In the latest second-quarter filings from US apparel and footwear brands and retailers, both PVH and Guess Inc booked a rise in both earnings and revenue, while L Brands reported a 28.7% drop in earnings, and Urban Outfitters achieved record second-quarter sales and a jump in profit.
LOS ANGELES — Among other things, Thursday night showed that Robbie Ray was not just a one-year wonderment for the Dodgers.
Unlike last year, he is only one of their obstacles.
The Arizona left-hander was one of the few major league pitchers who had the combination to lock up the 2017 National League champs. He struck out 37 of them in 20-1/3 innings last season and came into this game with 49 punchouts in his past four visits to Dodger Stadium.
Injury and delivery imprecisions have slowed Ray this year, but he floated into the opener of this four-game series like an ominous ghost. He blanked the Dodgers through five innings and only left when Manny Machado belted a one-out home run in the sixth.
By then the Diamondbacks had enough runs, and enough defense and bullpen to sustain them, and they won 3-1 to shove the Dodgers two games behind in the National League West.
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As Ray was recounting his performance, slight applause wafted in from various clubhouse rooms.
San Diego’s Franmil Reyes had just taken Colorado’s Brian Shaw over the wall, and the Rockies were 13th-inning losers and dropped 1½ games behind Arizona.
But nobody’s worried about anything except the game at hand. Right.
The Dodgers are 2½ games out of the second NL wild-card spot. This is not an irrevocable series, not with another series at Arizona on the docket later, but a four-game sweep would make the terms of engagement somewhat forbidding. The Diamondbacks are the only team that can do that now.
Ray struck out Matt Kemp and Kiké Hernandez in the first, with two men on. He struck out Chris Taylor and retired Yasiel Puig with two men on in the fourth. He got a double play ball from Justin Turner in the third, then struck out the side in the fifth. The Dodgers put up another triple-K in the ninth and struck out 15 times all told.
Taylor, the National League’s whiff leader, is perhaps the most graphic illustration of why this year isn’t last year. He struck out four times Thursday on a total of 16 pitches.
“We haven’t played them since May,” Ray said. “They hadn’t seen me and maybe that helped me tonight. But when I’m able to make a pitch on time, it makes a big difference. There were times when I might have gotten behind a guy by a pitch or two, and I was able to execute and it would come out 94 (mph). The pitches were pretty crisp tonight. It might have been the best I’ve thrown this season.”
Ray had an oblique strain that kept him out from late April to late June, and he had a 1.459 WHIP, as opposed to 1.154 last year when he finished seventh in Cy Young Award voting.
He also figured in Arizona’s only scoring inning. He led off the fifth by slapping a single to left off Rich Hill.
“Third hit of the season for him,” noted Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager.
Steven Souza singled and A.J. Pollock slapped a standard-issue double play ball to Justin Turner at third. But Turner threw wide to second, and Brian Dozier had to stretch every ligament to keep the ball from getting away. Thus, the Dodgers got one out instead of two, which meant Paul Goldschmidt’s pop foul was the second out instead of the third.
David Peralta, hitting .382 in August, did not let that deed go unpunished. He lined Hill’s first-pitch fastball into the right-field pavilion.
Ray and Souza scored ahead of him and it was 3-0.
“They hit a three-run homer and we had a solo homer and that was the difference,” said Roberts, who also could have mentioned the double play that didn’t get turned, compared to the eighth-inning, one-out bouncer by Matt Kemp that the Diamondbacks did turn. That happened with two on and one out against reliever Yoshi Hirano.
“I was on third when David hit that one, and he mashed it,” Ray said with a smile. “He’s been doing that every night for us. On that double play, I was sliding into second and just trying to put my hands in front of my face. I’m not involved in plays like that very often.”
“He (Hill) dropped down, but he did that earlier in the game,” said Peralta, who was a pitcher in the Cardinals’ organization, was released after arm injuries, and learned how to hit for the Amarillo Sox, Wichita Wranglers and the Rio Grande Valley White Wings, all teams in independent leagues, before Arizona signed him. He has 26 home runs and 74 RBIs.
“I really thought that ball was off the wall,” Peralta added. “Then it went ahead and went on. I went, ‘Whoo.’”
