the group chats where billionaires sell private jet seats

and extension cords you don't want to hide

Jul 10, 2025

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Good evening!

Returning to your inner child is actually so much fun?

Turns out the media isn’t so bad after all when you’re intentional about your usage and focus. I think the key is to scroll as least as possible, dedicating brief time a few days a week to see what’s happening and engage. Long form content helps with this.

The culture is a great reference for learning and inspiration, but we should serve as our own muse for life, only idolizing the future version of ourselves — the best version of ourselves. That’s who we should want to be like as we cultivate curiosity and joy in the process. Stay inspired, and dare I say it? Live, laugh, love. There is a difference between acknowledging and appreciating the project/campaign/artistry versus worshipping the people in it or creating it. I’m pretty strict about that boundary.

Reflecting on the Margiela show, I am entertaining the idea of anonymity on Substack and LinkedIn. I kind of want to conduct my own social experiment for the plot. But that would mean, no more smoking hot babe profile picture.

On another note — you know what else goes kind of hard outside of the traditional canned sardines? The oysters — with the garlic spread from Trader Joe’s and pita crackers. Don’t play.

Have you ever read your saved newsletters while listening to jazz? I think they call this…romanticizing your life?

Let’s get into the woo!

Chinese beauty is booming.

Chinese beauty brands are quickly expanding globally by leveraging TikTok and RedNote. China’s cosmetics exports grew 10.8% year-over-year to $7.2 billion, with the U.S., Hong Kong, U.K., Japan, and Indonesia as the top locations. However, the brands are facing challenges in localization.
While price competitiveness has worked in many of the brands favor, they’re increasingly emphasizing product performance and innovation to stand out internationally. Will that be enough to sustain long term? We’ll have to wait and see.

“Sometimes you don’t want to spend $25,000 to $30,000 going up to New York.”

Wealthy travelers are using private WhatsApp group chats to buy and sell seats on private jets to make private flying more ‘cost-effective’ for those who are willing to share a cabin with strangers. These invite-only groups, sometimes with hundreds of members, are mainly for popular routes like New York to South Florida or Aspen to Southern California. It brings the seat costs down to at least $2000. Some travelers find that sharing jets lowers the exclusivity and flexibility of private aviation. Lmao. That hasn’t stopped the exclusive access of these group chats from becoming a social status symbol in their community. The amount of carbon fuel being used just so they can avoid flying with regular people — in first class, mind you — is sending me into oblivion.

Glastonbury Festival

I think this event was a bit overshadowed by Jeff Bezo’s wedding, which is unfortunate because Doechii wore custom Vivienne Westwood.

Power gems for the grown and sexy.

Dutch designer Willem van Hooff has transformed extension cords into beautiful ceramic "Power Gems" with power strips constructed at their core. Considering how integral technological devices have become in our everyday lives, elevating these commonly used items makes for beautiful home decor and conversation starters.

Raoul Alejandre’s own beauty projects are my favorite.

The cuntification of Raoul should be studied. More makeup artists doing creative direction maybe? Let the record show that cultwoo encourages this — particuarly for beauty brands.

Lucy Liu joins the cast of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”

Bye, I’m so excited about this. She’ll be starring alongside returning cast members Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, and other recently announced cast members like B.J. Novak. The sequel is scheduled to be released on May 1, 2026. The storyline will involve Miranda Priestly navigating the challenges of a changing magazine industry. The opportunities for marketing with collaboration with fashion houses and beauty brands are endless. Everyone wanted to wear pink for the “Barbie” movie; space cowboy for the Renaissance concert — opening week of the film could be a fun fashion moment for the culture, who knows?

Highlights From Couture:

Did Lyas just invent fashion show watch parties? Hell yeah he did. Go Lyas go!
Schiaparelli opened Paris Haute Couture Week with Daniel Roseberry’s fall 2025 collection. Daniel has a way with silhouettes — and pulsating hearts. Absolutely stunning.
Iris van Herpen’s “Sympoiesis” collection included dresses made of alternative fibres. One of which was a “living look” made with 125 million bioluminescent algae. She even worked with a Japanese biotechnology firm to make it happen. She told Vogue, “this collection is not replicating, because that would be senseless. It’s really about creating deeper relationships and therefore a consciousness.” I gasped when I saw the pieces. Every single one, perfect. Women in STEM.
Glenn Martens made his debut show for Maison Margiela during the Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week presenting the “Artisanal” collection, and it was f*cking sickening. Following Galliano must have been a bit intimidating, but he proved himself — plus one-third of the collection was up-cycled.
Other creative director debuts included Celine with Michael Rider, and Matthieu Blazy at Chanel.
Some other standout shows I’m loving is Robert Wun, ArdAzAei, Viktor & Rolf, and Ashi Studio.

Quen’s Elisa Johnson Edit:

Elisa Johnson dropped a new optical frame as part of a marketing campaign modeled by Quenlin Blackwell. The edit includes her favorites from the brand: Millie (new), Val, and Kendall. Quen’s been in her modeling bag this year.

Remember Verdoie, mentioned in the newsletter “mushrooms in your makeup bag?”

Well, it’s launching in retail at Credo Beauty and Pharmacie Continent 7ème. Love to see it. You can find more up and coming brands in that post, now paywalled.

The unemployment rate for black women has risen for the third consecutive month.

In things that make you go, hmmm — the unemployment rate for black women has risen for the third month reaching nearly 6%, which is about twice the rate of white women amid widespread federal job cuts. Black women have faced the largest recent job losses due to government layoffs, with many remaining unemployed for longer periods than other demographics. Since learning that black women aren’t actually the most formally educated demographic, it’s even more concerning now that the Big Ugly Bill has reared its ugly head. We’ll be alright though!

Songs on Rotation:

Lisa - JID & 6LACK
Meet Me Halfway - Black Eyed Peas
More Than A Woman - Aaliyah
Magical Distance - Kamasi Washington

Western Astrology:

Full moon in Capricorn today (July 10)
Saturn retrogrades back in Pisces on July 13
Mercury begins retrograde in Leo on July 18
New moon in Cancer on July 24

See you next week,

TIA