What's the vibe? #113
Okay, long time no talkkk.
Cultural Moments since I've been missing:
The new Madonna album, Confessions II was released on 3rd July. Genuinely moving and it's so interesting to see a star rise again to the top of the pond at that age. It sounds ageist but Mick Jagger doesn't have the same influence as Madonna doing Times Square or the TikTok "Madonna. Sabrina [laughs] I got something I wanna talk about" video. Social media becomes the leveller and extender of an artists' life. Very interesting time.
I mean I also love that she did a Grindr collaboration - going directly to some of her fanbase. It feels special without being gauche.
Madonna has taken over Grindr for the release of Confessions II. Exclusive content, a limited-edition vinyl picture disc, and behind-the-sce
Jay-Z on 4 Sept, in London? It's also Beyonce's Birthday?
The Vibe:
Since I last did a Vibe, Fete De La Musique happened. Just like every year but this time social media felt much more desperate. The young people NEEDED to be there. Even if their flights were cancelled, the Eurostar tickets were ÂŁ600 return or there was 4 of them in a room on the 5th floor of a random small Paris apartment. Would I say that TikTok accelerated something pure and turned it into
Translated to Music Day in Europe, Fete De La Musique in Paris and France in general has become the day of music for young British people to come and party. There's that side of it but there's also smaller street parties, amateur guitarists, lunchtime chamber concerts, etc. It's an interesting dynamic going on where young British people are trying to fill a hole of culture which they think is missing and also the fact that it's free, multicultural, dynamic parties away from home also creates the allure.
Eurostars are packed, flights are sold out, the Parisennes are saying "wesh, the londiennes are coming" or "stay home". It's very much the hype event. In the Guardian:
Begun in 1982, the festival is now a magnet for Black Britons, who spill across Paris enjoying genres from amapiano to zouk. But can it resi
"The critique, that the British influx has diluted something, that non-French speakers have taken over a thing that was never theirs, is not without basis. French people who grew up with the FĂȘte as free and unrestricted will naturally feel the shift. Organisers will need to resist too many brands simply turning up, spending money on billboards and turning this expressive, utopian-minded event into just another corporate festival; extracting value from a Black grassroots cultural phenomenon. The smaller, free stages that have helped make the event what it is cannot afford to be drowned out."
Overall, I think that there's a hole in entertainment for young British people to that free level, that has the mixture of commercial and public events, with a city that has a level of openness. Because why else would the kids travel to Paris, desperately....maybe FOMO?
Politics:
I noted "Andy Burnham v Nigel Farage" when I made this but let's see where that rivalry is at the end of the summer when Nigel's election results come through. Andy Burnham, former mayor of Manchester is due to become PM this week on the 17th July, promising a devolution of power for regions, the biggest council housing building programme since the post war period, a closer relationship with the EU, helping NEETs and more.
With Burnham at Number 10 London and Manchester, we look forward to a decentralised politics, focusing a bit more on the North, neglected by politicians over the past....40 + years.
The war is still not over. Oil prices are jumping higher still.
Global oil prices have jumped more than 10% since last week.
Fashion and Beauty
There's this obsession at the moment with nature and through nature, fairy tales? Designers this couture season are designing fantastical worlds for their clients, clothes to dream fantastical dreams in.
Through Dries
Dior Couture
Chanel Couture
Even in Celine there's this air of freedom
Octopus but also doll clothes at Schiaparelli!
Obsession with Fish at the moment > Octopus > Intelligent animals?
Era of Strong Man, Strong Woman
The idea of the body as a vessel for improvement but an extremely superficial world has been here but it feels like we're normalising and making accessible a complete change of self. The original body as a canvas to be worked on. In the future, change becomes a moral and philosophical question because it's so easy to do. See these Lilly ads on the tube, advertising medical weight loss to the everyday person. Suddenly, we live in the world of body fascism. I say suddenly, it's been here with male improvement groups but now as weightloss drugs go from injected to ingested people can change identities, change self.
This is also really interesting for retailers and brands in the year to come as more people who had the money but not within the size range enter the mid and luxury fashion market.
"Stephen Fitzgerald, a former commercial director at M&S, says an average weight loss of 5kg, with a 4cm-5cm average reduction in waist size, equates to one full size change.
âThere are predictions that 10-15% of the UK population could be taking these drugs by 2030,â he says. âThe effect on apparel retailers should be significant.â
In the UK, 42% of GLP-1 users spend more on clothes, especially activewear for the gym, and occasion wear â dressing up for a party or formal event like a wedding, according to PwC."
As they slim down, UK and US users of GLP-1 jabs and pills are changing their spending habits â and their wardrobes
Run clubs aren't fads, they exist as meeting spots. But also people are running for exercise and social reasons.
As cosmetic procedures become both more invisible and more extreme, our connection to reality is fraying.
Doll Face is an example of this extreme beauty "trend". You could say trend but I think there's something so eerie about the obsession wanting to have big eyes...big moment for eyeshadow and blush.
From TikTok to Fashion Week, we're seeing it everywhere.
Also people are still really obsessed with Barbie as a beauty concept...see Trim.
Is there a middle class anymore?
Financially, IDK, Culturally, Probably... a thought for later.
The Internet + Surveillance
Surveillance culture has hit the mainstream as a new generation of Meta x Rayban glasses have been released.
Meta glasses are estimated to be 80% of the AI and smart glasses market, and last year EssilorLuxottica sold 7 million Meta RayBans. Which is way more than their 2million in 2024 and 2023. So where do we go from here?
The biggest tech firms are set to sell millions of smart glasses despite growing privacy concerns.
Snap also have some glasses too but they're ridiculously overpriced - ÂŁ1995, and also AR focused.
This feels different....this is a great video on the normalisation. Here they talk about how the selling point is no longer the fact that you can film around you but now the AI capabilities of the glasses. It's also about how "good" these products look on you, they will obviously date in terms of style but they want to attract people to wear it and use the technology secondarily. Again, the wearing of the glasses becomes the public ad, which then becomes a part of the normalisation.
But I also think that Americans have a hyper surveillance culture.
Overall, coming on the internet to laugh or to see something has become more stressful. You might find images of yourself or your friend without permission or music created by Suno with no money going to the original artist at all. AI has meant that original content is harder and harder to find, imagery is awful, and there are bots everywhere, producing and being trained on what we do. Soon in the UK there will be a curfew for under 16s using the internet which will include becoming a somewhat uncomfortable place to be
Things to think about:
Retail IRL being now more important than ever...
Chanel Hype isn't over???
If AI takes over, what human forward jobs are going to be popular?
What do Londoners want to see?