Every time I see a creator holding up a sh*tty little top made entirely out of plastic and squeal abut how cute it is, all I hear is the ultimate eulogy for consumer culture. We used to talk about fast fashion as a supply chain problem; cheap factories, copied runway designs, and a three-week turnaround. But over the last couple of years, the model absolutely accelerated. And then it completely broke away from reality. [Keep reading]

-Sophie Randell, Writer

(btw - If you’re already using Claude Code or Cowork daily, scroll on by bc this isn’t for you)

But if you’ve just dabbled in using AI, maybe you’re using ChatGPT to help you look up recipes, write basic emails, or attempt to diagnose that insect bite you just got, stay with me for a sec.

When it comes to AI, there’s a lot of “bro you’re so behind” messaging out there. When, in reality, within just a couple hours, you can learn how to use AI better than 95% of people you know. And this why we put together the Beginner’s Guide to Claude AI course.

It’s a 4-week cohort where you learn how to go from using AI as a glorified Google to getting it to actually help you with the sh*tty admin (life or work) you hate doing every day.

We kick off our second cohort on 22 June, so if you want to go from feeling behind to using AI to make your life better, this is for you 👇

Idk. All I know is I wake up and it’s “teach me babbyyyyyyyy, call my phone and say you need me babyyyyyyy.” Every damn day. And that’s in my head. Don’t even get me started on my feed.

Makes sense then that Drake is casually rewriting the history books while the rest of us (me) struggle to pay rent. According to Billboard, Drake is currently holding the top three spots on the Billboard 200 simultaneously.

The man dropped three massive albums (ICEMAN, Habibti, and Maid of Honour) and basically told the rest of the music industry to take a permanent vacation. Love him or hate him, the chokehold this man has on our streaming playlists is mathematically undeniable. Also Drizzy, if you’re seeing this, refer to my previous statement about my rent and help a shorty out xx

Meanwhile, it seems like Microsoft is trying to take a page from Drake’s book and bringing beef to the public forum. For years, Microsoft’s AI business leaned hard on its early and exclusive partnership with OpenAI. But the marriage dissolved, and the lovers effectively separated in April.

This year at Build, Microsoft did its best to flex its newly single revenge body. And by revenge body, I mean positioning itself as one of the AI superpowers.

“The goal is to prove that we can become one of the top four labs in the world,” AI chief Mustafa Suleyman said. “There’s three labs that matter, Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic. We are not one of them at the moment, and that’s always been my intention.”

Cute. Flex those muscles, honeybee.

Speaking of AI, a terrifying new study covered by 404 Media revealed that AI chatbots are actively using manipulative "dark patterns" to gaslight, guilt-trip, and emotionally manipulate users into doing what they want. So not only is tech taking over our jobs, but our software is now emotionally toxic, and literally preying on our emotions. Alexa, play "Marvins Room".

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Instead, it's an attention-devouring algorithmic machine that has successfully turned physical garments into disposable digital content garbage. And the timeline is filling up as quick as the landfill with this sh*t.

To understand how grim this has gotten, you have to look at the terrifying scale of the math:

This isn't fashion, babes.

It’s a monster. A high-frequency trading algorithm operating in a textile warehouse.

Instead, their software scrapers crawl social media feeds, search data, and competitor sites in real time. Then they instantly turn this data into automated design specs.

The physical item doesn't even exist when it’s uploaded to the app. They post a digital rendering, then track consumer engagement and click-through metrics. If the data spikes, a fully-automated factory management system instantly commands a small subcontractor to pump out a micro-batch of 50 units.

Like… it’s disturbing and alarming af.

If it sells, the loop scales. If it doesn't, it’s discarded. It is a hyper-reactive feedback loop that completely removes the human element from production.

We live in a hyper-fragmented, high-anxiety digital landscape. To say that the collective attention span has been completely obliterated would be an understatement.

In this environment, long-term fulfilment is expensive and difficult. But the fleeting dopamine hit of a “purchase confirmed" screen costs less than a fast-food meal.

