The Sirens Call | September 8

GM Sirens! Happy Thursday! Let's get right into it...

when you fell asleep 3 minutes into the movie… 🤷🏻‍♂️

it's a movie

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forget fast-fashion, Genies is granting unlimited outfits 🧞‍♀️

The hottest runway in fashion will be in the metaverse. A digital avatar app called Genies is launching an NFT fashion marketplace called The Warehouse. The platform already has some celebrity users like Cardi B, Migos and Justin Bieber who used his avatar to announce the release of his Christmas album in 2020. But mass adoption is on the horizon. Through the Genies Studio app, users can buy and sell digital fashion items to dress up their avatars and build a dream closet. The best part? Users have full rights and tools to edit and change the clothes they buy, to suit their own style. And because Web3 puts creators first, the original designers of the fashion pieces get a portion of the revenue each time their item is resold.

One of the first collections on the platform will come from Tati Bruening. You might know her from the “Make Instagram Instagram Again'' campaign she started. Basically petitioning Instagram to revert the platform back to its original form - focused on photos, feeds shown in chronological order, etc. Instagram has tried to change its platform to suit what Gen Z seems to want, and users aren’t happy. 

Platforms like The Warehouse seem to be offering the type of individual expression that’s lacking in Web2 social media. The CEO and founder of Genies, Akash Nigam, says he sees the company becoming a social network, which Gen Z users are yearning for as Web2 platforms are no longer meeting their needs. Could the avatar become our new social media personas? With so much criticism of influencers and celebrities over photo-editing creating unrealistic beauty standards, will we move toward using avatars? 

You’ve heard us mention more than once that there is a big gender disparity right now in Web3 adoption. Offerings like The Warehouse could be the best way to get more women into web3. Genies says 85% of the users on their waitlist are female. Plus the platform is lowering barriers to entry, making it easier to step into the metaverse. We love to hear it! 

Women in Web3 👩🏻‍💻

Seneca was the lead artist in the creation of the most recognizable NFTs in the game right now, yep you guessed it, the Bored Ape Yacht Club. But get this, she wasn’t credited on the project. 

Seneca was working as a freelance designer in New York City, after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, when creative agent Nicole Muniz came across her work. She eventually pulled her on board for a graphic design project that would become the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Seneca told Rolling Stone, the original design of the NFTs was rooted in the idea of “an ape that’s kind of jaded and tired of life but has all the money and time in the world, and hangs out at a metal bar.” And the yawning, eyes half shut, wrinkly faced apes were born. 

Months after handing over her drawings, Seneca stumbled upon the project online and was absolutely shocked at how big it had become. For context, the BAYC NFTs have made over $2 billion (yes that’s a B) in lifetime sales. While she can’t reveal the details of her actual compensation from the project, the fact that she didn’t know the project had gotten so big says a lot about how the cut she received. She told Rolling Stone her compensation “was definitely not ideal.” But she doesn’t seem to be harping on this, and in the same interview, she said there was a lot to learn from the experience.   

Especially after the Rolling Stone profile, word of mouth about her participation in the BAYC project picked up quite a bit. Plus, she made a big splash at Miami Art Basel last year with the launch of her own NFTs as part of an exhibit called Iconoclast. People were loving her pieces for the pop-surrealism, depictions of innocent child-like figures contrasted with jarring hallucinations. The piece below is titled Can I Be MOTher? Seneca explains the piece as representative of her feelings as a commercial artist, selling work that feels like her baby, and finding a way to let go of it. The use of an ape in this one could be a nod to her experience with BAYC. 

I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of Seneca in the near future. You can view the rest of Seneca’s work and accomplishments on her website: All Seeing Seneca. 

retail therapy, hold the guilt 🧥

The Vintage TwinSeriously cool vintage pieces. Everything is 1 of 1, so if you see something you like, you better act fast! 

We all know fast-fashion is a major contributor to pollution of our earth, and The Vintage Twin has uplifting reminders of the benefits of buying second-hand. Each listing says - “If everyone bought one used item instead of new this year, it would be like half a million cars taken off the road for a year.” I absolutely love this approach. It makes you feel so much better when you’re shopping and you’re reminded of how you could contribute to something positive. 

when you need a little inspiration ✨

A Man Named Scott - Learn the story of the man on the moon himself - Kid Cudi. He’s so lovable and complicated at the same time. The documentary takes you through his early career and making of his 2009 album, Man on the Moon: End of Day. He’s really open about his trials with mental health - losing his dad at 11 years old and the pressures of celebrity - he’s overcome so much. We also get to hear from his famous friends about how much he influenced them, like Timonthée Chalamet and Lil Yachty. 

The Boy from Medellín - I didn’t know that much about J. Balvin before watching this, but this doc is so real, he'll start to feel like a friend. We follow him preparing for the biggest show of his career. We get to see him behind the scenes with his family, and even talking about the pressure he feels to speak out about politics in his home country Colombia. He has such a big heart, you’ll love him so much more after watching. 

listen please 👂🏽

Kaytranada is on tour with The Weeknd right now and is on fire. Take a listen - he’s a DJ with that cool disco-reminiscent type of dance music. You might recognize a tune or two from clips used in those dreamy “POV: you ran away to Italy” TikTok videos. 

Talk to you next week!-Juliette