12. Those weird toe shoes are fashion now
I have it on good authority from Glamorous Jassmin.
Today’s letter includes: a Paris Men's Week party you can actually crash, how lab-grown salmon is out the world, why the Hermès experience feels like it's for kids, restaurant critics in disguise (complete with wigs!), plus a real estate lawsuit that's basically about who controls your house hunt.
If you live in NYC, today is your last day to vote in the primary. Find your polling site.
"Next time I see you I’ll wear them. They’re the cutest ugly shoe," my friend Jassmin Yalley promised me. No, I'm not talking about Crocs or Tabi boots. I'm talking about the straight up weird toe shoes (a.k.a Vibram FiveFingers) that were a big fad with barefoot runners roughly between 2005 and 2014, when Vibram settled a lawsuit alleging false health claims.
And the thing is, I believe her. Jassmin is a producer and strategist at Moose Knuckles, a Canadian luxury performance outerwear brand know for stylish and warm winter jackets. Before that, she worked for Bogner and Gap corporate. She's a city kid, born and raised in Brooklyn, so I knew it wasn't a getting back to nature thing. And to really help you catch her vibe, our friend group has a Jassmin and a Jazmine. To differentiate, we colloquially refer to Jassmin Yalley as, "Glamorous Jassmin." If Glamorous Jassmin says toe shoes are in, then I guess they are.
Despite my acceptance, I still had more questions.
Tell me what inspired you to get them and how you style them.
Yalley: Inspo legit came from a Pinterest post, my love for Tabis (but wanting something more everyday and wearable), and a search for a skinny shoe. Additionally, my mom used to wear these shoes all the time.
I'm still trying things out, but my initial thoughts are it’ll go well with either full blown hiker vibes to edge it up a bit, or a more dressed up look where the shoes dress that look down. Something with volume - a skirt, dress, wide leg pant. Nothing skinny.
Your mom lives here in NYC, what made your Mom get into it?
Yalley: I’d have to ask her, but I’m sure part of it is the natural element and how the shoe is supposed to help strengthen your feet. But she also stopped wearing them for similar reasons; It’s not always the best for people with flat feet and can cause strain on your feet since humans are not used to walking with less support on hard concrete.
Vibrams were really big with runners right? Do you run? Do you plan to ever run in them or is it a pure fashion choice?
Yalley: Pure fashion. I won’t run in them, but I did get them with a hike to Machu Pichu in mind, that’s what really made me purchase. Thinking about the outfits for that trip to Peru.
Ah makes sense! But do you think you’ll wear them out and about in the city as well? Do you think a lot of people are gonna start wearing Vibrams in the city?
Yalley: Oh 100% the outfit ideas are flowing.
Is that the new ugly frontier - Crocs are over, Vibrams are in?
Yalley: This is a stretch. I do think you see them a bit more, but not at a large scale until it gets that validity and seal of approval from other fashionable brands like Croc did. Without some kind of accessible fashion collaboration I think it’ll be a slow integration into the general public.
Vibram did a collab with Balenciaga and that brought on a niche fashion consumer, but Balenciaga isn’t obtainable enough for it to make a huge difference with the general population. Coperni just released a 5-toe shoe most likely inspired by Vibram, but not in collaboration with. It’s is still very much a weird ugly shoe. But weird and ugly is fashion.
Party Alert for Paris Men's Week. Magasin is having a party tonight, June 24, 2025 and you can go ... if you're in Paris. No RSVP required.
I did the Hermès Mystery at The Grooms experience and all I got was this notebook. My sister and I went last Friday. The rooms were nicely decorated. The mystery wasn't really a mystery at all, you just find horses on Hermes items while actors mill about and interact with you. It really seemed like it was mostly for children. If anyone works for Hermes' experiential team please let me know what the strategy is. If you want to go, it's free, it's in NYC June 19-29, and you get a coloring book/notebook at the end.
RIP Chin Chin's OG location. The West Hollywood Sunset Plaza spot that's been slinging Chinese chicken salads to celebrities since 1983 is closing July 27th after nearly half a century. The culprit? A landlord who had a "change in vision" at the last minute during lease negotiations, leaving the restaurant scrambling.
Founded by Bob Mandler, Chin Chin was basically the gateway drug that introduced many Angelenos to dim sum and Cantonese cuisine back when that was still novel. The original location became a decades-long celebrity haunt, helping proliferate Chinese American food across the city. Other locations will stay open, and the owners are hoping to find a new spot for the flagship, but losing the Sunset Strip institution feels like another piece of old L.A. disappearing.
A series about going from Pop Star to Not Star. Many people I love worked on this web series Flash in the Pan co-written by and starring the wonderful Samantha Gongol of Marian Hill (known for their platinum-certified hit single Down). See if you can spot me in Episode 1 :) — Episode 2 drops tomorrow!
I want to try this lab grown salmon so bad. Wildtype’s cell-cultivated salmon has received FDA approval, marking the first time lab-grown fish has been deemed safe to eat in the United States. Kann, a critically acclaimed Haitian restaurant in Portland led by Chef Gregory Gourdet, is the first to serve Wildtype’s cultivated salmon, which is made from Pacific salmon cells and designed to be consumed raw, sashimi-style.
"In reality, you may never be able to distinguish between its product and something caught in the ocean or farmed, as it's produced using cells from Pacific salmon that are cultivated in cell environments that replicate the habitat of wild fish. The cells are then harvested and mixed with a 'few plant-based ingredients to help create the flavor, texture, and appearance of conventional salmon,'" Food and Wine reports.
Real estate drama is heating up. The biggest U.S. brokerage (Compass) is suing the biggest listings site (Zillow) in what's basically a fight over who gets to see houses first. Compass is crying foul, claiming Zillow is anticompetitively banning their listings as revenge for Compass giving agents exclusive first dibs on about 7,000 private listings.
Zillow, which has a database of over 160 million homes, is playing the transparency card, saying private listings go against their mission to make home-buying more open. The irony? Nearly every house sold in America now starts with an online search, so whoever controls the listings essentially controls the game. It's giving very much "we're fighting for the people" while actually fighting over who gets to monetize your house hunt.
It's amusing to think about restaurant critics actually wearing wigs when they dine out. New York Times' Priya Krishna is currently serving as an interim restaurant critic following Pete Wells' departure in July 2024. It seems that time is coming to an end as she shared photos of her different disguises for eating at restaurants.
Other stuff: Sierra Tishgart, the co-founder of cookware brand Great Jones, is leaving the business; Julie, the morning-after pill brand, launched Sex Happens on Substack; Unilever acquired men’s personal care brand Dr. Squatch; Starbucks announced it is testing protein foam at a few US locations; and, speaking of foam, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Had a Pre-Wedding Foam Party.
Don’t forget to give this letter a heart or re-stack if you enjoyed! It will motivate me to sit down and write next week :)
Ending with something wholesome in a a turbulent time:
Thanks for reading! It would mean a lot if you gave this article a heart! <3