Saved by Keely Adler
Everything Is Merch
EVERYTHING IS MERCH
open.substack.com
kev added
Supreme traced a social and cultural topography of its brand’s global community, but that community formed exactly because you could only buy Supreme at its Lafayette Street shop in New York. Through its merch, Supreme held this community together across time and geography. It connected people, conversations, and symbols into one Supreme social network.
“Merch” is dead (allegedly) so people are really just going back to concept of apparel. Streetwear is no longer counter culture. Like running, it’s been a bit co-opted. Funny enough it’s the upstart running brands that have co-opted streetwear culture.
Clothes are clothes outside of high fashion at this point. High fashion are “pieces” again
In... See more
Isaac Friedman-Heiman added
So there’s a weird thing going on where there’s abundance, and yet, at the same time, we’ve become really conservative about our own styles, because people fundamentally don’t want to adopt things that feel inauthentic to them, or will be judged inauthentic.
And because culture is so ephemeral, there’s just more stuff that people are worried that —
... See moreDan Frommer • How the internet changed culture — and what it means
sari added
You can essentially have a Merch-team as a Service. What has happened with merchandise will happen to all the product classes you can think of: Games, Classes, Cloud-kitchen restaurants, DTC brands, etc. An incredible number of founders are building platforms to empower creators with tools to own the funnel’s commerce. They're not agencies; they’re... See more
armthecreators.com • The Creator Lifecycle: How can you turn your audience into an empire?
sari added
This is peak Lifestyle. Easier than ever to launch a brand. More goods than ever. Software-enabled, integrated supply chain driven business models. An explosion of online social media cultures. These elements have become omnipresent, splashed across our lives like the patterned splotches of a magic eye book. Stare long enough, and you begin to see ... See more
Toby Shorin • Life After Lifestyle
We’re seeing endings everywhere, in both obvious and non-obvious ways. Let me count the ways.Despite Trump’s non-brand-approved appearance, McDonald’s is failing as a major E. coli outbreak hit their (icky) onions (along with Burger King and Taco Bell too), sending shares down. It’s not just the E. coli but one of the brand’s fry suppliers closed m... See more
do YOU have capitalism poisoning? 🤢
But today’s rich don’t generally wear the 2020 version of royal purple, something like parametrically fitted garments made of nanofibers embellished with synthetic mother of pearl (which might be the results of real growth). Instead, they wear $500 cotton t-shirts with inscrutable references and visual motifs pulled from a smörgås-moodboard that ma... See more