June '25 Recap
‘Materialists,’ Zohran, and a shift in roles at Vogue.
God, I love summer. Spring was very grey this year — unusual for New York, where spring is typically my favorite. Even if the heat does give me a five-day headache every year, I’m coming alive in this weather!
I didn’t always feel this way — in my teens and early 20s, when I had a smaller social network, summers were tough. You feel like you’re supposed to be having all this fun, but with who? I’ve worked really hard to build a life around myself that feels solid. Last Friday, a close friend and I got martinis, tomato toast, and grilled snap peas at Layla in Williamsburg. When she reminded me it was summer solstice, we finished with late night gelato at Gentile. Last year, we were in Portugal for a friend’s wedding — my first time in continental Europe — and enjoyed plenty of gelato there, so this felt reminiscent. The next day, a few friends and I piled into a car and went to Rockaway Beach, where I got a delicate sunburn on my body and a harsh one on my literal eyeballs. We sang the whole way home. I’ve since purchased sunglasses (more on those below).
But I’ve held onto plenty from my more solitary days. After a long work day, there are few things more soothing than listening to a great album and walking home alone. When I’m in the mood and have an evening to myself, I’ll trek from 30 Rock, down through Times Square, and finally make it out on the other end to get dinner, usually in the East or West Village. Virginia’s is one of my favorite spots and just one block from me. Tartine has the nicest staff. A solo meal in the sun is one of the quickest ways to remember that not everything needs to be so complicated.
What happened
Sabrina Carpenter is dropping a new album
My god, what fury you guys have created over the cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s new album, “Man’s Best Friend.” The world does not need another TikTok take, but I feel inclined to say that I think it’s totally fine!!! Probe me further in the comments if you must.
Love Island is back
You guys are watching this six nights a week?
Glossier’s CEO is leaving the company
I’m an Emily Weiss historian (I love her, to be clear) so anytime there’s Glossier gossip, I’m reading it. In 2022, ahead of the birth of Weiss’ first child, Kyle Leahy (formerly VP at Cole Haan, senior analyst at Nike) was ushered in as CEO with Weiss stepping down to “focus more of my time as Founder (and now, Executive Chairwoman) on the areas that I love: product, creative, brand.”
Leahy presided over Glossier’s expansion into retail at Sephora and was a major player in the brand’s fragrance boom, specifically the “You” line’s expansion to include four scents. Now, the brand also carries body mists. None of this has done anything for me — all of their scents smell so artificial. I miss the OG Glossier days, when the goal was to make the packaging look like products you’d find at a French pharmacy. But that era is long gone. I’m eager to see who they slot in next.
Looks like ELLE Magazine partnered with Trump Hotels?
Hearst, the company that owns ELLE, is famously broke and wow, does it show. It’s common knowledge within the industry that their employees are constantly watching their backs, in perpetual fear of layoffs, I just never thought they’d stoop this low. As someone who works on brand partnerships, I can assure you this is bringing in serious dollars. It feels in line with their Blue Origin cover from April. I do wonder what their employees are thinking. I’ve written for ELLE before and met a few editors there — all have been lovely. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at their happy hour.
Zohran Mamdani won the democratic mayoral primary
What a day!!! And what a campaign. Zohran Mamdani has been steadfast, thorough, and ruthlessly on message. On his win, he told New York Magazine:
We have tried to listen more and lecture less, and it’s in those very conversations that I had with Democrats who voted for Donald Trump many months ago that I heard what it would take to bring them back to the Democratic Party — that it would be a relentless focus on an economic agenda… And when I asked those same Democrats who voted for Trump why they did it, what they told me again and again came back to rent and child care and groceries and even the $2.90 that it costs for a MetroCard, which is now out of reach for one in five New Yorkers.
The interview I want to read next? A profile of Zara Rahim, who seems to be Mamdani’s Communications Director. She used to head up comms at The Wing and Vogue, and has worked on campaigns for Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, too.
Refinery29 named Naked Beauty’s Brooke Devard as Chief Content Officer
Put this at the top of the list of news I did NOT expect to hear. To catch anyone up who isn’t familiar: Refinery29 came about in 2005 as a city guide, co-founded by Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and, most famously, Christine Barberich, who was Editor-in-Chief. In 2020, amid a slew of female founders stepping down from their posts, Barberich resigned after former employees described a “toxic culture” at Refinery. I will say, I’ve heard this first-hand. But from the outside looking in, the brand was unique, smart, and solid.
