#29 Who cares about legacy?
It’s a big time in beauty.
I may not have the aspiration right now to build a company the size of Aesop — I’m pretty sure they didn’t when they began either — and yet I feel confident that with patience, persistence, hard work, and good luck, anything is possible. Ultimately, if we take the approach from the fable’s tortoise, time is on our side.
The reality however, is that for every Aesop acquisition, there’s many liquidations, voluntary administrations, and bankruptcies. It’s no longer feasible for brands to launch each day, prioritising profit over purpose, under the motto of grow at all costs. The landscape of launching a brand in 1987 vs today is so different.
“While discussing the usual industry going-ons with a fellow beauty writer — companies blatantly copying one another’s designs and problematic influencer founded lines among them — we came to a shared conclusion: no beauty brand is doing anything really good. Everything feels and looks the same; products are pitched as ‘clean’ ‘the first of its kind’ or science-backed’ and the number of celebrities shilling skincare or makeup has diluted the power of a startup founder. Where is the next Glossier or Fenty? To be clear, I don’t mean who will copy Glossier’s social media first approach or launch with a wide foundation range. I’m looking for the company that will change the conversation and our relationship with beauty so profoundly that it will breed a new generation of copycats.” — Rachel Strugatz
What this makes me think most about is legacy. What Aesop will be remembered for other than a large sale price. Two things come to mind: a homage to language, art, design and architecture, and a steadfast resolve to be themselves, outside of an industry that feels all the same. If Fluff can take any cues from their tenure, this feels most relevant.
What do I hope Fluff will be remembered for? I think that’s a big ask — one I can’t fully answer. But what I know we’ve been building and discovering with our audience is probably a start:
Exclusive Cloud Drops, Building Customer Intimacy, Talking About Real Beauty Issues, Refilling Products Effortlessly, Sharing Alternative Visions of the Future of Beauty and finally, Amplifying Exclusive Intimate Brand Relationships.
Who cares about legacy? I guess I do.
Meanwhile,
The number of founders publishing a Medium or Substack and brands releasing a podcast is growing. The problem — that I’m a part of — is that we’re all gonna get bored (if we aren’t already) of content. Of unqualified or unexamined opinions.
I’ve been thinking: maybe saying nothing is actually better than saying something?
I was discussing with a friend the idea that perhaps we no longer need manifestos from brands. Apple, Holstee, Nike, they’ve been recycled year after year to the point where the dilution from other, smaller brands has rendered them trite. The question is, what do we really need to hear from brands? And if we don’t need anything, what do we want?
Perhaps Bo Burnham says it more clearly:
“Um… Is it… is it necessary? Is it necessary that every single person on this planet um, expresses every single opinion that they have on every single thing that occurs all at the same time? Or to ask in a slightly different way, um, can… can anyone shut the fuck up?”
“It’s a very exciting time to be a, uh, brand. It’s also a bit of a scary time because customers expect a lot more from their brands than they did in the past. During this incredibly necessary and overdue social reckoning that we’re having in our culture, it is no longer acceptable for brands to stay out of the conversation. Consumers want to know, “Are you willing to use your brand awareness to effect positive social change?” Which will create more brand awareness…
The question isn’t, “What are you selling?” Or… or “What service are you providing?” The question is, “What do you stand for?” Who are you, Bagel Bites?
All these big companies, they’re so scared of all this social change, and I come in and I put their fears to rest. You know, I tell them, “Just be honest. Tell your customers that… that JPMorgan is against racism.” In theory.
The question is no longer, “Do you want to buy Wheat Thins?” For example. The question is now, “Will you support Wheat Thins in the fight against Lyme disease?”
There’s no sugarcoating it. The world is… fucked up. And you’ve got a choice as a brand. You can… hide and bury your head in the sand and hope it fixes itself, or you can roll up your sleeves and get to work, and sell Butterfingers.”
Personally, I’m kinda tired of talking about what our industry ‘needs’. We all know by now. I’m more interested in talking about what you need. Your conversations are more interesting than mine, and you’ll see this come to life in Fluff’s new campaign, out next week.
To my updates:
Interested:
In the idea of quiet luxury: ways of dressing that subtly telegraph status via materials, cut, and low-key signifiers rather than loud design flourishes and obvious logos. How does that go with Burberry’s rebrand? ‘The enemy is replication and referential behaviour”. Also, Barbiecore.
This quote: “The boom of performance marketing has bust and so that makes investors uncomfortable. They’re relying on retail velocity, and retail velocity is hard to get without funding.” - Rachel Strugatz.
Generation Alpha : anyone born after 2010. Who are they and what do they stand for? They want the latest trends but also their mother’s products. Has anything changed, really? It’s too early to know what they care about, apparently.
Interesting:
We just recorded our second season of Fluff’s Podcast, Pretty Hard: We’re discussing beauty under the lens of sexuality and identity: everything mating, monogamy, masculinity, matriarchy, and meaning. It was unfiltered and fun. We also talk to the highs and lows of running a business in the ever-evolving sex space. On that, I’m into this NYC brand.
The first episode is a recap between Ellen and I, discussing current influencer pricing models and whether it’s possible to calculate ROI. You can listen this Thursday via the link here.
Fluff’s next Drop with two new products is on April 24. Sign up for early access here.
Work is stressful, and so it should be. I love to hate our supply chain, and as always cashflow and my calendar refuse to get along. I’m grateful to have made the distinction however, between stress and overwhelm — it’s since given me permission to persist without major concern or complaint.
“Overwhelm means an extreme level of stress and emotional and or cognitive intensity to the point of feeling unable to function. So I think the big difference is: we can function in stress, we really can’t function in overwhelm.” — Brene Brown.
In those times, it helps to read content like this.
On a personal note, I’ve been thinking a lot about acceptance, forgiveness, surrender, and space, across all my realtionships, personal and professional. I don’t have a direct book to reference here, just the pin drop of almost five years in therapy and a commitment to practice — on and off the mat.
And finally, I’ll leave you with this quote:
“The other day I opened Instagram and watched Kim Kardashian wash her face, then apply six creams and serums,” Odell writes. “The result was that… there was no result.” — The Unpublishable.
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