What makes a brand cool? Elusive? Buzzy? And why is luxury fashion so expensive?
And, 18 picks from my Vestiaire & TheRealReal wishlist.
This is very substantial edition. If the general theme of the newsletter needed to be surmised with one world, it is ‘what is cool’.
Now, I know that cool has different connotations for everyone. Your cool might be different to my cool. But cool is that x-factor that you can’t explain — you can’t get there with a formula, or with the same blueprint that took you there last time. Or can you?
Tory Burch and Erewhon are two brands covered here; they don’t seem at all similar, except they are being talked about now. They have the buzz. They’re cool. What is cool, anyway? Tory Burch is supposedly doing more ‘editorial’ fashion now, but why can’t I buy it anywhere? Questions I ponder.
(Do you even know what ‘editorial’ means in this context? I explain it below.)
And, on the topic of marketing — which is relevant for the two above, as you could imagine — I’ve also included the viral Walmart ad which does Mean Girls. If I had a $1 for every time I heard someone’s wish that something we’re producing “would go viral” (in both brand and media worlds of my career), I would be very rich. Probably not as rich to pay Lacey Chabert, Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried et al to star in a Walmart ad, but comfortable enough — you get my gist. Like ‘cool’, you can’t follow a guide to make something ‘viral’. It hits, or it doesn’t. The premise of this ad had me doubtful, but I think it hits.
Then, there’s an article about why luxury fashion is SO EXPENSIVE NOW. Yes, we are in a cost of living crisis (which is what, the new way to say recession, right?) yet the people who are able to pay US$8000 for a plain leather tote bag aren’t batting an eyelid at these prices. But it’s cool, right?
And, I’ve gone through my favourited items and shared my wishlists for re-sale websites Vestiaire and TheRealReal. I love browsing it even if I don’t have anything to buy; it’s the hunt that I love, stumbling on some famous archival Prada piece (SO MANY), Phoebe Philo’s Celine-with-an-e at not a crazy price (or even seeing some of the iconic pieces available FOR SALE at eyewatering prices) and plenty of Dries and Junya.
Enjoy!
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