Hill was gone after five, despite seven strikeouts and no walks, and the Dodgers got quality work from four relievers. The drama only arises when they get leads, apparently. On Friday, they’ll have to get a lead against Zack Greinke.
In their past four games against contending teams, they have scored seven runs and lost them all. Life was easier when only one man had their number.
While I was slathering sunscreen on my daughter at her weekly swim lesson in Tustin, she held her caramel arm up against mine.
“I hope my skin is never as dark as yours, Mommy.”
Wounded, I grasped for what to say. To acknowledge my hope was the same would be admitting life is more difficult with skin as dark as mine. To dismiss her comment would mean such things aren’t important -– but aren’t they? Especially now, with divisiveness raining down on us? We’re choking on it – the injustice, hate, name-calling and violence.
But how do I explain all this to my 6-year-old daughter?
Cowardly, I chose silence. The moment fell away as my daughter bounded carefree to the shallow end of the pool. Only then did I allow myself to process her desire for skin lighter than mine. For years I had suppressed the pain associated with having dark skin, but it was impossible to ignore any longer.
I spent my first seven years in Grand Cayman, where race doesn’t drive perception. My childhood friends were varying shades of pink and brown. We slung British accents and the sing-songy brogue of the island. It didn’t matter what we looked like. We all played together underneath the canopy of sea grape trees dotting the shoreline.
When my mother and I relocated to the United States, I felt a shift. My new school in Florida was private, rich and white, and I was one of two students of color in the entire elementary. In the islands, there was segregation, but a different sort. There it’s about class and rarely about race. What divides is schooling, brand clothing, car model, house size. Not skin color.
My new classmates informed me I was “black.” I had never heard that label. I pointed to a post at the corner of the playground, “I’m not black. That post is black. I’m brown.”
They were insistent, and by day’s end, when Mom picked me up, I was in tears. It was my first taste of the strict sorting in the United States. People are instantly dropped into categories: skin color/ethnicity, religion/beliefs, finances/economics, etc. I suspect my daughter has already begun sorting.
It has become my mission to stop it.
To do that I must first acknowledge my own scars and pain to prevent them from being passed to my daughter. It has been my experience that most whites can’t see past my color even as most blacks say I don’t match their expectations of what our color represents. I’ve been told that I sound and act too “white.” I’ve been ridiculed for dancing like a white girl and admonished for dating non-black men. I’m a disappointment and an enigma. Yet I’ve walked around optimistic, believing most people see the world as I do, that people are people, which has kept hurt and anger at bay.
The truth is I am not black. I am not white. I am me, a person in limbo, often isolated and rejected by two worlds. That anguish feels more pronounced within the fractured state of our nation. How did We the People drift apart?
Then it struck me: We were never together. Americans have been divided by race, segregated to respective corners, since the beginning.
This is underscored when I walk into my local grocery store in Irvine or my daughter’s elementary school, where I see white and Asian faces looking at me. They stare, and I can almost feel them forming opinions of me based on my skin color. In today’s political climate of diatribes against “others,” it’s gotten worse. I feel saddled with the burden of representing all blacks in a community where there are few.
But when even my daughter repudiates my pigmented skin, what is happening around me slams into focus. These long-simmering conflicts have come to the forefront of our nation’s awareness. Tensions rise. Anger spills onto the streets. Another person of color killed for seemingly no good reason. Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Ferguson, Baton Rouge, Oakland. On and on. I feel more lost than usual, outraged
and scared. With a leader who fans the flames of racism, misogyny and bullying, my blinders don’t work anymore. I’m reminded that no matter what I accomplish, I will just be seen as a black girl.
Less than two years ago we had a president who represented what I believed the future would be. As groundbreaking as that was, I cannot ignore the fact that, in the U.S., anyone who is part black is simply considered black, even if part of their heritage is white. Assumptions about race have swelled from a dull roar to a haunting bellow. I anguish over what kind of society my caramel multiracial baby girl will grow up in.
Back at the pool, questions swirled in my mind as my daughter swam. What do I teach my daughter when our country’s highest authorities have trouble acknowledging the antagonism and racism being fostered? How do I groom her to be colorblind without getting hurt? How do I coach her to avoid land mines of rejection and be her authentic self? Where will she fit in?
