fashion anime, nerd culture, tiktok's met gala moment, NB's grey days & more
as lil wayne once said, 'sorry for the wait'
I’m back in the city and the sun is shining. lets get this bread.
trend alert: fashion/lifestyle animations via helmut lang
This is obviously not a new thing, but i do think it is bubbling into a bigger thing. I did a project for a mens-focused brand last year that involved speaking to a large amount of male models all over the world. you would be shocked by how many of them cited Anime as a primary source for style inspiration. I think it’s only a matter of time until folks at some of the bigger brands connect the dots and realize this is a really efficient and gorgeous way to storytell product in a visual language that people love.
Really enjoying this series from Helmut Lang SS24 by Annie Choi.
Nerd Culture has the youth in a chokehold
I wrote about conspicuous reading + celeb book clubs in january, but we’re seeing a natural evolution of similarly social nerdery via Chess Clubs. LA Times wrote about a Chess Club in Santa Monica that is attracting hundreds of people to their weekly parties.
On this particular night in early April, 250 people show up, some opting for heels and outfits you’d see at a chic lounge, with many others going the casual route — yet neither group looks out of place
The cool kid chess club has almost 20k followers on instagram and a very curated aesthetic.
When I was in London, I stopped by a very cute late-nite community space called Reference Point which also had a few tables for Chess. People were milling around, reading, hanging out in a decidedly non-rager kind of way (rare for Brits in particular who favor a rowdy/boozy moment). It just seems to become more and more evident that young people worldwide want easy places to hang out with minimal pressure to party or spend money.
TikTok’s lasting impact on Fashion
A worthy analysis of TikTok’s significant impact on the fashion industry here from Rachel Tashjian, ahead of the brands sponsored presence and coverage at the Met Gala. Its useful to see the rise of the app in context with what was happening in the fashion industry at the time. [Did you know that India has already banned TikTok? but not before Shein used 2000 different influencers to help accelerate its business in the region].
Early on, [TikTok] became a place for armchair sociology, speechified think pieces and eyebrow-waggling conspiracy theories. Suddenly, everyone was Roland Barthes with a great manicure and a tiny microphone. And that kind of thinking worked on every level of garment, not just for items that cost $20.
What was interesting about last nights Met Gala was the lack of TikTok creators’ presence on the carpet, other than their very own Wisdom.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Main Character Syndrome is about to get even more wild
TikTok has spurred a whole new wave of ‘main character syndrome’, and i thought this recent piece by
at about what the recent uptick in journaling apps and habits combined with the introduction of generative AI could result in was super interesting - are we really ready for a million and one self-created biopics?“One of the most striking examples [..] is Apple's recent release of its native journaling app. This app transcends the role of a mere private space for personal reflection. By harnessing on-device data like location, activities, and photos, it offers a highly personalized journaling experience while upholding confidentiality through Apple's security architecture”
Did New Balance just out airmax-day airmax day? “Grey Days”, May 10
New Balance are sharing some gorgeous, quirky videos on their IG focused on the color grey - surely the ‘white AF1’ of their portfolio, grey 990s have been the baseline for some of their most devout fans for a long time (whether you’re a model in london or a dad in ohio, as the ad says). The ‘grey day’ effort this year expands into a month-long homage to their favorite color, with a suite of options available via the grey store on their site. I worked on a pilot ‘grey day’ event in 2017 (or 2018? cant remember) at the FADER Fort at SXSW - the brand has been slowly building into the day for awhile. More recently, Clarks also launched Wallabee Day (Apr. 26). Not every brand can pull something like this off, but for an iconic enough silhouette, it’s a fun way to build energy.
Separately, some more visuals have dropped from New Balances’ miu miu collab - very soft/romantic. The sneakers in question (at $1120 a pop) are already sold out.
not televising the first chicago sky game was a choice!
Over the weekend, Angel Reese had her first game with the chicago sky. It wasn’t televised despite WNBA league pass suggesting it would be, so one enterprising fan livestreamed it to social media, where it has now amassed 600k+ watches (with 412k tuning in live, and the tweet itself getting 2.5m impressions). Just a random person’s live feed.
Angel Reese also had some really interesting commentary around her choice to sign with Reebok.
“They didn’t have a woman’s basketball player, a ‘Face’. I like how they’re rebranding everything, and they’re letting me be the creative behind everything I do. Like clothes, merch- y’all like my style, you like what I wear, so I wanted to be able to incorporate that into Reebok. I’m gonna have my own shoe in 2 years. I also wanted to be a priority. Cuz I could’ve signed easily with Nike, or Jordan, but everyone’s doing that… y’all know I don’t like what everyone else is doing, I like to do the opposite.”
She’s pretty savvy. I hope this works out wonderfully for her.
cute idea - Australian brand nagnata invites press to an ‘art date’
Popularized by the ever-relevant Artists Way, an ‘art date’ is a commitment to set time aside to do something inspiring and nurture your own inner artist with weekly ‘assigned play’. Sustainable apparel brand Nagnata interpreted this practice literally by inviting editors + influencers to a life drawing class as part of their most recent presentation. I don’t know much more, but this seemed like a lovely way to show a collection and give the attendees something more dynamic to do vs. just canapes and cocktails.
not to get too ‘heres what the rap beef taught me about b2b sales’, but
i LOVE that metroboomin is crowdsourcing a verse.
Various Links round-up:
For a more recent look at what is happening in rap vs millenial-core beef, the Face did a round-up of the micro-movements currently percolating in underground internet rap.
Cindy Lee’s latest album (which pitchfork gave a 9.1 rating) is not available on Spotify but on her labels Geocities page. Fun.
Love this from
: “So You Want To Dress Like a 1992 Catalog Model”. for bonus fodder check out @lostjcrew and @simplicitycity IG accounts. Some zoodboard favs.NYT homage to the elite japanese breakfast.
- writes a very real piece about our fascination with, and growing appetite for Energy drinks. Did you know that the average coffee consumption is at its highest levels for 20+ years? I dont know why, but I will take my daily matcha + alice brainstorm chocolate and keep it pushing.
Thats all for now!
GG x
I love love love seeing so many people show up at the chess club! and I can't even play chess