HNY (do we still say this?) – I hope you had a very restful holiday season and a quieter start into the new year than I did. Resulting in the first edition of this newsletter releasing one week later than intended. But here we go, with the first great brand activations and cultural highlights of 2026:
*buzzing: AUSTRALIAN OPEN BECOMES CULTURAL HAPPENING
This week, the AO kicked off in Melbourne, bringing together the world’s best tennis players, a massive fan community, and of course, brands eager to tap into the hype. But the Australian Open hasn’t been just tennis for a while now. With AO Finals Live, it’s basically a full-on cultural moment. This year, it’s bigger than ever: turning a Grand Slam into a music festival with sets from The Kid Laroi, Peggy Gou, Hot Chip, Aminé and more.
Brands have obviously figured out what’s happening. The AO crowd isn’t just tennis fans anymore, they’re Gen Z culture hunters. And sporting events are becoming entertainment platforms. Skip that ecosystem, and you’re already behind.
A music festival isn’t enough. This year, the Australian Open teamed up with brand partner Oditi to bring in KidSuper’s founder and designer Colm Dillane to paint a special edition poster for the tournament. And if you ask me, it should’ve become the official visual of the whole thing: That’s the kind of cultural move that gets noticed. Not just booking artists, but investing in the visual language that makes a moment actually matter.
Next to the matches and the festival, brands are popping up across the city. Official partner New Balance teamed up with Parisian coffeeshop icon Paperboy for a pop-up at Up There Athletics, complete with a pretty unique merch selection that’s definitely worth the trip cuz that’s the full experience: tennis, music, coffee, and shopping all in one week.
Just days before the AO kicks off, German rising star Eva Lys announced her partnership with Lacoste. Together, they created some seriously cool content pieces. Last year, Eva made history by coming into the Australian Open as a lucky loser and made it into the round of sixteen. This year she’s back, and she’s got Lacoste in her corner <3
*buzzing: TOMMY HILFIGER X LIVERPOOL FC
Last week, Tommy Hilfiger and Liverpool FC announced their partnership, making the US brand the official lifestyle fashion partner of the club. Over the coming years, this will play out through campaigns with the male and female teams, capsule collections for fans, and kitting out players on matchdays.
The announcement featured captain Virgil van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike, plus LFC players Gemma Bonner and Leanne Kiernan. But the real moment? A stunt at Anfield that covered the pitch with the biggest flag ever produced: a 101 x 65.59 m co-branding of both icons – thaaaat’s how you announce a partnership.
*buzzing: GENTLE MONSTERS X FKA TWIGS
While it's cold and snowy outside, Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster got into flowers and discovered nature in the most surprising way. They introduced their "bouquet collection" through a bee on Instagram…
…, then followed up with an official campaign film starring and directed by FKA Twigs and creative director Jordan Hemingway.
After a year of pretty minimalistic, real life and clean visuals from basically every brand out there, this is refreshingly colorful. But Gentle Monster’s interpretation of flowers is still far from flower power. It’s future, but with flower pots.
*buzzing: COACH TAKES THE SIMS
Gaming and fashion are back. This week Coach released 9 unique items in The Sims 4 that players can get and wear for free. There’s Coach staples like a varsity jacket and sneakers, but also interior items like the trunk and bags that can be placed in your Sim’s house.
I kinda love it, especially after my passion for the game had a huge revival during the holiday and it just makes SO much sense. Here’s the thing though: this is the first official fashion brand partnership in The Sims in five years. And I’m pretty sure it won’t take another five years until the next one.
*buzzing: DUNKIN X MEGAN THEE STALLION
If you think of brands owning Fit January, Dunkin’ probably doesn’t come to mind. But they got Megan Thee Stallion for an 80s-inspired fitness ad for their Protein Refreshers, and honestly, they nailed it. This isn’t for those fully committed to fitness goals. It’s for everyone celebrating the lifestyle for a few weeks before returning to normal, which is obviously a way bigger audience.
It makes total sense too. Megan’s been posting workout videos on socials and has already released actual fitness instruction videos with Nike. So pairing her with Dunkin’s protein option just works.
*buzzing: THREE WEEKS UNTIL THE SUPERBOWL
Buckle up, Super Bowl brand content is slowly kicking off, and so is Bad Bunny content. He's performing the halftime show this year. Aside from my personal hope of seeing the Patriots back in the biggest match, this is honestly the best reason to stay awake since Riri performed.
*buzzing: RICK OWENS & MICHÈLE LAMY FOR MONCLER
Whenever Rick Owens and partner Michèle Lamy take ownership of a project, it usually turns out both art and buzz. Their newest collaboration with Moncler was introduced in a pretty unusual way: we see both of them kissing several people, with the camera always zooming into the topwear and the Moncler logos.
And yes, at first glance this might not look like it. But this was shot by Jürgen Teller himself, making the very “amateur” aesthetic intentional. Moving us from the hyped lo-fi aesthetics to a new lo-pro aesthetic? Let’s see where this goes.
*buzzing: KID CUDI EXHIBITION IN PARIS
I’m a Cudi stan and I’m still not over him having to cancel his tour across Europe after breaking his foot. So I’m veeery in when it comes to taking the five hour drive to Paris for his first solo exhibition “Echoes of the Past” at Ruttkowski Paris under his artist name “Scotty Ramon”. Anyone joining?
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