Something sinister happened over the past algorithmically driven decade: brands took a sharp turn toward efficiency and benefits mindshare, often focusing on a laundry list of functional and emotional whoop-de-doos.

It’s this paint-inside-the-lines mentality that stokes irrelevancy and meaninglessness. And the whole point of a brand is to create an... See more

Clearly the cultural pressure to achieve a unique self is old, strong, and not unique to hipsters, so why did the authenticity drive spin out of control after CE 2000? One possible reason is that the hundreds of studies on authenticity in tourism and subcultures have also been read and in many cases sponsored by business thinkers who directly... See more

We live in an era where personal style is increasingly indistinguishable from brand strategy. The aesthetic codes that once belonged to subcultures, regions, or craftspeople have been flattened into algorithms—optimized for compatibility, trend velocity, and frictionless aspiration. When everything looks good, originality becomes the only risk... See more

And yet, lately, it feels like we're living through an era where we don't feel comfortable rewarding the risk it takes to be directional. The gravitational pull of the safe and familiar means it's rarer for brands to stick their necks out and actually lead with a strong vision. Instead, they play it safe. Brands and countless DTC startups are... See more