YouTuber turned Cartier ambassador Emma Chamberlain was looking mighty sparkly at the Met Gala; speaking of the Met, Olivia Rodrigo was an absolute Y2K vision in Versace; Harry Styles is doing a concert in New York City — and every ticket is just $25 a pop; and Kendall Jenner’s boyfriend (a.k.a. Devin Booker) is Sweetgreen’s latest ambassador.
20 BRANDS GAINING GEN Z LOVE IN EARLY 2022, adage
A really good list of brands that are making progress among Gen Z. Some of them are obvious, like Lululemon and Urban Decay; others less so. Whirlpool, for instance, now ranks second by brand equity growth among young consumers. The appliance brand started its account at the beginning of the year after a TikTok featuring a Whirlpool microwave went viral. (Interestingly, the brand itself only has 3,700 followers on TikTok, but brand equity is up enough among young consumers to earn a top spot on the list. Really makes you think!)
WHAT IS A ‘NEPOTISM BABY’, nyt
The phrase “nepotism baby” (or the diminutive “nepo baby”) has pervaded social media in earnest expressions of surprise (“just found out…”), envy (“pls god why couldn’t i have been a nepotism baby”) and even admiration (some favorites include Ms. Apatow, Zoë Kravitz and Dakota Johnson).
HOW THE ’90S LEATHER BLAZER TOOK OVER SPRING (AND YOUR INSTAGRAM FEED), wsj
The shiny, structured Friends-circa leather blazer (which will always make me think of the Wilsons Leather store in my local mall) is back, baby!
Along with Ms. Gerber, Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and Hailey Bieber are among the new generation of celebrities gravitating toward the garment. Gucci has brought it back (embossed all over with the label’s logo) as have Saint Laurent (long and single-breasted) and Versace (slim and shrunken).
AN EARLY TIKTOK EXEC JUST LAUNCHED A DATING APP CALLED SPARK, techcrunch
Spark has already “soft launched” in hundreds of countries, climbing to #1 in the iOS app store in Ireland and the Netherlands within a day. According to Techcrunch, it’s more like Grindr than Tinder — instead of swiping left or right, you can see people around you all at once — but unlike Grindr, you can only message people if you’ve both “sparked” (or liked) each other.
‘WE WANT A CHANGE’: IN THE PHILIPPINES, YOUNG PEOPLE AIM TO UPEND AN ELECTION, nyt
“Many young people in the Philippines have grown increasingly disenchanted” with the country’s current president (oof, sounds familiar), so they’re taking matters into their own hands.
They are also fighting a wave of disinformation that has recast the Marcos dictatorship as what supporters of the younger Marcos call a “golden age.” Some of their peers are swayed by YouTube videos that portray Mr. Marcos as a cool parent, while some among an older generation are nostalgic for strongman rule.
One last thought :/