There is a whole generation of mixed-race children coming, but how will she view herself until they have arrived. Will she recognize the change and its significance as she becomes part of a blended, somewhat unidentifiable, non-white majority? White people will become the minority. We’re seeing this shift happening already in Orange County.
Take the demographic makeup of Irvine, where I live. A historically white community, Asians now comprise the majority with 43 percent of the racial composition. Blacks? Only 1 percent. This is the opposite of Atlanta, where I lived before moving here. Blacks made up 54 percent of the population, whites about 38 percent, and Asians just slightly above 5 percent. I went from being surrounded by faces that looked like mine, to a community where I am nearly non-existent. I am an anomaly, a freak on parade. Going from a city that touts “Black Pride” to a city where I feel shame for my blackness made me fear I was to blame. Was my daughter adopting my shame? I needed to act.
On our drive home that afternoon I found the courage to finally address my daughter’s comment. She sat slick and damp in her car seat, chomping on white cheddar popcorn. I caught her eyes in the rearview and spoke slowly.
“Hey, sweetie? Remember at the beginning of your lesson when you told Mommy you hoped your skin was never as dark as mine?”
“Yeah, kind of.”
“Well, I wanted to talk to you about that a little bit. I wanted to first of all remind you how beautiful your skin is. It’s gorgeous and reminds me of sweet caramel. And you know, not only do I think your skin is beautiful, but I think my skin is beautiful too. And so is Daddy’s and Mrs. Badua’s and Nana’s. We all have different shades of skin, and I think they are all beautiful.
Don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do, Mama.”
“And you know, just how we all have different shades of skin, we all come in different shapes and sizes too. For instance, Daddy is really tall, and I think that makes him very handsome. And Aunt Joan is round and soft, and I think that makes her beautiful and warm. And you have lots of friends and teachers that come in all shapes and sizes, right?”
“Yeah!”
“I just want you to remember that no matter what color, size or shape you or your friends are, you are all beautiful. Promise me you’ll remember that.”
“I’ll remember, Mommy.”
I took a deep sigh which felt like I was exhaling for the first time in a long while. Then I sank into my seat and focused my eyes, and heart, forward.
Seasoned line cooks in a professional kitchen move with the grace and fluidity of dancers performing onstage. Repetition and muscle memory evolve into precise movements. The brain learns and the body remembers. The music of a well-organized dinner service isn’t muddled with clanging pots or pounding oven doors or shouting voices. Instead, it is the cadence of synchronized bodies humming in unison with purpose.
At Addison at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar, that artistry is captured each evening by chef William Bradley, a California native celebrated for his refined – almost poetic – takes on modern Southern California cuisine. Bradley, a celebrated chef who never believes his own good press, is honored to oversee this year’s Culinary Masters weekend on Sept. 22-24.
The event kicks off with a gala dinner headlined by founders of the nonprofit ment’or and culinary icons Thomas Keller and Jérôme Bocuse. Chefs such as Paul Bartolotta, Dominique Crenn, Josiah Citrin, Gavin Kaysen and Ming Tsai will contribute their own courses to this decadent meal.
Coast caught up with Bradley to learn more about what he has planned for this anticipated event and why there are no egos allowed in his kitchen.
COAST: Describe the Culinary Masters dinner.
WILLIAM BRADLEY: We laid out the menu so it’s structured in the sense that two chefs will do canapés, one chef will do an amuse. One will present the first course. We’ll be doing the second course. And, so on …
COAST: What dish are you planning for the second course?
WB: Fruits de mer, fruits of the sea. It can translate into many different things, but it will most likely be a chilled shellfish salad. So poached king crab, mussels. It will be very shellfish-driven.
COAST: Sounds like a perfect representation of your California coastal cuisine style. Tell us, what will accompany the shellfish?
WB: It’s in development because we’re still developing the entire menu. [Before I can decide], I need to see some of the ingredients that the other chefs are using. We don’t want to repeat anything.
COAST: How will you tell a Michelin-star chef that they can’t use a particular ingredient?
WB: We’re all friends. So if, for example,Josiah is using this and someone else is using it before, I can call him and let him know.
At the end of the day, what I truly admire is that there are no egos with this group. We all understand why we’re here: that the guest is having the ultimate experience. So, in doing that, you can’t have an ego. To make sure the guest gets the best experience and what that translates to is something collaborative and authentic. Fortunately, I know how to step out of the way.
