Locket, Gen Z’s other favorite app, just locked in $12.5 million in funding; North West is officially an art goth; TikTok thinks the 2023 Met Gala theme is space; and after their big Sephora expansion news, Glossier lays off employees following a shift in strategy.
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A16Z-BACKED SHEIN CHALLENGER CIDER IS GROWING RAPIDLY, techcrunch
Like Shein, Los Angeles-based Cider relies on China’s responsive clothing manufacturers to sell affordable, trend-led pieces to customers around the world. Founded in 2020, the startup has racked up roughly 7.4 million installs across the world to date; in the first half of 2022 alone, it had 2 million downloads in the U.S. — a 1,686% year-over-year growth. What sets it apart (aside from being backed by A16Z)? While Shein is going mass, Cider aims “be the go-to shop for Gen Z consumers with its array of Y2K looks of crop tops and vibrantly colored tees.” Where was A16Z when dELiA*s was struggling?
MEET NEW YORK CITY’S FOREMOST VIBE CURATORS, vanityfair
I’m a sucker for vibe reporting, especially when it’s c/o Delia Cai. “As the trio behind Authentic Hospitality, these are the guys responsible for hotspots like the Jane Hotel, The Smile, and Ray’s Bar, and taken in sum, their resumes itemize the buzziest names of the last 20 years of New York hospitality, from The Westway club to the Public Hotel, Le Crocodile to Ruschmeyers, with not a few legendary Halloween and Saturday Night Live after-after-parties in between.”
IS THE TIKTOK-STYLE FEED THE FUTURE OF ONLINE DATING?, tubefilter
Desti, a new video-focused dating app that launched over the weekend in its debut market of Austin, Texas, combines short-form video with romantic connections. According to TechCrunch, Desti had a hot start out of the gate, racking up 2,000 downloads during its first day of operation (is that a lot? Tinder has 57 million active monthly users…).
TELFAR GETS BEYONCÉ BOOST, BUT SO DOES HERMÈS DESPITE BIRKIN SNUB, voguebusiness
“This Telfar bag imported, Birkins, them shit’s in storage.” Beyoncé has switched out her Birkin for Telfar in her latest album lyrics, sending searches for the affordable luxe U.S. brand soaring.
SEXY DOLLAR STORE STOCKS THRIVE, BESTING BORING, HAS-BEEN TECH STOCKS, vice
Over the last year, as of this writing, Netflix is down 56%; Facebook is down 54%, Snapchat is down 87%, and Zoom is down 72%. Meanwhile, Dollar Tree is up 68.6% over the last year and Dollar General is up 236% over the last five years.
TIKTOK TO OVERTAKE FACEBOOK IN INFLUENCER MARKETING SPEND THIS YEAR, YOUTUBE BY 2024, techcrunch
According to a new analyst report, Instagram is on track to capture nearly 3x the amount of influencer marketing spend compared to TikTok in 2022 — or $2.23 billion spent on Instagram compared with the $774.8 million spent on TikTok.
One last thought:
P.S. I messed up the link with yesterday’s scam girl summer story! Apologies. Correct link ✨here✨.
“Where was A16Z when dELiA*s was struggling?” I love it.