Who Do You Know: FDR Edition 🗽
Writing to you from the back of an Uber
Good morning afternoon everyone! I am currently writing this from the back of an Uber at 5:55pm. I am stuck on the FDR trying to get into Brooklyn so I can get my haircut. I have a suitcase and a duffel bag with me full of clothes because tomorrow I am renting a Tesla and driving upstate to a boutique, mid-centurry modern hotel for the weekend.
But I love my readers, so I thought it would be a fun challenge to write this entire newsletter en route. Its beautiful in the city and I am wearing a perfectly wrinkled oxford and loafers (with no socks) Spring is here baby!
Let’s get into the news—
Outdoor Voices is closing all of its physical stores at the end of the week. The athleisure brand was on top of the world just a few years ago, with a valuation peak of $40M. In 2020 that figure had dropped to just $18M. Prolific investor Mickey Drexler (Gap, J. Crew) and the brands founder, Ty Haney, reportedly hated each other, leading to her stepping down. Employees were notified over Slack. I hope to god these founders are cashing out before their brands valuations tank. It seems as if no brand can just exist in a middling spot, they always fly too high towards the sun and get burnt.
X (Twitter) is trying to turn itself into a ‘video first platform’. CEO (in title only basically) Linda Yacarino shared an incredibly poor made promo video to go along with this ‘news’ I love X, but the company’s brand is such a joke under Elon Musk. The corny ass, fan-made promo videos they’re always posting lead me to believe not a single person there works in branding. Tweets are funnier than ever, but brand is so bad. But maybe this is a good pivot considering the following story…
Congress has passed a bill potentially banning TikTok. The bill would force ByteDance to divest from TikTok before September (sell to a Western entity) to stay available in the U.S. The broader implications of the bill are that the government could essentially begin to ban any website or platform it deems a national security threat. Even using a VPN to access TikTok could lead to harsh penalties. Yes, its obvious TikTok is somewhat controlled by the CCP, and selling would probably lead to a massive spike in shareholder value (its the most valuable private tech company in the world) but I find this to be a bit of a slippery slope. Ultimately, gaurantee no matter how this shakes out, TikTok is still going to be around a year from now. No pivoting to Instagram Reels necessary.
Wow I am still in Manhattan!
Loro Piana’s $9,000 sweater costs about $280 in raw material. This story is insane. Basically, LP sources the Vicuna llamas wool located near villages around the Peruvian andes, and they pay the workers nearly nothing, then mark the sweater up 3114%. That must be the quiet part in ‘quiet luxury’ they want to keep a secret.
okay going over the Williamsburg bridge! Time to go!
Have a great weekend everyone. Hotel review coming Monday!
About the Writer
Jake Bell is a content marketing and creative strategist based in NYC. He specializes in content creation, branding, art direction, creative strategy, and making things cool.
To learn more about Jake visit www.jb.studio
Have a tip email me jake@jb.studio
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