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What's the vibe #60
-Nara Lee
News
First of all...does anyone have any money? I feel like...things aren't selling out as fast as they should....
Kering offering a warning of between 40-45% drop for Q1 profits because of the lack of success of Gucci and weak demand in China - but also mentioning that Sabato's collection is not fully in stores yet (via Lauren Sherman)
"Wines & Spirits business group saw a revenue decline (-12% organic) in the first quarter of 2024. Champagne was down, reflecting the normalization of post-Covid demand." - LVMH. Does this reflect non-alcoholic change or more health focused population??
NTS (and I love you, NTS) had their first Rush party at Ministry of Sound on Saturday and it was not as full as it should have been (1/3 cap filled?). Maybe wrong club, could have been done at Venue MOT over 2 days... I see what they were doing though as London lacks venues that are comfortable for potential 1k people.
Ministry is the only club where you can buy shots from two hosts with a contactless holder and another holding a LED tray full of shots, and also the women's bathroom has hair straighteners.
What it means to have a house now:
At Salone di Milano this year, IKEA are presenting "1st" which is an interactive maze that explores the feelings of moving into your 1st home.
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Alongside this, they created a zine in collaboration with Dazed, and other creators around the concept of home.
The concept of home is such an interesting one considering the statistics of today where landlords demand that the house must be in their image of white walls and no marks left and that for some stable housing is out of reach (...at least for a while)
"The Resolution Foundation think tank recently said that the most common living arrangement for an adult aged between 18 and 34 in 1997 was being in a couple with children, but now it was living with your parents." - from "First-time buyers face toughest test for 70 years" on BBC.
What does is mean if you are forced to delay this quite important life stage because of money? How does one manifest other ways of self definition within the self if you're not able to customise your shelter or showcase parts of yourself to the extremes that you want? Does the body become a place of extremities or site of customisation as a way to claw back autonomy over one's life... slightly exaggerated but maybe? But this delay means that when people do finally get stable housing they are forging their own way and own style, which loops back into the idea of prioritising your personal style in a genuine way.
CHIBUIKEM CHIMBO_ by Taiba
Went to a trend forum last week about beauty and here are my three related thoughts:
People are using hyperspecific ways of categorising self as a way of expressing loss of subculture - ie "get ready with me as I pretend I'm the girlfriend of a Italian rockstar". There's a massive fear of vulnerability or - the theme of the forum was "Fantasy" so you can bring this back to the idea of the internet being a place of fantasy for people especially people who suffer from discrimination IRL - (Black, POC, LGBTQIA+, disabled etc). Real life is unpredictable, messy. Also cities/urban landscapes being hard to penetrate socially.
Unrelated but being authentically cool is unattainable so I will be cool by copying you :) >>> the search for authentic artists right now
from @ cinnagal on insta
Lack of subculture > cycling through identities > sustainability issues > encouraging a build a bear personality > sense of self > spirituality
Best Coachella set design:
I would say, Lana Del Rey + Tyler The Creator are the two standouts.
How to age well!
Age is just a number!
"Branded HUN80 beer, energy drinks, water, and mezcal shots in commemorative glasses—“hun” is the nickname Rick has for Michèle—kept the vibe up. Just after 1 AM the food truck serving scrambled eggs and caviar sandwiches turned up to quell the crowd’s urges. At around 3 AM, after ringleading the posing and vamping from the stage, the artist Gena Marvin assumed her position on a go-go platform, her body twisting and thrashing so glamorously and sensually some of the audience just stood in awe."
Relating this back to British Food culture - a few years ago I went to this talk that Eater London put on at the Ace Hotel Shoreditch where the panellists and editors were seeking to define modern British food (in the context of restaurants). They mostly came to the conclusion that is was "the use of high quality British produce". (Alongside the question of how does this country democratise this and work with farmers to make affordable? Over the next few decades as probably the most health conscious generations grow up (Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z and Alpha), British food and exercise culture will redefine itself as we see the effects of lack of gym culture (really as an extension of body negativity), lack of knowledge and food skill and diet manifest in older generations.
Or possibly you can teach an old dog new tricks?
This relates to new life stages: This year the London Marathon has had a record of over 50k people participating and finishing. Even billionaire Jim Radcliffe who is 71 ran, finishing after 4h30m then going on to Wembley to watch the FA Cup Finals with his team Man U.
Could we see a major mindset change regarding older age in this country? Young people being less embarrassed that their mum did something like dye their hair; or an extension of the middle age where people treat it as a stage for optimisation, for producing the best work rather than when you're young and exciting (and a little naive).
People want to feel accomplished even if they haven't reached traditional markers of being married or having a house or having a baby. Their social life could technically be a mess and there can be a cost of living crisis but they can still run and achieve something, or improve their fitness.
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Images from Catalogue zine, an IKEA x Dazed Collaboration. Concept by Imruh Asha. Photos by Carlijn Jacobs.
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The photography of Manfred Mugler - 1980-1990.
