👋 Hi. In lieu of algorithmically generated playlists, I’ve been listening to Pine Walk Collection mixes (see the story behind the mixtapes here) and came across Dan Hartman’s “Just For Fun” — it’s a bop! As always, reply with questions, comments, or thoughts about anything you read here.

PS: I’m trying something new! Schedule a 30-minute call with me here — I’m open to freelance and consulting work and, of course, informal chats and intros.

This issue features 12 brands. Seventy-five percent are white-led, 17 percent are Black-led, and 8 percent are led by non-Black people of color. You can find the complete Chips + Dips inclusion index here.

The Chips 📰

• West Elm’s parent company launched Green Row, a sustainable furniture line.

• Reformation, known for its slutty picnic attire, has responded to customers’ needs by merchandising a bra-friendly collection.

• OurX provides haircare products and supplemental coaching for people with textured hair — a smart means of facilitating recurring revenue.

• RAD Furniture, which typically sells commercial-grade furniture to businesses, has started selling direct to consumers.

• Tunde Wey's latest project, Since The Time Of John The Baptist, is a rum-based spirit inspired by Nigerian ogogoro that retails for $127.95: the cost each person in the US would need to contribute to pay off Nigeria's debt.

• Quouch is queer-friendly couchsurfing.

• Bink makes designer-y furniture for people with rabbits.

• Walden Pond converts articles saved via Pocket to a printed zine. (I, for one, would love a Substack version of this.)

• {access}ories is a project by Landor & Fitch that makes 3D-printed adaptive accessories for toothbrushes.

• Both Buck Mason and Bobbie have purchased factories recently.

The Dip 🕯️

Writer and author Marisa Meltzer generously sent me a galley copy of her forthcoming book, Glossy, and it became my companion last week (along with all three seasons of Pose) as I recovered from dental surgery. It’s the kind of book that I would normally devour in a day, but chose instead to savor over a week.

In reading, two things stood out to me: one, that Meltzer’s respect for Emily Weiss is tangible throughout. There’s no fawning, but rather a striking attempt to capture the founder as a human in all her complexity, operating within a system that leaves little room for failure and is quick to criticize.

Second, the book captures the energy and momentum and newness of the early DTC era. It’s easy to critique the consumer brand landscape of the early 2010s today — we have the advantage of time. But it was different in the moment. 

What’s old was new

When Glossier launched in 2014, online shopping lacked the digital and operational infrastructure that we take for granted today. What now exists as an app or plug-in needed to be invented and coded from scratch.

Acquisition costs were still be relatively low, and there was less competition overall. The concept of an “influencer” had yet to become mainstream; we had bloggers instead. It felt as if the future of shopping was being invented in real time, and that consumers, invited behind the scenes by brands, were contributing to that invention.

In many ways, the direct-to-consumer movement aimed to democratize access to goods. You didn’t need to be within driving distance of a store to purchase something from an insider-y brand — you could have it shipped to you.

In a similar vein, Into The Gloss, the publication that Weiss founded that would ultimately lead to the creation of Glossier, aimed to democratize beauty. Influential people across a range of industries offered a peek into their bathrooms and shared the products they loved most and used daily. 

This democratization threatened the authority of old-guard media. Magazines were no longer the primary arbiters of culture — a person with tenacity, a camera, and a website could garner equal, or sometimes more, credibility. An individual didn’t need a publication to grant them legitimacy, they could build it themselves.

History repeats itself

While reading Glossy, I found myself drawing parallels between the early DTC era and what media used to be. 

When I was in middle school, I wanted to be the Fashion News Editor at Teen Vogue. The Devil Wears Prada had just come out and magazines appeared flush with cash — writers were paid at least $1/word, editors rode in towncars, and an internship could become a launchpad to a lifelong career.

As a recent college graduate, the early DTC era felt similar. Companies were ripe with perks and cachet, employees could become influencers, and there was the potential for a life-changing payout upon a successful exit.

Needless to say, things aren’t what they used to be.

It’s not that digitally native brands have lost their shine — there are still smart, talented people doing really cool work, and launching online is often the most logical first step for a company to take. But rather that limiting distribution to owned, online channels is rarely enough. And it’s increasingly rare for a consumer product company to raise the kind of money that companies were receiving in the early 2010s, not to mention being acquired at a price commensurate with their valuation.

As more companies followed the DTC playbook, what once went above-and-beyond became tablestakes.

The new normal

In order to be competitive, a venture-backed, digitally native consumer brand needs to do it all — offer fast, free shipping; have a strong organic social presence; work with influencers and creators; have a loyalty program; distribute through retail partners; host pop-ups; advertise online and offline; make merch; engage in partnerships and launch co-branded products… There’s so much more that goes into making a digitally native brand run today than there was a decade ago. The sheer volume of marketing outputs is mind-numbing.

While Glossy centers on Glossier, in many ways it’s more about an industry at a moment in time. It chronicles a period of rapid change and the incredible freedom and experimentation that comes with that. When there’s no playbook, you’re free to write your own, until you, yourself, become the playbook. 

Still hungry?

• The history of Fashion Fair Cosmetics is worth digging into. 

Real Dip 🎞️

Bean and cashew onion dip.

Start by caramelizing three sliced onions while watching an episode of Pose. Once the onions have browned, let them cool.

Add two big handfuls of cashews, a drained can of white beans, and two big splashes of water to a food processor. Blitz until everything is looking smooth. Add a splash of apple cider vinegar, a shake of garlic powder, a shake of paprika, and a big pinch of salt. Blitz again until everything is combined.

Pour the dip into a bowl and stir in the caramelized onions.

Pairs decently well with polenta, egg salad, and other foods that don’t require chewing.

Thanks for snacking,

— Emily 🖨️