The old sh*t doesn’t work anymore, taste economics, the quiet catastrophe that is loneliness, Salone del Mobile and Simran
May 4th 2023
Hey there,
I’m back after a short break, only partially self-imposed. There was Easter, pressing deadlines and a trip to Canada, plus I also got ill while away (tonsillitis, not COVID… still no fun). And now I’m fresh(ish) back at my desk and excited to report back from attending my first TED conference, THE TED, in person. More on that in a couple of days in Looking Forward.
Today, I’m pulling together a small selection of articles that captured my attention in the past few weeks. I hope you find something to inspire or excite you in this week’s Digest.
Thanks as always for reading me, and have a good one.
Much love,
Anne
LOOKING OUT
‘Experience is what you get while looking for something else.’ - Federico Fellini
MILANO RADIATING
It so happens that TED and Salone del Mobile, the extraordinary Italian art fair, coincide. My trip to Canada prevented me from going out and drooling on the products, artists and installations (not to speak of the parties), but the FT has done a decent round-up that got me tingling with excitement, despite the fact that clearly, I’ve missed it all. Never mind, I’ll be in Milan next week for something else, and perhaps I’ll find some vestige of the presentations somewhere around the Brera district. Read more here
ANOTHER NEW SOCIAL NETWORK, OR TWO (OR THREE…)
If you thought we’d stop talking about Twitter already, unfortunately, that’s not the case. First, because of the blue tick saga (blue ticks are also coming to Gmail, which is sort of weird and then again not), then the Substack drama. If you didn’t know about it, I’ll spare you the details, we’re talking about childlike silliness from the current owner.
However, with many people jumping the imploding social media ship, there is a big gap in the market for text-based, news-worthy social networks (note the distinction between media and network). So you probably want to read up about the two decentralised platforms backed by Jack Dorsey (Twitter co-founder), Nostr and Bluesky, and how Substack, the platform I’m currently working with, has launched its own Twitter-like platform, called Notes. Oh, and look up Lemon8, if you can in your region, the BiteDance, TikTok-owned Pinterest meets Instagram meets Canva iteration. I’m actually excited about that one. Read more about it here.
Clearly, there is room for improvement on the current leading platforms, hence the plethora of newcomers vying for a piece of the conversation (and the market).
Meanwhile, it was great to hear Shou Chew, TikTok CEO, at TED. If you’d like to hear his thoughts on the algorithm, parental controls, etc. listen to his conversation with Chris Anderson here.
THE OLD SH*T DOESN’T WORK ANYMORE
Now as an email title, the above is likely to grab your attention. It certainly did mine, and I always enjoy Yancey Strickler’s newsletter, the Ideaspace. The co-founder and ex-CEO of Kickstarter, father of Bentoism, now at Metalabel, is part of a movement changing how artists, writers, and thinkers collaborate to produce and release work together. Creators get fairly paid and supported by pulling together in this way, which, if you haven’t read about it before, is not a new idea, but certainly an appealing option away from the subscription models offered by the Spotifys of the world.
In any case, people are taking note, hence the name of the post, which was literally (word used in context) by a record executive talking to Yancey. Because as many creators and their publishers have noticed, indeed, ‘this shit doesn’t work anymore’.
Discover the post here.
On that note, Metalabel has just released its fourth ‘Quality Drop 04: Everything is a Self Portrait’.
Quality Drops, as I read in the email (I needed the reminder), are ‘creative releases made by collaborating artists, cultural producers, and meta labels. Each Quality Drop is handpicked and supported by Metalabel as an embodiment of creative collaboration’.
In this case, we are talking about two creators, Francis Kanai, a Japan-based photographer, and Malaya Malandro, an LA-based poet and artist, who are exploring the idea of self and other, each with their medium. The result is a 300-page book, with only 200 first editions available, and 50 through Metalabel, alongside digital vignettes.
Look up their work, and see for yourself. Personally, I found the theme, the work and the release compelling, so much so that I am one of the new collectors of this quality release. Ha!
