The Relevancy Read

Hot takes, early calls and astute observations, carefully curated.

A Sampling

Laissez-faire fashion and religious retail.

January 10, 2023

Brands and consumers are finally lightening up.

Grown-ups are doing shots again, seeking shared fun experiences after being seemingly on guard for so long. Esquire magazine’s recent tutorial on slamming it back with class caught our eye. In NYC, retail and restaurant spaces transform with pure merrymaking in mind; see bar/club Café Balearica hosting free bingo on Sundays, or Whalebone prompting shoppers to send postcards to friends from its flagship store. Instagram foodie culture goes from curated and manicured to fun and messy. We’re smitten with the melting burrata-salad snowman that went viral over the holidays.

Blasé? Laissez-faire? Lazy? An anti-try-hard movement is afoot.

After years of collective anxiety and flailing, we are finally coming down, ringing in the new year with an “it is what it is” mentality. The Cut proposes “Strategic Incompetence,” in which we stop trying so hard to do things we don’t care about, whether that be working out or home cooking. Anti-aging crises catalyzed by the beauty industry are officially over, as Julia Fox declares, “aging is fully in.” Fashion is also venturing into this chill headspace with literally-relaxed concepts: see classy loungewear from our previous newsletter, Brunch’s slipper pop-up in Aspen, and The Row’s comforter-draped dress. Vibe Shift: chill out.

Religious-based retailing emerges as modest wardrobing and traditional sensibilities uptick.

Upon noticing an influx of Orthodox customers, American Dream plans to open The ADdress, a boutique department store curated specifically for the modest consumer. Online retailer The Modest has been leading this movement, catering to conservative fashion customers and religious communities with high style aesthetics. In a time of uncertainty and rapid change, religious values feel comfortable, sparking increased interest in these institutions and highlighting this gap in the market. Find a way to position your brand to the religious costumer or introduce modest influencers into your brand messaging. Look to Nike, who is already offering performance and swim hijabs. Need further inspiration? Susan Alexandra and Via Maris provide a fresh dose of ideas when it comes to modernizing Jewish-based offerings.

Your next designer might be your customer thanks to AI.

AI tools like Dall-E 2 and Midjourney make it easy for people without technical design knowledge to realize their own dream products—call it UGP (User Generated Product). From a Nike puffer coat that can turn into a life raft to a Nike x Jacquemus pop-up concept, brand aesthetics are blending across categories. All-in-one fashion operating system CALA allows creators to design and produce clothing lines, leveraging Dall-E API on its website where users can use a text prompt to design new fashion. With the barrier to entry lowered for design, brands have the opportunity to tap customers’ creative potential. Watch out Project Runway!

HBO Max comes for Meta’s crown.

Overwhelming consumer choices, exorbitant content budgets, and dipping stock prices will force the streaming space to tighten this year. Consolidation will lead to fewer platform options and clear powerhouses. Meanwhile, for the first time in nearly two decades, Google and Meta no longer rank in the majority of U.S. digital-ad dollars, as TikTok and ad-supported streamers emerge. This, on the heels of an announcement to ban TikTok on all government devices and ongoing discussions of the app’s danger, may see advertising power shift even further to streamers. While a few powerful networks with advertising dominance sounds a lot like traditional TV, like any pendulum swing, expect this new iteration to take some of the old and the good of the new. (Looking at you, AI).