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Fame is dead. Long live influence.

Plus: fashion resets, sober travel, and the 6pm dinner shift changing your local.

Fame used to have an address. Hollywood Boulevard. Madison Avenue. The Ivy. Now it lives everywhere and nowhere, distributed across a million phone screens where a 16-year-old with good lighting can out-influence a Hollywood A-lister.

We're watching the death of traditional celebrity – not because stars are less talented, but because audiences no longer need them to feel seen. Gen Z didn't kill the gatekeepers; they simply walked around them. Why wait for someone else's permission when you can build your own stage?

This isn't just about TikTok dances or affiliate links. It's about a fundamental rewiring of how culture moves. The old model was broadcast: one voice, many listeners. The new model is conversation: many voices, targeted listeners who actually care. Micro-influencers with 10,000 engaged followers now move products faster than celebrities with 10 million passive ones.

The shift runs deeper than marketing budgets. When influence becomes democratized, authenticity becomes currency. And authenticity, unlike traditional celebrity, can't be manufactured in a boardroom or bought with a publicity campaign. It has to be earned, one genuine connection at a time.

So what happens when everyone can be famous, but nobody wants to be a celebrity anymore? Will the cycle turn back around again or is this the end of celebrity as we know it? Only time will tell.

Fashion has a new flavour

Fashion’s latest obsession isn’t a silhouette or a supermodel, it’s a sandwich. From Louis Vuitton’s croissant pop-ups to Jacquemus’s baguette billboards, food has become fashion’s favourite prop. But this isn’t just about a new look, it’s about maintaining fashion’s status and relevance at a time when cozzi livs and global catastrophes are holding the attention of most every eye and ear.

As traditional fashion campaigns lose cultural impact, brands are turning to food’s superpower: intimacy. Eating is universal, social, and most importantly, shareable. A pastry box says more about taste right now than a lookbook, and it carries more heft than a $2000 bag.

It’s a quiet admission that fashion’s old tools – exclusivity, aspiration, polish – aren’t cutting through. Food offers what fashion can’t: accessibility and messiness . And in a culture moving towards casual influence over curated perfection, that’s the new luxury.

Why the "control economy" is the next cultural engine reshaping brands and identity - a must read for any bio-hackers out there

Gen Z rewrites travel rules with booze-free backpacking adventures

Dinner parties stage a comeback as the antidote to digital everything

As tipping culture warps hospitality abroad, where does Australia stand?

Quick hits of insight

01
Online shopping fatigue is real – and we’re all feeling it
The frictionless shopping promise has hit a wall. Digital retail now feels like work with endless scrolling and decision overwhelm. Convenience was supposed to be the point, but somewhere between infinite choice and targeted ads, shopping online became another chore.

02
Gen Z is eating dinner at 6pm – and it’s changing everything
The youngest diners are showing up early, and reshaping the entire hospitality calendar. Reservation books are shifting, social norms are flexing, and the industry is adjusting to a new prime time.

03
APAC luxury travel retail is going borderless
Luxury brands from Singapore to Seoul are crafting experiences that move with the consumer. It’s no longer just duty-free, it’s a relationship-first, cross-market playbook that follows you wherever you land.

Example appointed strategic marketing and PR partner for Fink Group

Fink Group, the force behind Quay, Bennelong, OTTO Sydney, OTTO Brisbane, and Beach Byron Bay, has chosen Example as its new strategic marketing and PR partner.

After more than two decades of defining Australian fine dining, Fink isn't just maintaining its reputation, it's evolving it. This partnership signals an ambitious next chapter, ensuring the portfolio stays culturally relevant and commercially sharp.

Example will handle national marketing strategy and creative campaign development across the entire Fink portfolio, plus hands-on execution for the flagship Sydney venues. Good hospitality never goes out of style, but how you talk about it should never stand still.

Lachlan Falconer

Account Director at Example

I’m Lachlan, Account Director at Example, freshly back in Sydney from a stint in London. I’m fuelled by creativity, a deep love of food, and an eternal quest for the perfectly curated martini gilda (anchovy, crisp jalapeno, and stuffed olive). I’m endlessly inspired by storytelling, whether it’s through clever earned campaigns, or the contents of a very well-curated antipasti plate.

I like my concepts sharp, my snacks picky, and my humour somewhere between dry and extra dirty. I’m always curious, creatively restless, and never far from a good bar snack.

A Ritual That Resonates

Each morning begins with a pact between me and my TikTok tarot card reader. If the vibes are good, I proceed; if not, I blame Mercury and make a second coffee. #tarotreading

Culture That Moves You

A cultural gem that got under my skin recently is Neptune Papers. Despite a two-month delivery from Paris (I half-expected it to be hand-delivered by boat), and not getting the Vincent Van Duysen cover I was after… It's simply gorgeous.

Undiscovered Gems

I recently uncovered a true treasure trove just up the road from the office; Cross Art + Books, a delightfully curated second-hand bookstore helmed by a charming gentleman with an exquisite eye for rare finds. Where else could you nab a stunning Louise Bourgeois coffee table book, (normally priced at $450) for a mere $60 AUD? Absolute magic.

A Cultural Experience

Newly launched, walk-in only restaurants... Anyone with tips on getting a seat at Paradise HMU.

We are an earned-led culture agency. We create and amplify the world’s most talked-about brands, destinations and experiences.