Wednesday's Big Briefing:
End game. Admiration for the girlboss trope has all but died out amongst the movement's intended audience: the white collar, college-educated female professional. So what's next?
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'The term "girlboss" became synonymous with "hustle culture," with a feminism-lite twist: the optimistic, almost religious desire to get ahead at work and in life.'
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'Much of the critique of the girlboss trope was legitimate.' | The Cut
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The Short Shrift.
Reading between the lines. Some this report's arguments are flawed, but it offers a useful view of the shift in attitude towards the girlboss concept among its target audience, the white collar, educated, female professional. "[Founders] weren’t just executives but often the faces of their brands, commanding large social followings. The companies they helmed were also uncannily similar. They peddled different products––from suitcases to jeans to co-working spaces––but they all promised business practices rooted in inclusion and posited their leadership as evidence of a shattering glass ceiling. These women were, in other words, girlbosses."
👉Stay in the know: Read the report here...
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Internal
Lean Luxe: Quarterly Partners
New opportunities for Q4 2021
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**Heads up: We're now taking sponsors for Q4 2021 🙌🙌
Sponsorships are open across two tiers: Gold Tier (9 total placements per quarter) and Silver Tier (6 total placements per quarter). We're limiting this to just four partners per tier. Potential partners go to: Lean Luxe: Quarterly Partnerships to view all details.
Fun fact: The document is also something of a "state of the publication" report––so even if you're not a potential sponsor, you might enjoy the progress report so far. Sponsors are free to get in touch with me directly. –– Paul.
–– Email for sponsorship opportunities (please specify your tier!)
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In Partnership with Endear
A Message from our Sponsor
Q3 | September 2021
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Endear.
The all-in-one clienteling app for omnichannel brands.
September Series | Edition No. 1 / 1.
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Earn more by leveraging your store teams with Endear.
Chances are you have a store team that builds customer relationships everyday, stays informed on the latest local trends, and acts as your brand's eyes and ears on the ground. And yet, they're left without a streamlined way to continue customer conversations outside the store or report feedback to HQ. That's where Endear comes in. Learn more about our all-in-one clienteling platform and see how much more sales your store team could be driving in store and online with Endear.
–– Try Endear's (free) sales calculator here 👉
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Many thanks to Endear. Their support keeps Lean Luxe going.
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The House View
Our opinions, analysis, criticism
On modern luxury news
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Warby’s integrity.
In almost deliberate contrast to the convoluted prospectus from WeWork––and the discovery that the Neumanns had used the company as their personal piggy bank––Warby Parker’s IPO filings reveal founders who acted responsibly (and ethically) in that regard. In summary: "Unlike a lot of other recent IPO prospectuses, Warby Parker’s wasn’t larded up with all sorts of perks and outrageous compensation. To say it was refreshing would be an understatement. The summary compensation table included reasonable salaries for the three top executives and a very modest 401-K match. . . . Beyond that, Warby Parker’s directors have so far worked without compensation…, and insiders don’t appear to have unduly enriched themselves through 'related-party' transactions with the company. One can only hope that this minimalism persists, and perhaps even spreads to other companies."
Can a 'sustainable Supreme' be done?
In response to a former Adidas executive branching out to start 'a sustainable Supreme', Lean Luxer Zaira Vallejo questions the practicality of following through on that idea. Her thoughts are spot on: "One would have to redefine 'hype' and access/luxury/clout. [Patagonia] does a good job of making sustainability by way of wearing your things to the point of repair really cool. A limited drop model could stand with limited quantities meant for people to build a wardrobe over time with the brand. . . . The nature of hype businesses is impulse buys (or these days, resale) so there has to be an incentive to actually keep and wear the shit out of your clothes. Similar to brands that do great denim and denim repair etc. Collectors angle? Generally, I think it could be cool for a brand to exist if it reframed hype and consumerism for…a generation of consumers who were born into social media and fast fashion."
Our office life dependence.
After a brief hiatus for some much-deserved holiday time, Ed Zitron hopped right back on his horse to resume his crusade against the return-to-office movement. His latest points out something profound: Some are worried about not going back to the office because they've optimized their life to revolve around it. Great thoughts here: "[Many folks] only have a little bit of space in their homes to dedicate to a remote space, because they moved to a place specifically so they could access the office and be around their work. Work and work events are where we meet our friends, the area around our work is where we drink and eat, we grow our routines and our lives entirely around work––because we’ve had to. . . . We simply spend more time working, or commuting to work, living in places that are convenient for work, so that we can go to work and do work."
––
👋 The Lean Luxe Staff
info@leanluxe.com
@leanluxe
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Get Connected
Lean Luxe Connect.
Our (free) invite-only Slack channel
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⏰ Countdown: New invites are dropping in September!
Lean Luxe isn't just a newsletter. Our central motivation? Connecting HENRYs like you around a shared interest in modern luxury, brands, and culture. Media is part of that. Building out a world for Lean Luxers to connect on their own terms around this interest matters even more.
We're dropping a new batch of Lean Luxe Connect invites in September. Applications are rolling, and you'll still be considered for future drops even if you miss this one. Your profession, seniority, or expertise in e-commerce (or DTC) aren't what we look at. A simple desire to engage socially with like-minded folks around these shared interests is what matters most.
👉Apply here to meet your fellow Lean Luxers (it's 100% free).
*Eligibility: 1) You must be a Lean Luxe subscriber for at least one month. 2) A minimum 60% newsletter open rate based on your profile (ask us for yours). For more insight on Lean Luxe Connect read this, as well as Hunter Walk's thoughts on our Slack strategy.
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The Ticker
Fresh, hot links
Lighter fare
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The Wirecutter moves behind a paywall
‘The NYT is pretty proud of their stuff,’ says one commenter. WSJ
Soft Services takes aim at common skin issues
Addressing an underserved area of skincare. Thingtesting
Punch gets acquired by Vox Media
A publication people have slept on for far too long. Vox Media
The shared experience of the walking meeting
No presentation decks, whiteboards, or Keurig coffee. WITI
Nostalgic desert and candy mashups
They're what the youngins are craving. Axios
Quip’s new $100M cash infusion
Naturally, expansion’s on the docket. TechCrunch
** News or tips for The Ticker?
Send tips on news, quotes, coverage, mentions in the media to info@leanluxe.com.
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Comments, questions, tips?
Send a letter to the editor –– Paul Munford
mpm@leanluxe.com / @leanluxe
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