The Sunday Digest 061
Starting to feel like fall, isn't it?
Welcome to The Sunday Digest — a free Sunday newsletter featuring long (and some short) reads, original columns, things I’ve saved over the last week, relaxing playlists, episodes releases, exclusive product drops, and more. Yes, you can reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you. Or, if podcasts are more your speed on Sundays, we’ve got that too.
Sunday Read › Remaking J.Crew: Creative Director Brendon Babenzien on Year Two of the Brand's Reboot
by Avidan Grossman for GQ
We didn’t have a mall near us growing up which meant that every fall we’d drive down to the Detroit suburbs and go to the malls there. While my shopping career really started at video game stores and The Gap (okay, and the California Pizza Kitchen near the mall entrance), it definitely eventually landed on J.Crew.
J.Crew has been a fickle beast my entire life. Some seasons, I feel like everything in order. The pants don’t deteriorate after a single wash. The tees fit well and haven’t been re-made in a shittier fabric. The sweaters actually feel like sweaters rather than bargain bin grabs at the last minute.
And then other years, well, things feel deteriorated, ill-fitting, and cheap.
But I have more faith in J.Crew today than I did at this point last season. And GQ did a great job explaining why.
Note: Open this read in an incognito window if it’s paywalled.
Here’s an excerpt from their interview with J.Crew Creative Director Brendon Babenzien:
I'm curious how you do that for guys shopping at J.Crew, which caters to a wide swath of the market that might not be as attuned to shifts in the menswear zeitgeist.
I don't think people have to be incredibly conscious of the change. I don't think you have to give it to people on a silver platter and be, like, Here's where we are today: do this. That would actually be really counterproductive to the way I think about things.
Those subtle things, they become the reality, as you push for change. So you're not really hitting people over the head. It's kind of a gradual process. And as people see things or hear things over and over, those things become normalized. I think that's kind of how you do it. It's not some big secret.
So for a J.Crew customer, it's a slow, gradual change, as it should be. I'm not that invested in trends, and I never have been. I can't even imagine a world where we go in, and we say to our customer, Hey, you were doing this, and now we think you really need to do this. That would be really bizarre. It's just too abrupt, and it would feel unnatural. I would even go a step further—change isn't always necessary for everybody either.
I don't expect, nor would I want everyone, to eventually end up in Giant-fit chinos. That would be just as bad for me. Because that's also a form of monoculture, right? We're just telling them to go from here to there. What I would love for society in general is for people to be more themselves, and actually be confident in being themselves, whatever that means to them.
Read in full here.
New Episode › Retail Therapy 048: Fall Men's Fashion & FW23 In/Out Report
A double-feature of sorts: our Fall 2023 Men's Fashion episode combined with the Fall/Winter 2023 In/Out Report. Rugbys, corduroy, and Nice Pants — oh my! We break down all things to look out for while shopping this fall. In the back half of the episode, we broke down our complete In and Out Lists through the end of the year. A staple episode for any Retail Therapy listener.
Listen to Retail Therapy on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube (see above), and anywhere else podcasts are found.
The Sunday Haiku: This freaking duvet cover, I swear.
Wait, which way is up?
Are you ready to flip it?
Dammit, it’s backward.
Relaxing Watch › Contemporary Curves in a Melbourne Family Home
Deeeeeep breath.
Melbourne's CJH Studio has given a Californian bungalow a soothing makeover. The project features stone elements throughout and unique design touches like a double-height void and a sunken bar. And honestly, an Aussie accent never hurts when it comes to searching for relaxing interior videos on YouTube.
Watch in full here.
From The Camera Roll
Pardon me while I get a bit sentimental for a bit.
This photo was taken at lunch on Thursday of this week. My wife, Sally, is officially on maternity leave as we wait on the arrival of our second child. No, we do not know what we’re having despite my efforts to figure it out during her ultrasounds.
Given that we’re less than two weeks out from our due date, a nice lunch featuring eggplant pizza, Mexican Coke, and truffle fries felt appropriate. Not only to celebrate her being off work, but to celebrate the hard work that goes into pregnancy overall. And we’ll keep celebrating until this baby is out when we’ll be celebrating some more.
With so much up in the air over the next few weeks, the one thing that may fall by the wayside during my paternity leave will be The Sunday Digest. Fear not, however, as I can guarantee it will be back by Sunday, November 5th.
Until then, I’ll be seeing you when I see you.
— Will
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