COAST: Tell us, how do the Culinary Masters chefs really mingle?
WB: Behind the scenes we always collaborate. As a chef you’re intrigued by the product and the craft of cooking. So when you get together, it’s fun to see what someone else is doing. You ask questions. We’re always still learning. I think that’s the beauty of this business. It is even more acceptable when you’re around colleagues that you get along with very well – and we’ve worked on these dinners before – and we’re great friends. We know what we’re doing, so we can help each other out.
As the host chef, I try to get everything on our end organized. Then we can assist the traveling chefs because it’s always harder for them to showcase their food on the road.
COAST: How will this differ from other food-driven experiences?
WB: We’re very hyperorganized here. So I want as much as I can for those chefs to show extremely well. And in order for them to do that, they have to really entrust in us – what we’re going to order for them, how things are organized.
Being here in Southern California, the terroir of what we can receive is amazing. So we grab from all our purveyors that we use in the restaurant daily.
Execution is everything. Many chefs can write great menus. But can you execute what you write? That is one of the most challenging things as a chef. So if we can take all that pressure off them when it comes to preplanning, when it comes to the execution, they’re not running around for certain things, there’s no wasting time and they can deliver a really amazing experience.
For more information, visit the event website. :: RR1.com/event/culinary
WESTMINSTER – Marina’s football program entered this season with a rare feeling of optimism.
The Vikings’ 34-25 win over Laguna Hills in a nonleague game Thursday at Westminster High, Marina’s home field, makes them 2-1 and will make that optimism expand.
Marina junior running back Pharoah Rush rushed for 196 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries. Brant Riederich, a sophomore, rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries for Marina.
The Vikings before this school year were moved from the Sunset League in which they had struggled mightily in football to the newly-created Golden West League Conference for football. (Marina remains in the Sunset League for all other sports except football.)
Marina last qualified for the football playoffs in 2001, before some of the players on this year’s team were born. The Vikings were 0-5 in the Sunset League last year. Three times they allowed more than 50 points in league losses.
They had lost 60 consecutive Sunset League games before beating Fountain Valley in 2016.
So knowing they don’t have to play Edison and Los Alamitos and the other Sunset League teams in a few weeks has lifted the hearts and hopes of those connected to the Marina football program.
“That’s been taken off of them,” said Marina fifth-year coach Jeff Turley, “that worry of what’s ahead of them. It’s allowed them to loosen up and just play.”
Marina, Turley added, usually had enough talent.
“The biggest battle’s always been in here,” said Turley, pointing at his head.
Rush (5-10, 180) explained where the Vikings’ heads are at in 2018.
“We’ve got our minds set on the playoffs,” he said.
They had to get their minds set on figuring out a way to beat Laguna Hills on Thursday. Marina trailed the Hawks (1-1) at halftime 18-8.
Marina decided to lean on the running game in the second half. The Vikings offensive line of Daniel Escamilla, Chase Hoglund, Nick Rakowski, Michael Santillan and Angel Velasco with tight end Richard Rojes asserted itself.
The Vikings took the third quarter-opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on 10 plays, nine of them running plays, with Riederich scoring on a 1-yard dive to slice the Laguna Hills lead to 18-15.
After Marina’s Eric Church made an interception that put Marina at the Laguna Hills 11-yard line, Rush splashed into the end zone on a 1-yard carry to put the Vikings ahead to stay 21-18.
Rush added a 36-yard run to make it 28-18.
Laguna Hills made a run. Mitch Leigber’s third touchdown reception, this one covering 7 yards, from Hawks quarterback Matt Der Torrosian put them back in the game 28-25 with 2:16 to go in the fourth quarter.
The Vikings were able to run out the clock, and on the last play got another touchdown on a 1-yard sneak by receiver/backup quarterback John Robinson.
Laguna Hills coach Mike Maceranka did not appreciate the final-play points and told Turley about it after the game. Turley said he instructed Robinson to take a knee on the final snap, but Maceranka was not convinced. (Robinson did take a knee on the ensuing point-after snap.)
Laguna Hills had taken a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on Jake Woolgar’s 47-yard field goal.
