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- The entire industry is fucked
The entire industry is fucked
+ The richest and poorest generation ever.
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OVERWORLD:
-Why Prada is shitting on its competition-
ONE BETWEEN:
-Millennials, the richest and poorest generation ever-
THE DEPTHS:
-Scientists explain the weird behavior of cats sitting on squares-
 | O |  |
Fashion
Why Prada is shitting on its competition.
Prada SS24 Menswear.
Alright, so pretty much the entire fashion industry is fucked. Broke consumers = fat industry slowdown.
Still, as Q1 reports came in last week, there's a pattern of minimal, quiet brands outperforming maximalist, logo-heavy brands.
Interesting caveat: Prada puts its triangle logo everywhere and is still killing it. This begs the question: What do consumers buy, even when they don't have money?
The famed triangle.
✦First, some numbers, baby✦
Traditional luxury brands like Hermès, Brunello Cucinelli, and Zegna are eating good off the new "quiet luxury" wave.
- Zegna’s sales went up 11%.
- Hermès’ sales went up 17%.
- Brunello Cucinelli’s sales went up 18%.
Meanwhile, "loud fashion"-stereotypes like Gucci and Balenciaga have not fared as well.
- Kering, the parent company of both brands, saw a 10% drop in sales.
- Kering warned investors that profits would fall by 40-45% by the half year. Fucking bad.
Prada is an outlier in all of this. It falls in neither of those categories. It is neither loud nor is it quiet - it's Prada, quietly loud.
- Prada's sales have risen by 7%.
- Prada's sister brand, Miu Miu, boomed an 89% increase in sales.
BoF's Robert Williams makes a great point, consumers aren't fatigued by logos - they're fatigued by logos that don't stand for something.
This suggests that Prada's success may hinge less on the presence or absence of logos and more on what the brand represents to consumers.
✦Prada is culture✦
Prada's unfair advantage is Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons' decades-compounded association with a broader cultural narrative; art, cinema, design, and architecture.
For example, collaborations with renowned architects like Renzo Piano and Rem Koolhaas and through involvement in the art world with foundations in Milan and Venice.
Ca’ Corner della Regina, built between 1724 and 1728. Since 2011, it has been the Venetian headquarters of Fondazione Prada, which has launched 10 temporary projects in this venue until today.
Content is king and when it comes to quality content, Prada is simply... Chef's kiss, mwah.
The deadly part is that they've made this experience approachable. From nylon card holders to sophisticated ready-to-wear stuff, both aspirational buyers and connoisseurs want in.
This is critical when wage growth is slowing, and consumer spending is becoming more selective.
Gucci SS24 Menswear, a calmer Gucci.
Gucci isn't stupid though. They're already on the case.
As they've moved on from Alessandro Michele’s maximalist vision, they're beginning new lore with Sabato de Sarno - a first-time creative director with a more subtle, sartorial aesthetic. Might take a while til it sticks though.
For now, Prada is king.
THE KING NEEDS YOU
Human, you are a mere . Do you not seek grander ventures? A greater title? Honor? Take up arms, and help me expand my kingdom!
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Refer a friend with this link.
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✦QUICK HITS✦
✦Business & Tech✦
Ikea is going to provide AI literacy training to 3,000 workers and 500 leaders, enhancing skills in AI fundamentals, responsible AI, and ethics aligned with business priorities. Sweet. You should do that too, perhaps.
Read: The walls of Apple’s garden are tumbling down
Russia vetoed a UN resolution reinforcing the ban on detonating nukes in space. Supposedly, Russia is developing a nuclear anti-satellite weapon.
OpenAI and Google have committed to preventing their technologies from being used to create or spread child sexual abuse material … probably too late.
Alphabet (Google and gang) shares surged 10% after surpassing Q1 expectations with $80.54 billion in revenue and a 15% growth rate, initiating a 20-cent dividend and a $70 billion stock buyback.
✦Fashion & Culture✦
Moncler Group reported a 16% revenue increase to €818 million in Q1 2024, driven by a 20% rise in Moncler sales and strong demand in China, despite a 5% drop in Stone Island sales.
