The Bowery's founder opened a hotel in California.
LVMH bought a newspaper, mayoral candidates in the Hamptons, and more.
Good morning everyone.
I had my first experience with the Hamptons police this weekend. A valet left my keys locked inside of my running car (don’t mean to flex, but I inherited a 2006 Camry from my grandmother). I asked the officer on Shelter Island if the Fourth of July was indeed the the highest volume of 911 calls (I read that somewhere), and he said his night had been nonstop.
I’ve entered a state of Hamptons anthropological study. There’s a specific style of plastic surgery which I can only assume is thanks to VC-backed Botox and filler providers. There’s also a lottttt of fast fashion, mascara, Chrome Hearts, Hermes sandals, Glossier perfume, and blatant effort being put into the outfits people are wearing at the restaurants and bars out here. When I drove by the Hampton Jitney line this morning, there were women standing with suitcases (the kind you check) which I assumed were filled with one weekend’s worth of outfits. I felt exhausted for all of them.
To quote the great , “Shouldn’t vacation be a break from trying, though? The coolest people at the hotel bar never really seem to care whether or not they look like they’re on vacation; they just are.”
Today’s letter includes: One of the Bowery Hotel’s owners (who also made Tiger King) opened a new hotel, Bloomberg launched a newsletter about the business of food, and Paris department stores stores are building spaces for brand events.
Guest Lecture is a Feed Me series that captures the spirit of that (sometimes unhinged) guest lecturer who would come into your class on a Friday, drop more knowledge than you’ve heard all year, and then leaves forever.
For our next Guest Lecture, we’re interviewing Michael M. Grynbaum. Michael wrote Empire of the Elite, which comes out next week. I read the glittering story about Condé Nast’s history earlier this year — after I finished it, I planned a book talk with Michael that will take place later this month. In a time where newsletter writers pride themselves on the number of scoops they have per newsletter (you can read more about that in today’s water cooler section), and journalism school graduates are left with industry crumbs, the account of Condé Nast’s lavish heyday feels like a both a bible and a map of the world of magazines.
Paid readers can ask Michael anything about the future of Vogue, what he thinks about Substack, and what Condé Nast’s legacy says about America.
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LVMH bought French media group Bey Médias. This isn’t the first time the luxury giant has invested in media: they acquired Les Echos, a financial newspaper, in 2007 and Paris Match, a glossy people and culture magazine, in 2023. Per WWD, LVMH was already a minority shareholder of Bey Médias, which publishes daily newspaper L’Opinion and financial news website L’Agefi.