Billie Eilish & Oat Milk🥛
This Week in Review ☕️ : Celebrity Business | Skims in the Spotlight | Luxury Fashion brands ban Fur | Shop now Pay later | Advertising Watchdogs crack down on companies | Fake Nature is good for you
Quick Bites:
Celebs x Business 🧦 : Things we did not see coming last week: Kim Kardashian's SKIMS to hit a $3.2billion valuation.
That's double of what it was 9 months ago- $1.6bn.
And to think it all started with a PG-13 tape with a C-list rapper. Glorious turn of events from these days👇🏻
Key Highlights:
💡The clothing line has raised $240mn in its latest fundraise
💡Skims did approx $275mn in sales last year (up 90% from the year prior)
💡The round was led by hedgefund Lone Pine Capital
💡Existing investors include D1 Capital Partners, Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital and Imaginary Ventures
💡Kim Kardashian remains the largest shareholder
Launched in 2019, Skims sells underwear, loungewear and shapewear directly to customers through its online store and via department store chains like Nordstrom and Selfridges, CNBC reports.
It is expected to hit $400mn in sales in 2022.
Yep, it's true.. The devil works hard but Kris Jenner def works harder!🙌🏻
Our Thoughts:
💡A DVD Diva
💡A Reality TV Star
💡A Cover Girl
💡A Beauty Mogul
💡A Fashion Designer
💡A MVP
We see you Kim K! As the billionaire herself says "not bad for a girl with no talent."
Not bad indeed!💯
Food 🥛: Soy, Almond, Coconut, Cashew, Macadamia.. and we finally have a winner- Oat. Or atleast we thought we did.
Oatly, leading oat-milk brand backed by celebrity investors like Oprah and Jay-Z, has had its latest marketing campaign banned by the UK Advertising Authority (ASA).
The Swedish company, has emerged as the market leader at a time when people have been increasingly conscious to eat plant-based + reduce their carbon footprint.
You can find Oatly in cafes, supermarket aisles, online or in Kris Jenner's shopping cart- it's everywhere.
"It's like milk, but made for humans"
However, the advertising watchdogs have cracked down on them for "misleading" customers.
In one ad, Oatly "overstated" emissions made by the dairy sector.
Another ad claimed that climate experts said cutting dairy and meat from our diets was the single biggest lifestyle change people could make to reduce their environmental impact, The Times reports.
Our Thoughts💡: The banned campaign is a harsh reminder that real facts matter, even for cult-favorite non-dairy brands credited for making oat milk hot in America!
Clearly, there's more to success than slick marketing and holier-than-thou packaging!
PS. How do ya'll think this will impact Impossible Foods upcoming IPO this year?🤷🏻♀️
Retail 🛒 : Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) giant 'Klarna' has released its 1st physical card in the UK, CNBC reports.
The card will include its 'Pay in 30' feature which allows customers to delay payments for up to 30 days while shopping.
The good news? You get the goods upfront 🛍
Soooooo.. paying on credit? Imagine that lmao
The Swedish fintech firm is expanding from its base in Germany and Sweden, where it already has 800,000 users.
Klarna has said customers would have a personalized spending cap and face credit checks to qualify for the card.
However, regulators fear the card could become a dangerous piece of plastic.
The 'Buy-now-Pay-later' concept has faced criticism from consumer bodies who fear it could lead to young shoppers piling on debt, The Times reports.
Could lead to the 'Shop till you drop' motto turning into 'Shop even if you can't afford to'👇🏻
Our Thoughts💡: Borrowing from the future to fund today's Yeezys? This is why GDP can no longer be a reliable indicator of our economy.
It's gonna come crashing anytime folks🙈
Fashion 👠 : Dolce & Gabbana is banning animal fur, including fur from angora rabbits, from all future collections.
Here's to saving every last one of our fluffy friends👇🏻😍
The fashion industry as a whole is responsible for approximately 100mn deaths of animals every year, including about 2mn dogs and cats.
“Clothing needn’t harm animals. We urge all designers to follow suit by ditching all fabrics made from animal fur and skin,”, In Defense of Animals (IDA)
Other fashion brands against fur, according to Veg News:
💡Moncler announced it will remove fur completely from its products by 2024
💡Armani, Prada, Versace, Valentino and Gucci
💡Retailers such as Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, and H&M have taken fur off their racks
💡Canada Goose, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, and Balenciaga have removed the cruel animal material from their collections.
💡ELLE magazine which boasts of 175mn readers banned fur from its pages and all of its ads in December 2021.
💡Moreover, celebs like vegan musician- Billie Eilish agreed to wear an Oscar de la Renta gown to last year’s Met Gala with one condition: that the designer make a policy change and terminate all sales of fur.
The brand’s CEO, Alex Bolen, obliged, making a historical change for the designer.
Health 🌳 : We all know time in nature is great for the soul.. but is it as powerful in simulated nature?
Experts say 'Fake nature' via virtual reality is not just a myth. It can be a real antidote for stress.
Does scrolling through travel accounts on Instagram give you the same soothing effect as a forest trail or a morning run on the beach?
According to ABC News, ‘visiting’ lush rainforests and similar scenes via virtual reality can elicit similar responses as being physically in nature.
Our Thoughts💡: Fantastic validation for those already getting in those 10k steps daily.
Ofcourse, being physically outdoors is the preferred method but for those with disabilities or lack of green spaces, you can now hit gold from the comfort of your couch- and a cutting-edge VR headset🕶
Quicker Bites:
The New York Times to buy hit game ‘Wordle’.
Rihanna is expecting her first child with A$AP Rocky.
Rafael Nadal crowned Australian Open Men’s Singles Champion, making Grand Slam history.
Justin Bieber becomes the first to hit 1bn streams on 10 tracks.
Australian PM says Kanye West must be fully vaccinated if he wants to tour in country.
Ash Barty becomes the 1st woman since 1978 to win the Australian Open on home soil.
Winter snow storm slams New England, leaving thousands without power.
US and Russia clash over Ukraine tensions at UN Security Council.