ERL’s new “Made in California” collection is really good. In it, designer Eli Russell Linnetz continues the lore of ERL’s California-inspired style with locally produced, Americana-infused apparel - plus some insane canary yellow shearling pieces.
Please, watch this: This guy went viral on TikTok for reading Taylor Swift's new album lyrics in MF DOOM's voice - and it’s very on point.
Ye is facing another lawsuit. This time, Former Donda Academy security guard Benjamin Deshon Provo is suing Ye, alleging racial discrimination, as he got fired for refusing to cut his dread locs.
Also, Ye is reportedly collaborating with Vixen Media Group to create a one-of-a-kind porn project, potentially called YZY Porn.
Travis Scott is set to face jury trial in Housten over the 2021 Astroworld catastrophe where ten died and hundreds were injured due to a crowd surge.
Black Twitter’s evolution into a major cultural phenomenon is being turned into a Hulu docuseries and will premiere on May 9th. The series is inspired by Jason Parham’s awesome 2021 Wired article, which you should read.
Drake removed his "Taylor Made" diss track aimed at Kendrick Lamar as it used AI-altered Tupac vocals. This comes after Tupac Shakur's estate lawyers threatened Drake with legal action.
✦Hmm… Interesting✦
Read: Gen Z Kids Apparently Don’t Understand How File Systems Work (2021)
You should buy this: Muhammad Ali's sick ass Italian Renaissance manor in Los Angeles.
Remember this iPod shuffle commercial? Very good and cozy.
Watch: Windows Gangster Edition
ONE
BETWEEN
😭 Millennials, the richest and poorest generation ever.
Apparently, Millennials are facing the biggest wealth gap of any generation ever.
While most struggle with debt and low-wage jobs, the top 10% surpass previous generations, intensifying class tensions amid a huge wealth transfer.
✦Numbers yeaaaah✦
A lil’ comparison:
The average millennial has 30% less wealth at the age of 35 than baby boomers had at the same age.
The top 10% of millennials have 20% more wealth than the top baby boomers at the same age.
A historical wealth transfer:
Baby boomers are expected to pass down between $70 trillion and $90 trillion in wealth to Millennials over the next 20 years.
High-net-worth Milennials already worth $5 million or more will account for nearly half of this total wealth transfer.
How rich Millennials flex:
29% of affluent millennials admit to buying items they cannot afford to impress others.
41% of affluent millennials use credit cards or loans to fund their lifestyles.
Inheritance the fastest way to become a billionaire:
Among billionaires last year, heirs who inherited their fortunes accumulated more wealth than self-made billionaires for the first time in at least nine years.
All billionaires under the age of 30 on the latest Forbes billionaires list inherited their wealth - for the first time in 15 years.
THE DEPTHS
Science
Scientists explain the weird behavior of cats sitting on squares
As the saying goes; if it fits, I sits.
Cats’ penchant for squeezing into spaces, whether real boxes or… just a drawing of a box has created lulz and awws probably since Egyptian times.
A 2021 study examined if cats possibly perceived square-shaped optical illusions, such as the Kanizsa illusion, where outlines arranged in a certain way make an invisible shape in our minds.
The brain phenomenon of perceiving shapes in contours is called “illusory contour perception.”
Many animal brains have this function, and it’s most likely of utility when it comes to navigating nature - you need to know whether you’re walking into a tree or off a cliff.
Humans develop illusory contour perception around 3 to 4 months, and it strengthens with age.
For cats, these researchers found that the box doesn’t need to be 3D to attract a cat: they’ll cozy up in a taped square or an optical illusion of a square too.
The study is cool because it was executed via citizen science due to COVID-19 restrictions making laboratories inaccessible.
Participants created setups at home that included a taped square, a Kanizsa illusion, and a control setup with no square illusion.
The findings showed that cats consistently chose to sit in the areas marked by illusory or taped outline squares, ignoring the control.
Researchers concluded that cats also possess illusory-contour perception and can perceive boundaries that aren't actually visible
Cool.
