Is this real or is it cake?
I’ve been there. I’ve been you. The consumer that makes stupid purchases at stupid hours under the false pretence that maybe it’s to feel some type of release or maybe it's for the endorphins. All the good stuff you trick yourself into believing is beneficial for you. You find yourself saying “When I buy this, I will feel so much more put together”.
But will you? Because your pockets won't.
I have heard about Isobel Lorna before and briefly know her story but I don’t follow or keep up. Personally, the content she creates isn't for me. I know she started off working at Amazon and worked her way up to purchase a Porsche and then a few months or years later a Birkin but don’t hold me to that timeline. She’s a known luxury influencer turned entrepreneur and has recently released her highly anticipated brand ‘Agende’ which showcases a luxury hybrid diary amongst other things. You can purchase the ‘tan’ set, manufactured with calfskin which includes the agende, a mix of plain and lined paper, a mix of different inserts including whiteboard and a mirror and more.
In today’s article, I'll be exploring this topic that has taken the internet by storm. I will try my best to not critique, the key word being try.
The Influencer Economy
Despite everything, I will always give credit when credit is due. The way Lorna has been able go from posting tiktok’s to forming a tight-knit community to launching a brand is a reflection of how the influencer economy has changed. It’s no longer just about your following but the scale at which you can make it work for you. It’s no longer about virality, it’s about getting your content to resonate. All of which Lorna has been able to successfully deliver. She has been able to cement her self-identity within the influencer space; her persona has known characteristics. She’s known as the girl who is clean, ambitious, dedicated whilst recognising the hard work it takes and encouraging her audience to be smarter with their finances. The way in which she has infused this into her content has allowed her to build such a big community. Community to entrepreneurship is the sweet spot a lot of influencers and content creators aim for but fall short. Sometimes the product or service being delivered isn’t what the audience wants. I fear Lorna has landed in this sweet spot; she’s been soft-launching her brand for months and both of us would be lying if we said the rollout wasn’t successful and completely on brand for her. So what’s my issue you ask?
Reminder: Always hate capitalism
Who on God’s green earth needs a luxury planner? What can be so luxurious about a planner? What miraculous things can a luxury planner do for you? I simply cannot get my head around the concept of the product and who the product is for. What will this product that burns a near £300 hole in your pocket do for you? The notion that this planner will help you go from type B to type A didn’t fly over my head, it was actually overtly obvious to me which is why I’m having such a hard time supporting the product. Maybe it’s because the message doesn’t resonate with me but I don’t believe that any product can make you go from ‘type B’ to ‘type A’ and I’m looking at anybody who does it sideways. Apologies in advance that I don’t own businesses or have built a personal brand, before the girls say that is why I am criticizing. I simply don’t co-sing the idea that this product is worth the money. It’s got nothing to do with the fact that she’s a woman in business or that I’m not her target consumer or audience.
Further down the list of products I don’t co-sign as being worth the money, we have the Dyson CameraJet. Let me ask you a question- does a toothbrush need a camera? Isn't that why we have our dentist appointments in which you have to book 36 years in advance? Isn’t that what we pay the professionals for? Oh and how could I forget our good friend AI. There is AI in the toothbrush. To put into perspective how crazy I think this is, I am a firm believer that a Victorian child has a higher chance of experiencing an aneurysm at the thought this monstrosity than me growing another arm.
I guess what I am trying to get at is, I’m having a hard time swallowing this bullshit consumption-shaped pill. We are reaching a point (we may be there already) where we’re just making shit that capitalism has indoctrinated us into believing we need it. Yet I am left with so many questions. All the resources it took to invent an AI toothbrush, couldn’t have been used elsewhere? Are we optimising a bit too close to the sun? Is this real or is it cake?
In the end, there is only one thought daughter against the entirety of a capitalist dictatorship. “After all, capitalism comes, it goes, sometimes I resist the temptation and sometimes I don’t. The best we can do is breathe and reboot”.
Or whatever Carrie said.