Welcome Digest [2.16.26]

Rocky's NYFW show falls short, botox coming to Erewhon, and more

Welcome To February 16th

Today’s Important Headlines

A$AP Rocky’s NYFW show is lackluster

A$AP Rocky’s AWGE runway show leaned heavily on outdated staples like multi-pocket cargo pants, logo hoodies, and oversized tailoring. Despite extensive coverage from fashion and culture staples, the collection feels flat, derivative, and stuck in exhausted 2010s references, with Rocky’s name doing most of the heavy lifting.

-

This artist turns internet memes into beanies

Independent designer @modishhhly is making beanies using iFunny internet meme imagery, including references to Hatsune Miku, Jeff the Killer, and early Instagram iconography. The drops lean into nostalgic brainrot aesthetics, and are made to order.

-

Erewhon is offering in-store botox and filler service

LA luxury grocery store Erewhon is hosting cosmetic treatment pop ups with med spa chain Ject inside its grocery locations. Shoppers will be able to book Botox, peels, and lip treatments alongside food purchases. The rollout triggered debate about med spa regulation and the growing trend of merging wellness retail with literal cosmetic procedures.

-

Cult Japanese brand Beams finally opens full US online store

Japanese retailer Beams just launched a dedicated US e-commerce site, making the Japanese brand broadly accessible without proxy shipping. The Tokyo-founded chain has been influential in menswear for decades, collaborating with brands like Arc’teryx, Needles, and Levis, but being notoriously difficult to buy direct in the US until now.

-

Is Peter Thiel funding everything?

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Palantir, is being discussed online for backing or indirectly supporting a range of cultural projects and figures, including Remilia’s crypto-culty Milady Rave, Discord’s alleged new age verification, Clavicular, writer Honor Levy, and more. The ‘Thiel Bucks’ accusation has been around for a while, and is often baseless, but its growing prominence points to a very real overlap of tech capital, ‘counterculture,’ and politics.

Headline curation and words by Mikail Haroon (@mvkail)

Moodboard 033

Today’s inspiration supplement. Click through to view.

From The Archive

An extra piece of content from the Welcome Archive for Magazine subscribers only.

Shimoda Masakatsu Dinosaur Headpieces at Comme des Garcons Homme Plus Fall (2018)

For Comme des Garcons Homme Plus Fall 2018, artist Shimoda Masakatsu designed a series of dinosaur inspired headpieces worn on the runway.

The handmade masks combined skull anatomy, fossil textures, and horned forms, fully covering each model’s face.