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Scans from System Beauty Issue 2, 2024
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Scans from Monocle's The Forecast 2024.
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The work of David Stark Design.
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Set design by César Sebastien.
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Zara Hair campaign 2024, in collaboration with Guido Palau. Photos by Fabien Baron.
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What's the vibe? #59
News:
Roberto Cavalli died on Sunday. I think something I noticed about Cavalli or Mugler or Rabane dying was that they loved the female form. There was a reverence for the shape and how women move in their clothes. Now designers couldn't care much or they have no incentive to care? The commercial aspect wins again. Sexuality and sensuality will prevail in the underground and DIY.
Also Faith Ringgold, the American artist who worked within quilts and paint died.
Will smoking culture in the UK be changed forever after the passing of this smoking age bill? What are the new unhealthy vices for British society? This is something to watch considering smoking came back in quite a big way over the past two years. It's related to "idgaf" culture which is very....inauthentic.
Cannes announced it's big lineup - but will there be a breaking free from these kings (incl Berlinale which....this year went terribly)? Will there be a break from the hold of A24-isms...BFI festivals do amazingly for that.
Internet rn:
Dead internet theory > web 1.0 > IRL
Dead internet theory is defined as “its main argument is that the organic, human-created content that powered the early web in the 1990s and 2000s has been usurped by artificially created content, which now dominates what people see online. Hence, the internet is “dead” because the content most of us consume is no longer created by living beings (humans).” In the piece by Michael Grothaus for Fast Company, it is explained that there’s more bots but also the algorithm is working against influencers (which may lead to the death of them)… I mean also “Dead Internet Theory” is a conspiracy but I also think it’s partially true.
I don’t want to be the harbinger of bad news but AI is not getting the best PR at the moment. I think its ambassadors are realising that everything that has been made is better and faster. Having a level of control on how the machine works is much better than putting your hands and faith into a computer. See: Grimes going viral at Coachella for DJ difficulties or Marques Brownlee panning the Humane AI Pin.
AI is not smarter than us, it is a tool that can be used to bring up things that we have made and for it to be reformed again in a play-do-esque vision of smartness. Honestly in my opinion, craft will always be important, people are still amazed by vintage pieces.
See also: red carpet thematic dressing or people still trying to copy the Maison Margiela show.
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Algorithms are eating themselves, becoming less useful to people. Creating frustration and creating distance from posting about their favourite things or work because they know their friends won’t see it. I wasn’t keen to use this Pitchfork example because it’s not really the same since they got rid of their staffers. (I say this because technically it was a prized position and running on freelancers that are recognisable to this audience is important now too). Anyway, last Friday Pitchfork's Best New Music was awarded to Cindy Lee. An artist with no social media that I can see, an album that is 2 hours long and someone who doesn’t do interviews currently but has a Geocities website where you can download wav files from. An artist on a FAREWELL tour, even. People on social media cry that tour dates are sold out and as far as I can see on Dice…they’re right.
Also the outage of instagram from last month has me thinking that people are investing so much into a platform that doesn’t even invest in them. Creatives making instagram their websites because it’s easier but what if everyone went back into making their own websites away from Meta, Elon Musk and other billionaires? The word by mouth way of sharing knowledge may prevail, trust increase? Maybe? There’s less space to discuss ideas but people can do that in real life. Like people want to experience things more than ever now but on budget. That one really good guaranteed club night, that one good film (could be Challengers/Monkey Man/pick any good film atm).
Basically right now, everything is Drake theory. Used to be fun, now middle of the road but still popular, claims to be the king but is in no way authentic, hopping from one thing to another because of money. You could say this is enshittification but I think Drake is a much better analogy because people still fill concerts arenas to see him, he’s so pervasive you can’t ignore his touch on rap culture. People aren’t turning away from him because unfortunately he makes things slightly interesting by being there.
Highlights in music:
Fabiana Palladino
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John Glacier
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Marie Davidson
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Empress Of
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DJs to watch:
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Beauty x Sustainability:
Crystabel Efemena Riley is a "clean" beauty make up artist. Passionate about materials used being sustainable and reusable alongside organic make up.
Photography: Suzie + Leo
This idea of spirituality and eating/food has become quite pervasive in culture. You see people talking about fasting - which is apparently not that good for you but I'm assuming is great for weight loss? People like Rishi Sunak who is essentially a Cali tech bro using intimitent fasting to be seen as more serious and focused to a new middle class kind of person, whereas there will always be this bigger need for food culture. On the other side is people who belong to cultures where food is part of being a part of a community. Quite the opposite to this individualistic Anglosphere culture.
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Caffe RIMOWA at Milan Design Week 2024, in collaboration with La Marzocco.
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Andromeda by Weyes Blood. Directed by Natalie Mering, Ambar Navarro, Colton Stock.
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motorway by Goat Girl. Directed by choreographer and director Holly Blakey. The dancers are dressed in archival Vivienne Westwood pieces, styled by Matthew Josephs.
