DIP 043: Names and meaning and aesthetics

Plus, regenerative pasta, bodycare goes niche, and a Marie Antoinette-core crate cover

👋 Hi. I’m still here and I’m glad that you are, too. Five months into self-employment, I’ve found that I’m far less drained at the end of the workday. This leaves me with more room to do things! Hobbies previously felt like an obligation — something I was supposed to do to prove to myself and others that work wasn’t the only thing I had going on in my life. Now they’re the things I intentionally plan my day around and eagerly look forward to. What a thrill. This is also where I’ll say that I have room to take on new projects! See an overview of my offerings and schedule a call with me. Work-related convos and informal chats are equally welcome. As always, reply with questions, comments, or thoughts about anything you read here.

This issue features 13 brands. Sixty-two percent are white-led, 15 percent are Black-led, and 15 percent are led by non-Black people of color. You can find the complete Chips + Dips inclusion index here.

The Chips 🔛

• Gravitatas is making lounge bras for people with DD+ chests…

• … and Complex Creatures is a breast health brand.

• Kernza is an engineered perennial grain developed to support regenerative agriculture and Perennial Pantry sells Kernza-based food products.

• Lady B Salon specializes in haircare for Black women experiencing hair loss.

• Asset is an anal health serum. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

• Is Pilomano the next big travel accessory?

• You can now get cook-at-home biryani from some of New York’s best Indian restaurants.

• Here’s something to satisfy your Marie Antoinette fantasy.

• Fashion Brand Company is one of the very few genuinely brilliant clothing brands in operation today.

• Black Folks in Design is a network of Black designers who believe that design and aesthetics can be a form of social justice.

• IKEA did Hay (h/t Elizabeth Goodspeed).

• I’m very into the look of Platform’s monastic brutalism.

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The Dip 💝

I saw a headline about Hailey Bieber “debuting chocolate syrup hair” and was about to rage-tweet something about it just being brown when I realized that the article was two weeks old and also not worth my energy. It did, however, bring up something I’ve been thinking a lot about and growing increasingly frustrated with — the impulse to name (or brand) absolutely everything. 

At its best, a concept like “girl dinner” or “tomato girl” or “bed rotting” can rally people around a common idea or experience. But I think there’s something more insidious at play — a falsified sense of community that gives the illusion of togetherness or shared interests while actually reinforcing isolation.

A few upfront caveats:

• My critique is around the systems that exist, not the individuals who participate in those systems. 

• This is about a much larger social issue. It’s not something that brands can or should solve. In fact, attempting to do so is akin to putting a bandaid on a broken bone.

• There are things I’ll probably miss and misrepresent here. I may also not be saying anything new — I’m just trying to untangle a few threads.

• I want to talk about this with people! I want to hear your perspectives. Comment, reply, schedule a call with me. Let’s dig into it.

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Here is an incomplete list of activity-oriented groups and businesses that have emerged in the last couple of years:

There are game groups like Mahjong Mistress, Green Tile Social Club, Lawn Club, School of Bridge, Pawn Chess Club, the Manero’s Chess Club, and Poker Power. There are art and creativity-driven spaces like Happy Medium, Drawing Room, RecCreate Collective, and Dabblo. There’s Reading Rhythms, which gathers people for reading parties punctuated by conversation breaks.

All of these are built around real-life connections — getting people out of their homes to do an activity in the company of other people (an activity that doesn’t involve a screen, no less!). There’s a serious hunger for them — many sell out in minutes and generate waitlists.

But they’re not only about the activity. The image is just as, if not more, important. You may not go to the weekly chess club at your local YMCA, but a vibe-y chess club in the back room of a restaurant? That’s shareable and therefore worth seeking out. You can assume something about the people in attendance based on the image the group puts forth, and you can align yourself with those people and that vibe by attending.

Image alignment is the connective tissue.

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The idea of brand-led communities isn’t new. It’s something that I’ve written about before (see: DIP 003, DIP 024, DIP 034, DIP 039). It typically involves making a purchase in exchange for access or acceptance. Anyone could, in theory, show up for a Tracksmith running club, but showing up in head-to-toe Tracksmith signals that you’re serious about your affinity for the brand.

Instead of community and a sense of belonging being ancillary components of a brand, it’s now increasingly woven into the fabric of a brand’s identity. This clicked for me when Algae Cooking Club launched. It’s not just the “club” in its name that signals belonging, but rather the use of “cooking club” — rooted in an action, not just a purchase. (Previously, “club” was commonly used by subscription businesses to signal membership or recurring shipments, Dollar Shave Club being a prime example.)

Am I overthinking it? Definitely. But it feels like a notable shift. It’s doubling down on the idea that buying a product grants entry to a group, a related set of actions, and insider knowledge.

Algae cooking oil has been around since at least 2017 (I received a bottle when I worked in media once upon a time and wrote about it in a now-deleted article). What Algae Cooking Club adds is a very “IYKYK” vibe to an otherwise bland product — their brand identity and storytelling are strong and their launch was exceptionally well-executed.

Image alignment is the connective tissue.

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This brings me back to the impulse to name and brand things. Chocolate syrup hair is just brown. Bed rotting is resting. Girl dinner is an easy solo meal. But none of those are really worth talking about.

An algorithm is not a community, but our digital platforms lead us to feel otherwise. This article by Dan Brooks on raising a child in a culture set on defining people by their actions is relevant here.

It’s a variation of the Spotify genre effect. Gauze pop, freak folk, nerdcore… At a certain point, the specificity of labels fractures aesthetics until they’re rendered meaningless. Mireille Silcoff’s recent essay about the collapse of true subcultures explores this well.

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All of this has the effect of warping our perception of what relationships and identities entail. Shallow relationships are important, yes, but they can’t be the only form of connection we maintain. Similarly, we can follow minute-to-minute trends and change our hair and try new things, but those aren’t the only (or even most important!) markers of identity.

Being in community means being around people who are not like you and who you may not like (and who you can’t block or mute!), but whose wellbeing you care about in part because it is directly connected to yours.

Our institutions move slowly and often don’t meet our needs, so we’ve begun to look to brands and branding for a solution.

We, as consumers, are acted upon and we call it connection. 

Who benefits from this? Who is taken advantage of? Who sets the rules?

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Real Dip 💋

Green romesco-ish.

Toss one bunch of parsley, two smashed cloves of garlic, one jalapeno, a big pinch of paprika, and a big handful of almonds into a food processor. Pulse until everything is chopped and starting to incorporate, then let the engine run and drizzle in olive oil. Add more oil if you want it to be saucier.

Add salt, blitz again, finish with a big splash of red wine vinegar, and stir.

Works well with roasted carrots, smashed potatoes, and butter lettuce.

Thanks for snacking,

— Emily 🗯️

PS: My phone line is open! Schedule a call with me.