Mild High Club seems to pick an issue per album: in 2015, it was the social media age; in 2021, it’s individualism (related?). Their new Going, Going Gone investigates our impressions of ourselves as “special,” a mission they’ve undertaken with just the right note of irreverence. The record ranges from jazzy jazz to ebullient pop-funk, animating a bunch of its videos with absurdist illustrations of monsters moving through some trippy apocalypse. That’s where we’re headed anyway— why take yourself seriously when there’s good music to be had? (Start with “Dionysian State” and “A New High.”)
Per Wednesday’s newsletter on the absolute futility of online returns (and, whoopsie, the textile waste crisis), LL Bean is having a vintage sale. Their designers have been trawling consignment stores and markets to cull their own merchandise dating back to the ’60s, and now they’re selling it back to us, refurbished, in timed instagram drops. I think it’s very funny that LL Bean is basically Depopping themselves, particularly for a sustainability stunt that’s more or less cancelled out by the number of flights that must have been involved in sourcing. But believe the merch will be fly.
If you want to have a different sustainability discussion, head over to the West Village, where two very handy young ladies have opened up a shop that will revive any garment you bring them. At Eva Joan, you bring in your piece for a consultation with tailors and embroiderers, who then think over how to “reinterpret” it into something imaginative. The store only opened in June, so I don’t know how much traffic it’s getting (though I learned about this in Vogue, so they appear to be well on their way), but what if the new thing in fashion was to employ local artisans and hold onto things for a long time.
If you’re feeling any warm-and-fuzzies about Ladies Taking Up Mending, let me go ahead and cancel them out with the news that Netflix is partnering with Walmart to sell merch from their shows. From Bloomberg: “After years of focusing all its energies on driving customers to its streaming service, Netflix is trying to turn its most popular shows into franchises that span merchandise, in-person experiences and video games. The company is betting that a sweatshirt or a festival will help market its service and create a more lasting connection between its customers and individual programs.” The secret is, when you own a piece of Netflix, Netflix really owns you.
Did you know that more people in the world have a mobile phone than a toilet? Who Gives A Crap is a profit-for-purpose company that donates half of its profits to help build toilets and improve sanitation— and they’ve donated over $5 million to date. We’ve been talking about their bamboo toilet paper (fast-growing for max sustainability), but they sell eco-friendly tissues and paper towels, too. All come with plastic-free wrappers and carbon-neutral shipping, and if that’s not incentive enough, they’re offering $10 off all orders for new customers with the code LOREMIPSUM103. Get it here.