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British Airways ‘windows’ campaign by London based studio, Uncommon. 2024.
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What's the vibe? #58
News:
So Dries is retiring from his label. Pierpaolo Piccioli left Valentino after 25 years. Alessandro Michele is now at Valentino??? Maximalism and surrealism are going to make a comeback in 2025. The minimalists will be doing twists.
from: Is Humanity Out of Fashion? by Vanessa Friedman
"Whether in the end they were fired or simply agreed to disagree with their employers (and at least in Mr. Van Noten’s case, he seems to have been planning his departure for a while), it is clear that each of these designers sensed that the currents of fashion were not moving in their direction. Emotion and sentimentality is out; cool and meme-able is in. Rather than compromise, they departed. They will be fine."
Speaking of humanity...Germany partially legalised weed. So for Germans over 18 they can now possess up to 25g of cannabis in public, grow up to three plants, per household. From the 1st of July, growers associations or "social clubs" can be established with up to 500 members - meaning this drug use could change the culture of this country. Having one of the biggest European countries partially legalise weed is quite radical - could this change culture? Revive Berlin from its social death? (prob not)
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Current food obsessions on the web: Onigiri? I think a lot of it is young people being broke and wanting something quick for their lunches. Rice and tinned fish isn't radical. But it is cheap, filling and slightly more interesting than just a sandwich?
i-D laid off 10 people. Karlie Kloss also is rebooting Life Magazine? Maybe the two are related and i-D will go into this 25-40 year old range? Right now, there's just a severe lack of established publications to balance out the freelancers and their Substack who probably used to work for them...
In sustainability...
University of East London have created a way to use sugarcane not as a waste product but as a material to build with.
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Also a collective to watch in fashion:
Alterist - I also really like the stats aspect of the site where you can find out how much was used to make this new garment. Their current campaign "Making Is Hot" is a great way for them to show what they do, turning away from how sustainability is seen as quite reserved and turning it into modern, sexy, wear.
Loewe exhibition
The new retrospective Loewe exhibition 'Crafted World' is open in Shanghai until 5th May 2024, and after Crafted World will be going on tour...
"Crafted World is curated around six thematic chapters—Born from the Hand, Welcome to Spain, The Atelier, Fashion Without Limits, United in Craft, and Unexpected Dialogues—each showcasing our progressive approach to fashion and culture of craft through multi-sensory storytelling including touch, sound, and augmented reality."
Isn't it funny now how a brand is now the superstar - it doesn't wait for a collaborator, a museum to help it? Now it controls the narrative of it's archive, shows its point of view on things, when things happen, who is included, because it is the superstar in that equation.
The spectrum of womanhood in the mainstream:
Alongside the fact that trad-wives have become popular talking points, or just stay at home girlfriends (in the US but I'm sure you can find British examples), they've become points of ire in this 3rd (really 2nd wave feminism) world. Possibly because of the past 15 years and the rise of the far right across the world, bringing conservative values and also social media now being able to see not only what people you follow think about what but also people, who the algorithm think have something interesting to say, think.
Female masculinity or just masc sexuality in women is now I feel, coming more and more into the mainstream view where 20 or 30 years ago a film like Drive Away Dolls would have been seen as snuff or something but is now respected because it's directed by one of the Coen brothers. This is the opposite side of the spectrum where the masculinity isn't cosplay - it's real life.
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EDIT: The day this was originally published this below was also published and I think that the writer doesn't go deep enough? There's still quite a bit of lack with non-white stories in that aspect in the mainstream.
I think that the internet has made people (especially on X, and in Britain) *way* more reactionary than before. There's such a lack of compassion, a sense of isolation and not a want to understand or see things from another point of view. This and when the Queen died I wrote about growing nationalism. It's a very narrow path to walk down if you want to make culture. Or if you just want to experience something....I think we're in for another 5 brain melting years but unfortunately "escapism" is possible.
See: The new England shirt...
Music Recommendations:
Empress Of, Kim Gordon, Tyla, Gossip
Reading List:
Digital > analogue > moving to simpler ways
Unreliability of social media websites (especially Instagram) > Death of social media potentially > Web 1.0 > forum culture and making your own website
Another month, another "why young people don't want to work the hard jobs" article. This is such an interesting crisis because before it was maybe the younger gen (Gen Z) who haven't even gotten deep into their careers not attempting but just keeping themselves afloat. Now it's "millennials" asking why.
"For Judge, she feels there is a “tendency online to blame all societal ills on our parents’ generations … but baby boomers aren’t stupid for doing what they did for their careers … I’m just saying it doesn’t work in today’s age.” The “return on investment” on working all hours for some kind of meritocratic ideal “just isn’t the same any more”."
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The Pinky Ring, at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas. Interiors designed by musician Bruno Mars and design studio Yabu Pushelberg.
It is a 465sqm lounge is accessible directly from the casino floor, but designed as an entirely separate experience away from the bright lights, bustle and noise.
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