502: The Herman Miller Pollock desk chair's death grip on Gen Z

Find a list of only-here discounts up to 25% off in the Magasin Code Index.

Hello from Northern California, where I’ve absconded to for the weekend to visit remote banyas and eat succulent mangoes. The time difference alone makes me feel like I’m in a dream in which I forgot to go to class all semester and now it’s time to take the final.

For something new this week, we’re hearing from our news editor Maya Kotomori in her first-ever columnette, dubbed “Generation Maya.” She’s the de facto Gen Z representative in our editorial team tete-a-tetes, with an always-amusing read on what drives and defines her peers, to varying degrees of surprise and déjà vu on my part. (Fellow Millennial survivors of avant-basic might feel a prickle of familiarity in her interior design takedown below.)

Beyond that, as always, the utmost publishable news and sales on now—namely, Nour Hammour’s bag launch, Sunbuddies from our buds at Throwing Fits, and an extra 30% off in Toteme’s final days of sale.

Generation Maya

“Un-pilling my apartment”

My first thought when I moved into my new apartment was that I really don’t want a cute apartment. I want my bathroom to feel like a hybrid between a teenaged boy’s bedroom (1999–2002) and the weird witch shop from The Craft (1996). I want my bedroom to be a dungeon. I want my office to look like the lounge from Solaris (1972) but I will settle for something birch-y and Eames-accessorized until I am *knocks plywood* a homeowner. The interiors must be a little disjointed and freaky because what makes Maya’s house “Maya’s House” is the fact that it’s full of all the stuff I love.

My fellow Gen Z’s taste is defined by hyperspecific associations; like looking at algorithmic taste through a trick mirror. Objects reflected back are not as they seem: At once, the specificity of Gen Z choices feel so singular that they must belong to an extremely cultured individual, but in fact, they’re a node in a terrifying network of references only meant to signal uniqueness:

• Knockoffs of the following: weird-color modular sofas (Bellini, Ligne Roset), USM Haller-anything, Noguchi rice paper lamps, Bauhaus-y Knoll furniture

• Vertical-striped sheets that look like either the Victoria’s Secret shopping bag or wallpaper in a boutique hotel

• Record players on space-agey IKEA shelving units

• Exposed storage; aluminum racks or milkcrates

• The orange Murano glass mushroom lamp

• Aluminum/stainless steel plinth-like furniture, like every surface of your home looks like a prep-table in a restaurant kitchen

• The Herman Miller Pollock desk chair; there are too many

• None of the cool Adrian Pearsall furniture, just knockoffs of the Jax tables

• The Joe Colombo Boby cart

Gen Z interior design feels more like a cosplay of what an appointed adult space looks like than an actual home. In reality, these interiors end up not looking like homes at all, but decoupages of what a kid thinks grown-up furniture is, if the grown-up in question is a funky art director or music engineer rather than an executive with an office job.

My challenge for myself, in decorating my new apartment, is mobilizing my awareness of how all of this works for my generation, and de-pathologizing the “vibe.”

My bathroom is the only fully finished room so far, because it’s the smallest. Since I rent, I opted for a nice coat of paint for the witchcraft element (Backdrop’s McQueen) and some fun accessories for the teenage boy element (my PS2 videogame posters; meat shower curtain, custom from Zazzle). My favorite piece in here is this vintage wooden Czech first aid cabinet, sourced from Etsy.

My bedroom is the next work in progress, but the real star is the bed. I’m a big believer that if you have a home with multiple rooms, that the bedroom is just the room with the bed and not much else, so that’s what the vision is here. I have an Ostermoor Elizabeth mattress—perfectly firm for those who prefer (or aspire) to sleep on their backs—paired with the graphic Marimekko sheets in the Kivet print and my absolute favorite Italian blue Magniberg shams for more punch (objectively a Gen Z choice with the loud color and print, but deployed in this instance as a direct Warholian reference), all stacked on a Karup Japan bed frame that I spraypainted black myself. The only other furniture is all brandless: a space age-y nightstand I found on the street and de-Gen Z-pilled by half-graffitiing it while high on oxy (from a recent surgery) in 2023, this Art Deco medical cabinet (yes, another one) sourced from Facebook Marketplace that I use as my vanity with a mirror I found at Goodwill in 2018, and these gold makeup lights I got from Amazon.

I am categorically Gen Z, but not algorithmically so. My generation’s taste may lay out the raw materials, but I’m picking and choosing from them to build my own nest. Which, speaking of…my dungeon vision is going to really come through once I paint the walls Essence of Nightshade by Backdrop and add some lamps; I hope to spring for a fringe piece from the Ann Demeulemeester Serax collection.

