Loro Piana has gone quiet luxury to full Jamiroquai

Plus: Eight Sleep built a recovery wearable for your mattress, and A24’s restaurant will own date night.

Morning,

I’ll be in LA October 8-11 and NYC 12-15. Should we do GOOD DRINKS?

GOOD CLASSIFIED: A reader turned friend is looking for quantitative/qualitative people for a consumer brand. “It’s such a niche thing and hard to find *cool* people that know it.“ Hit reply with your faves. Thx!

If you only read one thing in this letter I recco: LUXURY SHAKE-UP. Lots of fun rabbit holes.

As always, the lens of this letter is a best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What I’m dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands.

Let’s dive in!

CULTURE

NOT ONE THING //

Tom Garland

’s right. The “Wellness Anarchists” are underserved. “If wellness exists on a spectrum, this middle ground remains dramatically underserved...Few speak to consumers who want technical quality without joining a cult.” “Consider Carlos Alcaraz, ruthless on court yet photographed on Ibiza dancefloors during off-season. Ultra-runner William Goodge, who paused his cross-Australia run for a beer mile and cigarette.” Anecdotally, I know many people who fall into these archetypes, men and women. We aren’t just one thing, but few brands build for the pendulum swings that exist within us.

STAY FOR THE FUN // Paradigms 2025 has been on my mind a lot this week. The talks, especially Tom Beckman’s and

Eugene Healey

’s, have come up countless times. But

Victoria Montgomery

reminded me of something that was left off my letter: the democracy. Every speaker stayed for the event, becoming peers, not mythical creatures. At Cannes, the CMOs said the peer events were the best. People want to gather. And we’re looking for real connection. And less pretense. More spaces to let your guard down. Potential lives here.

F&B

WHAT’S IN YOUR BELI? // Say goodbye to your friend’s Google Maps list. Beli is Gen Z’s solution. As

Ochuko Akpovbovbo

put it: “Shame on Yelp for not tapping into [Gen Z’s] addiction to cataloguing and rating everything we consume.” “It’s like Letterboxd for lunch.” People are saturated with good opinions. And the only people you really trust are friends. It’s why group chat ‘gut checks’ are rising, too. And why Etsy is acquiring Tise, a social second-hand shopping app. And why invite-only WhatsApp groups are the new thrift stores. Sifting is unpleasant. Curation and taste are 2025’s favorite themes.

A CUP OF CULTURE // The first Luckin opened in NYC, and

Colin Nagy

did you a solid by going. “The U.S. coffee scene has always been a mirror of national character…Starbucks reflected globalization and the craving for experience. Third wave reflected craft and discernment. Luckin reflects something else entirely: the relentless pursuit of efficiency.” It’s the AI-generation’s caffeine. Italy’s standing-room-only espresso bars are about to go global.

DINNER & A CULT MOVIE // A24 is opening a restaurant with the duo behind Frenchette—meaning the food’s quality will match the movie screenings. But this will not be another Netflix Bites. Nice interiors and good food. Brand experiences are shifting. New Balance led the way, J.Crew’s “lived-in” pop-up followed. Experiential is moving away from themes and ‘photo walls’ towards ‘the best versions of real’. And, expect this place to be the new date spot. Feeld says “mentions of A24 in dating profiles surged 65% over the past year.” Once again, taste is valuable, even if you’re just borrowing it for matches.

DRUGS & BOOZE

GLOBAL CHEERS // AB InBev (Bud, Stella, Corona) has inked a global deal with Netflix, making it the title sponsor of Netflix’s shows and live events. It comes with global access to the NFL Christmas Day game (the NFL’s global audience is growing), WWE, boxing, Women’s World Cup, and sports docs like Full Swing. Based on the size of their deal, this roster is just the tip of the iceberg. Netflix is going all-in on sports—globally.

SILVERS, ALPHAS & ZS

PARENTAL LIES // Parents are lying (to themselves?) about YouTube. Many say they don’t let their kids watch Salish Matter and her “creepy dad”, though the turnout for her skincare launch says otherwise. 42% of parents say they only ‘co-watch’ YT with their Alphas. The only known truth: Alphas are watching. 78% of them. And buying from the ads. 50% of parents say their last ‘kid purchase’ came directly from a YT ad. Anecdotally, most parents I know hate YT, but the style of shows their kids like just isn’t available elsewhere. This is a monopoly that can only be resolved through better buying. And parents would love you for it.

GRAND TOURNOIS // This week, Lego held a giant competition on the Champs Élysées. Competitors, ages 6-99, got there by submitting photos of their unique creations. The winners were invited to the grand finale in Paris, and the finalists won a trip to Denmark. 120K people attended. Honestly, all I have to say is: damn, I’m jealous. This is my dream family day.