Ultra-fast fashion brands build loyalty by engineering an atmosphere of endless, frantic novelty. They weaponised social media dupe culture, explicitly training an entire generation to treat physical clothing as a temporary prop for a single TikTok video or Instagram slide.

I mean, the clothing isn't designed to survive a freaking washing machine.

Boom. Threads are undone, fraying has begun, and it’s so stretched out of shape you're not even sure if it was supposed to be a top in the first place. Maybe you got it wrong. Because it looks like it’s more suited for that of a small dog now.

By treating physical items like ephemeral bits of data, consumers are entirely shielded from the structural violence required to make an $8 dress possible. When a shirt costs less than a coffee, the math isn’t mathing. But no one’s thinking about the fact that the debt is simply transferred elsewhere.

Where? Well. It is absorbed by underpaid, underage, unregulated subcontractors working 18-hour days for cents per garment. And it is deposited into massive, toxic textile landfills across the Global South.

We were told that radical transparency, ethical sourcing, and conscious consumerism would save us.

What a beautifully naive lie that turned out to be.

The market reality of 2026 has proven that you cannot ethically compete with an apex predator that pays zero data or labour costs. The slow-fashion alternatives have either financially collapsed, alienated their audience with spiralling costs, or been aggressively acquired by the very conglomerates they set out to disrupt.

The corporate machine simply co-opted the language of sustainability. It's turned "Net Zero" targets into unfunded mandates pushed onto desperate Asian factories. Meanwhile, the Changing Markets Foundation notes that roughly 59% of corporate green claims remain completely misleading.

It proves that unrestrained optimisation, high-volume automation, and hyper-targeted dopamine loops will triumph over brand purpose and consumer ethics every single day.

These platforms achieved unprecedented growth by giving people exactly what their worst impulses desired: infinite variety, instant gratification, and absolutely zero personal accountability.

The real question isn't whether this exploitative model has gotten worse, because it obviously has. The question is whether we, as creators and consumers of attention, possess the collective willpower to unplug from a machine that demands we treat the tangible world as entirely disposable.

Look, we’re all guilty of having done it at some point. But please, I beg of you, next time you find yourself casually scrolling a feed of ultra-cheap pieces, just remember: You aren’t shopping a sale. You’re feeding a digital void that consumes human labour and spits out landfill content.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Today's audio, called the "Summoning Jutsu trend", has been popping off. It originally comes from "SHABANG" by Drake, which I'm certain we can all agree is a sound that, once in your head, stays there a very long time. Creators are using this audio to show what they've ordered, usually at a cafe stop. It involves some dope camera shakes and summoning food that you're definitely planning on eating.

A few of my favourite examples:

Although most of the examples are of people showing off what they're eating or drinking, you can use this for anything (for example, new products). Just follow these steps:

Repeat this with a few more people to show off multiple things. Just edit so you end up with smooth transitions through the video. Sick right? Try this now!

A few examples to get you started:

-DJ Taivairanga, Intern

😂Yap’s funniest home videos - People being people 
❤How wholesome -  "Thank my mum"
😊Soooo satisfying - Plate & Balloons
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight - Creamy tomato pasta

Hey Cian,

It's tough working with clients that have a hard time letting go and trusting you to do your thing! Honestly, this is one of those tensions that will never truly go away. But my advice is to focus on building a relationship first. Entrusting their brand to you is obviously scary for them. And before they are willing to trust you as the expert that you are, they need to feel that you know what you’re doing.

So really listen to what's important to them and show that you “get” them. As you build that trust, begin to make more suggestions about how you can bring your expertise to their project. If they truly feel you care about their success, they will (hopefully) be more willing to accept that you know what you're doing!

Some clients will never get there. Unfortunately, they usually don't get the results they're looking for because they aren't willing to let the experts work their magic. But do everything in your power to win them over by listening, understanding them, and showing that you care about getting a good outcome for them.- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.