Eau de Parf-YOU-m: Art as Commerce

‍Post-Purchase Upsell. Founder of Checkout Blocks and ‘friend of the pod,’ Gil Greenberg, is joining the Shopify team after the commerce giant acquired the indie Shopify SaaS app for an undisclosed amount. Checkout Blocks retained 850 active merchants at the time of acquisition.

This is the latest in a series of small-team integrations by Ottawa-based Shopify, which acquired Dovetale (an influencer marketing platform) in 2022. This 2023 Substack article is a comprehensive overview of Shopify M&A and key leadership that come from M&A.

‍40 Under 40. Retail Touchpoints’ 40 Under 40 awards is an annual event that celebrates the brightest innovators in the retail industry. Nominees are assessed for their business impact as well as overall contributions to the retail industry.

Congratulations to Future Commerce’s very own Brian Lange for making the 2024 list along with leaders from Canada Goose, ULTA, Kroger, John Lewis, and Lowes.

‍The History and Aesthetics of Fragrance. The latest episode of the Nymphet Alumni podcast is a comprehensive breakdown and critique of Orebella, Bella Hadid’s foray into niche fragrance. It’s worth a listen and a subscribe.

‍Our Take: A fascinating part of the podcast is the fetishization of the ‘essence’ of a celebrity as a consumable. In the podcast, the Alumni crew riff on the commercial nature of Orebella and it “feeling disconnected” from Hadid herself.

An example that is offered up as a more desirable product is perfumer Marissa Zappas’ fragrance created as a three-part digital art experiment—film, magazine, and product—with enfleurage of actress/muse Bella Newman, extracting her sweat and oils as a tincture.‍

‍The extraction and commercialization of the self (in this case a fragrance) is an artistic critique— a commentary—misinterpreted as mimetic desire.

‍Adaptive Fashion. Anthropologie launched its first adaptive fashion collection this week in partnership with Lucy Jones, founder and CEO of FFORA, a lifestyle and accessories brand that is native to the disabled community. The collection includes eight of the brand's best-selling items, such as the Colette cropped wide-leg pants.