Last week, the publication announced that Brooke Devard has been appointed to Chief Content Officer and it is so deserved — her podcast, Naked Beauty, is great. I’m pretty jaded about the media industry at this point, so I worry that this appointment won’t last, none of these businesses are sustainable anymore. But I hope I’m wrong.
Anna Wintour is stepping away from her Editor-in-Chief role (but not leaving Vogue)
More news I didn’t expect to hear this month! “Anna Wintour is stepping back from her role as editor-in-chief of American Vogue and hiring a new regional ‘head of editorial content’ to oversee the title’s day-to-day operations,” per Business of Fashion. There were signs, as BoF pointed out. In December 2024, Marc Jacobs was the first guest editor of an American Vogue issue. Could he take over?
I’m inclined to say no. I would have expected Mark Guiducci to take over the editorial post, but he just left Vogue to take the helm at Vanity Fair. On the How Long Gone podcast, Lauren Sherman predicted that Samira Nasr, who’s currently Editor-in-Chief at Harper’s Bazaar, would fill the role. As Sherman said, people like Eva Chen, at Instagram, or Rickie De Sole, at Nordstrom, make too much money to go to Vogue now.
However, in the Friday episode of her own podcast, Fashion People, Sherman claims to have been swayed in another direction, but her final prediction is behind a paywall. There’s talk that Sara Moonves could move from W. Or that Nicole Phelps, who works on Vogue Runway, could take the role. I think someone like Naomi Elizée is probably still too young by Vogue’s standards. Would Sarah Harris ever leave the UK? In my fantasy world it’s Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, but I can’t see her going back to that now and honestly, I want more freedom for her. Ultimately, I’m with Sherman’s original prediction.
I have so much to say — none of it good. Bezos’ filler, the comical guest list, the digital Vogue cover dropping one day after the Anna news, the fact that the couple is wearing Dolce… on a grey carpet… These are very tacky people. When asked about her something blue? “Well, Blue Origin,” Sánchez replied.
Fascinatingly, Vogue.com editor Chloe Malle reported that Stefano Gabbana explained, “[Sánchez] didn’t want to do something very flashing or bling bling.” Noted.
“Chloe, the last time we talked I was just engaged, about to go to space,” Sánchez told Malle. “It’s true,” Malle wrote. “18 months ago, when I interviewed the couple in the foothills of Texas’s Sierra Diablo mountains for Vogue, Bezos made us margaritas in a rocket-shaped cocktail mixer.”
Chanel is launching a magazine
This was only a matter of time. I wonder if it will be good? I’d love to see them hire a proper editorial staff. I’ve often wondered if LVMH will eventually just buy Condé Nast and use publications like Vogue as direct advertisers. It would make a lot of sense and lord knows Condé could use the money, but it’s a dying business and likely a bad investment. If it ever comes to that, I doubt I’ll still have two feet in this industry.
Jonathan Anderson made his Dior Men debut
“For me, style is how you put things together,” Jonathan Anderson told Vogue Runway. “Over the next period, that’s what I want to work on.” I’m glad to hear it, given that Dior has been bland for years. Like everyone else, I’m thrilled at the idea of him adding his touch to the house. From the collection, I’m especially into the suede fisherman sandals and the denim — very “me.” I will say, I see ALD’s influence. I can’t wait for his women’s debut.
What’s in my cart
Kosas Cloud Set Airy Setting Spray + Smoothing Mist
Full disclosure, this was gifted — working in legacy media, you get a lot of free product — but no one is paying me to say that it is really good. Somehow it keeps my makeup in place all day without feeling sticky or tacky. I thought for sure it would erode my foundation and concealer like a rose water mist might. Instead, my skin just looks more hydrated after I use it and by the end of day, I still look alive, full face of make-up (mostly) intact. I recommend setting it with a powder though, so as to look dewy, not wet. I haven’t tried the new Kosas powder yet, but I’m hitting pan on this cheap Charlotte Tilbury dupe I’m using right now (also gifted; not horrific, not particularly good), so I’ll try it next.