Marina grabbed the lead early in the second quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run by Rush, and Gavin Dykema scored on a two-point conversion run to put the Vikings on top 8-3.
Laguna Hills regained the lead for good with 6:10 to go in the second quarter. Leigber, a sophomore, took a short pass from Der Torossian and ran it the distance for a 50-yard touchdown.
Connor Ahearn caught a pass from Der Torossian for two points to make it 11-8.
The Hawks extended their lead to 18-8 late in the second quarter. Der Torossian lobbed a deep pass down the left sideline that Leigber caught in stride, over the shoulder, for a 72-yard touchown.
Laguna Hills, which beat University 46-6 last week, plays host to Saddleback Valley Christian on Sept. 7. Marina, which two weeks ago lost in Florida to South Broward of Florida and beat Torrance 31-0 last week, plays Katella at Westminster High on Sept. 7.
Cassydy Berliner was sunbathing poolside at the Grand Hyatt Kauai when the thought slunk into her mind that in four days she had to go back to work. Before vacation she had actually sat in the parking garage outside her Irvine law firm, crying in her car, like Annette Bening in the movie “American Beauty.”
No, she wasn’t going back. Cassydy picked up her cell phone. And she called her boss. When he answered she said “I quit.” Just like they do in the movies.
Then she grabbed a cocktail waitress and ordered a Lava Flow. When the frozen cocktail arrived she set it down next to her gold-rimmed Oliver Peoples sunglasses and her Rip Curl sunhat and snapped a photo of the still life. Seconds later, she made her first Instagram post, embarking on her new career.
“I tagged the Grand Hyatt Kauai and off I went,” she says. “I never looked back.”
Today, less than four years later, Cassydy’s Instagram feed (@cassydy) has nearly a quarter million followers and she’s making more money than she did as a director at her law firm job.
She is one of hundreds of OC women (and they’re mostly women), who are using social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to create an entirely new job niche: Social media influencer. They are rewriting the rules of advertising, turning themselves into not just their own brands, but ambassadors for other brands.
And they are cashing in, evidently—even though no one wants to divulge just how much.
No longer do you have to be a supermodel like Kendall Jenner or Gigi Hadid to get paid to tell people what eyeshadow you prefer.
“I’m not the prettiest,” Cassydy says. “I’m not the tallest. I’m not the thinnest. I’m definitely on the older side in this little world.”
But there are 236,000 fans out there who apparently don’t care. They like Cassydy’s Instagram personality (“wild and witty” is how her bio puts it) and the fact that she’s not afraid to bounce from tight black leather pants to Alice+Olivia dresses, from long brown locks to platinum blond pixie.
Brands are taking note.
Cassydy has worked with Cover Girl, Trina Turk, Fresh Beauty and the British jewelry designer Monica Vinader. Some of them are a one-shot deal, others are a long-term contract. About 80 percent of her gigs are the result of brands reaching out to her. But sometimes she pitches to a brand if the fit feels right. She won’t discuss money. The industry average for an influencer with followers in her ballpark, though, appears to vary wildly, anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 for a single Instagram post, depending on who you talk to, what you read.
And then there are free products and perks galore. Cassydy gets about four deliveries a day to her home near the Back Bay. The day I spoke with her, she was tearing open packages like it was Christmas morning. Blue acrylic statement earrings from BaubleBar. Make-up from Urban Decay. Bottles of new perfume by the Diana Vreeland label.
She is under no obligation to post items from companies she does not have a contract with, by the way, and if she doesn’t like the product, she won’t. Recently a hair coloring company offered her big bucks for two posts.
“I do not use products that my stylist does not recommend,” she says. “I go to a salon in Newport Beach (Blanc Noir Hairdressing) that I’m extremely loyal to. They gave me flowers when my dog died.”
So she turned the job down.
“I refuse to compromise my integrity,” she says. “You’ll never see me posting how much I love corn.”
You will see her posting how much she loves red lipstick (she will be buried in it). But if you have an Instagram account, you know that it takes more than red lipstick to build a following. The question is, what exactly? How do you build an audience from a routine poolside Lava Flow pic? What kind of voodoo…?
