▪ Tory Burch‘s private sale has started and select styles are now up to 70% off. A larger version of the Parker Shoulder Bag I featured previously (seen above) is now on sale in three colors. More picks: Fleming Convertible Shoulder Bag, Parker Small Tote, Block-T Triple-Compartment Tote, Perry Tote, Block-T Drawstring Tote, and McGraw Tote.
▪ “How Defective Guns Became the Only Product That Can’t Be Recalled” (Bloomberg): “… no government entity has the power to police defective firearms or ammunition in America—or even force gunmakers to warn consumers … Only one product is beyond the government’s reach when it comes to defects and safety: firearms. Not even the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives can get defective guns off the market. If a gunmaker chooses to ignore a safety concern, there’s no one to stop it.“
▪ “Fosun Triumphs in Bidding War for Lanvin, Troubled Fashion House” (The New York Times): “The conglomerate, Fosun International, said it had acquired a majority stake in the Paris-based Lanvin, which has been racked by the departures of designers, tumbling sales and entrenched internal discord. Fosun beat out Mayhoola for Investments, a fund backed by the Qatari royal family that owns brands like Balmain and Valentino.“
▪ “Burberry Hires Riccardo Tisci” (Vogue): “Riccardo Tisci, who left his role as creative director at Givenchy in February of last year for what many presumed was the top job at Versace, has been installed at Burberry as chief creative officer, effective March 12. The British label made the announcement this morning, ending speculation that began the moment Christopher Bailey’s departure was announced in late October 2017.“
▪ “Yes, Bacon Really Is Killing Us” (The Guardian): “The WHO advised that consuming 50g of processed meat a day – equivalent to just a couple of rashers of bacon or one hotdog – would raise the risk of getting bowel cancer by 18% over a lifetime … consumption of processed meat causes an additional 34,000 worldwide cancer deaths a year is much more chilling … the health risk of bacon is largely to do with two food additives: potassium nitrate … and sodium nitrite … technology now exists to make the pink meats we love in a less damaging form, which raises the question of why the old kind is still so freely sold.“
▪ “What Are Active-Shooter Drills Doing to Kids?” (The Atlantic): “Active-shooter drills came into existence after the Columbine massacre in 1999 … Despite some similarities to natural-disaster and Cold War drills, active-shooter drills also mean exposing kids to the idea that at any point, someone they know may try to kill them … preparedness drills always change the baseline level of risk that people perceive. This heightening can manifest as stress and anxiety, not to mention changing the way kids understand how people treat one another—to even consider violence an option, not in some abstract way.“
▪ “The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’” (Atlas Obscura): “As with any fake news, family legends about supposedly secret recipes seem to germinate because they feel true … true originality is rare. Multiple cookbook authors have stories of asking people to send in family recipes and receiving dozens of nearly identical versions.“
▪ “Solving For The Last Mile Is Retail’s Next Big Disruption” (Retail Dive): “Any solutions to last-mile delivery problems need to solve issues of speed, security and most importantly, surety … Drones, robotics and other automated tech are also being tested … Instead of ship-from-store, crowdsourcing might offer a solution that is both cost-effective and locally driven … Then there’s the possibility that the real disruption will be not in how we ship, but in whether we ship at all.“
▪ Shopbop is running a buy more, save more event; use code GOBIG18 and take 15% off orders over $200, 20% off orders over $500, or 25% off orders over $800. My picks: Aquazzura All Tied Up 105mm Sandals, Rebecca Taylor Malorie One Shoulder Top, Needle & Thread Rainbow Rose Ruffle Dress, Marissa Webb Ariella Skirt, Madewell The Transport Tote, and Kate Spade New York Emerson Place Agnes Cross Body Bag.
