*buzzing: GENTLE MONSTER’S ‘THE ROOM‘
Following the launch of Haus Nowhere in Seoul and their amaaaazing campaign “THE HUNT” starring Hunter Schafer, Gentle Monster just dropped the matching horror game THE ROOM, where you have to escape knife-swiping Hunter in time. It’s easy enough for everyone, but tricky enough to keep you hooked for a while. Love it! Kind of a shame they didn’t manage to launch it alongside the campaign and in time for Halloween – but still, such a fun move.
Gamification seems to be THE (not so new) thing for fashion brands rn anyway: Balenciaga did their games last year, Coperni had a LAN-themed show, and Martine Rose just dropped a gaming-inspired campaign. It’s exactly the kind of playful escape people want from brands right now.
*buzzing: ’FOR WHEN IT RAINS’
Imo, Rains is one of the best examples of modern mass-market branding, from their product to their story and campaigns (like the paperdoll lookbook 🩷) – but their social content is the real superstar. Their latest move, “for when it rains,” reimagines classic board games as branded gamification: from crosswords to Guess Who, they make branding fun and give us the best reason to actually look forward to rainy days.
*buzzing: OVO’S PLAYSTATION COLLECTION
Yes, it’s been a few weeks since Drake’s OVO announced their collab with PlayStation, and the pieces themselves might not be super exciting (luckily, since it’s Canada-exclusive!), but the campaign is pure fire. It shows the motion-capture process usually used for in-game movements, here, it’s woven into the OVO world instead of the usual “guys sitting in front of a PlayStation” shots, and I LOVE IT.
*buzzing: POLLY POCKET IN 18K GOLD
Remember Nadine Ghosn – the NYC jewelry designer behind Drake, Bieber, and Ed Sheeran’s favorite playful pieces (yes, the crayon bracelet!)? She just teamed up with Mattel to drop 18k Polly Pocket necklace charms. If you’re as obsessed with 90s toys as I am, you’ll want to check her site RIGHT NOW; even if it’s just to realize that 18K gold costs 18K money.
*buzzing: NIKESKIMS TAKES US ICESKATING
NikeSKIMS is being credited with taking Kim Kardashian’s brand to the next level (confirmed this week with a new VC round valuing SKIMS at $5B) – and with saving Nike from losing women entirely to alo and On.
Their second drop is now out, and while I’m not sold on the products themselves (haven’t tried them; the prizes feel like they just added the SKIMS prizes to the regular Nike prizes?!), the campaign is craaazy nice: featuring Olympic speed skaters, it’s obv perfect for the cold season, but it also champions female strength and ambition, and puts a niche sport in the spotlight.
Take note, brands: niche communities can still move the needle with a broad audience.
*buzzing: ADIDAS x MIAOU
Miaou x adidas Originals dropped this week and it’s peak it-girl: Gabbriette and Devon Lee Carlson lead the campaign for corset-inspired track jackets, statement boots, and a neon yellow bag, blending contemporary style with vintage motorsport vibes – Tarantino-esque Hollywood roadtrip campaign included.
*buzzing: ROSALIA’S MASTERCLASS IN BRANDING
All the buzz started months ago when Rosalía registered the LUX trademark, hinting at her fourth album. Fans noticed immediately, but the broader public only caught on weeks later: a new album was coming, steeped in spirituality: Lux literally is a “unit of illumination”. She died a blonde halo into her brown hair, the visuals were full of symbolic cues, and even Madonna gave it her seal of approval. Calvin Klein didn’t waste time either, plastering Rosalía across the globe as the face of their new campaign.
Then the first single dropped: Berghain, featuring Yves Tumor and Björk. The world paused. Classical? Yes. But twisted, reimagined, unmistakably Rosalía – so def not the type of classical music you know from school. TikTokers showed themselves zoning out in the most everyday settings, headphones on, lost in Berghain, while tracks like Porcelana bend genres even further, featuring Frank Ocean and vocals in German, Arabic, Ukrainian, Spanish, English, French, Hebrew, and more languages.
And then last week, Rosalía didn’t just drop the album – she turned it into a full experience. She hosted listening sessions in 15 cities around the world, with the main one at MNAC in Barcelona: a room completely draped in white, soft lights, quiet energy, and Rosalía lying motionless as the album played – leaving around 900 guests speechless.
And here’s four things brands can learn from her:
LEAVE THE ECHO CHAMBER – Staying mainstream by repeating what everyone else does won’t get people excited in 2025+. Break out, explore new angles, and expand horizons.
REINVENT HOW YOU SHOW UP – without losing your core. Post-Motomami, Rosalía leans into darker, more expressionistic visuals, but her essence stays the same: the avant-garde, boundary-pushing Spanish artist who’s always slightly ahead of the wave – never fully mass-market, always distinctive.
GO DEEP – Entertainment on a surface level is fine for some of your audience, but the real fans are the ones who’ll notice the easter eggs, symbols, and subtle nods to culture. That’s where true connection happens.
TRY OPULENCE – After minimalism, quiet luxury, and all the clean looks that dominated the past few years, we’re now done with that simplicity and shifting toward something much more expressive in sound, style, and narrative.
Oh, and please don’t be like New Balance, a brand with Rosalía as their ambassador that stayed 100% quiet throughout the whole short but tuff album campaign. -.-
*buzzing SOUNDS
– ended up being an all-female update 🩷
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