The Attico Gigi Rectangular Sunglasses in Black
I went upstate with some friends in the fall and one of them, who has great taste, had these sunglasses. I don’t like how I look in glasses (though I better get used to them because I think my once perfect vision is abandoning me), so I was surprised to try these on and be into them. After burning my eyes at Rockaway (this has happened to me once before, but in the snow, not the water), I ordered them. I love how delicate the frames are — I’m not someone who looks good in anything chunky, be it shoes, jewelry, etc. — and the narrow, rectangular shape is good for people with high cheekbones.
Benriner No. 64 Japanese Mandolin
I keep a list of “kitchen wants” in my Google Docs because I’m an Alison Roman evangelist and I would like to have all of her tools. She’s a practical woman (precisely why I adore her) so her list of recommendations actually isn’t that long. That said, over the past couple of years, I’ve started with the small things: flakey salt, a 9” tart pan, a Microplane. This summer, I want to get into making fennel salads — she makes one to pair with crispy cutlets and it’s such a sexy meal. I can see it: You’re dating someone new and want to make them a dinner that feels casual, but requires just enough effort to make it feel special. Your vegetables are shaved perfectly on the mandolin — nothing uneven or too thick — and tossed in a salty/sweet vinegar dressing. The chicken is perfectly cooked, the crumb coating golden, and there’s a dollop of aioli or mustard on the side, your date’s choosing. Then you take it, with a bottle of crisp orange or batched martinis (as recommended by Alison), to the roof. Well executed simplicity is hot.
What I read
Girl on Girl, Sophie Gilbert
I’ve loved Gilbert’s work over the years and was very excited when this book was announced. It’s dense at parts, but she weaves it with lighter fare pop culture very well. The chapter “Girls on Film” revealed a lot, mostly that I completely missed an entire genre of 90s and early aughts movies, and that’s probably a good thing. She discusses films like American Pie (1999), Scary Movie (2000), and Knocked Up (2007), and the way that era birthed an entire genre: the “hommecom” she calls it, or the “bromance.” According to her, “it almost obliterated the romantic comedy altogether,” which was the one genre women consistently got leading roles in.
In that same chapter, Gilbert outlines Todd Phillips’ work pre-Academy Award winning Joker (2019): Road Trip (2000), Old School (2003), The Hangover (2009). He made a career off of bro-forward comedy and when the world finally wouldn’t tolerate that pervasive misogyny, he made a film about a murderous incel. Needless to say, it shifted my perspective on Joker.
I love the final few pages of this book, in which Gilbert traces a back and forth pattern of how progress is inevitably met with punishment for women. How the girlboss was soon counterbalanced by Gamergate, which Gilbert describes as a campaign “against women’s perceived influence in the world of video games that anticipated both the internet and American politics were heading.” Similarly, when #MeToo arrived — in particular, she discusses Jian Ghomeshi in Canada and Harvey Weinstein — people were quick to call it necessary and also probably an overreaction. “Before the ink had dried on the print edition of the first Weinstein expose,” she writes, “people wondered aloud about whether #MeToo had gone too far.” In the end, she argues that art gives us space to reconfigure, unlearn, and make new.
“How to Make More Money Without Working Yourself Into the Ground,” The Cut
On a monthly to bi-monthly basis, I overwork myself into a three day migraine. It’s been my pattern since college and, at last, I’m trying to get a grip! I had never been a corporate girl until I got my current job; previously, in my adult life, I’ve gotten by with a series of fellowships, scholarships, and arts or administrative gigs I’d managed to cobble together. So to make things worse, I was working myself into the ground for menial pay. Now, in my late twenties, I’m finally learning how the corporate world works, and how I might be properly compensated. This article had some rare, legitimately good advice, specifically in response to the question: “So, what are some ways to get more recognition for the work that you’re already doing?” I think for us in the arts, the pursuit of financial or business literacy is deemed “capitalist” and we end up unprepared and with less knowledge, but these basics are useful for all of us. And in the year of our lord 2025, get your money UP.
