'Comfort Creators' and Purity Culture 2.0

"once considered the pinnacle of fashion"

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The most-used emojis of the year (tears of joy emoji ranked No. 1, much to Gen Z’s chagrin); Balenciaga is launching a metaverse business unit; MCM introduces a global upcycling project with emerging artists; and ‘questions I'm always asked as a 58-year-old Gen Z-er.’

OLD TRUCKS FOR NEW MONEY, newyorker

This is a trend I’ve been eyeing for a minute — Kendall Jenner has been driving a Chevy C10 for years, and her bofriend Devin Booker has a first-generation Blazer named Uncle Larry.

The romance of old trucks and S.U.V.s thrives on Instagram, where filters give everything the kind of patina that an old truck comes by honestly. Influencers have, unsurprisingly, bought into the trend; scroll through the #roadtrippin or #campvibes hashtags

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WHAT IS A ‘COMFORT CREATOR’?, nyt

“Your favorite creators might be people whose content you really enjoyed, but your comfort creator would be more like your go-to when you’re feeling down,” she said. They’re “the people who pull you out of like that sad place and give you some inspiration, some hope and some joy.”

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THE RADICAL YOUNG INTELLECTUALS WHO WANT TO TAKE OVER THE AMERICAN RIGHT, tnr

A glance at the so-called New Right, “populist culture warriors, cohered as much by temperament as ideology—and by certain fiercely held enmities.” And most of them are Catholic.

↳Purity culture 2.0, Gen Z style: I do not know what religionnews dot com is, but I found this fascinating and would love to see a bigger outlet report on ‘purity culture’ influencers.

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WHAT’S THE VALUE OF LUXURY WHEN IT ALL ENDS UP DISCOUNTED AT TK MAXX?, highsnobiety

Last year, I saw a pair of YSL chelsea boots at the TJ Maxx in Union Square — I did not buy them, regrettably — and I assumed at the time it was just a weird one-in-a-million chance of spotting a top-tier luxury label at a discount chain. Turns out, it’s not.

As we're becoming increasingly trend-driven and trends change day by day, it becomes harder to sell pieces that were once considered the pinnacle of fashion. To give you an example, at the Bottega Veneta outlet at Bicester Village, you can buy a Pouch bag at a discount. The bag was synonymous with BV's success less than two years ago, but is already being phased out.

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BUY NOW, PAY LATER ORDERS UP 34% THIS HOLIDAY, retaildive

Welp, this was inevitable: Afterpay saw a 34% increase in in-store and online orders this holiday season — and 11% more Gen Z shoppers between Black Friday and Cyber Monday compared to last year.

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No last thought today, alas! My Twitter timeline is entirely school shootings and Roe V. Wade. Absolutely brutal week :(