The Weekly Roundup (week of 6.12)

the NCAA just dropped a collab with the free market

1. The NCAA Has a ‘Hot Girl’ Problem

As we enter the third or so year of NIL deals, patterns have begun to emerge, and we’re starting to see that the biggest bag holders aren’t necessarily the biggest stars on the court. A fascinating look at the new and evolving world of NCAA athletes dives deep into the way student-athletes are taking advantage of new rules allowing them to profit off of their own image. Read here.

2. “I Would Love to Be at a Fashion House”—Eli Russell Linnetz on ERL’s First IRL Show and His Move From Venice to Florence

Eli Russell Linnetz’s career arc defies the dubious orthodoxy that you have to study fashion design to make it as a fashion designer. A native of Venice Beach, he pursued screenwriting at the University of Southern California before spending his post-college years experimenting his way through a mutlifarious portmantaeu of creative roles: film director, costume designer, set designer, photographer, graphic designer, and more. What united all of them—and led him eventually to fashion—is that they are forms of storytelling.

This is someone to watch, I think any house that hires him as CD will find a ton of success awaiting them. Bullish on Eli Russel Linnetz! Read here.

3. Is the death of thrifting upon us?

Another great essay from BBSP, about how the quality of affordable mass-market clothing has gone down drastically over time and the downstream effects this will inevitably have on thrifting. Read here.

4. Daddy, Are You an Influencer?

This is about the rise of dadfluencers which exploded during the great content creator boom of 2020. I don’t really know what to make of it, I think it’s rather harmless in most cases but it’s also a pretty funny reflection of our social media-driven lives. I have respect for anyone with the tenacity and ambition to amass a huge audience so I tip my hat to these dadfluencers, but I don’t plan on doing this shit when I have kids lol. Read here.