Wellness Socials and Hot Messes
“highly amusing, sometimes odd”
Charli XCX was named the 2025 BRIT Awards’ Songwriter of the Year; Ayo Edebiri is writing the script for Daniel Kaluuya’s Barney film; the Fauxmoi subreddit is under attack; and I’m a little ashamed to admit that I was excited to learn that Iris Apatow is dating Sam Nivola, the scene-stealing little brother in this season of White Lotus (but not too ashamed to include it here, clearly).
ALIX EARLE’S ‘HOT MESS’ PODCAST DROPPED BY ALEX COOPER’S UNWELL NETWORK, variety
In this Alex versus Alix faceoff, Alex Cooper’s camp clearly had the upper hand when it came to breaking the news about Alix Earle leaving the Unwell Network, but fans believe if anyone was doing the “dropping” it was Earle, whose fame has outgrown the Unwell Network, Cooper’s upstart media company that’s been mired in controversy too tedious to get into here. Fans are speculating that Alix will end up at Barstool, a rumor Dave Portnoy — Cooper’s former boss — is happily stoking the fire of. (Alix hasn’t acknowledged the news, presumably because she’s too busy getting this little rescue pittie adopted. 🫶)
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET DOES AWARDS SEASON A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY, nyt
In what’s perhaps the first Gen Z Oscar campaign, Chalamet has executed a “highly amusing, sometimes odd” strategy that eschews “the old, staid ways of Hollywood promotion.” From wacky social media stunts to unexpected interviews (College GameDay???), it all feels more like his own personal art project than awards show lobbying. Should his acting career falter, Timmy would be a brilliant creative strategist.
THE WELLNESS CLUB IS GEN Z'S COUNTRY CLUB, vogue
In an era where self-care is social, wellness memberships are becoming the new status symbol, writes Alessandra Codinha. While I do believe that this is a real consumer shift — or, at the very least, a real consumer trend — it’s worth noting that the headline mentions Gen Z, but no one under the age of 45 appears to have been interviewed for the story, possibly because these clubs, which start at $350/month and go up to $10,000/month, are cost-prohibitive for younger consumers. Which then begs the question: Is this really a Gen Z thing? Curious to hear thoughts…
HOW THE INTERNET MADE IN-STORE SHOPPING MISERABLE, wsj
Gen Z shoppers appreciate — and, in many cases, prefer — in-person shopping, but brick-and-mortar stores are failing to keep up. The consulting firm AlixPartners studied 30 retailers and found that only 9% of their online women’s clothing assortment was available in physical stores. At department stores, the percentage was 7%, and at mass merchants, it was just 2%.
Alanis Castro, a senior at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., was on the hunt for a pair of Abercrombie & Fitch jeans. Yet every time she visited a store, they were out of her size. The salesperson offered to have them shipped to her, but she wanted to try them on first to avoid paying a $7 return shipping fee if they didn’t fit. She also wanted the instant gratification of walking out of a store with her purchase in hand. “If I wanted to order it online, I would have done that from home,” the 21-year-old said.
SPRING BREAK TRAVEL COSTS REACH RECORD LEVELS IN 2025, bloomberg
Spring break travel costs have reached record highs in 2025, with the average trip now costing $8,306, more than double the price in 2019 and 26% higher than last year. Rising hotel rates are a major factor; for example, luxury accommodations in the Bahamas up 58% since 2019, now averaging $1,049 per night. The higher prices don’t appear to have deterred college students from traveling; my TikTok feed is full of swimsuit hauls ahead of trips to Cabo and Cancun.
One last thought:
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As a retail worker, I know full well the pain of a customer shopping in store for a vendor we don't carry, or an item we don't have. On the one hand, a store can't carry everything. On the other, retailers use the excuse of "just ship it to them" to avoid doing the work of actually looking at store assortments and ASKING THE STORES what they need. It's particularly difficult when you are on commission, as the customer says "I'll just order it myself" instead of letting the sales person order it from the store to get the sale. There is nothing worse than being to of stock and having the customer say "the event is this weekend" or "I fly out tomorrow" and walking out the door.
would be more than happy to invite timmy into the strategist community <3