Mission Viejo’s adorable pixie Amanda Stanton has 1.2 million followers and nets up to 100,000 “likes” on a single post (which starts at $3,000, according to a 2017 online bio). But the young mom already had a boatload of fans from “Bachelor” Season 20 and “Bachelor in Paradise” Season 3.
When Forbes launched its inaugural Top Influencers list (the kind who make up to $300,000 on a single Youtube video) in 2017, it included only those who built their audience organically, from the internet up.
So if you’re not already famous or lucky enough to go viral, like Grumpy Cat (who has 2.5 million IG followers), what’s the secret? Work your butt off. Yes style and content play a huge role in your success, but mainly it’s work your butt off.
“I approach it from a business standpoint,” Cassydy says. “I’m not doing it for adoration or praise.”
Her job needs 8-10 hours a day. There are shoots to set up, events to attend, photographers to hire, photos to edit and hashtag, contracts to negotiate and sign. And perhaps most important, engage. Influencers spend hours a day interacting with their followers.
“I have a dialogue,” Cassydy says.
Jennifer Aniston (the face of Aveeno) isn’t going to have a back and forth with you about Aveeno products. Cassydy (who works with Aveeno) will. Possibly even in person. Social media influencers are invited to multiple events a day: Menu tastings, product launches, meet and greets.
Cassydy’s showed me her calendar for the following day. First stop: Lunch at Lemonade in Venice with 19 other influencers.
The event was organized by Dawn McCoy, an LA-based social media “personality,” tastemaker, and host who started her Instagram (@iamdawnmccoy) after leaving her job as a personal shopper for Barbra Streisand — and now has more than 283,000 followers.
Among the brands McCoy currently partners with are the cities of Beverly Hills and Palm Desert, Dove, Rodeo Drive and Philosophy. She also curates social media influencer trips and events, inviting the perfect mix from the worlds of food, lifestyle, fashion and beauty.
Cassydy considered herself lucky to get an invite. At the luncheon she, along with the other women, shared “sour-to-sweet — like lemonade” stories from their own lives while sampling the restaurant’s new lunch menu. A photographer (hired by McCoy) snapped photos. The influencers were asked to post something on their feed within 48 hours.
Lemonade got exposure from some of the most popular social media influencers in Southern California. The influencers got lunch (and a gift card), content for their Instagram feed — and new friends.
But that was just the start of Cassydy’s day. After brunch she headed back to Orange County to attend JetSuiteX’s launch of their semi-private John Wayne-to-Vegas jet (where she sipped wine and picked up a voucher for a future flight). Then it was off to a four-course Andrea dinner hosted by Pixi Beauty at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach.
McCoy says she attended up to 7 events a day when she started out. Her calendar is so busy (she’s also a voice-over actor for Subaru, and previously Marshalls and Diet Dr. Pepper) that she needs a team: Two part-time assistants, branding managers and appearance agents.
“My instagram is my life on a page,” says McCoy, who has no trouble discussing her age (40), her boyfriend (Nick) or her daily moods in her personable (and longish) posts that she sometimes composes in her nightly bubble bath.
Even her new home, a duplex on the edge of Beverly Hills that has its own Instagram (@casatexicali), is content for her platforms. Christopher Kennedy, (the Ralph Lauren of the West Coast), partnered with her on the vision for her interior design (old Hollywood meets boho glam meets Palm Springs fabulous). Taylor Burke Home “sponsored” her chairs. The house will be finished — and posted, of course — by summer’s end.
McCoy is known for pulling other influencers into her orbit. She keeps a data base of every social influencer she has ever met from around the world. It has over 1,200 contacts, 95 percent of whom are women. It’s where she looks to invite influencers on a trip or to an event.
Not everyone in this new world is as generous as McCoy.
This is why Ladera Ranch fashion, fitness and lifestyle influencer Alison Barker (@allthingsalison) co-founded SoCal Blogger Babes with fashion and lifestyle blogger Shelby Soileau (@styling.sunshine) last fall.
“The blogging industry can be somewhat competitive,” Alison says. “Some of the girls don’t want to be friends with one another. This community is really supportive. There are enough brands to go around for everyone.”
The duo has since started chapters in Los Angeles, San Diego and New York City. Houston is next.
Alison was a marketing manager for a day spa chain when she made her first Instagram post nearly three years ago. She had been getting a lot of compliments on her outfits (“I’m all about dresses and jumpsuits”), which often made her chuckle since they were bargains from stores like Forever 21 and even Walmart.
