Clockwise from Top.
Celebrity Vacay
It’s summer, and we love a good vacation story around here. Last week, it was a St. Tropez wedding, this week it’s Drake’s Mediterranean grand tour.
He hit up Ibiza, and the South of France, but don’t worry - the yacht he was on is only $660K per week, with a staff of 22 on board at all times. Per his IG stories, he tried to AirDrop a message to a woman to a woman at a restaurant he was at. Note: keep your AirDrop set to contacts only! You never know when Drake may be near by. You can check out his IG here which has all the behind the scenes.
We’ll leave it with this video/story of him trying to get away from a bee in St. Tropez. Drake is seated at an outdoor table while two members of his entourage try to protect him. As he later commented, “I hate bees on god.”
We chat more about it on this week’s podcast!
Curated Convenience
Foxtrot is a Chicago-based small format store offering curated food and merchandise, for local or national delivery. It is one of the many companies out there trying to disrupt the corner store: see also Blank Street, Fast AF.
Dan Frommer covered them recently:
Upscale convenience store, third-wave coffee shop, and wine boutique, digitally equipped for pickup and delivery. What’s unique is how Foxtrot has integrated all of these into a neighborhood retail space that’s welcoming and fun — a “third place” where you might actually want to spend time; where there’s been consideration and creativity applied to the user experience.
And they offer a nice merchandising mix, including:
a curated assortment of more than a thousand groceries, beverages, household items, and prepared foods, from the cutting-edge and adventurous to the hit staples. The chance to discover new brands and products and also to stick with comforting favorites. A current approach to what’s good to eat and drink, with the opportunity (but not obligation) to eat healthy. And a mix of brands, from tiny local startups to global household names.
Their IG here gives you an idea of their point of view.
Giant Fit Chinos
J.Crew was in the news the past week, with the first collection from the new Men’s creative director Brendon Babenzien hitting the web. This GQ piece is pretty emblematic of the coverage the collection got in other sources.
The two most talked about pieces from the collection were the leather vest, and the oversized “giant fit” chinos.
While exciting for those of us who used to shop at J.Crew, it remains to be see what kind of impact the new collection will have. Will it be enough to bring back former customers who have moved on? Will customers shopping Noah or Aimé Leon Dore move their spend to J.Crew? Will Gen Z support the new aesthetic? It’s likely not something that can be answered immediately, as turning around a brand as big as J.Crew is a multi season, multi year task.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance
The superstar’s seventh album is out. It’s a dance album, but unlike Drake’s summer album, it’s not just vibes:
Unlike Lemonade or 2013’s Beyoncé, Renaissance sticks to the dancefloor—no ballads or breakup paeans, just pure energy, propulsive BPMs, and fuck-’em-all strut.
While Break My Soul is the big single, the whole album is strong from start to finish.
She does briefly take a populist turn, saying that she’s favoring Telfar bags over Birkins:
Versace, Bottega, Prada, Balenciaga
Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, collect your points, Beyoncé
So elegant and raunchy, this hot couture I'm flaunting
This Telfar bag imported, Birkins, them shits in storage
I'm in my bag
Vogue Business has more.
Links.
Aman steps further into the luxury retail market.
Where celebrity kids are going to college this fall.
On Manhattan’s private social clubs.
<3
Chris & Raquel
To receive Tourist Trapp’s thoughts in your inbox once a week—become a subscriber today:
If you would like to post a comment, click “Leave a comment” below:
If you’d like to share this piece as a web page, click the button below:
Our newsletter is supported by our readers. We sometimes earn a small commission from purchases made through our affiliate links.