Read more about it here.
REMEMBERING MARY QUANT, BEYOND THE MINI-SKIRT
Being a mid-1970s baby born in Switzerland, not London, Mary Quant wasn’t a name I became familiar with until I reached the British capital and started my career in fashion. Also, I haven’t been the biggest fan of the mini-skirt over the years; maybe that’s why I discovered so much in this article from Vogue, remembering the late designer’s contribution to fashion, culture, and the business of fashion.
Her drive, as Sarah Mower writes, to make her clothes part of a total look led the designer to work with Vidal Sassoon on hair, later launching her own make-up and creating a whole new category of products, legwear, due to the short hems of her skirts and pinafore dresses. I wish I’d known her; she sounded quite extraordinary and a woman who listened to what her customers wanted (and who was her own customer, I guess).
Read the full story here.
TELFAR, PRICING INNOVATION AND TASTE ECONOMICS
I’m a big fan of Ana Andjelic and her newsletter, The Sociology of Fashion, and this week, her thought-provoking analysis of US brand Telfar is really worth reading. The brand has innovated by spinning on its head the wholesale price model. A style drops at wholesale price, and the price rises every second until the product is sold out. And then the price reached becomes the price of the item forever. So the quicker you buy, the lower the price for everyone purchasing the item at that moment. It’s quite the business coup, and what a treat for fans (and the brand has legions of them), who get to participate in the evolution of the brand, whose motto is: Not for you, but for everyone.
Read here.
Looking In
THE QUIET CATASTROPHE BREWING IN OUR SOCIAL LIVES
This is an article in my reading list, or I rather my listening list, as it’s available in audio format as well. Writer Sheila Liming explores the loneliness crisis in her recently published book ‘Hanging Out: the Radical Power of Killing Time’.
Having returned from TED, I can admit that at times, despite being surrounded by people, I also felt pangs of loneliness myself, and I don’t believe this issue is restricted to North America.
I can’t remember who I heard say recently that we had ‘innovated ourselves into isolation’ (was it Prof Galloway?) when you consider the chats, dating apps, food delivery and Netflix and chill culture. We’re missing ‘third spaces’ to meet and hang, I also heard, so anyway, this feels like an important thing; whether you feel the lonely feeling occasionally or not, someone near you certainly does.
Read more about it here.
Right on the heels of this article, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has released a worrying alert about what he now refers to as a loneliness epidemic. How Europe and the rest of the world is faring, I’m not sure. But why not lean on the suggested tactics to make sure we don’t get to that stage?
DEEP KAILEY ON SIMRAN AND BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN ART, MENTAL HEALTH AND SPIRITUALITY
Have you noticed how LinkedIn has become a grown-up platform where you can actually read things that matter and, generally, though not always, interest you?
Well, there I was, minding my own business and responding to a message with their built-in chat, when I cast my eyes across a newsletter by UK PR agency Zetteler, a design-focused company that had done some work with previous clients of mine. Nestled among the many designers and artists they were presenting, I found a familiar name. Deep Kailey was a fashion editor for Vogue India, based out of London, and later the fashion director for Tatler while I was working at Christian Louboutin as head of PR and general manager. I crossed her path only occasionally, but I always found something pleasant about her, call it a girl crush or a good feeling (as I admitted to her right at the start of our conversation).
But when I read up about her current project, it felt like I needed to get in touch and invite her on the podcast, my best excuse to have a long and in-depth conversation about her new career.
Deep is a Sikh, and for many years she has been a devoted practitioner of Simran, a technique of focusing the mind on a two-syllable mantra, which, unlike the meditation I practice (mindfulness, mettā, kundalini), is meant to help eradicate thoughts. For the past three years, Deep has been working with a team of volunteers on an exhibition that bridges the gap between art, spirituality and mental health, called Without Shape Without Form. The now-travelling exhibition is meant to transcend cultural, social and racial barriers and explores this through Sikh teachings, bringing them into a contemporary context.
Listen here.
