influencers

Quote of the day: Barrett Swanson on the trouble with TikTok content houses



Barrett Swanson on the trouble with TikTik hype houses

“For a moment, I cannot remember who I am or why I am sitting here amid this sea of beautiful young people, all of them desperate for recognition, their whole lives ahead of them, empty at the absolute center. TikTok is a sign of the future, which already feels like a thing of the past. It is the clock counting down our fifteen seconds of fame, the sound the world makes as time is running out.”

Writer and English professor Barrett Swanson laments the empty culture of TikTok influencers in this outstanding long read for Harper’s Magazine (more…)



Are NFTs, digital currencies and ‘The Internet of Value’ really going to change modern life forever?



Beeple NFT art

This month I’ve not been able to move for news and hot takes (pay wall) on NFTs. I don’t know how long they’ve been around but like most media people, I got wind of them after the artist Beeple sold an NFT (essentially a one-off digital file) of a digital collage he had made (pay wall) for $69.3 million. Boom! Suddenly everyone was interested.

I read a succession of articles to get my head around them but I should have just waited. Because Professor Scott Galloway has the ultimate explainer on his recent podcast with smart futurist Raoul Pal. (more…)



Shop the post: A new Raf-ccia uniform at Prada SS21



Prada ss21

“A uniform is something that makes you feel able to think. You have to feel well, so that you are able to think.” Miuccia Prada

I wrote my fashion college dissertation on uniforms so the ‘New Prada’ SS21 collection from Miuccia and Raf was right up my strada. Specifically it took its cue from Miuccia Prada’s own uniform of skirt-sweater-kitten-heels, spliced with Raf Simons’ street sensibility. So, circle skirts with slouchy sweaters, hoodies and hole-gouged tops, 90s two-pieces of shell tops and long-legged pants, and couture coats fashioned from Re-nylon (aka fabric du jour, upcycled nylon). (more…)