In-Flight TikTok and Next-Gen WaPo

Your daily digest of youth culture

Rihanna’s a billionaire (meanwhile, Rocky’s out here hawking a mall brand and a BNPL…), Olivia Rodrigo’s in GQ, American Airlines is offering free in-flight TikTok, denim jackets are back (but did they ever go away?) and…

THE WASHINGTON POST HOPES TO BRING IN YOUNG, DIVERSE READERS WITH A CROSS-COMPANY TASK FORCE

“The group — called ‘Next Generation’ and composed of a ‘handful’ of Post employees — will be tasked with overseeing new products, partnerships and initiatives to bring in these readers.” I’m pretty sure every legacy newspaper has attempted some version of this (see: WSJ), but for the sake of the future of journalism, I do wish them luck. digiday

DEPOP PARTNERS WITH RENTAL PLATFORM HURR

Hurr, the UK’s slightly cooler answer to Rent the Runway, will soon sell their pre-worn clothes on Depop. The first “drop” — of course it’s a drop — will include clothing and accessories from labels like Ganni and Rixo. wwd

CAN FASHION START-UPS CASH IN ON THE TENNIS BOOM?

They can, and, in fact, they are. bof // Related: Is it too early to call it the year of the pleated mini skirt? (It’s not too early.) fashionista

HOW GEN-Z ANXIETY IS SHAPING THE CHINA MARKET

Escapism through “shoppertainment,” for starters. jingdaily // Related: The pandemic has given rise to a wave of “toxic positivity.” dazed

Toxic positivity is the trend in which we see people avoiding and suppressing the experience of so-called negative emotions like grief, anxiety, and depression in favour of surface-level, positive emotions."

GEN Z ISN’T INFLUENCED BY BRAND VACCINE CAMPAIGNS

Friends and family are far more influential to Gen Z than ads when it comes to covid (though this is also true for literally every other aspect of a Gen Zer’s life). campaignlive // Related: The U.S. government is recruiting an "influencer army" to encourage vaccination. (Influencers, fwiw, are more “friend” than “ad”.) hypebae

One last thought:

Tyler McCall @eiffeltyler

I have realized that I am not strong enough to endure whenever Gen Z or Alpha or whatever inevitably creates an ironic nostalgic comeback of like, iPod Minis and late-aughts indie rock. Lord I am not your strongest soldier, please do not test me in this way.