FASHION & RETAIL

LUXURY SHAKE-UP // After the year of trading places, the creative directors have settled, and the results are quite fun. Demna has a lot of skeptics, but his first Gucci campaign is shoppable, cheeky, and full of references, aka lore. While the photography is more iconic, this Spike Jonze & Halina Reijn short with Demi and half of Hollywood is a fun risk. Then we have Dior looking distinctly more human under Anderson, while his eponymous J.W. Anderson has opened a curiosity shop complete with custom Wedgwood—fun. Following Anderson’s energy, Marni-bound CD, Meryll Rogge, launched a lux knitwear brand, B.B.Wallace, that

Magasin

coined “femme Shetland.” Loro Piana, now the third-largest fashion house in the LVMH portfolio, is channeling Jamiroquai and aging art directors over quiet luxury. Louise Trotter is living up to my expectations at Bottega Veneta. And, finally, my feed is delighted at Loewe’s latest, which, not shockingly, is excellent.

TECH

PURPOSE WARS // People are loving Anthropic’s first ad for Claude, ‘Keep Thinking.’ Must be the undeniably good Madvillain track, because it’s certainly not because of the tag ‘AI for Problem Solvers.’ ‘Humanity’s collaborator’ is a better position than OpenAI’s discomforting, humanless ‘intelligence era’. But sadly, this is playing out like Uber versus Lyft. A worthy fight, but without a superior and differentiated product, ubiquity wins. And ChatGPT has a big lead. Super Bowl ads are right around the corner, but Claude will need more than good music and good intentions to turn this race around.

SPORT

BOYS LOVE SPORTS // The fastest-growing audience for the women’s hoops? Boys under 18. It was great to see women’s sports start raking in the beauty sponsors, but perhaps this data proves that we don’t need to stereotype the fandom these athletes pull in.

OFF ROADERS // Trail running is now a $20B economy. Female participation is up 2.6x, and Gen Z women have 6.5x’d in 3 years. 42% of the 800K runners this year were first-timers. Post-Covid, more Gen Z runners live outside of cities, with access to trails. Access to ‘expertise’ is more accessible than ever. YouTube has become “the locker room” and “coach’s office” for runners worldwide. Also, per the GOOD YEAR, solo sport is mental healthcare, which, right now, we need more than ever. We need a Bandit for trail runners.

ROWDY RYDER // Golf has shed its buttoned-up vibes and become quite rowdy. The Ryder Cup, the US-Europe rivalry tournament, has always been more fun than others, but this year’s in NY is expected to be extreme. I’ve pitched this tournament for brand activations before (too ahead of my time). This year will turn it into the future Coachella.

WELLNESS & BEAUTY

BLAIR BUBBLE // Bubble doesn’t want to be a ‘teen brand’ according to

Sydney Wingfield

. Is the space getting too crowded? Maybe. Or their new Sephora-exclusive Middle East relationship is forcing them into a new position (Sephora is notoriously hands-on with brands and their marketing). Either way, they’ve made Leighton Meester the face of the campaign. People do adore Leighton. That said, a giant perception shift like this will be tough. Look at what happened to Drunk Elephant when it tried to play both sides.

FULL (MENTAL) HEALTH // Mental health is getting the full workup. The FDA just approved a new, faster-acting version of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for severe depression. Businesses like Radial are offering accelerated TMS, PRISM neurofeedback, vagus nerve neurostimulation, and more. But before they can go full Mindbloom and remove the stigma of these treatments, someone has to do something about their photography.

PERFORMANCE BEAUTY // The new Victoria Beckham Foundation Drops are formulated with Augustinus Bader’s patented TCF8. And according to

THE LOVE LIST

, the “stuff is voodoo.” Makeup and skincare have been increasingly overlapping. But this is a whole new caliber. Related: OneSkin’s “topical supplements.” High-grade, blurred lines are everywhere.

ANTI-AGING AGING // Back in May 2024, the anti-anti-aging movement was starting to bubble up. It’s fully arrived. But as

Whatever Nevermind

says, it’s not really the movement you think it is. We’ve just changed the filler (words). Pro-aging, cellular senescence, skin longevity, call it what you will, it’s still all anti-aging. Meanwhile, facelifts and Botox have completely lost their taboo. Age-shaming is out, but looking young is still very much in.

TRAVEL

PERFORMANCE BEDDING // Eight Sleep, the smart mattress brand, is making bedding a recovery tool—a wearable for your mattress. Athletes are using them on the road. And this week, they launched Jet Lag pills that connect with the app and AI. Using ChatGPT to ‘hack’ your jet lag is popular on TikTok. Biohacking your travel is surging.

FUN FOR THE WEEK

• While I love this, it’s way too Rowing Blazers-coded.

• Skims x Nike is live. Best moment. Choreographed by Sadeck Berrabah, obviously.

• Young Gen Z men discussing ‘mewing’ and ‘skin hygiene.’

• Mary Kay thinks Girl Boss is something we want to hear about in 2025—oy.

• Found this in the comment section of the Luckin Coffee letter.

• COS partnered with Namtan Tipnaree for NYFW, and wow, the numbers on these posts.

• Fruit of the Loom x Homme Girls is very fun. The nipple tee, especially.

• Must have bought views, but this Journey’s TikTok will keep you watching for the song.

• Amazon Fashion is trying again. Casting isn’t bad, but wow, this product is a no.

• SkinCeuticals is making products for ‘Ozempic face.’

• And Bloom is smart. They’re teasing and testing new flavors at their pop-up.

• This packaging is fun.

That’s all, folx.

-Chris

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