

Discover more from After School by Casey Lewis
Pickup Trucks and Gen Z ETFs
"most fashion fabulous user-generated content creators and Roblox influencers"
Millennials are the new pickup truck generation; sales of blush are exploding thanks to — what else? — a TikTok trend; Chinese youth take their love for instant noodles to the next level; seasonal affective disorder was coined in the ‘80s, but millennials and Gen Z made it their own; and North West's TikTok saved the holidays.
SKINNY LEGGINGS VS BAGGY JEANS. WHICH WILL GEN Z DUMP FIRST?, cnn
“At Pacsun we're seeing a sizable shift into looser silhouettes in bottoms across both our men's and women's consumer. Wide leg, loose fit or baggy, flare and super flare, and boot cut are surging denim trends with our Pacsun consumer."
FOREVER 21 BUILDS WORLD ON ROBLOX, JOINING OTHER RETAILERS IN THE METAVERSE, adage
Forever 21 Shop City is a community-first game launching in collaboration with some of Roblox’s most “fashion fabulous” (can we pls never use that phrase again) user-generated content creators and Roblox influencers.
STITCH FIX REVEALS ITS 2022 STYLE AND SHOPPING FORECASTS, fashionunited
Demand for special occasion clothes and high heels are surging on Stitch Fix, with 44% of consumers — and 61% of Gen Z — planning to replace their going-out clothes this year.
↳ In related links: VSCO’s end-of-year report told a similar story, with 59% of Gen Z respondents saying they plan to get dressed up this upcoming year. Speaking of EOY reports…
JIF, GAP HIGHLIGHTED IN TIKTOK'S REVIEW OF 2021, marketingdive
TikTok rounded up a “best of” list featuring brands that excelled on the app this year, including Clinique, Philip Thomas Roth, and Applebee’s. I do wonder how much “excelling on the app” equates to “spending a lot of money for campaigns and promotions on the app” … any thoughts from the ad folks here?
A PAIR OF TEENAGERS HELPS LAUNCH ETF TARGETING YOUNGEST TRADERS, bloomberg
The ‘Generation Z ETF’ tracks a portfolio of “future-focused companies that align with Generation Z”; it will trade under the ticker ZGEN, and its actively managed portfolio has 50 holdings, including Snap Inc., Roblox Corp., and Coursera Inc. (I don’t understand what most of those words mean, exactly, but I’m sure some readers do and care.)
WHY DO WE HATE NEWER MUSIC THE OLDER WE GET?, screenshot
I used to be incredibly enthusiastic about music discovery, and it seemingly disappeared overnight the second I turned, idk, 26? Anyway, I really appreciated this perspective.
↳ In related links: A boomer, millennial and zoomer argue over their music of the year.
WATCHING PORN OBVIOUSLY ISN’T CHEATING, BUT TIKTOK THINKS IT IS, inside hook’
Search “is watching corn cheating” and you’ll be greeted with a slew of videos — mainly from women — explaining why your partner watching porn is a big ol’ red flag. (And no, not a typo. TikTok users often refer to porn as “corn” or spell the word with a zero instead of an “o” to get around TikTok guidelines that prevent NSFW content.)
One last thought: