No. 032: Why go out when you can go soft clubbing?
plus, CEO pink is hot, Post Malone's unlikely collab, & it's a Sarti Spritz summer!
Hi!
Hope you’re having a great week.
This edition has a little bit of everything… from brand collabs, to the future of the creator economy, and a sprinkle of fashion.
Hope you enjoy.
Sabena
P.S. if you’re chronically online like me I’m trying to create more content on Tiktok & Instagram, so give me a follow if want more frequent hot takes!
🧲 OBSESSION OF THE WEEK
Dakota Johnson’s style in Materialists is literally giving me all the inspiration I need to get dressed in the morning.
Between chic oversized blazers, a fitted dress or two, and tons of silver accessories — she looked AMAZING in every single scene. If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t worry, there aren’t any spoilers in here, just outfits. (but you should absolutely see it because it’s wholesome and cute and we need a little more of that!!!)
I leave you with this ode to her wardrobe, with the only plot hole being that she dressed like this on an $80k/year salary in NYC… but I digress.
🍿 BRAND NEWS
As a follow up to Gen Zs not wanting to start bar tabs (and millennials calling them lame), we have the phenomenon of “soft clubbing,” in which Gen Z-ers partake in tamer nights out with DJs sets and minimal drinking, at venues that range from coffee shops to hair salons and laundromats with “specific vibes” determined ahead of time. I said it before, I’ll say it again: probably better for you in the long run but a miss in the short run?!
Stanley launched a collab with Post Malone, in a line of western-camo themed quenchers, flasks, beer pints, and lunch sets. I think now that they’ve tapped out on the millennial mom and they are now trying to reach…someone else. Definitely not me, but apparently the waitlist had 125,000 people so they are doing something right.
In case you thought the days of Goop were over, they announced plans to open 20-30 new stores over the next several years. In this economy? Apparently.
Dôen, the Southern-California fashion brand that launched in 2016 and whose floral, lacy dresses are a favorite of Taylor Swift, just raised a venture round led by Silas capital (deal terms were not disclosed). Their current revenue is estimated to be $100M. There has been so much talk of investors being bearish on consumer brands, but I’m seeing so much more momentum here. We love to see it.
Chase just increased the annual fee on their Sapphire Reserve credit card to $795 from $550 — which is higher than the Amex Platinum (for now). Per the WSJ, “customers will receive more than $2,700 in value… including credits for Lyft, Peloton, Apple TV, StubHub and DoorDash, along with $500 for Chase’s lodging collection called the Edit.” Someone do the math on whether we should all cancel this card?!
Bougie and buzzy CPG brand Flamingo Estate launched a subscription program that of course they are calling “Friends of the Estate” — but all I have to say is that when luxury goes subscription, you know there's a recession coming.
The happiest restaurant chain employees in the world work at In-N-Out, with a 91% satisfaction score on Glassdoor for the 10th straight year. This needs to be studied.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan recently went on a podcast to declare that work life balance doesn’t exist (the Emma Grede of tech, if you will) because ‘work is life, life is work’. I guess we’re fully back in the girlboss era.
Fun fact: Yahoo is still America’s #6 most visited website (above Instagram and ChatGPT), so I guess I can’t make too much fun of my dad for sending me Yahoo News articles all day (jk hi dad!!!!)
A life-size Labubu just sold for $170,000 at an auction in China and I remain steadfast in not wanting to partake in this trend in any way.
Reese Witherspoon announced her newest venture: a Gen Z focused media company called Sunnie (the little sister of Hello Sunshine). I like the concept in theory, but am left very confused what she means by “designed to inspire the next generation of young women to reclaim their time, follow their curiosity and step into their power.” I’m curious whether this will accompany a separate book club, or maybe she’ll collaborate with her daughter Ava in some way. We’ll see.
Hermès launched an immersive experience in NYC called “The Mystery of the Grooms” which basically takes people through a mansion in the middle of NYC outfitted in Hermès home decor. 25,000 people have signed up — which just speaks to the chokehold Hermes has on culture despite a looming recession.
Aubrey Plaza pretends she started a new tequila brand (“Any Tequila”) in this ad that’s really about Cointreau and how it’s what makes a margarita “MargaRight.” Honestly you kind of just have to watch it to get it.
