Donald Trump wants you to buy MAGA fragrance
One thing this man is going to do is sell white-labeled shit.
Good morning everyone.
The day we’ve been waiting for is here — I’m going to Frog Club, the first restaurant involving the chef Liz Johnson since the very public implosion of her marriage to Will Aghajanian, with whom she ran the acclaimed Los Angeles restaurant Horses. Will they put a sticker on my phone? Will I take it off (yes)? You’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out.
Today’s letter includes:
A conversation with BODY Vodka about their viral flask phone case
The biggest scam of the weekend was in fact NOT the story on The Cut, but a dating disaster in Atlanta. (It actually might change the future of TikTok)
Some very telling homepage updates from Zara and J. Crew
NEWS:
The Alabama Supreme Court rules that frozen embryos qualify as children under state law. I feel pretty sick about this. The dissent in the Alabama decision, which was penned by the court’s chief justice, mentions “God” 41 times. IVF advocates have been warning for several years that such decisions were a potential repercussion of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade and permit states to ban abortions. The federal Department of Health and Human Services estimated in 2020 that there were at least 600,000 frozen embryos in storage nationwide; the National Embryo Donation Center said the number could be 1mm. This year is going to get horrifying, I think.
And the beauty industry has a timely response to that. Saie Beauty organized The Every Body Campaign, the largest beauty-industry backed reproductive justice initiative in history. Brands involved include Dieux, Bread, Dr. Dennis Gross, Maude, and more. “With the 2024 presidential elections in full swing, the right to a safe and legal abortion is center stage. We have a duty to use our voices and votes to protect reproductive justice for all. Join us by registering to vote and organizing your community to win this fight for our rights.”
One of Charli XCX’s new songs is inspired by Red Scare host Dasha Nekrasova. Maybe something good did come out of Dimes Square after all.
A former Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana publicist started a weed brand. It’s the same one that recently collaborated with Sweetgreen for fashion week, which the Times story didn’t mention. Brett Heyman is the creative director of Edie Parker, a handbag line she founded in 2010. She added home accessories in 2016, then smoking accessories in 2019, followed by actual things to smoke. “Weed doesn’t have to be ugly,” said Brandon Blackwood, another accessories designer, which is funny because I never thought of weed as ugly. It’s all very cute, which was a challenge when it came to designing the packaging for the cannabis products, which cannot be too cute. Generally, in states where cannabis has been legalized, products must appear “unappealing to children,” said Ms. Heyman, 43. “But I don’t think stripes are that appealing to children.” State agencies have largely approved of her colorful packaging; New Jersey nixed the stripes.
What’s actually happening with that BODY phone case? Yesterday, BODY, a low-ABV vodka brand, posted a photo of a phone case that is nod to the Rhode lipgloss phone case — but it’s a case with a built-in flask. (This makes me really miss those Reef sandals with a flask in them.) As of this morning, it had 512 shares in under 24 hours. The call to action in the caption of the post reads, “Click the link in bio to join our community and place your order!” which then leads you to community-engagement platform TYB. Last night, I texted Jilly Hendrix, founder of BODY to find out what the game plan is here: