The Debrief No. 422: How SoulCycle is spinning its wheels and losing countless customers to Peloton

Grab Bag: We're all sippin 'n strollin now.
Joe Rogan might be getting robbed. The insider story of Houseparty. Hustle culture is finally crumbling. Revisiting the Jay Z-Dame Dash split. Christopher Nolan's new trailer. Rediscovering trio sonatas. Icons of Style: David Hockney. A calm prediction on post-pandemic NYC life. The NYT reports on Clubhouse. Drug innovation is back in fashion. Relax to the sounds of British wildlife. Alphonso Davies is already world class. 'The Match 2' was a smashing success. “Less than 5% currently WFH but 80% want to.” Made In wants you to get your Francis Mallmann on. Graydon Carter waxes poetic at the WSJ. A tribute to the powers of Italian modernist design. The flight refund conundrum. And we’re all sippin ’n strollin now.

What's behind the small resurgence of the menswear blog?
The reemergence of old school menswear blogs like ACL, which once made up a very vibrant blogging scene a decade ago, is a positive in our book. That’s especially true a time when the humble, passion-driven blogger has been replaced by something much less appealing––the business-minded "thought leader" who posts on Medium for personal branding purposes. While the menswear blog, and the solo blog in general, is a charming corner of the internet that we’ve missed, their reemergence, however temporary, acts as a signal showing how the post pandemic mindset will be something different. To wit, ACL’s Michael Williams captures that nicely: "I think people are ready for [the return of the independent blog]. We all realized a lot of what we do and what we see from the world is unnecessary. Just shopping, swiping, and traveling out of boredom or indifference… we all have started to realize what is important and what we don’t miss. It’s not going to be like it was, but I think people will try it, and once they do, they will realize that it’s a lot more fulfilling than just posting a photo."

Defining the new status.
What is the new status? When we're all stuck indoors (for the most part) and unable to show of those traditional signifiers, that concept is naturally going to shift a bit. And so it is. Whereas status pre-pandemic was dominated by your traditional stuff ("people with the most money, those who wear the biggest diamonds or drive the most expensive luxury cars"), status during- and post-pandemic is, according to the argument in this Fast Company column, mostly defined by this notion: "With COVID-19, we suddenly found ourselves confined to small spaces, without much storage, and without the basic homemaking skills our ancestors had. In a small apartment without a garage, we can’t store weeks or months of food, and we have less access to safe transportation and less reliable deliveries. However, those of us who do have technical skills are better positioned to weather the supply chain storm. In this social and physical shift, the highest status and advantage goes to those who can access supplies in innovative ways." Again, a wonderful read for those interested in knowing more about where things are going as it relates to the modern luxury and status mindset today.

The death of the $500 t-shirt.
Fashion’s fixation on charging ridiculous prices for underwhelming goods is taking something of a hit right now, as to be expected. Yes, folks are spending more money on things they don’t exactly need, but no one is rushing to buy that $500 t-shirt, especially when there’s nowhere to wear it to. There’s a great piece about why brands would do well to lower their prices, the gist of which is captured here: "What we are witnessing, when it comes to discounts, is a cat and mouse game between the fashion industry and its consumers, one in which everyone, understandably, acts in their own self-interest. What's more, fashion companies know this. After all, a lot of big brands also control their own retail networks where they set the prices. . . . Outrageous prices are not good for anyone. They are not good for many brands, as evidenced by the actions we saw last week. When you price your wares too high, they simply don't sell. According to The Economist, even the most desirable luxury brands move barely over half of their clothes at full price. According to Bain, last year €37B worth of designer goods ended up in outlets, an 85% increase over five years."

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👋Paul Munford, CEO / Editor
mpm@leanluxe.com
@leanluxe

Tuesday's Big Briefing:

"It should have been the battle of the bikes." How SoulCycle got stuck spinning its wheels, losing countless customers to Peloton, as we all got stuck at home.

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