With News Editor Maya Kotomori

What’s new

• If you thought we were geeked when Nour Hammour handbags soft-launched (we covered them pre-announcement), consider us Steve Urkel now that they have officially arrived. We have three silhouettes: The Zeina suede crossbody with a silver chain strap, the Lou jewellery clutch (the purse looks like it’s wearing a single earring), and the trapezoidal Amal everyday shoulder bag ($1,700 for a bag this size is great), available in both bullskin leather and calfskin suede.

• Prada is a master of self-reference, and these “Re-Edition” (stamped on the inner soles, btw) shoes are absolutely no exception. The brushed leather D’Orsay pumps with rubber soles are a clear adaptation of the FW99 moto boots, whereas these leather slingback pumps (love the antiqued leather rosette appliques) are a clear redux of the distinctive Prada 1997-98 era pointy shoe.

• 6397 stays cooking up some really interesting approaches to a “wearable” wardrobe, and this new season drop is no different. Standouts are the more modular pieces, like the sage green-grey Shaker vest with a scoop neck that presents both opportunities for fun layering and solo-styling as a knit top. Then there’s the flight jacket in cinnamon, which can go prep buttoned all the way up, or greaser worn unzipped.

• Big week in scents across the high-low price spectrum. Gap Beauty is officially back with fragrance for the first time since the ’90s. The five flagship scents, which span fresh and clean (Grass) to warm and woody (Om) make it hard to choose, so we recommend the discovery set to see which speaks to you. On the luxury front, Byredo’s Future Memories Eau de Parfum made by master perfumer Quentin Bisch is here, a reportedly “high-intensity” amber-y unisex fragrance.

• There’s also: The return of the prodigal daughter aka The Row Dalia bag; a debut bridal collection from fashion’s favorite goth Dilara Findikoglu; a how-to guide on dressing in head-to-toe khaki, ink-blue, and java-brown from the Ruti monochrome edit; COS’s prep-modern new collection (featuring both a satin ballet flat and sneaker); and a funky suite of ‘90s bias mini skirts from indie darling Charlie Beads.

Men’s releases

• Sunbuddies and the fellas from Throwing Fits collaborated on two new original models, available exclusively through their web shop. The sunnies, inspired by the pair’s penchant for vintage frames, come in two colorways: the Jimmy (black) and the Larry (tortoise).

Home releases

• Canada-based studio Huey has teamed up with Lulu & Georgia for an exclusive lighting collection based on the warmth and texture of a Parisian apartment. Fare includes everything from romantic pendant lights suspended by brass chains to fluted wood column floor lamps, with some fun pleated shade sconces in between.

What’s on sale

• We’ve said variations of the following statement the past two mentions of this exact Toteme sale, but it somehow keeps getting better. Use LASTCHANCEX30 at checkout for an additional 30% off your order, which at this point takes pieces down to fast-fashion prices: the sleeveless cotton dress gets down to $121 from $300, and the Teddy shearling overshirt jacket ends at $1,365 from $3,900.

• No.6 is currently running an online sample sale, and today is the last day to shop it. Footwear like the lilac lizard Grace heel are down to $60, while skirts like the 100% silk Mitta in brown-and-black zebra are priced at $120. As is the case for sample sales, limited quantity is a big factor, so take that into consideration while you peruse.

• Ulla Johnson is also having an online sample sale, and the selection is dress heavy in the summeriest of ways. The Boheme silk gown is priced nearly $1k less than retail at a calm $950, which is a truly fortuitous find for a designer floor-length silk gown. There are also knit frocks like the Leia in a soft-looking daffodil print, half-off at $495—a more casual summer dress alternative.

• The same way it’s smart to buy coats in June, it’s genius to buy bikinis toward the end of summer when discounts settle in; Fruity Booty’s got you covered on that front (seriously, they brought back the tankini). The sale includes their cotton layering pieces and printed crop top-capri combos as well, all in the 25–30% off range.

• Rachel Comey is currently running a sale exclusive to her email newsletter subscribers, where prices get up to 70% off. Pieces like the intentionally crinkled crushed satin Vick skirt are 60% off at $237, a price so good it makes the matching Davison jacket beg for a closer look (both pieces together on sale total less than the retail price of the skirt alone).

• There’s also: An extra 30% off at checkout for the Ralph Lauren end-of-season sale, taking those 25% off shirt dresses to a different territory of “in-cart”; an extra 15% off the Fforme sale, where a lot of pieces like the Heloise dress are already 50% off; an additional 20% off the L’Ensemble sale section, where Róhe tanks and Extreme Cashmere sweaters alike benefit from the compounded discounts; and the final moments of the Catbird sale, where engrave-able lockets and lab-grown diamond charms are both around 25% off.

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