Ive gotten older I realize its really not that bad #careeradvice #kyyahabdul

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She basically argues that the definition of stable work is changing and it’s much more centered on contract-style work that addresses core needs for employees (work/life balance, remote/hybrid/office preferences, etc) and has clear start and end dates. Separately but related, Maya Watson, former head of brand/editorial at Netflix and CMO of clubhouse in its glory days (very iykyk legendary leader - but check out her manual, it speaks for itself) has built and launched a platform called Manual, centered around helping people self reflect, & find the language for their work preferences and needs. It’s so interesting, especially with Maya at the helm, and i’m excited to see where this platform goes because LinkedIn is insufferable. I think people building products, platforms or services that enable a “different” work set up are going to be hugely successful.

There’s a really interesting deepdive on the notion of ‘loyalty’ within a work context (brightly titled, ‘the end of workplace loyalty’) from BusinessInsider if you’re interested.

Gen Z women + men have different values

surprising literally no one who has opened their youtube app, FinancialTimes have uncovered that Gen Z males are trending more conservative. The article (non-paywalled link here) makes mention of #MeToo (so, we’re saying men are getting more conservative because women decided to have a conversation about sexual assault!?) however nary a note on the Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, Adin Ross et al absolute inundation of nonsense in algorithms that seemingly favors this ‘alpha male’ (inverted commas bc these men dont actually seem alpha based on any widely-agreed upon criteria). This is a commonly discussed aspect of the youtube experience - so many reddits like this exist:

Its definitely something to watch but I’m kind of blown that the FinancialTimes writer, John Burn Murdoch didn’t dive a little deeper into root cause beyond ‘MeToo’. Within the article itself he calls out that this is specifically a global phenomenon, so….. . . .. . maybe it wasn’t just a northern-american centric hashtag that tipped this one off. ? I mean there is literally research on this.

normally i don’t do this but Dune2 tickets are on sale

this is me outing myself as an absolute Dune stan, movie of the year 2021 idc idc. go get ur tickets. I bought some back up tickets but am waiting for AMC’s site to come back so i can get a second set in IMAX. considering a dune reading club ahead of the movie release, we still have time. right?

Please don’t ask me about m** w*** aesthetic

Please DO talk to me about the indie sleaze pt. 2’s continued, bubbling resurgence

(if this cover doesnt feel american apparel-coded to you, bless your heart and just take it from us olds).

Are there any other non psy-op Aesthetics youve noticed?

I’ve been thinking a lot about….

• Changing agency models. This week saw Publicis announce an investment in AI to the tune of $326 mill (non-paywalled link here) that seemingly aims at eliminating the whole ‘human labor’ aspect of their service. For a business thats main proposition / most valuable assets have famously been those who ‘come up in the elevator every morning and leave at the end of the day’, this is a weird one. I feel like i learned my core competency (strategy) with such a focus on lateral thinking, i can’t see AI being able to replicate that (or taste) in any reliable way.

  

  Nurture your reference points as much as your prompt-engineering skills. Go back to your source material.
  
  I have also been seeing a few of these; smaller agencies with tiered, subscription/‘membership’-like service models that have a set fee each month and a certain scope. I can see this being really smart for scaling D2C brands that are trying to get a handle on costs but also need more hands-on, entrepreneurial thinking and don’t care so much about the process / fuss of bigger agencies.
  
  to me, the bigger elephant in the room w/ Agencies is that they just dont seem to care as much about the business. They are very focused on insular, industry-facing awards and trade press vs. sales, bottom lines etc.

• The changing economics of Media: i will let taylor lorenz do the cliffnotes on the current state of journalism (if you havent already seen):
  

@taylorlorenzIs journalism collapsing?! Major layoffs across the industry are happening and national news brands are shuttering. Just today, the Los Angeles Times laid off 115 people. This follows layoffs at myriad other outlets. The rise of independent journalism on social media has been great, but it’s increasingly hard for independent journalists to sustain a business online, and their work is often shadow-banned and demoted within tech company algorithms. Anyone hoping billionaires might save the media will be disappointed. As the New York Times recently reported: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, bought The Washington Post in 2013 for about $250 million. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong purchased The Los Angeles Times in 2018 for $500 million. Marc Benioff purchased Time magazine for $190 million in 2018. But it increasingly appears that the billionaires are struggling just like nearly everyone else. Time, WaPo and The LA Times all lost millions of dollars last year and the difficulties facing the companies are getting only more severe. Web traffic has waned for many publishers as referrals from search engines like Google ebb, and the rise of new applications powered by artificial intelligence has the potential to erode readership further. “These vitally important news publications still find themselves ‘transitioning’ from print to digital — with major ongoing legacy business costs — as they build brick by brick a mainly digital future,” said Ken Doctor, an analyst and media entrepreneur. Mr. Doctor said the billionaires in the news industry were showing “greater signs of fatigue,” stemming from challenges including “news anxiety and avoidance and fierce advertising competition.” “The very rich find it very difficult to lose money year over year,” Mr. Doctor said, “even if they can afford it.” 👉🏻 Follow me @taylorlorenz for more tech and online culture breakdowns 👈🏻 #news #journalism #media #latimes #nyt #washingtonpost #jobs #journojobs #gaming #popculture #music #sports #contentcreator #creator #influencer #journalist #apps #internet #onlineculture #internetculture #socialmedia #technology #elonmusk #commentary #justchatting

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My bigger question is, how do we make the economics of it work? I’ve seen some models built on DAO’s and NFT-type memberships (e.g DIRT) but i’m not sure if that’s the neatest solve. I know so many people who are clamoring for a micro-payment option for single articles, and there is undoubtedly a cliff of subscription fatigue (also just not necessarily wanting to click around a thousand different emails for good news sources). Remember Google Reader? I miss her so much. I’m really curious if anyone i know is thinking about this imminent challenge of a sustainable model for journalism - please reply if you are.

An Assortment of Links

1. Melbourne Street Style via NYTimes “It’s always Summer somewhere”, Jan 17
   See you in February, Melbourne! I am so excited. My favorite most slept-on city.

2. Who is helping to feed the city’s migrants? via Grub Street, Jan 19 - a topic very close to home (literally on my block)

3. Artist Ryan Trecartin Built His Career on the Internet. Now, He’s Decided It’s Pretty Boring - Jan 22, Artnet

   

4. Absolutely iconic reading of Google’s lack of vision on LinkedIn from staff software engineer, Diane Hirsh Theriault

For my shoe-dawgs

• was surprised to see even the Atlantic talking about Jordan brands’ demise a little while ago.

• Kenzo ASICS collab film is chefs kiss

  author

  

  KENZO on Instagram: “Introducing the first sneakers collaboration KENZO x ASICS.
  First launched in 2013, the ASICS GEL-KAYANO 20 is being relaunched by KENZO with @Nigo. ​Available now ​in three styles. #KENZOxASICS”

  January 26, 2024

• Love this archive Prada sport 00 imagery + product.

• New Martine Rose for clarks is delicious:

  author

  

  Muleboyz on Instagram: “New @martine_rose for @clarksoriginals launching 🔜 👀”

  January 26, 2024

  
  thats all!

GG x

p.s does anyone wanna start a podcast w me? im trying all the content formats this year.