▪ “When You’re a ‘Digital Nomad,’ the World Is Your Office” (The New York Times): “… Roam, and since its founding in 2015, it has constructed an international housing network for so-called digital nomads, a growing demographic of people who travel the world while working remotely over the internet … More than a mere chain of upscale hostels, Roam signals the crystallization of a moment long in the making … Roam aims to make dislocation easy and glamorous, transforming digital nomadism into a mainstream, off-the-rack proposition. To date, Roam has hosted more than 2,200 members, a wandering group of entrepreneurs, programmers, freelancers, retirees and tourists who call themselves “Roamies” the way stationary types might namedrop their hometowns.“
▪ “Why Is California Rebuilding in Fire Country? Because You’re Paying for It” (Bloomberg): “… after the state’s worst fire season on record, policymakers appear set to make the same decisions that put homeowners at risk in the first place. Driven by the demands of displaced residents, a housing shortage, and a thriving economy, local officials are issuing permits to rebuild without updating building codes. They’re even exempting residents from zoning rules so they can build bigger homes. State officials have proposed shielding people in fire-prone areas from increased insurance premiums—potentially at the expense of homeowners elsewhere in California—in an effort to encourage them to remain in areas certain to burn again … Critics warn that those decisions, however well-intentioned, create perverse incentives that favor the short-term interests of homeowners at the edge of the wilderness—leaving them vulnerable to the next fire while pushing the full cost of risky building decisions onto state and federal taxpayers, firefighters, and insurance companies.“
▪ “How Women Are Rethinking the Tattoo Parlor” (The New York Times): “As of 2012, according to a Harris Poll, there are more inked women than men in the United States. And yet the business remains an overwhelmingly male-dominated one: Just one in six tattooers is female … because some tattoos may require disrobing, a woman can feel especially vulnerable with male artists … Once an anomaly, female-run shops have become more common in recent years.“
▪ “Why Are There Few Women in Tech? Watch a Recruiting Session” (Wired): “Tech companies have employed a host of tactics to help lift the scant number of women … yet the numbers remain dire … Some of the problems start in these preliminary recruiting sessions, which routinely discourage women from applying at all … researchers documented an unwelcoming environment for these women, including sexist jokes and imagery, geeky references, a competitive environment, and an absence of women engineers—all of which intimidated or alienated female recruits.“
▪ “What Is the Perfect Color Worth?” (The New York Times): “The Pantone Color Institute is less the elite unit its name implies than a loose network of specialists drawn from Pressman’s contacts … At a certain point, Pantone’s prognostications began to take on the weight of self-fulfilling prophecies … for all the time and effort the company expends in identifying color trends, it’s the judgments themselves, regardless of the research behind them, that matter most.“
▪ “Chinese Tourists Are Taking Over the Earth, One Selfie at a Time” (Bloomberg): “For the past seven years, the travel-and-tourism sector has outperformed the overall economy every year, contributing as much as $7.6 trillion in 2016 … A rising tide of travelers from China is spreading out across the region, out-shopping, outspending and out-eating every other nation … China already accounts for more than a fifth of the money spent by outbound tourists, twice as much as the next-biggest spender, the U.S. … With visitors wielding tablets and smartphones, hotels and airlines are realizing they don’t need to fill planes and rooms with technology and content – they just need to give the customer control. The phone becomes the room key, the menu, the bill.“
▪ “By Day, a Sunny Smile for Disney Visitors. By Night, an Uneasy Sleep in a Car.” (The New York Times): “Orange County is known for its affluence, and for its tourist industry. But the thousands of workers who keep its resorts, restaurants and hotels running are sometimes struggling to stay afloat … About 85 percent of the 17,000 Disneyland employees who are part of a union make less than $15 an hour, according to union rolls … The cost of living is a particular challenge in Orange County, where a single adult would need to make about $33,000 a year to meet a basic monthly budget … California now has the highest rate of poverty in the country, 20.6 percent, when accounting for taxes, housing and medical costs, according to the Census Bureau.”
▪ Recently purchased: Ann Taylor Ruffle Tweed Long Jacket, Saint Laurent Shopping Leather Tote, Guerlain KissKiss LoveLove Lipstick, Adidas by Stella McCartney Performance Essentials Jacket, and Free People Lost in You Midi Dress.
Have a great week, everyone!