This is real, this is me.
This is exactly where you're supposed to be...
Happy hump day, everyone. There are a lot of new people on this chain, and it’s come to my attention that the vast majority of you have no idea who I am. So here’s a visual from a hibachi party I hosted recently — you’re welcome.
I’ll do a more in-depth bio at some point, but for now here’s the top line — my day job is in entertainment marketing, after stints at a design startup and the most powerful talent agency in the world. I’m interested in the ways media, entertainment, design, and business intersect to shape the broader culture, and I think the east side plays an outsize role in shaping how the average consumer behaves. What’s here today will be on the west side in six months and nationwide next year.
Three times a week I’ll be highlighting the people who live here, the businesses they create, the trends they promote, and the cultural impact that emerges. Each issue will include a roundup of the best articles I’ve read that day, with my thoughts on each one. They’re guaranteed to be good, because I have taste.
I do not claim to be a journalist, so while I hope you learn a few things in each letter, I really just hope you have fun. Stay tuned for an upcoming East Side Singles feature, a social calendar, and…perhaps….a special Rag event?
You can send (anonymous!) tips and let me know what you want to read about by replying to this email. In addition to subscribing, you can follow along on Instagram and share the Rag with your friends using the link below. The more people who read, the more tips I’ll get, and the better the content will be.
There are also some very fun features coming up…so text this to five or ten or fifty of your friends.
🍽️ And now for some table scraps…
Paul Downs’s stylist is putting in work. Paul’s interview with Interview is great, but it’s the photos that really caught my attention. His outfits? Fantastic.
There’s a new farmer’s market in Los Feliz. It debuts this Friday, 6/6 at the Elysian Masonic Temple and returns weekly from 3-7pm. The Rag’s Anonymous Field Correspondent has high hopes.
I won’t be talking about NY Mag’s article on the death of LA production. It’s depressing, we addressed it on Monday, and things are (hopefully) improving.
A hand roll empire emerges. Los Feliz’s five-year-old Sogo Roll Bar just opened a second location in Highland Park. The new place — a collaboration between the Sushi Note chefs and the team behind L&E Oyster Bar, Bar Covell, and Real Charmer — has a cool wooden bar and, notably, Gucci wallpaper.
Harry’s sneakers IDed. If you’re like me and you loved the yellow sneakers Harry was wearing in Monday’s newsletter, you’ll be bummed (or maybe masochistically thrilled?) to know they’re Prada, and they’re $975.
If you’re looking for a field trip, there’s a new Sphere knockoff in Inglewood. It’s called Cosm, and it looks…significantly worse?
Shiloh Jolie choreographed a dance number for last week’s Isabel Marant party in Silver Lake. The coolest of the Brangelina offspring didn’t perform herself, but she did attend the Oliver House fest alongside Alison Brie, Lily Rabe, and Milla Jovovich, among others. Marant, the brand, feels relevant in a way it hasn’t in recent years (though I don’t love the Converse collab).
Next Gen NYC is happening. Forget nepo babies in movies. 2025 is about nepo babies on reality TV. Bravo’s new show follows the totally unscripted adventures of Real Housewives spawn, including Gia Giudice and Brooks Marks. It’s been a while since we’ve had a real, zeitgeisty reality breakout, but these kids feel like they could light Twitter up.
An extremely ugly new development is coming to Echo Park. The fact that this kind of architecture gets approved in LA is…wild. Why does every new building look like someone designed it in Minecraft? Is this how we’re supposed to live??
Disgraced Pasadena big shot Tom Girardi was sentenced to seven years in prison. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Erika Jayne had her house redone by Martyn Lawrence Bullard.
Adidas just dropped a collab with Fortnite. I’ll write more about this trend soon, but brands are leaning hard into the games space.
Kylie Jenner told the world exactly what she had done to her boobs. “445 cc, moderate profile, half under the muscle!!!!! silicone!!! garth fisher!!! hope this helps lol.”
BONUS: Maggie Rogers stripped the ceiling and shelves in her Echo Park living room. If you compare the listing photo with her Instagram post from this week, you’ll notice she restored the beams and redid the shelving. The sofa looks pretty similar, though. These are the microscopically niche factoids I live for.
Gerardo Gutierrez took the hibachi photo. He’s super talented and you should hire him. See everyone on Friday ;)