What In The Influencers??
Ending illiteracy, drag queen battles and colorism in BeautyTok… yikes
Is A Book The New Item?
Forget designer bags because physical books are the internet’s new favorite flex.
Supermodel Kaia Gerber and pop star Dua Lipa are among the many celebs who’ve led book clubs for fans. Library Science, Gerber’s book-driven culture project, recently collabed with A24’s Cherry Lane Theatre in NYC for a one-night only reading series of essays, short stories, poetry, photography and internet commentary.
These pop culture leaders are influencing their fans to connect with literature as a way to build community, grow their worldly observations and see the act of reading as “glamorous” instead of boring.
Even the fashion industry has tapped into this trend by designing luxury book totes, or by featuring a model reading in their advertisements (looking at you, Coach). It’s clear that for Gen Z literacy is a status symbol worth spending a pretty penny on— especially in a world full of AI slop, tapping into analog activities that promote intelligence is hot.
Influencer beauty brands are sparking controversy… again
Influencer beauty brands are in the spotlight again, for the wrong reasons.
The newest face joining BeautyTok is Olivia Jade, with the launch of her new brand “O.piccola.”
Focusing on the “clean girl aesthetic,” Jade’s makeup line consists of one product: a dual-sided stick-format bronzer and highlighter duo.
You’d think that by adopting a “one-product-only” business model, they would account for the lack of product diversity with an extensive shade range.
And yet, that is exactly why she has found herself (once again) tangled up in online drama. So, for $44, you can get the exclusive shade range of light, medium and dark (yes, those are the only options.
Disappointing? Clearly. Surprising? Not so much.
Now, the brand has been reviewed by other beauty influencers such as @golloria, who is popular for calling out brands for their lack of inclusivity for people with darker skin tones.
As a response, Jade has stated that her project, O.Piccola, is completely self-funded — the reason why she is not currently able to provide more shade ranges, but is working towards doing so.
The issue here is not that Jade’s self-funding model is jeopardizing her brand’s inclusivity, which other brands have been able to do successfully even without prior social media popularity, it’s that the product is not initially intended for darker skin tones.
While marketing claims that the product will leave a “natural, skin-like finish across a range of skin tones and types,” the default customer is not dark-skinned, as they cannot yet participate in using the product, and are instead told to wait.
Jad’es beauty brand isn’t the only influencer brand that landed in hot water this past week. Patrick Ta’s most recent makeup line release of “transition blushes,” a makeup term that was popularized by Black beauty creator @paintedbyester, sparked outrage.
The discourse that followed included people shading Patrick Ta for stealing a technique popularized by a black woman and claiming it as his own, and painting him as selling overpriced and unnecessary blushes with low pigment as a cash grab scheme.
Moral of the story is: if the product you sell includes pigment, make sure it is pigmented for everyone.
Patty-Gonia vs. Patagonia
It’s pride month, and drag queen and climate activist Pattie Gonia is trending because she’s being sued.
Pattie’s drag name is inspired by the real place in South America called Patagonia, but the brand name Patagonia is trademarked. The brand Patagonia claims Pattie is doing irreparable harm to their brand.
The topic has been widely dissected online, with people defending either side. Some argue that if the brand stuck to what they preached, they would partner up with Pattie Gonia in a joint mission to save the planet. Yet, others argue that if Patagonia loses the lawsuit, it would allow people (and brands) to copy and reproduce plagiarized material for their financial benefit.
It is a tricky conversation where consumers, brand representatives and those defending Pattie need to tread carefully.
But the reality is: if you have a strong brand mission, partner up with those who authentically share your values — instead of driving a wall because of sales and logistics.