Barbie and OpenAI are partnering in a really vague way that sort of feels like a PR move? The partnership will allow Mattel to “design AI-powered products and experiences for the toymaker’s brands.” We’ll see what this means…
Speaking of OpenAI, apparently Meta is trying to poach OpenAI employees with $100M comp packages… but they aren’t leaving. I don’t really have a comment other than, that’s crazy.
LoveJack is a dating app where users have to describe themselves in just 5 words and are encouraged to use fake names to remain anonymous. Since dating apps are broken and you can literally Google everyone, I don’t hate this totally new approach that keeps the mystery alive.
Speaking of dating apps, Tinder just launched a new “double date” feature where two strangers can match with…. two other strangers. Pretty sure if this would make a first date even MORE awkward, but worth a shot I guess. The move makes sense, considering paying Tinder users are down nearly 20% since 2022.
Pinterest and Emma Chamberlain teamed up to launch a Sea Salt Toffee Flavored Coffee blend, inspired by the “Fisherman Aesthetic.” Launching a product collab is a first for Pinterest, and given they overindex with Gen Z, working with Chamberlain makes sense and I’m sure we’ll see more of this from Pinterest. Tangentially related—but I am sensing this is summer of the the salted iced latte. You heard it here first.
🆕 TREND REPORT
SARDINE GIRL SUMMER. Apparently, sardines are having a fashion moment — with searches for “sardine dress” up on Google because apparently “food is the most emotionally charged design system we know […and] humble foods are especially powerful because they reflect resilience,” says fashion psychologist (dream job?) Jennifer Heinen. I’m really not sure how to feel about this one…
MILLENNIAL PINK? More like CEO Pink. According to the WSJ, dusty, muted pink is the new “power neutral” that says “I can totally own a situation” which has the most impact when worn monochromatically. I don’t hate this and now think I might need a pale pink suit?!
HOUSE HELPERS. Apparently, Millennial moms are employing house managers to take care of everything from descaling the coffee machine to organizing closets. Starting at $62k/year — someone can essentially take care of the house and do the things you don’t want to do. Honestly, I 100% get this if you can afford it.
INFINITE WORKDAY. According to a new survey from Microsoft, we are in the age of the “infinite workday,” where the lines between work and life are blended like never before. 40% of workers check their emails starting at 6am and the post-8pm meeting is up 16%. Apparently, we’re also interrupted by a ping, email, or other notification every two minutes during normal business hours. Cool cool cool.
Y2K IS TRENDING. Unsurprisingly, everything millennial is cool again, from big hair to mustaches to wired headphones to photo dumps (I mean, we did create the unfiltered Facebook album! put some respect on our name.) But truly some of these trends need to be left in the past.
MIRROR MIRROR. This is the summer of the Indian-inspired mirror print dress/skirt/outfit — and while not for me, I’m just glad it’s getting the cultural recognition it deserves.
WE’VE BEEN INFLUENCED. If you’re a marketer, you know the power of influencer-driven content to move the needle. Influencer marketing is growing 36% to reach $30B in 2025. And it’s the first year in history that ad revenue on UGC will outpace ad revenue on professionally produced content, which is “a big deal” per Kate Scott-Dawkins, WPP Media’s global president of business intelligence.
🎲 ONE LAST THING
Whether you have travel plans this summer or not, there is one thing you MUST be equipped with — and that is a keen understanding of the drink of the summer.
Lucky for you: I’m going to drop some knowledge. First there was Aperol, then there was Hugo, but now, per TikTok — we have the Sarti Spritz.
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The star of the drink is Italian apertif Sarti Rosa in place of Aperol (which has hints of blood oranges, mango, and passionfruit), followed by prosecco, soda water, and lime.
Honestly, this sounds AMAZING and I will be trying one of these on my upcoming trip to France, and will report back. Have you tried one?!
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HAPPY WEEKEND!
- Sabena
felt like reading the morning paper, great post!
The best round up every time Sabena!!! I am similarly in need of someone telling me what to do with the Chase card… SO steep of an increase, they must know they’re going to lost a huge amount of reserve tier clients no!?