Axel Arigato raves, sci-fi beauty & an iconic 30 under 30 list
The ‘most disappointing under 30s’ list is absolute perfection
Ciao!
Agenda for today’s letter: Axel Arigato raves, the return of partying, an iconic 30 under 30 list, and is sci fi beauty the next trend?
I spent the better part of this week on a press trip with the gorgeous menswear resort label, Orlebar Brown. We were in Marbella, Spain, which I can confirm has some of the best weather going. Mid October, and still hitting highs of 26–27°C. It makes sense really, given you can literally see Africa from the beach on a clear day. Coming from dreary London temperatures, it was a much needed warmth injection for the soul.
I was there with a few other journalists and content creators, celebrating the launch of Orlebar Brown’s latest collection with Lamborghini. We were hosted at the Puente Romano resort, a tropical Spanish wonderland filled with heavenly restaurants (Cipriani, Nobu, Gaia, Uni, Chiringuito), seven pools, a nightclub, a Six Senses spa, and not one but two Orlebar Brown stores. It was the kind of place you could arrive at and genuinely never need to leave.
As all good press trips go, we ate, drank, socialised, learnt about the new collection, and had those wild experiences, like driving the Lamborghinis that inspired the new collection through the mountains of Marbella. Heaven.
Okay, onto the good stuff.
A brand rave is (always) a good idea…
Last Friday night, I went to an Axel Arigato rave. It was held in a warehouse in Hackney Wick, and it was a fun vibe. Gorgeous fashion people dancing wildly, sipping tequila, and smoking on the dance floor.
I met my friends at Ellie’s in Dalston for martinis and Palomas. I told them I didn’t know what to expect. While I’d seen Axel events splashed across my friend Sam’s Instagram stories for years (he’s their brand manager), I didn’t want to set their expectations too high.
But when our Uber pulled up to a warehouse surrounded by a gaggle of very cool people, we knew we were in for a treat.
Axel Arigato is known for its sneakers and streetwear sensibility, and for making underground culture synonymous with its brand. Speaking to the Axel team, I loved their approach to community building through Axel Nights, a series of parties across London, Berlin, Paris and beyond, where fun, fashion-minded people (many already loyal customers) come together to dance for a few hours.
To say a brand rave is unique is an understatement. While many brands throw wild parties behind closed doors (I’ve heard the stories from the post-fashion week parties of I.AM.GIA, Balenciaga and the like), it’s rare for a brand to bring rave and party culture front and centre.
But it makes all the sense in the world. These are the spaces where culture lives and breathes. They’re often the best invites in town; the places you want to be. While this has long been part of Axel’s DNA, it also speaks to a broader cultural shift: the return of the party.
One of my most popular letters explored the rise of the soft club, where non-traditional spaces like bakeries, laundromats and coffee shops are transformed into mini raves. There’s also been plenty of discourse around the importance of partying, sparked by Derek Thompson’s viral Substack on how partying is dead in the US (apparently, it’s down 70%).
As Sean Monahan (who coined terms like “vibe shift” and “boom boom aesthetic”) put it perfectly in a Substack chat a few months back:
“My contention is that the most salient skill in creative communities is partying. It’s the one thing tech – and its agentic proxies in AI – will never be good at.”
Partying is fun. And right now, it feels like culture is craving it. It makes sense. Historically, in stressful and uncertain times, humans have always turned to partying as a form of release.
So it follows that brands are tapping in. Nothing catalyses desire more than seeing a group of gorgeous, fun people having a gorgeous, fun time. The best brands today create their own worlds. And a world that’s fun is one many want to be part of.
Of course, there’s risk for brands. But too often, they’re so concerned with their image that they stifle all the fun. The success of those doing it well may encourage others to follow suit. Because the benefits, when it’s pulled off, can be immense. Just look at Burberry’s Glastonbury campaign – a case study in how fun can revitalise cultural relevance (and sales, which is really what the higher-ups care about anyway).
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An iconic 30 Under 30 list is making the rounds…
And it is spotlighting mediocrity and underwhelm.
I know we are in the Girlboss 2.0 era, but nothing feels more naff for me right now than the fetishisation of the “founder” or “CEO.”
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