“Welcome to Cancerland,” Harper’s Magazine
I re-read this essay this month, as I’m percolating on a longer project surrounding women’s bodies, beauty, and consumption. (If anyone has book or essay recommendations on those subjects, I’d love to have them!) It’s clear to me now that so many of the writers I love most are working in Ehrenreich’s tradition — integrating personal narrative and humor into longform journalism. I love this essay in particular because it feels taboo. In it, Ehrenreich discusses her own experiences with breast cancer and criticizes the corporatization of the disease, made possible by cultural understandings of femininity (and feminine purchasing power). I imagine many will find it blunt, but in my eyes, Ehrenreich is really just trying to get to the heart.
What I watched
Materialists (2025)
Spoilers ahead!
Even though Dakota Johnson isn’t a good actress, I did have hope for this movie. I’m a fan of hers generally (mostly the AD tour) and, like everyone else, I adore Pedro Pascal. Unfortunately, I’m less compelled by Chris Evans, which was unhelpful given that his character, John, is 37, unmotivated and broke, living in a feral apartment with toothpaste sprays on the bathroom mirror and two lazy roommates. Despite these considerable drawbacks, he’s occasionally charming. Meanwhile, Lucy (Johnson) STILL CHOOSES HIM. The broke-ness isn’t even the issue, actually. It’s all of the other things — it’s that this 37-year-old actor has never once taken a part in a commercial?
True to form, the only parts that had me vaguely entertained involved the wealthy, sweet, successful Harry (Pascal) — he had a nice apartment, adorned with silk sheets, Staub dutch ovens, and $40 Comme Si socks. Both men were gracious, but to the film’s point, it was easier to see Harry’s various desirable qualities than to attempt to see it through John’s apartment swamp. To that end, this film only worked to make me more materialistic. It’s unfortunate, because I am, in real life, a frequent critic of people’s obsession with status in dating, and I liked what the director, Celine Song, had to say in this New York Times interview with Kyle Buchanan:
When we see trailers for a movie like this, people just start calling it a chick flick — there’s a very easy way that you can dismiss it. I’m really interested in directly addressing the way that we completely dismiss matters of the heart. Not a single one of us actually can escape this problem, which is love. [...] I respect [romantic comedy] so much because it’s a genre where every single person can walk into it and feel connected. You must relate because love is a drama that you are in. You cannot go through life without any relationship to love whatsoever.
I agree with her and I like her line of questioning, I just don’t think she succeeded on her own terms. So much of Materialists felt too on the nose, yet devoid of both romance and comedy. It made me think of the ending in La La Land, which was much more effective in laying out the stakes of navigating love and material life. That film wrecks every time; this one left me annoyed.
The Bear, Season 4 (2025)
On the other hand, The Bear still works for me. And I notoriously don’t watch TV! Were the first two seasons better than the third and fourth? Yes. But I still love what it’s trying to do — to explore the nitty gritty of relationships, to navigate what it means to be good to one another, to be hospitable. I loved the fourth episode, directed by Ayo Edebiri and Lionel Boyce, which delves more into Sydney’s family. I also love that Molly Gordon and Will Poulter have returned, we need some sexual tension back in Chicago.
What I listened to
Virgin, Lorde
Top to bottom bangers!!! I’ve never played instruments so I’m horrible at legitimately reviewing music, but I was a dancer from age four through 22, so the way I hear music is very much about how you might move to a song, rather than being able to identify a synth or whatever. I love “Hammer,” “Shapeshifter,” “Favourite Daughter,” and “Current Affairs.” But honestly, I think this is a no skip album for me.
This podcast is what I listen to when I want pop culture opinions, but need a break from the pretension the industry rewards. I love Hunter Harris, writer of Hung Up, so much. She’s brilliant yet so casual about it. She and Peyton Dix, her best friend and co-host, have a banter you can tell is based on years of legitimate friendship. In this episode, they discuss Materialists and per usual, I agree with Hunter on everything. God bless her.
What I wrote
“Maybe Cool it on the Oura Ring?”
Before writing this, I had a lot of complex feelings about the Oura Ring. At first I was tempted to buy in, but increasingly it seemed like a trap. Since publishing the essay, it’s reached thousands of people — the first time my writing has ever circulated in this way. I sincerely appreciate all who read it, subscribed, and engaged in the comments, and don’t take your time for granted.