Today she has upward of 60,000 followers and works with Athleta, Kohl’s and Forever 21.
The District at Tustin Legacy recently hired her to spend a day there and post photos of what she bought (date night outfit), ate (coconut soft-serve) and did (spin class and movies).
“We see influencers as an increasingly necessary part of our marketing efforts,” says District Marketing Director Shannon Campbell.
Unlike traditional print advertising, an influencer’s value can be easily tracked by a brand. Even if an influencer buys bots to bump up their following, a brand can see how many people “liked” a post, shared it, commented on it.
But even though places like South Coast Plaza have a social media coordinator, many businesses still aren’t convinced, or even clear on the whole concept.
Connie Aboubakare is an OC food blogger (@occomestibles) with 75,000 Instagram followers. She rarely appears in her posts, photographing only meals — mostly Vietnamese dishes, but also street tacos, Korean, Indian — from either restaurants or her kitchen.
In March, Food Beast, which has nearly 5 million Facebook likes, launched a video series called Chomping Grounds and spent Episode 1 following Connie as she ate her way through pho and hot pot and snails in Little Saigon. She visited eight restaurants. Three denied her request to let the camera crew film her while she dined. They missed out, because the video went viral and has had 2.2 million views and counting. (Her three young sons are jealous).
Connie’s social media stardom started with a random waffle post she took at an IHOP, by the way.
Cassydy’s Instagram feed still displays the first post she ever did from that day she quit her job poolside in January 2015.
“Yay!! First post on a perfect day in paradise!” the caption reads alongside a red lipstick emoji.
It got a whopping 153 likes. Earlier this summer, Cassydy returned to the Grand Hyatt. This time they feted her, as an influencer. There was a chef tasting (peanut butter and jelly foie gras), massages, a cabana, and, of course, a Lava Flow. ■
NEW YORK – Thom Browne is having a really good week. On the heels of this week’s announcement of Ermenegildo Zegna Group’s acquisition of an 85 percent stake in Browne’s brand, as reported in WWD, Barneys New York and the designer are partnering on an in-store experiential concept, launching Sept. 5 in the lead-up to New York Fashion Week.
Browne may have decamped to Paris for his runway shows but he considers himself a U.S.- based designer. What’s next on the menu? He’s bringing more flavor to the city in the form of “the Thom Browne burger.” With a special sauce developed by Barney’s Downtown executive chef Jennifer Wasnesky, the burger will sell at Fred’s at Barneys Downtown.
“For me, I wanted to do something truly American and I think as soon as people eat it, they will know exactly what I mean,” Browne said. It’s served with red, white and blue condiments, representing Browne’s grosgrain ribbon detail, and fries. The meal, taste-tested by Browne, was meant to mimic a fast food burger one might get anywhere in the States. Think Allentown, Pa., where the designer grew up. And the burger is just one part of a larger partnership experience.
“We’ve been talking since
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EAT YOUR SHIRT: Just in time for Bread & Butter by Zalando, which kicks off in Berlin today, Diesel is dishing up a surprisingly tasty new collaboration: Diesel x Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap. The vegetable kebab stand in the city’s Kreuzberg district is legendary for its long lines of aficionados, often young tourists coming direct from the airport and willing to wait 30 minutes and more for what they claim is the non-plus ultra in döners. But don’t let the name fool you: unless you say “hold the chicken,” Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap will be packed with spit-grilled poultry, fresh and roasted vegetables, feta cheese, garlic, herbs or hot sauce, a spritz of lemon plus a secret last ingredient. All for 3.90 euros, or around $4.50 at current exchange.
As for the consistently irreverent Diesel, the Italian brand sent out a cookbook instead of a look book for this limited-edition line, produced in a 4,000-piece run. Cookbook takeaways include “Creativity is a super important ingredient. [It] comes after fresh tomatoes on my list,” from Mustafa. Or Diesel’s suggestion that “This collection is the new avocado on toast.”
The drop is comprised of a cap, four T-shirts and two sweatshirts featuring both Diesel and Mustafa’s
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Of the 250 automobiles on the lawn, here are the ones that the founder of Photodesign Studios locked his lens on.
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