Can Bella Hadid Help Adidas?
An AI Generated Fashion Editor, Rolling Stone's Rebrand, and a SNEAKER REPORT.
In Today’s Newsletter—
AI Fashion Editor Sparks Backlash
Rolling Stone’s Rebrand
How Rimowa Became the Go-To Luxury Luggage
A Sneaker Report: What’s Hot and What’s Not
NEWS
SheerLuxe unveiled their newest fashion editor: an AI generated image. The British fashion and lifestyle publication announced on Instagram they had created a new fashion editor using generative AI. The introductory carousel post on Instagram debuted ‘Reem’ and showed ‘her’ hanging out at their office, except none of that is remotely true because AI is just an AI generated image photoshopped into real life photos.
The initial post gave no insights into what exactly her purpose was, which led to rampant speculation and backlash. Commenters were quick to point out that the publication was being tone deaf, saying there are more than enough actual writers looking for work. They had to issue a classic black background apology explaining that the SheerLuxe team was simply experimenting with AI, and that Reem’s opinions and choices are actually work of their human team.
(BTW comments are turned off on the apology post) It still isn’t clear to me why an AI generated spokesperson was used when the pub surely has more than enough competent writers and media staff. Brands who want to ‘experiment’ with AI should really consider how its going to be perceived. This whole concept of AI generated avatars rubs a lot of people the wrong way and is quite honestly just stupid. Its one thing to use AI to help you brainstorm, or improve your writing, but using it a full replacement doesn’t communicate innovation, it communicates laziness and a lack of care/human touch.
Rolling Stone Redesigned Their Print Magazine. The iconic publication unveiled a new look with their Summer issue (featuring Shakira) The design throws out all previous convention, reimagining the typeface, margins, paper stock, and layouts. The collaborative process was handled between their internal creative director, Joe Hutchinson, Food (creative consultancy), c-ll-ct-v-ly, with a new typeface designed by Commercial Type. I love the bold new look and feel. Print is not dead (yet)!
📈 SNEAKER REPORT 👟
The state of sneakers is… interesting to say the least. Just like other pieces of fashion, it seem as if every trend is hot right now. People are wearing slim profile Sambas, chunky Asics and New Balance’s, gore-tex Salomons, and with all of these options its hard to figure out what to buy.
Hot 🔥
Aime Leon Dore is a frequent New Balance collaborator, and the mainstream success of the the 550s can be directly linked back to their initial collaboration. Since then, ALD’s founder, Teddy Santis, has become a key creative force at New Balance, reimagining their lineup and outputting various classic models in aesthetically pleasing colorways. Now ALD is teasing their take on the 860v2, the latest mesh, retro-runner New Balance is pushing. I love this green colorway and will definitely be purchasing. The only issue? They are doing a pre-order release, so you won’t get the shoe until March…
We’ll See 👀
The Adidas SL-72 is the latest slim profile shoe the German sneaker brand is trying to build hype for. While the Samba (and its close siblings: the Gazelle and the Spezial) have dominated the last few years, momentum may be waining. Now they’ve recruited Bella Hadid to promote the SL-72, which originally debuted at the ‘72 Summer Olympics.
The SL-72’s renaissance is not new though, other collaborators like Wales Bonner and Sporty & Rich have created their own take on the classic shoe, but they often sit online. Maybe Adidas just needs better marketing and a Bella Hadid co-sign? I think they need the flood Instagram with fitpics of these actually looking good on feet. We’ll see.
Garbage 🗑️
The ‘Fight, Fight, Fight’ high top sneaker features a photo of Donald Trump raising his fist, post-assassination attempt and retails for $299 (its sold out) This is the second shoe collection from former-President Trump, who debuted his initial line at SneakerCon last Winter. Maybe the American flag heel cup was enough, did we really need to photo on the side of the shoe LOL.
Jake Bell is a content marketing, creative strategist, designer, and writer based in NYC. He specializes in brand building, content strategy, creative direction direction, business development, and making things cool.
Want to chat? Email me: jake@jb.studio
Thank you for explaining that SheerLuxe AI editor case — saw it, got the gist, and didn’t want to research deeper yet another sticky case like that.
my two cents: i think Reem (which is an AI bot and not a real person) is meant to represent the blend of tech and human touch that’s been “enhancing” fashion discovery and curation for retailers and brands (similar to what stitchfix does and the yes did; but i dunno much about it’s role in publishing tbh). sheerluxe made a bold move putting a face to it but it doesn’t seem very diff from what’s already happening behind the scenes. in their announcement, they even mention “all products on this page have been selected by our editorial team.” BUT again it's another story if they introduce Reem and then lay off some of their editorial staff.